Everything was blurry. The only thing that I can focus on was the sensation of someone or something nudging my calf. I had no sense of what the time was  but judging from by how dark it was outside, it must’ve been around 2 to 3 in the morning. I was fully awake by then and that prodding on my leg still hadn’t gone down. I laid there on my bed just thinking, visualising, and imagining what could have been let into my dorm in the middle of the night without me noticing. I was too afraid to open my eyes so I kept as still as possible, willed for the sensation to go away and hoped for the life of me that this is all a dream. Then I heard the voice. Soft, child-like and almost timid. It only said one word. Help.

To be honest, it was mainly the curiosity that got me. As terrified as I was, the natural need to know trumped fear, so I plucked up all courage I had left and gingerly opened my right eye. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. And by God she was the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. With her ethereal presence and long flowing ebony black hair, I wasn’t even sure if she was human, but she looked human enough. But all her glorious beauty seemed almost dulled by fear for she looked terrified beyond reason, hugging her knees tightly to her chest as if to comfort herself. In the midst of being mesmerised by her presence, I noticed that she’s wearing my old school’s uniform for girls, a white untucked button-down shirt with a mahogany red ribbon at the collar and a matching red pleated skirt. She was sitting beside my bed with her hair covering most of her profile, looked as scared as a little child so I composed myself together and tried to tackle this situation in a dignified manner. Even though she’s just an arm’s reach away, I dared not touch her yet so I stayed where I was and started to talk as casually as I was able.

“Hey there, are you okay? How did you get in here?”

“…….” No answer as she still had her head down.

“What’s your name? I won’t hurt you, I promise” I tried again.

“Mhhellia-” she mumbled this time.

“I’m sorry, didn’t catch that” I half-grinned.

“Amelia” she said.

This time she looked up and I had a good look at her grey eyes and for some reason they seemed familiar to me. Not her face, just her eyes and how they can convey much of what she was feeling. Right now they’re saying that she’s feeling lost, all alone and abandoned and without thinking I instinctively held out my arms and embraced her in a bear hug. It just looked as if she really needed it. She was practically whimpering and looked so sad that I can’t help it.

She resisted at first but I can feel her muscles loosen up and slowly her bony arms wrapped around my waist. Never before have I met a girl that looked this vulnerable and in need of assurance. Even though alarms went off in all directions in my head saying this is trouble and that I really shouldn’t be hugging strange girls who got in my room at night, I just pushed all those thoughts at the very back of my mind and gently stroked the girl’s-Amelia’s soft hair. Her sobbing began to ebb after what seemed like hours though it was just a few minutes. She tentatively lifted her head and looked at me so I pushed a few locks of her hair behind her ears and smiled.

“Feeling better?”

“Yes” she replied.

And she actually looked relieved, like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and the burden was suddenly lifted. Her eyes appeared clearer too and her face gave off this radiance that she didn’t have before. She sighed and then, her body suddenly lurched forward and I caught her just in time from colliding head-first with my bed post. In the panic of the moment, I thought she fainted, or worst died, but then I heard the gentle hum of her breath, slowly, in a constant rhythm; she fell asleep. Probably exhausted by the thing that plagued her. So I lifted her fragile body and carefully placed her on my bed. Clearly she’s in need of my duvet more than I did, so I left her to sleep after I tucked her in. In the meantime, I really needed some time to think this through and let the reality of this bizarre night sink in. I didn’t know who that girl was, where she came from, why she came to me or how she got here. But what I really want to know was why in the world did her eyes seem so familiar. I got up and put the kettle on to make myself a cup of coffee.

“This is going to be a long night” I said to the kettle as I scooped three spoonfuls of instant coffee into my mug.