Act I Scene II??

I sat in the car as Tim drove me home, we were done with stake out or at least I was.

I replayed the events in the airport toilet over and over again, I couldn't see it. The logic behind it all, I mean this was real life not a scripted Hollywood horror film.

How was I supposed to believe that what actually happened to me was real. Could I tell anybody else this without looking like an escapee from a psychiatric home?

And could I blame them if they thought so? I wouldn't even believe myself; in fact part of me didn't believe it too if not for the evidence lying there in my pocket.

Yes I took the note.

Why I took it? I honestly don't know, maybe some part of me wanted this you know? A break from the endless cycle of boredom.

Don't get me wrong, was I terrified? Yes, I was utterly shaken to the core of my being but I could feel something else too, a craving deep within my soul buried under all the fear, a lust for excitement, a hunger for something different.

"Hey kiddo, you all right" Tim asked, he had been watching the rookie ever since he got back from the airport and knew something was wrong. He wasn't the best police officer out there but he was experienced enough to know when someone was off it.

Ziko broke out of his thoughts; he had almost forgotten someone else was here with him.

"I'm fine Tim, just tired that's all", he considered telling Tim about his little adventure with the 'spirits of airport toilets past' but taking another look at the vanilla middle-aged man whose peak of the day was usually highlighted by discovering the newest donut places and vibing to pop songs.

He thought better of it, 'what would he do, annoy the thing to death' he chuckled inwardly as the image flashed in his mind.

Tim saw that Ziko's mood had improved and turned back his attention on the road thinking 'Kids these days, I can't keep up they're just way too complex for me'

It was a quiet journey from then on till Ziko's apartment; he lived in a three-room apartment that he got for a sweet deal from a sketchy 'Aunty' during his house hunting days after he graduated from college. She assured him he wouldn't be pulled into a property sue that being his greatest fear not believing a bit her story on how her ancestors built the building during the times of Kennedy.

He got home, waving Tim off who was in a hurry to get to football game promising to help him check out at the station.

Pulling his keys from his pocket, he sighed looking at the 'under repair' sign at the apartment elevator that had been there ever since he got the place two years ago. He tried getting the Aunty to fix it up a few months ago as he had had enough of climbing stairs everyday but the mention of increasing rent quenched his desire of pursuing the matter any further.

"Damn, that stingy old hag" He cursed remembering her greasy old grin and the way that disgusting mole at the corner of her lip twitched as she talked about more rent money.

He trudged along carrying his weight up the flight of stairs all the way to room 322.

He unlocked the door and took in the all too familiar sight of his apartment.

It wasn't much; his sitting room was barely furnished featuring a couch he got for cheap at a garage sale, 32' LED television he saved up months to buy and his old sound system from home which had proven it's worth in gold.

He gently tapped the trusty old stereo before stepping into his bedroom to freshen up.

Ziko laid on his bed thinking back on everything that had happened today and sighed.

I wanted excitement and got it, just wish I knew what I got myself into.

He pulled the note from his pocket and read it again and again as though hoping to find some sort of code.

Fly Away Ziko, I'm watching.

The last line of the note still put shivers through his body as he wondered how he had come to the interest of such a being

He even began considering calling his mother to ask if his family had a history with the paranormal.

Maybe I should call an exorcist? Preferably a catholic priest heard that they actually have a division for that.

A million ideas continued to run through his mind as he slowly drifted to sleep perhaps dreaming of ghosts and cursed baby dolls.

*************

Nighttime at the Dallas International Airport was as lively as it was during the day with the only difference being the nature of passengers as international night flights were destined for more European and African countries.

Ella was in a bad mood, she felt her luck had ran out after being picked for night shift at the bookings counter this month.

Of course there was nothing wrong with taking nightshift during the holiday period but this was June and her visitors so far had been smelly businessmen wearing cheap suits and snobbish African aunties who she didn't understand but from the way they sounded, it was definitely not anything nice.

Well anyways her traffic so far had been slow and she was getting bored at the same time fighting the urge to pick up her phone.

She turned her head slightly to look behind her and saw her superior staring in her direction as though having read her mind.

'Tch, he definitely isn't letting me out of his sights today'.

She turned her attention back to the people waiting for their flights and decided to practice the profiling technique she watched on YouTube the previous day.

Hmm, who should I pick? She pondered as her eyes skirted around looking for a suitable target.

Well he looks good enough, she thought as a man reading an airport brochure wearing a three-piece suit and rimless glasses caught her eye.

Why he caught her eye? She thought the bushy beard he had was almost unnatural as if he was wearing a fake beard.

'No way that's a real beard' she speculated

She soon broke out of her reverie when she discovered that the man that was initially half way across the room was merely a few steps away from the counter she was in charge of.

Did he notice me staring? She wondered as the man approached the counter.

"Excuse me miss, could you help me with the time" he said with a smile

'Hmm he doesn't look bad at all even with the fake beard but doesn't he have a watch or phone?

Ella didn't care much as she saw this as an opportunity to finally use her phone.

"11:59", she said as her phone screen came on and was just about to turn it off again when the time changed.

"Oh wait it just clocked 12", finding the timing a bit coincidental as she looked at the handsome stranger with a fake beard.

"What!" she heard her boss shouting at the back and quickly turned as she was greeted by the sight of him rushing out of the office in a hurry.

'I wonder what happened ' she thought as she turned back to see the counter empty and the man with a fake beard nowhere in sight.

All she could see was airport security rushing around as though something big happened.

She turned to the security officer stationed at the counters and asked what was going on and apparently all the CCTV cameras in the airport went offline immediately it was twelve O'clock

Her mind suddenly thought of a man with her fake beard asking her for the time.

'Does he have something to do with this' she wondered as she took up her phone to use now her boss was busy.

The corridor preceding the airport toilets were as lonely as ever, more so now with the minor chaos transpiring.

A man could be seen whistling a familiar nursery rhyme as he casually walked to the toilets stroking his fake beard.

He walked into the toilet and walked directly to the last stall before bending over and reaching behind the toilet bowl to pick up a small black device.

If looked at carefully the black object had the makings of a speaker.

Looking at the black object the man chuckled 'So much for ghosts in the 21st century' before putting it into his pocket and wearing the cowboy hat swung over his neck.

He continued whistling as he walked out of the stall towards the door, pausing for a bit at the mirror to fix his image.

If Ziko saw the reflection at mirror he would recognize the man as one of the cowboys he ran away from before.

The man checked his watch before taking a small disposable phone from his pocket and made a call.

The call connected but nothing could be heard from the other end as the man paused for a while as if waiting something.

As if satisfied with the silence he visibly relaxed before calmly saying into the other end, "The main lead has been chosen".

"Good, contact the other members of the cast before the final plot preparations are done", A voice said from the phone after he had spoken.

"And I mean all members, you wouldn't want to replace any of them now would you?"

The man shivered slightly as if recalling a past memory before replying "No".

The call disconnected and the man threw the phone into the sink and turned on the faucet.

He took another look at himself in the mirror before taking a small booklet from his pocket.

'One down, three more to go' he said looking at the list on the booklet.

He adjusted his hat slightly before stepping out of the toilet.