1:30 pm, Wednesday, 12th.
She had no idea where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to get as far away from the burning bus as possible.
It felt like the universe had singled her out for humiliation. First, she disgraced her family. Now this. A bus accident. Dead passengers, maybe. And somehow, she was at the center of it all.
What she couldn't understand was why the driver defended her.
There had been no man standing in the middle of the road. Nobody except that angry businessman who looked ready to beat her senseless before the driver and the hooded stranger stepped in. Maybe the driver lied to protect her. Maybe he panicked. Maybe everyone on that bus was losing their minds.
At this point, she wasn't even sure she still trusted her own.
The wind whipped sand into her face and for once since Phina stormed away from the bus, she decided to take in her surroundings.
Tall trees stood like soldiers round her, their bark dripping wet with liquid she couldn't name. It hadn't rained, so why were the trees wet? Upon further scrutiny, she noticed that the leaves at the top of the trees weren't dripping with water. Curiosity getting the best of her, she strode over to the tree closest to her.
With her arms outstretched, she placed two fingers on the bark and thick liquid followed as she pulled away. It dangled like a weak string, cut and plopped down on her toes. Like she had been electrocuted, a violent jolt shot from her toes to the top of her head. With a scream, she jerked away from the tree as she dusted her fingers from what was left of the liquid.
What did she just feel?
A twig snapped. Turning around, she darted her eyes left and right looking for the source.
Was she followed?
She tried fixing her eyes on a particular spot she felt the noise came from but then something else emitted the same noise which got her twirling in a spot.
The wind wasn't helping. It had gotten fiercer, flinging sand into her eyes and something else, something she couldn't dwell on at the time was dragging her clothes.
Left.
Right.
Like it was telling her exactly where to go but at the same time misleading her.
Something was wrong. This place was wrong. She shouldn't have gone too far from the group. Could she even find her way back?
Left.
Right.
When she didn't think her clothes could withstand the tug any longer, something came with full force straight for her head, she couldn't dodge on time and all that could leave her lips was a high pitch scream right before she blacked out.
1:45 pm, Wednesday, 12th.
Someone was yelling and tugging at her clothes. She felt a pair of hands grab her face giving her a little shake while another pair rested on her arms. Two people. The voices got louder. She peeled her eyes open one after the other to see two people kneeling beside her, a boy and a woman.
"Stay away from me!" Phina screamed before she could stop herself and scampered away from them. Her eyes travelled between them before resting on the boy who had his arms stretched out, palm down. Like he was approaching a wild animal. There was worry written on his features. She furrowed her brows as she tried to remember what happened.
"Who are you?" The woman she could tell was maybe in her early 20's and the boy seemed to be around her age. "Who are you?" She reiterated when she didn't get a reply.
The lady opened her mouth to speak but the boy was faster. "We were passing by when we heard your scream."
"Passing by? So you know this place?" If they knew this place that meant these guys could get she and the other passengers out of here.
"No. Our bus crashed and we were looking for the road..." The lady paused before asking. "What are you doing here?"
Did they just say their bus crashed?
Phina sized both of them up to see if they were actually being serious. "Wait, are you being real right now? I was in a bus traveling to Lagos. It crashed into this forest too." The boy and the lady glanced at each other.
"Where's your bus?" The lady asked.
"Well, what's left of it you mean. We had a gas leak and it blew up. I just...don't know my way back."
"What were you doing out here alone though?"
Since it seemed like she could trust them, Phina straightened up and shrugged. "Looking for the road." That wasn't the complete truth, but they wouldn't know.
A drop of water fell to her nose and she glanced up. The clouds had darkened and the rain would fall anytime soon.
"It's going to rain soon." The lady glanced up. "Are you sure you don't know your way back?"
Phina caught the skepticism in her tone and scoffed. "I don't. And I don't think you have any right to have trust issues right now. I'm the one who hit my head and found strangers looming over me."
"You're right. We're sorry. I'm Winn and this is Judith." The boy said and gestured to the lady who gave a tight-lipped smile. "As you already know, our bus crashed and we were looking for the way back to the road. We really mean no harm."
Phina took it in before nodding. "My name's Seraphina but everyone calls me Phina."
"Here, let me help you up." Winn offered his palm and she took it. Once she was on her feet, she realized she was shorter than them and the lady was literally looking down on her.
Thunder rumbled in the distance and the raindrops increased. Their clothes were getting damp.
"Over there!" Winn pointed to a dry patch on the ground a few feet away. Above it, a bunch of trees were hurdled together and their leaves offered shelter. "We can wait out the rain there."
All three ran and squeezed under the trees. It looked spacious from afar but they were currently elbow to elbow but it was just till the rain passed.
"Do you two know each other?" Phina figured she could while away time if she got to know the strangers she would have to put up with till God knows when.
"We met on the bus." The lady said.
"How did your bus crash? My bus driver said a man came out of nowhere and stood in the middle of the road." She laughed, slightly shaking her head. "I don't think anyone is dumb enough to believe that."
"He said he saw someone?" Winn asked.
"Yeah. But to be honest, I don't believe him. He doesn't want to lose his job, I'm sure." The expression on Winn and Judith's faces made Phina pause her babbling. "What? Why'd you ask?"
Winn turned to her, his eyes wide. "Our driver...he said he saw something too."