I HAD JUST GOTTEN OFF THE CALL with my mother. It had been over 24 hours that my manager hadn't returned my calls and I was growing increasingly worried of her lack of response because Bianca was a lot of things but irresponsible was not one of them. I raised my concerns when my mother called me up but she appeared to be consumed by entirely different matters.

"Honey, Bianca isn't the person you should be worrying about right now. A killer is loose in Isle Land not in DC. The only person you should be worrying about right now is yourself."

Those were the exact words she said to me. From the upstate society's grapevine, she had probably come to know about Andra's sudden departure and was eager to convince me to go and stay with her in DC for a month or two--at least till the situation in Isle Land calmed down a little.

I would be lying if I said I was eager to jump in the very first chartered flight from the island to mainland Russia but just as a part of me wanted to desperately escape from the place, another part of me wanted me to stay back.

So I had held back my answer, much to my mother's disappointment. I told her I'd let her know my decision in a day or two's time and then ended the call.

I threw my phone on the bed and dove inside the blankets. It wasn't even six in the evening but all I wanted to do was call the day off.

However,  I decided to stay up till dinnertime because I had skipped my breakfast and lunch and I knew better than to go to bed on an empty stomach.

I was more of a book person than I was of a television person. But all my books were back in my house's library. So, I switched on the television to keep myself entertained till the buffet was prepared downstairs.

Shuffling from cartoons to soap operas, I finally settled for a Russian news channel. They were discussing the autopsy of the unidentified body discovered in Isle Land.

"The body was of a teenage boy of not more than nineteen years of age. His face has sustained some major injuries, damaging vital features that could have helped in the identification of the body. His skull is badly crushed and one of his eyeballs and tongue is missing. His genitalia is badly damaged and the victim has sustained multiple fractures in all four of his limbs."

My face crunched up in a mixture of dread and disgust when image of the news anchor was swapped for the gore images of the dead body.

"There are fingerprints all over the victims neck indicating that the victim must have been choked at some point before his death. There are also nail scratches and marks of knife all over the victim's body. The possibility of the victim being sexually assaulted before death is also being considered."

For a brief moment, the face of the news anchor reappeared, saying that they'll be back after a short break and after the break they would reveal some of the belongings retrieved from the victim's body. I would've switched of the television right away and yet I didn't. My eyes stayed glued to the TV screen till the news was back on.

The news anchor was blabbering some words but I wasn't listening. In the background, there was an image of a wristwatch which looked awfully familiar to my memory.

"...a wristwatch, a very expensive one which is estimated to be worth over a million rubles was found dangling in the victim's wrist. The dial of the wristwatch is badly damaged but the inscription behind the dial is intact."

My heart stopped cold when I saw the inscription on the TV.

"A very Happy Eighteenth Birthday to you."
~ From Bunny to Rabbit
(26. 09. 2012)

"....The Moscow Police Department believe that the wristwatch will ease the identification process of the victim--"

I switched off the TV.

My hands felt numb and cold and so did my heart as I blankly stared at the empty television screen. My phone started ringing in the silence. It was Sarah. I knew what she had to say. She must have seen the news too. Yet I picked up her call.

"Did you see the news--"

"Yes." I confirmed. And a few moments of silence ensued.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" She spoke up again after a while.

I licked my lips, "My mother called me up this evening to let me know that she has made arrangements for me to leave the island tomorrow morning. I think you all should leave too."

Sarah got the answer she was looking for. By the break of the dawn, I was supposed to be gone. The rest would follow thereafter at their own pace. I just needed to make it happen.

After ending my call with Sarah, I called up my mother and fortunately, she picked up on the very first ring. I gave her my answer. My only condition being that I had to leave by the next morning latest or not at all. If she was baffled by my sudden strong resolution to get out of Isle Land, then she didn't voice it. She was just too ecstatic to have her only daughter back.

I didn't go downstairs for my dinner. I figured going to bed in an empty stomach for just one night would hardly make a difference. I needed to maintain a low profile till tomorrow morning. Packing too wasn't much of a headache for me. All I needed was a handbag with me. I had wardrobes all over the world. I had around 5 alone in the States, 3 in France and 2 in Denmark -- the three countries I traveled to the most.

So the next morning, I woke up at 4 in the morning. My chartered flight to Moscow was scheduled at 5:25 AM from the Isle Land Domestic Airport. In Moscow, a private jet would be waiting for me for the rest of the journey to DC.

I dressed up in a pair of warm woolen pants and a couture brown trenchcoat. Instead of wearing any elaborate hats, I opted for a peach color scarf to cover my face and a pair of sunglasses. By quarter to five, I was ready to head out but I was jittery.

The weather outside didn't look too promising. It was gray and windy, much like the other day when I was nearly convince that a storm was on its way, except it was much colder. Shaking off the tiny visages of doubt that I had in my mind, I made my way downstairs of the dorm building, outside which Jonathan was waiting for me to take me to the airport.

I dropped my room keys in the reception and walked out if the building. A shiver ran down my spine. After spending all these many years in the island, I still couldn't get accustomed to the winters here.

Taking a deep breath, I got in the car and greeted my chauffeur. As he drove the car away from the building, I looked heavenward. The sun hadn't risen yet but I could see the clouds swirling rapidly because of the strong gust.

"Let's hope that your flight doesn't get canceled, Ms. Gosselin." Jonathan said.

I averted my eyes from the clouds to him - "What makes you say that?"

"The weather doesn't look too good. A snowstorm might be on its way." He shrugged and my heart skipped beats.

"All these years you've spent on the island and still haven't you learned that this just how the Caspian winters are? The season for snowstorms are over. If they were to happen, it would've happened in December or January." I snapped, feeling slightly on the edge.

Jonathan didn't say anything further. So, I turned my gaze outside the window. The airport was barely fifteen minutes away from the campus. We were supposed to get there in no time.

I didn't believe in God. But I believed in hope. So I hoped that I would get out of the island safely without obstructions of any kind.

"We have almost reached your destination, Ms. Gosselin." Jonathan announced with a warm smile as he drove the car through the driveway of airport and stopped it in front of the entrance.

"It appears your flight won't be delayed due to bad weather after all." The old man slightly turned around and smiled, "Have a safe journey back to home, Ms. Gosselin."

And for that brief moment, seeing his smile, I felt guilty for snapping at him earlier. Nevertheless, I smiled back and said - "Thank you so much for your service, Jonathan."

I opened the car door for myself and stepped out. I turned around to bid goodbye to Jonathan when something abruptly fell on the windshield of the car, causing it to crack.

My heart thudded so fast, I dropped my handbag and screamed - "Jonathan!"

Another large rock fell on the car's roof, denting it. I tried to help Jonathan out of the car as I felt the clouds above rain rocks all over me. A few grazed my cheekbones and made holes in my scarf but the largest one fell on my head, making my vision blurry for a moment.

I just stood on the ground for a while, watch Jonathan get out of the car and take me in his arms. I could vaguely feel blood running down the side of my left cheek. Jonathan took me inside the airport. I knew that because I could feel the warmth of the central heating system.

The staffs of the airport rushed to me and laid me down in a row of benches. A pretty blonde rushed with some antiseptic, cotton and bandage. As she cleaned my head wound, it stung but my mind wasn't focused on the pain. My ears pounded with the sound of hails falling from the sky.

A huge part of me realized that it would be impossible for me to leave the island on that very day and a single tear slipped from the side of my right eye.

"Ms. Gosselin, I promise you'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you." I could hear Jonathon's frantic voice at a distance.

I closed my eyes.

When my eyes opened again, I was informed that the hails had stopped but there was still no way any flight could leave the island. It was drizzling and there was a great chance that another spell of hails could be on its way. And to make the matters even worse, some aircrafts had been damaged by the hails and couldn't be operated unless they were examined properly.

"Ms. Gosselin, would you care for some tea?" The same blonde who cleaned my head wound came up to me with a smile.

"Coffee would be nice." I said dismally, "Thank you."

"Would you like anything with your coffee, Ms. Gosselin?" She asked and I shook my head.

Once the blonde was gone, I turned to my handbag which was near my feet. The hails had tore the delicate leather, leaving ugly white patches in the otherwise beautiful black texture. I opened the zip and reached for my phone. There was a slight crack on the screen.

I unlocked the home screen. There was one unread message in my inbox from a private number. It was sent around midnight. I just didn't notice it before.

It wasn't a speculation after all, now was it?
~Your Nightmare