“Happy birthday,” he whispered to the doll.
He put on his coat and disappeared in a flash of red light. Within seconds, he was standing in front of a pale green painted house. A girl was seeing someone off at the door. His heart stung in pain. He was slightly enraged.
She knew he was there and she was startled. He spoke to her in her mind, told her not to be afraid and not to run. However, that frightened her even further. He could hear her screaming in her head, confused and alarmed. He had no choice but to leave. It wasn’t his intention to frighten her. He could only watch her from the shadows, unnoticed by her, because he belonged to the darkness.
****
It was hopeless. No matter how hard she had tried, she just couldn’t bring herself to sleep, because the moment she closed her eyes, she would see the man. Robyn might have seen those visions before but they were never that intense. So intense that it seemed like she had lived through those moments before. The only thing that had been running in her mind the entire night was “who is the man”.
Every time, she would almost see his face but couldn’t. She feared him, but yet felt close to him. She knew him. Yes, she did know him.
But who is he?
Robyn didn’t dare to close her eyes anymore. She had wrapped herself up with her quilt and sat on the bed, still hugging her legs tightly, with the lights in her room all turned on, including those in the bathroom. The voice had stayed in her head. There was something alluring about the voice but there was also a hint of sadness in it. No matter what she’d tried, it was stuck in her head.
****
Jack Kennington walked into the class charmingly on a Monday morning, looking fresh and cool as ever, but nobody knew that his mind was completely blank at that moment. He had greeted everyone robotically without anything going through his mind at all. He was trained to be a gentleman and to never show his emotions on his face no matter the circumstances. Well, until he met the only girl in his life that could make him loses his temperance, a girl that he should never had fallen in love with.
He simply dropped onto his chair, threw his bag on the desk and stared at the door, as if hoping that she would appear out of thin air. He was worried. Robyn had stayed home for the first time since he met her. Ashley told him Robyn was sick when he went to pick her up (Robyn had surprisingly succeeded in convincing Damien to let Jack fetch her to school, somehow). He knew it wasn’t much of a deal getting sick but he had a bad feeling, a feeling that something had happened to Robyn.
A hand slammed on his desk and woke him from his woolgathering. He looked up and, much to his dismay, he looked straight into a pair of annoyingly violet eyes. He stretched his lips and shown his bright white teeth to him, trying his hardest to hide his annoyance.
“Good morning,” Jack said as cheerfully as he could.
“Where’s Robyn?” Damien asked flat out, scowling, demanding an explanation from Jack.
“She’s sick. She’s staying home for today.” The smile had disappeared from his face. It was just too hard.
Damien stared at the desk, his lips moving as if mumbling to himself. “Must be because you and your friend visited her last Friday.”
“Still spying on me, I see,” Jack smiled cunningly but he paused. He looked at Damien, surprised. “My friend?”
“He showed up right after u left. He’s not with you?” It could be heard from Damien’s tone that he had begun to worry.
They were quiet and stared at each other blankly. It wasn’t until the bell rang that they grabbed their belongings and ran out of the class, and they bumped right into the last person in the world they wanted to see — Leroy. They didn’t stay long enough to even apologise, leaving Leroy utterly clueless and surprised. Their teacher was shouting at them, threatening them with a month of detention, but they never turned their head once and went straight out of the school door.
Jack’s afraid. He’s afraid that something dire had happened to the girl who had messed up his heart, afraid that his intuitions coming true. But he knew he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. He could feel it in his purple-eyed rival.
They ran like Robyn’s life depended on it and bashed on her house door. There were small noises like something running away on the other side of the door and then there’s a dog’s groan. It had to be Nelly, Jack thought.
They kept banging on the door but they still did not get any response. Jack thought of tearing down the door, and that was when Robyn finally answered the door.
Jack and Damien looked at an unrecognisable Robyn. She was tired with dark half moons under her eyes and blood red veins popping in her once beautiful dark emerald eyes. She could barely greet them.
“Hey, what’re ya guys doin’ ‘ere?” She asked weakly, her eyes barely opening.
“Are you all right?” Both of them asked frantically.
“What happened?” Jack grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her a little. She just looked away, avoiding his glance.
Damien looked around the house with the lights all switched on in broad daylight and it immediately clicked. “You saw them again?” The only response he got from Robyn was a slight nod that would be missed if one’s not paying attention.
“Them?” Jack looked at the both of them, clueless. He had always hated this kind of situation where there was something that only the two of them would know, leaving no space for him to get into their world at all. It made him felt so crestfallen.
They had sat Robyn down on the couch and waited for her to confess. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t tell them anything aside from seeing and hearing things since last Friday.
Robyn and Damien had been talking about things he didn’t understand. He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t take the feeling of being helpless when something had clearly happened to Robyn. He stood up from the couch, crossed his arms and glared at the two of them. “Will you tell me what’s going on ever?” He raised his voice on the last word. Annoyance was clearly noticeable in his voice, and he could guess it was written all over his face, too, as Robyn looked apologetic. This face of his had only been seen by Robyn. She always had a way of messing up his emotions.
Damien let out a sigh and sat Jack down, trying not to argue with him at that moment. “All right. I’ll tell you.”
Jack and Robyn raised an eyebrow on him. He shrugged. “I’m trying my best not to make things worse for Robyn. So don’t make me jump on you, Kennington.”
Damien was silent for awhile, searching for words in his mind. “Well, uhm...Robyn used to be able to see things when she was three. We think those things were some sort of spirits or ghosts. And every time she sees them, she would switch on all the lights and hide herself up.” He took a glimpse of the lights and Jack immediately understood.
“It stopped when she started first grade. But, as you can see, she saw them again.”
“Why did she start seeing them again?” Jack asked anxiously.
Both he and Damien turned to Robyn who was being as quiet as an invisible person. Robyn was clearly struggling inside, pondering whether to tell or not to tell, but she finally cleared her throat and looked straight into their eyes.
“I saw the man from my dreams and visions.” She stopped as if that was the only thing she wanted to tell them. However, seeing their confused little faces, she added, “I think those things that I saw weren’t spirits. They were some sort of visions, like memories that don’t belong to me. And I’ve been having dreams of the man I’ve always seen in those visions since a few weeks ago. And those nightmares that I’ve been having almost every night recently, I think they’re somehow related.”
Jack and Damien stared at her, unable to say anything. “And what’s more, I saw him. In flesh and blood.”
“You mean you saw the man from those visions?” Damien asked worriedly.
“He came to me. Twice. Once last Friday night after Jack left—” Jack and Damien gave each other a look. “—and once on the night a wol—“ Robyn stopped right when she was about to tell them about something but she continued by changing the subject. “I couldn’t see his face but I know it’s him. He talked to me, somehow. He was so far away but I could hear his voice in my head and I couldn’t get it out since.”
There was a short pause.
“And I couldn’t sleep. I don’t dare to sleep.”
“You’re saying that you haven’t been sleeping since I left?” Jack asked in disbelief.
Even though Jack knew she was deliberately hiding something, he didn’t ask. Not because he didn’t care, but because nothing could be more important than the appearance of a mysterious, and most likely dangerous, man in her life at that moment.
“I didn’t know you’re having nightmares. No wonder you looked paler than usual recently. Especially now. Must’ve been lack of sleep,” Damien said distraughtly and caressed her hair.
“Well, you can’t exactly sleep well when you dream about being stabbed and pierced by millions of thick needles every night, can you?”
Jack eyes widened and his mouth hung open. “I’m surprise you can keep that all to yourself for that long and didn’t go for a psychologist. You could have told somebody. Us, Stella or Ashley.”
Robyn simply shrugged. “I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“So I would be correct in thinking that Ashley doesn’t know you haven’t been sleeping?”
Robyn simply nodded. Knowing Robyn and her carefree attitude on everything, Jack wasn’t surprised by those answers at all. Shaking his head, he came to a conclusion. “I’ll stay with you until Ashley comes home. I’m not going to leave you home alone and I won’t change my mind. So don’t bother arguing with me.” He was impervious and firm and he made it clear in the tone of his voice.
“That’ll be even more dangerous than leaving her alone,” Damien mocked the idea maliciously. “I’ll stay, too.”
Robyn dropped her shoulders and let out a long sigh that could worth for a million years. “Do whatever you like.” She stood up and walked up the stairs. She stopped halfway and turned to them. “Thanks,” she said and gave them a weak smile.
He waited until she went into her room and turned to Damien. He had noticed a presence just outside the house and he knew Damien noticed it, too. He knew who it was but he doubted Damien knew of that person’s identity.
“We need to stay close to her,” Jack suggested. He had decided that Robyn could never be safe until he could get a hold of that person’s true intentions.
“All right,” Damien agreed without any hesitation. He swallowed hard before he continued. “You should stay with her in her room. I’ll go check it out. I don’t like it but it’s better this way since he’s one of your friends.”
When it comes to a crucial situation like this, Jack knew he could depend on Damien to make the right decisions, but he still couldn’t stand his sharp, offensive words. “He’s not my friend. We merely share the same type of blood.”
“And that makes you the same as them. There’s never an exception. And there’ll never be one.” Damien stared at him with eyes burning in hatred.
“I’ve always been the black sheep in my family because I’m not like them.” Jack narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice but it was still firm and impervious. He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Right now is not the time for this pointless argument,” he said in a voice that sounded he was trying very hard to keep his emotion under control.
“The problem now is, she’s not gonna let us stay here for long, I’m telling ya, let alone allowing me to stick with her in her room,” Jack rubbed his forehead a little with his forefinger.
“Hypnotise her with your oozing pheromones. You’re good with that,” said Damien very sarcastically, sneering.
“I’m serious. And that’s not funny.” The annoyance towards Damien in him had built up as fast as ever and it was about to spill. If Damien was so much as to snort at him, he would pound on him like a lion would on its prey.
And somehow, Damien stopped all the mockeries. Perhaps he had noticed the infuriation in his tone, or maybe in his flaming amber eyes. “OK. OK. If she allows you to stay, you stay. If she doesn’t, you still stay.”
“What? We just force it on her?”
Damien gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Sometimes, you just can’t afford to be a gentleman if you wanna get things done,” he said matter-of-factly.
It had felt weird. They had actually prevented themselves from jumping onto each other without any help from somebody else. And Damien actually patted on his shoulder. Jack just stared at the hand and then at Damien. Damien removed his hand immediately as if being electrocuted, after realising what he had done. He brushed his hand a little as if to wipe off the feeling of touching Jack with his bare hand.
“Right. Off you go, then. Be sure to find out the reason for that person to be stalking Liz— I mean, Robyn.” He went up the stairs to Robyn’s room while Damien walked in the opposite direction, towards the door. He stopped halfway on the staircase when he remembered who they were dealing with. “Quinn — ah, can’t believe I’m saying this — be careful. And a piece of advice, that thing in your pocket, the one you always bring to school, it won’t be enough. You’ll need a bigger one.”
Damien was already one step out of the door when Jack called out to him. He glared at Jack, who was still standing on the stairs, suspiciously. However, he did not do anything more than a nod and then left.
When Jack opened the door to Robyn’s room, he could see her still awoke, hugging her legs on her bed. She seemed to be trying her hardest not to fall asleep. It hurt him to see her like this — reddened eyes, tired, frightened, confused. He sat on the bed slowly, as though afraid if he sat on it suddenly he might frighten her. He touched her hand tenderly and looked into her ever so mesmerising dark green eyes. It was those eyes that have had his heart captive. They used to gleam ethereally, even more so under the bright sun; but now they were blank and dull.
“You have to get some sleep,” he said anxiously.
“Then I’ll see them again. I don’t want to,” Robyn said wearily, without even bothered to look him in the eyes. “I’ll go nuts if I do.”
“I’ll be here, right next to you. Nobody shall harm you,” he said gently, cupping her hands in his. “Just relax and get some sleep.” He moved closer to her, sitting right next to her on her bed so that she could lean on him.
“Damien’s looking for that man, isn’t he?” Robyn said softly when she leaned on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. He’ll find him. Seeing how he becomes a wounded beast every time something happened to you,” he said scornfully. “What a mature lad. I believe he’s only sixteen this year, isn’t it?”
Robyn laughed a little. “You talked like an old man.”
There was a short pause but the silence was awkward.
“Perhaps I am.”
****
Damien stood on the door steps thinking for a moment. What did Kennington mean, he thought. He put his hand into his pants pocket and touched what was inside it. He pondered a little before he went to his house. He opened a white wooden door to an empty house. There were only furnitures; nobody else was in the house. He was used to it. His parents had never really been at home for long every time they came back from travel. He walked into the garage through a door in the kitchen and grabbed a long, heavy iron pipe from the pile. He then walked hastily into his room upstairs.
His room wasn’t exactly a place for someone to sleep in. There were no posters of a sport team or some celebrity on the walls like other teenage boys’ room. His wardrobe was rather empty with only a few shirts hanging in it. Suitcases were lying opened on the floor; clothes packed untidily in them. There were also clothes lying on the floor and on the bed. His desk was full of tools and manuals. Papers were spread all over the desk; on the computer, on the chair and the floor around the desk.
He squatted down beside his single bed and pulled his quilt over his bed. He looked under his bed and pulled out a brownish, heavy-looking chest. He opened it, rummaged through the things in it and took out a glass bottle as tall as a drinking bottle. It was half-filled with clear water. He poured some onto a shirt he grabbed from on top of his bed and wiped it on the iron pipe. He put the bottle in the chest and pushed it under his bed again. He took his cell phone from his pocket and dialled a number.
He waited a few seconds before the person on the other side of the phone finally answered. “Hi, Dad. I know you and Mom are a little busy right now but I need a favour from you. It’s about Robyn.”
He told everything to his father over the phone and waited for his response.
“Son, don’t be too rash,” said the husky voice in the phone.
“I just need a few backups. I’ll be fine. I’m your top student, aren’t I?”
The person on the other side of the phone laughed. “All right. I’ll ask some of them to go over. Good luck, son. And be safe.”
“Thanks, Dad. Good luck to you and Mom, too.”
After getting off the phone, Damien went out to the garden and looked around. He could still feel the presence of that person but he’s nowhere in sight. He decided to look around Robyn’s house and the neighbouring houses. He just had to get to that person. He gazed at the window of Robyn’s room. It should be safe to leave her with Kennington, he thought. He never liked Jack but he knew hurting Robyn was the last thing Jack would do.
He followed his intuitions and looked at the direction opposite Robyn’s window. He searched around the houses opposite Robyn’s but that person was still nowhere to be found. He calmed himself down to think. He’s still here. I know it. But where?
“I know you’re here. Who or whatever you are, show yourself,” he demanded. He knew he looked like an idiot talking to the air in the eyes of the passer-bys, but he didn’t care. He waited for a long time but there was no response. “Why are you watching her? What do you want from her?” he asked impatiently, with a hint of anger in his tone.
There was no response either. Just as he was about to shout for that person again, he heard something. Someone was laughing. It didn’t sound real. It sounded like...it came from inside his head. He tightened his grip on the iron pipe, his eyes searching.
D’you know you really looked like an idiot when you’re talking to yourself like that? The voice in his head said while plainly trying not to be overcome by the urge to laugh.
“Who are you?” Damien asked out loud.
The voice gave an arrogant snort. You know me. Everybody does.
Damien thought a little but it didn’t take him long to realise the answer. “You,” he hissed through his gritted teeth, his voice level. He tightened his grip on the pipe even more. “What do you want from Robyn?”
There was a long pause. It was quiet. Damien was all alone on the street. The silent stretched until the voice finally spoke again. I only want to take back what was mine.
“What the hell is that suppose to mean?” Damien asked impatiently. He was infuriated and worried. “Come out and answer me!”
Ah-ah. I don’t think that’s the correct tone to use when asking someone for a favour.
Damien’s chest was moving up and down rapidly. His breathing became heavy. The rage in him had started to spill over and he couldn’t control it.
The voice clicked his tongue a few times. I made you angry, didn’t I? And it sniggered. You’re so easy! You’re more fun to play with than little Jankin. It burst into mocking laughters again.
Damien cursed in his head. He couldn’t control his anger without Jack being there. He had hated his lack of temperance. It had gotten him into trouble for uncountable times. He knew he shouldn’t and couldn’t do anything to the person whom the voice belonged to; but the overwhelming wrath he felt was suffocating him.
“Don’t you dare go anywhere near her,” Damien said firmly.
Or you’ll what? Kill me? With that little rod? It chortled. It stopped its laughter abruptly and his tone became solemn. I’ll get what I want. I always do. And neither you nor little Jankin can do anything about it.
And then, Damien could no longer hear the voice, nor could he feel the presence. He still held on to the iron pipe, not loosening his grip at all. He was afraid, not of his life, but that he won’t be able to protect his childhood friend, his best friend.
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