Chapter 8
1108 Words
I waited for a taxi outside the hospital. Several minutes had passed and not a single one passed by. Now that's weird. It's still 8:00 in the evening.
"Do you see him? Is he here?"
"I don't know but I can feel him. He's close."
"We need to hurry up. . . I can sense Va— around."
I almost stumbled on the ground when I heard people talking in my head.
"You okay, son?" asked the security guard who saw me did a drunken master dance.
"Yup, all good!" I gave him a smile that is as unsteady as my footing. Turning back around, the conversations in my head worsened. It felt as if the sound waves that enter my eardrums have been amplified by my neurons and is causing me to hear things I am not supposed to hear.
"The boy is—find him!"
"We've seen them, they will interfere!"
"You cannot let him escape!"
"We need to get to him first! Let's move, now!"
The words came all at once causing my head to ache. Each word that echoes inside are like rocks being smashed againts my skull. It went on until I could no longer take it. It felt like my brain was trying to free itself from my head. Yet the voices continued, even louder now.
I hailed an incoming cab while fighting the urge to throw up. I am already nauseous but I didn't want to get inside the hospital. Doctors will just tell me that they can't figure it out so I'd rather go home. The cab stopped right infront of me. I was about to open the door when someone called my name.
"Peter!"
I turned around to the person who took my attention.
"Jessy? Oh hi!" I tried to act casual despite my head wanting to break off. "What are you doing here?"
She stared to a direction left of us, across the road. She bit her lower lip, her blue eyes glancing around like a lost child looking for her mother. I turned to the direction she was staring. There was nothing in there but a closed Chinese Restaurant.
"Jessy, are you alright?"
"Yeah!" She turned to me but I still noticed her ocassional glancing towards other directions. "What are you doing here?"
I chuckled amidst the pain in my head. "I just asked you the same question."
"Oh, I'm sorry." She smiled unsteadily and shifted in her footing. "I. . . uh had some check-up. You?"
"Funny. I was here for the same thing."
Jessy wasn't staring at me anymore. She was looking straight into the restaurant again. My eyebrows met. Whatever it is that she's looking at probably isn't something good. The look on her face says it all.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. . ." She turned back to me and met my eyes. "So are you on your way home?"
"Yeah, I was just waiting for a cab."
I haven't noticed the cab wasn't there anymore. The driver must have thought that I wasn't getting in. Thank you so much Jessy!
"Great," Jessy said. "I'm also on my way home. I have a car. You can just can hitch a ride with me."
"Oh no, thank you. That's really wonderful. But. . . I couldn't."
It was just weird that she's offering me a ride. We weren't even close, we just met once.
"I insist," she said. Her attention shifted around again before gazing back at me. "I mean we live in the same neighboorhood and. . .well, I suppose we're already friends?"
I could no longer say no. Besides, taxicabs seemed to have evaded the place. I smiled. "I'm gonna owe you for this."
We walked into a black GranTurismo converible parked underneath an unfinished human overpass not far away from the hospital entrance.
"Nice car," I said.
She once again gazed behind us. And that was the only moment that I noticed her outfit. She was wearing a black leather turtleneck bodysuit, black boots and a long black trenchcoat. The get-up looked strangely familiar. I just don't remember where have I seen something like that.
"Get in."
"What?"
"Get in!"
There was force in her voice that sent me and my conciousness into the car where she followed immediately. The engine roared and she slammed the transmission, sending the car speeding out of the area.
"Are we in a hurry?" I asked, shocked by the instant movement of the car. I grabbed on the seatbelt and managed to put it on. This woman is acting really weird it made me wonder what's going on.
"I have to attend to a few errands. Hold on."
The car moved and the scenery outside the window turned into a blurry pattern of lights and lines. I had to hold onto the car door to keep myself from throwing up. Jessy's driving has heightened my headache. She came into a quick, full curve to a more suburban zone where she started to decrease our speed. Her eyes kept glancing at the rearview mirror as if spotting on someone that's following us. I must admit. Her weird gestures made me curious.
My breathing steadied when Jessy swerved into a silent street towered by a huge pine tree. I glanced down at my wrist to check the time and my forehead crumpled.
"What's wrong?" she asked. She slowed down the car as we entered Brentdale, our small suburban neighborhood.
"Nothing," I replied. "My watch had stopped." I showed her the silver piece of jewelry.
"Maybe it's battery needs to be changed," she replied, not turning around to see it.
"I don't think so. I just bought this last week."
She didn't replied as we passed the basketball court where a night time janitor was doing the final touch of his cleaning routine. Jessy stopped the car infront of our gate. But before I could take off the seatbelt, she talked.
"Pete, do you believe in the supernatural?"
I stared at her, my headache had miraculously disappeared. "Like ghosts and mermaids?" I chuckled. But Jessy doesn't look like she's into something silly so I cleared my throat. "I don't know. Why'd you asked?"
"Nothing. . ." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Maybe you should just try not to wander too much at night."
"What do you mean?"
She stared at me, piercing me with the intensity of her eyes.
"This world is filled with evil. Many creatures creep through the night. Do take care, Peter. And don't let anyone get inside your home."
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To be continued. . .
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