What's wrong with the girl

Asteria stared in surprise at Calista's suddenly tense face. She followed where the eyes went, examining every corner of the place where they ate. Asteria's mind felt strange because Calista was suddenly like a frightened person.

"Cal, what's wrong with you?"

"N-no! Go away!" she shouted, making Asteria prance.

"Cal, why, what's wrong? Who are you telling to leave?" Asteria asked.

Some people around were whispering about Calista's strange behavior. They assumed there was something wrong with the sweet girl's attitude. Meanwhile, Asteria was still vigilant, following Calista's eyes.

"Aster, please! Tell them to go away and don't repeat anything silly!" Calista whispered, further confusing Asteria.

"Them? Who, Cal? There are only two of us here, and Brother and his friends are far away from us."

"That girl is so weird," chirped one of the customers from the following table.

"Yeah, is she crazy?"

"Why are you suddenly shouting like that?"

"It's just annoying, I wonder!"

"If she's not mentally well, she shouldn't be invited to gather like this!"

"Yeah, weird!"

"Shut up!" shouted Calista in a loud voice and catching the attention of Aresh and his friends.

They turned their heads simultaneously and were transfixed by Calista's frightened state.

"I'm not crazy!" she shouted again, making Asteria feel confused.

"Calista!" screeched Asteria. "Calm down! Please! What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not crazy, Aster! Really!" she said with a sad look in her eyes.

"Yes! I know! You're not crazy! You're fine! But you need to calm down!"

"They're talking nonsense!" Calista shouted again, causing the four boys to watch her move closer.

"Aster, what's wrong?" Cleo asked his sister.

"I don't know, brother! Calista just suddenly screamed hysterically like that!"

"You're sane, aren't you?" Damon's joke managed to ignite Calista's emotions.

The girl stared intently at Damon, a flash of anger evident in her eyes. She was unhappy with Damon's insulting question. Aresh and Eros began to sense that something was wrong with the girl. Calista got up, pointing at Damon with a glare.

"Shut your mouth!" she shouted suddenly. "I'm still sane! I'm not crazy!"

"Hey, are you out of your mind yelling like that!" Damon replied, his voice no less loud.

"Shut up, damn it!" screamed Calista even more uncontrollably. Things were chaotic, not knowing what was going on, but Calista managed to embarrass them all with her strange behavior.

Aresh looked closely at Calista's face. There was a reddish glow wrapped in black. Anger and fear merged in him. Eros realized something was wrong but couldn't see it as Aresh did.

"Calista!" snapped Asteria, who was already starting to feel fed up and embarrassed. All eyes looked at them with wonder and question. "Don't be embarrassed!"

"I don't accept that man's nonsense, Aster!"

"But you shouldn't talk like that!"

"Pull that girl! Let's get out of here!" Aresh whispered to Cleo with emphasis.

Cleo understood the situation was getting chaotic, so she asked Asteria to pull Calista out of place. It was embarrassing because they were loyal customers and didn't expect this mess to be caused by one of their friends.

"Enough of this embarrassment!" snapped Cleo angrily. "Pull that friend of yours out! Let's get out of here!"

Aresh and Eros had already broken out of the cafe. Eros apologized to the customers for making a mess. Meanwhile, Asteria firmly pulled Calista to follow her quickly. She also felt embarrassed by Calista's behavior earlier.

Cleo and Damon followed them from behind after apologizing to the people around them. Damon looked at Cleo, who also understood the situation.

"Looks like Aresh knows something," Damon said as they walked out of the cafe together.

"Maybe, I could see it earlier," Cleo replied quickly. "His gaze was so intense it was like he wanted to kill. I hope it's nothing serious."

"I'm not sure," Damon said.

They all got into the car. Eros took the wheel and immediately hit the four-wheeler at a reasonably high speed. Cleo and Damon were even more convinced that something was wrong.

"Where are you taking me?" asked the girl who had made such a mess.

"Shut up, Calista, just follow my brother!"

"But I need to know where they're taking us, Asteria!"

"Don't you trust me?" said Asteria flatly but emphatically. Her voice was so calm yet chilling.

"But, Aster-"

"Shut up! Shut your mouth! Weren't you embarrassed enough earlier? Hah!" snapped Aresh, who had had enough of the girl's ramblings.

Silence. No more sound came out of the girl's lips. She chose to remain silent for fear that they would be rude. Although, she felt confident that nothing wrong would happen to her, especially with Asteria by her side. However, there was no harm in being wary of the four men.

Calista's eyes kept watching the road. She was curious about where they would take her. It was a little far, but the atmosphere was very calm. Large trees accompanied their car with the peaceful river water making the heart more comfortable. Just as the car was about to arrive at a small but relaxing house, Calista suddenly stiffened again.

Asteria noticed the change in Calista. She looked closely at her best friend's face. She was surprised because, lately, there seemed to be something wrong with Calista. However, Asteria did not know what was wrong and why. Calista again heard the voice that had often frightened her in recent times.

"Why are you going with them, Calista!"

"Do you want to die? Hah!"

"You no longer want to live a decent life?"

"Are you ready to be enslaved? Yes!"

"Leave now! Get away from them! Jump out of that car!"

"Calista! Listen to me! Calista!"

"No!" Calista screamed as she covered her ears, the scream managed to startle them again, and Eros hit the brakes hard.

"Crazy! You want us all dead, Eros!" cursed Damon irritably.

"I'm surprised! What's with that girl!" 

Aresh was not in the mood for this, hoping to reach their base camp soon so he could rest. However, the girl was causing trouble again.

"Calista, what's wrong with you!" snapped Asteria.

"No! I don't want to die! No!"

"Go away! Go away! All of you go!"

"Hey, who's going to kill you anyway! We're not stupid!" Damon yelled.

Calista didn't listen to Damon. She kept her ears closed tightly, with her eyes glaring at the surroundings.

"Resh, how is it?" asked Cleo.

"Move, Ros! Pick up the pace! We'll be there soon!"

"But, what about that girl, Resh?" asked Eros, confused. Should we continue our journey or take the girl home?

"What about what? We're taking her to base camp, so what's the problem?" Aresh said firmly.

"Brother Aresh, what's wrong with Calista?" asked Asteria curiously, but her question was not asked at the right time.

"Are you going to keep asking questions that don't need to be asked? Huh? Can't you continue your journey in peace?"

"Let's just send the girl home, Resh!" suggested Damon and was joined by Eros.

"Then she'll die faster!"

The sentence that slipped freely from Aresh's mouth managed to leave them stunned and completely silent. Without asking or thinking, Eros stepped back on the gas pedal and continued the journey. No more words came out of their mouths, only a few complaints from Calista.

"Go home! I want to go home!" Calista shouted again when they were almost there.

"Shut that girl's mouth with anything! It hurts my ears to hear her screaming all the time!" snapped Aresh emotionally.

It was unknown why the young man had been feeling angry all the time. Nothing had provoked his emotions. It was strange why just hearing Calista's constant screaming made him so emotional and uncontrollable. So far, none of them had ever heard Aresh scream or yell, except when they were dealing with demons. But there was no telling why this was different.

"Calista, please be quiet and calm down! You don't want to be thrown out of this car, do you?" Asteria said with frightening emphasis to make Calista understand that the situation was tense. The girl shook her head quickly.

"If you don't want to be thrown out of this car, then shut up and calm down! Stop yelling as you did earlier! Your yelling is making my ears hurt, Calista!"

"But, I want to go home, Aster," Calista's voice was almost inaudible.

"Yes, I know! You're going home. We're all going home! But for a moment, let's go with Brother and the others first!" coaxed Asteria. The girl felt like she was coaxing a petulant child.

"But when?"

"Just be patient, Calista! I want to go home too! You need to calm down!"

"But I'm scared," she replied in a trembling voice.

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid of death! Someone wants to kill me, Aster," Calista said, leaving the girl beside her stunned. Aster turned to Cleo as if asking for an answer, but the young man shrugged.

"Who's going to kill you?" asked Asteria again. She was annoyed at Cleo's silence.

"That voice, Asteria! It's always haunting me! It's threatening to kill me."

"Relax, you'll be fine!"

Silence. No more chatter. The two girls spoke in low voices but could still be heard by the four young men. They were silent without any intention of asking or answering. However, their ears were sharp enough to hear the conversation. But still chose to remain silent in their thoughts.

Isn't it better that way? Focusing on driving and immediately arriving at their destination so that the curiosity that had been plaguing their hearts could be solved by the voice of Aresh, who would explain later.

They arrived at a simple house that had been their resting place all this time. Aresh got off first and was followed by the others. Calista's body shook violently when her long legs stepped on the ground in front of the house—not knowing why she suddenly felt cold and shivered violently.

"Calista, what's wrong with you?" Asteria asked worriedly. The four of them just stared without any intention of asking.

"Cold, scared." The two words that came from Calista's lips managed to confuse Asteria.

"Are you kidding me? It's not cold, Calista!"

"It's cold, Aster," she whispered again.

Calista felt utterly helpless; every bone in her body was aching. Her legs seemed unable to stand any longer, and she suddenly collapsed to the ground, much to Asteria's surprise.

"Calista! What are you doing!"

"It's cold, Aster! My whole body hurts!"

"Haha! I told you it wasn't! Go away!"

"You want to die, Calista! Leave now! Run!"

"No!" she shouted again.

"What are you doing? Watching? Go get that girl!" shouted Aresh, who was already at the entrance staring fiercely at all of them.

Eros and Cleo's eyes met as if they understood what Aresh wanted, while Damon had already stepped over to Aresh, who was about to enter the house. Cleo silently pulled Calista's hand, much to Asteria's displeasure.

"Brother, don't be rude!" Asteria shouted.

"You think your friend is not heavy? Huh? Even his strength seems to be stronger than ours!" said Cleo fiercely. 

"Impossible! Let me pull her!"

Asteria tried to lead and pull, but Calista didn't move from her spot. Cleo looked down on her favorite sister, and Eros immediately helped her to pull Calista into the house.

Strange, why does Calista's body feel so heavy? What's wrong with her, Asteria thought.

The girl was stunned for a moment and then glanced around, suddenly getting goosebumps. She quickened her pace by running a little because Brother and the others had already entered the house. Unbeknownst to them, there were several pairs of eyes staring at them with glares and mysterious smiles.

"They're meddling too much with this! I'll kill them all!"