Farah.Alexandria, Egypt.
December 18, 2009.
She yawned. "I can"t stay any longer my eyes are closing by itself," Farah said and yawned again. She wasn"t the only one keeping a secret; Noah never told her that the conversation she had with Malika on the other side of his apartment wasn"t a whisper one. The apartment"s walls are thin, and he heard everything.
"Okay weirdo, later," Noah said and chuckled.
Farah ended the call remembering how every time they talk; he always called her weirdo. Their friendship was a strange one that happened by accident two years ago. The only thing she vividly remembered was the day they met. They kept in touch since then despite being on different continents. They were very comfortable around each other as if they were friends for decades. None of them could explain how they became that close or even how they kept their friendship strong.
**
Two years earlier.
June 7, 2007.
As the summer was about to start Malika was doing everything in her power to make their summer destination a surprise for Farah. Malika knew that Farah wouldn"t come if she knew who was going to join them. It was one week away from their flight date, as usual, Farah was in her office.
She was working more hours to cover one month without being involved in any work; having the whole three months of summer out of the country wasn"t a full vacation for her, she would eventually work wherever she was. Farah was having an intense conversation with a client while her phone ranged, it was Malika, and she answered her after finishing her call.
"Good morning babe."
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"Get yourself a boyfriend and stop calling me that!"
"You"re cranky."
"I want to murder someone," Farah said and covered her eyes with her left hand.
"You usually say that at the end of the day, what happened?"
"That idiot client I truly want to slap his face, he kept nagging and he didn"t like anything, I changed the design for the third time, and he keeps asking for more changes."
"That"s normal not everyone has the same taste."
"I"m not designing a dress! I"m an architect, there are rules that I must follow! He wants unrealistic things that need a lot to build and obviously a lot more money than he"s willing to spend."
An email notification sound in the background. "Farah, I just got the email from the hotel, everything is set up."
"Where are we going?" Farah"s voice was loud and far, she was walking in her office collecting work papers from different drawers.
"It"s a surprise! But I will tell you this; two of my friends are coming and it will be a lot of fun." Farah tried again to know where they would spend the summer, but Malika refused every time.
"I"ll go to Dubai tomorrow, see you at the airport." Farah ended the call and continued her work. She was heading to Dubai for several meetings, her family had an office there for their projects in Asia.
June 14, 2007.
Malika went to DXB airport before Farah; she was at her office signing some papers. She texted her multiple times and finally got an answer after a while with Farah telling her that she was on her way to the airport.
It took her forty minutes to get there; she was excited to know which country Malika chose that year, but what she saw made her realize it wouldn"t be a good trip. Malika was standing next to two women; they looked like hard-working nerds. Each one of them was obsessed with history, ancient civilization and folklore and they were always loud and talking nonstop. Farah dragged Malika away without looking at them. "You have got to be kidding me!" Farah said with a low angry voice after they were safely away from her friends.
"Don"t get mad please."
"Why! You have many friends that are actually fun to be around! why this duo?"
"It happened by accident I swear," Malika said and cringed. "I was talking randomly, and they just hopped in and I didn"t know what to say."
"So, you said yes! Just… three months Malika! Come on!"
"I"m sorry; you know they are nice you"ll love them."
"That"s the problem! Both are weird to be around, and you know I don"t like them." Farah took a deep breath and continued. "They talk a lot I can"t stand them!"
"Please, Farah! I will make it up to you I swear." Malika held Farah"s hand begging her to be good to them and reminded her that they wouldn"t ruin anything. Farah kept herself calm and went to them to say h.e.l.lo. Malika gave Farah her ticket; with Seoul, South Korea as their destination.
Malika and her friends talked about every place they wanted to see; it was all about the ancient parts of the country. Farah was getting bored even before going on the airplane. It was eight hours of flight; the first two hours Malika and her friends were discussing nonstop how Korean mythology was separated but still influenced by both Chinese and j.a.panese mythologies.
Farah was drawing the first three hours of the flight. She drew blue lotus covered in blood. One of the cabin crew noticed it while she was serving her cup of tea. "Wow, it looks so real, you"re very talented."
"Thank you." Farah took the cup and start drinking. Malika was next to her talking to her friends in the next raw and Farah was sitting next to the window. Malika finally noticed what Farah was doing.
"Why?" Malika asked with a curious look.
"Bored and can"t sleep."
"Lotus covered in blood. That"s a bit dark."
"I saw it inside my head; it felt like a memory… Maybe I saw it in a movie or something."
"Interesting…" Malika smiled at her and continue her conversation.
Farah closed the drawing sketch then put her black colored earphones on and played her favorite oriental music. She rested her head and looked at the cloud through the airplane window. Her eyes felt heavier and heavier; she didn"t fight her urge for closing them, she felt a ma.s.sive tug taking all her energy and slowing she fell into a deep calm sleep.
Two hours later.
A ma.s.sive room filled with candles lighting hanging on the walls giving the room a sense of intimacy. Loads of hieroglyphs inscriptions all over the walls, ceiling, and the ground in rhythm and harmony. An aisle in the middle of the room and on both sides were peaceful lakes that somehow appeared connected despite the ground aisle between them.
The lakes were crystal clear with an image of a woman standing in the middle of the room; She had a willowy figure and long black wavy hair. She was wearing a white tight-fitting sheath dress.
At the end of the aisle were two squared boxes floating in the air. The woman started to walk; hundreds of blue lotuses floated on the surface of the two lakes. A sudden rich earthy, floral and aromatic scent evoked a narcotic warm misty atmosphere.
A soft fading female voice called the woman"s name. She looked at the direction of the voice, she felt a sudden cold wind coming from behind the two boxes. She got closer and stood in front of the floating boxes. The boxes moved away revealing a dark hall behind it. The same voice called her again this time was clearer, and louder.
Black glowing wisps came out of the hall reaching the woman"s body within seconds it completely covered her and tugged her into the dark hall. Everything went into darkness with no sound but the woman"s terrified screams.
Strong turbulence.
Farah opened her eyes terrified, Malika looked at her and held her hand to calm her down. "It"s okay, it"s just a b.u.mp." Malika tapped on Farah"s hand.
"I…. What…" Farah"s voice was quivering. "It…hurts!" Farah touched her neck, she felt unreasonable pain in her throat.
"Are you okay?... What happened to your voice? You need something to soften your cords." Malika told one of the cabin crew to get her tea with herbs. Meanwhile, Farah looked at the window terrified.