- Beginning Lecture -

I always hated scary stories, never once in my entire life had I willingly subjected myself to listening or reading about one, just could never handle them. However, I've heard my fair share of cryptic tales that have given me lasting nightmares. But there is one that I can never seem to get off my mind, one that not many seem to know. One that I will never forget.

In every iteration, the tale always begins on a stormy night as a middle-aged woman, no older than 30, makes her way to a convenience store to get the newest issue of a magazine that she enjoyed reading at the beginning of each month. However, on her way there she saw a man, clad in black, sitting next to the entrance looking up at the night sky.

She didn't think much of it so she brushed him off and went inside to find the magazine. Before doing that though, she went to get a soda from the back.

After getting a strawberry-flavored drink she went to the front of the store and found the magazine. On the cover was her beautiful sister next to a set of text saying 'Special August Release!'.

Her emerald eyes and golden hair alongside her beautiful figure helped her stand out amongst the other pictures and words on the cover.

She had always loved her and wanted to support her in any way she could but she also liked reading about the things she did and wanted to see her latest shoots so she could later compliment her over the phone.

"Hope the new guy is treating you well, Vick," she said to herself while reminiscing on the past.

Deep inside, she wished that she could tell her all her thoughts in person, but after an incident, she decided to move away. Due to this, the times in which they could meet in person were once in a blue moon.

After getting it she looked outside the large window and noticed that the man was gone from the spot he was before.

She didn't think twice about it and then went to the front to buy her items.

After she left the shop, someone tapped on her shoulder and whispered into her ear a phrase that froze her to the core.

"I found you. . . "

The woman couldn't let out a single word. She recognized the man's voice. All she could do at that moment was let out a single tear before her life began flashing before her eyes.

SHLUK!

PLSHH!

Before the woman knew what had happened she had awoken in a cold sweat on her bed gasping for air.

She began to sob for what seemed like hours to her until she managed to calm herself down after having accepted that it was a dream. However, it is said that this would not be the last time that these nightmares would occur.

Time and time again she would suffer the same dream over and over. The same man, the same convenience store, and the same time, 1:50 a.m., but some subtle things changed every time. Sometimes she would be stabbed dozens if not hundreds of times. In a couple, the man even tore her limb from limb and once skinned her legs as she screamed while he went on a psychotic rage about how she should have just listened to him and that she betrayed his feelings all while being unable to die and with no one by her side to save her from her torment.

She was said to have taken a week's worth of therapy to get rid of the dreams but nothing ever changed. Eventually, she decided to shut herself in and never went outside ever again. She ordered everything through online apps and did her work from home.

One night, she had dreamt it yet again, this time though, it seemed to be the least gruesome one yet. She didn't suffer any pain at all but she knew she had been killed again on the same day and time.

Even while being swiftly killed, she still knew she had cried just like every single other time. Awakening from her dream she awoke to the cries of her sister who had come to visit her for the first time in months and in a cry for help, the woman told her sister everything. That was when her sister comforted her and convinced her that she would be okay and that the man would never come to harm her ever again. Months later she found herself leaving her work and went on her way home only to look at the date and realize that her sister would be in the papers on that day. She decided to go and buy it at a nearby convenience store where she saw a man. A man who was staring up at the sky, clad in all black.

It was him, the man from her dreams, the same man who nearly ruined her life all those years ago.

In a panic, she ran in the opposite direction all the way down the sidewalk towards her home. When she finally made it she quickly got in and locked the door behind her and then quickly went to close all the blinds on her windows. Amidst her panic, she called the police and gave a false report about an armed man following her home.

The operator calmly replied by saying that officers would be on their way soon. Their response had filled her with temporary relief but not enough to calm her down. It had simply given her a reason to keep on going and not give up.

She paced towards the kitchen where she grabbed the giant, sharpest knife she could find and locked herself in her room with the blinds closed. She made sure to barricade the door entirely and stood next to her bed on the floor waiting for the police to arrive.

She breathed heavily and her mind raced at what seemed like a million miles per hour and waited for what seemed to her like an eternity before she got up, went to her desk, grabbed her phone, and looked at the date.

She didn't realize it at first and even now she had to rub her eyes and double-check it. The date was August 1st. She then recalled what the text next to her sister was. That was when she realized, in both the dream and reality it said, 'Special August Release!'.

She checked her watch one last time and read the time.

"One fifty," they both whispered in unison.

The woman was later found by police, inside her once barricaded room, the window of her room busted with shards of glass all over her front yard.

Her head, somehow taken off her body, was found next to her bed, presumably killed instantly, with a stream of tears coming from both of her eyes.

While the investigation was ongoing, multiple officers on the scene reported hearing the sound of a person, whether it was a singular male or female voice was debated but the rest of the details were the same. It sounded almost as if a large stadium of people were all humming yet whistling at the same time, yet despite it sounding like thousands were making the sound, it was still as quiet as the breeze of that same windy night.

Around a month after the night her body was found, all officers who reported hearing the sound were all found dead, three of whom had their heads cut off. The case forever remained cold and would never be opened for investigation.

                                                                           *   *  *

Through my blurry vision, I look around to see that I am in an unfamiliar location. What I am currently lying on is very uncomfortable, a stark contrast to my soft bed. Not only that but my head is resting on the same level as the rest of my body.

It doesn’t take long for me to realize that I have fallen from my bed and awoken on my dirty floor. I slowly get up, lay my back on the side of my bed, and look over toward one of my desks, specifically at the red numbers on my electronic clock. The time is currently 2:24. I have unfortunately been rudely awoken by the evilest creature on this planet. A monster capable of tearing down our decade-old furniture and wasting my hardly-hard-earned money but never having to pay for anything it's done.

A creature that’s as bright as daylight, a feline with not too much fur, and its color that of stars in the sky with large diamond-colored eyes. My silly little cat.

We had gotten her around 2 years ago when she appeared out of nowhere on our front porch. At first, we didn’t know what to do with her but ended up deciding to take care of her until we could find her a better home. I always really wanted to have a cat so I was ecstatic that we were going to take care of it even if I knew eventually we would part ways. Eventually though, when the time came for someone else to take care of her I cried and cried all day, apparently I wouldn’t even leave my room for days. To our surprise, she ended up finding her way back here via my window and slept next to me throughout the same night she had come back.
This repeated 3 more times before her new owner, an old work friend of my aunts, said that we should keep them for both the cat and my sake. My aunt agreed as long as I would take complete care of her every need and I agreed without hesitation.

As I think to myself the sound of her loud meows echo through my moderately sized and usually clean bedroom of mine and reach my sensitive ears.

I take a deep breath in and out before sniffing my nose to smell nothing of note, something which is fairly surprising since I don’t recall cleaning my room earlier. To be fair though, I don't remember anything from yesterday, not even my fate. At least not for now.

I look over in the direction of the meows in the darkness of my room and see that she has somehow escaped her cage. It didn't take me long to realize that it was left wide open. Couldn't have been my fault right?

I can see close to nothing due to just having woken up so I, of course, instinctively rub my eyes so that I can gain a clearer sight.

Having done this I begin to open my eyes, move my hands away, and come to the realization that it was indeed a grave mistake. She had taken advantage of the moment, sneaky cat. She is no longer anywhere to be seen in my current line of sight.

I begin to scope the area to see where she is, but for some reason, I can't help but feel that I currently have a pair of eyes looking dead at me leaving behind a burn on where they seemed to be coming from.

I quickly turn to the side to try and find her again but this time near the area where I feel the presence.

Using these expertly trained instincts I swiftly manage to find her hiding in her fairly big white cat tree, specifically in one of the little huts that are on its many floors.

She was seemingly lying down in the little hut while looking at me dead in the eyes as if telling me that she had no plans of sleeping yet and would not be willing to cooperate.

I took to observing her expression to conclude that this cat was filled with unused energy from a day of doing a whole lot of nothing. A mistake on my part.

We stare down for a bit before she loudly meows at me as if to taunt me and rapidly climbs up to the very top of the cat tree then jumps onto my filled-out bookshelf onto my desk and then finally onto the carpet floor.

"You gotta be. . ." I grieve as I realize sleep was, for now, no longer an option. I couldn't risk her wandering in the middle of the night. Inside her cage she was hidden, safe. Nothing would want to check what would be under the blanket that covered it.

"What a pain," I quietly mumble after making this realization.

I get up from my cozy bed to turn on the nearby lamp next to my drawer and grab my phone to check if my package of cat food for the month will arrive soon. This misfortune of mine seemingly continues as I see that it has been delayed for another day.

"Yikes, well that's just great isn't it?" I mumble to myself as I look at the nearly empty bag of dry chicken-flavored food.

"Alright Mirai, go back to bed you silly little beast. I got class in a few hours and I don't feel like sleeping during first period," I state while trying not to yawn and simultaneously attempting to pick her up to put her back in her cage the size of three large fridges next to one another.

She quickly answers with a resistant "meow!" before I not so quickly now realize that the door to my room is actually, in fact, absolutely, not closed.

Man.

She sees the opportunity and bolts out into the hallway probably making the bet that I wouldn't go chasing her around due to the extremely low amounts of energy left in me.

And damn, was she right, what a mischievous scoundrel she is. I can't run for 3 seconds even if my life depended on it. It's not that I'm not fit, I would say that I am fairly fast and a good runner but it is the middle of the night and I have so far gotten around 2 hours of sleep so doing any physical activity is out of the question.

I also can't help but feel slightly offended that I had just been outwitted by a cat twice so I go ahead and decide to rub in the fact that she would not be able to eat unless she caved in.

Now it isn't like I'm not going to feed her or anything, even I'm not that mean, however, the bowl resides inside her cage so at this point it has become a battle of wits.

"Well, the joke's on you Mirai! Your bowl is here in my room! In your cage! So checkmate!" I not so quietly announce as I put on my best impression of a smug smile and pose that I had seen on TV a while back. I don't have to look in the mirror to see that I’m not doing it right, but it's okay because it's not like anyone else is here to witness the embarrassing scene that’s currently unfolding.

“Alright, the--"

"Devan. . . the hell are you yelling for? It's like...the middle of the night. Are you having a panic attack or something?" a weary young man in a blue and white striped pajama complained from one of the rooms in the hallway.

Damn. I should keep my mouth shut more often.

"Go the hell to sleep, dude. I...I want to sleep, man."

I looked at the young man before me to see he had some of the baggiest eyes I could ever see, something only the most overworked office workers could have. His hair complimented the eye bags as it was uncut and reached slightly below his shoulders. His eyes however were a mix of blue and green which stood out from the darkness of his hair and the messiness of it and well, the rest of his look. It always makes me chuckle thinking about it.

"Uhhh. . .My bad. . . ! Heh heh. Have nice dreams, Lio!" I stutter while attempting to hide the sweat coming from my forehead under what I could assume was a semi-creepy smile alongside the light chuckles that I was holding back.

Lio has always been a hard worker, a little too much of one actually, I honestly wish he wouldn’t work so much. Maybe then he wouldn’t be so grumpy all the time, one can wish, right? From behind him, I could see that he had turned off his computer for once. I feel a little bad for having woken him up so I prepare to apologize again. He has told me about his experiences once because I told him I was interested in working alongside him. It was safe to say that after he told me all about his work I would never again mess with the idea of working an office job.

"Yeah, yeah...whatever, just be more--"

"I know! Sorry. Anyways goodnight! Just um...gimme a sec!" I say while making my way down the hallway at a slightly faster-than-usual walking pace.

Before she realizes what is happening I slide my way toward her on the slippery wooden floor. Mirai is now within my grasp and I intend to take the opportunity before I am further embarrassed.

"Come here you little!"

"Meow!" she cries out in defiance.

"Aha!" I say as I grab her and put her into my arms.

I proceed to cradle her since it always successfully calms her down and as expected, once again, it works. Flawless victory.

"Purrrrrr," she purrs while making what I consider a silly little smile.

"Uh...good, now uh...please...go to bed now Devan, please. I wanna have a peaceful sleep for once," Lio mumbles as he slowly closes the door to his dimly lit room.

"Alright then, time for us to go to sleep!" I whisper to Mirai.

"Meow!" she quietly responds in acceptance before cutely yawning.

I quickly walk down to the end of the long hallway and make my way into my room while remembering to close the door behind me this time as silently as possible in order not to anger anyone else in the house.

"Don't wanna get scolded again by scary cousin Lio now do we? Look, when Larissa gets back all three of us can play together okay?"

"Meew," she responded in agreement.

Larissa, my other cousin and the sister of Lio has always been very close with Mirai. Funnily enough, she was an avid pet hater and couldn’t stand the idea of having a pet around the house, yet, after we started taking care of Mirai she was the one who spent the most time with her, she probably spent more time with her than I did! As soon as she got back from school she would go straight to her and would play for what sometimes was hours on end.

When the time we were separated came I could swear that I heard her crying as much as me. I never actually got confirmation of my suspicion though since she would refuse to answer my questions about it and would completely change the subject. When we got Mirai back though, she couldn’t hide the fact that she was crying when our aunt told her we could keep her. After our aunt left I told her that she could name the cat but she declined and said I should since she was officially mine now. I insisted and so did she again and again until we both decided to agree on a name. Since even at the time we were both heavily into Japanese culture we decided to call her Mirai which translates to Future. From then on out we both spent about an equal amount of time with her and took care of her every need.

After finishing reminiscing on better times I put her down for a second before reaching toward my closet to grab a nearly empty bag of food and a bottle filled with filtered sink water. After getting them I go towards her cage and put all the needed amounts of food and water onto their respective silver bowls inside her cage.

I grab her once again and place her inside her cage then give her a few head pats and rubs on the back and in response, she not so quietly purrs.

As soon as I finish petting her she jumps up onto the second layer of her cage and proceeds to munch down on her food before finishing it all in a matter of seconds. I can only imagine a cute little smile forming on her face as I close the fairly sized door behind her to not have the same incident occur for the 47th time.

Before I leave her alone I reach over past the bars to pet her a few more times and put the pitch-black blanket over it entirely before going back to where the lamp is to turn it off for the night.

As I make my way there I almost trip on a rogue dirty shirt still lying on the floor. I somehow manage to avoid falling face-first onto the gray carpet floor by placing my hands on the floor first.

I let out a quick sigh of relief after sensing that the danger had been seemingly averted.

After having been able to avoid a tragedy I once again begin to make my way back to back to my bed and–

Hisssssssss-txt-tzt-tzzzzzzz

"Huh?"

Tvvvxtt-tzt-tzzzzztzz

An unknown sound filled the empty void of the hallway.

"Who could be awake at this time?" I think to myself. The sound isn't too loud but it’s loud enough that I can hear it from across the hallway.

I carefully walk over to the door to see if I can hear where the sound originates from. I open it nearly all the way and notice that the sound is similar to one of a TV emitting static.

It was likely the one in the living room considering that everyone else's doors were closed and no light emitted from any of them. Then a thought occurs to me, who could be outside right now? Then that singular thought became many as I realized the implications.

"There was no one else I could consider to be outside right now, right? Think damn it, think Devan! Think!" I try to wrack my brain to consider all possibilities.

My heart races and my vision begins to blur as the pain begins to ache in my stomach and head. My body becomes numb as darkness envelops my body and mind. It’s happening again.

No one ever stayed up late at night, at least not that I knew of.

Lio had work at 6 a.m., so he was in his room, Aunt Marie was out on a work trip, and Larisa was having a sleepover with a close friend of hers.

With both my cousins and my aunt out of the question then in that case.

No one could be here but us two.

So why was the TV turned on in the living room?

HisssssTo-ssowssstz-tzzzzzzzViz

The sound of the TV yet again roared louder and then went quieter again just like it had done before.

Is it just a simple malfunction? The TV is honestly very old, maybe around a decade old actually. Even the remote didn't work half of the time so perhaps that was what it was.

"Yeah, that's probably it right?" I whisper to myself as I check the time again.

2:30 A.M.

Yeah, it wasn't at this time, I didn't die yet. But what about the others?

I close the door before I then make my way over slowly but surely to the corner of my room to get a metal bat that rests on the wall next to a large black drawer. If someone or someone had gotten into our house then this would be a necessary precaution.

I open the door for a second time but this time from the left side at which the door would cover me as I peek over.

As I peek over into the hallway I focus my vision on all the rooms and their respective doors. In the hallway are four doors, two on my left for Lio and Larisa's rooms respectively. On my right is Aunt Marie's room alongside the bathroom. All doors are closed and their lights are shut off.

I look dead ahead to see the entrance to our house and next to it a small black wooden drawer like mine meant to keep things like keys and papers with a few inches above it showing the time.

"Two thirty-two," I take note.

I look towards the left where the drawer is to see a light being emitted from the living room, not a very bright light but one that the TV is strong enough to emit.

To-ssowssstz-tzzzzzzzVizTTTz

The sound went on for one second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, and it wasn't stopping.

Why hasn't it stopped? There is no reason why it should even be on.

Could someone have secretly come home early or maybe someone was robbing us?

If that's so, do I call the police? No, that isn't an option, my phone is in the living room, I had left it charging there because I didn't have any other available outlets, one was being used by the lamp and the other for a tiny room fan.

Fighting, hiding, and sneaking are the only three options I can think of.

I calm myself down and then this time focus all my attention on any sound I can hear other than the TV. Wandering to check what it was could be an option but, to be honest, I don't want to risk anything.

Sssssss-tzzzzzzzViz

No matter how hard I concentrate I just can't hear anything other than the tv before suddenly the sound is killed.

There continues to be complete silence and then soon after the TV turns off which makes the room go completely pitch black.

The time's 2:35. Five minutes had passed since the sound began.

I don't know what to think of it, but I have to check if someone or something is in my house. I have no choice but to get rid of it. I won’t let my cowardice get Lio hurt.

Wait, but maybe Larissa just came back after something happened, no, that wouldn't be the case. The last time something similar happened was when she broke up with her ex and she sent us all messages telling us that she would be coming back soon and to not be scared if they heard the door open so it couldn't have been her coming back. But maybe, what if. Just what if. No, damn it, damn it. Could it be out there? How would it have found me then?

My breath becomes heavier and heavier as my body begins to quiver from head to toe.

"No, calm down Devan," I whisper to myself before I slowly begin to regain my proper train of thought although even then, I swear I could feel my blood running cold.

I slowly make my way down the hallway once again.

One step, two steps, three steps, four steps

I count each step as I calm myself down.

Five steps, six steps, seven steps. . .

"Seven steps," I mumble to myself before quickly turning to the left where the living room is to see that all the lights are still off. Thankfully I can make it across the hallway without making even as much as a peep.

I look down at the floorboards to check if anything is on the floor.

If this had happened last week then if something is here, it would have been aware of my presence the second I stepped into the hallway due to an abundant amount of creaks coming from my location.

I glance over at the windows, the doors, and all the furniture to see if anything has been tampered with or is missing but everything is as I had hoped. Not a robber it seems, maybe just a home intruder?

Nothing, nothing has changed, it all looks the same as the last time I checked. It was like nothing had ever entered. I quickly grab my phone which lays charging on the table behind our couch before doing another quick scan of the living room.

Empty, I sense no feelings of danger, no bloodthirsty auras: nothing but the empty void, myself, and the quiet of the night.

I can't feel any presence around but my own. It's a nice feeling compared to the one I had moments before. Yet, even now I can’t help but feel that someone is watching me. No, not just one person but many are within this room with their eyes all shooting beams at me from every side. The feeling unnerves me and shivers go down my spine and through my entire body. It's a terrifying feeling, but a comfortable one.

I know I’m probably overthinking all of this and it was just a simple malfunction but I have to make sure, I absolutely have to make sure that nothing is here. I can’t risk anything anymore, I refuse to…to what? To risk anyone’s life? Yeah, that’s what I must do, I have to. No more deaths.

I clear my mind and readjust my thinking to get to the bottom of why the TV turned on.

Before returning I should probably scope out the rest of the house by doing one quick yet thorough check around the rest of the house to see if anything or anyone had decided to go into hiding after maybe having heard my door open.

I check through the bathroom, the storage closet, the kitchen, the living room, the attic, everything. I must admit though even now, something tells me I shouldn’t look into the guest bedroom. There always has been something wrong with it, it just feels, for lack of a better word, ominous. I don’t really understand why, it's not the feeling that I get from that thing, however, I would argue that it’s one that far overpowers it. No one has gone in that room since…

“Since…since when exactly?”

I must have forgotten, I’ll just have to ask someone else tomorrow--ah well, actually, it probably doesn’t matter, nothing could get it there anyways, it’s locked and needs a key to open it. I don’t even recall anyone knowing its location anymore since it’s been so long since it was locked so if someone or something did enter, it would have no way to get in there to hide, unless, of course, they somehow found the key. Wait, but, what if the intruder is a ghost, a truly scary thought.

I had never believed in the possibility that ghosts could exist, yet, after having seen so much and after all my experiences it eventually became the least concerning and most believable thing that could exist.

“I really hope that isn’t possible right now,” I say while a drop of sweat forms on my forehead, I don’t even know how to face a ghost head-on, I would be completely screwed.

As I look around I continue thinking about all the possibilities while tightly holding the metal bat in both hands, ready to swing at any second.

In the end, I look all around and find nothing in the empty rooms.

“It was probably a television malfunction, that’s the only explanation for this…right? Yeah, it makes sense, the TV is super old so it would make sense for it to go on and off every once in a while. I should probably ask the others to see if they have seen it go off or on before.”

I go back down the hallway towards my open door and go back in.

I make sure to close and lock the door behind me. Too lazy to put it back how it was before I instead roll the bat to the corner of where it originally was.

“Goodnoth!” I yawn while attempting to speak to myself.

"I’m gonna have to sleep with one eye open tonight, won’t I?" I grumble to myself.

Before heading to bed I double-check that I locked the door to my room behind me before strapping two silver bells onto the handle of the door.

After having secured the door I quickly make my way toward the window next to my bed where I close the blinds all the way blocking the moonlight lighting up my room.

Once I double-check my makeshift alarm system I throw myself onto the bed and look over at my reliably soft red blanket.

I go to grab it since it’s at the edge of my bed and begin to wrap it around myself completely before saying goodnight to what I think is an asleep Mirai in her covered cage. To my surprise, she awakes for a second and meows silently in response before likely going off to bed once more, it brings a strangely comforting feeling to my very soul.

As I turn my body over to ultimately face the door to my room I look one more time around the room to double-check that nothing else had gotten inside while I was distracted. Soon though, I let out a sigh of relief after not noticing anything outside the usual cat toy on the floor and an open closet filled to the brim with cleaned clothing, boxes of old toys, and devices with my clothes for the next day hanging next to jackets and hoodies that barely fit me.

I turn back over to Mirai's cage and smile before closing my eyes once more and yet again begin my journey to drift off into a deep sleep and prepare for the day to come.

"First day and I'm going to be sleep-deprived. What a pain..." I mumble in grief.

I think I spent a whole 30 painful minutes staring at the darkness of my eyelids before my body finally began to feel sleepy again and I began to drift off to sleep to my world of thoughts.

The last thing I think of today before I once again go to sleep is the same cruel thought I have had every night since that day. A thought that every night infiltrates my mind and never lets me go as if to torture me, one produced from the grief hidden within the depths of my mind.

I reach my hand toward the empty abyss to take hold of it.

As my body travels through the empty void I listen, I feel, I move, all in order to find that one light which must never go out. One which I won’t let go out. A light that holds the only answers I have to what exists beyond our daily perceptions. The only piece of evidence which proves that I’m not crazy. A light between the balance of hope and despair A light that holds the memories which I wish to suppress. Soon I see the light once again to the dismay of my subconscious and I begin to reach out towards it. My body ends up rejecting my actions and attempts to stop me from going any further. If I forget then I can go back to living a peaceful life and not worrying about avoiding my death, but then I am sure to die tomorrow, without a sliver of a doubt. As long as I keep remembering then I can live, but, if his theory is correct, then I will only bring suffering and dismay to the lives of others. Even still though, I must live, I want to live.

Every second I reach for it my body feels an unspeakable pain, one which cannot be described. But that pain isn’t physical, something is tearing me from inside my mind. Even then, I ignore it and continue reaching out to that memory.

As I am finally able to grasp it I hold it tightly as I yet again ask,

Why didn't I die with them too?