Pantomaniac

Chapter 12

The rumble of the car matched the tingle in Kef's heart. Nothing good had ever come out of a sound like that and Kef knew his day was about to get worse. First the blinding headache and this. Of all the days, his car had decided to throw a tantrum on that eventful day.

Kef banged his palms on the steering.

After a few minutes, he gave it another shot but to no avail. Kef gave in. Asking the evening guard to keep an eye out for his car, he hailed a cab.

The journey home was surprisingly calm. Kef rested his head against his seat, opening his eyes only to scan outside, checking if was reaching his house. He managed to doze off a couple of minutes before the car came to a halt.

Realizing it was only a traffic light, Kef took out his phone and read the news. There it was again. A report on the missing children.

POLICE VOWS TO FIND MISSING CHILDREN

Kef's hand clutched his chest. The familiar sensation of suffocation threatened to take over his body. He glanced at the rearview mirror. In that same moment, the cab driver looked at him through the mirror. Kef brought his hand down.

"You okay?" the driver asked.

Kef nodded. "Yeah...the news..."

"The missing children? Crazy, right? Which idiot does that?"

Exactly. Which idiot does that? Except Kef would not have called whoever it was an idiot. An idiot would not have been able to kidnap those children and go untraceable that long. From the tone of the article, Kef knew the police had a lot on their plate. A case of that scale? It only meant one thing. Catastrophe, if they don't solve it soon.

Kef told himself that he needed to detach himself from who he was. He was no longer a police officer. If he continued reminiscing that, he said in his head, the panic attack would take him down.

He exhaled and slowly drifted in and out of his nap.

A frown greeted Kef's forehead when he opened his eyes. From the backseat, he saw the cab was parked several feet from the first house on the street. His was five houses down. Kef waited for a few moments to see if the driver had stopped for whatever reason. But when the car stayed stationary, Kef opened his mouth.

"Errm. Further up. Number five."

"Get...get out. I'm not going further."

Kef's frowned grew. "Why not? Drop me off in front of my house. Number five. That is number 10."

"No. I stop you here."

Puzzled, Kef kept quiet for a few seconds. What was with the sudden change in behaviour? Kef raised his voice a little. "What is your problem? That is just rude."

"Get out. Now."

Kef cursed under his breath. He had half a mind to kick the back of the driver's seat but for some reason, he was already out of the car when he decided he wanted to go for it. As he walked pass the driver's seat, he shot the driver the sharpest look, willing for it to drill right through his head. Still cursing, he finally turned in front and continued walking.

He shook his head as he passed by house number 10. He really had no idea when his life would give him a break.

When he turned around, he spotted the taxi driver standing beside his car. He was looking at Kef. For a moment Kef thought he wanted a fight but when Kef saw his body language, something didn't quite fit.

Then Kef felt a tug on the bottom of his shirt. Something was pulling at it. When he turned in front, Kef gasped. It was as if someone had nailed him to the ground. He stood still, staring at what was in front of him.

Less than one foot away, two child mimes faced him. One was standing on the ground, her hand tugging at Kef's shirt. The other was on her shoulders, her hands pressing against an invisible mirror.

Kef fought to retreat but his feet refused to move. His mouth trembled. His eyes wide opened. The mime on top started moving her hands. She balled her fingers in a fist.

Kef stared at her, bracing for the hit. But something else happened.

The mime stuck one finger out. Then another. And another. It was like she was counting with her fingers, all the while looking at Kef through the mask.

She did that until all 10 fingers were out. The mime brought her fingers closer to Kef. She did not stop. Not at all. Not until they were pressed against Kef's eyeballs.

"Argghh! Stop! Stop!!"

Kef felt the pressure on his lids. Then it was like his eyeballs were being crushed. The next thing he heard was the sound of cloth tearing apart. Seconds later, he fell to the ground. His eyes shot opened as his back hit the tar.

The two mimes were still there. The one on the bottom was holding a fragment of his shirt in her hands. Twirling it in her fingers, she tilted her head left and right. Slowly, they retreated. They floated away until they were out of sight. And that's when Kef allowed himself to look at this shirt.

It was torn.

They were real. The mimes. It wasn't his imagination. Kef sat up and quickly turned around. Just in time to see the taxi driver lunging into his car. Even before he could shut the door, the driver started turning the car. He sped off into the darkening evening, leaving Kef on the road, staring at his torn shirt.