20
After that day, I hadn’t seen Ton again.
He was absent from classes for over a week. I tried to contact him several times, but it was useless. Nobody knew where he was. If I had to guess, his strange sickness probably was too painful for him to go anywhere. I wanted to visit him, but I’d never known where he lived.
His disappearance was the worst thing happened to me.
I often sat in the library alone, trying to avoid everyone I knew. I didn’t see Bill wait for me in the university again. Max came to classes as normal. However, my instinct told me that I wasn’t safe if I stayed around him.
The mysterious calls became more frequent using different numbers. I tried to avoid answering the calls. I could feel that the monster was getting nearer than it used to be.
I started to get confused between the reality and the illusion, feeling that people walking on the street tried to hurt me. The real culprit still stalked me, but fear made everything in this world seemed terribly scary.
I tried to contact Ton. I intended to visit him, but when thinking about the mysterious man that kept stalking me, I gave up the plan. The culprit might choose to harm Ton when he was weak. What I should do was to lure the culprit away from him as far as possible.
Every day after classes, I would take all the photos related to my memory to look and find the answer. Was there a way to connect my memory together, unlock the hidden secret, and finally end this nightmare?
The more I thought about the false memories, the more I suffered from the fact that everything I knew was a lie. My thoughts broke into pieces from time to time. Various emotions thundered inside my mind. I saw letters written with blood, saw a body stabbed in the middle of the chest, and heard painful and sorrowful screams. Every time I had the strange condition, I told myself that I was still the person I had always been. No matter what inside my brain was a lie or not, I was still me.
Since Ton stared to be absent, I missed him almost all the time. It felt like something was missing in my life. Ton was the only friend who told me everything. He was the one that made my life now worthwhile, fading the scars that stuck deep.
But now I felt something wrong that I couldn’t put into words. It was an unreasonable fear.
I felt like I wouldn’t be able to meet him again…
I was in the library, as usual, trying to connect the messages I wrote with the photos I had in my hand.
I tried to write every message I could think of on a blank paper, but this time, not a useful word appeared. I sighed from tiredness, confusing with what was going on now.
There were three possible culprits: Max, Bill, and Ton. I wrote the reasons that might make them the murderer with an uncomfortable feeling. Each of them had shared some good memories with me. I didn’t want to suspect any of them.
I wrote the reason that Ton might be the murderer first. Ton was the only person knew everything happened to me, but I couldn’t think of any motivation he might had to harm me.
And Bill… Bill was a violent man. We used to argue a lot. The most important thing was about what he talked with his friend in that old house. Everything seemed reasonable. Bill might have a case that he wanted to hide. He involved with much illegal stuff. Bill had the heaviest risk if I knew the truth. If this was the case, then why did he keep following me? Threatening me made him more at risk with the police. Another thing that I didn’t understand was why he’d changed his approach. He used to threaten me openly but now he tried to cover himself.
Max was the least, and at the same time, the most suspicious person. He used to live in the same neighborhood with me and had more chances to harm me. However, I didn’t understand his motivation. Max didn’t have a reason to hurt me. He was close to me, so he had more risks. If something unusual happened, the neighbors would immediately realize that something was wrong. He might use my trust to get close and harm me, but that would definitely bad for him. I didn’t think that he would miss this point.
Max was suspicious in many ways. The image he drew that day and the illusion of the young Max I saw during the time I was checking the old house were good examples. Max might have something to do with the truth, but what was that?
While I was writing the murderer’s motivations, I heard a familiar voice called me from the next table. My hair rose from the shock.
“D- D- Dream,” Max called me with a smile. “L- l- long times no see.”
I looked up and gave him a forced smile.
Max left his table and sat on a chair opposite my seat. He placed his hands on the lap, having both arms close at his sides.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“J- j- just thinking that we haven’t met so long.” He laughed lightly. “W- w- what are you doing, Dream?”
“Nothing.” I put the paper away in my bag swiftly while looking at the watch. “Umm… I have a class this afternoon. I have to go now.”
While I was about to leave, Max snatched my wrist. He squeezed it tightly with a smile.
“T- t- today your faculty doesn’t have a class in the afternoon.” The force on my wrist made me weak. The fear of men rose inside me again.
I had never be scared of Max like this before. What had happened to him?
“I- i- if you’re free, w- w- why don’t we go find something to eat together?”
“I- I’m not hungry.” I tried to pull my arm free, but it didn’t budge. Max was still smiling, but his eyes were full of hatred.
It was as I suspected. His actions were not normal.
I nodded in defeat. My muscles were out of energy. Max smiled and pulled his bag on his shoulder. He adjusted his vest a little before led me off the library.
He took me to the cafeteria and placed the bag on a table before turned to talk to me.
“Y- y- you go first.” He smiled. “I- I- I’ll reserve the seat here.”
I forced a smile before walked away. His action, his words, and his smile might look the same, but deep inside something had changed. His expression was cold as if his face was covered with an ice mask. His evil eyes told me that if I tried to run away, I would die.
Did Max really be the culprit?
I bought soda and turned back to the seat with chaotic thoughts. Max welcomed me back with a smile.
“D- d- don’t you eat something?” He asked.
“I’m… not hungry.”
He placed his bag on a side, took a sandwich from the bag, unwrapped it, and took a bite.
“Don’t you go to buy a meal?”
“Y- y- you don’t want one. I- I- I’ll skip one with you.”
“I’m… on a diet. You don’t have to follow suit.”
“I- it’s fine.”
We sat in silent for a moment. While I drank my soda, I noticed that Max sneaked a peak at me from time to time. This was the first time I scared of Max as an opposite sex. The atmosphere around him reminded me of the killing intent the culprit exuded when he chased me.
Max could be the real culprit.
After a long silence, Max finally spoke.
“I- I- I haven’t seen Ton recently. W- w- where does he go?”
“I don’t know.” I tried to act normal. “He didn’t tell me anything before he’s absent.”
“I- i- is that so?” He said. “T- t- that’s a shame.”
He bit down the whole sandwich, munched roughly, and swallowed it down.
“Y- y- you seem very close to Ton.” He said. I could see immediately that he was upset. “I- I- I see you leave the university with him every day.”
“It’s not like that.” He observed me that much? What else did he know?
He took a water bottle from his bag and drank in irritation.
“Sometimes, I want to…” He said. His stutter simply disappeared.
I backed away before realizing. My instinct was screaming inside my mind.
Something was about to happened.
Max’s eyes opened wide. He mumbled something to himself. His lips moved rapidly. His breaths apparently became shorter and faster. His mumble became gradually louder and more aggressive. I grabbed my bag. My ankles were tense. I was ready to run away.
“W- w- want… Want. Want. Want. Want. Want.” His eyes slowly moved up. His hands squeezed the water bottle tightly.
I slowly stepped back. My lips were trembling with fear.
When we were young, Max would always listen to me and comfort me when I fought with Dad. Every time the darkness covered my life, Max was the one who pulled me out.
However, Max now… No, the man in front of me was no longer Max I used to know.
Suddenly, he squeezed the plastic bottle hard. The sound of pressing plastic rang the air. Water dripped from the tearing on the translucent plastic before sprayed out as if it was a broken pipe.
People around us stared in shock. I bolted out, avoiding the rain of hatred. Max panted. His face was as red as a ripe tomato. He looked at me with fogged eyes, but the emotions that clouded his vision disappeared in a short period.
Max was back to normal.
Max ran over me with worry. He tried to give me some space to make me feel safe.
“A- a- are you alright?” He asked.
“It’s okay.” I shook my head. “Thanks for asking but I have to go now.”
I walked away without waiting for a reply. While I was about to leave the university’s gate, I looked back at the cafeteria’s entrance. A skinny man was looking at me with sad eyes. I saw him waved goodbye before turning the corner.
The sky was getting dark. The thunder was screaming throughout the sky. I ran into the shortcut, trying to speed up my steps. Both eyes looked straight. I wanted to get home as fast as possible. It was the only place in this world that could make me feel safe.
Droplets showered. Some hit the ground directly. Some were swept away by the wind. Dried leaves flew into the air then fell back down. The dried leaves reminded me of the first time I’d lost someone in my life. When my grandmother passed away, I could only hold her hand and looked out the window. A dark leaf fluttered on a branch. It seemed like it was ready to fall at any second. The second my grandmother slept forever, the leaf dropped.
Since then, dried leaves became the symbol of death for me.
I ran through a crossroad and turned right into an alley. If I passed another road with a phone booth on the corner, I would arrive home safely.
I ran with everything I had, rushing forward as if trying to run after something. I saw an invisible finished line in front of me, extending my arm to grab on the freedom that didn't exist.
When I was running past the phone booth, my body froze out of a sudden. A cold feeling ran throughout my nerves. The atmosphere became gloomy. The wet smell turned into the metal smell of blood. The cold wind swept the dried leaves to stop in front of me. The wind sounded like a scream from people who were gone forever.
I heard a whistle sound from behind. The phone in my pocket vibrated violently. The chaotic mind immediately went blank. As if I was on strings, I took out the phone to receive the call.
A loud pant was on the other end. I heard the sound of a footstep and the whistle getting nearer. Coldness ran deep through my bones. The depth of my mind was screaming in fear.
Warm breaths touched my nape. A black shadow stopped behind me. A wraps voice of the monster was heard both from the phone and as the whisper that rang my mind.
“I’m now right behind you…”