Crush 7

Rix

How does it feel being watched every single day?

In a quiet, quiet room when it's just you and the anomaly, when it can stare at you but you can't, when it can get close to you but you can't, when it stands behind you, breathing down on your neck, but you can't.

How does it feel to not feel lonely when you are all alone in the room?

I clutched my bag tight and brought it to my chest, frantically moving my eyes at the shadows of the night that laid open over the bushes and every darkened corner. My pace slowed and watched as Ez walked past me, busy with his phone.

I ran to catch up to him.

"Ez"

He hummed, not looking up from his phone.

"Eyes. Golden eyes. Can you see them?"

He finally looks up from his phone and frowned.

"No, why?"

I shook my head.

"Nothing, just dreams....".

I stopped startled when two gleaming golden eyes flashed right before my eyes. Its claws tearing apart my ribs and it's teeth sinking down on my skin. I heard it laugh right by my ears, making me a pet to be played with and a weakling to be entertained by, "puny human", it called then laughed again, mocking me.

My legs wobbled and my hands trembled.

The hand on my shoulder was the only thing that connected me to the reality. I looked up at Ez, who looked concerned, then realised I was on the ground. I tried to get up but my knees were too weak to stand on its own without the help of Ez, I fell right down to the ground. Nevertheless, he sat right beside me on the dirt and held my hand.

"Are you okay?"

Perhaps I was too anxious for no reason, but that gaze on me gripped my entire being. I couldn't move. Everything around turned black and I felt like I was sinking on a river filled with liquid alkatra, the touch of the dark keeping me bound to drown, I struggled till Ez shook me back to reality.

"Okay, what is happening?"

He whispered gently with a low voice like I was a frail butterfly whose wings got caught on a string of barb wires.

"Just-". I sighed and rubbed my face with my hand. "I don't quite know but it's something dark and- and has golden eyes"

His frown deepened.

"Golden eyes again?". We sat there in silence for a moment before he spoke up. "Are you cool with me spending the night in your house?"

My eyes lit up and I nodded my head vigorously. I just didn't want to be alone at the moment. Not like I was scared or anything, heh!

"Sweet! Let's go then. Can you get up?"

He helped me up to my feet and led me through the entire way with hands held. These were the moments that made my heart burst with joy, knowing that I had him with me for which I would always be grateful.

I was about to tear up when he stopped midway and my nose straight hit the back of his head. We both groaned in pain at the same time.

"Shit! Rix!"

He cursed. I glared at him and hit the back of his head, this time with my hand.

"Why did you stop so suddenly?"

He rubbed his head and glanced towards the house.

"I..... I don't know. It's quite...."

"Dense? Dark?"

I completed the sentence. He nodded his head. We swallowed and dragged out feet towards the main door. It creaked open to an empty house.

Good.

Empty was good.

I held the bag close to my chest and flicked the light on. One look and I felt the lingering presence of something cold around the place.

Who or what?

My fingers trembled, even so when the tattoo on my wrist glowed bright yellow. Ez and I stole glances at each other. We've never seen it glow yellow.

It's just us two. It's just us two. It's just us two. It's just us two…..

I lifted my head to peer over the window and froze.

Two golden eyes flashed before my eyes before disappearing.

It's just not us two…..

"You saw that!?"

Ez snapped towards me and peered over the window as well.

"See what?"

Slowly, he closed the windows and sat back on my study chair, like nothing was amiss. I followed his pace and forced my fingers to move, printing words on the blank pages. Nonetheless still aware of every creak in the room, every shuffle, every change.

Like a statue, I did my homework, half my mind focused, while the other half slowly collapsed on the tension that built up as I heard the rustling of the leaves outside.

The pen flew to the other part of the room and my chair screeched against the floor as we both jolted on our seats, barely about to scream my heads off, when the front door rang.

"You want me to answer it?"

I shook my head and went downstairs, taking a deep breath, I peeked outside through the peehole and saw a lady's figure through it. I swallowed and opened the intercom.

"Yes?"

"I'm so sorry but my car just had an accident and my leg is injured. My phone's not working as well, can I get some help?"

I contemplated for a moment before clicking the door open. She was two or three inches shorter than me, with long braided black hair and she wore glasses. True to her words, there was a red car that was smashed on the front side and her leg was bleeding profusely.

I quickly called the helpline number. Soon Ez came downstairs too.

"Sorry for the disturbance, really"

I shook my head.

"No worries. My name is Rix by the way and his name is Ez. What's yours?"

"Enin"

She answered.

By the time the ambulance came, she wrapped a scarf around her leg to stop the bleeding for a short period of time and I gave her some water to drink, she took it.

"How did you get into the accident in the first place?"

She pushed the frame of her specs up then turned away from us, looking up at the starry sky.

"Oh, well, my spectacles fell down"

Ez and I blinked at her while she smiled up at us.

"Oh?"

Once the ambulance came, we escorted her till the stretcher.

"Thank you, Rix and Ez"

She said with a smile. We smiled back at her and shook hands with her.

"No problem"

Once they were gone, we sighed and looked at each other.

"What a day!"

Ez said and went back to the room. I couldn't agree to him more enough. What a day it was indeed? I followed close behind him, terribly sleepy and exhausted that I flopped back down on the bed, while he on the couch, forgetting for a fleeting moment about the dangers that lurked around.