After three years
"Where are you, Cixi?"
"Marion! I'm about to leave home. Could you please make an excuse for me until I get there? I need twenty minutes!" Cixi held the phone between her shoulder and ear as she pulled on her black winter boots.
The leather was worn out, with tiny scratches on its surface. She had found the pair abandoned on the street a week ago during one of her walks back from college. The fur lining inside was the only reason she kept them. It helped keep her feet warm during the long walks from her residence to her workplace.
Her relatives had not taken her in after her parents' death. They claimed they could not afford to feed an extra mouth.
So she fed herself. She worked part-time for a company that employed a large staff of cleaning professionals.
"Don't… don't come, Cixi. He is in a foul mood." Marion's warning made her pause, one leg lifted awkwardly as she struggled to zip the back of her boot.
"What?" Cixi lowered her foot slowly to the floor. "What did you say?"
"The horn-dog asked me to inform you…" Marion forced herself to continue. She hated how the manager constantly made her deliver all the bad news to Cixi, trying to turn them against each other while he was busy exploiting the other employees.
"You were supposed to come at three. It's already five. So he said not to come today. And today's salary will be deducted from your monthly check."
"But I sent him a text!" Cixi protested in disbelief. "Most of the public transport was delayed or cancelled because of the heavy snowfall. My college is an hour away. And I explained everything in a message the moment I heard the lines were closed." She pressed her fingertips to her forehead and shut her eyes tightly in frustration, attempting to calm the irritation that always flared whenever she heard that manager's name mentioned.
"How difficult was it for my message to get through his thick skull?" She muttered under her breath. "Should I have messaged him in a horny language? Would he then have understood my problem, why I was late?" Cixi went on, "At this point, I was convinced that if the city were drowning in a flood and people were dying, he would still insist I rent scuba gear, swim through it, and show up on time."
Many times, violent ideas flickered through her mind, and most of them ended with him hospitalised for at least six months. Although she never lingered on those thoughts. She did not want to go to prison. Yet they came all the same.
"I feel you, sweetheart," Marion tried to soothe her anger, but it did little good. "I mentioned the public transport issue too. And his response was? 'You shouldn't have gone to college when you were aware of the snowfall.'"
"But it only started snowing heavily after eleven!" Cixi exclaimed, venting her anger not at Marion but rather pouring out her frustration over that insufferable manager, who seemed to relish making her life as miserable as possible. "How was I supposed to predict that?"
"You should have checked the weather report before leaving your home. That was his reply when I made the same point to him. And guess what? Many didn't turn up today, but only your wages are being deducted." Marion cursed him from the depths of her heart. "He must have been born after the death of a thousand cunning hyenas."
"Of course," Cixi sighed heavily. "It's only my salary he will deduct, knowing exactly how much I need it," she whispered in resignation as she leaned back against the wooden door, holding her phone. "This man never stops. If I were merely two minutes late to the office, he would cut my pay by an hour. If I protested, he would send me to more houses, giving me less time between jobs… What have I done to deserve this?" she questioned her fate. "I just don't understand what his problem is with me." She did her best, worked diligently, yet her manager was consistently dissatisfied with her.
"Don't let that scum spoil your mood, Cixi! Pray to heaven! And who knows, one day the horn-dog might slip from the staircase and never wake up," came Marion's heartfelt wish, making Cixi smile. "That bastard is harassing you because you rejected his dinner invitation," she continued fiercely. "He is trying to push you harder, taking full advantage of you being an orphan. But don't give in to his whims."
"Maybe I should have accepted it," Cixi said quietly.
"No!" Marion practically shouted at her. "Don't ever say that again. We all understand you, Cixi. Most of the women working in the company do! And we are proud of you for the way you stood your ground." Her voice softened. "We didn't have a choice but to bend to his will because we have families to feed… But you do have a choice. Not that I am saying being in your shoes is easy. No! But sometimes I wish I were single like you. Maybe life would have been easier."
"The other side always seems greener," Cixi replied, her voice sounding distant even to her own ears. She let her gaze travel slowly around her small studio apartment, from the worn sofa to the cracked corners of the walls. "Standing up to him doesn't pay my bills," she muttered under her breath.
She missed her parents at times like that. Sometimes she wished she had died with them. Life was not easy. Earning money was not easy. And when you were an orphan, alone with no one to protect you, the world became even more dangerous.
Many times, she had been dragged by the drug addicts who loitered near her apartment and used as their punching bag, knowing she had no family to defend her. Sometimes their eyes would roam all over her body, making her feel violated. No one spoke to her in college because she did not dress like them. They said her clothes stank. Her manager troubled her, cut her salary for his entertainment, and made her work overtime.
Why hadn't the shooter killed her along with her parents? The shooter could have shown her a little mercy.
To this day, the police still have not figured out who killed them or the reason behind their deaths.
A shiver crept along her shoulders as the room grew colder, jolting her out of her thoughts. She had switched off the heater because she couldn't afford the extra cost when every bill already felt like a gamble. "I have wanted to leave this job more times than I can count," she confessed. "But no other company pays better to a student."
A long silence stretched between them as they both contemplated their own choices.
Cixi remembered a former employee who once reported the manager to upper management. Instead of dismissing him, they dismissed her, accusing her of fraud and property damage. Since then, everyone had remained quiet.
"I wish I could help you with your financial situation…" came Marion's guilt-filled voice. "I have a husband who won't stop spending money on things we don't need, and three children to feed and school fees to manage. I'm really sorry, Cixi, for not being able to help you." Cixi could almost picture Marion lowering her lashes in embarrassment.
"Never say sorry to me, Marion! I am fine. Don't worry. I understand your situation. So don't feel guilty about anything. You have already done and are doing so much for me. Three years ago, it was you who helped me find a job and a place to live when no one else would. So, my dear friend, you being in my life is the greatest gift you have given me." Cixi glanced at her wristwatch. "You should get back to work now. Don't give that horn-dog a reason to cut your salary. And I'll be fine."
Marion exhaled heavily, "I'll call you later." She sounded reluctant. Marion didn't want to end the call, but she was on the clock. "Stay indoors. Listen to some music, drink something warm, and wrap yourself in a blanket, okay?"
Cixi hummed in response and said nothing more. She didn't want to tell Marion that she preferred working, as the luxurious apartments she cleaned were always heated to a comfortable temperature. There, no one worried about rising bills. However, Marion did not need to know every unpleasant detail of her life.
After hanging up, Cixi sat on the old wooden chair near the window, not taking off her thick black jacket. She rubbed her palms together, trying to coax warmth into them as she watched the snow continue to fall.
The snowfall looked like tiny pieces torn from cotton candy, and for a fleeting moment, she imagined stepping outside to see whether it felt as soft as it appeared and whether it might even taste sweet.
A small, breathy laugh escaped her before Cixi rubbed her stomach.
She hadn't eaten since morning. That was probably why the snow began to appear edible.
From the sixth floor, the street below appeared almost peaceful.
Then her attention landed on a figure dressed entirely in black. He wore a long black cloak that fell to the ground, clutching a metal staff. Cixi tilted her head in puzzlement, wondering who still walked the streets in a cloak in this day and age.
That hooded person was staring directly at two men who were smoking and drinking near the building's pavement.
One started laughing loudly after hearing something amusing, and the other slid a needle into his wrist with ease. Then they both began laughing again.
The hooded figure suddenly shifted, turning to look directly at the building, then at her window. At first, she thought it was a coincidence. It should not have been possible for him to see her, since her room was dark, as she was in save mode.
So she narrowed her eyes, leaning closer to the glass, trying to make out his face under the shadow of his hood. But only darkness greeted her.
Then it happened.
A second later, to her utter horror, his two eyes gleamed red beneath his hood, staring directly into hers as if looking into her soul.
Cixi gasped, and her heart lurched so violently that she nearly toppled from her chair. Struggling to regain her balance, she pressed both hands to her chest, fighting to steady her breath.
She must be hallucinating from hunger, she thought.
Yes, that had to be the explanation. No human has red eyes. And it was all her imagination.
She should have backed away and curled up on her sofa after the terrifying delusion, but she stayed by the window like a stubborn person, determined to be foolishly brave.
The man who had injected himself a moment ago began to shake. His entire body trembled, blood oozed from his nose and mouth, and before her mind could grasp the situation, he collapsed onto the white snow.
The hooded man who had been staring at Cixi's window advanced toward the fallen man without leaving a single footprint on the snow.
Cixi's eyes widened until they stung, and her mouth fell open in naked horror. She wanted to scream. God! She wanted to scream so violently that the sound would shatter the window and wake the entire street. Yet no sound emerged from her throat.
Then, a strange light emanated from the collapsed man, and in an instant, the cloaked figures vanished… just like that… into thin air…
Cixi stepped away from the window at once, unable to process what she had witnessed. Her legs trembled, and she dropped onto the sofa, clinging to it as though it were a lifeline.
She began to rock forward and back without realising it.
It was not possible.
She must have hallucinated it. All of it…
Was he a ghost? No, ghosts did not exist. And no one simply vanished into thin air. "I am imagining things," she murmured to the empty room, attempting to steady her breathing.
Perhaps her hunger had affected her mind. She should eat something. She immediately took out her phone and opened her banking app.
$12.23.
Her eyes lingered on the number before she closed the app in silent desolation. She needed to survive for two more days. Two days until the end of the month. Two days until her salary arrived.
She pressed her lips together and lowered the phone into her lap.
She decided she would sleep until morning, and by dawn everything would return to normal…
Yes, that was a good plan.