Night Delivery

"I'm heading out, boss!" I exclaimed as I waved my hand while leaving the shop.

"Be careful, it’s already dark outside!"

Without paying him much attention, I hurried out of the pizzeria where I worked and packed everything I needed into my motorcycle’s delivery box. A customer from a somewhat distant area of the city had ordered two pizzas, a soda, and some bread to go with them; a rather ordinary package to share between two or more people, and therefore one of the shop’s most popular sets.

With everything loaded and ready, I mounted my old and reliable motorcycle, started the engine—just as loud and vibrating as ever—and accelerated toward my destination. It was my last delivery of the day, so I felt somewhat upbeat knowing I would be heading home before long.

However, it was just as my boss had said. The night felt even darker than usual this time. When I glanced up at the sky for a moment, I realized the reason; it was a new moon night, the kind considered the darkest nights of the entire month.

Even with that in mind, I continued along the route with confidence. I wasn’t new to the job—I already had a couple of years of experience—and nighttime deliveries were among the most ordinary things there could be. Yes, it’s true that I’ve run into strange people from time to time, but they show up even during the day, so there was no real reason to be afraid of the night.

The only thing I could do now was keep going along the route while the cold night wind brushed against my body. A sensation I never grew tired of.

Nevertheless, my confidence gradually seemed to be shaken more and more. I had trusted that the city’s nighttime lights would help guide me along the way, but as I drew closer to my destination, the lights from buildings and the colorful advertisements of the city began to grow increasingly scarce. At a certain point, there were barely a few streetlamps left to keep the streets faintly illuminated.

Fortunately, the light from my motorcycle helped push back the darkness a little, so I let out a sigh and continued driving.

***

"Is it… here?"

Eventually, I arrived at what appeared to be my destination. However, something felt off.

The moment I stopped and parked my motorcycle, a strong chill ran through me as I stared at the apartment building. I’m not a particularly skittish person, but that place felt strange—it was as if… I felt like someone was watching me.

I shook my head and slapped my cheeks to try to calm myself down. I still had a job to do; I just needed to deliver the food, collect the payment, and go home. It was a quick process I had repeated countless times, and this time wouldn’t be any different. I took the food out of my motorcycle’s box and walked toward the building with firm steps.

I attributed the feeling of being watched to curious neighbors eyeing a stranger arriving so late, so I didn’t give it much importance.

However, the chills wouldn’t go away. On the contrary, they seemed to intensify with every step I took, as though my body were warning me that getting closer to that place could be dangerous. Even so, I ignored that sensation and kept walking. Cold sweat began to run down my face, even trailing from my back, but I didn’t stop, not even because of that.

Criiik…

When I reached the stairs, simply placing a foot on them made a loud, sharp creaking sound. It wasn’t easy to make out in the darkness, but the stairs looked quite old. No—actually, the entire place seemed rather ancient.

"What kind of place is this?" I asked myself, trying to mask my nervousness.

Despite the spine-chilling sound, I continued on my way. Every step I took was accompanied by that unsettling creak, and each time I heard it, it felt as though it pierced deeper and deeper into my ears. It continued like that until I finally reached the top, but what awaited me there was no better.

The lights looked old and flickered from time to time. Moreover, according to the instructions, the address I had to deliver the food to was all the way at the end, so an unsettling stretch still lay ahead of me.

Thump… thump… thump…

As I drew closer to my destination, my blood grew colder and colder, and my feet began to feel heavier and heavier. At a certain point, I could barely lift them, having to drag them along instead until I reached the apartment door.

"Here…" I whispered, staring at the door in front of me.

It was a fairly ordinary wooden door. Perhaps somewhat old, but a door nonetheless. Even so, it felt strange. It emanated an unsettling sensation, almost like a silent warning that if I were to touch it, I would regret it and suffer the consequences.

I wanted to leave. I wanted to ignore this order and go home. “I’ll apologize to the boss tomorrow,” I thought, but then, perhaps out of habit or perhaps because of something else, my hand knocked on the door a few times.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

After that, everything stopped. No, there was still movement; what truly stopped was the noise. Everything had fallen completely silent.

Should I wait for them to come out? Maybe knock again?

I didn’t know what to do. My mind was blank and my legs would not stop trembling in front of that old and unsettling door, but then something happened that would mark me for the rest of my life.

Before my eyes, something black began to hang down from the ceiling, slowly lowering more and more. It didn’t take me long to realize it was hair, and when I looked up, all reason and logic vanished instantly.

Right in front of me, passing through the hallway ceiling, the figure of a woman descended little by little. Her appearance was spectral, with skin as pale as a corpse’s, long and disheveled hair covering almost her entire face, and worst of all, her eyes—black hollows barely visible, from which only a faint white glow could be distinguished, watching me, almost as if she were judging me.

The silence, which had already seemed terrifying, was replaced by a series of eerie, senseless whispers that appeared to flood my head, causing me pain. It was a miracle that I managed to remain standing at that point.

The woman, who had stopped descending from the ceiling, raised her hands and approached me with that gaze full of hatred and resentment.

"N-no! I don’t want to die!" I screamed with difficulty, dropping the entire delivery as I ran. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. The only thing I wanted now was to escape that cursed place.

I quickly reached my motorcycle and started it. I did not look back. If I did, I had the feeling that my life would end; the only thing I did was rev the engine of my old motorcycle and speed away from there at full throttle.

"Home! I have to go home!" I repeated constantly. I didn’t even bother returning the motorcycle to the pizzeria. The only thing on my mind now was getting myself safe at home… and praying that that thing would not follow me from now on.

May the gods have mercy on my soul…

***

"Aiko, I heard a scream! Are you okay?" I shouted worriedly from the living room.

A few seconds later, a ghost girl emerged from the entrance hallway with a triumphant look on her face, followed by floating food—the very same order she had placed. I understood the situation immediately upon seeing that scene.

"Aiko… I already told you not to scare the delivery drivers. If you do that, no one will want to bring us anything anymore."

"Eek… I-I’m sorry…" The ghost girl, Aiko, understood the problem and apologized right away. It wasn’t the first delivery driver she had frightened since I moved here, but if we didn’t do something about that habit of hers, then we would have problems.

"Well, free food is free food," I said, trying to cheer her up. "Come on, everything’s ready for the movie."

Without saying another word, Aiko floated over to the sofa and sat down, resting her head on my shoulder. The cold that emanated from her body would make many people pale, but for me it was a comforting sensation, though difficult to explain.

It had already been some time since I moved into this apartment, and my life changed forever. Yes, everything changed when I discovered that the ghost haunting my apartment was incredibly cute.