At the party the students who were present ate, drank and danced.
It's a birthday party of one of the rich kids in the school, his father is a big shot.
The birthday boy walked over to where Emily sat. "Hey Emily, where's your friend?" He asked.
"Which one of them? I have many friends." Emily replied gently sipping her drink.
Derek stared at her for a while and smiled before answering, "Alicia, am talking of Alicia.
"Oh, she has tests so she could not attend." Emily replied.
"She loves to read, I wish she would just unwind and have fun sometimes." Derek said as he took a seat next to her and waved over one of the waiters and took a drink from the tray. Only juice was allowed, no intoxicating drinks since the party was held within the school campus.
Emily didn't reply, she twirled the cup in her hand and took occasional sips.
They say in silence each lost in their own thoughts as the music continued to play and other students were dancing.
"Would you like to dance?" Derek asked after mustering up courage.
"Sure, why not." Emily replied, dropped her drink and placed her hand on Derek's outstretched hands.
He lead her to the dance floor and the began to sway their bodies to the rhythm of the song. Emily danced elegantly and carefully, not staying too close and not being overly distant at the same time.
Derek also gentlemanly, didn't get too close.
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Meanwhile
Alicia fell with a thud to the ground. She groaned as she lifted herself up and dusted her body, she looked around and couldn't see anything familiar, the book was also on the floor and she picked it up and dusted it.
This wasn't the library.
"Where am I?" She asked herself in a whisper.
She saw scanty trees and the ground was all sand, it looked so desert like but deserts don't have trees.
She suddenly heard noises and decided to follow the direction of the noise.
She kept on walking and it seems like the sound kept on moving further away. She finally got to a tarred road similar to the ones in the city. The sound got louder and she continued to walk.
Alicia walked for another ten minutes before finally arriving at the gate of a large city.
"So beautiful." Alicia whispered as she looked ahead, the houses there looked as if they were made of glass and everything shone like diamonds.
The name was boldly written at the top of the gates. It was "Qasira". Alicia had never heard of such in her life before, she reached down to her pocket and tried to search for it on her phone then suddenly remembered that her phone was in her bag back at the library.
She hissed in frustration, she decided to walk in.
"There must be a nearby cafe somewhere." She thought to herself.
As she walked people stared at her strangely, the people here are astonishingly beautiful, the women are tall and curvy and the men were taller and handsome. The women dressed in bold and revealing dresses. She saw a lady who looked like she is about Alicia's age, she stood near a stall selling bangles.
Alicia walked towards her and said, "hi."
"Hey." The lady responded in a strange English accent, up close the girl was much more beautiful, a pointed nose, dark eyes, dark skin and long black and wavy hair that reached all the way to her waist. She also dressed in revealing clothes, a short tight fitting gown that exposed her cleavage and showed her beautiful curves.
"I am lost, I don't even know what this place is. Can you please help me?" Alicia pleaded desperately.
"How did you get here." The girl asked looking at the white skinned girl in front of her. Standing there she was already looking different from the others which drew a lot of attention from passers by.
"I don't know, I was in the library...." Alicia recounted her experience and the girl's eyes widened in shock.
She stared at Alicia for what seemed like hours before finally saying.
"Come with me."
"To where? Where do you want to take me?" Alicia asked her voice shook a little. She didn't know this place nor did she know the people. How could she just follow her like that without knowing who she was?
"Trust me, I'll take you to someone who can help. I am in no position to help you find your way." The girl replied in that same strange accent, though it is very pleasant to the ears.
"What is your name?" Alicia asked.
"I am Tazamun."
Tazamun, it sounded really strange to Alicia who had never heard of such a name before.
"Fine let's go." Alicia finally relented. In a strange city not knowing how she got there, she was definitely and genuinely afraid.
"This way, come with me." She said and started to walk with Alicia following closely behind her.
She walked up to a car opened the driver's side and entered and waited for Alicia to enter. Alicia looked at the black sedan in front of her, this wasn't an ordinary car only the elite in the society could afford cars like this. So how could a young girl selling bangles possibly afford something like this, it felt surreal. She hesitated for a while more before finally entering.
The girl started driving at a surprisingly fast speed, as they drove on Alicia saw more exotic cars on the road, this car looked cheap in the presence of the other cars on the road.
This city looked so beautiful yet strange at the same time, everything was decorated in expensive minerals, there wasn't a single sign of poverty. Alicia thought places like these only existed in her dreams.
The car was awkwardly silent until Tazamun broke the silence.
"What is your name?" She asked not taking her eyes of the road for a moment.
"Alicia."
"You're very beautiful." Tazamun said smiling.
"That coming from someone like you feels like an insult." Alicia replied.
"What do you mean?" Tazamun asked genuinely surprised.
Alicia saw that Tazamun misunderstood her and quickly said, "I mean look how beautiful, exotic and sexy you are, compared to someone like me am just plain." She explained.
Tazamun understood what Alicia meant and laughed lightly.
"No seriously you are very beautiful." Tazamun said again.
"Thank you." Alicia replied and the rest of the ride was silent.
Tazamun finally came to a stop in front of a very old shady looking building, the first Alicia had seen since she walked into this city.
They both stepped out of the car and walked towards the house.
As they climbed on the stairs that led to the balcony, the wood beneath them creaked a little. The balcony had different flowers adorning it and it looked beautiful.
Tazamun knocked on the door and a hoarse, croaking voice said they should come in.
The voice sounded terrible, but the ferocity of the voice made Alicia flinch.
Tazamun pushed open the door and stepped in, Alicia followed, the inside of the house looked as tidy and neat as the outside.
It was scantily furnished and she could smell a delicious aroma coming from the direction of the kitchen.
Alicia looked around the house trying to take in everything she saw.
"Well, well. Who do we have here?" The same croaking voice asked and Alicia turned around to see the owner of that voice.