He had arrived in front of his house. Seeing the place dark and quiet sent a shiver down his spine—especially after coming from a creepy villa and hearing strange stories from one of his friends.
"Where are Mom and Dad…?" He looked at his watch—9 p.m.
"They should've been home by now."
He opened his phone and tried calling them, but no one picked up.
"No answer… maybe they're working overtime," he mumbled as he peeked through the window. The inside of the house was completely dark, lifeless.
"I have the key…"
Should he go inside or wait somewhere else until his parents returned?
After thinking for a while, he decided to just go inside. The night air was getting colder.
He slid the key into the lock, turned it, and slowly pushed the door open. No one greeted him. Clearly, his parents hadn't returned yet.
"Guess I'll be alone for a while…"
He quickly walked to the light switch and turned on all the lights.
Done with that, he sat in the living room, hoping his parents would return soon. To calm himself, he turned on the TV.
Ting!
A message popped up on his phone. He had texted one of his friends earlier, and now the friend replied.
"Dion is trying to scare me on purpose, seriously. He knows I'm alone—what kind of friend is that?" he snorted while typing a reply.
His gaze shifted to the TV, which was airing a soccer match.
"Oh, there's a game on today? Nice."
He went to the kitchen to grab a snack, then returned to the living room to watch the game.
He watched it intensely, not realizing the first half had already ended.
"Tsk, what a waste… that offside call ruined it. He was totally on target too. And that ref raised the flag late—everyone thought it was a goal already."
He munched on his snack while waiting for the game to resume.
Tok tok tok.
He looked around, trying to figure out the source of the noise. "What was that…? Probably a mouse."
Tok tok tok.
There it was again, louder.
"That mouse is annoying…"
Irritated, he walked toward the window where the sound seemed strongest.
Shrrkkk.
When he pulled open the curtain, he saw someone knocking on the window from outside.
But that person…
was himself.
Clatter!
The remote fell from Kala's hand. Luckily, it wasn't broken when he picked it up again.
"What's wrong with me…? It felt like something just passed by," Kala muttered, glancing at the TV showing the soccer match.
"A vision… whose was that? I've been there before, but I don't remember where…"
He looked around, the atmosphere suddenly giving him goosebumps.
"Great… I'm alone at home and now I'm getting visions like that."
His eyes went to his unorganized bag. "I should just clean that up."
He got to work, putting away the unfinished snack into the cupboard beside the bed. Then he went to the bathroom to dump his used bag into the laundry. When he stepped back out—
He froze.
A figure in a dark gray hoodie stood in front of his study desk, holding something in their hand.
A moment later, Kala recognized the person. He stared flatly.
"You trying to rob me?"
"Being a delinquent doesn't automatically make me a thief," Gantha replied, just as flat.
"Yeah, sure." Kala rushed to close the balcony door—the way Gantha had entered earlier.
It wasn't surprising. Aside from being cold and delinquent-like, Gantha was also mysterious, his thoughts impossible to read. Case in point: instead of entering through the perfectly normal front door, he chose to climb up to the balcony.
Kala turned to him, realizing Gantha was inspecting a birthday gift on the desk—a watch from Hasta earlier this year.
"Hasta's gift—the one from Yoga's dad's shop," Kala commented.
"I didn't ask, and I don't need to know," Gantha said, earning a pissed-off look from Kala. Gantha put the watch down and sat on Kala's desk chair while Kala sat on the bed.
"What are you doing here? No one home at your place either?" Kala asked.
"Your parents aren't home?" Gantha shot back.
"Yeah, they're out of town for business for a few months."
"My family's home. I came because there's something I want to talk about," Gantha said.
"Same. You haven't told me what you saw earlier at the pool."
"Do I have to?" Gantha asked lazily.
"You wanna curse me or something?" Kala replied.
"Just because you have that creepy doll doesn't mean curses are your hobby," Gantha retorted.
"Just talk already. Stop stalling."
"Hm. I saw Melvin."
"Melvin?" Kala repeated.
"Yeah. He was standing there, but his eyes were covered with a red cloth. He was still there until we left the villa gate."
"Wait—red cloth. I found one in the pool too. Thought it was nothing because I didn't get any vision from it even though I touched it."
"Didn't you hear someone calling you?" Gantha asked.
"That voice didn't lead anywhere…" Kala paused, remembering something.
"Eyes covered—means lost. And didn't Hasta say he saw Melvin in the mirror earlier?"
"So the one who came back with us wasn't Melvin?" Gantha asked.
"Lost… trapped in a mirror reflection… but the guy definitely went home with us." Kala rubbed his face harshly.
"He's still with us now, but maybe later that sign will make sense."
"There's still a way to prevent it, right?" Gantha asked.
"I'm not sure."
"I'm here too. Just tell me if you need anything," Gantha said.
Kala stared at him suspiciously. "Should I be worried about trusting you?"
"I knew it. My weird behavior makes everyone suspicious… maybe I should step out of my comfort zone more," Gantha muttered.
"I was joking—thanks for trusting me," Kala said with a genuine smile.
"So who do we investigate first? Hasta or Melvin?" Gantha asked.
"Yoan. Somehow he knew I'm an esper."
"Tch. I knew it. Not a coincidence he brought up espers today," Gantha said in annoyance, remembering Yoan's behavior.
"And the annoying part is he blocked my ability. He knew I'd try to read his mind. I'm just worried he'll tell the others."
"He's hard to trust, but it doesn't hurt to try talking to him first," Gantha said.
"That's the plan." Kala glared at him, who was also glaring back.
"What now, trying to read my mind?" Gantha smirked.
Kala quickly looked away. He just wanted to know the real reason behind Gantha helping him. But for now, he forced himself to let it go.
"Shut up," Kala muttered.
"Your excuses suck. Be more creative," Gantha replied.
"Whatever. I'm not arguing with you tonight." Kala checked the clock—11 p.m.
"Your house is really quiet. No one here at all?" Gantha asked.
"Did you forget? I told you they're out of town."
"Thought you might've invited someone to keep you company."
"Nope. Too lazy to feed them. I prefer being alone."
"Oh, good then."
"Good for what, you trying to rob me?"
"Obviously. Perfect opportunity."
"Idiot," Kala scoffed.
"By the way, your parents don't know you sneak out this late?"
"Nope. I always lock my room at night. They never check."
Kala nodded, understanding.
"Alright, go home," he said, shooing him away.
"Who would want to stay here anyway," Gantha replied.
He walked to the balcony door, opened it, and jumped straight down to the ground floor. Kala could only shake his head.
Muttering under his breath, Kala locked the balcony door and went to bed.
A faint silhouette appeared outside the balcony. Just a shadow behind the curtain.
The figure watched Kala drifting to sleep, then let out a quiet chuckle.
"Yoan isn't the real problem. Gantha might be more dangerous than Yoan."