Chapter 1

Back to Reality

I woke up. My mind was still fuzzy with a dream of almost getting killed and traveling to other worlds, and of some weird floating boy with horns dressed in weird clothes.

I got up stretched, and yawned. "Good morning, Ori-" I caught myself. Ori...? Who was Ori? I lived by myself.

I must still be half asleep. I yawned again, then got up.

Then I felt weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Today wasn't a work day, so, what was I forgetting?

I checked my calender. There was nothing special planned today. So I just dismissed the weird feeling in my gut that something was wrong.

I picked up my journal, that for some reason, was on the table, instead of it's usual place in my secret drawer.

"That's strange," I whispered. "Did you somehow take it out, O-" I caught myself again. What was with this weird habit of talking to myself? Did I used to have an imaginary friend name Ori that I forgot about?

I sighed. Either way I had to break this weird habit or else people would start thinking that I was a mentally retarded weirdo. I mean, I can't have an imaginary friend at the age of 19. That's just too weird.

Beep

Oh, I have a text.

I checked my phone and saw that it was from Shin.

Hey, Linda, are you awake yet?

Linda was my nick name. My real name's Belinda Rose.

Yes, I texted him back.

Great. Kent, Toma, Ikki, and me are at the cafe now. Waka said that he'll treat us to breakfast since we've been working so hard, and that we could invite friends, so bring along anyone you want.

Really? That's nice of him. I'll be right there.

I put my journal back in its drawer and put on a pink dress, stockings, and shoes. I brought my little black bag with a bow on it, so I could put my phone in it. I never leave home without it. I also put my keys inside.

"Okay, let's go," I said.

I started walking towards the door, then realized that I've done it again. I hit myself lightly on my head, trying to break the habit. When and why did I develop such a weird habit?

I checked myself in the mirror one last time.

"Hey...!" someone suddenly whispered to me. It was so faint, and I was so surprised that I jumped, and whirled around, almost tripping over my own two feet.

This is just my imagination, I kept reminding myself. There couldn't possibly be anyone here, besides me.

But even so, I scanned my room just to be sure.

There was my bed, with shoe boxes of stuff underneath, so there couldn't be anyone hiding underneath it, because they'd have to push some boxes out of the way. Then there was my desk, nothing underneath, the table, nothing underneath either, my closet, nothing but my clothes inside, no one in the kitchen, or bathroom.

I breathed a sigh of relief. The voice sounded so close to my ear, but there was no one there, so it had to be just my imagination. I just hoped I wasn't hallucinating.

As I walked out the door, I kept listening for more sounds anyway.

And the strange thing is, I was sure that I've never heard that voice in my entire life, and yet it sounded so familiar.