6 Knock

Rather than see something unexpected, it'd be more appropriate to say that she heard something odd.

There was a light knock on the door.

A few loud clangs followed, then dead silence. Footsteps walked away from the door.

'Uh, huh? Did the maid forget the keys or something?' Yuna wondered, 'But if she didn't have the keys, why would she knock? She should already know that I'm the only one in this room.'

She thought about the reason for a while, but it was hard to think straight when she was dehydrated, lightheaded, and starving.

Pushing her brain gears to the max, Yuna fell back on the table, closed her eyes, and thought seriously. The only reason that came to mind was that someone other than a maid had visited her.

'But with what intentions?' Yuna wouldn't know - at least not at this time.

A while after the footsteps departed, another clank sounded from the door. This time, the maid walked in. She did her daily routine of feeding and burping Yuna, then left.

Yuna tried searching for a clue by staring at the maid's face. However, with her robotic countenance, it was useless.

No other strange occurrence took place after that day. Time continued flying by, and Yuna threw the incident to the back of her head.

...

A little girl about two years old lay on a rotting table in an isolated room.

Yuna's twelve-inch hair hugged her petite body, which was deathly thin and equally pale. Her skin clung to her protruding wrist bones, which would make people question if what they were looking at was a skeleton rather than a toddler.

The skeleton held a lock of her hair in front of her face. Her lifeless eyes stared at it absent-mindedly, her expression unreadable.

She steadily blinked, 'I still can't get used to this peculiar silver hair of mine... is this normal, or am I aging backward?' she let go of the wispy hair in her hands, letting it drop down to the table, 'Well, rather than being aged, it looks more... dyed.'

Her gaze fell to the iron door. She doesn't know how often she has stared at that same dreaded door, but the number wouldn't be too far from a million.

She sighed for the nth time and took her eyes to look at something else.

Yuna doesn't know if the gods had pitied her when they saw her living conditions, but after being here for a while, it would appear that they answered her prayers, and she gained a form of night vision. She could see things as though there was a light source in the room [1].

Yuna wasn't sure if it was normal. Actually, no; she was sure it wasn't normal.

Any human back on Earth would never have this ability unless they had superpowers, but that wasn't possible.

Yuna didn't think badly of this new ability, though. Without it, she wouldn't be able to survive more than a couple of months in pure darkness and constantly be anxious about what wasn't visible. She considered herself someone with a strong mind, but staying in a place without light for a long time could drive any person insane.

'The maid should be coming in a few hours,' Yuna closed her eyes, preparing to take a nap to kill time and to get rid of her relentless headache.

As she was about to doze off into slumber, the sound of the door unlocking broke the room's silence, following a few clangs and clanks.

Her eyes fluttered open with annoyance, 'Can't I get some proper sleep around here? Why is the maid so early?'

She calmed herself down, 'If she's here to make an extra delivery, then it's fine, I guess. Getting more food isn't a bad thing. Ah? Why am I getting the strange feeling of déjà vu? Oh, whatever. Eat first, think later.'

Yuna sat up from the table, waiting for the maid to enter.

The door struggled to open. Yuna looked at it with curiosity. A few small huffs came from the door, and a small brown boot stepped into the room.

A little boy with silver hair tiptoed into the room. He looked a bit older than Yuna but held more of a youthful gaze. His innocent sparkling eyes lit up the cold atmosphere.

His mouth took the shape of an 'O' as he brought his hand-held lantern around the room. The other, which held a wooden sword, followed the light.

Yuna's eyebrows shot up with alarm, 'Who's this kid?' She examined him. The boy wore a tunic, a brown leather vest, and trousers. Their gazes met when the child finally brought the lantern light to Yuna's rotting table. With one pair glowing and the other dull, their eyes widened. No one moved.

After a while, the boy opened his mouth and curiously tilted his head. He spoke with the purest voice, "Um, hello... skeleton?"

Yuna's heart thumped. This was the first time she had met another human being in years. She thought of the maid as more of a robot than a human, so she never counted her.

Yuna was nervous. She wasn't sure what to say or do. The dread of years without social interaction had finally shown itself.

She tried to open her mouth to say something, only to end up in a coughing fit from her dry throat.

"Ah... uh, um," the boy panicked a little, "I'll be back!" He dashed out of the room, leaving a stupefied Yuna looking at the door that slammed behind him.

'Did I scare him off?' she wondered anxiously.

In a few minutes, he came dashing back with a glass of water. The wooden sword was now in the sheath on his waist. He panted in exhaustion, caught his breath, and walked to Yuna. The boy lifted the glass, hoping to offer it to Yuna.

Her heart thumped, and her hand rose shakily, unsure whether or not to take the cup. Yuna didn't know why she was hesitating.

For some reason, she still felt strange about this situation.

Yuna took a deep breath and pushed herself forward, carefully taking the cup from the boy's hands. He looked at her in awe.

She paid no mind to it, and slowly gulped down the water, making sure not to waste a single drop. After savoring the water, she set the cup down in bliss.

The boy stuttered a bit, "Uh, ah, I'm Winston. What's your name?" he stared at her with big eyes.

Her mouth opened to speak, but all that came out was quiet, strained winces and grunts. Yuna wore a helpless look on her face and massaged her throat. It was still pretty dried up from a long time of dehydration and needed some time to regain its moisture.

"Oh, you can't speak? Hmm. Um, so... but I can't keep calling you, 'you'... um," Winston went into deep thought.

Yuna never clearly heard the name her mother gave her, so she pondered for a while, wondering how to reply. She inhaled deeply and, using all her remaining strength, squeezed out a single, raspy word, "Yuna." She decided to go with her name from Earth.

He looked surprised, "Ah? Yu...na?"

Yuna nodded.

Winston smiled brightly and complimented with a warm voice, "What a pretty name," he giggled.

Yuna stared at him with no change in expression.

"Ah. Um...," Winston coughed awkwardly, "What are you doing down here, anyway? It's so dark and spooky! Did you get lost and end up here? Or did a ghosty ghost drag you down to this creepy place? Ah, or maybe..." he rambled on. Yuna watched on with amusement, and her expression softened up a bit. Winston suddenly stopped and sighed, "Right, how can you respond to me? You can't talk..."

Yuna chuckled to herself, 'What an adorable little kid,' Unknowingly, a warm smile bloomed on her face. Even with deathly pale skin that clung to her cheekbones, she still looked pretty.

Winston froze at the sight of her beauty but snapped out of his daze when he remembered something, "Ah... Ah! Oh no. Mister big scary guy will get mad at me if he finds out I'm skipping practice! Sorry, Yuna. I gotta go."

He picked up the glass on the table and dashed to the door, then stopped and turned around, asking nervously, "Um, do you want to come with me?"

Yuna took a moment before shaking her head.

She didn't know what would happen if 'that man' found out someone had let her out of the room without permission. Let alone what he would do to this innocent young boy.

He looked confused but shook his head and smiled at her, "Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye!"

Yuna nodded and waved her hand.

Light retreated from the room as the iron door slammed behind Winston with a clang, clank, and lock.

He left as quick as he came.

Yuna sighed and looked at the iron door that blocked her from her freedom with unexplainable emotions.

This life was as dark as her last one, but at least she wasn't completely alone.

Yuna's head throbbed.

She laid back on the table and rubbed her sore neck.

In the lonely room, a girl with silver hair was alone again.

But this time, a smile was on her face.

"What a strange visit."

...

[ 1 ] No, you will not gain night vision if you stay in a dark room for a long time. Yuna was able to get this ability due to another reason.