Ow!" Rey shouted at the man who bumped her. His sling bag merely brushed her shoulders but the force was strong enough to send her off balance. Rey fell on the sidewalk bottom first, whilst her things — several notebooks, school pads, and books— came flying all over the street. She looked over her shoulder, sending a menacing glare at the man. They momentarily locked eyes but the man reverted his glance as soon as he saw her. He then continued to walk, his strides long and fast, as if he never caused anyone trouble.
She pouted, her three-piece hair bun started to itch due to annoyance for some reason. What a prick, she thought as she scratched her hair. Soon, she sighed, mumbling and grumbling on her own as she picked up her things from the ground. She didn't know what was more frustrating — the fact that she fell on her buttocks because of some careless adult or the fact that she doesn't have a school bag.
Maybe it was both. But another glance at the man proved it wrong. Sure, he was a jackass; to think that he saw her —another human being who's far smaller than him fall, but did not do anything about it proved that he lacked a proper sense of decency or manners. But there was something else in the man altogether. He was restless and disoriented; like a person who drunk all night struggling to get home in the morning. He kept glancing at his sides, then he would freeze for some reason, rooted in place. Rey could see his shoulders tense like he was immensely afraid of something or someone.
What is he afraid of, exactly? Rey thought as she collected the final pieces of her school stuff. Hugging her things on her chest, she made a final brush on her knees, dusting off the dark marks of the pavement that latched onto her worn out second hand school skirt. Maybe the man was indeed drunk, a weirdo, or just a person who was ultimately having a bad day. She hoped that he was just having a rough morning, for she decided to let the matter go. It was an accident, he didn't mean it. Rey would give the man a benefit of the doubt. She would forgive him for bumping her, after all everyone has their ups and downs. Of all the people in the world, she should know this. At the meager age of twelve, she already knew that everyone has their struggles. So she cannot blame him. The man having a bad day is not his fault.
Rey made a small whistle, happily puckering her mouth to boost her optimism. Today is her first day of high school, and a small accident can't and won't bring her down. Skipping and trotting on the sidewalk, she continued on with her journey towards her school. But her joyous prance turned into a full blown run when she saw the stop light. At the end of the sidewalk, the crossing had been lit green, signalling pedestrians to cross it. Brushed with a sense of urgency, her strides became wider and wider, hoping to catch it. Ever since she started going to school, she always crosses this intersection unimpeded. Maybe it was luck or pure coincidence, but she never misses this crossing. Not ever, and especially not today. So, she ran with full might, but her little strides proved otherwise. Soon, the green light blinked rapidly, signalling a change. Rey frowned as she ran. Today is definitely an exception to her luck. She knew she would not make it, but she sprinted anyway. Still full of optimism, she thought that if she can't catch the green light of the stop sign, at least she would be first in line once its color changes again — that was the idea.
She saw people stop at the edge of the street, busy men and women silently waiting for a change of sign. Rey knew she had to wiggle her way towards the front, not that she's competitive, but yeah, she wanted to be first. But there was one person who wouldn't stop — the man who bumped her —was maybe really drunk or dazed that he did not notice that the stop light on their side had already bled red. His feet began moving in a rapid pace, with the intention of actually crossing the busy intersection.
"Hey!" She screamed in concern, still running to reach the end of the sidewalk. No noticed the man; not the pedestrians waiting to cross alongside him. It was as if he was invisible to everybody else. No one saw him being reckless and stupid.
Just her.
"Sir!" Rey screamed further, trying to call his attention. With her panic apparent, and her adrenaline spiking all over her little body, Rey raced towards the street. She thought she could catch him; grab his shirt, his sling bag, or something! Rey struggled through the crowd, wiggling her way towards the man. But as soon as her small fingers attempted to take a hold of his sleeve, the wind stubbornly fluttered, whipping the man's shirt away from her grasp. She missed him by just a millimeter — a hairline.
Rey gasped, it was already too late. She wouldn't be able to stop him.
No!
Rey heard a crash; the sound of flesh colliding with metal and the sound of shattering glass. It was followed by the smell of rubber burning into her nostrils, then the sound of tires screeching in her ears. She screamed at the top of her lungs, almost overpowering the distant screeching sound that they meld into one eerie noise.
She brought herself to sit on her make-shift bed, sweat already filing up her whole face. It was another nightmare, but it wasn't her usual ones.
How long has it been since she dreamt of her accident ten years ago?
Rey heaved a heavy sigh, wiping a bead of sweat that trickled down her cheek with the back of her palm. With another exhale, she tried to calm herself. It was just a dream, she thought as she placed her palm on her chest. Her heart had been thumping frantically, its rhythmic beating echoing through her small silent room. It did not help her efforts of relaxation. If there was something, the sound of her heart became somewhat a distracting and an uncomfortable noise.
It was just a dream, she repeated once more with a hiss of fake calm.
Just a dream.
So why does it feel like it was real? Vivid and physical that her mended bones and grotesque scars ached tremendously in the cold night. She didn't know if it was all just in her head, but the pain of being ran over by a taxi cab in one of the busiest intersections in Aldera City, burned through her whole being. She shuddered, hugging herself with her thin frail arms. She prevented herself from breaking down from the lingering trauma. After all, the tragic incident was all in the past. She is alive; she survived. There is no use for crying over that.
She sighed, running her hand through her messy bed head. Her fingers got stuck along its ends that she had to forcefully pull her hand down to loosen them. She deliberately caused herself some pain, thinking that the hurt on her scalp would serve as a distraction.
A distraction, she blinked at the idea. Yes, she just needs a distraction. Feeling a little bit hopeful, Rey pulled her mobile phone from underneath her pillow. Her fingers lazily worked their way towards its screen, the light from the small rectangular device momentarily blinded her that she squinted her eyes. She didn't care, though. She needed the diversion.
First, she checked her cellphone calendar. It was a habit she got accustomed to ever since she acquired the digital device. After all, she is an organized creature, and basically an adult. She read its contents, but her eyebrows furrowed in confusion soon after. There should be a small green dot on tomorrow's date. Tomorrow. She has an important job interview tomorrow.
She gasped upon realization, instantly checking the time. 3:00 am.
It was already morning. Her interview is today.
She hissed in annoyance, silently cursing on her head. Of all days her brain conjured another bad dream, it had to be the most important day in her life. She sighed soon after, clicking the button on the side of her cellphone to lock it. She dropped it in between her crossed legs, staring at it blankly. She should be resting right now but her half-dazed brain had already been awake. Rey knew it would take some time before she would be able to sleep again and laying on her bed waiting for slumber won't cut it. She needed to tire herself out if she wanted to sleep some more.
She thought of several mental exercises, almost picking up her phone to play some games. But she was too lazy; too groggy to even lift her fingers. Finally, she settled on sitting still, computing mentally instead on how many hours of sleep she needed to have a well rested night.
It was now 3:05 am. Her interview is at 9:00 am, so she still has one, two, three... she counted, lifting her fingers one by one.
Suddenly stopping at counting, Rey snapped her head towards her window. She was sure as hell that a soft breeze danced inside her room; passing swift on her face like someone blew a breath in her face. She stared at the probable source of air, bewildered. Her window was covered by a small curtain, and she remembered clearly that the night before, she shut it tight. The curtain did not move, also, she didn't have a mechanical fan (the nights in Alderaan are cold especially with the oncoming winter), so there's no way that wind could enter her room.
For a while, she kept staring at it blankly, wondering if it was part of her imagination. She was still dazed from her nightmare, so maybe, it was all in her brain.
"Psst." A small voice whispered, distracting her even before her brain can conjure a rational explanation for the unknown breeze in her room. It came from the other side of her apartment. Rey cocked her head to the side, eyes wide and searching. She heard the voice, loud and clear. It's coming from the walls?
By the time she heard it, Rey's conscious mental faculties had stopped functioning; her subconscious readying itself for a fight and flight response. She cringed unwillingly; the little hairs on her nape standing at its ends. The little prickles on her skin made her tense in place. Her skin crawled, warning her. Soon, even her conscious mind had been telling her to flee but she was rooted on the spot. Even with the adrenaline running all over her, her body won't move an inch. She kept her head down instead, her stare glued at the matte black screen of her mobile phone that was sitting in between her legs. Not looking around to search for what was within her walls should have been a safe move but she gasped in shock, eyes wide at her mobile phone. Like her room, the screen was black, dark and opaque. But in its reflection, a figure, vaguely shaped like a human being was there... hovering just on top of her head.
Rey bit her the insides of her lip in panic. She should have turned her glance away from her phone, but she didn't have the courage to lift her head up. Even if she was brave enough to move, her neck muscles were not functioning like she wanted them to. She involuntarily kept her head down, staring and staring at the shadow to the point that her heart, which she successfully told to calm down, started to race again in sheer fright. Its frantic beats reached up to her throat, choking her; making it difficult to breathe.
With every labored breathing she mustered, came the awful realization —She's not alone.
Someone is watching her. From behind her, on top of her head, or in front? She didn't know. She didn't dare to confirm. It... it was just there on her cellphone reflection.
"Not today..." She whispered in faux bravery, curling her hand into a fist that her knuckles turned white.
"Psst." It went on again. This time the tone of the voice was high and playful; teasing, even. As if it knew; it knew that she was fully aware of its presence.
Rey's lips quivered in hopelessness. Her already fake courage dwindled into nothingness, instantly substituted by sheer terror.
"...please." She pleaded with tear stricken eyes. But her pleas were unheard for the reflection of the vague figure on her cellphone screen started to grow larger and larger. Whatever it was, it was coming; getting nearer; going closer towards her face.
Rey panicked, abruptly pulling her blanket to cover her whole body. She heard her phone fall, making a loud thud as it hit the old wooden floor. It was probably broken already, but she's not giving a shit about it because her bed... someone is on her bed!
She felt the pressure near her feet, one part of her mattress sinking at the weight. Rey turned to her side, "Go away!" She shrieked underneath her blanket.
Her desperate appeal was answered with a small hiss. The pressure on her bed continued to move; the sound of old bed springs creaked silently towards her —on top of her. With the movement, came the cold. Even with the blanket covering her body, she shivered at the ungodly temperature. From her feet, the frigid air crept gruesomely slow towards her torso. Rey cringed further, struggling to fold her knees away from the cold, that her kneecaps reached her chin.
"Leave me the fuck alone!" She screamed underneath her covers. Biting back her tears, Rey brought her eyes to a close, desperately hoping for a miracle.
An angry gnash of teeth answered her, followed by a harsh exhale of breath —nasty and malodorous; rotten even — that seemingly blew through her blanket. A hiss and a high pitched shriek echoed through her room. It was followed by a whipping gust of air that slammed onto her glass window that left her curtain fluttering in hostility. Soon, the temperature that dropped tremendously suddenly reverted back to normal. There was no pressure on her bed; there was no movement whatsoever. The thing that haunted her, it finally disappeared.
Slowly, Rey bat her eyelids to an open. With a deep breath, she found the courage to peek away from her covers. Sitting up once again, Rey searched with cautious eyes. Her eyes moved from her ceiling, to the small corners of her room and lastly towards the edge of her bed.
There was nothing. She was alone.
It was finally over.
Rey exhaled, shakily but relieved. Relieved, but not ultimately feeling safe. She made a negligent error of turning off her lights that night. She was just trying to be thrifty, but it cost her her night.
Rey sighed in defeat, pulling the covers away from her feet. It only took small rushed steps before she got to turn on her light switch. As quick as she could, Rey made her way back towards her bed. She laid down, sighing in relief once more. With the lights on, she knew she is safe.
This unholy visitation, it has never happened before. But Rey was too exhausted, both mentally and physically, to even put a thought on her terrifying experience. Soon, her eyelids started dropping in fatigue. She would think about it in the morning. Pulling her blanket, Rey covered her whole body once again. Even with the lights on, it wouldn't hurt to be extra cautious. Deciding to sleep once more, Rey turned to her side.
A high pitched shriek of panic roared through Rey's throat. It left her kicking, struggling and pulling her whole body away from her protective blanket. No matter how much she struggled, it was futile. It left her with nothing more than fear and terror that the unknown had pulled her towards the darkness.
—
Rey's alarm clock blared for the hundredth time. It was already morning, her interview is today. She needed to move and prepare but she kept snoozing her clock, desperately hoping that clicking the button off would send her back to slumber.
It didn't. In fact, she wasn't able to go back to sleep. She was wide awake the whole night, trapped and stuck at one of the corners of her small apartment. She had her knees on her chest, whilst her hands held a small bottle of holy liquid from the Christian religion.
She is able to see the dead, she had been for a while now. She didn't know how or why, but ever since she recovered from her accident, they started appearing. Before, they were just there, lurking around, sending those eerie vibes, alerting her of their presence. It was terrifying, after all, they were dead. They're not supposed to be mingling with the living. More importantly, she should not be able to see them.
It took Rey one year to get accustomed to their presence. She learned to brush them off, thinking that they were once human too. The dead can linger in the face of this earth for all she cares, just as long as they don't bother her. For several years, her ghost sightings weren't such an inconvenience. But soon enough, the mere fact that Rey could see ghosts already hindered her normal life. For some reason, the entities knew that she could feel them; see them even. When she started college, she became a magnet to the supernatural. Ghosts started haunting her almost everyday; like creepy stalkers, they would follow her everywhere —in her college, inside her classroom, the library or even in fucking public restrooms. It became an everyday burden, but that's not all. As the years went by, the terror she thought she had accustomed to grew back in her soul. She became very afraid of them; terrified that they would not leave her be; too scared of the possibility they could do something to her; hurt her or even possess her.
That blossoming fear had swallowed her whole; and that fear hampered her everyday life. She couldn't even go to her college with her head held up. She was always alert, terrified, that one moment they can suddenly appear. At one point, Rey unwittingly screamed at the middle of a lecture after she saw the ghost of a woman casually sitting on the shoulders of her professor. From that point on, her already miserable life had become unbearable. In the outside world, Rey became a weirdo; a loner and pretty much a freak. After she graduated from college, she decided to live in isolation — secluded from the prejudiced glances of the living, and far way from the dead. But you can never run away from the dead, not really.
For a moment, Rey's eyes lingered on what supposed to be her apartment; her; living quarters, or whatever you may call it. It was a decent little space, a stock room on the roof of an apartment building. The land lady was easily convinced to let her use it as a room, of course, with the condition of paying the same rent as other habitable units. Rey did not question the land lady's conditions for her new home was perfect: isolated from people and more importantly, it was a space of safety and protection.
In the confines of her small domicile, not one entity dared to enter it. The ghosts would always stop at her door. Maybe because she filled it with relics and statues from all kinds of religion all around the world, even adorning her door knob with garlic (an eastern belief she knew of by searching the internet). But now, even her small safe space is not safe as she hoped it would be.
Last night, she wreck havoc in her little apartment upon seeing her most recent haunting— a man with a disfigured head, bulging left eye with a grotesque mouth. It looked like he was hit by a blunt object in the head, but she did not want to speculate. Ghosts are ghosts. They are dead. Their history should be out of the question because she has bigger problems — like how to get rid of them, for example or how to prevent them from entering her apartment and hiding beneath her god damn blanket.
Rey sighed as she remembered. The ghost slipped his way underneath her covers, scaring the shit out of her. What's worse, they met eye-to-eye; too close and personal that the man's ghost nose almost touched her flesh. Rey smelled his breath; she felt the murky liquid that trickled on his grotesque mouth. It left her screaming in horror, kicking and struggling in fear. But he held her, tight and firm, to the point Rey could not move. After moments of struggle, Rey was able to break free, finding the strength to topple her bed upside down.
Rey could remember how she ended up destroying half of her sacred relics — she threw them to the ghost. It was stupid, for they were translucent. Each statue she threw merely went through, pieces smashing on her wall, but she was desperate and on the edge. She didn't know what to do that night. After all the ruckus, prayers to all the gods, and desperate pleas, the ghost suddenly disappeared. Like an awful prank, the man just fizzled in the air.
Last night's haunting had been a new one.
It was just last night that these beings became bold; audacious enough to come close to her; crawl on her; to the point of actually touching her.
Rey gasped, cringing in her small corner. Remembering the events last night had brought back an unspoken horror. She carefully touched her forearm, the part where her last night's ghost grabbed her. Large hands that grasped tightly that the entity left a dark purplish-black bruise on her pale white skin.
She bit her lip, biting back her tears. Her worse fears have come true. They've come to hurt her. Nothing can protect her against them. Not her room, not her statues, not her bright lightbulbs, not her blanket, not even the foul smell of garlic