Amy massaged her temples as she fought over the paradoxical idea that she had lost every memory of one night. The only thing Amy remembered was that she had a dream, a very faint inkling of a dream which she couldn't remember the details. Two students walked in as Amy pulled a chair and sat beside the librarian who after hearing her rather strange story, had regarded her with empathy. The librarian typed rapidly on the keyboard until she found the school's digital news archive.
" This is it," the librarian announced. Amy came behind her staring into the glowing screen. As the librarian scrolled through a number of articles, a particular one caught their eyes. It was old and it read:
"SUICIDE IN HOSTEL-D"
She clicked on it and texts filled the screen.
"A student of the state university yesterday, apparently took his own life in his one-room apartment at hostel-D," Amy read out in a low voice.
"eyewitnesses said that the said final-year student cut his own wrist with a blade and bled to..." Amy's voice trailed off as she directed her gaze away from the monitor and to her left wrist, a partially healed wound ran across her wrist.
Amy's mind registered the whole situation within a fraction of a second. Amy shuddered at the obvious conclusion. She had walked into a room that belonged to someone who took his own life for some unknown reason. She too had almost cut her wrist in the same room after reading what sounded like a suicide note engraved on a desk. If Evelyn had not searched and found her in the middle of the night, she'd have succeeded in taking her life unknowingly. It made her think of Evelyn, she was still asleep when she left for the library.
" How did you get that,?" she heard someone say as she came out of her trance, it was the librarian referring to the shallow wound on her left wrist.
" It was an accident," she lied.
Somewhere in the library, two girls were whispering and their voices were distinct in the quiet ambience of the library.
"...they said the girl cut her wrist last night..." one of them was saying before the librarian reminded them that they were in a library. Amy walked up to them moments later forcing a smile,
"what did you say happened?"
"a girl killed herself last night," one of the girls said in a low voice. Amy had to strain her ear.
"I also heard that her name was Evelyn," the other girl added.
"Evelyn?" Amy muttered as the colour drained from her face, but she relaxed and walked away from the girls.
"it's definately another Evelyn," she she said to herself as she made to leave the library. She saw her friend this morning before leaving. Amy dismissed the thought as mere gossip but something kept disturbing her as she walked out of the library, it was the dream which she couldn't remember anything in it.
"what if someone actually committed suicide again in this same school?, someone who bears the same name as her friend," Amy thought aloud.
She was barely out of the school compound when the vibration of Amy's cell phone startled her. The caller Id on the phone increased Amy's fears. It was Uche, Evelyn's elder brother. He was also in the same school. Uche only calls her if he could not reach his sister.
"hello," Amy said.
"tell me it's a lie Amy," Amy was transfixed and stunned by the abrupt response.
"what's a lie?" she managed to ask
"...that my sister is...dead"
"Dead?" Amy retorted.
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