Tanıdık Yabancı
I woke up abruptly from my sleep. Oh no, where is this? Oh my God, why are my hands tied and why am I behind bars?! Just then, a man walked in. Running his hand through his messy black hair, he locked his deep blue eyes directly onto mine. Treating me like a prisoner, he grabbed me by my collar and began to drag me away. I started fighting back and screaming at him: “Damn it! Let me go!”
...and with that, I bolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat. It was a bizarre dream, but I could still feel his hands on my collar. Who was he? Why did it feel so incredibly real? And most importantly... could I somehow know that face from somewhere?
Before drowning in these questions, I rushed to the bathroom. As I washed my face, I noticed a slight redness on my neck in the mirror. My green eyes widened instantly. How could this be? There was absolutely nothing there last night. I ran my fingers over the mark on my neck and drifted into thought for a moment. The dream flashed through my mind, and then I mocked myself. Hahaha, there’s no way it happened because of that dream. Get a grip, Selin. Why don’t you go ahead and imagine that man actually did it while you’re at it...
I changed my clothes, quickly styled my dark brown hair into casual, loose waves for the trip, and went downstairs to the kitchen. I was so excited; we were going to be in the heart of nature with my university friends for three whole days. While preparing a sandwich for myself, my mom video-called me, giving me the classic worried-mother lecture to be careful. Once my call with her ended, I got up from the breakfast table, packed the rest of my personal belongings into my bag, and headed out.
I opened the garage and said hello to my baby inside. It really felt like my baby. Before hopping onto my motorcycle, I called my best friend, Hazal, to tell her I was leaving the house, because I was going to pick her up. When I arrived, my bestie was already waiting for me with her helmet on. I picked her up right away and headed to school; I wanted to clear up some remaining errands before leaving, plus traveling by the school bus was going to be much more comfortable anyway...
When we reached the school, we learned that the camping group consisted of about thirty people. It was a trip organized solely by our class, and the school had allocated one of its own buses for us. However, as I scanned the crowd of thirty people, I noticed there were some unfamiliar faces I had never seen before. Looking around, I saw Hazal walking toward Mert, so I followed her. Mert and the others were talking about the camping route. Just as I joined them, someone standing among them caught my attention. He was tall with black hair; because of the black hoodie he wore and the black mask covering his face, it was impossible to fully make out his features.
As I joined the circle, Mert introduced the mysterious guy to me. I smiled politely, offered my hand, and introduced myself.
One second passed. Five seconds... Ten seconds...
My hand remained suspended in mid-air for nearly two minutes. Even though the guy looked straight into my eyes, he didn’t shake my hand. He just stood there and stared. Trying not to lose my composure, I slowly pulled my hand back. Whatever, maybe he has social anxiety or he’s just a weirdo, I thought, trying to brush it off. But that uneasy feeling inside me was starting to itch again, just like the redness on my neck.
Finally, we boarded the bus. A four-hour journey was ahead of us. As I took my hat out of my bag and pulled it down over my face, Hazal turned to me in surprise: “Are you seriously going to sleep, Selin?” she asked. “Yeah, this road is unbearable. Besides... do you have anything better in mind to do?” “No, I don’t, but we’ll find something.” “Until you find it, I’m going to take a nap...”
