1 Unforgettable Night

It's the usual day for Vincent, go to school in the morning and work after school until midnight. Life is hard for him. He has to work hard to pay the bill, school tuition, and keep his mother alive in the hospital.

The last time he saw his father was 2 years ago, after the car accident which made his mother fall into a coma. Like a coward he was, Vincent's father abandoned him and his mother when he learned how much money he needed to keep his mother alive.

He had no one to depend on, his parents never mentioned any relative to him and he never bothers to ask them again because they respond badly to the topic, though he had his hunch.

Of course, he also had no friend in the school either because he need to work after school until midnight, and before he knew it, he already become a loner without even a single friend.

But he never complains about the hardship he had face because the harder he worked, the longer he can keep his mother alive.

Tonight, he is going to be 18 years old, but it only deepens his worry because his family savings started to dwindling as his mother's medical cost is getting more and more expensive whereas his income is nowhere close to pay them all.

"I guess I don't have a choice but to drop out of school." a disappointed sigh escaped from Vincent's lips.

If he drops out of school, he can save more money and will have more time to find more works in the morning to pay the hospital bill.

He stopped in front of the vending machine, listlessly looking at the price displayed on it.

Vincent scoped his trouser for a moment to scourge for the money he had left in his possession.

The moonlight shines upon his hand, it's only enough to buy a single canned juice.

Hesitation creep into his face... but in the end, he chose orange juice and gulped the juice down his throat to disperse the thirst haunting him since afternoon.

On the second gulp, he heard a faint sound of scream from the alley beside him.

"Don't tell me..."

Before he knew it, Vincent already running toward the sound and there he saw a homeless old man beaten up by three teenagers.

"Hey dirty old man! why did you keep staying here?! huh! don't you know that you're annoying!?"

"Your whole existence is annoying!"

"You're dirtying our eyes, old man. why don't you just die."

"Ugh!! please... don't..." the old man groaned painfully.

"Smelly old bastard! For the betterment of society, it's better if you just die somewhere along the ditch! that way, your life will have a meaning!" The redhead teenager laughed at his own joke as the others followed him, guffawing at the old man misery all the while beating him without remorse.

"No more... It's hurt."

"Take this! there is no use begging, no one would care about you and no one is going to save you either. You hear me?!"

"Is it fun?"

The three teenagers stopped their assault on the old man when they heard a voice coming from behind them.

"Huh? Who are you brat?"

"This is none of your business, so you better scram before you regret it." The teenagers tried to intimidate Vincent with their voice while chuckling their knuckles.

"That should be my line though, I already called the police, so you better run with tail between your legs before you regret it," Vincent smirked as he played with the smartphone in his hand.

"Kuh! This bastard!"

"Damn! what a coward!"

The teenagers cursed Vincent loudly.

"...Are we going to let him go just like this?" asked one of the teenagers wearing a blue cap.

"Shut up!" The redhead youth with intimidating face retorted in anger before turned toward Vincent, "We will remember this!" With one last glare at Vincent, he walks away from the alley followed by the others.

When the teenagers disappeared from his vision, Vincent approached the old man.

"Are you alright?"

"Thank you for saving me, son."

"It's not a problem, you should be careful at night grandpa... It's not safe to stay here."

The old man stares at Vincent for a moment as if trying to say something but only sigh come out from his mouth. In the end, he left without saying anything.

Not minding the old man antic, Vincent went on his own way.

What he did was very dangerous, if the thugs didn't buy his ruse and run away, he would be left in their mercy as he had zero experience in martial arts, but Vincent just can't pretend as if nothing is happening and leave the old man alone to his fate.

Vincent throws his head back, looking at the stars glittering in the sky before sighed and continue his journey.

The walk to his apartment only takes 10 minutes of walking and no other accident happening on the way. He climbed the old wooden stairs of his apartment as the wood creaked under his feet.

Vincent dragged his tired body to the second floor where his room is located.

He throws his coat on the couch and plopped down on the bed.

Tension left his body and before he knew it, he already fall asleep.

Unfortunately, his good night's sleep only lasted for a moment before a sound from a tv aroused him from his sleep. The wall is thin, so it was inevitable for the sound to reach the other room even though the volume is not that loud.

Opening his eyes, Vincent noted that it was still 5 in the morning, yet his otaku neighbor already awake and doing his usual otaku activity, watching anime.

Vincent rubbed his eyes and headed toward the kitchen. He gulped two glass of water down his throat to eased his sore throat.

He duly noted that his mouth tasted like orange, then he remembers that he forgot to brush his teeth last night.

As Vincent headed toward the bathroom, he heard the familiar voice of Araragi Koyomi from his next room.

"Ah... it's very nostalgic." Vincent smiled. After his mother's accident, he stopped watching anime and focused on school and works. It's been two years, but he still remembers the unique voice of Araragi Koyomi as if it just yesterday. The show is pretty good and quite funny as well even though there is too many useless banter between characters.

Vincent pushed his bathroom door and closed it behind him.

Confusion filled his mind as Vincent look at his surrounding. It's a washroom alright, but not his own washroom. It's too big and too clean.

His heart thumped loudly in his ears as his eyes roamed the unfamiliar room. He had heard of lucid dream before, but not even once in his life did he ever had one, so it's very unlikely for him to experience it now.

"Multiple sinks... stalls... large mirror..." Vincent whispered as he examined his surroundings, "It's a public washroom."

Vincent slowly traced back his steps towards his bedroom and opened the door hurriedly, but he was stunned when the door lead him into an empty corridor. There's no sign of bedroom whatsoever.

"What is going on?!" he saw taken aback by the supernatural event happening in front of him.

"Don't tell me it's what they call spirited away? those who get kidnapped by ghosts or monsters..."

"...No, that can't be..." Vincent opened his eyes wide as he heard a faint sound of woman voice drifting into his ears.

"Help..."

"He-lp... Save me..."

The sweet womanly voice made Vincent's whole body turned stiff and cold.

"Sa-ve me..."

Her voice sounds very pitiful, as though she suffered and full of pain, yet Vincent felt a chill down his spine.

His rational mind wants him to run away, but his body speaks otherwise. There's no one around and who knows if the lady really needs his help. He can't bring himself to abandon someone asking for help.

In the end, he had no choice but to follow the sound, unaware that his life would be turned upside down.