We Were There

Chapter 7: With Us

No one blew Yhan's candle. Not Kim. Not me. Not even Yhan herself. I watched her tell the story. Scratch that, Kim and I watched her tell the story. She did not blow the freaking candle. No one blew the freaking candle. I must be overthinking things. Maybe when we were so engulfed in the story, one of us moved suddenly or breathed heavily that put out the candle's flame. Yeah. That's probably it. 

" Well, I didn't get to blow my candle." Yhan giggled. 

Kim was still holding the sleeves of my shirt. I could barely move. I still feel her cold hands on my arms. " Did your grandfather tell you something about this? I mean, does it have any significant meaning? " I asked curiously. 

" What do you mean?" Yhan replied. 

" This." I pointed at the candle. " Did you grandfather mention anything about ..." I looked at Kim. Her eyes closed and she was holding my sleeves tightly like she's going to rip it apart. I decided to choose my words wisely and continued. "... the candles?"

Yhan probably understand what I meant. " He did say that if one candle is out before it was blown..." Yhan paused. I could see that she hesitated to continue. But she did. "... there's something here with us..." she whispered. "...in this room. " she continued.

Kim hugged me more tightly. She's scared stiff. And I am too. What the hell does Yhan mean by that? Something's here with us? That's bull! That's utter bull! 

" Please guys. Stop." Kim finally had the courage to speak. 

I patted Kim's head. She's like a scared kitten. But Yhan's words kept replaying in my mind. Something here with us? Here. With Us. In this room.

No way. 

There's absolutely no way. 

I DID feel that the room was getting cold. I DID see the candle flicker. But those were mere coincidence. There's no way tha--

" Boooooo!" 

All of us screamed. Our screams faded as we heard a familiar laughter. 

" You should have seen your faces!" Alfred continued to laugh.

Yhan quickly grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. It hit him on the head but he still continued to laugh. Our anguish must be a riot to him. Alfred turned on the lights.

" Fuck you, Fred." I quickly said. 

" It's nice to see you too, Mau." He grinned and winked. Alfred went closer to Yhan and kissed her cheek. 

" Blech! Get a room you two." Kim exclaimed. 

" This is our room." Alfred quickly replied. 

"What are you doing here? I thought you'll be coming home late." Yhan asked with eyes fixed on Alfred. 

" Well, I thought so too but they let us out early." Alfred smiled at her. Their eyes focused on each other and it was clear that Kim and I were probably in the way. I rolled my eyes. It' my turn, Yhan. It's my turn. 

He had black shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans. He had a bulky built. He looks like a member of a bike gang. A blonde and a bike gang member. Perfect. 

Alfred and Yhan have been together for two years now. They decided to live under the same roof in their first anniversary and so this is basically Alfred's crib. And we are having sleepovers in his house. Just wow. 

" It's twelve midnight. Don't you guys feel sleepy?" Alfred looked at me and then to Kim. 

Kim shook her head. She doesn't want Alfred to know that she's scared witless by Yhan's story. I, on the other hand, shrugged. 

" I think it's time for us to bat some eyes guys." Yhan said.

Oh.

Kim sighed and stood up from the floor and started picking the candles up. I followed and picked the bowl of popcorn and handed it to Yhan. Yhan took it and smiled. " It was fun you guys. I missed it. Let's do this again, sometime." 

Kim and I both smiled and went out of the room. As what Alfred said, their room. 

" Good night." 

" Night." Kim said.

" G'night." I followed. 

Thud. We heard the door close behind us. 

" They're going to make a lot of noise tonight." Kim muttered.

"Shut up." I laughed. I really did. Oh, Kim. 

We went to the guest room and Kim and I would be sleeping together. It's a relief. Besides, I don't want to sleep alone knowing that that nightmare came back to haunt me. It's good to sleep with someone. Someone who is close to you. Someone who you could count on.

As we placed ourselves in bed, Kim turned to me and said " Good night."

" Don't let the bed bugs bite." I joked. We both giggled and drifted away. 

Something. 

Here.

With us.