5. Wildfire

I just cleared my throat as I kept walking. Saying 'no' was useless. He had followed me, somehow.

This shopping complex looked very old. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite a while. Its location was just by the entrance, not too far to be reached on foot. All the buildings looked very good in their time, with their own distinctive designs. Showcases and some items in some shops seemed to be left just like that. I saw some homeless slept on the fronts of the shops. There were also homeless tents set up in the flattened part of the shop.

"It seems, a lot of homeless people are using this place to live in the winter like now." I agreed with Erick's opinion, but that's not my target. I continued to pace towards a small shop near an abandoned intersection, the stationery in my dream. It looked a little different from what I saw in a dream, but at the first glance, it still looked the same. There were burnt marks in half of the building, while the front was still intact. The same burnt marks were also in the nearby shops. Apparently, there had been a fire in this place at that time. Perhaps that was the reason this place was abandoned.

The stationery in front of us was like the one in my dream, only different from the burnt marks on one of the sides. The same thing happened to the shops in the vicinity. We went further and saw the inside of the shopping complex which was almost left with rubble and some that were still abandoned without being cleaned.

Along the way into the far side of the complex, I saw some people gathered near a large barrel with a bonfire in it. Apparently, what Erick said about this place was true. They were using it as a shelter from the fierce winter.

"Why do you want to come here?," Erick's question distracted me for a while..

I still didn't understand how this place was so similar to the one in my dream, even though this is my first time here. The image of this place in the dream was very identical. "I dreamed of being here, even though I've never actually been to this place. This is the first time" I looked around the dark and old shopping buildings that looked very scary

Erick stopped right beside me. "When?."

"Yesterday," I did not catch the shadows of the black creatures in my dream. They were not here.

My attention was distracted when I smelled the faint smell of damp charcoal, as well as a smell like grilled meat. I followed my feet to go deeper. And there, I saw a body lying on the charcoal with very severe burns. His skin was almost gone, and blood all over his body.

My eyes were glued to what was in front of me until a moment later I found the body was gone. Now that I realized, some of them were still here. "Let's go!" I pulled Erick's hand away from this place. I felt like this place wouldn't be good for us who were still alive. I couldn't predict what I would see again if I stayed here.

Erick looked at me, confused, but also followed my steps away from the building. "Have you done?"

I ignored Erick's question as I smelled a very strong scent of blood. I immediately let go of my hand, ran to the car, and immediately got in. A moment later, the man followed me breathlessly. From inside the car, I saw several black creatures with burning red eyes starting to emerge from the abandoned shop buildings.

...

I really wanted to go back to that place. My curiosity seemed bigger than my fear. I didn't understand the meaning of the dream, and my curiosity kept haunting my mind. After work, I finally decided to go back to that place and now I was in front of the shop.

'I have to get out of here before the sun goes down I thought, looking at my watch. On every road I passed, I left a trail I made with the red paint I brought with me from school. The dream of me being lost in this place kept haunting me, and I didn't want it to come true later.

"You shouldn't come here anymore" I didn't know when one of the Manji appeared beside me. "This place will be very dangerous for you when the sun goes down" She looked around warily and prepared with her bow.

"I had a dream, in this place there are a lot of creatures that resemble thick black smoke, with fire-red eyes" I couldn't find ways to explain what I saw that time in my dream properly. "They popped up from the remains of the shop building and were after me."

"They are still hiding now, and soon they will come out," said another manji who now appeared on my other side. They seemed to be watching the surroundings warily.

"What are they?" I was really, really curious why they and this place came into my dream.

The manji took me deeper into the shopping complex. "About twenty years ago, this place was a market" Now I understood. No wonder I saw so many stalls and shop buildings here. "One day there was a fire here, not a big fire, just a few buildings were on fire. But then, there were aftershocks a few days later. It kept happening several times, and eventually this place was abandoned."

Right in front of me, I saw the ruins of a fountain that had now turned black. Lots of trash around and pilox scribbles coloring the rubble. It seemed that, after being abandoned and becoming a home for the homeless, this place was getting worse and worse. "And those creatures?"

Manji signaled me not to talk about the creature. They asked me out of this place and asked me to come home immediately.

"Next time, I'll tell you, now go home" I understood what she meant, that maybe it would be dangerous for me. So, I quickly pedaled my bike and rushed home before it got dark.

…

I had just arrived at my doorstep when a call came in on my cell phone. Ami, my friend, called. She was the one I asked to find out the owner of the used cigarette butt. She also sent a picture in a chat message, and it was a finger cut. I was absolutely sure that the one I sent this morning was a used cigarette butt that I picked up in front of my house, but how possible it had turned into a black finger. It didn't make sense at all.

'Friends here panicked when they opened packages from you' There was an annoyed and worried tone in her voice.

"I'm sure it's an old cigarette butt, how can it turn into a finger?! Is it possible for a swap?!" I was confused, I didn't really understand what was going on right now.

The call was still ongoing when Ami immediately sent a photo of the box I used to send this morning, and it was mine.

'Not mixed up, right?,' she confirmed, with which I gave a weak chuckle. 'How did you get this kind of thing, Tha?'

I didn't know what to say to her. I chose to end the phone call without telling what I experienced with cigarette butts or a finger cut, to be honest. My head felt throbbing and painful. I went into my house and locked the door securely. I made sure I missed nothing, not even the windows.

"You look awful, is there a problem?" asked Mickey, who sat down next to me.

I massaged my temples as I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "I'm so dizzy, Mike" I really didn't understand what was going on. The rust stains on the gate were also very strange. Although I kept telling myself that it was rusty due to aging, it was quite odd that it was palm-shaped and very neat. The part looked like it was made rusty using human hand prints.

"The cigarette butt that I sent to be tested by Ami, turned out to be a finger cut" I don't know what kind of creature I'm dealing with right now. "How could my eyes see it wrong this morning? They were obviously used cigarette butts, but how could it change when it got to Ami's place?"

If only Zie was here or anyone else who could keep me company, I wouldn't probably feel like I did at the moment. I was so scared that I even left the house. I was also worried that the person would come here again or that he might get into this house. I couldn't imagine what would happen.

I remembered what Erick said about leaving this house for a while. But it was getting dark soon, and I didn't know where to run. I thought about calling Emma and going back to my house in town, but I didn't even know what her condition was like this time. At least, I should have prepared everything three days in advance.