Don't Be Scared Anymore

Milan stared at the words on the wall. Before he could start blabbering, Owen went to stand in front of him and covered his view of the words with his body. The man only looked down. “I… I didn’t write that down on my own. I swear it wasn’t me…”

“Are you on medication, Milan?” Owen simply asked, but it somewhat made Milan angry.

“Hey, I already told you! I didn’t do that!” Milan pointed at the wall. “There’s no way I would even write something so disturbing and pretend I—!”

He darted his gaze to the right hand he used to point. Owen took a hold of his elbow and used another hand to feel the strange powder left on Milan’s fingers. It looked like cement powder was caught underneath his nails.

Milan’s eyes widened. “That was from the porch. You can see the scratches I made on the porch instead. I didn’t do that.”

“Calm down.” Owen proceeded to clean Milan’s nails. “Let’s deal with this one first before going back to the family room. If someone finds this, they will ask questions. What did you see on the second floor again? Your mother? Roma Sheppard?”

“…I think so. I heard her voice… and her skirt… that was her favorite.” Milan dropped his shoulders and let Owen work on his hand. “Please believe me.”

Owen didn’t say anything until he finished and tucked Milan’s back to him. When Milan looked up at the tall man, Owen only smiled. “You’re too terrified. Even if you’re acting, that’s too good. Are we going to check the second floor together?”

Milan nodded. “I’m going to prove to you. I didn’t go up there and then write a strange note on the wall.”

The two then proceeded to the second floor. Milan frowned as he looked around. The air in this place was very clear, unlike when he dared to climb on his own. He also noticed how clean the hallway was, as opposed to the dusty feel it gave. Moreover, there was nothing amiss in all the vacant bedrooms. They all looked clean as if Milan was in a different place earlier.

“What’s happening to me?” Milan murmured as he held his forehead. He was caught acting strange twice just this day. “O-Owen… I’m not taking any medication. Not even anything for what I see whenever I find places related to the dead…”

“Why is that? They never worked?” Owen lifted his brows. He didn’t want to search rooms that belonged to women, so he just joined Milan in standing next to the stairwell on the second floor.

“No, I… I didn’t think it was necessary.” Milan laughed. “I barely had any episodes when I reached sixteen, but Mama and I still make sure I won’t randomly see people dying or find where they did. My life on the mainland is very different from this. I shouldn’t be this bad…”

Owen only nodded and looked at the far side of the floor. It was leading to another room. “We haven’t checked that room over there. Would you like to go?”

Milan only scrunched his face. “That’s Dad’s room. I don’t want to find anything in it. Mom has the tendency to destroy things that reminded him of her, Florence said. Do you really have to check it?”

“We need to check every room to make sure the second floor is cleared.”

“I’ll check the bathroom. You go see it.” Milan sighed and waved his hand. Since the air up here was nothing compared to the one from earlier, it should be safe. He just walked up ahead, only catching a glimpse of Owen when he turned to get to the other side.

Milan pushed open the door of the bathroom. It was clean and organized as how someone would find it, even if no one used it for a few days now. Since they would still do a funeral, the water and electricity of the house were not cut yet. Milan had a small smile of relief on his face and went to check the shower if an animal was hiding there.

It’s just that when he touched the drawn curtain, he felt his body freeze again. His eyes grew wide as the air grew misty as if someone had been bathing just now. Then he heard someone sniffing behind the curtain. It was even accompanied by a wailing he had heard before.

“He’s here… He’s here… He’s going to be taken… Just like them…”

Roma cried, and Milan couldn’t help but face his fear and swing the curtain to the side. What he saw was another haunting scene. The bathtub was filled with rusty water as if dead blood mixed with his mother’s bath water. Roma was sitting inside the tub, pulling on her long, wet hair. She kept on wailing like a haunting ghost.

Milan stepped back and fell to the floor. From there, he watched his mother turn to him. She then began crawling out of the tub, crying blood. Her ghastly body also had these surgical lines like it was the Roma he saw at the morgue instead.

“Milan… Milan…” The mother fell to the floor with a splash of water. She reached out and crawled toward her son. “Milan… you should have just run…”

“This can’t be happening…” Milan cried out. This was not the normal thing he would see from time to time. This was a legit ghost haunting. Owen might not believe him for the third time.

Before the woman could come any closer, she stopped and looked up behind Milan. Her eyes quivered, and she screamed as she scampered to get back inside the bathtub. However, Milan saw a big hand come from behind him and grab onto the mother. It squeezed her hard until her image dispersed.

Milan twitched and moved to face behind him. What stood behind him was a creature he couldn’t understand. It had huge hands, a huge head, and a huge torso… but that was all that there was. It was only a bust statue of a wooden puppet. However, it had a white totality.

The hair was lush and flowing behind it like the mane of a running horse. However, the head had a rather pretty doll face slathered on it. Though it would rotate from side to side, even if it stayed idle. It didn’t help that the neck was thicker than the arms.

Milan felt his insides churn when the head moved to gaze down at his vulnerable body. Unlike what he thought, the gaze of the doll-faced creature seemed to be rather light and caring.

“Do not be scared anymore.” A voice seemed to have come from it, and it snapped Milan awake. That voice… He already knew where he heard that voice before.

“Milan?” Since the haunting had broken, Milan could already see Owen when he walked into the door. The other man frowned at the crying face of the man on the floor. “Did you see her again? Why are you on the floor?”

Milan rose with Owen’s help, but he just limped and fell into an accidental embrace. Before Owen knew it, Milan passed out.