"Hey you there, Chris?”, Michael asked me.

I replied, “Yes, let’s start heading to the bus stop.”

I had been stunned for a moment when he offered to pay for the bill the next time. This means he somehow wanted to still hang out after our time at the café. Moreover, he willingly offered to show his pet to not only me but also Mason. Didn’t he meet us recently? Well, maybe he was more familiar with Mason than with me. But it is still a lot, for me at least.

We were about to reach the bus stop, when I saw a bus departing from the stop. It was the bus we needed to catch. “We need to hurry up.” I told him, while grabbing his hand and sprinting towards the bus along with him. We immediately got on the bus, right before the bus door got closed.

The bus driver glanced at us, annoyed. But he did not say anything about our reckless move.

“Woah, that was close.” Michael said. He was standing behind me, still near the bus door. I moved away from him and began to look for a seat anywhere, except for two seats together.

“Sorry for rushing up, I was in quite a hurry.” I told him.

He said, “It’s alright, we did not have to wait.”

He was still in close proximity to me, and this was making my already racing heart, beat faster for some reason.

“Are you still going to hold my han-”

I moved my hand away from his. “Sorry, I did not realize that.” I had been holding his hand, and I was unaware of that. My presence of mind is certainly degrading.

He put his both hands on my shoulder and said, "Relax, Chris, you don’t have to apologize like that again and again. Take a breath.”

My heart rate must have accelerated now, for sure, but his words made my mind pause.

Even the bus came to a halt. Some of the passengers got off of the bus. Some seats are now vacant.

“Right over there.” Michael ushered me towards one of the vacant seats and sat next to me.

I stared outside, the window.                             

Why do you keep messing up? You were not supposed to do that. Haven’t you been taught about this before?

“So what would you do after the exams? Got any plans?” Michael asked me.

I look towards him, a little dazed, and put those words popping, in the back of my mind. It’s not the time to think of it now.

“I guess, get back to my typing job. Also, a sleepover at Mason’s house or my place. Though that plan depends on whether we are free after exams or not.” I told him.

He thought for a while and said, “What about going on a trek to the forest?”

“That sounds nice, but I don’t think I would be okay with sleeping in the woods for even one night now, given all the rumors and stories I have heard so far.” The storyteller was none other than Alex.

He chuckled, “Stories, in my hometown? I am curious.”

“No, they sound stupid, so let’s not talk about them now. But the part about animals attacking is not a story.”

“Ok, now that makes sense. So does that mean you don’t want to go on a trek?"

“No, that’s not what I mean. If you want, we can go with others on a one-day short trek?” I asked.

He began to seem excited and said, “We can surely do that, I can even get Brownie on it. We can get Mason, Stephanie too. I am not sure if Clara would come.”

“Do you have any experience with trekking? Because, if you ask me, the only time I have been in a forest was when I was in a summer camp. I don’t remember anything about what I learned there.” I told him.

“Yes, I do, to some extent. But Stephanie is an expert at that.”

“Who is she?”

He replied, “Stephanie is one of the basketball club members. She mentioned once that she has worked with her family on camping and trekking stuff.”

Having someone like her means that we won’t be setting the forest on fire or being animal food. “A guide for a trek is assuring.” I told him.

"Sure, it is, but she can be bossy sometimes.” He grumbled.

“Well, let’s first get the exams done smoothly, then we'll worry about that later.”

He said, "Yes, Sir.”

“Don’t call me 'Sir'." I told him, a little annoyed.

“Ok Sir.”

I sighed, “Don’t.”

Michael's destination arrived after some time, and he got off. He waved at me, I waved back. Then he stopped waving midway, and he seemed to be in mid shock about something. I was confused about it. The bus began moving again.

~~ 

“Good morning, Chris. How have you been?” Jones asked me.

I was doing my best to keep my eyes open. I had a rough night of sleep because of some nightmares, and I could not even remember the nightmare clearly. “Fine, but I want to go back to sleep.” I told him.

“That’s understandable, so why don’t you head back to sleep? It’s Sunday. Trust me, Monday won’t spare you if it were present today.” Jones told me while helping himself with a coffee.

“I want to, but the door repair guy comes today.”

He looked at me and said, “No worries dude. I will take care of it. Go take a nap in my room.”

“Are you okay with that?” I asked him.

He replied, “Yes, totally, but be a saint and ignore my messy bedroom.”

“Ok, what about the payment of the door repair?”

He groaned and said, “Chris, go to sleep. Don’t worry about it. You can pay it to me later. Now off you go.”

“Alright, I will do that. Thank you, Jones.”

“Don’t mention it. Ok now, goodnight."

I carefully got onto his bed while doing my best not to step on his stuff lying on the floor. Some of his books were left open. His clothes were lying on the floor. Jones could still identify where his things were as long as he kept them there himself. Chaotically organised.

I glanced at the picture he had pinned to the cupboard. It was him and his older sister.

I once had the experience of having a sister too. She was one year older than me. I was in middle school back then, and she would accompany me on the way to school and back home. It was fun. I thought she liked having me as her brother, I really hoped that. Her parents were nice, too. But that was all temporary.

One night, I heard her tell her parents that I being around her at school was messing up her friendship with other children at school. She said I was not the right fit for her to have me as her brother. Some weeks passed, and I was sent back to the authority. They were certainly not happy.

I smacked myself. No, it was not the time to think about it now. I tried to think of any distraction so that I could eventually go to sleep without those negative thoughts in my mind. Anything would work.

Assignment? No, that’s stupid. Ok, so any cat videos? No, that won’t do. Cat? Wait Dog. What was the name of that dog? Yeah, right, Brownie. Michael said he was adorable but, at the same time, a nuisance too. Come to think of it, Michael’s expression while waving was different last night. He smiled before when we were coming back from college. I wished to see that. I would ask him later about that, I thought to myself, before my eyes began to feel heavy.

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I looked at the caller. It was Adam. I straightened up.

“Hello.” I said.

“Hello Christopher. Is that you?” Adam asked.

"Yes, it’s me, just woke up.”

Adam said, "Okay, whatever. I called you to inform you that our team had been investigating your case, and we had seen quite a similar pattern in your case with those of other people who went missing and the ones who had faced situations similar to yours.”

“What do you mean by pattern?” I asked him.

“Well, the people who had faced situations like yours also claimed that they were nearly attacked by someone who was familiar with them. "In your case, it was someone who looked exactly like your roommate, in theirs, it was their friend, colleague, or even a family member.” He said.

“In the case of missing people, it was said that they were last seen or claimed to be with someone they were familiar with.” He completed his sentence.

I began fiddling with the ends of bed sheets.

“Hello Christopher, Are you listening?” He asked.

I told him, “Yes, so did the cops find any one of those attackers yet?”

I heard him sigh from the other end. He said, “No, we are still searching for them. It was said they were last seen near the National City Park area.”

“You mean the forest?”

“Yes, we sent a team to search the whole forest, but there are no traces of those attackers found in that area.”

“What about the missing people? Any clues about them? I asked.

He said, "Well about-"