Wary

"What?" the others asked in unison.

Danial looked up at the ceiling, his gaze wandered from the fan to the lights alternately.

'Dad, will come home from overseas by the end of this month. Mum has an important meeting and will be back after 7.' (Danial's thought)

"It was only me at home!" Danial blurted out. He remembered that he locked the door.

"Maybe it's the pans that slid and fell down resulting in a pan avalanche," Kim looked calm.

"Maybe it's because of the wind!" Emma chirped.

' How could the pans be dragged-,' Laven's thought was interrupted when he heard the sound of pans being dragged again.

That was impossible to happen on its own.

"Let me check it out," Kim offered. He looked rather excited than scared.

Emma and Laven exchanged looks.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked.

"That isn't someone you know right?" he asked for confirmation. He didn't want to end up committing a crime in front of them.

Danial shook his head.

Kim gave a smile that the others couldn't comprehend.

"I'll call Mum," Danial took out his phone.

As Kim approached the area where the sound came from, he took out his medium sized pocket knife. He always made sure that it was razor sharp.

'Hurting an intruder wouldn't cause anything serious to happen, so why miss this chance to have fun?' (Kim's thought)

Kim ran his hand through his hair.

'For my friends...' (Kim's thought)

He approached the back side of the person who was carrying a pan in a flinging stance.

'It might be a thief!' ( Kim's thought )

He was ready to stab the person as hard as he could. He wanted to see blood splurt out. So, he went for the neck.

However, he suddenly felt someone holding his wrist tightly. It was so strong, causing a sharp pain to be felt and Kim immediately released his grip on the knife. His wrist felt numb and painful.

He turned behind and came face to face with Laven.

Laven looked like an officer with a scary expression.

"What are you guys doing?" the unknown being in front of them turned behind after hearing the sound of the pocket knife that landed on the floor. It was a lady in her late 40s.

"If something happens, it's your fault!" Kim muttered in a low voice.

Laven didn't panic. He recognized the lady.

"Mrs. Rosy!" he felt a twitch of happiness in his heart. It had been long since they last met. Her phone's loud ringtone was heard. She looked at it and saw that it was Danial.

A look of confusion was plastered on her face.

"Mum!" Danial sprinted to the kitchen with Emma.

"When did you arrive?" he was confused.

"While you were engrossed with your phone. Today's meeting was cancelled," Mrs. Rosy gave a warm smile.

"So, your friends are here. Do you kids want anything to eat?" she asked politely.

"But how did you come in? The door was locked! I promise!" Danial still couldn't shake off his shock.

"Well, I have spare keys," his mum noticed that Danial was acting a bit weird.

She laughed and hit Danial's back, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." he gave a convincing smile.

Laven slowly kicked the knife away, making sure it wasn't noticed by the others.

"Were you too scared Laven?" Emma asked.

Her gaze fell on his hand that still hadn't released Kim's wrist.

Danial raised his eyebrows.

"Excuse me, can you let go of her hand?" Danial looked at Kim.

"It's her who needs to let go!" Emma laughed.

Laven's cheeks started to tickle, they turned a slight shade of pink. Although he didn't have any infatuation towards Kim, the people around would easily assume things because they didn't know who he really was.

He released Kim's wrist and looked at his feet.

Mrs. Rosy giggled but it came to a halt when Danial told her about Cloey.

"It's gonna be an hour soon and you guys didn't inform her parents! Go sit at the hall or do anything else but DON'T go out from the house," she instructed. Worry was evident on her face.

She came to the hall, looking worried.

"Danial ask your friends to go home. Their parents ordered so. Laven, your mum, Mrs Laventine is coming to pick you up at the nearest bus stop. The others wait here. Sorry, I didn't pay much attention to the new guy, what's your name?" Mrs Rosy glanced at the new face.

"Kim Lee Hyun," he answered.

"Can you give me your mum's or dad's number?" Mrs Rosy requested.

"Only mum. But she doesn't have a phone," Kim stated emotionlessly.

Silence fell upon them.

"Let me drop you," Mrs Rosy offered. She didn't ask about his dad.

"It's ok, thanks," Kim replied.

"But it's dangerous for you to walk alone. If it's the bus stop, I don't mind because it's nearby, but all the way to your house....Is it nearby?," Mrs Rosy was feeling uneasy.

Kim smiled, "Really, I can go home by myself. Thank you for your generosity," Kim still didn't agree.

Mrs Rosy just nodded and walked away.

Laven remembered the incident earlier.

'He was about to stab her. Luckily, I followed him! Maybe he thought that it was a serial killer? His attitude is so weird. Anyhow, he shouldn't walk alone all the way to his house. He's just a boy, like me.' (Laven's thought)

Laven patted Kim on his back and showed him his book: 'Let my mum drop you'

Kim's eyes lit up.

Danial and Emma came near to view the content.

"Sure!" an unexpected answer came.

Danial looked as if he was going to set Kim on fire. He shifted his gaze to Laven.

"Excuse me, that's a stranger!" Danial was pissed off.

Laven showed him his book:

'Our friend actually.... My mum can drop him'

Danial wasn't ready to calm down.

"Why don't you want my mum to drop you? You don't have to be scared of me, I'm not gonna eat you alive! We're friends right?" Danial was ready for a debate.

"You referred to me as a stranger. It makes me feel less comfortable around you. I think you're acting like a nice guy. Are you jealous?" Kim's straightforward response made Emma gasp.

Danial's face turned red.

Laven couldn't blink.

"I don't want to trouble your mum. She must deal with Cloey's parents now right?" Kim flashed an innocent smile.

"Go easy on him would you! He's actually caring!" Emma defended Kim.

"Cloey... I shouldn't have let her go alone! It's my mistake!" her eyes got watery.

"It's not your fault. We don't know what happened yet," Danial tried to comfort Emma. Laven nodded, hoping Emma wouldn't blame herself anymore.

Kim kept quiet.

Laven tugged Kim's arm, a signal that meant to leave now.

Kim smiled and said, "I guess we have to make a move now."

"How are we gonna meet again? A place or something?" Danial seemed calm now. He assumed that he might not have a phone since his mother doesn't. Besides, Kim did look like a nice person after all.

"Jack & Jill. At 5 in the evening. Tomorrow?" he tried to use as less words as possible.

The others nodded.

Laven walked with Kim behind him all the way to the bus stop in complete silence.

He noticed a black BMW waiting there. Aunt Shelly had already arrived.

'She must have freaked out!,' Laven thought while laughing internally.

Aunt Shelly cared deeply for Laven. He was always an angel to her. That's why she easily freaks out when it involves Laven being harmed. No one except some business acquaintances know that she is his aunt. To others, she is known as Laven's mum, Mrs Laventine.

"Hey, young man! How's my little cupcake doing?" Aunt Shelly asked in a cheerful mood.

Laven enlarged his eyes, trying to inform her that he wasn't alone.

The back door opened, revealing Kim.

"Young man! Funny," Kim had heard everything.

Aunt Shelly covered her mouth and let out a laugh.

"Oh, Ms Laven has a new friend!" Aunt Shelly tried to sound natural.

Laven smiled.

"Hi, I'm Kim," he introduced himself.

"Nice meeting you. Got to admit, you look good though," she praised Kim.

Laven was playing with his fingers.

"You can talk now," he said looking at Laven.

Aunt Shelly understood what he meant.

"He doesn't really like talking!" her answer wasn't similar to the reason Laven gave earlier.

'Really! Sounds interesting.' (Kim's thought)

Laven showed his book to his aunt:

'Can you drop him at his house?'

Aunt Shelly looked at Laven with a grin.

"So, where should I drive you?" she asked looking at the rear view mirror.

"Can you send me to Hell?"

.

The place was dark. Cloey opened her eyes, only to be met with utter darkness.

"Where am I?" she had no idea where in the universe she was right now.

Cloey blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to remember what had happened. She leaned against the wall, which she found by patting her hands around. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember how she got here.

Then, she started looking around. She was finally able to see a bit of the objects there after her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The unknown objects laying around gave off eerie vibes. Cloey couldn't recognise them as the objects weren't near.

She sighed, there was no sign of exit anywhere.

"You got to be kidding me! How did I end up here?" she banged the wall with her fist.

"Emma, Laven, Danial....Little Book Hut.....I forgot....That person!" realisation struck Cloey. She had been kidnapped.

Now, she remembered everything clearly.

The person with the mask forcefully pulled her hair, she only managed to scratch the door while trying to grip the knob. Her head was banged with something that caused her to be knocked out.

She knew she was in danger. Waiting there without doing anything would be like giving a chance for someone to bury her alive, or whatever they planned to do with her.

She raised her hands and held her head that was starting to ache. Her hair was damp, like she just showered. She felt liquid on her hands. It was slightly sticky.

She went near the other side, which looked like a closed opaque window.

She tried to open it. Her guess was correct, it was indeed a window. She opened it and rays of light entered along with the cool breeze of winter. However, the maximum length she was able to open was only about two centimetres.

She saw what was on her hands. It was blood.

She fell down on her back, shocked.

Her head started aching even more.

Cloey remembered the odd looking objects laying around earlier.

'There might be a hammer!'

She immediately rushed to one of the objects nearby.

She was able to see better now eventhough she had to go near in order to recognise it. It was long and black.

"It doesn't look like cotton, or any material I'm familiar with," Cloey couldn't recognise what the cloth was made of.

It felt too rough to be cotton and too smooth to be plastic threads, but it was comfy.

She decided to bring it with her, it might be useful later.

Cloey looked around. Something long and big was seen laying there, but it was in an awkward 'L' position. Curious, she approached the object at the corner. Not much light reached there.

It looked sort of familiar but Cloey couldn't figure out what it was. She touched it and realised that it was indeed familiar. 5 long thin sticks were felt. Her heart started to race, not wanting to believe what she just felt.

She dragged it towards the window until she got a clear view of it.

"OH MY GOD! OH NO!!!!" Cloey fell. She wasn't able to hold back her shock.

Unfortunately, her guess was right again.

A headless body laid in front of her. The sticks she felt earlier were bones where the flesh seemed to be ripped off all the way up to the shoulders. The flesh on the other side of the body was still attached to the bones. It looked like an unfinished meal of 'something'.

"No, no, no!!!" Cloey started to lose control of herself. She started screaming as loud as she can.

'Can't anyone hear me!' (Cloey's thought)

She was starting to freak out even more. She couldn't stand and run away because the scene in front of her paralyzed her. It was something that Cloey would never want to see.

The flesh of the body looked fresh, blood was still oozing out from the neck and left arm. Cloey saw her hands which were covered with the blood of the lifeless body mixed with some of her own.

Suddenly, the body in front of her started leaning forward, towards Cloey. Blood was felt rushing to her head.

"Aaahhhhh!" Cloey let out a terrifying scream which was muffled by a hand that suddenly closed her mouth forcefully. She immediately froze, not daring to move and letting the lifeless body drop on her.

'No....please! Save me God!!!' Cloey started praying intensely.

The person behind leaned in while holding her hair in a ponytail and whispered one by one, "Shut. Up."