Good & Plenty

Rin sat with a hot pack on her abdomen avoiding Asher's gaze. She couldn't believe that she had stayed in his embrace that long 'Yes, it was the brain's fault. She would have thrown herself at anyone in that condition it doesn't mean anything' she comforted herself. She relaxed herself before throwing in few candies in her mouth. Her cheeks flushed red when she was reminded of how safe and warm she felt in Asher's arms. She squeezed the pack of candy tightly before putting them back into her pocket.

She felt a dip on the couch, turning to left a worn out Ryan entered her sight. He sighed exhaustedly before sprawling over, Rin made some space so he could relax.

"That was freaking scary. I literally bit my tongue to make it out. I almost chanted all the prayers that I remembered. "

"Haha..., I thought about how my brother would tease me to death if I passed out and Miraculously that helped."

"So true!! I would rather die, than face that humiliation. Do you think Maya can make it? "

"Who knows, but I guess her Banshee screams might scare those ghosts instead."

Rin and Ryan couldn't help but grin thinking about Maya's crazy Antics. They continued conversing about random stuff while waiting for Maya.

Very soon a haggard figure sobbing miserably arrived along with Tristan and Aimen. The duo was trying to console her. Rin and Ryan was shocked seeing Maya in this state, where was the ever arrogant and cheerful Maya Sharma.

"Rin... I was.. I was so scared, fucking scared" she said with tears streaming down her face. Rin hugged her tightly which increased her sobbing. 'She looks really frightened' thought Rin while attempting to comfort her. Ryan got her a cup of water while Tristan and Aimen nodded signaling to take care of her before leaving the room.

After 2 cups of Coffee and lot of tissues Maya finally calmed down. "I don't want to continue any further " Maya declared while she fiddled with her fingers. Rin nodded understandingly as she stroked her hair softly.

"Because of a prank my cousins played on me I was young, I have a great fear against ghosts" Maya began "At a family function when I was 10, while playing Hide 'n' Seek my elder cousins thought it would be fun to trick me. They instructed me to hide in the storage room and asked me stay there unless someone came to find me. I hid there waiting for my cousins to find me but after waiting for long and seeing no one coming I decided to come out. To my horror the main door of the room was locked."

Maya explained how sometimes the storage rooms were build separately close to the main house in Ancestral Indian houses. A maid thinking it was empty locked it, while she was inside. She was locked for 7 hours in the dark room until her parents realized she was missing and her cousins remembered she was still in the store room.

"Since, then I tend to overimagine when I am alone in Darkness" Maya ended her story. "Imagine if the first day is this crazy, I don't think I'll be able to handle what's coming in."

Rin could understand where she came from, she herself barely made it so she was is in no position to advise somebody else. Ryan too agreed with her. After informing her decision to the supervisors Maya left bidding goodbye to them.

As Rin stood watching Maya leave, Asher approached her. Rin started feeling shy when she saw him, she couldn't prevent her cheeks from turning red.

"Are you alright?" Asher asked her grinning seeing her red cheeks.

"I feel much better now" she replied looking everywhere except his face. The joy Asher felt watching her reactions was immense. He couldn't pinpoint all the new emotions he felt but he certainly didn't dislike this feeling. Suddenly he remembered his purpose for coming over.Rin saw Asher hesitating before opening his mouth.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" he asked.

"Why do you want me to stop?"

"Its not that, its going to get tougher from now on. I don't want to you to get hurt."

"Asher do you know something, I have this strange temperament of doing things that challenge my limits. Doing things others generally fear to partake makes my blood boil. But that doesn't mean I'll blindly participate in every freaking extreme and reckless activities. But when I make certain decisions nobody can stop me. So don't worry I'll be careful."

Rin explained in a poised manner unlike the previous shy mess. Asher couldn't help but feel proud when he witnessed this daredevil side of Rin. He felt that she was getting more interesting day by day.

"Then be careful in the next session" he reminded her as seeing that she was not going to budge from her decisions.

-------------------------------------------------------

It was in the second session that Rin realized only 40 students were left in the Hades camp. It began with 250 people but now only a handful was left, she wondered how many of them could make it into the final phase. She felt quite happy that she made it this far but at the same time she knew progressing to the next stage was not as simple as it seemed.

The bunch were brought to the next venue. They were a few glass chambered booths with a chair placed in each booth, everyone looked dumbfounded with this arrangement. They couldn't even remotely guess what was going on.

Asher and the rest came into the hall, watching the petrified and curious looks of the freshmen reminded them of their freshmen years. They felt both a sense of pride and nostalgia when they realized how much they had grown since then. They hoped the bunch facing them could also achieve the glory they possess now.

When the whistle sounded, Tristan stepped forward and began to brief them over the next session. Each participant after being blindfolded had to enter the glass chamber box and stay inside for 1 hour. Twenty minutes into the program the blindfold could be removed. Everyone was dumbfounded as they racked their brains wondering what that meant. They refused to believe that it was as simple as they painted it. They were sure that their seniors wouldn't be that merciful.

The more simple it seemed the edgier they got. When the first set of participants entered the rooms, while the rest watched curiously. The first fifteen minutes passed as nothing significant happened, but the participants had started get anxious due to the lack of activity, the fact that they were blindfolded and the noiseless environment made them much more susceptible to Anxiety.

Suddenly the doors to chambers were opened and a set of people entered with multiple containers, Rin watched along with the crowd anxiously to see what was happening. But the sight that followed shocked and evoked huge emotions from the crowd.

Rin felt bile churning up in her stomach and her face turned paler when she saw the things in the containers. The loud gasps inadvertently affected the participants as they felt danger filling in the air around them. Some of them started to panic while some started screaming, the reactions from the crowd was enough for them to realize that something bad was going to happen.

"Fuck !!" Rin cursed for the first time in 18 years of her existence in horror.