25
The music woke me up from the dream. Darkness covered the place.
I looked around confusingly. The orange glow shone from the room in the front. Someone’s shadow was moving on the wall. He was looking up, took a deep breath, and lifted both hands high, crushing the fingers on the shadow of a piano that was next to it.
The music resonated throughout the place. My eyes followed the sound. Up from where I was sitting was a wood frame of a dome ceiling. Behind me was an open space that could lead to downstairs. A large pile of metal bar was down there. A chair covered with brown stain was next to the pile.
Blood stain…
Suddenly, I regained my conscious. My body adjusted to the tune of fear. My heart was hitting my chest. My breath shorted. I tried to get up, but my wrists and ankles were tied down with a steel chain.
Where was I? How could I end up in this place?
The music thundered along with the violent emotions. The shadow on the wall performed even more viciously. The notes rang through my ears hastily. They were full of bitterness and confusion. This song frightened me strangely. It was the fear that held some familiarity in it.
I heard this song before.
Suddenly, the song stopped. The man’s shadow stood up. He stared at the wall for a while before walked to a corner of the room. The sound of metal hit the wooden floor was loud and clear. I knew immediately what was in the hand of that man.
He picked up a large hammer, lifted it on his shoulder then walked to the other side of the room and dragged something out. With every step he took closer to the door, the shadow on the wall grew bigger.
And that meant the death was creeping closer.
He left the room slowly. The wooden floor screamed in tune with his footsteps. The dark shadow became larger until it covered the whole room. He stopped by the door, staring at me with blank eyes before turned off the light in the room.
Only darkness was around me. I heard something dragged on the ground. Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to press myself with the wooden pole on my back.
Suddenly, every sound became silent as if the time had stopped. We were in the dark, hearing only the sound of the air in our ears. His shadow moved in the dark. I couldn’t know what he planned to do next.
He lifted his arms before threw something at me. That thing laid on me, coated with sticky fluid. It reeked of rotten smell. I shrieked and kicked myself away from it.
In the darkness and the utter silence, an orange glow was lit. A dark shadow covered his face. He moved closer, kicked that thing out of his way.
Light from the candle destroyed a part of the dark. The moment that that thing went away, I knew the truth that I’d sought for so long.
Eyes rotted. Mouth and nose were full of white worms. The body skin was bruised from the extremely harsh torture. The head was crashed. Bits of the brain was left dry in the skull. The body was degrading, permeating the area with the stench.
That was Bill’s corpse.
I turned to look at the culprit immediately. He smiled while moving the lantern close to his face. His cold eyes reflected the light as if it was the fire from the deepest abyss.
“Max… you…” I backed away. “You killed…”
“He knew too much.” Max turned to look back. “Can’t let him off.”
His stutter was completely disappeared as if he was a different person. The air surrounded him was chilling like ice flecks eating at flesh and bone. He turned back to me and smiled.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. I was scared, but now I didn’t have Ton with me. I had to be strong.
“You killed Ton.” I watched him fiercely. “Everything… was your doing.”
“Nonsense.” Max shrugged. “He didn’t die because he was crushed, did he?”
I bit my lips hard, refusing to accept the truth that was revealing in front of me. Max… the childhood friend who gave me hope when I was in troubles. That gentle young man was the same person who killed him.
Max killed Ton.
“Why don’t you have any wound?” I watched his head. His black hair was sleek. “I hit you rather hard.”
“You mean this?” He opened his vest. Around his right rib appeared many large and small bruises. “When you hit me, you didn’t even look.”
“A- and the hit wound on Bill’s head?” I tried to stay back.
“That wound?” Max looked at Bill’s dead body for a while before used the hammer to hit his head into pieces. “I did it. Think of it as a repayment for when he hit me.”
“Why do you do that?” My voice shook. Tear started to brim on my eyes.
“Why?” He smiled coldly, pressing the hammer on the corps leisurely. “Because he wanted to help you. He wanted you. Like when he went to see you at the University. He wanted you so much that he let himself hurt you. If I remember right, there was a rumor that he went to disturb you and Ton there.”
“Help me… what do you mean that Bill tried to help me?”
Max licked his lips. His eyes were full of lust. “When you escaped from the fun park, he tried to stop me from following you.” Max knocked the hammer with his hand. “So, I hit him, and hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, and hit! Hit until he was a mash. He tried to run and follow you even when he couldn’t remember what happened. It seems he loved you so much, huh? But he should know that you are mine.”
Max pushed the hammer on the floor. He leaned forward, placing his chin on his weaved hands.
“After he ran away from the police, I dragged him here.” His eyes moved around. “Before I killed him, I just think of something fun, so I tried to interrogate him. I wanted to know how much he loved you and he told me everything. You should have seen it.”
He laughed out loud, laughing in a voice so high that it was disturbing.
“Before he died, he cried and said that he was sorry he used to hurt you. He kept repeating that he didn’t want the relationship between you and him to be stuck like that. So, he hurt you badly, so bad that you almost die. He hit your head hard, but you can’t remember that. He had kept it a secret because he felt guilty and disappeared from your life for some times.” Max twisted the hammer playfully before continued. “He also said that he wanted to apologize to Ton and your father for what he had done. That’s quite pathetic, don’t you think?”
Finally, the truth was revealed. The words Bill said with his friend that day. The ambiguous words he said at my house. Because Bill forgot what had happened and still on the detention, he didn’t dare to go to the hospital. He wasn't aware of what he had done. The only thing he could remember at that was… me.
Even though Bill had done a lot of bad things, what he tried to do for me was genial. He purely loved me. This thought made me ashamed of myself that I couldn’t repay the love he gave me.
“His story should end here.” Max’s emotion changed abruptly. He seemed to enrage and disgust by what he’d said. “I think I’d warned you that you shouldn’t try to find the truth anymore but you haven’t obeyed. I’d offered that we should stop it and live peacefully together again but you… still…have… not… obeyed!”
He roared like a bloodlust beast. His expression switched back and forth between anger and sorrow.
“I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you!” The roar became a whisper. “I just want you to forget about that night. I just want us to start over. I just want to be with you…”
He waved the lantern around. The dim light allowed me to see thousands of white pieces that were put together on the board. The whiteboard was full of blood drawn paintings. I saw the image of someone tortured. The image of someone was killed with a knife. The image of someone cried. And the image of a clock with its arms pointing at midnight.
“I’ve drawn them for you.” A part of his face was smiling. “I’ve prepared everything to be like that night.”
Tear bathed my face. I shook my head, suppressing the scream in my throat. Max was the person who tried to hurt me that night. He had done so many disgusting things, but I didn’t want to hate him. I wanted everything to be just a nightmare.
“That time… why… you…”
“Why? Because I love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you so much that I can’t control myself but you refuse me. I can’t accept it. I can’t. I can’t… No. N- n- n- n- n- n-no. No! So, I… I….”
I lowered my head, shaking it lightly. I didn’t want to know the truth anymore.
“I- I- I played that song for you… I- I want you to look at me.” His words became stutter briefly before turned back to normal. “I know how much you love the piano. I’ve heard you play it every day. I- I- I just want to impress you. I want to show you that we’re similar.”
He looked up. His eyes moved around fast before screamed out as if his body and his mind didn’t belong to him anymore.
He pulled at his hair until it became messy and lifted the hammer above his head. His bloodshot eyes stared at me. That wasn’t the eyes of someone who was obsessed with love. It was the eyes of a murderer who was ready to end the life of his prey at any time.
“I don’t want to do this… I really don’t want to.” When his whisper ended, the deadly weapon swung down hard.
My body froze for a second. My instinct told me to step back, but I instead pushed myself forward, pushing him down when he lost his balance.
The hammer’s weight and my push caused him to sway toward the open space leading to downstairs. The collapse of the metal pile was loud. I hurriedly stepped back into the room to find a place to hide. Before I left the door, I looked at Bill to say thank you for the last time.
A brown piano stood in the room. I looked around to find somewhere to hide. Suddenly, I saw a metal cutting machine on the floor. Its blade was covered with rust but its sharpness still there.
I looked at it frighteningly. My mind drew dreadful images to remind me that while fear would help me to survive, courage was also important.
I headed to the machine without hesitation, pressing a button to start it. The blade spun in the speed that human’s eyes couldn’t comprehend. Rustic scrap flew in the air. I watched the spinning blade, seeing my arms and legs being cut off my body. Blood splurged as if a fountain in tune with my heartbeat. I shook my head to get rid of the bloody imagination before extended my hand forward.
When the chain touched the blade, it sparked. I stepped back a little, took a deep breath, and pressed the chain on the blade harder. The speed and the force caused my arms to sway. I had to control the blade well. Otherwise, it would be the end of me.
I pushed the chain on the blade harder, trying to control my arms to be still. The spark burnt my skin, but I couldn’t spare my concentration to anywhere else, not now.
The metal chain moved into the blade as if it was a melting butter. I tensed both arms with everything I got, pulling the string straight so that the blade would stay away from my wrist.
Three. Two. One…
The second the chain was cut, muddle thoughts ran through my mind. I let out a small shriek without realizing and threw myself out. I covered my face with both hands before I was aware that I was safe.
I looked around to make sure that Max didn’t catch up with me just yet then continued to get rid of the chain on my ankles.
Suddenly, I heard the air shift beside my ears. Blood immediately rushed to gather at the lower part of my body. I glanced to a side. The wooden floor was crashed until the fiber was shown. The tip of the hammer sunk in the ground firmly, waiting for its holder to swing it around again.
“Ah, miss.”
The wood crack sounded from behind. I turned around slowly. My muscles tensed. The image of crushed brain replayed in my mind. If Max hit slightly more on the right, that hammer must be stuck in my head now.
Max pulled the hammer of the floor before sneered at me. His face was soaked in blood. His left leg was twisted as if it didn’t belong to a human. However, I knew that nothing could stop him. Only my death would do.
I screamed before rushed off the room. What awaited me was the space that opened to downstairs. In the middle was a small wood bar that linked both sides of the wooden floor together. The moment Max swung the hammer at me, I threw myself into thin air and grabbed that bar tightly.
When I was about to drop myself to the ground below, Max hit the bar severely. I was shocked to let go of the bar and slid through the floor shortly before I could get up and kept running.
I ran to the front door, trying to pull it with everything I got. However, the lock was too strong for me to break it. I couldn’t break out of here by myself.
Max jumped downstairs with ease. He started to whistle some melody while knocking the ground rhythmically with the hammer. I hurriedly turn to the room on the side without knowing whether it was my escape or a dead end.
In the room stood a small closet and a double bed. The bed cover was full of spider web and dust. I racked my brain to use everything I saw to create a new escape route, but no matter how hard I thought, the possibility of my survival was zero.
The whistle moved near. I frantically looked around before decided to hide under the bed. Even though I was aware that I couldn’t escape, a human need something to depend on. It might be a useless attempt, but it made us feel safe.
Max walked slowly and stopped at the door, sweeping his eyes throughout the room to find his escaped prey. He looked slowly and checked the room carefully. I hold my breath to avoid attracting his attention and prayed for him to leave.
Max walked around the room for a while before stopped at the double bed. He stared at the wall before turned back.
The whistle became gradually faint along with the sound of the hammer.
I laid down on the floor a moment longer to be certain before slowly crawled off. I tried to move as light as possible. Max might be still around. I couldn’t afford to relax.
I tiptoed off the room while looking around. The wall downstairs covered with so many white pieces put together to serve as a long board. On that board, pictures of someone died in multiple ways took most of the space. Every picture drew with simple, like a baby’s drawing. That might be the ways Max thought up to kill me specifically.
I heard his footsteps from upstairs. This was the best chance to escape. I walked carefully to a large window on the right side. The exit was ten meters away from me, but I felt as if it was thousands of miles away.
My heart pumped blood throughout my body. Sweat slid down my back. I sped up my steps before dashed forward with everything I got. From the upstairs, Max definitely couldn’t catch up with me. This was the last moment of the nightmare. I gathered every ounce of my energy I had left to grab on the freedom in front of me.
The moonlight shone on my hands as if the outer world was trying to communicate with me. The chill wind of the night traced my golden hair. I was sure that the nightmare was about to end at this moment. I really believed that.
Or at least that was what I wanted to believe…
Suddenly, the ceiling crashed down. Wood spec and dust floated around the room. Within the floating dust was the monster that had been hunting me.
His whistle was like he tried to whisper into my ears that he would never stop until I died.
The hammer cut through the air fast. It hit right on my shoulder. I screamed from pain before crawled outside. Max followed slowly, licking his lips in lust.
I scrambled away from that building, while Max kept follow me leisurely. He was a hunter who was playing with his prey. For him, my torment was the seasoning that made the prey tasted better.
Max lifted the hammer high in the air before he hit my leg. The sound of cracking bone pierced throughout my body.
“You really don’t know how to give up.” He said before flipped me over to lie on my back. “Play time is up. You’re not a good girl at all, and I need to teach you properly again. I’ll tame you. You must follow my orders. You must love me. Y- y- you… you! Must love… m- m- me.”
Max straddled on me. He threw the hammer away, using his sharp nails to tear my cloth into pieces. I tried to resist, but his strength was far beyond something I could deal with.
Was this really the last moment of my life? Would my life really end like this?
Yes. I couldn’t escape. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t run away from him.
But I wouldn’t die like this… no way.
“Why…?” I asked in a small voice. “Why do you do this…?”
Max’s hands stopped from caressing my body. He looked at me with hesitation before replied.
“W- w- why? B- b- because I love y- y- you.”
“You think you do something like this…and you’ll get my love?”
“I- I- I…” Max stopped as if he was uncertain of his feeling. He started to scream before pulled at his hair roughly until they fell. I tried to escape when he lessened his hold, but my body suffered too many injuries to go anywhere far enough.
Max’s madness didn’t last long. He took deep breaths while arranged his hair neatly before pressed me to the ground. I stared at him, trying to force myself to withstand the fear that was trying to possess my mind.
“You think you can escape if you distract me?” He smiled. “Impossible. No way. You’re mine now. Mine. Only mine. Only mine. Only mine. Only mine. Only mine. Only mine. Only mine.”
He zipped downed my jeans before moved his face to that part. My body shook violently with fear, but I had to stay strong. It was the only way to remain myself.
I was still me.
“You… are mine… mine alone.” He said with the voice filled with lust while lifted himself up.
I gathered my strength to support myself. The broken bones in both legs pierced through the flesh. I gritted my teeth, using both arms to get up and rushed at him. While he was losing his balance, I delved into my pants and shouted.
“No… no way!” I screamed and took off the pocket knife. The sharp tip stabbed into the left part of Max’s chest, cutting off his major vain.
Max looked at his chest in shock. He stared at me with sorrowful eyes before fell down.
As soon as Max dropped, the moonlight shone at the large clock embedded at the top of the building. Its arms pointed at the number twelve, indicating that the new day had begun.
Suddenly, the images from my memory rushed through my mind, but they were too broken for me to understand.
The only thing I knew was that the truth wasn’t like what I had understood.
The last piece of the jigsaw I had been searching for wasn’t in the place I left.
Max was the last piece of this puzzle.
While I was deep in thought, I noticed the blade that broke off its handle. The blade that took Max’s life buried deep inside his body, leaving only specks of memory behind.
I looked at the dark sky. The moon might be half hidden behind the dark cloud, but its beauty never faded away.
It was like the memory of him. He might be unable to come back, but he would never go.
Ton… he protected me until the last second.