BRISEIS

This is the last stop the train made. I clutch my luggage and handbag tightly. It’s past 10pm and the train station is terribly quiet, in a way that gives one the chills.

A group of men stand at a corner, smoking and bickering over minor issues such as the brunette who served them at dinner. I jog pass them in a breeze, half hoping I don’t bring attention to myself.

It took me two minutes to get out in one piece. Releasing the breath I had no idea I had been holding in. I flagged down a taxi and showed him the address.

Greenville. The city that haunts me almost every night. So hard I just had to come and find out what happened to Brie.

“ New in town, huh? Be careful out there, it’s a dangerous city. So many bodies are left unattended at the morgue. The crime rate is sadly very high. Everyone believes this town is magical. Something about wolves and vampires and some flying creature.”

The taxi driver was a man in his early fifties. Not so old and not that young either. And as much as he looks a bit innocent, I find myself having suspicious thoughts of his ‘friendly’ approach.

“ Not new, I grew up here. It’s just been a while I visited,” I lied. I’m not going to expose myself to more danger.

He bares a half smile and takes his eyes off me and back to the road as he should. I’m not dying on my first night here.

A text pops up on my screen. My mother’s words ringing in my ear as I read through it.

Mom: Your mind is made up, isn’t it? Just don’t come home in a body bag like Brie. I won’t mourn another child of mine.

I sigh and tuck the phone away in my handbag. I’ve got too much to worry about. Back in Oakhaven, I’d have slept in peace without a fear for my life, but the taxi driver’s intense gaze keeps me awake throughout the trip.

In no time, the car comes to a stop in front of a building. The same one my sister was said to have lived in. Her flat is just opposite mine.

“ Here you go, keep the change. I’m sorry that’s all I got on me.”

I offer him the crumbled dollar notes, probably the last I’ve got on me at the moment and drag my luggage out almost falling to my ass.

“ So many troubles in the city, aii?”

We laugh over it and I bid him goodbye. He’s watching me in his rear mirror and I’m staring at the weird plate number. I know I’m being watched. This taxi man is the first to confirm my suspicions.

It takes me an eternity to get my stuffs in the elevator. The lady at the reception was almost dozing off and wasn’t helpful in getting these bags upstairs. She lazily points me in the direction of the elevator and goes right back to her nap.

Great.

The buttons are not functioning. I risk sleeping in this old thing until dawn. I won’t be taking such a risk not when I need a hot bath and my beauty sleep.

“ Hello, the elevator seems to be faulty. Can you have someone come fix it?” I try to be polite and friendly as possible, but this redhead isn’t having it. Not after I roused her from sleep for the second time in few minutes.

“ Then use the goddamn stairs. Nothing seems to be functioning in here. Not even me. Have a good night!”

I suppose that’s one way to end a conversation, so I grab my bags and head for the stairs.

But wait. My apartment is on the 10th floor. Holy moly, that bitch does not expect me to climb halfway up the Mount Everest or does she?

Glancing back at how peacefully she’s sleeping, I bet it on granny’s grave she did mean it.

First day in this cursed city and I’m already having it rough? How do I even find Brie’s killer with disasters like this happening in my everyday life?

~~~~

One eternity later, I manage to get myself and my bags to my door. I swear I almost fell face flat on the floor in the corridor. My bag would have made a great pillow, who cares about the hot bath?

But since I’m not safe here, I tuck my stuffs away in the old walk in closet and off my damn shoes go. How bad my feet aches from climbing those stairs. They were like 500 or so.. I don’t know, I lost count at some point.

I litter the old, dusty floors with my clothes and head straight to the bathroom.

“ Finally. A good, hot bath to wash away the stress of the day,” I murmur under my breath and got in the bath tub.

Yet another horror. There’s no water. Wait a minute, is that a blackout? It’s bitch black in my apartment and all I hear is the scurrying of mice and roaches.

Am I being targeted now? Like right now? They couldn’t give me the luxury of a hot bath first?

I jump out of the tub, stark naked, marching my way to the my living room. Wherever it was that I left my phone. It’s probably somewhere in my handbag on a sofa in my living room. But which way is it?

I keep bumping into hard surfaces and by the time I make it to the room, I’m almost covered in bruises that might need a bandage and two weeks off work. Just kidding. This 17 years old girl doesn’t need a job for now.

“ I could really use some light right now,” I half yell, cursing under my breath and starting to regret why the fuck I came out here looking for my sister’s killers in the first place.

“ Here you go.” A voice so considerate replied and helped switch on the lamp near him.

“ Oh, thank you sweetheart,” I respond absentmindedly and reach for my purse.

But. Wait. Hold the fuck on. There was a voice asides mine in my fucking apartment. My roommates- the mice and roaches couldn’t have said that or could they? The last encounter I came in contact with a talking rat was at Ratoutille.

They have talking rodents in this town too?

You… you can’t be real.

I think I might have said that out loud cause the voice gave a firm answer. “ I am, Briseis. This is not a figment of your imagination.”

Oh shit. I stand, rooted to the floor with my purse glued to my hand. It’s like I’m suddenly unable to move. I can’t even bring myself to glance in the direction the voice is coming from.

But wait, I have bigger problems. I’m. Naked.

Shit.

I drop the purse hastily and scramble into the bathroom to get two towels. One to cover my nakedness and the other for well, defense.

Our eyes met. The very moment I stepped in the room. There he was seated. Like he owned the apartment.

This man exuded a kind of aura that made me sick in the stomach. His gaze tore through me, and his eyes held something I couldn’t point out.

I’m dead meat for sure.

“ So, um, what do I offer you? Coffee? beer? I just settled in so I can’t cook you some steak. How about we order pizza?”

Something flickers in his eyes. Confusion. I bet this isn’t what he is expecting at all.

I stroll past him, grabbed my purse and head for the closet. If I have to die, at least let it be in my pajamas not some towel revealing my silky skin.

“ Why don’t you make yourself comfortable while I throw on some clothes?” I call from the closet. Ears at alert, expecting him to barge in and separate my head from my body.

Much to my surprise, that didn’t happen.

I stuff my essentials; ID, old papers containing information and some cash, into the hidden pockets of my pants. Somewhere in between my cleavage is a pen knife neatly kept out of sight. I grab one of those long bedsheets I bought for times like this. If I can’t beat him, I can escape even if it costs me my life.

“ So what do you think? Pizza or ..”

Strangely, he’s no where to be found. “ Oh, I see my guest left.”

Forget acting like I’m strong, I’m about to pee on my pants. What the hell is going on.

The chilly air in the room made me realize the opened window. This wasn’t open when I arrived. Or could it be he climbed out of the window? What super powers did he possess to jump off the seventh floor without hurting himself? I scanned the area and found no rope he could have used to get down neither did I see a trace of blood.

The taxi driver’s words rang in my ears.

“ Everyone believes this town is magical. Something about wolves and vampires.”

I shivered from just the thought of it.

I was leaving this apartment first thing in the morning. But first I needed some sleep. I secured the door with the old dinning table. I added some extra objects I could lay hands on.

It took no less than ten to fifteen minutes.

I did the same with my room door. I was not about to take chances especially knowing someone out there knew my name and where I lived.

Just as I was about getting in bed, I notice a brown sealed envelope with my name on it.

Tearing it open while looking around in fear, I breezed through the content.

“ Dearest Briseis Lockhart, you have been chosen.

It’s with great pleasure that we at Greenville Academy invite you for a one year program at our college. Join us at Greenville Academy where the boundaries of reality are pushed to the limit and the unknown becomes a norm.

You just might be a step closer to finding out the truth.

We await your response.

Signed

Professor Orion Blackwood

Dean of Students”

Greenville Academy, that was the school Brie won a scholarship to study at a year ago. Her program was supposed to last for four years but she died mysteriously this year; two months ago to be precise.

“You just might be a step closer to finding out the truth.”

What truth? Do they know about what happened to Brie? Or were they in fact the ones who cut her life short? She was just 17 when she died. They don’t know the pains they caused my mother and I when we lost my twin sister.

Well, they better watch their backs. Cause whatever it is they’re hiding, I’ll find it out.