Second World

Jack could still not make out the womanʼs features except for her long hair. The darkness still concealed her despite her close proximity.

Distress and anxiety caused Jack to throw away caution and spoke out against the woman in the dark, ”lady! What the hell is your problem? Why do you…”

Jack didnʼt continue his sentence, as at this time, the woman moved, in his direction.

Without thinking much, Jack turned around and ran. He was running to the other side of the corridor. Towards his room.

His room was at the furthest end of the left-wing. His high-speed running made him bump into the wall before stopping. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned. Itʼs locked! ʼOf course, itʼs locked. F*cking retard! I was the one who locked it just now,ʼ he cursed in his mind as he hurriedly took out the key from his pocket and inserted it onto the keyhole.

He stole a glance at the corridor. The woman had already crossed over the central section with the stairs. She was now inside the left wing with him. She was moving slowly towards Jack.

Somehow, Jack was glad that he didnʼt steal a glance when the woman passed through the illuminated central section. If he did, he would surely be able to see the woman clearly. Now, she was back in the shadow again. Jack had a weird feeling that if he saw the woman in the light, his panic would become even worse.

Still, his current situation was very disturbing. The creepy woman was heading towards him without a single sound.

”Shit! Shit! Shit!” Jack kept on cursing as his trembling hands tried to work on the key.

When it finally opened. He quickly went inside and closed the door hard. He leaned on the door as he was panting.

”What the f*ck is going on here?!” He yelled.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

As if to answer his yelling, a series of loud knocks echoed behind him. The knocking on his door caused him to jump forward in fright. He fell on his butt as he stared at the closed door. The knocking had stopped. But he watched the doorknob starting to turn and realized with horror, ʼthe damn key was still in the keyhole outside! The door is not locked!”

He hurriedly rose and slammed his body to the door just as it was about to open. He used his entire weight to stop the door from opening while his hands grabbed on the doorknob to prevent it from turning. Luckily, there was a latch on the inside of the door. He promptly used it to lock the door.

Only after the bolt of the latch slid into the hole and locked the door, did Jack exhaled a relief breath. But his relief was short-lived, another round of loud knockings caused him to jumped back again. He watched the door as the knockings continued.

After a while, he couldnʼt take it anymore. He had to say something or he would go insane. ”F*cking crazy woman! Do you have a problem with me? Why donʼt you go be crazy somewhere else? Why are you here terrorizing a fine good-looking and healthy young man like me? If you are still disturbing me, I will call the police!”

Jack himself was not really thinking as he did his rambling. He simply said whatever came to mind because if he did not, the fear that was gripping his heart would become bigger. As he uttered his last sentence, he suddenly thought, ʼpolice!ʼ

He quickly fished out the handphone in his pocket. ”Iʼm calling the police now, lady! I have warned you!” He proclaimed as he dialed the phone. The knockings on the door were still ongoing.

Luckily, his call was soon connected. He was worried at first that his call would just go to voice mail.

”Bay City police station, how can I help?” A female voice from the other end was heard.

”Maʼam, I would like to report a disturbance. A crazy woman was trying to gain unwarranted entry into my apartment room!”

”Calm down, sir. Can you inform us of your location?”

”Of course, I am inside my apartment room. Itʼs the apartment Sky Residence on the fifth Alesworth Street. Please send officers to this place as soon as possible.”

”That will not be a problem, sir. In the meantime, how about you open the door?”

”Huh?” Jack was slightly taken aback by the request.

”We only want to play. Please open the door so we can play together.”

”Wha… What do you mean?”

”It means that we can play together. Donʼt you like playing? Hihihihihi.” The sound of the female officer turned rather high-pitched. Especially her giggling at the end, it was getting shrill the longer she giggled that it was almost a cackle.

”I… I am going to hang up now…”

”Open the door first, please. Please open the door... Open the door…! OPEN THE DOOR…!!!”

Jack was so distressed hearing the voice he ended up throwing the handphone away. It smashed on the wall beside the door and broke to pieces. The banging on the door was still going on, even growing in rapidity now. The sound was truly unsettling.

ʼWhat the heck is going on here?ʼ Jack asked in his mind as he turned around. Maybe he could find a way down from the window. His room was five-storey height, but probably there were enough footings and handhelds to allow him to climb down to the ground.

As he was walking to the window, he stopped. He stared at the outside with bewilderment. It was dark outside. Didnʼt he just wake up in the morning before he went out of this room not long ago? How did it turn dark so soon? Nothing was making any sense!

He then realized a horrifying thing. The knockings had stopped. In their absence, there was a squeaking sound. He recognized the sound as the one made by his front doorʼs hinges when it was opened. He turned around slowly back to the front door.

The front door was indeed open. Before it was a woman. He could see her now. She was wearing a long white dress. Her long hair was covering her entire face so Jack couldnʼt see her look.

ʼF*ck! Why did she look like that ghost that comes out of the TV? I swear I will not watch any horror movie again from now on!ʼ

The woman was not moving as she stood in front of the open door. Jack was as still as a statue as well. He was afraid that if he moved, the woman would move as well.

Yet, it was just wishful thinking. The woman took a step inside.

That one step caused Jack to lose all his nerves. He ran to the other door in that room. It was the door to the bathroom. He knew he would get trapped inside the bathroom with no way out, but he didnʼt care. He would go anywhere as long as he was not in the same room as this ominous woman.

He heard more footsteps. F*ck! The woman was chasing him.

He quickly opened the bathroom door once he reached it, entered, and slammed it shut behind him. He felt as if his heart was about to leap out from his chest.

While he was expecting to see the interior of his bathroom, he instead saw the living room of a house. He was confused at first as his mind was all over the place, but he soon recognized this living room. It was the suburb house where he stayed with his grandfather before he left for college.

He was about to leave the door to look at the familiar room before he remembered the thing behind the door. He quickly turned around and made sure the door was locked. Only after that did he take some steps away from the door. Oddly, there were no knockings on the door this time. Not that he hoped for them though.

After making sure that the door held, then only he allowed his sight to wander elsewhere. He now walked around the living room. It was exactly as he remembered it. Every piece of furniture and their placements were as the last time he saw them before he left for college.

The TV in the living room suddenly came to life. It was a static screen. Jack had a growing premonition watching the static TV.

ʼIf that screen shows that f*cking woman, I swear Iʼm going to smash it to pieces!ʼ Jack made a resolute thought as he picked up a quarterstaff hanging on the wall. It was one of the weapons his grandpa like to use when training with him.

Jack was ready to run over and brutally murder the TV when its static screen was replaced by the screen of a man in formal attire. It was the newsman.

”Good day to you, folks.. Today we bring you the hottest news. For the first one today, the parade to mark the celebration of five hundred years since the regime of evil dictator General Amon was brought down, had been canceled due to weather conditions…”

😉