5. Eros

Kanya's POV

My body’s weak due to the fear I felt before, and with trembling legs, I managed to get out even though I had to fall to the point which my palms skin peeled off.

“It’s still early; which demon passed by my apartment?” My legs were weak that I sat on the floor and rolled my gaze to every corner of my apartment. No one, just me alone.

There was no clinking sound of glassware from inside the kitchen. Plates, forks, spoons, and glasses were arranged neatly in place, even the wind did not greet them, but the sound of the glass clinking sounded in my ear.

My body’s trembled even more because the fear had flowed into my veins. The sense of the cold hand that just touched my neck in the room now feels even more.

“I—” I stopped like a mute trying to say a simple word, but I couldn’t. I crawled while closing my eyes to the door of my apartment. The cold sense ran down my back. “Ah!!!”

Finally, I was able to run and open the apartment door then closed the door with a bam! Which is pretty harsh.

I leaned against the door of my apartment with a trembling body and glancing at my legs that didn’t stop shaking like an acute tremor.

“Ah, there’s a ghost in my apartment so early in the morning. Is it because of Eros, huh?” I covered my face with my palms and closed my eyes for a moment with force.

My throat began to dry, and I felt my lips dry too. I muttered the man’s name as his face was flashed in my mind as my eyes were closed without realizing it. “Eros ....” 

“You called me?”

As my body froze, I heard a familiar voice in my ears — which only exists in my nightmares — that can be heard even when closing my eyes.

“Hehe ... hehe!” I chuckled as I let go of my palms slowly. Little by little, my eyelids lifted, and my lashes seemed to tremble with fear.

My vision is a bit blurry because I forcibly closed my eyes then open it. After my eyelids were utterly opened, all I could see standing in front of me was a familiar figure—a tall figure with pale white skin and jet black hair. The man who had been present in my nightmares for a year and died in my hands many times, Eros, was currently standing in front of me in the black suit he usually wore.

I blinked my eyes, unable to believe my sight. “I think I’m sleeping while walking.” My right hand alternately slap my left cheek and right cheek with moderate force. My cheeks seem red, but still, I can’t wake up from my sleep. “Wake up, Kanya, wake up!”

“Hey! Stop it!”

My hand stopped doing the action which I hurt myself. “I’m not dreaming anymore, am I?”

“You’re not dreaming.” The man in front of me said while scratching the back of his neck.

Strangely he uttered a sentence like an ordinary person. Not a sentence I often heard when Eros gave me a knife.

“Make a wish!” The sentence slid from my lips smoothly, making the man in black frowned.

He shrugged his shoulders, seemed confused by what I have said. The man who looked so much like Eros, who was like a twin, started looking at me with strange looks. The sense of bitterness in me remained; I became a little afraid. Groping the doorknob behind me, I tried to open the door and wanted to run away from this man.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Your face looks pale.” He frowned, and the glint of worry in his eyes caught a glimpse of mine before disappearing seconds later. 

Is he worried about me? Eros?

My heart was pounding like waves of seawater; my thin body was shaking even more just by imagining that I would stab the man in front of me again. “E, Eros no more! I’m not dreaming anymore! It is the real world!” I shouted.

Suddenly he covered his ears with his large palms and took three steps back.

“Why are you shouting? You keep calling my name, maybe you know me? But I’ve never met you before.”

For a moment, I was dumbfounded because Eros didn’t recognize me. I was even more confused because I didn’t understand whether I was actually in a dream world or a real world. This morning was very long for me, starting from nightmares, crying for no reason, to meeting Eros in front of my apartment.

The corridor on the 3rd floor was tranquil, with only two people standing facing each other. I haven’t answered the question from the man with the same face and name as Eros. Should I believe in all of this? Seeing people I’ve never met before and lodged in a dream than seeing them in person? Or is my logic getting so confused I can’t recognize people properly?

My eyes crossing the corridor, a gripping feeling penetrated my soul, and a black mist began to creep through the corners of my eyes.

“Hey, Miss, you still haven’t answered my question.”

I was confused, my heartbeat getting louder, and it felt like it could fall into my stomach anytime. “Ah!!!” I scream hysterically while grabbing my hair like a person who has lost mind.

“Hey! You screamed like crazy early in the morning, huh?”

The big, loud voice startled me from the depressing feeling I felt just now.

Bambang — my neighbor, came out of his apartment thanks to my hysterical screams. Luckily, I was not alone with this man on the 3rd floor. Without thinking, I ran towards Bambang, who was stepping towards us then shuffling behind his back. Bambang frowned as he could feel my body trembling with fear.

“Sir. Bambang ..., there is a ghost here early in the morning.”

Bambang turned his gaze to me. “A ghost? I thought you were crazy, huh? Most writing scary novels turn out to be hysterical.” Bambang shook his head. “What do you mean by screamed out of loud that had been disturbing my sleep?” The grim look of a market thug did not make me fear, but instead, the handsome man who was still standing at my doorstep made me shudder to the bone.

“There, Sir!” I pointed at Eros — the jet-black haired man seemed confused by my behavior a long time ago.

Bambang gave a pointed at me, after which he turned his eye to Eros. “Look carefully, Kanya. He’s a human, not a ghost.”

I watched Eros chuckle in annoyance; he glanced at the watch wrapped around his left wrist and prepared to take a step toward us. From the look on his face, Eros looked bored and wanted to leave here quickly.

“Wait a minute!” However, Bambang stopped him, and Eros’s steps stopped in front of us.

The distance between us was only one meter; my heart was beating fast as Eros’s fresh face closer to my pupils from close.

🍁 Happy Reading 🍁

You finally found me. Thank you for looking for me. Tears, worry, and longing for you, I can pour on you who are currently standing in front of me with the same hope. — Apple Leaf