Chapter 1
What I would do to have a quick grab of a sandwich before I head home. I haven't had anything in my stomach since brunch at 11:00, and now it's almost 10:00 pm!
I'm not the kind of person who easily faints of hunger, but at the rate I'm going, well, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.
The work in the office started to pile up for the past week, and we proofreaders were required to spend extra time checking on the drafts written by new authors before their books are published. I started working in this company about three months ago, and my speciality was more on proofreading technical documents since I have a technical background.
Yeah, I am a qualified engineer, and my previous jobs in other companies mainly focused on engineering design. Somehow after a while, I got tired of cramming my brain with numbers and equations; I then switched to writing.
Oh, I have paper qualifications regarding the English language, and I have written a few short stories of my own. The company wanted someone who could understand technical terms and proofread them; hence, they offered the job to me.
To take a bus home, I had to walk past a bakery at the corner of the building, alongside the structure of my place of work. The bus stop is on the other side of the road, and the last bus ends its round at 11:45 pm.
I nudged Julia, my colleague and best friend, to wrap it up since we had to catch the same bus home. Julia was the jovial one between the both of us. A chipper, I might add. She's the only person who could understand my introverted behaviour, and truth be told, we hit it off immediately upon introduction, despite our contrasting personalities.
It was close to a quarter to ten when we stopped by the bakery to get something to eat. It closes at 10:00 pm, so it was such a relief that I could get something to reduce my hunger. Shucks! There were no more sandwiches left, so I had to settle with some leftover macaroons. Even though it was unbearably sweet to me, I had no choice but to swallow it since there wasn't much choice of food left at this hour.
On the other hand, Julia chuckled at my expression when I took a bite at the macaroons. She knew I couldn't tolerate food that is too sweet. She knew very well that I am more of a spicy person. However, who am I to complain about this rich God-given food, right?
As we turned to the corner to walk towards the bus stop, I slowed down to listen to a muffled sound coming from a dark alley between the two buildings behind the bakery. I could've sworn it was the sound of someone asking for help.
"Did you hear that, Julia?"
"What?" Julia retaliated in a daze.
"That sound... I think someone is in there."
I was sure I heard it because my senses tend to heighten upon getting into a dark room or passing by a dark area, especially if it's an alley. Yes, I have nyctophobia, amongst other phobias. It's a case of severe fear of the dark and the possibility of what could happen in that dark environment.
By now, I've stopped walking altogether and looked directly into that dark alley. Julia grabbed my hand and said,
"Come on, Kar. There's no one in there. It's probably your imagination."
"No, Julia, I can hear it. Can't you?"
I was adamant and wouldn't let it pass. At that moment, my mind went overdrive.
"What if there is a person who needed help in there, and we just ignored it?"
I asked Julia as I was pointing my finger towards the eerily dark space in front of me. My gut tells me that I should go in there and clear my conscience.
"Kar, there is no way I would go in there to check. You shouldn't bother too, you know."
Julia sighed audibly. She has concluded that her best friend would not listen to reasoning where aiding others is concerned. Right now, there is somebody in that alley who needs help, and I decided to go in there to find out. I won't be at ease until I get to the root of the issue.
As I walk into the darkness, Julia grunted at me. She kept calling my name in loud whispers, but I ignore her. I turned to her and told her to wait on the pavement, be on the lookout for me. Though exasperated with me, she had no choice but to go along with my plan.
I couldn't decipher how I managed to get into the dark alley without panicking or going off the deep end of the world. Under normal conditions, upon entering a dark room, I will break out in a sweat and start breathing heavily, as I would hyperventilate. But this time, I was more concerned about the faint voice I kept hearing urging me to help.
After about ten meters of trudging in the dark, the dull sound became more apparent, and this time, it was distinctly perceptible to the ear that a hoarse male voice was calling out to me. For a moment there, a sudden overwhelming fear washed all over me.