Friday night, 9:30 pm. Me and my coworkers went out to get drinks. Well, THEY went to get drinks. There were six of us. I ended up sitting by the outer side of the table so I can order for them. I had no choice in the matter... Despite wanting to go home to my apartment, I had to be there. It was my celebration after all. It had been a month since I started working again. The past couple of years had been very rough for me. Thankfully, my family was there to support me until I was able to stand on my own feet again. I got to make it up to them whenever I can.
During those dark times, taking care of my nieces and nephew was what kept me sane and hopeful. I guess seeing their innocent faces partnered with wanting to be a reliable uncle for them gave me a goal to work on even though if it was vague.
"Sir? Excuse me, sir?"
I was sent back to reality. It was the waitress, though she wasn't talking to me but to my coworker in front of me who was already drunk. I guess having my face buried on my hands while daydreaming made it seem like I was already down for the count. It doesn't seem like my coworkers are noticing her too.
"U-um, excuse me?" She said dejected.
Poor girl! I get it. It's awkward trying to get someone's attention but they just ignore you. More so when there's somebody (me) witnessing it. I guess I'll put her out of her misery.
"Yes, miss?" I said as I abruptly pulled my face off my hands.
"What the-!"
It seems I frightened her. Thankfully, we were the only customers left so we weren't bothering anybody else. Wait. Does this mean we're getting kicked out? I guess it is getting late. I want to go home soon so I hope we do.
"Oh! Um, I'm very sorry but the kitchen is closing down soon. Is there anything else you want to order?" If the kitchen is already closing down then we'd been here for hours. Hmm. Maybe I can convince my coworkers to end this celebration early.
"Hey guys, it seems the kitchen is closing soon. I think we should get going". Ever since we got here hours ago, I noticed that these guys tend to drink while eating food. I guess it was better that way, not that I would know since I don't drink.
"Huh? Oh. I guess it's getting late now, huh." My coworker's speech was slurred but it finally seems like we're about to go home.
I motioned to the waitress for our bill while my coworkers start chugging the last of their beers.
After we paid and left, I just need to send these guys off and I can finally go home.
"Should I call for a taxi?"
"Taxi? What for?"
Seriously? They still haven't had enough?
"We're going to the bar near the station". As he said this, the thought of sleeping in bed had become so distant...
Wait. Bar near the station? If I remember correctly, that place is owned by an acquaintance. Maybe I can slip away once we get there and they’ll be the bar's problem. I don't want to push that responsibility on them but I really want to go home now. It's been a long week and tomorrow is my niece's birthday as well.
That was when I felt a vibration in my pocket. It was my phone. Speak of the devil... or angel I guess. It was my niece, Rin and she sent me a message.
"Where are you?" Weird. She usually uses a bunch of emojis whenever she's messaging someone but either way, thank God she messaged me.
"Went out with friends from work. On my way home now", I happily typed since now, I have a legitimate reason to ditch these guys.
"I'm really sorry guys, there's someone waiting back home for me and I really need to go." The way I said that made it seem like my wife had texted me.
They stared at me for a couple of seconds as if what I just said was a lie.
"Oh, sorry! We didn't mean to keep you late. You should've just said so." Finally! I can go home! Is what I would like to say but them being drunk had me worried.
"Should I take you to the bar first? You guys look like-" I got cut off by one of them.
"Don't worry about us! You shouldn't keep the missus waiting". I blanked out for a moment. I really wish that was the case.
I broke out of my trance when I felt my phone vibrate once more. Must be Rin again. I bowed and bid my coworkers goodbye.
My apartment wasn't that far away from the bar. It only took 15 minutes or so on foot to get back. While walking, I checked my phone for the message earlier. It was Rin who messaged me. This time, she just said "hurry". This one felt ominous. Something must have happened today. Maybe her boyfriend broke up with her? Wait. Does she even have one? Either way, I guess I'll find out soon enough.
"On the way back. What's up? Do you want anything from the store?" I instantly get a reply to this. "Just hurry". I then replied with an "Ok" so she knows I read it. Hmm. Maybe she had planned her own surprise congratulatory party for me but since I was taking too long, she had just gone and messaged me instead. She must be upset then. I'll just hurry back home.
I got back by 9:55 pm. With a loud 'ting' sound, the elevator door opened. I always hated that sound 'cause I hear it inside my apartment. Room 401, it was just next to the elevator. Pretty convenient, if I do say so myself. I grabbed the key from my bag and opened the door only to be met with cold, looming darkness. It was an unsettling sight to me. When I moved here, Rin wanted to live with me since her school was nearby but I knew that she was still worried for me. When I get home, the lights are usually turned on and she'd greet me with a smile on her face.
"Weird" I whispered to myself. Her shoes wasn’t in the entrance. I went inside and locked the door then called out for her.
"Rin! Where are you!" I shouted.
I heard scuttling in my bedroom. That's probably her but the sound of footsteps suggests that there's two people in there. Could it be?! The thoughts that instantly went into my head were wild. Rin wanted me to hurry home after all. Maybe she brought a "friend" home to study and this "friend" got the wrong idea. Nonetheless, this guy is dead!
As I made my way towards the bedroom, I start hearing whispers. Before I could even get to the front of the door, it had already burst open. There were two people in front of me. The one in front has a familiar long jet-black hair with glasses over her blue droopy eyes. It was my niece, Rin. She had a panicked look on her face. Then there was the person behind her. A girl with shoulder-length brown hair and wide green eyes. She had the same look as Rin and was clutching her left arm tightly. After a moment, that panicked look on their faces changed to relief.
"You're late! We were so scared!" Rin broke out to a short sprint that it pulled the other girl forward before she finally let go of her arm.
She hugged me tight. It wasn't the kind of hug that screams I miss you but more of a relieved type of hug as if a huge burden had been lifted upon her. That concerned me. They seem to be scared of something so I have to make sure to reassure them.
"It's alright now. I'm home. What happened?" I said in a serious tone while I patted her head.
Rin slowly let go and made her way towards the bed. She sat and her friend followed suit. I stood in front of them, arms crossed, not really knowing how I should compose myself in situations like these. She told me everything that happened earlier while her friend would interject here and there, filling in the holes in the information being given.
What happened was they went out to karaoke with friends after school. A man kept on talking to them whenever they went out to the restroom. As their group split on the way home, the friend, who I’ll refer to as friend A, quietly told Rin that the creepy guy from the karaoke place was following them. Panicked, they took detours here and there to lose the guy but he just kept on popping up a good distance behind them. They even told a passing police officer about it but sadly, they were just dismissed, telling them that it could just be a coincidence. Damn police.
Soon, nighttime was approaching, and they have to get somewhere secure. Friend A’s house was at least twenty minutes away from here but apparently, her parents are currently out of town celebrating their anniversary so she’d be all alone. Rin suggested to go here so for the last time, they took a detour and when they felt that they've lost the guy, they made a dash towards the apartment complex. For safe measure, they took the stairs instead of the elevator which I think was genius. Had the guy managed to follow them all the way here, the last thing they want is to tell him what floor they were staying on.
Once they’re in my apartment, they didn’t bother turning on the lights, which explains the sad sight I saw when I arrived. They then locked themselves inside my bedroom. After finally getting a breather and feeling safe, they both end up collapsing from exhaustion on my bed until they’re awaken by a knocking on the door. Unsure of who it may be, Rin sent me a message.
When she told me that, my mind started racing, remembering Rin’s message to me earlier. The knocking obviously wasn’t me so could it have been the creepy guy? Or maybe one of the neighbors? Ms. Kobayashi from Room 402 usually borrows a lot of stuff from me after all.
I should look into this as soon as possible. The creepy guy could still be in the premises after all. As I was about to go check on the neighbors, I hear faint sobbing in front of me. Rin and Friend A started crying. That’s right. They just had a traumatic event happened to them. I’m so stupid. Didn’t I just said that I have to reassure them?
I went down on one knee and hugged the both of them. Telling them that it’s going to be fine now and that they have nothing to worry about. They started sobbing uncontrollably with Friend A clutching my left shoulder. This girl must be in their school’s basketball team or something. Her grip is way too strong! On the other side, there is my niece, Rin who is saying something along the lines of “Waaweewoowaa!”.
We stayed there for a while until the both of them calmed down. With Friend A’s parents being out of town, I officially let her stay the night for her safety and also peace of mind. Rin’s bed is too small for two people though and I don’t have an extra mattress so I’ll have them take my room and I’ll sleep on the sofa.
“You two can sleep here. I doubt both of you can fit in your room”.
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The both of them, still with tears on their eyes, gave me a nod.
As I stood up to get everything prepped, I hear a rumbling sound. It once again came from both girls. It was their stomachs. They were both hungry. It made sense though. They’ve been here for a while without eating anything. Rin started scratching her head while Friend A’s face was beet red. It was now 10:30 pm. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything left in my fridge since I had planned to buy food tomorrow. I guess we’ll order then.
“Do you guys want pizza or something?” It’s probably on the heavier side but honestly, with all the information I just took, all the stress that came with it, I started to get hungry too.
“Sure, but can you also get fries? I started to crave it.” This girl…
“You’ll get fat, you know.” Saying this line usually makes her reconsider.
“Once in a while is fine, right?” She looked at Friend A, trying to see if she agrees with her but she just gave her a weary smile. I just knew Friend A would be on my side!
Me and Friend A ended up making eye contact. She blushed a bit and said, almost mumbling, “I’m fine with anything, mister.” Mister, huh. It was formal but I guess this is our first time meeting each other.
“Alright. So pizza and fries then. In the meantime, you two should take a bath.” They were both wet with sweat and tears. That’s doesn’t seem comfortable at all.
“Okay!” They replied.
With all that said, I went out of the room and ordered on my phone. Waiting time was 12 minutes. Luckily, the place I ordered at was near and still open. “Now then!” I thought to myself. What should I do? Honestly, I can’t take my mind away from what I’ve just been told, especially the knocking that they’ve heard. It could’ve been my neighbor but I can’t be too sure. With that in mind, I went out of my apartment, locked the door and went to my neighbors at room 402.
My neighbor, Ms. Kobayashi is a 20 year old college student who's taking the "broke uni student" image too seriously. I once caught a glimpse of her apartment when I brought her homemade food from when I was new here and it was as barren as a desert. She seems to have a part-time job though so I have no idea why she doesn't get any furniture. Anyways, I shouldn't judge her too much. I was kind of like that too when I went to uni although I wasn't as broke as her.
I must've rang her doorbell for about 4 times before I got a response. A bespectacled young woman in pajamas answered the door looking very annoyed. Crap, I forgot about the time.
“H-hey neighbor! Lovely evening we’re having!” What the hell am I saying?! I’ll just end up pissing her off.
“Hey…. It’s the middle of the night, you know?” Her face still suggest she’s annoyed being woken up. I need to get to the point quickly.
“Sorry for bothering you so late. I just wanted to ask if you went by my room earlier?”
“Oh, right! I wanted to borrow your pan earlier!” the tired, annoyed look on her face suddenly shifted to a more energetic look.
“I-I see…” So it was her then? That means the guy didn’t follow them here.
“I ended up buying good quality meat on a discount on the way home from uni earlier so I thought I could borrow your pan but there was nobody home.”
“Huh? Around what time was that?”
“I think it was around 6 pm.”
Crap! Rin said they heard knocking around the time she messaged me so this was a different thing entirely. Just who was it? Maybe I should try asking the others? No. It’s late at night so they might not be as welcoming as miss Kobayashi here. I’ll try asking them tomorrow then. For now, I should go ask the doorman downstairs if he’d seen anything.
“I see. Sorry about that! I was out all night with my coworkers, you see. I’ll lend you the pan tomorrow then.”
“Really?! You’ve been so kind to me, I’ll make sure to pay you back in some way later!” She said as she flashed a smile.
I apologized one last time and said our goodnights and with that, I made my way to the ground floor of the apartment complex.
There wasn’t much there at this time of day. Usually there’s at least a couple of people hanging out at the lounge area but at this late at night, even the doorman couldn’t be seen anywhere. They’re either wandering the complex doing their rounds or they’re asleep somewhere. Looks like I’ll have to ask them tomorrow as well.
I felt a vibration on my pocket go off. It was my phone. Apparently, the order I set earlier was on it’s way here. That was fast, I thought, but then I realize that 10 minutes had gone by since I went out of my room. Guess I’ll wait for the food here.
A couple more minutes gone by and I heard a motorbike park outside. It’s probably the delivery guy. I went out to meet him. He looked around his early forties, with fair skin and brown hair. As he was getting my food out of his bag, we engaged in small talk. He said that this was his last delivery for the day and decided to take it since it was on his way home.
“It seems you had a long day, huh.” I said
“Yeah, I did! But you look like you had one too.” He responded, slightly chuckling as he said it.
Crap. I really need to work on my poker face more. I guess it’s fine now since this guy is a stranger but what if Rin sees me like this. I have to keep it together so I don’t worry her.
“Yeah, I guess..."
"Is something the matter?" He asks.
"Well, it seems my niece and her friend were being stalked earlier." I really shouldn't be telling him this but I guess it's fine. He's just a stranger .
“That sounds terrible! Did you call the police?”
“It seems my niece told them earlier but they didn’t believe her.”
"Well, I hope everything works out for you.” And with that, our not so small talk ended. He hands me my food, a box of pizza and a paper bag which should have the fries.
I said my thanks and I left to go back to my room. I put down the food at the table and called out for Rin and Friend A. They came out of the bedroom having just finished taking a bath. Rin went directly to get the paper bag for her fries but as she looked into it, she let out an annoyed groan.
“Uncle, there’s no fries here! It’s just a bunch of ketchup packets!”
“WHAT?!” I forgot to check it earlier but I was pretty sure that it had fries in it though I didn’t really look inside.
“Sorry kiddo, I forgot to check earlier.”
"B-but... my fries!" She's acting so childish that even Friend A is feeling awkward.
"C'mon now. I promise I'll get you some tomorrow."
"Mmm~... fine." With a deep sigh of resignation, she lets it go. Friend A pats her on the head and says, "At least you won't gain weight!". We laughed except for Rin. I really promise I'll get her those fries tomorrow!
With all that said, we ate the pizza. I don't think it even lasted five minutes after I opened the box. We pretty much devoured it. We were really hungry.
I ate so much pizza (4 slices) that I was left drowsy on the kitchen chair slouching, yet it felt like bliss. I closed my eyes, recollecting the events of today. It was stressful but also have its fun moments. Like going out with my coworkers and eating pizza with my niece and her friend at the dead of night. I’m so glad that I’m able to experience these kinds of things again. I’m so glad that I’m able to move forward again.
Having had my moment slouching on the kitchen chair with my eyes closed, I felt a hand on my shoulder shaking me.
“Uncle, you should brush your teeth first before you go to sleep,” Rin said. I wasn’t really sleeping though, but I can understand how she would think so.
“Okay.” With that, I made my way to the bathroom which is inside my room. I opted for a quick shower so I turned on the shower whilst brushing my teeth. It was a quick way to do two things at once while also conserving water. Years from now, they will surely sing praises about how I saved humanity from preventing a drought, all because I showered and brushed my teeth at the same time.
Still in the bathroom, struggling to put on my sleepwear, I heard a distinct ‘ting’ sound from outside. “There’s still someone coming up to this floor at this hour?” I thought. I went out the bathroom feeling refreshed and ready to sleep.
The girls were in the living room, chatting, waiting for me to get finished. We said our goodnights and I made my way to the couch to sleep. Unfortunately, I was stopped by a knocking on the door. Strange. It was almost midnight.
I cautiously made my way towards the door. The knocking continued, getting louder with each bang on the door. Then the person on the other side of the door spoke.
“Is anyone home?” It was a deep, eerie voice that I’ve never heard before.
“I'm from the pizza place… I have your fries.” Huh? The guy from earlier didn’t even sound like this guy at all!
This was when I heard a bloodcurdling scream behind me. “It’s him! It’s him!” Friend A cowered in fear.
“Uncle, what do we do?” asked Rin. I need to get them to safety first.
“Lock yourselves in the bedroom and call the police! I’ll take care of this bastard!” With that, Rin took her friend inside the bedroom, closed the door and locked it.
I looked ahead towards the doorway. How do I even handle this? First, I need something to defend myself with so I got the kitchen knife.
At this point, the man had moved from banging the door to ramming it with his body all the while screaming “I’m gonna get ’cha!” He was desperate to get inside.
I made my way to the door and pressed my body against it. This man is strong! Every time he rams his body against the door, I would bounce off of it. I don’t think the door would be able to handle anymore pressure from him. I need to buy time until the police arrives.
“We called the police! They’ll be here any minute!” I need to apprehend this man or at the very least, keep him on sight until the police gets here.
“Tch!” the banging stopped. “I’ll be back..” whispered the man through the door.
I can’t let him escape. I’m not going to let him terrorize us any longer. Clutching the kitchen knife tightly on my right hand, I opened the door violently. He was waiting for the elevator to go back up. “Oh no you don’t” I thought to myself.
I ran towards him, attempting to stab him in the stomach area to incapacitate him. It was a great plan I thought, but he also ran and met me halfway. The tip of the knife ended up hitting his belly but it didn’t penetrate. It still made him feel pain though as he gasped but it made him angry as he did a battlecry of some sort. He grabbed my arms in an attempt to steal the knife from me. I’m not going to let go!
We struggled. I tried to headbutt him but it did little to loosen his grip. With his larger frame, he pushed me towards the wall. The impact left me weak but I still clutched the knife, now pointing upwards. He’s trying to point the tip towards me and stab me with it. I can’t let him. If I lose now, then there’s no-one who can protect the girls from him.
Using the wall behind me as a support, I mustered all my strength left and pushed him off of me. He must’ve lost his footing because I was able to push him all the way to the railing. With his lower body hitting the railing, I pushed one last time around his chest. His body flipped over the railing however, he was still holding onto my arms.
“Oh shit-”
We both fell from the fourth floor of the apartment complex. I had closed my eyes out of habit. We were airborne for what felt like minutes. We fell and fell until-
WHAM!
I slowly opened my eyes. My body felt extremely weak but I can still move it a bit. I had landed on top of the man. He laid on the ground, eyes opened but lifeless.
It was over. I managed to protect the girls. How would I explain this to the authorities? I acted rash there but it was to protect my niece and her friend. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I tried to stand up using my arms to push me up but I felt a jolt of pain on my stomach. The pain was becoming unbearable fast. I looked down to my stomach and see the knife plunged deep, so much so that part of the handle is buried inside.
The realization hit me all over. I could barely move and I started coughing up blood.
“He..lp” My body felt so weak that my plead for help was silent. There wasn’t anyone around but surely, all that noise woke people up, right?
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die! I still have things that I want to do. I hear faint sounds of a siren, getting louder by the second. The bright lights blinds me, making me squint as they approached. Maybe it was relief that I started feeling because the pain slowly disappeared. On top of the blinding lights and the loud blaring sirens, I hear someone yelling from a distant. Yelling my name.
At the crescendo of everything that’s happening at the moment, the noise all came to a sudden halt and the bright lights have been replaced by nothingness.
“Ah. I’m dead.”