An Absence of Colors

It's funny how sometimes people, no matter how long they look at their reflections, will look again before leaving. That's what Dmitri thought when he passed by a book store where a guy was casually checking his reflection on the huge display window. Dmitri was on his way home from the grocery store. It was late afternoon and the sky was dark. The pavement was wet from all the rain, creating puddles on the streets. There was a slight drizzle too. It was the rainy season in the Philippines. His parents decided to move to Cebu, the city where his mother was born, when he was five. They had businesses there and decided to live there permanently. Dmitri kept on walking up the hill to his home. Their neighborhood in Priveya was built on the hillside. He lived alone for most of his life. He was an only child and his parents were always travelling, either because of their jobs or if they just wanted to unwind. Dmitri of course, was always left behind. This started as early as when he was just ten years old. He was left to a different relative each time they left. At the age of thirteen, they didn't bother to leave him with their relatives. They just left him at home with some money and emergency phone numbers. Dmitri didn't complain, not once. It didn't get any better in school. He always found himself to be the odd one out. He's never been invited to parties nor did people hang out with him for long periods of time, except for one, at least. Even bullies tend to ignore him. When he got home, he went straight to the kitchen and made himself some dinner. It was August three and he was looking forward to tomorrow. He was turning eighteen and, for the first time in eight years, his family would be complete. On the morning of his eighteenth birthday, Dmitri woke up with a dull headache. He shrugged it off thinking that it'll just go away. His parents are flying home for his birthday. They were set to arrive by noon. Dmitri started cleaning the house to prepare for his guests' arrival. The only people coming to the celebration other than his parents are his uncle Danny and aunt Beth, the relatives who took him in the most when he was ten and his parents started travelling, and Brendan, his only friend. Brendan has been his classmate since they were in pre-school and was the only one who stuck with him throughout the years. He has been to Brendan's house often enough for Annie, Brendan's mother, to give him his own bed in Brendan's bedroom. Their house was, and always will be, open for him when he is home alone or needs company. They'd seen him suffer silently while his parents were absent. At eleven in the morning, Dmitri was almost done with preparing the house. He decorated the backyard and was just waiting for the food to be delivered. His parents decided to just order take-out from some restaurant since there were only six people coming and they also ordered a birthday cake. He didn't mind the lack of preparation nor the fact that no one bothered to cook something special for him. He didn't think too much of it as long as he wasn't alone on his eighteenth birthday. He took a shower after preparing everything. When he got out of the shower, he felt lightheaded. The dull headache he felt earlier seemed to have gotten worse. He was really unsteady that he had to lean on the walls for support when he was walking out of the bathroom. He sat down on his bed thinking that if he relaxed for a bit, everything would get better. But he was wrong. The moment he sat down, the voices started coming. At first, the voices were incoherent. It was like the chatter of people at a party. Dmitri stood up and checked outside thinking that there may be a group of people just passing by, or maybe he was just looking for any sensible reason why he's hearing the voices. He looked through the windows and saw no one. The streets were deserted. Most of the homeowners in Priveya leave and spend their summer vacation overseas and even if the homeowners are at home, they rarely go out on the streets. The whispers kept on coming. It was as if there was a gathering in their house. Then, he realized that there WAS a gathering today. The clothes he planned on wearing were already laid out on his bed. It was a maroon collared shirt and khaki pants. He quickly put them on and went downstairs. He checked every room that he could, thinking that his parents might have arrived without him noticing. But all of the rooms were empty. He kept shaking his head as if, in doing so, could help with the whispers. He clamped his hands on both ears while walking around. "This is it. I'm going crazy", he thought. He kept walking around the house with his hands on his ears while doing some last-minute checks. When he was sure that everything was prepared, he walked upstairs and back to his room. He was walking down the hall when something caught his eye. There was a floor to ceiling mirror in one of the walls. When he passed by the mirror, he saw something strange. He went back to confirm what he saw. At first, his reflection seemed to be, well, normal. He checked his entire reflection, thinking that it might have been just the trick of the light. He decided to check the mirror one last time before continuing to walk towards his room. That's when he saw a black figure on the reflection. It was standing behind him. He couldn't make out what it was. His gaze was fixed on the black figure behind him, trying to figure out what it was. He was about to turn around to look at it face to face when all of a sudden, it leapt out to attack him from behind. Dmitri ducked out of the way and ran to the nearest door that he could find. He opened it and ran inside, closing the door shut behind him. He was panting heavily and saw dark spots in his vision. It was like a jump scare that he saw on prank videos, only that it had a real, life-threatening feeling. "What was that?", he thought. He was listening intently for footsteps, but there were none. After a couple of minutes, the adrenaline from the events earlier is starting to fade. His breathing is slowly going back to normal. Only now did he realize that he's in the guest bathroom. It was a small bathroom with white tiles lining the floors and half the walls. They didn't have a lot of guests and he had his own bathroom in his room. The guest bathroom had a thin layer of dust on every surface. The mirror by the sink was dirty and the sink had cobwebs in it. He found the switch and turned the light on. It was dim. The light bulb was flickering. It wasn't changed for a long time. The room didn't have any windows, so the light bulb was his only source of light. The tap was rusted from years of not being used. Dmitri tried to turn on the faucet. It didn't budge at first, but after a couple of seconds, he was able to free it from the rusted screws inside and water came out. The water from the rusted faucet was dark and had a putrid smell. He turned it off quickly. The toilet seat was down and he had a bad feeling that if he opened it, he might find something even more repulsive. His thoughts went back to the black figure. It was as if it wanted to hurt him. In the few moments before it leapt at him, he saw that it was only half of a foot tall. It had white hair that seemed to float up like smoke. He thought hard about what that thing was, if it was even real to begin with. He was pacing back and forth with what little space he had, thinking and panicking, his claustrophobia kicking in. He started to question his sanity. The whispers he was hearing seemed to have amplified after that encounter, which made his headache feel worse. His fear of enclosed spaces was suffocating him. He was drenched in his own sweat. He was too afraid to check the mirror again after that incident. He wanted to contact Brendan but his phone was left in his bedroom. The whispers in his head are getting restless. He was already hyperventilating. He thought about making a run for it, thinking that he could fend off whatever he saw out in the hall, that anywhere is better than staying inside that small room. But what if he's wrong? What if the creature outside is just waiting for him to open the door? Maybe it's already inside the room with him just waiting for him to completely lose his mind. Bad thoughts were racing one after another. His shirt was already wet, beads of sweat running down from his head. He wanted to scream for help, but he was alone. He was starting to get dizzy. He shut his eyes closed trying to steady himself. He felt like his head was under water, all the noise in his head colliding against one another. It took all his willpower not to pass out. The whispers are turning into voices, getting louder by the second. The noise was so loud that it made his headache even worse. It hurt so bad that he started to scream. The noise from his head, along with his screams, sounded like an out-of-tune opera with a raging audience. It was utter chaos. Everything that was happening to him seemed to swirl around the room. His thoughts, the noise, the suffocating feeling, all of it seemed to be closing in on him, flying in circles while getting close to him, like a tornado collapsing. He was screaming his throat out. The room itself seemed to be spinning and closing in on him at the same time. It was closing in so fast. It felt like the walls of the bathroom were about to crush him, just a couple of seconds left and he'd be smashed in a pile of concrete. Then it stopped. Everything stopped. He opened his eyes, he was still in the bathroom and it wasn't collapsing. Everything seemed to be the way that it was when he first came there. It was eerily quiet. It is as if time has stopped inside the bathroom. The voices in his head disappeared. The silence was deafening. He was drenched in sweat. His hands were shaking. He was still hesitant about looking at his reflection. He moved towards the door instead, ignoring the fact that there was an unidentified creature in the hall, but was stopped abruptly. He didn't hear any footsteps, but there was a knock on the door. Dmitri froze. He was halfway through reaching the door knob. He didn't know who or what was on the other side of the door. The bathroom didn't have any other doors. He was trapped. Whatever was knocking on the door was persistent. He was petrified. It kept on knocking. Dmitri looked for anything he could use as a weapon to defend himself. The only thing he found that could at least distract his assailant was a disinfectant spray. He lifted it up and found that it still had a good amount inside. The thing outside was trying hard to twist the doorknob. He thought about the small size of that thing and how it could possibly turn the knob open. The door was locked. He held the spray, ready to use it when he needed to. "This is it", he thought. He slowly closed the gap between him and the doorknob. He took a deep breath, put his hand on the lock, and yanked the door open. Dmitri let out a battle cry and was about to use the disinfectant spray when he saw Brendan instead of the creature he saw earlier. The rush of relief at seeing his best friend made him want to collapse on the floor. Brendan gave him a smirk that said it all. 'It's not what you think,' he started. 'And what am I thinking, exactly?' Brendan was grinning now. Instead of answering, Dmitri shoved past Brendan and went to his bedroom. He put away his improvised weapon and went to his wardrobe to look for a change of clothes since the ones that he was wearing were wet. Through his window, he could see that the skies were gray. It looked like a storm was coming. There were strong winds outside, and the leaves on the trees were rustling wildly against them. It was almost noon, almost time for his parents and relatives to be there. It wouldn't be surprising if his parents got stuck at the airport. The weather was bad enough, and it's not as if he has been at the top of his parents' priority list. His aunt and uncle were going to pick his parents up from the airport, so they should all arrive together. Dmitri picked a black shirt from his wardrobe and changed clothes. He grabbed a towel and dried his damp hair. Brendan came into his bedroom a moment later and crashed on his bed. 'You know? Sometimes I just want to go back in time so I can stop myself from ever giving you a spare key to the house.' 'C'mon, Dim, it's your birthday. Let's not ruin the fun. What were you doing in there anyway? For all I remember, no one ever uses that bathroom' said Brendan. 'You're right, no one ever uses that bathroom. I'm not even sure why I was in there to begin with.' Dmitri couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. It's like there's another set of eyes in the room looking at him, even though it's only him and Brendan in the room. He was deep in thought, and Brendan was looking at him with a nervous look on his face. They have been friends for so long that if something is bothering one of them, the other will know. Brendan stood up, went to him, and pressed the back of his palm on his forehead to check if he had a fever or something. 'Cut it out! I'm fine. Don't worry about me.' he pushed Brendan's hand away. Brendan put his arm around his shoulders and turned them both towards the mirror to check their reflection. When they saw their reflection, Dmitri flinched. It wasn't because they looked hideous, but because what happened in the hall was enough to traumatize him. He was anticipating whether or not the whispers would come back or if the black figure was real. Their reflection was the same as any other time they came across a mirror: Brendan was a couple of inches shorter than him with wavy light brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. He was a pure Filipino, born and raised in Cebu City. His shoulders are broad and lean with muscle from their workouts at the gym. He noticed the shoes Brendan wore. The top half was mostly scratched off, and the colors have already faded. The soles have been used to the point that, if he used them a week more, it would be the same as walking barefoot. He knew what the situation was at Brendan's house. It was a known fact that Brendan's dad left him and his mom when he was just five. They said he had left them for another woman in a neighboring city. After a couple of months, he was arrested for illegal possession of firearms and corrupting a minor. Unfortunately for him, the woman he left his family for was just a girl, only seventeen years old, though she definitely looked a lot older. The parents of the girl were furious and had pressed charges. His dad was sent to prison, and they have never heard from him since. Annie raised her son all by herself and even raised someone else's son along with hers. She owns a small shop that sells dry goods. He and Brendan go in once in a while to help. Money wasn't always enough, but they were able to get by. They have been friends since fourth grade and have stuck with each other ever since, even though they only had a few classes together. He wasn't really looking for flaws in his best friend's clothes, though; he was actually searching for something else in the reflection. Something that might want to harm them. Brendan looked at him in the mirror and said, 'You grew again, didn't you?' It sounded more like an accusation than a question. And perhaps Brendan was right—he did grow. He is six feet, four inches now. Brendan was shorter by four inches, but they were almost the same height as last summer. He casually looked at his own reflection now. Dark blond hair almost past his forehead, pale skin, and the most notable part of his face, his eyes. His right eye was brown with a hue so light it was almost yellow. People say that although it might be rare, a good number of the world's population has the same eye color. The thing is, even if his right eye's color is rare or not, it's not the most notable part of his face. Where his right eye was a lighter shade of brown, his left eye looked like it was an emerald. This was the only thing that wouldn't usually be considered normal on his face. They heard the doorbell and immediately went downstairs. His excitement fell when he saw that it was only the delivery guy. He thought his parents had arrived, but it was just the KFC his parents ordered and a cake. They took the food into the kitchen and opened the box. It was an ordinary chocolate cake from some bakery he had never heard of. 'Better than nothing, I guess, he said, more to himself than Brendan. His parents could have at least asked the bakery to put a greeting on the cake. He put it in the fridge while waiting for his parents to arrive, arranged the table, put six plates on it, and threw away the wrappings on the KFC. Then he and Brendan took down the decorations in the backyard since the weather wasn't getting any better. When they got back into the house, Dmitri headed for the kitchen to grab a little snack. All the screaming and panicking earlier really worked up his appetite. Brendan went into the living room to get something. When he got back, he was holding up a tray. He hadn't seen the contents of it yet, but the smell coming from the tray was familiar. He took a peek and saw "lumpia" inside, freshly arranged in neat rows. From what he could tell, it was still fresh and hot from the pan, and the smoke was still rising from the food. "Mom made it for your birthday. She knows how much you love it and made a fresh batch. She's really sorry that she couldn't make it. Business is kind of slow this summer and we really 'Bren, c'mon.' Dmitri cut him off. 'You don't have to explain. I appreciate it a lot. Let her know how much this means to me, okay?' And it does mean a lot to him. Annie has always been kind to him. She even considers him her son. She has been more of a mother to him than his own mother had ever been. Brendan placed the tray on the table and prepared some drinks for later. It was half past noon, and Dmitri's parents still hadn't arrived. He checked his phone for any messages, but there weren't any. Time seemed to drag on. He was beginning to become restless. It was already two in the afternoon, and there still wasn't any news about his parents. The food on the table was already cold, and they already ate half of the lumpia, knowing that it tasted better while it was hot. The weather hasn't improved. It was so dark outside that it almost looked like dusk. It was half past two now. They were lying around in the living room when they both heard something. At first, they didn't think much of it, but it happened again. Dmitri sat up and looked at Brendan with a nervous face. It was like something was running around upstairs. He was thinking of the creature from earlier. Maybe it was real. Different possibilities were forming in his mind. Perhaps it was just some animal that got into the house through an open window. He stood up and listened intently to where the noise was coming from, like a hunter listening for the movements of his prey. 'You okay, Dim?' asked Brendan. 'Yeah, I'm alright.' he answered, lying. 'You don't look alright. You're sweating again. It's like you're on edge. Did something happen to you earlier? When you were in the guest bathroom?'