Time never felt so precious to Jay until this kind of ridiculous situation have to crop up as he rushed to every floors and went into as many rooms as he could. He ransaced every items that caught his eyes and was so eager in searching to find that very key. He was so pressurized and all stressed up when someone's life was under his hands. Checking the time on his Rolex watch, he was left with only 10 minutes exactly.

"!!!" he scolded himself for being so slow

 

Although exhaustion was up his energy, he did not give up and fasten his pace to other area to continue on with the search, praying in his heart, time would go slower.

 

"Damn Suga!! You better suffer a painful death if ever this will be over!"

***

"TSK..Please Suga, I'm begging you. Don't do this. I can help you, just please listen to me. We can talk about it and get help for you. I promise," Eva begged for a couple of times

 

As usual, all Suga did was to pretend he did not hear whatever that came out from and to make it more nerve-wrecking he was just adding on the amount of fright in her by lowering down the chainsaw bit by bit.

 

"Oh goodness, the rope doesn't look so good. Your boy better be back soon," Suga frightened her

"Suga please...I don't want to die...tsk..tsk..," Eva wailed

"Too bad honey. Once you start the game, you can't stop half way. Rules are rules," Suga reminded, putting on his sympathy act

 

Suga checked the timing on the stop watch and sarcastically smirked, predicting that he would have to enjoy some gorry moments of Eva's body being cut into half.

 

"He have 5 more minutes so you better pray he will get back in time,"

"Oh dear, 4 more minutes," Suga began to start his countdown 

"Uh-oh, 2 more minutes," Suga continued his countdown

"TSK!!TSK!!!!" Eva wailed out loud, sensing that the chainsaw was only a few centimetres away

***

"Come on! Come on!! Must be in here somewhere!" Jay said repeatedly, setting high hopes in himself

 

Unfortunately when he ransac and lifted up some old papers from the drawers, not even a single key was found. He slammed it shut and leaned against it as tears started to form in his eyes, dating the amount of guilt and disappointment. He was on the verge of giving up when he heard a clinging sound and with his imagination, it seemed like as if someone threw a bunch of keys somewhere near him. 

He got up from the spot he was sitting and quickly used his eyes to do a thorough search and heaved a sigh of relief as he reached out his hands to retrieve the four gold keys being bundled together onto one round metal ring.

 

"Save her and kill him," requested a feminine voice

"AHH!! WHAT THE--

 

Jay who had never ever came across a real ghost in his entire life of living, turned as white as sheet when Sarah's soul came out from the full-length mirror.

 

"Go! You're left with 1 more minute. Save her and kill him upon what he had done to all of your friends. They are not resting in peace,"

 

Jay became double the time frightened as he saw the souls of his deceased friends standing in one line, staring at him with face filled with sadness and anger.

 

"Go!! GO!! Avenge for them!! GO!!" 

 

With that, Jay sprinted back as quickly as his legs could carry.

***

"Gosh, what's taking him so long eh? 5o more seconds Eva..Hahaha! You ready for the finale part?" he asked sadistically

"YOU'RE SICK!!" Eva yelled out

"I AM SICK! Sick of seeing people like you exist in this unfair world!" Suga ranted

 

Seeing the time on the stopwatch, Eva was positive that today will be her last day living on this earth. She could imagine how worried her parents would be right now when she was not home safely yet. With the negativity thoughts, she decided to calm herself down and prepared to face her own death in a few seconds time, believing that she really deserves it.

"Oh yes..my favourite part of the entire game. Let's do the countdown together shall we? 10..9...SAY IT LOUDER DAMN IT!" Suga ordered, putting the knife blade under her chin

"TSK..8...7...TSK..TSK..,"Eva cried

"LOUDER I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"6!!..5!!!..4!!!"

"Any last words dear? 3...2....,"

"TSK..Go to hell!" Evaa cried in his face

"I'm afraid you're the one being invited to hell first. 1!!!!"

 

Eva shut her eyes close, already preparing herself for the sharp blades of the chainsaw to touch her flesh but unexpectedly, Suga's screamed was what she heard instead. Feeling so confused, she opened her eyes and witnessed Suga reversing his steps from her and crying in pain. Suga's left shoulder happened to be stabbed and non-stop flowing blood was oozing out from his wound with the knife still in contact with his flesh.

"Sorry bro, invitation cancelled. I made it in time, now leave us alone and turned yourself in!" Jay reminded and made his way to Eva

 

Getting the keys from his pocket he rushed towards her and unlocked the chains, setting Eva free. Eva stood up weakly and looked downwards.

 

"Are you alright?" Jay questioned but Eva was too embarassed to face him thinking that she did not deserve to be safe due to not saving the rest of them

"Come here," Jay called out and pulled her to his embrace as she cried on his shoulder

"Tsk..Sorry your friends are dead because of me..So sorry..tsk...tsk...," 

"It's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself, it's never your fault," Jay comforted, her back gently

 

Eva stayed in Jay's embrace and poured out as much as she could in order to let out what she had been keeping inside of her. Jay just waited patiently and kept whispering positivity words to her to reduce her remorseful feeling. 

 

"Sssshhhh...everything will be alright," Jay comforted as Eva parted one step back away from him with eyes swollen and red

 

Jay carassed her cheeks, wiping her remaining tears and brought his forehead closer to hers without realising that Suga had some other dirty plan in mind. He secretly grabbed his hidden gun from underneath one of the metal table that he used to kill his family with and hid it behind his back to not make it so obvious to the both of them.

 

"One thing about serial killers that you gotta know is they don't easily give up as long as ther're not satisfied of the outcome. So sorry to betray you my friend," Suga sarcastically apologise and pulled the trigger

"NO!" Eva yelled and used her body instead as a shield when eventually the bullet hit directly at her arm

"Damn there is only one bullet and it hit the wrong person. You're one lucky son-of -a-gun," Suga said in disappointment 

"EVA?!Suga you !!" Jay ranted and started to show some physical violence towards him   

 

After a few punches and kicks, Jay seethed with indignation that caused an enormous furore. Before another punched were to be delievered by Suga, he blocked it with his hands and glared at Suga with ruthless impersonality. Jay was frustrated of the whole situation that he started to hurl curses at his rival. Upon wanting to end this, Jay let out all of his anger through his strength as he attacked Suga violently using his martial arts techniques.

"You heartless dude. How could you even be a serial killer! Don't you have a heart?!" Jay raged while punching

"YOU DON'T BLOODY KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH IN LIFE, YOU !" Suga argued back and gave one hard kick to Jay's thigh and fought back

"Things can be talked out DAMN IT!" Jay challenged back and without giving him any chance, he elbowed and punched Suga's face continuously until he was unconcious

Jay panted for breath and give some space between himself and Suga. Thought he was fully unconcious but Suga managed to tightened his grip on Jay's foot and dragged him harshly causing Jay's body to slam hardly on the broken cupboards and quickly slashed Jay's arms for a couple of times to make him feel weak. Suga composed himself, entangling those wires from his body and stumbled his way to a tray filled with different sizes and types of knifes. 

 

 

"YOU!! You, destroyed my face!! I spent almost 5 million on this and you ruined it!! YOU SHALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Suga furiously let out his anger and reached out for a butcher knife

"HAVE FUN WITH THE REST IN HELL!!!" Suga warned and stabbed Jay in his stomach, inserting a huge amount of force as he pushed the knife more deeper in the flesh of Jay's stomach

"AAARHHHHRGGHHHAHHHH," Jay cried aloud in pain

 

Eva in an instant barged in with a chainsaw in her hands and daringly, chopped Suga's left hand off

 

"AAAHHHHHOOOUUCCHHH!!!" Suga yelled out loud in pain and collapsed down to the ground

   

 

Still not satisfied, Eva was about to chop off Suga's right arm whn Jay stopped her from proceeding.

 

"Enough. It's unfair to the others if he were to die easy," Jay alerted

"Tsk..tsk...!AHHH!" cried Suga out loud in pain

 

Due to the amount of blood loss from his stabbing wound, Jay stumbled upon his steps backwards and fell with his back hiting against a metal tray that was only inches away from him. 

 

"Jay?! No!" Eva exclaimed as she let go of the chainsaw from her grip and rushed to his side 

 

Supporting Jay's head, she surrounded her arms on his shoulder at the same time, using her strength to allow him to sit upright. Unfortunaely, Jay had some difficulty in his breathing but the struggle and determination to stay alive was still strong.

 

"Hang in there please, please!" Eva lamented with full of sorrow, pressing onto his wound, trying her very best to make him stay alive

*cough, cough*

"Please Jay. I still owe you a lot. Give me a chance to repay you at least," she pleaded 

 

Jay began to mumble something gibberish as Eva creased her forehead in confusion upon figuring out what he was intending to say.

 

"What are you trying to say?" she inquired 

"That I'm still alive and is gonna end both of your useless lifes soon!" Suga interfered with the chainsaw on standby in his other arm

"!" Sya panic 

 

*BANG!! BANG!!*

Two extremely loud gun shots caught both her and Suga by surprised when Suga suddenly became so stiff and paused his actions on having an intention to chop her into pieces with that chainsaw.

 

"It's..not....the..end both..of you..Mark..my...words..," Suga warned as he dropped down to his knees

 

Finally seconds later, Suga was laying flat on the ground with his eyes still wide open and this time for real he was unconcious. Policemen started barging in followed by a couple of medics who were slowly transferring the bodies onto the stretcher. Eva quickly assist two of the medics to move Jay's body on the stretcher, pushing him into one of the ambulance.

 

"Hold on Jay, almost reaching the hospital alright?" Eva said, repeatedly as Jay weakly squeezed onto her hand

 

Medics then placed an oxygen mask on Jay and without have the strength to speak, Jay just stared thankfully at Eva.

 

"HURRY!! TO THE NEAREST HOSPITAL PLEASE!" Eva raised her voice, feeling so irritated that the ambulance have not moved

"Clam down ma'am, we got you," replied the driver

 

With that, they speed their way to the hospital and managed to reach 10 minutes later. Jay was being assigned to the emergency ward and sadly Eva was not allowed to go in till Jay's situation was stable.

 

"Promise me you'll stay alive alright?" Eva assured

 

All Jay does was to close and reopen back those hazelnut eyes of his as a sign of acknowledgement. Eva had her eyes glued on his until the glass door shut close. Letharigcally, she sat on the chair being provided when she heard cries and people grieving in melanchony. From a few distance away, she saw a couple of bodies being transferred into the morchery area for further investigation about their death.

Only God knows how guilty she felt upon having to just sit without doing anything. She wanted to apologise but she was afraid their family members would go berserk but at the same time she felt bad that she could not safe the lives of their innocent children. How she wished she could just bury her face somewhere else hidden.

 

"Eva my dear?"

"Mum!" Eva exclaimed and ran into her embraced

"Thank God you're ok. I'm so worried you are not home yet and that's why I went to the nearest police station with your dad and they tracked your cell phone," explained her mum

 

Eva continued to tear up on her mum's shoulder, still in a sorrow and regret state, wishing that she could turned back the time and not be involved in any of this. Knowing her daughter's reason so well, the hug became tighter.

 

"It's not your fault sweetheart. You've tried your best to safe them. This is all fate and at time you just have to experience things that you could not control with your own hands. They make the decision o visit the place so they have to face their own music. Let it go alright? Be thankful you're still alive, be thankful that at least you've tried," comforted her mum

 

Mum's word were always powerful that could moved your heart in an insant and Eva tend to calm down  in a few seconds. Her mum pamperly wiped her tears and adjusted her hair behind her ears. 

 

"Now, now let's get you treated alright? Let's go," 

"Alright mum," Eva agreed

 

Before moving her steps any further, she had her eyes locked on the emergency ward feeling extremely worried for Jay. Her mum placed her hands on Eva's shoulder.

 

"He will make it honey. Don't worry alright?" her mum assurd

 

Eva give a slight nod and proceed on to treat her wounds at the same time explaining what happened to one of the police officers

***

ONE MONTH LATER...

Although one week has passed, the amount of guilt Eva has to carry was a huge load as she still could not forgive herself for what she had done. Her journey to the cemetery was such a dull one. Rows of tombstones stood erect in silence to the left and right, in front and behind, like a sea of the dead. Some were crumbled with the weathering of centuries, some were smooth marble with new black writing and laid with floral tributes.

She placed one stalk of white rose on top of each of her senior's tombstones and chanted some prayers to ask for forgiveness when someone else joined her as well. That person placed each of their graduation certs on top of each tombstones and stared at it with full of melanchony. 

 

"Lucky they get to finish their exams but sadly, they left too soon even before the results were out," Jay said sadly

"Tsk..All of them, they made it. They did well.," Jay lamented, feeling so upset that his late friends were not at the graduation ceremony with him

 

She held onto his hands to comfort him, giving him a chance to stablise himself before she were to speak anything. They stood and appreciated each other's moment of silence as they reminisced some memories. Respecting some personal space, Eva went to the nearest vending machine and bought herself and him two cans of coke.

From afar as she was making her way back, she noticed Jay was already sitting at a black coloured bench facing the stream of river. He looked so lost and lifeless although he has successfully graduated from college a few hours earlier but celebrating happy occassion all alone will never be the same if those seniors were to still be alive now to celebrate it with him. Eva sat a few inches away from him and handed him his drink.

 

"Drink up or you'll get dehydrated,"

 

He thanked her and took it from her grip looking extremely abstracted.

 

"Please don't let your emotions control you Jay. It won't do you any good," Eva advised

"You don't understand, they had been with me ever since year 1. I am still in disbelief state that they were already gone. They left this earth so soon and it felt like spending time with them before this was never enough. Haiz..it's alright, I think you won't be able to feel the same way as I do," Jay said

"Do you know how much guilt I have to carry with me upon having to witness the death of all your friends? Do you know how painful it felt like of not given an oppotunity to safe your friends life? But despite all that, I tend to let go of what I could not control. I do not want my emotions to take control of my entire self and affect my life badly and I treat you as a friend. I care for you, that is why I do not want it to happen to you because I've been through that stage before. In life Jay, you have to accept the fact that you could not control every single situations that will come your way. You have to understand that, there are certain things we humans couldn't control. Maybe they are gone for a reason and one of it is I believe God loves them more," Eva comforted as Jay let out a sorrowful sigh

"I deeply know you loved your friends, you cherished your moments with them so much but aren't you at least happy that they do not have to suffer in this cruel wold anymore? They could finally rest in peace. Just look at the world we live in. Honestly, are you really at peace every single day? Are you really at peace when you go to sleep at night? Your soul might not be with you when you're asleep but once your soul return back to your body the battle of the day starts," Eva tried her best to counsel and motivate him

 

Upon realising the key point on what she was delivering to him, Jay shook his head.

 

"Every single day is a battle for us to keep fighting for. I got to admit, you will go through some painful moments, hurtful moments due to treatments we get from society, our loved ones or whoever you have met in your life but no matter how weak you are, you will still have that small faith and strength to fight back because you have the determination to survive. You almost went through death but you're still alive for a reason Jay. Your friends, they are in a better place now and they are watching over you and will always be in there," Eva comforted and pointed her finger to his heart

 

Jay touched his chest area, breathe in and breathe out. Eva gently placed her hands on his shoulder hopefully it might give him some strength.

 

"It's not a pretty world we live in here you know. The world will find all sorts of ways to put you down. Letting go is hard but sometimes holding onto something you could not control will be much harder. You have to have a positive mindset Jay and you got to stay strong for them. Take all this experiences to make you and motivate you into becoming a better human being and not allow any room of negativity to enter your life. For now, my advise is set a goal in life and slowly work towards it day by day. You have to move on instead of grieving for you friends' lost. Whenever you felt like giving up, just bear in mind that they are watching you from above and I am sure they want you to live your life in a positive way. Be thankful that you still have the chance to live to fulfill your dreams. Your late friends want to see you succeed, so please stop hurting yourself and just let go. The best thing to do is to pray for them alright?" Eva advised calmly

 

Jay remained silent and Eva felt bad thinking that her advise was like some sort of a nagging to him.

 

"I'm sorry I said too much. I just adore to help others who are in need," she apologised and make a point to not speak more

"Why would you say such a thing? Do you know how thankful I am to have someone like you now by my side especially in this type of situation? From the very moment I first saw you in school, I knew you're the caring, shy and sweet type of person. I've witnessed you lending a helping hand before to some students in school," Jay told her 

"You noticed?"

"Yeah, I mean not to sound like a stalker but my eyes tend to accidentally witnessed your actions at random timings in school so it was not on purpose and now I am sitting just inches close to you. Honestly, you're a great friend that should be cherished. Your advised do enlightened me up and I could already forsee you being a counsellor or a psychiatrist in the future. Anyways, thank you for the comforting words and motivation yeah?" he thanked and grin

 

Eva smile humbly at him and was so thankful of what was being said by him.

 

"If you don't mind me asking, you're such a nice person but why are you always alone in school?" Jay questioned as Eva potrayed a very upset expression with her eyes getting glassy in a few second later 

"Umm, did I say something wrong? Gosh, I'm so sorry. You don't have to answer to that, just ignore it and talk about something else," Jay apologied with full of remorse

 

Taking a deep breath, Eva tried to br strong and tell him her opinion.

"Nobody could hurt you when you're alone. At some point when you care too much for someone, it hurts you more most of the time. I've learned my lesson and that is why I do not want any negativity to affect me anymore. In fact I am still struggling with my own self to fight all the unnecessary emotions. It takes time to change and during the process you will go through all kinds of obstacles however, life still have to go on every single day so I got to do whatever it takes to stand strong. Everyday is a brand new day, and I have to keep telling myself to never look back on what happened yesterday because you won't go nowhere if you're still stuck in your past. Like they said, the sun always shines after the storm," Eva elaborated, trying to control herself from letting out her sorrows on what she had encountered in the past

"Hey, just to assure you, whatever storms that you'll go through in the future, bear in mind you're not going through it alone alright? I already treat you as my friend, special friend in fact and just by listening to your advise, I've already looked up to you as my mentor who could guide me when life tend to put me down. You have become my strength so in return, I'll be your listener if ever you  were to encounter any problems and I'll find ways to help. No worries alright? Put the past behind us and let this friendship bloom," Jay suggested delightfully

"Sure! Would love to! Haha! Let's get something to eat, I bet you're starving," Eva exclaimed

 

Jay did not respond but stood really still without moving a muscle. He did not even blink and kept looking at the direction behind Eva signalling her like as if he was witnessing something fearful.

 

"Jay, what are you staring at?" Eva asked feeling afraid to turn around

 

Too paralysed with fear, Jay kept on staring and was reacting so scared stiff causing Eva to be overloomed with fright that her heart felt uneasy. According to Jay's facial expression, she knew looking back was not a good idea.

 

"E..Eva..tu..tur..turn..a..aro..around," Jay instructed

"Tsk..Jay what is going on?" Eva asked and shook her head

"Just...just turn,"

"No..tsk..I'm afraid. Tell me what did you see?" Eva timidly asked

"J..ju..just tu..turn," Jay insisted this time

"Jay you're freaking me out. Just tell me what is behind me!" Eva requested in a begging manner

"If you trust me...turn around,"

 

As she was slowly turning her body, cold fear gripped her as she begin to imagine all sorts of horrific consequences if she were to do so. Apparently, there is nothing for her to expect but the moment she was about to face Jay........

 

"BOO!!!!" 

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"HAHAHAHAHHAHA GOTCHA!" Jay laughed

"UGH!!! WHAT THE?! What was that for?!" Eva scolded

"For fun? HAHAHAH!! Alright sorry won't happen again! Hahaha," 

"Ugh!! I'll make sure you get your revenge. Aiish!" Eva grumbled and pulled his snapback dowwards to cover his eyes on purpose

"Damn girl, that's what I call confidence. Ahaha, alright mentor,  dinner is on me aytes?"