The Figure

CHAPTER 2: "Death's call"

     The note says more things but then before Lucius could read it, he hears something in his living room. He stands up and decides to look for the source of the sound because he already knows who is producing the sound. Despite the danger, he decides to follow it. He reaches the living room and sees no one there. He sees a stool positioned above something. Before he could move the stool, he hears a voice. "Kill yourself!" the voice says and he looks back and sees the ghost of David looking at him. The ghost suddenly lunges at him and starts to choke him as he is lifted from the ground. The stool is tipped over by when David lunges at Lucius. Lucius struggles to breathe as the ghost laughs at him.

     Lucius is about to die but then a voice tells him, "Don't let him win." Lucius starts to try to fight back but his neck starts to ache. Eventually, the ghost disappears as he hits the ground. He breathes in deeply and tries to recover but he faints due to what had happened. Several hours later, he wakes up on a hospital bed and sees Anna crying beside him. Anna sees Lucius and calls in the nurse. The nurse comes in along with the doctor.

     "How are you feeling?" the doctor says. "How did I get here?" Lucius says. "Your friend here went to your house and sees you laying on the ground under a _______ and it seems like you tried to ____________," the doctor replies. "What?" Lucius replies for some words were inaudible to him. The doctor replies but he still does not seem to hear certain words. "Do you understand?" the doctor says. Even though he does not know what the doctor says, he nods making himself look like he understands. The doctor sighs and says, "If ever you need something, don't hesitate to tell someone." "Here take this, this will help your neck to feel better," he adds.

     "How long was I asleep?" Lucius asks. "For a few days," the doctor replies. "You're lucky that no long-lasting effects had occurred." The doctor says. After a while, he is discharged by the hospital but he is offered to be given a therapist which he declines despite Anna's pleas. "I'll be fine, Anna," he says. Anna wants to believe him but she knows that there is something wrong. "Please, don't do anything unthinkable again?" Anna says. "What did I do?" Lucius says. "You don't remember what you've done?" Anna says. Lucius nods. Anna wants to say something but decides to just tell him that she'll visit him every day. Lucius wants to ask her why is she doing this but she just tells him that she wants to see how he is doing. Lucius hesitantly agrees to her deal and both proceed to go home.

     Once he reaches home, he proceeds to take a bath after smelling himself. After taking a bath, he starts to wear his clothes. After he wears his pants, he observes himself in the mirror. He sees himself in the mirror, He sees his beard, his chest hair that is compacted in the lower middle of his chest, abdominal hair that originated from his not visible pubic area and goes up and ends below his navel in an inverted v-pattern, and the bruise on his neck. He suddenly remembers how David nearly kills him. He wears his sleeveless shirt and starts to read the second file while forgetting to read the suicide note of Rebecca.

     The second file is about a man named Zachary Everest. The file says, "Zachary Everest was a wealthy businessman known for his generous and kind attitude. Despite his present attitude, he was never like this in the past. He was a bully who loves to beat up kids who defy him or who he thinks are below him. His actions led to the death of David Lee. Zach never felt remorseful about his death until he grew up bigger and until he realizes how much pain he had caused to his parents. He tried to find David's parents and gave them money but the parents forgave him and refused his money. He felt relieved and left at peace but he was later found his dead body floating around the lake nearby the house that day. Some people claimed that he was drowned by someone while others claimed that he probably got into an accident."

     Lucius tries to read more but decides to stop for he remembers about his duties in the house. He starts to clean around the house and starts to do his laundry. He eventually finishes his duties and decides to eat and take a bath. After eating, he starts to go to the waterfall with a lake that is surrounded by trees and filled with crystal-clear waters nearby where he starts to remove his shirt and starts to swim around a lake. While swimming, he starts to feel relaxed. Unbeknownst to him, a hand below the deep waters of the lake.

     The hand grabs his legs but Lucius looks more emotionless than frightened. The hand starts to bring him under the water causing him to drown. He starts to struggle to get back to the surface but the hand keeps pulling him down. He looks down and sees David pulling him down. Due to his neck, he has a hard time breathing. He starts to look hopeless but a voice tells to his ears, "Wake up! Don't let it win!" He suddenly feels more determined to escape from the grasp of David. After a few seconds, David loses his grip after Lucius starts to fight back and Lucius manages to get out of the water. He breathes in deep and his vision becomes blurry. While with blurry vision, he sees a silhouette of David looking down at him. After a few minutes, he recovers from his state and sees no one there.

     He proceeds back to his house after he collects his shirt. "Another close call," he says to himself. "But, who was that voice?" he adds. He reaches his house and starts to finish his bathing in his bathroom. He goes to bed and he prays about his day and wisdom on how to face David. Unexpectedly, he sleeps much easier this night.

     "I wonder what the voice was," he says to himself while slowly going to a night of deep sleep. "Should I trust it?" he adds before he finally goes to a deep slumber.