“AJ…” AJ heard his name being called out. Not once but several times followed by a few shakes on his body. “AJ… AJ…”
“Just drag me! Just kill me you son of a bitch!” Cried AJ as he was all prepared to meet his death.
“Oh yes I will if you don’t get your ass up!” The voice. It was so familiar. AJ opened up his eyes and saw a figure standing in front of him. He rubbed both his eyes just to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things.
“Kev? What… what happened to your face?” Asked AJ leaving that confusion look on Kevin’s face.
“My face? What’s wrong with me face?”
“Huh? I… I thought you… you were… you were… dead-”
“Oh really? Let me see… in your dream… again? How many times do I have to tell you to stop watching whose stupid horror movies and see what you get! We are done for the night so are you coming with us or what?” Asked Kevin as he raised his eyebrows.
“Really… I’m not kidding you… you were dead… Brian was dead… Nick… Howie… all of you were dead… and that thing… that fucking thing was trying to get me when you woke me up. I mean… you should have seen the face… its so damn ugly… its so horrible… and then the claws, the claws were scratching the your body and… man! I even heard Howie’s bones snapped into pieces!” Explained AJ as he strained his mind to remember every details of his nightmare.
“Enough fun?”
“But Kev! I’m dead serious alright! Its really happening-”
“Fine! If that is the case… then why are we still here? And what the hell am I doing here, standing right in front of you? Can you explain that?”
“I don’t know… its… its just so real…”
“See my point! You are one confusing guy now Jay and guess what? I don’t have all night for you man, I wanna get home and sleep. Now… can you please get your ass out here so that I can lock the door?” AJ sighed. As expected, that would be the usual response from Kevin and worst if he should share that dream with the others. He would be the laughing stock.
“Fine! I knew it! You won’t believe me anyway!” Muttered AJ as he passed by Kevin to walk up to the elevator.
“Too much tv for this kid…” Uttered Kevin as he shook his head and locked the door.
“Man! What took you guys so long? I’m damn hungry!” Shouted Nick the moment he saw AJ and Kevin walked out of the elevator.
“Oh thank God you’re here! I guess a minute longer and you can see Nick chewing on those plants!” Joked Howie as he adjusted his cap.
“What took you guys so long?” Asked Brian in concern when he noticed how pale AJ was at that time.
“Well… our dear friend here has a dream.” Replied Kevin as he gave AJ a pat on his shoulders as he passed by Brian and Nick to walk up to the reception counter to hand over the keys to the security guard on duty.
“Dream? Again?” Asked Brian as he turned to AJ.
“Yeah… just some stupid dream I guess…” Said AJ as he chuckled the question away. Just as he was about to walk away, something caught his nostril. “Wait… did you guys smell something?” AJ asked as his eyes were lurking around the area as if he was expecting something to form behind the pillars.
“What?”
“Did you smell that? Gosh! It smells like some dead rat-”
“Or dead corpse to me!” Supported Howie as he fanned his nose. Even Brian was controlling themselves from vomiting due to the foul smell.
“I told ya… its not just a dream… its… its-”
“Oops! Sorry guys! I… I couldn’t stand it… you know empty stomach tends to make me let go a few airs…” Giggled Nick innocently.
“See Jay… I think Kevin is right. You are watching too much tv now.” Said Howie as he tapped on AJ�s shoulder before he walked up to Nick and gave him tight slap on the arms.
“Ouch!” Groaned Nick.
“You deserve it!” Said Howie as he walked away.
“Oh Gosh! What the hell is that smell?” Asked Kevin when returned as he fanned his nose.
“I think we really need to get going now coz if Nick stays here a second longer, he’s gonna blow the whole building up with his air!” Chuckled Brian as he gave a sardonic smile at Nick. Nick reciprocated it with a fake innocent smile.
“Man! How long have you been keeping it man?” Moaned AJ as he walked away too.
“What? Its not a crime isn’t it?” Nick asked as he raised his left eyebrow. AJ simply shook his head and walked behind the others. “So where we going?”
“Hey! I have an idea! Jay, how about going over to your place? I mean, it’s the closest from here isn’t it? At least we can all save on the time to wait for everybody tomorrow if we can get here on time from his place.” Suggested Howie.
“I’m on it!” Said Nick as he took out his Nintendo from the pocket.
“Me too!” Said Brian as he took out his cellphone.
“I think its a great idea D! So… maybe we can try on Jay’s new wagon huh? Jay? Hey! Are you listening?” Kevin asked when AJ wasn’t paying much attention to their conversation instead, his mind was focusing on the Nintendo, the cellphone and his new wagon. The signs were there and he knew it. Believe it or not, he will not take the risk. Not in a real life situation.
“Hey… I have a slight change of plan. How about taking on Kevin’s car… I just remembered that I have problems with the engines this morning… and maybe we can stop by at Nick’s place for the night… its been quite sometime since we last visited his place isn’t it?” Suggested AJ anxiously.
“Oh! Well… I really want to try your new wagon but on second thought I don’t wanna get stuck in the middle of nowhere when your wagon breaks down later.” Teased Howie. AJ appreciated that thought from Howie.
“Great then! Everything settled?” AJ, Howie and Brian nodded their heads while Nick gave a thumb up. “Alright then, wait here while I go and get my car!” Within minutes, Kevin was gone in the dark as he made his way to the parking lot to get his car leaving the foursome waiting at the lobby. AJ realised that it was almost the same situation as the one in his dream except that this time round it was Kevin who went over to get the car instead of him.
“Fear of dejavu I see…” AJ heard a voice whispering deep inside his ears.
“I have nothing to lose to save my friends…” Uttered AJ.
“If I don’t get you now… I’ll still get you sooner or later…”
“We’ll see…” Said AJ as he smirked.
“Jay? Eeer… you’re talking to me?” Nick asked with that puzzling look on his face.
“Nah… just talking to myself.” AJ smiled in satisfaction. He has foiled the plan again. For how much longer can he run away from the nightmare… no one knows. Not even himself.
“You sure you’re alright bro?” Asked Howie.
“Yeah… I guess for now…”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Finally this is my final chapter and hope you like it so far. Your reviews/comments are highly appreciated and it means a lot to me to improve in my future writing... thanks a lot for those who spare their time reading this story especially those who took the time to review it.
