“Knock! Knock! Knock!” I tapped on the Editor-In-Chief’s door lightly.

“Come in.” A deep voice replied from inside. I turned the doorknob, stepped in, and closed the door behind me.

In the office, I find him behind his high-marbled desk, patiently going through the letter I wrote. A promising smile spread across his thin lips while he placed the letter before him.

Mr. Steven Benson, my boss, had a burning cigarette held between his left fingers. He loves smoking while sipping his coffee, crushing the butt in the saucer. Once his eyes met mine, my boss gave me a hysterical look and then nodded negatively.

“You can’t quit. You know that, right? There are no holidays for writers.” Mr. Steven said to my face.

While he leaned forward, his hands dropped the letter and cigarette, and he gently clasped them on the table.

Although it was Friday, the space was gloomy and the setting sun seeped through his white, curtained window.

“But it’s Christmas in three days.” I pointed out with hope in my voice. I am aware I don't have a family or a friend I can go back to, however I sincerely need a month off. Just one month away from all this! I’ll be back before you know it.”

Mr. Steven pursed his lips; his forehead wrinkled thoughtfully. He lifted his skinny neck, his boney chin out; then his forehead became smooth again. He adjusted his sit, glanced boringly at his clasped hands.

“Does that mean we should close because you aren’t here? There won’t be enough sales and that would be on you! Pioneer Newspaper needs you right now more than ever. It’s a damn festive season. There are millions of stories to write.”

“I’m not the only journalist here, Mr Steven!”

“But you are the most skilled, most competent-“

“Don’t persuade me, sir... I made my mind up!” My eyes shot him with a glare as I cut him off. “I’ll be gone for a month’s vacation or something. It’s part of my resolution to go on a break, at least once this year!” A soft little smile replaced my harsh tune. My voice suddenly went low and calm. “Henceforth, I will work from home. I just wanted to tell you, so you know, as my boss.”

“Miss Lewis!” Mr Steven called, hoping I’ll have a rethink.

Instead, his voice made me chuckle like a sweet, seductive bird who has finally gained freedom. I faced the door with my purse in hand.

“Good bye now, sir.”

The plastered look on his face made it obvious that he felt ridiculous, exposed, but strangely gratified at the same time.

“And... Merry Christmas. My regards to your family.” I pulled the door open and walked through it.

As I closed the door behind, a heavy sigh of relief heaved out of me. With closed eyes, I stroked my temple and adjusted my dark brunette hair before walking out of the building- a print house.

It’s no use arguing with Mr Steven. It won’t convince him why I need a break and he won’t persuade me to stay, either. Poor man... He wanted to classify that gesture of his as professional, the reassurance of one partner for the other.

Respect, Encouragement, Understanding.

As I slipped into a taxi, my head swam left, then rested on the headstand. I expected Mr Steven to act this way but, it must be a shock to him. I had been his loyal dog all these years, but today I talked back to him.

I barked.

With a mental breakdown, I rubbed my forehead again. ‘Ugh...Who cares?’

I took out my mobile phone from my black envelope purse to see a message from my boyfriend, Kelvin Hexxus. To open the message, I clicked on it.

“How did it go?” The message read, I smiled.

Kelvin and I met on Instagram a year ago. He commented on a picture I posted and we had been chatting ever since. We became really close friends, who couldn’t go a day without texting each other. Then one day, he confessed his feelings to me, and I told him I had also been feeling the same way. Even though we never met each other before, he was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He is all I have.

‘Fine, I guess.’ I texted back.

‘Does that sound like a good thing? You told me your boss was an understanding man.’ Kelvin joked by sending me a funny emoji.

Amidst a withheld laugh, I joined him in laughter.

‘Of course he is. He only acts grumpy at times.’ I typed the words as fast as my fingers could. Eagerly waiting for his next words.

‘He’s your boss, after all. You’re in a taxi now, I guess.’

‘Yeah, I’m in a taxi on my way home after a long day in the office. I am almost home now.’

‘That’s fine. You should have discussed things better with him so this doesn’t look like a drastic decision... In a more gentle manner with him, so you don’t look demanding and rude.’

Once the taxi driver stopped, I tipped him two dollar notes and climbed down the old, yellow vehicle. I watched him leave as he drove away into the cold, empty street. It was already dark.

I arrived at my apartment, which was a two-storey building covered in red bricks and dark tinted glass doors and windows.

“Woof!” The bark of the only living creature I own reached out to me. I call him Sebastian.

He is the last dog of my late dad, who was a kenneler and a dog trainer. My mum was a neurosurgeon. She and dad died in a car crash ten years ago. I was eighteen at the time, so I lived on my own without getting into a child system. Patting softly on his head, Sebastian wagged his tongue and tail at me.

A harsh yawn find its way out of me as I closed the door and walked down the hallway into the toilet, which stood at the other edge of the building. As the ripples of my urine rang down the closet, I ended it with another relieving moan. Then, strolled into the kitchen. Flipped the microwave open and brought out two pieces of strawberry pancakes I had left. It’s been two days since I last came home. Last night, I spent the night at the printing press, working out my ass in front of the computer system.

A bite from the pancake and I spat it out immediately. It was sour. I had to wash my mouth with water and give the rest to Sebastian. I know I’m unfair to my own dog. It made me remember a quote from my dad.

“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. Dogs are better than some people.”

I rushed back to the kitchen, took the leftover bread I had in the fridge and brewed coffee for dinner. After hungrily devouring it, I jumped into bed with a sigh of great relief.

I needed to take off my clothes and have a warm shower, but I felt too lazy to pull out of bed. As my hand stretched towards the nightstand, I grabbed my phone and scrolled through it. I don’t know why but... This was the easiest thing to do anytime I was this tired.

Anita- an old school friend, Tabitha and Eudora, my colleagues at work, left a message. I scrolled through and saw Kelvin’s unread message he sent in the last five minutes.

‘Are you home already?’

‘Yes.’

‘Have you taken your shower already?’

‘No, not yet.’

‘But you weren’t lazy to eat.’ Kelvin replied, and I giggled softly at his light joke.

‘How do you know?’

‘I know everything, sexy legs. Your eyes are mine, so are your mind and body.’

‘That’s romantic, Kel.’ I thought with an inner shrug. Maybe it was just my hormones acting. ‘I can’t wait to meet you already.’

‘Me too, Lol. So you’ve gotten your luggage ready for tomorrow?’

‘Yes, I plan to sleep early. I have an early morning flight to Los Davis. I won’t pack so much as you asked.’

‘That’s good. Everything you need is right here.’

I looked through his photograph. An indication I was definitely more interested in him than I thought was prudent. I’d only sent him a couple of my pictures.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, exhaling with relief. “Damn it, Sebastian!”

‘Whom!’ The door suddenly burst close, my phone slipped from my hand to the bed. Upon realization, I saw that the bed was disheveled, as if I hadn't tidied the room that day. Of course, I didn’t. It’s been two days since I last spread the bed. My flip-flops laid haphazardly by the bed and the robe on me held my body in a puddle.

In a blink of an eye, the light stripped off, but my table lamp was still on. Now, I had to go take a shower. To sleep well and have a good night's dream after so long. I know I deserve it.

I put on my sleepers and took off the velvet red robe on me, wrapping a soft towel across my chest. I walked into my bathroom and jogged open its door. The showers were rushing. I hurried to turn it off.

‘Was someone here? What’s happening?’ I frowned, gave the place a serious look.

My reflection against the wall mirror made me listen to the sound of silence that ruled the room. It wasn’t completely silent. The silence disturbed my mind.

I pictured one of the most terrifying dream I had last night at work. When I saw the mirror, it felt like I had seen a ghost- another version of me. With a bloody sharp knife in my left hand, as if I’d just slaughtered someone... or some people. I had the nightmare of being in the exact spot. The intestines in my stomach tied knots.

I felt a wave of panic and dread wash over me and I had to grab my neck with my shaking hands just to be able to breathe. My touch- a feeling of panic and dread, my trembling hands held ont my neck for me to breathe. I was relieved that I wasn’t with a bloody knife at hand, but I was in this same towel.

This same spot.

This expression.

The night wind gave a low cry which roared through my open windows. The white curtains danced in the wind, which was strange to me. I felt like a stranger was in my own room, spying on me.

‘What’s happening, really?’ My eyes flashed in the darkness around the four corners of my room. Then it flickered with fear in my eyes.

“Where’s Sebastian?” I whispered; a little too grave to hear my words. The shrilling growl of the wind replied me. ‘Is it about to rain?’ I wondered.

My mind flitted nervously as I stepped into the shower, turned it on, and let the water run over my body.

It was chilly cold.

‘Koooh!’ Sebastian's painful whine made me gaze at the open windows. He flew through it.

‘Was he kicked in the stomach?’

Abruptly, strange footsteps approached with another creak of the living room floorboard.

‘Was it me or it was just my hearing? Was it just my sight?’ I winked up at the ceiling as it approached.

‘Who’s there?’ I demanded mentally, paying attention and listening carefully to the splatter of water running through me- like a character who woke upon a raft in the middle of a dark ocean faced with a storm. I pictured one of the most terrifying dream I had last night at work. When I saw the mirror, I felt like I had seen a ghost- another version of me. I had some sort of nightmare about being in the exact spot. And this was getting real. Too real to be true.

As the feeling of fear seeped through my mind, I stood there with my cold feet and drippy body. It was dark so I couldn’t see. The radiance of the full moon hung outside was the only source of light.

“Go away!” I told it. My voice was not as strong as I wanted, but at least, I managed. I swallowed, tried hard to breathe and find my words. My nostrils flared as I stuck my nose in the air.

Then another door creaked open. It must be from the front door.

“Grin-grin!” An unexpected call came in and my phone vibrated.

The stress of the events loomed over me; I couldn’t forget what had happened. My eyeballs, which were boiling in its sockets, glowed in the dark; it felt eerie and unsettling. It shook me to my core.

“Grin-Grin!”

I locked the front door. I am sure of it. Scared of walking back into the room, a loud ring from my mobile phone broke the silence again.

“Grin-grinn!”

As I listened, instead of rushing towards it the way I used to, I dashed out of my bedroom to the livingroom. The front door cracked. How is that even possible? Although Sebastian was a big dog, he had no knowledge of opening a locked door yet.

My hand tapped on the table behind me, and I grabbed a knife. ‘Shouldn’t this be in the kitchen?’ I wondered, recognizing the knife was the exact one in the nightmare. While I held onto the only weapon I could lay my hands on, I gently approached the front door to close it.

One step after another.

Half way there, it closed in a sudden thud.

The petrifying incident made me let out a bloodcurdling scream and the knife I held dear dropped off my weak grip. My racing heart smashed like an egg against the marble floor. I stormed back into my dark room.

I halted once I get to my room’s door and peeped through like a thief at night. A single drop of sweat trickled from my hairline to my eye but I didn’t bother to wipe it off. I could no longer feel my heartbeat at this moment.

My chest!

Another gaze through the other side of my room, to the bed where my phone was. The beat of my heart plunged in a shock, making my wet body dry, yet icy.

Stiff,

Frozen.

“Grin-Grin!”

The call stopped in an instant, and power restored in a second. Dark doodling clouded in my vision to the sudden light. I looked around. It was only me standing in the room, breathing hard, as if being chased by the angel of death. Finally, I stepped into my room and swallowed the lump of flesh hanging in my throat.

‘What was I scared of? The fear of being alone?’ The power was restored, but somehow, I still felt like being watched.

With a heavy sigh, I walked up to my rough bed, closed my eyes briefly and opened it. Looking at the bed, it looked more rough than I had expected.

‘Was there a dogfight in here?’ I thought, gently sat on the edge and reached for my phone. A text just entered from Kel.

‘Are you scared? I’m with you, Chris. I told you everything you need is right here.’

I frowned as I read his text repeatedly. It took me a while to apprehend his words.

‘Yeah, I know.’ My sweaty fingers typed on the screen’s keyboard slowly and steadily.

‘You missed my call, though I just visited.’

My face froze with droopy eyelids. I quickly scrolled through my phone list and he was the last dialler. Kelvin Hexxus never called.

I dialed his contact again, but it wasn’t reachable. His contact is always unreachable.

‘You liar, where are you?’

‘At Crest villa in Lostville. I hope to see you tomorrow.’

‘Me too.’ I texted with guilt.

Kelvin is being very enigmatic, which makes me nervous. Why would he text now? My hand shivered lightly as I stopped thinking about what had just happened.

With the light on, I had to sleep with both eyes open.