Why Is This Happening

"How- do- I- look? Am I… bleeding? Hollow? Or…"

"Sh*t."

Swish-

He runs. Fast. For his life.

For the first time in his life, he regretted neglecting PE at school because running with his thin body now feels so heavy already, while he needs to start sprinting up the stairs. He knew that waiting for the elevator would be too late for his life.

BRAK! Havi busted the door of the second-floor office room open with a gasp.

"Crazy. I just saw that there was a strange sort of lady downstairs!” Havi shouted to all his gawking friends.

Havi was in ​​denial as he started walking to his desk.

“You're… chickened out, huh?” Clement throws a fastball called humiliation at Havi, who's flinched.

"I'm not. But, this is impossible to do alone. For safety measures, I guess?”

"Haha. You're chickening out, Havi. Why?” Janice chimed in with a chuckle.

"He says he saw a 'sort of lady? What do you mean by that, anyway?” Armand asked him.

Havi looked around. He hated being in such an annoying situation, but there was nothing he could do except convince his friends.

"Really. I saw something down there. In the basement. This is… not a joke, guys.”

"Woo. Just tell us that you're scared." Janice teases him.

Havi let out a big sigh, then shouted, “Yeah, I'm scared! So what? I swear there's a strange creature resembling a lady with long black hair in the basement toilet! We're not safe here!”

"It's still morning, tho?"

"Duh. I don't know!

Janice and Clement agreed to go down to the basement to prove Havi's words – whose face was pale and breathless. Looks like it was the first time for them to see Havi getting so worked up over something. Unlike him who is usually aloof and apathetic.

As the two returned to the room, Havi showered them with questions.

"How? The vibe there is creepy, right? Have you seen that lady? You see her, right? Right? RIGHT?!” Havi's eyes bulged.

He waited for the answer of his two friends, who strangely returned in good condition.

Not that he expected them to get hurt or anything, but Havi was embarrassed as he was the only one being scared!

"Nothing. You're delirious, Havi." Janice replied, shaking her head.

"No way. I saw her!”

“There's no one there, dude. Even the toilet door is still closed. What is it that you see?”

"What? It should be there. There should be. Maybe you guys didn't see it!"

“Hmm, but we didn't see anything, dude. We even took the mop you should have taken.”

“If we don't see it, then what exactly are you seeing, Hav?”

Gulp. Havi swallowed hard. He didn't want those words to come out of his own mouth, but,

“Could it be… a ghost?” Havi asked seriously.

"Hah! Nonsense. This early in the morning?!”

“Then what was that that I saw? It's definitely not a human with that sinister appearance!”

“Wait, I heard from our seniors that there is a ghost who likes to chat with someone in the basement. Did she talk to you too, buddy?” Armand's turn to interrogate Havi.

With his mouth half-open, Havi replied, “Ye-yeah.”

"Hok!" Everyone gasped, and so does Havi.

"What did she say to you?"

“She asked me whether I could see her or not. Then asked me bout how she looked. That… much?”

The room was silent for a moment. They glanced at each other but avoided Havi's gaze.

Clement approached the tensed Havi and then patted him lightly on the shoulder. He looked concerned as he approach Havi, then he said,

“Dude, my mom knows a shaman. Do you want me to introduce you to her?”

"Shit! This is not a joke!”

In the evening. Inside a bright room, Havi pondered with his phone in his hands. Then he dialed a certain number.

"Clemt, is your mom's shaman acquaintance good?"

“Ugh… damn it, dude. It's 1 AM! 1 AM!”

Tut. tut tut tut-

That night, Havi had trouble sleeping. Let alone sleep, he didn't want to close his eyes. Because when he closed his eyes, the image of a scary creature with long hair covering her body that he had met in the basement appeared.

He looked up at the ceiling with his hands crossed and his mouth mumbled, cursing whatever had made his night so tiring.

And so on until morning comes.

***

clack.

Havi froze as his hand still gripping the doorknob of the second-floor restroom. His eyes flickered in confusion at the situation before him. It seems like yesterday's misfortune is still continuing today.

"You-. can-. See-. Me-. Right-?” asked the creepy figure again from inside the men's restroom.

Havi swallowed his saliva, bitter. Somehow, he could even hear the sound of his heart beating so fast. Havi surrendered. Although this variable doesn't count in his plan, dying is his ultimate goal anyway.

He turned his head slightly to make sure Clement was nearby. And yes, there was Clement by his side.

“Clemt, you can also see what's in front of me, right?”

"Huh? What are you talking about, dude? Why don't you go inside right away?"

"You- You can't see it? The one in front of me?”

"See what? Oh, don't tell me… you-” Clement glanced at Havi, then to the area in front of Havi in ​​turn.

"Don't joke around. You see it too, right?” Ask Havi while gritting his teeth.

"Dude, you're scaring me now. What's in front of you? I- I see nothing!”

gulp.

From the corner of his eye, Havi could sense that a figure whose body was shrouded in long black hair was approaching.

Sreek- sreeek-

Havi gasped for breath as his body felt the itch from the figure's long hair on his arm. He froze.

"You-. can-. See-. Me-. Right? Kiikikikik."

He thinks this is the end of his life that he always longed for, but still, it's pathetic if he dies due to a paranormal experience like this. As he accepted his destiny, he heard chuckles from various directions.

“Pfft-haha. Hahahahaha."

“Hahahaha Havi, you are funny!”

“Did you catch it on camera? His face is so tense! You're nuts, dude! Ha ha ha ha!" Clement laughed so hard that he even clutched his stomach.

Likewise with his other friends, Janice and Armand. Even the terrifying figure in front of him started laughing too

'Shit. They got me good, huh?’ Havi makes a fist. Now he knows that they are pranking him.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't think you would be this scared. I'm so sorry, kid." Said the figure in front of him while removing the hair-shaped mask from her head.

The figure laughed. Ah no, she was no longer a mysterious figure, but a woman whose human features were clearly visible. There is a nose, eyes, lips, and cheeks.

When Havi realized that the person before him is a human, his fist comes loose.

Havi watched the woman laugh as well. Her voice was no longer hoarse, instead, it sounded crisp and soft. The type of voice he wanted to hear all the time to calm his heart. It was strange when he got this feeling from a total stranger.

Havi looked at the woman in front of him. The woman's cheekbones reddened as her laughter cracked even more. As he couldn't resist his curiosity about whether the human in front of him was a real human or an angel that had sprung from his imagination, Havi stuck out his index finger to touch the woman's forehead.

“Ah… a real human,” Havi mumbled half gawking.

When he realized what his finger had just done, Havi withdrew his hand hastily. His face was flushed red, as red as a tomato.

The woman smiled at him, then said, "Hahaha, I'm a human indeed. Do you really think I'm not human? You're really funny. Ah! Happy birthday, by the way! It's a surprise gift from your friends, and I'm participating because it's entertaining, hehehehe.”

Havi tilted his head.

“A birthday when my actual birthday is already a week ago?” Havi chimed in with a sarcastic intonation.

"Well, this kind of thing is another kind of surprise, right, guys?"

"Yeah! Happy birthday, Havi." Janice appeared with a big smile.

"Happy birthday, buddy. We always want to surprise you. Didn't think it would work this way, tho. Clap, clap, clap” Armand chimed in, clapping his hands.

“Thanks to Miss Katherine, our plan worked. Thanks a lot, Miss." Clement held up his thumb.

"Come on. No need to thank me. I'm having fun too. It's like going back to the old school days."

Havi was still looking at the woman in front of him, who was moving like a human. There was something odd that kept drawing his attention to her.

This is really weird, he thought.

Watching Havi watch her with his mouth half open, Kate reached out her hand for a handshake.

"Hi. I'm Katherine, Miss Katherine for you. I'm the manager of the café that will operate on the first floor. Pleased to meet you!"

They shook hands briefly.

"I'm Havier or Havi for you."

"I know."

The young man could feel his finger gracing Katherine's. Katherine's hands were soft and tiny and warm. The touch created a sensation as if there were a colony of butterflies flapping their wings together inside Havi's chest.

Then left a tingling restless sensation that was very foreign to him.

'What's this?'