After a long day of work at Dine&Dash, Zenix felt utterly exhausted like he had been stripped of all of his strength. He look at the clock on the walk and noticed that it read -8:04pm-, it was finally time to get home.
He spun towards Duan -the bartender- with a hint of surprise, "It's passed 8 o'clock , aren't you going home?". Duan had a distant expression hidden in his tone.
"I'm already home, this is where I stay now"
"What! In here? No one would just decided to live in a restaurant, so why?".
Duan snuffed and simply said, "For personal reasons". Zenix understood that it would be wise to not push the matter, so he ended the discussion there.
Xavion -the waiter- stepped out of the restroom, said his goodbyes to Duan, picked up his bag, and met up with Zenix at the exit. Looking over his shoulders as he was leaving the premises, Zenix noticed Sunil hastily trying to catch up.
"Walking home today?", Xavion asked perplexed, while already stopping a cab.
"It's a cool evening after all, so why not".
Xavion gestured to the cab driver in embarrassement, a pale expression on his face. "Sorry, have a good day".
Even at that hour, the roads refused to rest. Engines hummed, tires whispered against asphalt, and people drifted through the night in steady waves, as though the city itself had no intention of sleeping.
As they walked, the cold night air filled their lungs with a subtle tension they couldn't explain. They were only four blocks away from where they had started when they began to hear muffled sirens up ahead of them.
"You hear that, Zenix?".
"Yeah, I do. I guess the police are a bit busy tonight".
As Zenix said so, he briefly recalled the words Ryna had said to him, with innate understanding.
Soon enough, they arrived at the source of the disturbing sirens. They were currently at a small business district, where what seemed to be a vehicle collision had taken place.
Zenix observed the chaotic scene with apprehension, his mind left boggled by thoughts. The entrance of a commercial building was severely damaged, with a van and a mini truck merging with it's interior.
Xavion however, had a more complicated expression. He was neither bewildered nor indifferent, like his thought process had failed him.
Instinctively, Xavion tugged on Zenix's shirt indicating that they had to leave. Xavion looked calm, not at all agitated.
He turned to Zenix and smiled, "Come on let's go, it's seriously getting late". "You're right, we better make it back before the curfew".
Much later that night, Zenix was in his room watching a horror movie on his laptop. It was 11:45 pm and he was the only one awake in the house.
The crescent moon shown with eerie malevolence, it's bright glow casting deep shadows in his dark room. With less than fifteen minutes before midnight, he awkwardly closed his laptop and shrugged off the chills the movie had given him.
"Xavion was right... this movie is way too frightening", he said, as his hands trembled uncontrollably. His chest rose and dropped heavily with each shaky breath.
He quickly got up and instinctively spawn towards the window, as he heard a disturbing sound coming from outside. As he listened, his eyes were locked, his hands trembled even more, and all that came to mind was 'fight or flight'.
The next moment, he rushed to the window and looked out. To his surprise, the ominous sounds that assaulted his mind were simply the hoots of a small white owls in a tree, being distorted by the howling wind.
He clutched his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was so... not necessary"
"The hat man is not real".
"Pull yourself together Zenix".
When he finally calmed down, he looked at the clock on the wall, "it's already midn--".
He never finished the sentence. A wave of dizziness hit him, stealing his balance and leaving him weak.
He crumpled onto the bed, powerless to resist, and darkness came quickly. In seconds, he blacked out, but not before hearing a faint voice in his head.
He opened his eyes after what felt like an eternity, to the sudden realization of... a figure in his room. "Why are you in my room Arie?".
Arie felt smug, she had a contemptuous expression on her face.
"Your door was literally wide open! And your welcome, it's literally 8:30 in the morning and your still snoozing".
"Really?". He wiped his face with his hand, confusion etched across his features. "When did I even fall asleep?".