"What happened to your sibling earlier?" Ruth asked her seatmate, Thalia.
She was fixing something first before sitting next to her. Thalia just shook her head, not knowing the reason for what happened to her sister.
"I suddenly became worried about big sis Jen." She ended up saying it.
Ruth's brow furrowed at that moment. "I found your sister a bit weird earlier." Ruth commented about what happened to Jenny.
She just nodded in agreement. She even saw her look at her phone, then frown and silently sit beside her.
"Oh? Why does your face look like that?" She asked Thalia after she sat down beside her.
Thalia looked at her. "I will be your chaperone from now until our camp is over." She just replied to her with a serious expression.
Her eyebrows suddenly furrowed at what she heard. "Why?" was all she could say.
"I don't know." This was her short reply to her.
Suddenly, their teacher entered the bus.
"Please settle down. At any moment, the school bus will start moving. If you want to go to the comfort room first, please go now so our trip can continue smoothly." That was the only thing they heard from their adviser, who was ensuring that the students under his care were doing well.
The students just nodded.
"You? Are you going to use the restroom now?" Thalia asked her.
"Come on, I might need to pee on the way later." She said.
Without a word, Thalia accompanied her.
"Sir, we just need to go to the restroom." Ruth asked for permission.
Their teacher just nodded at them. They immediately got off the bus and hurried to the school's restroom. The restroom is just on the first floor, so it's close to them, and they won't have to go up to the top of the building.
"Thalia, your sister is really acting weird right now." She said, while washing her hands, to return to the bus.
Thalia didn't say anything to her; she knew she wasn't the talkative type. It quietly waited for her near the door.
"Let's go." She quietly beckoned Thalia. She couldn't tell what it was staring at as it turned away from her. It didn't move from where it was standing.
"Hey, if we really miss the bus, I'll blame you." She jokingly said to Thalia back then.
She still didn't say anything to her, and her forehead immediately furrowed because Thalia wasn't paying attention to her back then, and even now she was still staring into the field.
Ruth felt a shiver run through her body; she didn't understand why she suddenly felt it now. Instead of being scared, Ruth was annoyed, so she faced it.
Upon facing it, a bloodied woman greeted her; she was in uniform, and she was even more horrified by her appearance as she grinned and stared at her sharply. She couldn't scream at what she saw; it seemed she had lost the strength to run and shout.
She felt it approaching her. She was just watching the woman, and suddenly she saw her body covered in blood. She had a gunshot wound in her side, her uniform was dirty, her hair was disheveled, and she was barefoot.
Ruth saw the bruises on her leg.
She couldn't speak, she couldn't scream; she was gasping for breath as if she were about to choke on the fear, anxiety, and worry she was feeling right now.
She trembled even more because it seemed to whisper to her.
"We're going to meet soon, little sister." Whispered in her ear.
The woman gently caressed her face, smiling at her. The only thing she could do was close her eyes.
Ruth pressed her eyes shut; she didn't want to see the terrifying face of the woman who called her sister again when she opened her eyes.
Sister? I don't have a sibling. Ruth denied it in her mind back then.
"R—uth! R-----uth! Hey!" She heard a voice calling her name then.
"Hey! Ruth Dalia!" Called by her full name, she felt something shaking her shoulders, and it seemed she could hear small voices.
She slowly opened her eyes. Thalia's worried face immediately greeted her; she looked at her anxiously.
She scanned her surroundings; the woman who had shown herself to her was nowhere to be found. Her knees went weak then, and she suddenly sat down on the floor.
She wondered how she had been standing for a few minutes.
"Ms. Dionson?" Their teacher called out.
"If you're not feeling well, it's okay if you don't join." This is what their adviser said.
Ruth was surprised at that moment and furrowed her brow, looking at her adviser and at her friend Thalia to see if she had heard correctly.
"W--- Why, sir?" She found her voice again.
Thalia looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You don't know? You really need to rest, Ruth." Seriously, Thalia said.
Her mind is in a whirlwind right now; she shook her head, unsure of what reaction to show.
"W—what happened?"
"Idiot! Don't fool me, Ruth! My hair stands on end with you." Thalia immediately retorted to her.
"Let's go. If you're okay, I won't call your parents anymore." Their adviser said to her.
"I'm really okay." She said to her teacher.
Thalia looked at her angrily back then. She couldn't understand Thalia, who seemed to be worried about her.
They saw the bus, so they immediately boarded.
"Thank goodness. After waiting for an hour, we can finally leave." She heard her classmate's comment.
One hour? Ruth wondered in her mind.
Their teacher was with them, sitting next to the driver. The others haven't left yet, so they will all leave the school together. It's not just their section that will be with them, but also other sections.
She felt the bus starting to move. What happened earlier is still playing in her mind. She pinched Thalia; it was still unclear to her why the two of them had been missing for an hour.
"W—W—What happened? I really can't remember." She was already holding her forehead then.
"Don't you remember that you suddenly got off the bus without asking permission from our teacher?" Thalia stared at her intently.
Ruth furrowed her brow and looked at the person she was talking to.
"Thalia, are you kidding me? I asked for permission from him earlier." She defends herself to Thalia, and she's really confused right now.
"What do you mean you asked for permission? After I told you to go to the restroom, you suddenly got off the bus without saying anything. Don't mess with me, Ruth Dalia." Annoyed, Ruth said it directly in her face.
She didn't answer anymore. Who was with me earlier? She wondered in her mind.
"Then, I found you staring blankly into the distance, Ruth. You were grinning wildly. I'm talking to you, but you keep smiling. Your smile is unusual, Ruth. Then, when sir arrived, your expression suddenly turned angry, and you still didn't say anything. You remained silent until you lost consciousness." Thalia said it to her.
"Good thing I was able to help you right away and shook you." Thalia looked at her again.
Ruth shook her head at what she heard from Thalia. Her hair suddenly stood on end all over her body.
Suddenly, someone tapped her. Thalia didn't say anything after that. She thought she needed to go to the camp because the answer to her questions was there.
By her instinct, this is connected to their camping trip now. Many things were troubling her mind, and why was he called little sister?
She is the only child in the Dionson family. Ruth just wants to rest for now because her head hurts; the rapid events that happened today still haven't sunk into her mind.
Take care, Ruth. The only memory she had of Jenny was when they were leaving. She just sighed.
Ruth looked at Thalia, who was far away and deep in thought.