I Was Wrong [Edited]

What…? Why does everything keep spinning? Why’s everything so fuzzy? I feel like I want to close my eyes and rest.

“A…”

Was someone calling for me?

“Akira.”

The fuzzy images slowly turned clear. In front of me, a man was stared right at me with a concerned look on his face. It took me a while to realize it, but I was lying down on the concrete pavement.

I sat up, felt my body ache, and rubbed my eyes. “What happened?”

The man bent down and looked at me in the eye. “I saw you fall unconscious all of a sudden. I just arrived and was so surprised that I wasn’t even able to catch you. Sorry.”

This guy seems familiar, but names weren’t popping in my mind right now.

He was busy checking for bumps, I guess, as I felt his hands explore my head. I pushed them away. “Stop. I’m fine.”

He didn’t stop, however, and carried on with what he was doing. I was a little annoyed, since I was still confused with the situation. I slapped his hands away this time. “I said stop.”

He smiled at me, then rubbed my head. “Did that bump make your mind foggy? Well… if you could fight against me, I guess you’re fine. Akira, it’s me, Jake, your neighbour. You know, the one that you hung out with since you were a child?”

Jake? Oh right, Jake! I don’t know why that didn’t register right away. Funny, maybe that hit really did scramble my brain.

“I’m sorry for arriving late. I know I told you to meet me here, but something held me back for a while.” He stood up and extended a hand towards me. “Well, are you going to spend the day away sitting there, or are we going to the movies like I promised? We’re seeing that film you’ve been bugging me about days ago.”

I thought about which film he meant for a while as I reached out and held his hand –

“Akira! Hey, don’t be left behind, slow poke. The others are going to get to the park first before we do if you keep crying after every fall you make!”

A blurry image of a young boy entered my mind. He had spiky brown hair and – what else was there? Glasses. He was wearing glasses. He had an annoyed expression on his face. Who was he?

“You okay? Should we head for the clinic before going for the film?” Jake asked me, as he squeezed my hand tight. “You don’t look too good… maybe there really is something wrong after that fall you had.”

“N-no. I just thought I remembered something, don’t worry.” I smiled at him, trying to reassure him I was fine. Honestly though, that memory made me cringe for a while, literally. It felt like something sharp just pricked me.

As we were walking hand-in-hand, I realized there was something I wanted to ask him. I had that nagging feeling inside, but I couldn’t make clear of it until now. Now, what was the question? I thought about it long and hard. That was when it came to me.

“Jake, why haven’t I seen your parents for a while? As well as your brother. I think it’s been some time since they’ve come over to chat with my parents.”

“Why do you ask?”

The way he said it seemed off, like it wasn’t his usual tone. For one reason or another, I had a weird gut feeling.

“No reason. We were just wondering, you know? It feels like you’re the only person who’s been living there recently.” I looked up at him. He had his eyes elsewhere, like the house we were walking past by.

He turned back to look at me. “Well, I admit the family’s been quiet, but there’s just something that’s troubling us. Family stuff. The folks aren’t really in the mood to go around and socialize.”

Well, that’s weird. I never thought their family had problems like those. I guess they’re really good at hiding stuff.

Jake studied me even further. “What’s up? There seems to be something else in your mind.”

“It’s nothing important.” I brushed it off and continued walking, the weird feeling still going on in my stomach. He seemed highly suspicious of me at first, but shrugged. When we turned at the next corner, there was an ice cream bus. I pulled him along as I rushed to it – nothing can beat ice cream!

“Hi! Do you have any twin popsicles with you? The chocolate ones,” I asked, digging for money in my bag. I think Jake should be okay with taking the other half of the popsicle.

Strangely, the ice cream man moved lifelessly, like today really was just an off day – well, more than that but, I don’t know how else to describe it. Maybe robotic was a more apt term. He took an item wrapped in an orange wrapper from the cooler and handed it over to me. When I looked at his eyes, I was scared. They looked empty. What happened to him? His hands were cold too.

No, Akira. He just dug that popsicle from the cooler, of course it’d be cold.

“T-thanks.” I turned away, held Jake by the wrist, and rushed both of us away.

“What is up with you? You’re acting weird, Akira.”

I took a deep breath and faced him. “Sorry, sorry… he just creeped me out is all. It didn’t feel normal to be around him. He made my hair stand on end.”

Jake sighed and held my arm gently. “I told you since we were young, I’d protect you. You don’t need to feel unsafe with me around.”

“Y-yeah.”

That look in your eyes though. It doesn’t feel… all that real, Jake.

No. I’m just being paranoid over the ice cream guy. I dangled the treat and began taking it out of its wrapper. I held the other half out for him.

“Take the other half.” I grinned. Jake smiled at me sheepishly and we divided the frozen treat in two. I was about to tuck the wrapper into my pocket when I noticed there was something written inside.

Don’t trust him.

My eyes widened. What was this about?

“Akira… you’re spacing out again.” He tried to grab the plastic away from my hand. “What’s in there?”

“I won.” I scratched my head. I don’t want him to see this craziness. “Turns out they were having some sort of mini raffle, and the prizes are written inside the wrappers.”

“I… see.” He sighed. “So, what did you win?”

Whoops. Time to think of something.

“A free ice cream cone, the next time I go get something from them.” I laughed. “I just have to show them the wrapper to claim it.”

For a while, he didn’t seem to believe me, but then he smiled. “You better keep a close guard of that prize then. Kids will be stealing that from you should they see it.”

Thank heavens he believed me.

“I should.” I tucked the plastic deep into my pocket. “Let’s go. We might get late for the movie.”

Jake nodded. Everything else seemed normal for the day: we watched that horror flick I’ve been meaning to see for a while, we ate out at a restaurant (courtesy of Jake), and we even had time to play around in the arcade, but something still felt wrong. My instinct kept nagging me something was up, not to mention the several scary episodes that entered my mind. I kept it to myself, and it seems I hid it well, but all of them… all of them terrified me. I had one even when we were on the way to the mall, right after that ice cream incident. It was about that lifeless looking guy. In my head, he looked perfectly content, happy to serve everyone, but then… it all changed. It looked like night fell and he was on his way home when suddenly, something appeared, something that terrified him. The last thing about that vision was that he screamed – screamed as if there was no tomorrow left for him.

Did I really just imagine someone’s death? He may have seemed lifeless, but thinking of something like that is just something else.

We were going around the mall when Jake stopped in his tracks and held me by the shoulders.

“Okay, tell me,” he said. “I know something is up. I’ve known you long enough to tell when something’s wrong.”

I tried to wiggle free, but his grasp was firm. When I opened my mouth to protest, I heard voices… voices out of nowhere, some that seemed like they were just whispering to me.

“Don’t trust him. Whatever you do, don’t trust him. Run. Away.”

When I heard that, I felt my heart racing. Everyone else who were casually strolling in the mall stopped and stared at me, as if I was a convicted criminal or something. Malicious smiles crept up their lips, and their eyes seemed as dead as that guy’s from earlier. What was happening?

“Akira!”

I snapped back to reality. Jake had been shaking me vigorously and people stared at us curiously. Did I just have another one of those episodes? It seemed so real too.

“You’re worrying me. Tell me what’s causing you to space out and fear.”

Should I really? Jake might think of me as someone crazy if I tell him, but if I don’t, I might just snap. These strange visions… they’re terrifying me. They’re scaring me out of my wits.

“I…” I bit my lip. “I’ll tell you somewhere we can be alone, or somewhere we can relax at.”

He frowned for a while, but didn’t push the topic. He slung his arm over my shoulders and held me close. Soon enough, we found our spot – it was at a café in the mall. We sat at the far back of the room. Jake returned from the counter holding a tray with two coffees and bread.

“So, tell me what’s wrong.” He poured some of the sugar into my cup, then drank his.

“Please don’t judge me.” I pleaded, staring at the coffee. Jake put his hand on my cheek.

“Of course I wouldn’t.”

This was strange. Was he this touchy before? Why’s there some sort of longing in his eyes?

I shook the thought out of my mind. That shouldn’t be something I’m worried about for the time being. He was here, worried about me. I promised to tell him, so I will.

Once I took a sip of my coffee, I told him everything that’s happened so far – from that guy to the visions, to when I spaced out when he held me. I even showed him the orange wrapper from earlier. He was surprised to hear everything at first, and for a while, I thought there was some sort of grimace in his face, but it might have been me, for the next time I looked, he had a gentle smile on his features.

“You might just be tired, or you might have thought about that movie we just saw too much. We should get you home.”

“Jake, I’m not imagining things!” I slammed my fist on to the table. “I swear, that’s what’s been happening to me.”

“Okay.” He sighed. “But still, we should go home now. You could use some rest.”

There’s no winning with him. He’s convinced I’ve gone mad, but there’s nothing else I can do…

I stood up without finishing my drink. “Let’s go then.”

He could tell I was upset, but didn’t talk about it. Instead, Jake just stayed by my side all the way home. When we were in front of my house, he insisted he come inside as well, even just to say hi to my parents. I was too tired to deal with him, so I just let him in.

“I’m home.”

Strange. Everything was quiet. Weren’t mom and dad supposed to be here?

That’s when it hit me. It smelled strange. It smelled like something I’ve always feared to see…

Blood.

Jake shut the door behind him. The sound took me by surprise so I returned my gaze to him. He was just standing there, seemingly stiff.

“Jake…?”

That’s when everything turned haywire.

He was laughing – laughing like a maniac.

“Akira! Don’t cry. I-I’m sorry. Forget about those guys. We can play on our own!”

Another vision? That’s when it hit me, when I saw the little boy’s face. That’s when I realized who he was. The little boy in my head was Jake. I could feel it. I could feel that he’s my Jake – the one I knew for so long. As for this guy, even though he looked the same, he wasn’t him at all. He wasn’t my childhood friend. The aura is just too different.

No wonder I felt off, even though I didn’t have those episodes on the way home. This whole time, I wasn’t with who I thought I was with.

Before I could say anything – before I could even move, this stranger got behind me and held me close. He had a blade to my neck.

“If you weren’t getting those episodes, you could have lived. I was planning on bringing you somewhere else once we were done with our small date, but I realized you were slowly finding out who I was.”

I gasped for breath. He was holding me too tight.

“Who are you? Why do you look like Jake?”

The imposter chuckled. “Ever heard of a Faustian contract? I did that, for you.”

For me?

“I’ve always been admiring you from the shadows, Akira. All day and all night, I dreamed I would be able to go out with you, but a lot of things were getting in my way, like this guy, your beloved Jake.” He licked my neck. I felt so dirty. “I asked him to give me what I want – the chance to be with you. This is where it took me. I was transformed into Jake.”

No way. Then the reason why my family and I hasn’t seen Jake’s family was because…

“I disposed of them. They’re not in this world anymore, but don’t worry,” he said. “Soon, you’ll be with them.”

I tried to shake him off – to kick him where it hurts, but he didn’t stir. I only felt that metal sink into my neck.

“N-no…”

********

“NO!”

I got up from the bed. Had I been dreaming? If that was the case, that was such a horrible nightmare.

Hold on. Where was I?

The room looked unfamiliar. It was painted light blue, with white curtains to the side. There was a television hanging from the wall, and it was on. That was when I noticed a nurse rushed to my side.

“You woke up! Don’t strain yourself. The wound’s still healing.”

Wound?

That’s when I felt a pang of pain. I reached for my neck – it was covered in bandages. I stared at her in confusion.

“You were found in –”

“The remaining victim of the massacre is still in the hospital, recuperating. A neighbour of hers – from the other household, felt something was wrong and came to see what happened. If not for that person, no one would have survived.”

The news was reporting about an incident that happened at my street – at my street. My house could clearly be seen from the report. A picture of me flashed on the screen.

“We are waiting for her to feel better to get to the truth of the story. Meanwhile, the police believe that the suspect is the man who was found with a deep slit in his throat. He was lying beside the survivor. He is still being identified as of the moment, but the motives that have been inferred so far is that he was an obsessed stalker who couldn’t deal with the guilt of harming the woman of his interest. Minor proof of this was the numerous pictures of the woman in his cell phone, some seemingly taken secretly. He was said to use an ice cream truck as a vehicle to get to her street and –”

“So, my family…” tears started to well up in my eyes. The nurse embraced me just after she used the intercom to notify the nurse’s station. “T-they’re gone.”

I felt my heart drop. “A-and that ice cream guy… he’s also – because of me…”

“Shh. Hush now.” She patted my back. “It was an unfortunate incident, but you shouldn’t blame yourself over it. It’s not your fault he –“

“N-no… NO!”

I screamed and pulled myself away. Tears were furiously racing down my eyes. I was shaking from head to toe.

“What’s the matter?”

“That’s right, Akira, dearest. What’s the matter?”

That voice… and that man, sitting over by the window. I couldn’t mistake him. He…

“It’s alright that you survived. I’m not part of this world anymore. I can be with you whenever I want to.”

That voice, it was from behind me. Gathering my courage, I turned around to see.

He was there, smiling, those dead eyes staring at me. I could feel his cold arms wrap around my waist.

“I’ll be here. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”