Sachi sat at her desk mindlessely doing the same things she had done for the past three years. Filling old files away, creating new labels for new files, photocopying documents, shredding paper. She felt her job could be completed by anyone. Sachi looked in her now empty incoming box. This was the worst part, waiting for more work to arrive.
"Sachi….. psst….. Sachi!"
The young woman next to Sachi's cubicle was peering over the makeshift wall. She was looking around excitedly, waiting for a break in the passerbys to whisper the morning gossip to her coworker. Frankly, Sachi could care less who was dating whom, or who was cheating on who. This was a place of work, not a reality show. Sachi opened up the file drive on her computer, pretending to sift through some documents to give off the impression of being busy. Her coworker didn't pick up the hint.
"Sachi! I'm talking to you!" she whisper yelled. And I'm working. Sachi thought. A few seconds went by and she could still feel the eyes of the woman upon her. Sachi turned her revolving chair aorund the face the woman.
"Yes?" Sachi said, not allowing herself to say anything that might cause a follow-up from the woman. Her coworker looked insulted by Sachi's abrupt words.
"Geeze, I'll tell someone else. Let you get back to your work." She stressed the words like an attention hungry school girl. Sachi turned back to the computer screen and continued to look for the non existant file until the woman realized Sachi was truly uniterested. She heard an exasperated sigh. Finaly.
The work day continued to drag its knuckles across the floor. Once the day finally ended, each and every worker was excited to get back into the fresh outdoor air and make their walks home. Sachi was no exception to this common attitude of her culture.
The walks home were exactly the same as the walks to work. Sachi was a creature of habit, and she took pride in those things. She enjoyed having her life neat and organized with a purpose set out for each and every day. She enjoyed her clothes looking crisp and her hair done neatly and somewhat conservatively. And even though she was extremely shy, Sachi took pleasure in reading the latest fashion magazines and crafting her own version of the picture on the page.
She passed the same stores and businesses she passed every day. Since she was too reserved to know these people by name, she would nod politely, and continue her walk.
She finished the remainder of the blocks in the same amount of time she had always finished them. The subway ride was the same usual subway ride it had always been. The other commuters stood as silently as she was, staring at the backs of the people in front of them. The train swayed as it picked up speed and the throng of people on the train swayed in unison.
Once in her neighborhood, she hurried down the narrow streets to her townhouse in deep Tokyo. It was a cold night, that had been preceded by a dull rainy day. The air was humid but musky with the faint scent of rain. The dark streets reflected dim light back up towards the night time sky as puddles had formed randomly along the cold ground. The only illumination Sachi had was the faint glow coming from the households whose inhabitants were still up at this hour. She pulled her long yellow coat closer to her chin and quickened her pace. Once finally at her door she fumbled with the keys in her lock.
The door gave a 'click' and Sachi pushed it open, her body impatient to get out of the dark street, pressing her against the door. She stepped inside quickly and twisted around, slamming it shut with her back to the door. She was safe now. Safe inside her cozy home wedged in between two other homes who were in the same predicament hers was. Sachi flicked on the lights and removed her outdoor shoes, replacing them with her indoor slippers. So comfy and warm, Sachi thought, delighted to be in her warm house finally after a hard days work.
The young girl shrugged off her jacket and began her ritualistic routine of preparing herself a pot of tea and grabbing her now-favorite novel. It changed every week as she was always done in less than seven days. Once the tea was hot enough Sachi poured herself a cup and sat down at the kitchen table, flipping her book open to the page she left off at.
As the minutes turned to hours, Sachi began realizing she was not taking in all the information the book had to offer. She found herself staring at the words, her brain obviously focused on something else. Folding the book shut she sat at the table silently, staring at her front door and trying to let her thoughts wander.
A knock sounded at the door.
Hard and impatient it knocked three times. Sachi jumped in her seat as her heart leapt into her throat. The knocks stopped after three raps. She remained still in her seat, careful to not make any noise. Perhaps the knocker would get bored and leave. A minute went by of pure silence and Sachi sighed a sigh of relief.
She stood up from the table and placed her cup in the sink.
Three loud raps resonated throughout her small home. Sachi gulped, knowing the offender was not going to leave.
The knocks sounded again, annoyed and even more impatient, if that was all-together possible for sounds. Sachi peered through the peep hole of her door. There was a man standing outside. He was staring directly at Sachi through the hole. She knew he couldn't actually see her but it made her recoil from the door instantly.
"What do you want?" she called through the barrier, refusing to answer to a complete stranger this late at night. She heard shuffling from the other side.
"I need to use your phone, miss." Came the reply. The voice was frightening, but smooth and velvety at the same time. Sachi shook her head and pushed the sound of the voice out of her head.
"I can't do that for you, sir. There is a pay phone in the convience store just down the block."
The man paused for a minute, contemplating the offer.
"I have no change for a payphone. May I please use yours? I promise it will only take a second." He reasured her. Sachi didn't know why, but something about the voice just made it sound like he was telling the truth. She knew some people were just good liars, but they couldn't possibly be this good. Pure goodness and genuinity spilled from the mans mouth.
She thought about her options for a moment. If she opened the door, either the man was going to burst in and rape her or actually use the telephone. Two actions that were so far away from each other. There were also a lot of other houses along this alleyway. Why did he stop at her house? Why not the one closest to the beginning of the alley. It seemed stupid to walk halfway in and choose the house in the middle.
"You can use the phone at the convienience store, sir. Here." Sachi reached in her pocket, took out a bit of change and shoved it through the thin mail slot. She heard it clink on the ground. The man grumbled something inaudible. Soon enough there was no sound coming from the other side of the door. Sachi let her hand cover her chest as she felt her racing pulse. What a weird man.
She collapsed on her living room couch, staring blankly into the television. It stared blankly back at her. She could vaguely see her reflection in the television. And the reflection of someone standing outside her window. Sachi leapt off the couch, as if the person was going to jump through the window and attack her.
It was the same man, she assumed. He was staring right at Sachi and did not look very impressed. He blinked twice and then set off down the alley. His long strides seemed effortless, almost like he was on roller skates. Sachi stood motionless. Her face was flushed and her body felt cold and frozen. Her heart raced at an unimaginable speed, so it seemed, as she stared at the man disappear into the darkness.
What a weird occurrence. A strange man appears at her door, asking for the phone, but had to walk all the way into the alley to get to her house. This was the fact that Sachi could not ignore. It seemed completely unnecessary in her skeptical mind. She took in a large breath, glad that the man was gone.
That night Sachi slept restlessly. She tossed and turned in her bed, kicking her sheets away and moaning desperately. Wild images were racing through her head, the next even more bizzarre than the last. In time she fell into a deeper sleep, drifting off into her dreams.
I'm in a room. It's pitch black and my frantic, blind eyes cannot find a single speck of light. I let my arms fling out in front of my, in a feeble attempt to find something solid. They search desperately, waving around like tentacles from a bizarre alien. My fingers grab on something rough, like bark. My heart stops for a second and I take in a sharp breath of air. The sudden sensation worries me and I briskly lift my fingers off the unexplained object. The darkness in front of me seems to shift, almost warp. I strain my eyes to the brink of pain to see past the thick blackness. A pair of white hot eyes open sharply to face me and I scream.
Sachi lay in bed, still screaming. She had kicked all of the blankets and pillows off the bed. After a few moments of screaming Sach had managed to wake herself up. Carefuly, incase she was still dreaming, Sachi turned to look at the clock. 6:25AM. Five minutes before she was to wake up for work.
This morning felt colder than it had been forcasted. But then again, when had the weatherman ever been accurate? Sachi dressed warmly that morning. After inhaling a quick instant breakfast shake she was out the door to the subway station.
Sachi had to cross a browning soccer field to get to the subway terminal she always used. Since today was once again a cold and bitter day she stopped for a hot chocolate after the commute.
"Non-fat please." She added quickly, glancing up from her quest through her change purse. The barista made a little scribble on her cup and set it aside.
"$3.95." she said plainly. Sachi pulled out $2.50 from her purse. Dammit. As she franticly patted her pockets for change she felt an arm brush by her and that hand deposited the remaining cash into the tellers hand.
"T-thank you." Sachi turned around to see her secret do-gooder. The color instantly left her face. It was the man from last night. She knew it. It was his presence, there was a weird pulse about him. But instead of feeling embarassed or scared, Sachi felt oddly drawn to him. Not in an explainable way, yet in a more gravitational way.
She shook her head and whipped back around to face the barista.
"It'll be available at the end, ma'am." Sachi nodded and quickly abandoned the line, standing in the mass of people waiting for drinks. She watched carefuly as the man stood at the till for a moment, then disappeared back outside, in the frozen morning air.
Hot chocolate in hand, Sachi blew cool air into the cup as she hurried down the street. It was feeling emptier than usual, the downtown morning scene. The usual shop keepers and familiar faces were not there, leaving her with an odd vacant sensation. Sachi quickened her pace. She turned around a brick building corner, slamming directly into her least favorite object of the last two days. His arm met hers, stopping the hot chocolate from spilling.
"Hey!" Sachi let out before thinking about it. Great, now she had engaged something. She stood with the same expression on her face, frightened inside but refusing to show it on the outside, now that she had become the initiator. He stood looking at her with a deathly blank look in his eyes. There was no focus in his stare, yet Sachi felt his glare rip through her, making the back of her throat knot up and her heart to pound faster.
The seconds felt like minutes as the two of them stood, Sachi gripped by sickening fear and the man, standing more motionless than a statue. Not a single person was on the street to witness them. He let go of her arm all of a sudden as if it were hot metal. Sachi saw a look of disgust flash over his face, and soon he was striding away from her, as if this incident had never happened.
Sachi stood still on the sidewalk, still unable to process what had just happened. It was the man from last night, she was sure of it. But why had she seen him in the coffee shop. Why did she slam directly into him, as if he were walking in the opposite direction, yet he had been at the shop with her two minutes earlier. If anything he should have been following her. She immidetialey threw that thought out of her head. The last thing she needed right now was paranoia.