I sat down at my desk and stared at my homework: statistics, geology, demography.
Nothing I can't handle, I decided, picking up my pencil. Then maybe… hit the ice block with Qiric? Nah, maybe tomorrow. I bet he's procrastinating again anyway.
The geology work was easy. But as I flipped through my demography references, I noticed that the air had begun to ripple as I turned the pages.
Just another late night on campus… sleep it is.
Then the full moon outside my window began to darken and brighten again at random intervals. More fatigue-induced fantasies? I pinched myself, but the weird strobing continued. Eventually, I just closed the blinds so I could concentrate.
I hadn't even started my survey report for statistics when more things began happening. As I adjusted my lamp's brightness, the entire thing suddenly began to glow deep blue, from bulb to base. And my lamp's light was orange!
BANG!
"Whoa–?!" I ducked as the lamp's glowing pieces scattered across the room and evaporated, plunging my dorm into darkness.
What the hell? The warranty said nothing about this, I thought, re-opening the blinds. Should I work by moonlight? Or maybe just go to the library?
Then a freezing wind blew in, even though the window was shut.
"Ugh! It's not even winter yet," I groaned, standing up. Just what was going on here? "Is this a prank? QIRIC!"
Before I could take another step towards my door, the moon brightened again, filling my dorm with a strange aethereal glow. Then it dimmed again, then brightened, like it was moving around…
Wait, was it getting bigger? No, it was getting… smaller? Or was it both, somehow?
No. It was getting closer!
SHEEEN! The strobing celestial light swooped into my room, and I jumped back as it crashed onto the floor with a blinding flash.
What the…
As the light faded, I noticed nothing had been damaged. Good thing! But now the moon was in my dorm. Bad thing!
Wait, no… that wasn't the moon. It was a person.
It looked to be some kind of masked woman, hunched over on the floor. Her hair was fiery crimson like mine, but I'd never seen her before.
"Who…?" I started to approach, but the woman rose a hand. That's when I noticed a silvery liquid dripping from a large tear in her shirt.
"Wait, is that blood? Is that your blood? Are you hurt? Do you need a hospital?"
The woman silently shook her head, then rose to her feet.
Thud – she didn't make it a single step before collapsing in a dead faint. Good thing the floor was carpet.
Unsure of what else to do, I carefully moved closer. Her breathing was steady, but her body was shivering, almost like she was freezing. And there was that icy breeze earlier…
I made my decision in that moment. Under my bed was my winter blanket, which I carefully draped over her form. A few seconds later, the woman shifted, covering up her entire body.
Okay, I thought. That's… probably a good thing. So I carefully turned my lamp back on and quietly finished my homework.
Wait… my lamp. My lamp?
My lamp!?
"What is this fever dream," I muttered, shaking my head. Then I looked out my window. Much to my relief, the moon was still there, hanging full and bright in the clear, cloudless twilight.
Then, much to my dismay, I bore witness to something else.
Beneath the moonlight, I saw four people hanging in the air, slowly moving over the area. One of them had some kind of spotlight on its face, its purple beam pointing wherever it looked. It swept over the entire campus, and the other three people started gesturing and pointing, like they were discussing something. Or maybe arguing? I wasn't sure.
They clearly didn't find what they were looking for, though. A little while later, they zoomed out of sight.
I looked back at the person under the covers. "Just rest for now," I told her. "You'll feel better soon, be on your way, all that jazz." Then I threw another glance out the window. "Just making sure though – you don't know those guys, do you? You're not, like, a criminal or anything? Or maybe they're criminals? I don't wanna be an accomplice."
No response. Of course.
Whatever! No big deal, I told myself. Not like we even know each other. Dunno what I'm even getting my hopes up for.
As I settled into my bed, I could hear soft snoring from under the blanket. I figured that meant she wasn't going to bleed out, right? If that was even blood in the first place. Hell, maybe it would stain. And like, if anyone came in and saw the floor or the blanket, I couldn't even wave it off as my blood because it wasn't the usual color.
Meh, worry about that another day…
As I woke up the next morning, my winter blanket sat neatly folded on the floor. The masked woman was gone.
See? She left! Now everything will be fine, I nodded to myself. That's always what happens, isn't it? It always happens like that, because nothing ever happens.
That's just the lay of the land around here! Nothing ever happened, so there was nothing to worry about. Always rumours and legends, no actual things.
I can just live my college-girl life with my friends, live out my dream as an archaeologist, maybe get married… not to Qiric, though. I felt like I've known him for too long.
My eyes drifted to the clock. I overslept!?
"Gah, shite!" I shoved my stuff into my backpack. "Class isn't over yet, maybe I can still turn it in…"
As I ran to the social sciences building, the memories of last night faded from my mind. It's fine if nothing ever happens, right? That's everyone's favorite part about living in Yylinovia. Nothing needs to happen.