▲▼ CHAPTER 22 // TORMENTED HALLUCINATIONS

     Your body still shook vigorously as you crept through the living room, making sure nobody else was in the house. You called out Anthea's name but you couldn't hear her voice so you wasn't really sure if she was home or not. Walking up the creaking stairs, you quickly dashed to Anthea's room and barged open the door only to reveal a small body leaning against the corner of the room. She was hugging herself, pulling her legs nearer to her chest while she sniffed her tears away. You took your legs to her, rushing to her embrace and engulfing her in your warm hug. "What the heck happened in here?!" You were terrified after looking at the condition that Anthea was in. She wasn't the bright and cheerful wise woman that you would always greet in the morning but instead, she was that little girl who just needed comfort. She didn't bothered to answer you, rocking herself back and forth. In a flash, your mind acted fast as it instructed your legs to investigate the bathroom where the stone had landed into.

         The window was badly damaged - the wooden window pane was easily broken into two parts as some of the debris fell onto the bathroom floor, the window glass was shattered terribly as it scattered everywhere. You had to take small steps and keep an eye onto the pieces of glass scattered onto the floor, making sure you wouldn't land a foot on it. Your heart pounded furiously as you saw how bad the effect was and how intimidating the experience was. Squating down near the bath tub, you were determined to search high and low for the huge rock that was hurled through the broken window. Unfortunately, the impact was so hard that the stone landed at the other side of the bathroom on the sink area. Your eyes lit up as you saw a piece of paper stuck onto the stone securely using an elastic band. Your hands shivered at first as you almost broke out into a cold sweat, not knowing if it was dangerous or not. The note was scribbled with a rather messy handwriting. Finally, you grabbed it as you took the elastic band off of the brick. As your vision settled in, you were able to read the short message on the paper which only had three letters. Those three letters rose confusion and fear inside you.

         It was just simply stated as, "Pay up ."

         There was so much anger and seriousness in the sentence which tightened your stomach in a really unwelcoming way. Crumpling the note into your grip, you stomped your way inside Anthea's room as you can feel the fear instantly changing to a furious expression inside of you. Holding up the paper, you lowered your voice to Anthea. "What's this? Pay up? What did they mean by pay up Anthea?" You repositioned yourself from standing right before her to kneeling beside her and placing your arms right onto her upset shoulders. She was still crying as tears would fall down her cheeks uncontrollably, her mucus coming out from her nose and her dry throat allowed her to cough excessively. You couldn't bear to see her like this, you just hated it. "Anthea, you have to tell me. Something's happening and the only way to stop this is if you start telling me what's wrong." Her cries settled down by itself as she slowly raised her head to meet your eyes. Her eyes were so red from crying for so long and you could see the colour of her face fading away, changing to a pale one. Her lips trembled to find the right words, "They found me and they're going to get me." Her voice was so hoarse from all the crying and she couldn't help but to recompose herself, fighting so hard not to cry again. You narrowed your eyes at her while it left you a huge confusion upon her sentence. Your mind was troubled, unabling to allow you think properly. "You know those guys? What's going to happen?" You bit your lower lip and you could feel yourself shaking with a mixture of fear and worriedness that engulfed you.

         Everything happened so fast and you didn't know how you should deal with it. Anthea shook her head vigorously as she balled up the fingers of her hand into a tight fist, showing off the presence of her thick and prominent veins. She choked onto her own cry before proceeding. "You shouldn't know about this, I'm sorry." Her teeth gritted against each other and you could see the blazing anger in her eyes. She looked furious as the veins on her temples can be seen through the exerted pressure that she had.

         You felt sympathetic of her but you were unsure on how to cheer her up in her current situation. Taking your legs down to the creaking stairs, you headed to the kitchen as you ransacked through the sections of cupboards and compartments, trying to find a cup. Your trembling hands steadily poured the jug of water to the cup as you then hurried back to Anthea's room. Crossing your legs and sitting beside her, you pushed the cup of water into her weak grip as she gladly accept it with two hands for support. As the dark night creeped in and the atmosphere came to a complete still, the both of you were still huddling together at the corner of the room. You were persistent enough to stay and accompany Anthea, making sure that she would be alright and somehow comfort her in any way that's possible. After what seemed like almost 1am, Anthea was able to calm herself down as you tucked her into bed. "Sleep well, I'll see you tomorrow." You ran your fingers through her white hair while you tucked the blanket to her chin and switching off the night light beside her drawer.

         She sniffed, catching your hand in hers - as you could feel her soft, velvety hands - and showing a small smile before bidding goodnight to you. Unfortunately, you weren't able to sleep at all. Your mind was in a million places and it allowed you to stay wide awake for the whole night. You accompanied yourself with a small cup of milk, hoping that it would somehow help you to fall asleep. Your body stiffened and your mind jerked to a stop as you felt the cold atmosphere surrounding you.

          As soon as your body froze by itself and your tongue was tied into a knot, you knew exactly what was going to happen. It had been awhile ever since the nightmares been haunting you which was a good thing but you had a feeling somehow that it was visiting you again tonight. The cold air that glide through your skin didn't please you at all and it made you feel so frightened over your own shadows. You clenched your fingers into a tight fist and you took steady breaths, consoling yourself as you usually would. "You can't get rid of me." It called out. That same ear-piercing but yet honey-like voice entered your mind and you could feel her lingering around in your seat. She let out a small chuckle and you could feel your pulse increasing by itself. "But I want to." You retorted, gritting your teeth. She laughed again, this time you could sense the sarcasm in it. You saw her shadows walking through the pitch black living room and her curves that overcasted from the moonlight. She looked so perfect with the effortless textured waves on her hair, her milky skin that seemed glowing in the dark. You wanted to be like her and that was not a doubt. "I'm always right here beside you. No point pushing me away." She said, moving closer to you.

         You hitched a breath, the cold atmosphere almost choking you in. "You're finally trying to be happy." Your body jerked and you almost choked onto your own saliva listening to the words spilling out from her mouth. Somehow, your tightened chest relaxed by itself and you was able to breathe properly again. Your eyelids closed by itself and you could feel her cold atmosphere turning to a much warmer tone. Her heat engulfed you and when you closed your eyes shut, giggles and laughters could be heard ringing through your ears. Images from the past flashed before you - it wasn't the dark and eerie kind but it was more of a vibrant atmosphere. You cringed, this was different from any nightmare and you didn't know if this was a trap or not.

***

         "Smile, baby!" You heard a soft voice called out from afar and a toddler standing right outside a lawn, posing for herself. She looked really adorable as she had her hands to her hips and her smile was simply refreshing to look at. Her dimples were formed whenever she laughed or smiled. Her nose were so small and her lips were so thin but then it turned to a really graceful smile when her cheekbones rise.

         Then it hit you that, it was you.

         Everything was so clear now when you remembered the floral printed dress that you kept only for special occassions when you were little and the beautiful voluptous honey brown hair that you never dared anyone to cut it. You saw the little girl posing and then she laughed out loud, running to an older woman's embrace. The older woman was plum but she still looked beautiful. There were strands of white hair seen and her face was slightly wizened, her forehead would crease whenever she frowned. She grabbed the toddler in her arms as she smacked a kiss onto her chubby cheeks, the toddler screaming in delight. Your eyelids squinted through the darkness, the woman was your grandmother. The loud screams and shrieking laughter that came from the toddler were music to your ears as you saw how the both of them were enjoying themselves. Your grandmother pushed you to the other side again as she repositioned herself, squatting slightly and extended her arm to take a good picture of yourself. The small you couldn't help but to laugh everytime you saw the flash coming from the camera and you were smart enough to pose for it like those charismatic models you often see in the magazines.

         "Beautiful eyes!" Your grandmother hollered and as soon as you heard her calling out for beautiful eyes, the ends of your eyes crinkled by itself and you showed a wide smile, your baby teeth glowing and you could hear the old woman chuckled in delight. It seemed as if you were right there, witnessing the scene over your very eyes and you could feel your heart lightened by itself. Without you knowing, the ends of your mouth tugged by itself into a small smile. Before you were able to witnessed what happened, another scene came flashing through your eyes.

         This time was different and it showed a slender young woman who was standing right in front of a small stage that had a camera before her. She had a glowing milky white skin and she was wearing a beautiful red sequined dress that had a huge back cut out that seemed to make the whole outfit y. Her honey brown hair that had light blonde highlights was dazzling as it was draped onto the side of her shoulder. "Come on babe!" She called out, beckoning someone to come over to her side with a huge grin plasted onto her face. You heard a dry laugh which then came a guy who was wearing a neat black tuxedo. He rushed to her side, his fingers warmly wrapped to her waist and her fingers touching his tightly. He pulled her close to him while the both of them posed for the camera in a loving way. 

         For the second shot, he then turned her around so that she was able to face him in the eye. She slowly wrapped her hands behind his waist, the same way that he did to her but he then soothingly rubbed her back. Both of them had their eyes laid onto each other and you could see how much love there had been between the two of them. The way she smiled while staring onto the love of her life's flawless face gave butterflies in her stomach and you could see that she didn't want this moment to end. He leaned in as their foreheads then met each other's and she could feel his hot breath. The both of them laughed, tightening their grip onto each other's waist when the camera flashed, capturing the beautiful moment the couple had.

***

         Within a flash, you could feel the cold atmosphere engulfing you again, this time jolting you awake to the reality. You shivered and travelling your hands to your cheeks, you realised beads of crystals streamed down willingly. You sniffed and allowed the tears fell by themselves. Seeing those memories flashing before your eyes made it so hard to accept that it was the past. You wanted to feel the moment again and enjoy it, going back to the past seemed like the only thing that would be perfect right now for your life. Once again, you could feel her presence coming nearer to you as she whispered near your ear. "When will you be happy?" It called out, questioning you. You sat there, holding the cup of milk in your grip with your slightly swollen eyes and sniffing away the excess tears. Your heart tightened again and for once, you were merely confused at yourself.

         Exactly how are you going to be happy?

         You bit your lower lip and you sighed, slowly allowing your hands to brush through your own hair. When the memories flashed through your eyes, you definitely felt as if your spirit was rising and it intrigued you knowing how happy you were before. You wanted to be happy like before and that was just enough for you to enjoy your life but how? You were still stuck in this horror nightmare that tried to hold you back from the word happiness. You couldn't let yourself to sleep every single night without dreaming how terrible your life was. Every now and then, Ilsung's face would immediately come into action and there would always be a mixture of hatred and miss towards him. You loved him with all your heart and you couldn't possibly forget how his soft touch lingered through your whole body, how his voice would glide smoothly onto your skin, calling out your name. "Try harder." She emphasized on. You sighed, sometimes having these voices inside your head can also be a remedy for yourself. For the whole night, you couldn't fall asleep thinking about yourself. Without knowing it yourself, you would sometimes even dream of Daehyun which was very peculiar.

         The blazing streams of sunlight creeped through the cracks of the windows as it casted a slightly eerie shadow of the huge tree before the front lawn. You groggily grunted under your breath as you wiped off the dripping saliva and rubbed your eyes furiously. Your body ached and you realised that you were still in the dining room with the cold glass of milk right in front of you. Turning slightly to the other side, you caught a glimpse of the clock and realised that you only have less than an hour to prepare yourself to work. After handling the dirty dishes, you walked up the stairs swiftly but quietly and tried to sneak up on Anthea. You heard her soft snores that came from her bedroom and when you came nearer to her door, you saw her figure lying deeply asleep on her bed. You smiled, she was alright and it was a good thing that she was able to catch some sleep. You then hurried yourself to your room to change into your work uniform and decided to have a light breakfast. Before leaving, you decided to cook up a simple omelette, sandwiches and bacon breakfast-in-bed for Anthea. To top it all of, you made her some sizzling hot tea and placed it right on top of a wooden trunk placed right in front of her bed. "Good morning, had a good sleep?" Jaebum greeted you warmly as soon as you entered the front door of the café. He flashed his charming mega-watt smile while he buttoned up his vest,  tightening his inner shirt as his bisceps stood out.

         You waved at him, "Not really." Sighing, you wore the apron and immediately went off to start work. The whole day at work was neither monotonous nor amusing as you went table by table to take the customer's orders and help out in the kitchen when necessary. You would rest inside the staff's room whenever you had some break time, either take a quick nap or just lounging around. Some other time, you would just sit right in front of the counter before any customer enters. Whenever a customer rushes through the door, you had to get ready and find a seat for them. "Here!" A husky and deep voice hollered from the other side of the counter as your head shot up, rushing to the source of the voice. You froze on the spot as you saw the menacing stare shot right theough your face. The familiar beard that he had and hairstyle gave you cold shudders down your spine. You didn't have any reasons to be frightened but it was as if the atmosphere turned colder automatically. He was the same guy who was eyeing you in the last cafe with a group of other men. He looked intimidating but you gathered your courage to confront him. Before you took their order, he gave you a good cold stare that pierced through your whole body. "Two dark coffee and a latte." He said coldly, still eyeing you as one by one of his friends turned to look at you.

         You caught a glimpse of one of them motioning to the other about you which you sensed was not a good thing. Hurriedly, you took your brittle legs and went to the counter, calling out the order and you could still feel their hot breath right behind your neck. Your once calmed face was now turned to a wide eyed, lip biting and aghast expression followed by the pounding of your adrenaline. When you set down the orders onto their table, he gave the bill in which you didn't dare to look him in the eyes and quickly left the table. You knew he was trouble and it felt as if he was eyeing you for a reason. "Hey, I got you some tea. Guessing it's your favourite?" A light knock was heard as Jaebum poked his head through the door, handing out the cup of tea. You gladly took it into your grip and shook your head. "Definitely a coffee drinker but tea works."

         In a flash, Jaebum's face was scrunched up into a frown and the end of his mouth went down, creating a slight pout. "Oh bummer." He whispered, taking a seat onto the other chair. "But thank you." A small smile was then spread across his once dull face while he bobbed his head downwards. The both of you talked during the break time and it turned out that you had a lot of things in common. Jaebum was talkative and it helped you to at least enjoy his chat and not bother you to share your own life. Right after break time, you continued your work and somehow you felt thrilled to see Daehyun and continue your little adventure. Every time the bell attached to the front door rang, you would swiftly turn your head to catch a glimpse if Daehyun had arrived.

         Finally, you were almost done with your shift as you took off the apron and changed into your normal clothing. "You're done with work so early?" You heard the soft chuckle coming from behind as you instantly knew who it was, a small smile creeping up to the side of your mouth.

phew literally didn't expect this to be a long chapter

happy reading!

subscribe, comment & upvote :-)