1 Chapter 1: Fear

The vicinity felt depressing. Street lights flickered and moths surrounded most of them. Rats crawled across the small holes of old and tarnished buildings. The street was dull, Ben couldn't see a thing. Cracks covered the ground, and insects slid right through them. The rotten smell made Ben's stomach upset. He wanted to vomit.

Ben continued to walk in the midst of the dark around him. Cold sweat dropped from his chin to his arm. The feeling felt like a teardrop. He was shivering, as the place was cold. Fear slowly enveloped him. He wanted to go back home.

Ben's mom told him to pick something up in the house blocks away from theirs. The place where they resided was a ghost town. It looked like it was a victim of a plague. Barely anyone went out of their houses.

It was 3 in the morning, and the cresent moon above dimly lit the suburban. There were no stars visible, just the moon, that looked like a size of an ant.

Ben could feel his cold sweat beneath his shirt. He trembled at the sounds of creaking. He could hear his heavy breathing. He murmured beneath his breath.

(Why the hell am I doing this?)

He suddenly flinched to the sound of rattling in the distance. His eyes opened widely, and he gritted his teeth. The red shirt he wore was covered in his sweat. His legs were shaking uncontrollably. He wanted to get rid of this feeling.

Not soon after, he saw something in the ground that reflected the light of the street lamp. The light hit his eye, that he had to cover it using his hand. As he went closer, fear crawled down his spine. Goosebumps appeared in his arms. He felt as if he was being followed. The cold stare struck his heart that it thumped loudly enough that he could hear it through his ears.

He proceeded to bite his left thumbnail out of fear. His eyes moved at an incredible speed, his head tilting in every direction as to make sure that he was safe.

Then, he could feel the number of eyes looking at him increase. His body moved on its own. He grabbed the object in the ground and ran back to his house, his mom's errand not done.

When he entered the house, all the lights except the kitchen light were off. He slowly made his way to the kitchen, making sounds of creaking in the floor.

Before he took a glimpse of who was in the kitchen, he heard something being chopped off by a knife. When he went closer, he was taken by surprise as a drop of red fell on the floor outside the kitchen. Ben covered his mouth, trying not to scream in panic.

After seeing this, he dropped down the floor silently and sat down with his back leaning against the kitchen wall outside. He brought his knees up, hiding his head between them. He felt a presence he never felt before.

He then saw a shadow coming out of the kitchen. His eyes slowly filled with tears, his expression terrified.

He the jolted as he felt someone touch his shoulder. He then noticed that whatever touched him made his shoulder wet. He silently screamed.

(Please save me, somebody)

He then jolted another time, this time with relief as he heard a familiar voice from above. When he looked up, he saw his mom.

He the screamed in relief, "Mom!"

His mom was confused.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I-I thought someone was being killed in the kitchen. T-There's blood in the floor."

"Oh, this?"

His mom said as she leaned down and slid her finger through the red liquid.

"This is just ketchup. I was making breakfast."

"B-but it's 3 in the morning."

"Just woke up early, so why not cook? Anyway, did you do the errand?"

"N-no... sorry"

He apologized to his mom. He explained to her everything that happened earlier. As he did, he stuttered in fear. He felt like he wanted to die.

"Have you been watching too much horror movies?"

His mom asked.

"I-I think so."

His mom then gently told him to go back to his room and sleep, and that the errand can wait tomorrow.

***

It was 7 in the morning the following day. Ben woke up to the sound of his grey alarm clock. At first, his face showed extreme annoyance as he slammed his hand in the ringing alarm clock to turn it off. Not long after, it continued to ring until Ben finally woke up and disabled it.

Ben got up from bed and stretched his body. He was still tired because he slept for merely 4 hours. His eyes were trying to adjust to the light of the room. He thought about the events that occured the previous day. He wished that it was just a dream because heck, he was terrified. He just slipped those thoughts at the back of his mind and got ready for a new day.

He moved the curtains aside and shut his eyes as it got blinded by the shining sun above. His eyes adjusted to the light, and there he faced an incredible array of colors. Houses of different shapes and sizes were all around the place. Plants such as flowers and grass occupied the gardens of these houses. Birds chirped as they glided through the calm winds. As he looked below, he then thought about the things he saw yesterday. It was probably just a spark of imagination.

The heat of the sun warmed his body. He felt so relaxed after everything that occured yesterday. His body was shivering since then.

He had a dream about the horror films he watched. It was more like a nightmare, in his case.

In his nightmare, he was being chased by a horde of zombies. He didn't know where they came from, but they started appearing one by one from the ground. They then started running to Ben, and eventually caught up to him. Just as Ben groaned in immense pain, he woke up. Watching too many zombie films made his imagination flutter.

He let our a sigh as he slowly walked downstairs, crouching. His body returned to "tired state" or so he says.

His eyes then opened widely as a pleasant aroma filled his nose. It was bacon and eggs. He ran down as fast as he could and went to the dining room.

Behind him, his mom placed two plates: one full of bacons and the other one of eggs. His mom then passed him the loaf of bread.

"Make sure you eat a lot, sweetie! It's your first day of school today!"

Ben loves school. For him, it was not merely tests and grades, rather, it was a place full of bonds and hopes. He was excited that he would meet new friends. After eating, he grabbed a towel in his room and took a bath.

He usually picks cold water, but for today, he wanted it warm to remove the stress from his body. He then brushed his teeth and dried himself up.

He went to his room to prepare. He brushed his slick, black hair and wore his white t-shirt that was layered with his black uniform. He wiped the dust from his glasses.

He then picked up his bag and wore it behind him. He went outside to be greeted by a yellow school bus.

Before going to school, however, he felt a weird presence behind him, in the street next to his, in a dark alley. When he looked back to see, there was nothing.

"Weird", he said to himself as he got in the bus.

Not noticing the pool of blood on the ground of the same alley.