Mirage

one

[A/N: Gusto ko lang iremind na happy shipping lang, know our limitations pag dating sa pag ship okayyy! Also, kapag may livestreams iwasan mag uncomfortable comments ah! Anyways, Happy reading. Enjoy!]

"Ate Liyah pagawa mo na kasi ung door knob mo." Joanne said while munching food in her mouth.

"Oo nga ate Liyah, delikado din pag gabi. Pano pag biglang may pumasok?" Stella looked at Aliyah with worried eyes as she opened up a bottle of soda.

They were inside Joanne and Stella's unit eating a late lunch. It's a sunday and Aliyah doesn't have any work to do so she bought food for the two.

"So far wala namang nag tatangka." Aliyah shrugged her shoulders, "Besides, our gates' secure naman siguro noh?"

"Ah so hihintayin mo pa may mag tangka? Iba ka rin eh." Stella said. Joanne nodded and asked, "Nakabili ka naman na ng bagong door knob?"

"Yes I already did. Nasabi ko na rin naman sa landlord natin eh wala pang sinasabi kung ano gagawin. They're fam must still be on vacation, though she acknowledged naman."

Aliyah sat comfortably beside Joanne at the sofa. "Probably, I'll do it myself na lang."

"We'll help you ate Liyah." Joanne said and leaned on Aliyah's shoulder.

"No, it's fine, I think I can do it."

"Nako Jo si ate Liyah pa. Kaya niya lahat magisa!" Stella joked. Aliyah rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Oh well, anyways I got to go. You two continue studying, finals niyo na ha." She squinted her eyes at the two and pointed a finger.

"Pinaalala mo pa eh!" Stella complained and Joanne groaned while putting her face on a pillow.

The eldest of them laughed and bid her goodbye then continued to go out to her unit. Her door knob right now is not working its job. She doesn't know why or how it happened but maybe it was because of that time when she accidentally slammed the door and the knob got crushed on the wall. Or maybe not because it means that the door knob is so fragile.

'Ang rupok naman non kung ganon,' she thought to herself.

She didn't mind it for now and just went inside her unit to her room. Aliyah was meaning to take a nap so she grabbed a book and read till she dozed off.

It was already night when Aliyah woke up and realized she missed dinner. She heard thumping on the wall and a door creaking. It sounds like her door which made her get out of her bed.

"Omg, may tao? Stella's right, please Lord sana hindi to serial killer." She panicked and whispered to herself as she scanned her room for a weapon. Aliyah quickly grabbed her pepper spray and book like it would do something.

"What the heck could I do with a book?!" She whispered again but froze when there's a loud sound coming from the door again.

"Oh no Lord please may pangarap pa po ako sa buhay. Mag pupublish pa ako ng sariling book." She quietly prayed to herself as she slowly looked out of the room.

There was no one in the living room, no one in the kitchen, and no one in the bathroom. Until she saw a black figure by the doorway with luggages on hand.

"Sino ka?! Who are you, what are you doing here?!" Aliyah shouted continuously while threatening the pepper spray on the person's back and readying to throw her book.

"What the?" She heard the stranger quietly say.

"Sino ka?! May pepper spray ako!" Aliyah threatened.

As the stranger turned around, Aliyah as well backed up a bit making sure there's a large distance between them.

The stranger really has thick eyebrows and light skin. The only thing that could be seen on the person's face was their eyes and brows because of the face mask. And Aliyah was still confused whether it was a boy or a girl. But that doesn't matter, because what matters is that there's a stranger inside her house!

"Who are you?" The stranger asked and the voice was feminine. Aliyah got her face scrunched up, feeling bothered.

She said, "I'm the one who's supposed to ask that."

"Unit 1108, I'm a new tenant."

Aliyah raised her eyebrows and slowly put down her pepper spray and book. "New tenant? Kelan pa nagkaroon ng new tenant?"

The girl straight up just stared at Aliyah which made the latter feel stupid for asking that question. So she coughed and said, "0108 ung unit na to, nagkamali ka ng house."

She could see the girl's face frowning. The stranger grabbed her suitcases and began walking out of the door.

"Wait! Wait, ano name mo?" Aliyah asked.

The girl grabbed the door knob and said, "Fix your door knob." The girl didn't look back at Aliyah and went out of the house.

Aliyah was taken aback. "What? The audacity, ang sungit naman non. I was asking for her name."

"Pagkatapos niya ako takutin." She whispered to herself as she put back the pepper spray and book inside her room.

Grabbing her phone, she immediately called Joanne.

"Jo, are you busy? You won't believe this."

"No ate Liyah kakatapos lang namin mag dinner ni Stell, naliligo siya ngayon. Bakit ano nangyari?"

Aliyah started talking about what happened earlier and about the stranger girl.

"She was rude, but I feel embarrassed also. Bat naman kasi napagkamalang 1108 ung 0108?"

Joanne was laughing at her, "Wait, wait." the younger one took a breath, trying to stop her laugh. "This is why we keep telling you to change your knob! Tsaka isang digit lang pinagkaiba ng 1108 at 0108, understandable since kupas na din ung numbers sa pinto natin ate Liyah."

She sighed and groaned, "I'm still so embarrassed. Mukha siguro akong baliw kanina."

"Oo! Naiimagine ko itsura mo!" Joanne snorted. "Napakabait mo talaga pala ano? Pag may akyat bahay batuhin mo ng libro, for knowledge ganern."

"Ha ha very funny." Aliyah deadpanned but couldn't help but smile at the end because of her silliness.

"Pero atleast may tenant na sa 1108. Ever since paglipat ko dito walang tao don eh." Aliyah continued.

"Oo true, diba ayaw ng mga nag titingin don kasi may multo daw."

"Sabi-sabi lang yon."

Aliyah sighed, still thinking of that girl.

"Anyways, thanks for answering Jo mag didinner na ako."

"Sige sige, bye ate Liyah ingat ka diyan ah. Lagyan mo kaya muna ng harang ung pinto?"

"I will, thanks!"

She put down her phone and sighed again. Aliyah went to her doorway while dragging a chair behind her. "I think this should do it..." she said to herself. "I hope."

The door was now being blocked by a chair. Though, it wouldn't do much but at least it would still signal Aliyah and surprise another trespasser. Aliyah now went to the kitchen to have her dinner. While eating, she couldn't help but think that it was too quiet. Suddenly, she was conscious of the silence inside her house and conscious of the quietness next door.

"Strange." Aliyah mumbled while thinking about the girl earlier. "Ano kaya name niya?"