The door slowly creaked open.
Neizo was unable to move, his room slowly getting darker and darker, his vision getting blurry, and he was sweating, breathing heavily, heartbeat racing. A cold, chilling hand rested on his shoulder, whispering, you saw me too...
Tears came out of Neizo. Please help me... someone please... He begged in his thoughts.
Suddenly everything became normal.
He quickly turned around, but nothing was there, only his sofa and a chunk of chips fell on it along with a remote. He turned around and checked his phone which was off. He turned it on, and everything was normal.
Was I hallucinating? Is it because of my past trauma? Or is that woman real which Toshi was talking about?
He was panicking, trembling with fear. He went straight to his bed and was about to turn his light off, but a second thought came and he kept it on and tried to sleep.
Don't think about that… don't think about that… these are all hallucinations… sleep, just sleep…
After a while, Neizo was asleep.
He suddenly woke up as something was grabbing his feet. He stood up on his bed. What was that? He took his phone and turned on the light and slowly knelt on his bed and slowly put his head down to check under the bed if anything was there. He flashed the light under the bed… nothing was there.
He came back up, relieved, but suddenly he turned around, feeling a presence behind him.
The moment he turned around, he saw Toshi's face—eyes white as snow, blood on his face, and an evil smile. Neizo, unable to move, stared at Toshi who had a knife in his left hand.
Toshi suddenly stabbed Neizo and kept stabbing him, blood coming out from Neizo's cut stomach—
Suddenly Neizo woke up, sweating. Fear consumed him. He put his hand on his stomach and lifted his shirt to check if he was really stabbed, but nothing was there.
He was relieved, but fear consumed him again.
What was that dream? A nightmare?
Neizo didn't sleep that night.
In the morning, Neizo lay in bed, eyes wide open and dark circles under his eyes. He slowly got up from his bed and walked towards his bathroom and looked at the mirror, thinking, today is gonna be tiring.
Taking his toothpaste and toothbrush, while brushing his teeth he noticed something in the mirror. He went closer to see.
There—at his bathtub—he saw a woman sitting in it, arms around her legs, her long hair covering her face.
With shock and panic, he turned around—
But nothing was there.
He spat out his toothpaste, cleaned his mouth, and rushed out from his apartment room to the hall. He was breathing heavily.
Is there a ghost inside my room?
Suddenly Mizimi was behind him.
"Hey!"
"Woah—" Neizo panicked and stepped a little away from her.
"What happened? Why are you panicking like you saw a ghost?"
"Nothing, I was just caught off guard."
"I see… are you not going for college today? It's already 8:20 am now."
Neizo was shocked. "What? Really? Thank you for informing me!"
He rushed inside, waving Mizimi goodbye, completely forgetting about his fear. He quickly dressed up and went straight to college without breakfast and proper sleep.
After reaching the college gate, he was sweating and breathing heavily.
I should have bought some snacks from the shop I crossed… anyway, I have reached.
He looked around as many students were heading inside. He was also slowly walking inside, looking around at other students, and saw a strange person but didn't look properly and paused for a moment, as that person felt similar.
He turned around—
And saw Toshi.
With a creepy smile. His smile was too wide.
Neizo's eyes widened with fear, and in a blink, Toshi vanished.
He was sweating more than before, and he started walking towards his class, telling himself, it's just hallucinations, it's just hallucinations… just a trick by my brain… because I didn't sleep well and had a nightmare…
He stopped near the door of his class, looking down at the floor.
It's just hallucinations… he kept repeating those words again and again like a maniac—
Until Professor Yoshino shook him.
"Neizo!! Neizo!! Neizo!!"
He came back to his senses.
"Professor?"
"What is wrong with you, Neizo? What happened? And you didn't sleep well? Don't tell me you were playing games the whole night."
"No, professor… I just couldn't sleep last night after having a nightmare about a dead friend of mine from the past."
"Oh, I understand Neizo. You just go to the medic room and sleep there for a while."
"Ok, thank you professor."
As Neizo was about to turn around—
Professor Yoshino suddenly smiled wide… like Toshi's smile.
"You saw me… you saw me…"
Professor Yoshino kept muttering those words again and again.
Neizo was consumed with fear.
No… no… this can't be…
He turned around—
But Toshi was standing in front of his face, repeating those words again.
"You saw me…"
Neizo panicked and ran towards the left side to the downstairs—but he stopped as his way was blocked.
A woman in a white dress was standing at the stairs, looking at Neizo.
And with a smile she whispered,
"you're the last."
Neizo was in tears and fear—
But suddenly he woke up.
It was the same night.
He looked around. He was in his apartment room, in his bed.
He looked at his phone to check the time—it was 2:30 am.
He was sweating so much and breathing heavily.
"I need a psychiatrist… I really need one to check my mental health… or I might become insane.…"
Neizo lay on his bed without closing his eyes, waiting for morning to come…