Episode 10

Teaching activities had concluded—the school bell rang once again.

Students were getting ready to pack their books into their bags.

Every pupil left the classroom, Dara among them.

"Man, I really need to pee," Dara thought to herself.

She made her way towards the student bathrooms.

Upon entering the school restroom, Dara quickly relieved herself.

"Finally, that feels better," Dara muttered to herself.

She then heard sobbing from the stall next door.

"I wonder who's crying," she mused aloud.

Dara tried to listen again to the woman weeping.

Curiosity piqued by the crying, she felt more intrigued.

Leaving the toilet, Dara was shocked to find the door ajar with no one inside.

A chill ran down her spine.

Suddenly, a hand tapped her on the shoulder.

"Dara, you're here," Mia startled her with her comment.

"Mia! You scared me," Dara exclaimed, instinctively clutching her chest.

"Yeah, sorry, I really needed the bathroom. Wait for me, okay? Don’t leave me here alone," Mia pleaded, rushing into the stall.

After a few minutes, Mia emerged, finding Dara had loyally waited.

"Come on, Dara, let's head home together," Mia suggested.

Together, they exited the school bathroom and left the grounds.

It wasn't a far walk from the school to Dara's house—just a 15-minute journey on foot.

Mia lived nearby as well, in the same complex as Dara.

On their way, Mia inquired about Dara's apparent fear in the bathroom earlier.

"Why did you look so scared in the bathroom?" Mia repeated her question.

"I heard a woman crying in the stall, and when my curiosity got the best of me, I checked, but the door was open, and no one was there," explained Dara.

"Well, the bathrooms and changing rooms are said to be haunted ever since Julia's death," Mia shared.

"When Julia was still alive, I caught her crying in the bathroom once. She never told me anything, though," Mia reflected about the late Julia.

Dara's interest in the school’s odd occurrences, especially regarding Julia, grew.

She began to probe Mia for more information about her.

"You were Julia's close friend, weren't you, Mia? You must know something about her?" Dara asked.

"I don't know much, Dara. Julia was very private with us. But I remember she called me once," Mia recalled those times when Julia was still alive.

***

It was June 2022, before Julia's demise.

As Julia lay asleep in Roy's villa, her cellphone alarm sounded. With heavy eyelids, she groped around the nightstand to turn it off.

She found her glasses on the table and put them on, shocked to see her unclothed body and feeling sore in her private parts.

Julia slightly lifted the blanket, revealing stains of blood on the sheet and her thighs.

She wrapped herself in the blanket, crying on the bed.

She didn't remember what had happened the previous night, only recalling the alcohol she drank with friends.

With a hangover, Julia headed to the bathroom.

She called out for her friends, checked every room but found no one—they had all left her in that villa.

In the bathroom, Julia turned on the shower, hit herself, and wept.

Julia felt disgusted with herself, scrubbing her skin roughly while crying.

"What have they done to me?" cried Julia.

"I'm sorry, mom, dad. I lied to you, and now this is how I'm treated," Julia wept, sitting under the shower's downpour.

She experienced sadness, pain, anger, and embarrassment, uncertain where to seek help or to whom she should turn.

Julia realized she was completely alone in the villa, unaware of how to get home.

After an hour in the bathroom, Julia stepped out.

Back in her room, she grabbed her phone, remembering her friend Mia.

Without hesitation, she called Mia.

"Hello, Mia, please help me," Julia cried on the phone.

"What's wrong, Julia? Where are you?" asked a panicked Mia.

"I'm at Roy's villa; can you come pick me up?"

"Where's the villa, and what's its name?"

"It's in Puncak, Villa Anggrek."

"Alright, stay there; don’t go anywhere. I’m coming with Toni."

"Thank you, Mia," Julia said before hanging up.

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