THE THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT.
"So," Boss drawled gleefully as Sarawat sat down with a tray of food at their table in the noisy campus cafeteria. There was little time left before the first lecture block so the otherwise airy room was bustling with students that were trying to grab a quick and easy breakfast at the last minute. "How's your first weeks been in the haunted room? Seen any ghosts yet?" He stared expectantly at his stoic friend.
Fed up with all of these questions, Sarawat just scratched at his cheek with his middle finger while looking away nonchalantly, making the other two guys laugh out loud and throw their paper napkins at him in mock outrage. Sarawat swatted them away efficiently but remained otherwise quiet, brows slightly drawn together.
"Well?" Boss urged while demandingly slapping his big hands on the table, making cutlery clatter on their trays. He wanted to know all the juicy details and would not be dropping this topic that easily. Sarawat had to fess up. Now.
"And nothing," Sarawat replied monotonously and dug into his breakfast, making no further commentary, shutting himself up with the food.
Man and Boss shared a look across the round table, brows arched and eyes glinting mischievously. Sarawat was acting a little suspiciously. For one, he was no longer arguing against the possibility of his room being haunted. Instead he had just clamped up shut, closing in on himself and avoiding the topic completely, sometimes even avoiding Man and Boss altogether. And this had been occurring for the last couple of days. Strange. Sarawat was not really a social butterfly but he was not an unfeeling stone either. Regardless, it seemed that their group of friends had seen better days.
Boss kicked Sarawat under the table petulantly, making him look up with a piercing glare in his dark eyes. Boss sighed, slouching back in his seat.
"Whatever man," Boss muttered as he finally gave up trying to make the other one talk. He averted his eyes while crossing his arms defensively. Man shook his head at his friends. Boss never knew where the fine line was with Sarawat, always toeing over it and making the other one fume at his senseless antics.
Sarawat exhaled, dropping his fork and letting it clatter to the table. He reclined in the rickety plastic chair, legs sprawled wide, thinking.
Honestly though, as much as he did not believe in any of the nonsense that Boss had been spouting, it was still undeniable that some kind of weird shit was actually going on in his damn room. Sarawat would not go as far as to say that it was being haunted since that was too far of a stretch but mundane, unexplainable things did indeed occur. It was not even scary, just inconvenient is all.
For instance, his toothbrush kept ending up on the floor of the shower stall each morning. For some strange reason only one shoe of his favorite sneaker pair was missing its laces. An USB stick with some rather important documents had disappeared amidst the move and while Sarawat had been anxiously searching for it high and low, it had innocently reappeared on his empty study desk a few days later. The little bag with spare guitar picks, usually kept inside his guitar case had disappeared too and was yet to be found – much like the missing shoelace. And the list just went on and on like that. Each day was becoming slightly more troublesome than the other, bringing down Sarawat's already rather spent mood.
And since Sarawat lived a rather messy life, all of this could be easily explained by his laziness to unpack. He rarely had any patience to complete boring tasks and often left things off halfway through when his interest was piqued by something else. Sarawat would however, strongly argue that he was not messy, he just lived in an organized chaos.
Sarawat furrowed his stark brows while chewing, going back to eating his breakfast again while his friends were whispering harshly with each other and throwing meaningful glances at him. He rolled his eyes while glowering at them.
Boss was just an asshole, making stuff up. Maybe the guys were just playing a prank on him. And what an elaborate prank that was in that case. He was although not too sure that these idiots would be able to pull off something like that. These two would never be able to sneak around quietly, not to mention hiding his things without exposing themselves with their own excitement.
Shit. Did he seriously need to do a research about his own room?
-----
Sarawat was running late to his afternoon lecture but he could not find his laptop anywhere. He could have sworn that he had left it on his desk the night before. In lack of other ideas he finally got down on his knees with an exasperated groan, checking under the bed. And there it was, the sought after shiny piece of technology. Huh.
Fucking poltergeist.
Sarawat gritted his teeth. This whole situation was slowly but steady getting on his otherwise rather passive nerves.
He reached out a tanned hand, his fingers grazing against the cold, sleek surface when he felt a chill run down his spine, the small hairs on his arms rising. He paused in mid-motion as a moving box next to the bed suddenly toppled over, hitting Sarawat right between his shoulder blades and spilling the clothes that had been inside it all over him. A dress shoe knocked against the crown of his head as it tumbled out and clattered to the floor, the second half of the pair following soon after.
"Fuck!" Sarawat rushed up to his feet, eyes ablaze while wildly looking around the room, searching for the culprit, his hair flying around at the jerky movement.
There was no one there, only the eerie silence baiting back at him. The curtain by the balcony door fluttered innocently in the breeze from the open door and Sarawat's neck prickled annoyingly, as if someone was watching him.
This was getting ridiculous.
He rubbed at his nape with a callused hand, lips twisted on a frown. He then kicked at the now empty cardboard box and the hollow bang echoed throughout the room. The box had been stacked on top of another box quite securely, he was sure of that and besides, it should have been taped shut as well. It was one thing if things kept getting misplaced but if people started getting hurt then--
Sarawat's gaze suddenly caught a glimpse of something amongst the clothes strewn around his feet and he instantly lost his previous train of thought.
A guitar pick!
Feeling ridiculously happy at having finally found at least one of these little elusive bastards, Sarawat quickly pocketed it. At least he got something out of this strange battle of wits.
His tiny bout of self-retribution did not last all that long when his phone buzzed with an incoming call, interrupting his inner monologue. Sarawat picked it up lazily from the nightstand, staring at the caller ID. His furrow deepened. It was his mother. Just one thing after another, huh. Reluctantly he answered the call.
"Yes, mother?"
"Honey, my people are here to pick you up," his mother informed over the line sweetly, a little too sweetly. "Please go down, they're here to take you to the family villa."
Sarawat made a non-committal humming sound just before he asked, "Why?"
"What do you mean why? We have not see each other for several weeks. We need to have at least one proper dinner with the whole family each month."
"Haven't you disowned me or is my hearing going bad since you shouted exactly that line straight into my ear a couple of weeks ago?" He droned, siting down on his bed floppily, elbows propped on his sturdy thighs. Ready to drag this out just to spite her.
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. You know how much we care about you, that was just in the heat of the moment," his mother lamented and Sarawat rolled his dark eyes, already bored out of his mind with her little speech.
This woman just acted however she pleased. Sometimes, it even seemed that she confused her kids with her employees, the way that she could dish out orders and demands, expecting Sarawat and Phukong to obey without any questions asked. It was interesting how the attitude had changed once he no longer followed the fixed life plan that his parents had set out for him. It was almost like waking up from some type of a hypnotic trance. Once their interests clashed, everyone's masks seemed to crack as well.
"Sarawat Guntithanon," she added getting impatient, throwing off her pleasant façade. "You either go down to meet them or they will come up to get you. It's your choice."
"Fine, I'll be there," Sarawat muttered and hung up without any preamble. There was no use arguing with this woman, at least not over something so small as this. He could let her have it. Besides, Sarawat could surely use this little trip to his own advantage. A smirk sufficed on his bow shaped lips as he stood up. The lecture that he had been running late for was now all forgotten. He hopped over the mess on the floor, heading for the door and then strolled leisurely downstairs.
Sarawat squinted in the afternoon sun as the entrance door banged closed behind him. A sleek car was already parked right outside and two guys in black suits pushed off the car, intent on going the last few steps up to meet him.
"Whoa." Sarawat raised his hands, finger splayed and sidestepped the men. "No touching. Let me get in on my own." He slid into the car, banging the door closed for emphasis while glaring at the driver through the rearview mirror. Fucking minions.
-----
Sarawat exhaled, letting the air out of his lungs and then breathed in through his nose. The air was hot and stuffy inside the tiny shower stall. With a groan he leaned forward, bracing his arms on the slippery tiles, letting hot water cascade down his shoulders and then down his back, loosening up his tense muscles. He swiped the wet hair out of his face, sleeking it back with one nimble hand, brandishing his angled brows and a wide forehead. Clear eyes started up at the silvery shower nozzle, lips a little ajar. He blinked. The steam rose around him in billows, fogging up the transparent shower stall.
The family dinner had been a fucking disaster. Phukong had not acknowledged his presence at all, only glaring holes into Sarawat's face when he was not looking. Their mother had tried to sneakily coax him into changing his university major. Again. She had hinted that Sarawat would be the next CEO of their company if he stayed put in social sciences faculty and then hopefully ventured further into financial management. It seemed that she had everything perfectly planned out. This only made Phukong fume even more as he faked a headache halfway through the dinner and fled from the room, accidentally knocking his elbow against Sarawat's head when walking by. Fucking brat.
A furrow marred Sarawat's forehead, thoughts straying to other things that had happened during the evening as well. It was a little peculiar but the wine glass that his mother had been drinking had toppled over, on an even surface and without anyone nudging it, spilling the red liquid all over her expensive dress. Phukong seemed to have tripped over nothing, just as he smugly thought that he had gotten away with hitting Sarawat on the head. What a strange coincidence, these little pranks reminded Sarawat of the series of unfortunate events that had happed to him earlier that day in his own dorm room. Sarawat pursued his wet lips, tightening the bow of his mouth.
BAM!
Sarawat jerked in surprise, almost slipping inside the shower as he pivoted around, wet hair splaying about and flopping over his face. Shit! His wide eyes roved about, zeroing in on the clear handprint that had been stomped into the foggy surface of the stall, its frame still rattling from the force of the whack. What the hell! Sarawat's heart beat so fast that he thought if would lurch straight out of his chest. He raised a hand to confusedly cradle at his left pectoral, trying to keep his panic at bay.
The rushing sound of the shower dominated the eerie silence.
Sarawat angled his head slowly, staring through the handprint that had made the foggy glass transparent, trying to gauge if someone was standing on the other side of the stall. But there was no one there. The room was empty, as usual. Then, as the young man was still trying to comprehend what had actually transpired, the handprint slid squeakily down the glass, dragging five trails along with it, eerily looking like a human handprint.
A breath hitched in Sarawat's throat but then his brows furrowed determinably. This fucking thing was still going at it. Sarawat would not let it get the better of him. What the hell did it want?
He cut off the running water and slid the shower door open with a bang, hastily wrapping a white towel around his hips. Sarawat combed an agitated hand through his wet hair that was dripping all over his shoulders. The tiny droplets slid down his long neck and pooled in the hollow of his collarbone. Sarawat breathed through his nose, wracking his brain for theories and solutions. Was there actually a ghost with him right now?
Suddenly, letters started forming on the fogged up mirror right before his eyes. Sarawat arched his brows, eyelashes fluttering as he tracked the strange anomaly. A pink tongue darted out to lick at his bottom lip nervously.
What did it say? Wet-? Want-?
The handwriting was almost illegible and childish. In a burst of irritation Sarawat reached out a long limbered hand and swiped it across the mirror, wiping out the traces of any supernatural occurrences.
"Annoying," he muttered and sauntered out into the main room, slamming the bathroom door behind him. Sarawat did not believe in the paranormal and he was not easily spooked.
His eyes strayed to the memory stick on his nightstand. That fucking ghost better not touch it, or he would consult with Boss' mom, who seemed to have shamans and other doubtful mediums on speed dial, all set and ready for a purification ritual. He sighed then, abandoning that thought. Nothing made any fucking sense anymore. What was he even doing? Was he going crazy?
Sarawat quickly stepped into a pair of boxers and flopped onto the bed, pulling the covers over himself. This whole day had been vexing. If something else happened during the night then he would most probably sleep right through it.
-----
The ghost lingered at the head of the bed. Translucent tendrils of fog licked around its almost human frame, as it was fading out and then materializing right back again. It reached out a lucid hand, blood dripping from its blackened fingers. The crimson droplets evaporated just as they were about to hit any corporeal surface.
This human confused the ghost. He was not screaming nor running away. Why was he staying put? Could he not understand that it wanted to be left alone?
Slowly its fingers sunk into the soft hair of the striking young man, grazing the warm scalp and then clenching around the dark strands. A pale hand then tugged viciously at the hair but the man only twisted in on himself, hugging the pillow closer to his body with a cut off whine low in his throat.
Something lurched inside the ghost's shady essence. What was this familiar feeling?
-----
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sarawat blearily opened his eyes, blinking at the sun streaming through the open balcony door as he rubbed at his face. How long had he slept? He thumped his head tiredly back onto the lumpy pillow, trying to wake up properly.
"Sarawat!"
Swearing under his breath the young man threw the covers off his body, lazily pushing off the bed and shuffled to the door, scratching at his thigh.
"What do you want?" Sarawat asked annoyingly as he jerked the door wide open to his impatient friends loitering outside in the hall.
"Oh my god," Boss squealed while staring at Sarawat in awe. "Is that a new hairstyle?"