After Dark

I looked into the mirror and gasped. There! The most horrifying thing I could ever imagine! It’s right under the nose. The spot! I never thought it would appear there of all the places. I hate spots! It ruined my handsome-looking face. I’ve got once when I was 13. It was under the chin. Now, it appeared again. I’ve got to get rid of it!

The spot had ruined my mood to school. It was my second week here since I’ve moved with my parents. I used to live in the peaceful countryside where you can see the green leaves waved at you and the smell of fresh air. Dad had to move to the city and here I am, living in the 7^th floor of a condominium. I hate living in the city as I hate my spot. I think I got this spot because of polluted air.

I sighed and combed my hair. Mom banged on my door as I picked up my bag. I was already late and my classmate, Faisal was waiting for me at the front door. He lived on the 8^th floor and very friendly. He loves cats and have about 12 of them. I never thought a guy like him is a cat lover. He always brought cat food inside his pocket to feed the stray cats whenever he met them. Everyone said that he’s generous. Well, I think he’s wasting his money on cat food. Stray cats can find food on their own.

We have PE for our first period. I played badminton because it’s my favourite sport. Next to the badminton court is the takraw court. I could hear the PE teacher was nagging about the lost. Our takraw team was lost in semi-finals. It’s a shame, according to the PE teacher and they needed to fight back no matter what. Thank God I didn’t join any tournament or I’ll end up just like them. I just play for fun.

The changing room was a little bit hectic with a smell of sweat – like a dead rodent! As I was changing to my school uniform, I heard a few boys were talking about Sticky Man, a ghoul that loved to climb up the building wall and stalk anyone through the window. This Sticky Man only appeared in certain nights. One of the boys said that he saw the Sticky Man but lucky for him it didn’t stalk his house that night.

The story continued in the class where the girls were chattering about Sticky Man. I told Faisal I never believed in ghost stories because I knew it’s just a plain lie. Faisal is kind of obsessed with ghost stories and sometimes he even dared himself to go to a creepy place just wanted to see a glimpse of ghost. Some of the girls thought that it’s a dead brave thing to do. But I think it’s a dead stupid.

After school, Faisal invited me to his friend’s house nearby school to play video game. I refused to go at first because if my Mom knew, I’ll be in deep water. Mom is the most strict person I ever met and I didn’t want her to box my ear (she’s done that to me few years ago because I came back late from the field). But Faisal promised me that we’ll go back before 5. So I agreed with him.

We played Prince of Persia – I just watched, didn’t have gut to touch the controller. Then I realized that it’s getting late. I told Faisal that I needed to go back home immediately. He understood and we rushed back home. I was lucky because Mom went out to the grocery store – she left the note in the living room. I took a shower and ate any food that was available in the fridge.

The sun was getting down and it was a beautiful scene to look at. It reminded me of my old home. I really missed my old hometown. I stood near the window of my room and sighed. Mom came back as I could hear her footstep. As I was closing the window, I saw something at the building that was two block away from mine – a black figure, climbing up the wall. I couldn’t see it clearly as it was getting dark.

After dinner, I took out my telescope from the cupboard to watch the stars. The sky was clear tonight and I love stare gazing. But I couldn’t see much because of the bright light from the building and street lamps. Then, something caught my eyes. I saw a black figure at the same building, climbing up the wall. I zoomed my telescope and saw his face. That thing had a round white circle on its face. I gasped as the thing turned at me. I quickly closed the curtains and put away the telescope.

After that incident, I didn’t dare to open the curtains, let alone taking a peep through because the Sticky Man was stalking me at the window every single night.