The next day, it was already noon when Tannie woke up. The squeaking sound of her hamster disturbed her sleep. She opened her eyes and kept rolling from one corner of her bed to the other as she recalled the incident from the previous night. She felt both mentally and physically drained. It was nothing out of the ordinary in her life, she had started to become weary of the daily theatrics around her and desperately wished to live the life of a normal teen. She paused momentarily and stared at the ceiling with her right hand in the air. "4...6...no 7" " she talked under her breath while counting on her fingers.
Tannie had missed her regular classes for the seventh time in two consecutive weeks. She was studying in a private school with a very high reputation. It was often known for its unbiased rules and regulations along with a rigorous academic program that challenged students to excel.
Tannie recalled a recent incident at her school where she was involved in an argument with one of the students from another section whose mother was a maid at her house. Tannie's family fully funded the education of all the children of their household staff until their children graduated from high school. They even established a dedicated fund for this purpose. A group of these children, feeling entitled, often bullied Tannie, their harassment ranging from subtle taunts to outright aggression. But with time Tannie learned to take a stand for herself and flipped the script on her bullies instead of taking things lying down. Tannie had the upper hand in the school as her grandfather was a renowned personality in the country. However, she preferred a life of privacy for which very few students knew about her personal life after she was transferred to a different section. Even her new friends barely knew about her life other than the fact that a black car picked up and dropped her at school. When the maid's daughter Hana kept mocking her and talking bad about Tannie's mother it triggered her and without thinking twice, she threw a whole pate full of her lunch meal. The student didn't just keep watching and soon it turned into fisticuffs that required the involvement of elders.
Tannie was not affected by this incident but Hanna was expelled. This made some rumors about Tannie's background at school making her want to skip classes more often. So, at any little opportunity she would get she kept skipping classes.
Tannie sighed and covered her tiny face with the satin sheet. Abruptly, there was a knock at her room's door. "Miss. Williams, I beg your pardon for disturbing...The chauffeur is here to pick you up.", a voice came from the other side of the door.
Tannie's eyes widened as she sat up straight on the bed. "Damn", she whispered to herself. She turned on her phone and it was already 12:15! At once she jumped out of her bed and rushed to get ready.
"Uncle Han, did you prepare the white daisies and the fruit cake I asked you for?" Tannie asked the chauffeur as she got into the car. "Yes ma'am, without any mistake this time. I specially ensured that they didn't add pineapple, unlike the last time. I am sorry for my irresponsibility last time ", said the chauffeur. "Oh, common uncle, you don't require to be so courteous with me. Just call me Tannie. And it's okay, you don't need to be sorry for the last time, I know it was a mistake. I don't doubt your proficiency at all", replied Tannie. Mr.Han smiled as he continued to drive.
Mr. Han has been Tannie's chauffeur all these years and Tannie considered him as her uncle. He was a loyal and honest employee of the Williams family for many years.
The car stopped in front of a public park. The park had been left unattended for many years and hence looked quite shabby. Tannie got out of the car and asked Mr. Han to leave first. Mr. Han obeyed her orders and drove away. On his way back Mr. Han was a little worried for Tannie as the park didn't seem very safe to him but according to him, he was not in a position to say anything to Tannie so he left. Before leaving, Mr. Han said, "Please remember-" but before he could finish the sentence, Tannie interfered saying, "Yes, yes I know, I will immediately call you if I sense even a slight ounce of danger...you will be right there...I remember it all. Please don't worry I will be okay. you can rest assured uncle...now bye. I am running late already. See you".
Though Mr. Han was never able to ask Tannie he had been always curious about whom Tannie meets on the 5th of August of every year. All he knew was that it was the birthday of a friend of Tannie. Other than that, he was not even sure if this friend was a guy or a girl. The fact that Tannie specifically orders white daisies raises his curiosity even more. But he can't help up wonder more and more every year. This has become a ritual for him as it has already been more than 6 years since this started. In the beginning, Mr.Han was reluctant to let Tannie go alone since the place has visitors rarely, for there used to be a graveyard near the park earlier but it was later abandoned. But Tannie kept on insisting and seeing that everything was fine for the first three to four times Mr. Han was assured that Tannie would be fine.
Tannie kept waiting on that spot until the car got out of her sight. After patiently waiting for a few more minutes, she didn't enter the park but started to walk in the opposite direction of where the car went. She continued waking cautiously while looking behind her at some interval making sure that Mr. Han was not following her secretly by any chance. After a while her steps stopped. Tannie was standing right in front of that abandoned graveyard. It was a sunny day. Tannie was trying her best to prevent the cake on her left hand from melting while holding the daisy bouquet and umbrella on her right hand. She struggled to carry everything at once but didn't have any choice. Somehow, she managed to open the entrance and then continued to walk in. The place had been long abandoned and wasn't in a good condition so, even the gate didn't have a proper lock. Tannie continued to walk in. She felt nervous looking at the time. "I am doomed today. Why didn't I get up at the alarm?! It's almost 1:00 pm", she said to herself.
Suddenly a soft but cold breeze ran across her. Tannie was immediately alerted. She knew that was not just an ordinary breeze. "S-see I know I was wrong, I should have set more alarms...ha hah hah...p- please listen to me...", Tannie talked to the air. In no time she felt a figure pass behind her. She continued," I am sorry. I know I shouldn't have been late on your special day but I can make up for that. Come on...show up yourself...see I even bought your favorite fruit cake and this beautiful daisy bouquet." She tried to sniff the bouquet in her hand when she felt a tickle in her nose and started to sneeze. She continued to sneeze until her eyes teared up. " Lienne!? whe-", speaking as she roamed around that area looking for her friend, Tannie stepped on a block and lost her balance. The box containing the cake slipped off from her hand and she was on the verge of falling on her face. Tannie clinched her eyelids tight accepting her fate when she suddenly found her torso hanging up from the ground as someone standing behind grabbed her mid-fall by the dress she was wearing. Tannie, feeling relieved after narrowly avoiding the mishap pulls herself together, immediately standing straight and breathing a sigh of relief.
"You almost dropped my cake", a voice behind Tannie spoke. Tannie knew this voice! She shot a glance back, and a wide grin spread across her face. A beautiful girl the same as her age stood behind her holding the box with the cake and tasting the frosting of the cake with her index finger. She jumped and jubilantly said, "Lienne! Here you are!!" and proceeded to hug her. "happ-", a hand came and squeezed shut Tannie's lips and stopped her before she could finish the phrase. "mmmm mmmm mm-", Tannie struggled to speak. " Hush!", the girl spoke and released Tannie's lips. Tannie wiping her face said, "Eww, you just licked the finger of this hand." "Consider it your reimbursement for forgetting my birthday!", the girl said while she proceeded to walk forward. Tannie started following her trying to justify herself saying that it was not that she forgot the birthday but woke up late instead. But Lienne was not someone to be persuaded so easily. After a lot of whining from Tannie, Lienne was vexed and yelled while looking at Tannie following her, "OKAY! I got it. Can you zip it now for God's sake?! Let me have my cake peacefully." Tannie put a finger on her lips and shut her mouth. Just when Lienne started to walk forward, Tannie jumped and hugged her from behind wishing her a happy birthday. Lienne couldn't keep up her act anymore and started laughing along with Tannie. Tannie gave her the daisy bouquet and they both went to the bank of the river near them. Tannie lit the candles for Lienne and asked her to make a wish. Lienne vaguely smiled while looking at the candles. "Dead people don't have wishes.", Lienne said. "Ei! hush..., don't say rubbish and make a wish quickly before the flames of these candles make a hole through my palms", said Tannie trying to cover the candles with her hands preventing the river wind from blowing them off. Lienne looked at her and smiled. She closed her eyes to keep Tannie's heart imitating making a wish and blew the candles. Tannie cheered and started singing happy birthday songs for her best friend. "What did you wish for?", Tannie asked. "To get rid of you!", Lienne sarcastically replied. "So petty!", responded Tannie. They both laughed and had a lot of small and big talk as they enjoyed the cake.
"Mom has been acting up a lot more lately," said Tannie. "Is it so?", asked Lienne without much surprise. "I was at the hospital till late night yesterday and ended up getting late today. Mom tried to slit her wrist again. I am so tired of these every day! Some days I wish I could vanish", saying Tannie rested her head on Lienne's shoulder while looking into the blue. Lienne caressed Tannie's head like a mother would to her child and said, "Everything will be fine with time". Suddenly Tannie said, "Oh! it just occurred to me, that sometimes I feel like mom is being watched or maybe someone keeps instigating mom to die. I believe right now she is not in the state to commit any action by herself unless someone directs her to." A sudden terror masked Lienne's face. She grabbed both sides of Tannie's arms and started asking her if she was sure about, it if she knew who it could be, and if she knew anything about how long it was happening. Tannie was left flabbergasted and speechless. Realising that it must have startled her, Lienne tried to lighten the situation laughing it off and saying that she was just curious. Tannie didn't say much and kept resting her head.
Before they knew it, the sun had almost begun to set and it was time for them to bid farewell to each other. They both hugged each other and said goodbye. Tannie had to stand in front of the park to avoid Mr. Han's suspicion. "I will burn new dresses in your name at home. They will suit you. See you", said Tannie as she rushed out through the gate. Lienne waved at Tannie as she saw her leaving.
Tannie barely made it in time to the park's entrance. Me. Han picked up Tannie at the entrance of the park. On her way back Tannie couldn't help but wonder the reason behind Lienne's distraught look back then. It was not the first time when Lienne acted that way. Tannie had noticed that every time she mentioned anything sensitive about her mother in front of Lienne she seemed anxious or panics. But she couldn't reach a justified conclusion. Tired of the long day, she fell asleep in the car.
The car stopped inside the graveyard, Tannie was stirred awake and was surprised to see the car parked in the graveyard. She thought she was busted and Mr.Han deliberately brought her there to confront her. But suddenly her eyes went to the driver's seat and she realized, it was empty. She got out of the car and looked for MR. Han. "Uncle Han!", She called. But there was no response. She remembered it was Lienne's place. She tried looking for her calling out her name but there was no one to be seen. Not even an ant on the ground. Suddenly, she heard a scream that sounded familiar to her. She raised her head to look for the sound and in an instant the scenery in front of her changed. She could see the scene of a night. The surroundings seemed to be somewhere from the 2000s. Tannie felt lost when out of the blue she saw a man running towards her with a knife. She thought it was some robber so she immediately crouched down shielding her head. But the man passed right through her as if she didn't even exist at the scene. Tannie was surprised. Still confused and feeling lost she decided to follow the man. She ran after him until he stopped in front of a girl. With a predatory lunge, he cut off her escape route. Tannie was getting a little idea of the situation when she took a quick glimpse of the girl. Her eyes widened and fixated at a single position. IT WAS LIENNE! The color was drained away from Tannie's face. Before she could react right in front of her, the guy held Lienne by her hair and dragged her to a corridor. Tannie kept screaming asking for help but she could feel that she was inaudible to either of them. She ended up following them all across the hall through which Lienne was dragged. Her heart felt like it was being crushed in a vise, the air knocked from her lungs with each choked sob. The sight in front of her was heart wrenching and despairing for her. The guy dragged Lienne and tossed her onto the wall of the old building so hard that it almost cracked. Lienne was on the verge of losing her consciousness. He pushed Lienne against the floor and tore open each piece of fabric she was wearing, along with his confederates who were already waiting for him. It gave chills down her spine when Tannie thought of the scenes she would be going to witness next. Tannie screamed at the top of her lungs begging them to stop but there didn't seem to be any possibility of them even realizing her existence. Lienne had given up, she accepted her fate as she felt the monsters taking control over every part of her once so pure and divine body one by one. Each shallow breath of hers seemed to drain the last vibrant colors from her once-blooming body. Tannie witnessed the whole event from beginning to end. A wave of numbness washed over her, anchoring her to the spot as the horrific scene unfolded before her.
A choked scream ripped through the night shaking the entire hall. Lienne fell unconscious and lay naked on the ground. Those people kept playing with the unconscious until they felt bored and left one after another. now all there was left was the first guy with the knife, Lienne who lay there half dead and Tannie witnessing the entire tragedy helplessly. The guy's barbaric act didn't just stop here. He finally took out a knife from the pocket of the jacket he was wearing earlier that he put aside. He held the knife up with both his hands and buried it straight into Lienne's left breast and a fountain of blood splattered onto his face. He started laughing hysterically and kept stabbing Lienne until his hands could no longer hold the knife. He laughed out loud for one last time and threw away the knife. He then went straight near Lienne's lower body and lay down burying his face into her FLESH. The whole tragedy unfolded right in front of Tannie's eyes one after another which left her shell-shocked. The one who was talking to her a while back in the form of a spirit was lying in front of her with a body of flesh and blood!? She was still not able to get a whole of herself. Her head started feeling dizzy, everything started to look hazy and vague. Tannie couldn't stay still anymore. She fainted and fell to the ground.
"Ma'am! Tannie?", called Mr.Han. Tannie woke up jolted all covered in sweat from head to toe, her heart pounding like a drum solo in her chest, the dream evaporating like smoke. " We have reached. Are you okay? you look pale.", asked Mr.Han with a few wrinkles of worries appearing on his face. "Just had a nightmare," said Tannie and opened the door of the car. "Do you need any help", asked Mr.Han. Tannie shook her head showing denial, and hurriedly left the car. She rushed upstairs, directly heading towards her bedroom as soon as she got out of the car. Tears rolled down her cheeks making her vision unclear. She couldn't stop recalling those vivid scenes she dreamt about. She was about to enter her room in a rush, with her body still shivering from recalling the dream, when she was greeted by a maid of their house. It was the head maid Mrs. Bailley She was startled and fainted in her arms.
"Help! Is anyone out there? Madam has fainted!! Hurry!", the maid called out for help. The whole mansion was alerted and the workers rushed to attend Tannie without delay. Tannie was rushed to the hospital immediately.