He stood from the bench and trudged towards the birds. And as he neared, he noticed they were the same crows from his dream. Only inches away, the crows stopped to stare at Kevin in a way that struck him as odd.
He quivered at the sight of their scary red eyes looking up at him and stopped dead in his track. They let out loud caws, as though they perceived him as a threat. Then they spread their wings and found flight.
Almost immediately, a flurry breeze blew in his direction, brisk, cool. Kevin heard a voice from the wind call out Natasha’s name in a faint whisper. The voice was clear as day. He’d heard the same voice last night—in his dream. There was no mistake.
Kevin’s eyes widened when he suddenly realized he was reliving a moment—a moment that had already happened in his dream. Suddenly, he realised what was going to happen next. Heart pounding against his chest, he took out his phone to call Derik.
“Derik&h
They rushed William to the hospital, and the doctors immediately started operating on him upon arrival. While Derik and Kevin sat outside the operating room, waiting nervously with their fingers crossed, some security men stood in the background, keeping an eye on them.Kevin sat on a bench, gently tapping his feet against the floor. He squinted uneasily at Natasha who paced the room nervously. Her lips were restless as she said silent prayers for her dad’s quick recovery. He felt an urge to put his arms around her.But if he did, what would it lead to?Derik turned to gaze at her as she paced, then clutched her arm. “Don’t fret over it. Worrying won’t make your dad get better any faster,” he said. “Try to relax. It will help calm your nerves.”Natasha took a seat beside him—directly opposite Kevin. But that didn’t stop her worries; she fidgeted in her seat still. And her gaze found Kevin. They e
“T-Murek had also targeted Natasha’s dad,” Derik pointed out, looking over an unmarked photograph of William that hung on the wall. “But why?”“Warn him of the grave danger he’s in.”Derik took out his phone to capture the photograph of William on the wall, then made a video recording with his phone of every photograph in the room.Another photograph caught Kevin’s eyes. His stomach knotted with dread when he saw it was a picture of himself. It was placed alongside Natasha’s. Both were unmarked. He took down his photograph from its frame and stared with confused eyes. He tried to recall when he had taken this picture—eyes widened when it finally hit him.A week ago.Back there in principal Mac Georgery’s office, when he’d signed the enrolment form, his photograph had been taken and stored in the school register. He felt a shiver race down his spine when he
Kevin was in a cab, heading back home. His meeting with the principal didn’t turn out as he’d hoped. He’d ended up getting himself expelled instead. At the moment, he wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. How did a photograph that had been taken privately at the college he recently enrolled in end up in a random building—a killer’s den? There has to be some explanation.Just then, his phone rang. Alex.“Hello, Kevin.”“Alex?” his forehead creased. “It’s 9 pm. You never call this late. Is something wrong?”“There are some things I need to tell you. It’s about…”“And it can’t wait until tomorrow morning?” he interrupted.“No, it can’t,” he answered. “Where are you right now?”Kevin picked up a slight tone of distress in his voice. “I am headed home. Why?&rdquo
Kevin walked out of the autopsy room where Landry’s body was kept for medical examination. Alex followed him closely behind, sympathizing with him. He had just witnessed the brutal nature of Landry’s body, and it left him in considerable shock. His expression was numb as he walked to a bench in a corner. As he sat, he stared blankly at the wall.Alex took his seat beside him. “I just received a report that your friend’s house went up in flames at about 3:45am, early this morning. The fire was said to have started in the kitchen. I thought I should let you know.”Kevin turned to look at him, eyes swollen and reddened, his cheek wet with tears. He was terribly distraught that it became a nauseating pain. He smiled, then suddenly started laughing hysterically. Tears streamed from his cheek as he laughed.Alex, bothered by his psychotic behaviour, slouched. “Kevin? Are you alright?” he asked, waving his hands over his face.
Kevin trembled from his knee as he looked up at its mask. Its dark, hallow eyes sent a cold shiver racing down the length of his spine. Only an inch separated him from the masked figure, who stood still with its arms folded and eyes fixed on him.Kevin shuffled away from him. The figure, who seemed almost inanimate, remained unmoved, and he wondered why. With his hands still pressed on its chest, he doubted if really the masked man was there with him. A sudden curiosity grew within him that left him wondering whose face was behind that mask. Was this really the same figure that kidnaped him a year ago, or was someone pulling a prank on him?Kevin started towards him, raising a hand to his face—to take off his mask. Only an inch close, he spread out his finger to pull off the mask, but then, much to his horror, the figure clutched his arm, pulling it away.Gasping, Kevin fell back and scrambled away quickly, pulling back his wrist. And when he turned to loo
“We are under attack!”One of the soldiers who’d witnessed Scott’s mysterious death alerted the others and immediately opened fire in the direction which he saw the footsteps leaving. The footsteps changed course and trotted towards him. Fast.And suddenly a knife appeared from thin air and plunged into his chest. His eyes went wide and wild as the knife drove deeper, twisting about in his chest, crushing his rips, piercing his heart. Mouth agape with shock and acute pain, the soldier dropped. Blood was gushing from his chest.Almost immediately, panic-stricken, they all fired randomly in every direction. And one by one, the soldiers dropped like flies. It terrified Kevin as he watched the masked figure walk amongst them, stabbing each of them in the chest. They couldn’t see him. None of them could—but he could. It terrified him to know he was the only one who could see the hooded figure.“I was never crazy, after
William followed her out, and Catherina led him to where she’d asked the visitor to wait. He blinked in surprise when he saw Derik.Derik nodded at Catherina as she returned to her computer, then walked toward William, struggling with the many files he huddled in his crossed arms. “It was a complete blood bath yesternight, sir. I watched our men die like flies as they fought off something impossible. We weren’t prepared for the horrors we met.”William’s face suddenly twisted in a frown. “How many men survived?”“None sir. We’ve lost all our men.”“Eighty highly trained TCU officers lost their lives in just one night?” William uttered in total disbelief. Then he glanced behind him. “Where is Sergeant Scott?”“He is dead, sir. Was the first to go down.” Derik’s shoulder slumped. “We had walked into a trap and ten of our best men were lost in a
Kevin sat in Derik’s car, waiting for him to come out of the TCU laboratory building. It felt like an hour since Derik left, leaving him to wait in his car. The temperature inside the car was getting hotter with every passing second as the sun rose in the sky. The scourging heat penetrated the windows, causing his skin to blister.Kevin was feeling uncomfortable, not from the desiccating heat, but from sitting in one place for such a long time. He stole a quick glance at his watch. That’s when he realized he had been waiting for too long.Kevin glanced out the window, frustration making his veins swell. He wondered what’s keeping Derik. He wanted to get out of the car to go in search of him inside the TCU building, but stopped when he remembered his warning to stay put.Kevin returned back in the car, entertaining himself with his cell phone, when suddenly he heard noises outside. From behind