Chapter two.

After about half an hour through their journey, Adam seems to have enjoyed every second of those minutes but he keeps feeling in his chest uncomfortable aches. He turns to Edna who has been looking out the window the entire time.

Adam taps her knee with his left but like a mountain, she doesn't budge. He goes higher and then taps her thigh but receives the same reaction. He stretches further and holds her chin gently, attempting to turn her countenance to his. She turns herself coming with a slap from her left hand. By instinct, he lets go of her chin and then grabs her wrist.

He sighs. "Didn't even hesitate."

"Let go of me!" She yelps pulling her hand away. She draws unwanted stares on them as others also stand out of their seats and stretch their necks like giraffes to see. Murmurs start to explode in the bus.

"Quite down!" A teacher orders. "Is there a problem miss?"

Edna turns and sees the teacher standing out of his seat also. She tries to speak but halts. She could smell in the air the fuel-soaked ears of the students eagerly waiting to get ignited by her words. She thinks twice and then responds:

"No, Mr. Brown. Nothing is wrong." She says whiles looking at Adam with anger.

"If you say so. Alright, everyone take your seat and mind your own business."

After the murmurings calm down, Adam taps her knee again. She turns with a frown which immediately breaks off and gets replaced with confusion when she hears:

"Sorry." Tumult sets in for a second. She looks him in the eyes. She sees and feels this same familiar voidness in him. "Mother says whenever I see a person in distress and I am at fault, I should simply say 'sorry'."

His words made him look childish and brought into Edna a spark of excitement. She smiles and it leads to a peal of loud laughter which draws more stares at them.

"You really are weird." She says laughing. "And your mom, I would love to meet her sometime. Say... Why don't you make it up to me for the distress you caused me? I mean, it is only right to fix what you broke right? So just keep me company long enough till we get to Phora High."

He sighs. A sigh that says, 'there goes my peace and quiet.

"Okay..."

"Yayyyy!" She interrupts. "So...start already."

Adam pays no heed to her and thinks to himself, 'If I could feel anything I bet it is annoyance that I will be feeling. Does she ever shut up? So annoying. I always sit behind the driver because nobody prefers to be close to old people. It was always so peaceful and quiet till now.'

"How about this...?" He speaks up. "I will tell you one of the myths my father used to tell me about."

"Sure." She replies in a minxish manner. "But it better not be boring. I'd prefer to be conscious the whole trip."

"I see...

"Deep in a pit, the deepest pit known to man, an eternal hag lives. None know of her appearance except that she has breathed for over four centuries. They say the great pit, Numu, is the only place where the cold grasp of Death fails to reach, and there she seeks to thrive.

"Legend has it that, for her attempt to steal from Life, Life sought help from Nature and as such, she was forbidden to die. She was bound in shackles for eternity so that when she grows weary of life she may never leave for Death to claim what is his.

"Many, many years passed, and as a dying rat will keep kicking till its last breath, she kept trying to escape. With time she gave up as Time was also not on her side. Her body couldn't keep up. Still she..."

"Wait a minute, when you mentioned Numu, did you mean the Numu we all know?" He nods. "'Shackles' huh? You know, it is rumored that sometimes people hear the clashing of chains deep in the pit. Some also say that they have heard wailings from the bottom of the pit before. They say those lifeless wails made them feel as cold as ice. As if death's cold arm was wrapped around their necks and his cold breath whispered in their ears, 'run'. Yet, the wails were so sad and not dreadful. They say it was like a lost lonely soul who still has hope. Numu, is a pit that swallows light like a wormhole. Actually, I don't get how come scientists haven't t condu..."

"Don't interrupt me again." Adam cuts in. "It is down in Numu that she weaves her plot against the High. She hopes to one day hang from the tip of the pit and climb for her freedom. Those who knew her before she escaped into her dungeon claimed that..."

They shatter on and on over thirty minutes more. Other students were also drowned in their activities. Some in the streams of slumber getting wet with drool. For others, it was their phones as they enjoyed their chattering and gossip.

"Huff..." A girl sighs. "I'm so bored Maria."