Pantomaniac

Chapter 9

Kef couldn't believe that he was going to start his new job feeling like he had been running a marathon the night before. The only good thing was that there was no figure standing at his room door.

But there was still the cloth. How did it get on the bed? It was a dream. And why was it torn?

He had been dealing with those questions for what felt like ages. Kef started to think that his dreams were no longer that. He knew he had to do something about it. Something just wasn't right. The mime, whoever she was, was trying to tell him something and he needed to find that out. He made a mental note to investigate the moment he returned home from work.

As he parked his car, he took a deep breath. It had come to a point where that seemed to be second nature. He had lost count of how many times he had to deliberately tell himself to calm down.

It felt odd wearing a guard's uniform during the day. But he was glad that was all he felt. Better that than the crawling of his skin, or the touch of coldness that bit into his bones.

His first day was as regular as any first day at a new job would have been. There was a walkthrough of general procedures, grounds to cover, sections of the buildings which needed more attention and, of course, the expected meet and greet with the rest of the staff. Unlike his previous job, Kef was assigned to three particular floors. Apparently, the company owning those floors are particular about what goes in and out of the office. And they had had two stealing incidents. Kef admitted to himself. It made him feel good to hear that. As screwed up as his life was, at least he did not resort to theft.

It wasn't long before it was lunch time, which meant it was Kef's first time to do his afternoon rounds. The floors were nearly deserted, except for a small group of trainees chatting away in the pantry.

He glanced at his watch as he patrolled the final floor. He had ten minutes left before lunch hour was hour. Quickening his pace, Kef entered a section of the office. It was like stepping into a palace from Frozen. The place was segmented with panels of glass walls. Each smaller room was barricaded with see-through glass walls which looked like they were wiped down every other hour. No wonder they had theft. It sure looked like it was one hell of a company.

"Abah..."

Kef stopped.

Standing in the middle of the office, he scanned the area. The voice was soft, just loud enough for his ears.

"Abah..."

Kef turned around. His fists came up. Not daring top breathe, his eyes looked from left to right. The voice was real. He was sure of it.

"Abah..."

It couldn't be! Impossible! Kef shook his head. The voice he had heard belonged to someone he knew. Someone he had. Alisa. But how was it possible? Again, he shook his head. But the voice called out to him again. It was like a whisper but heavy and clear. Kef took a slow step forward. He let his heel to touch the floor first.

Everything was silent. Except for the beating of his heart.

As Kef walked on, the whisper became louder and louder. It was coming from a small room by the corner of the office. An empty room.

He stood in front of the door. His back thick with sweat. His ear straining to hear another whisper. But there was none. His "daughter" had stopped calling out for him. Kef stared at his trembling hand as he grabbed the door knob. He pushed the glass door opened and stepped inside.

The moment he did, the door snapped shut. Kef spun around. He pushed at the door but it wouldn't budge. Cursing, he took a step back. Kef looked around. The glass walls were eyeing him like he was prey.

Kef backed away from the walls until he hit the edge of a desk. That was when his eyes caught movement from the other end of the office. The mime! She was floating towards the room. Towards him!

Kef turned around. He fell down, his face almost bashing into the corner of the desk.

Getting up, he lunged to the other end of the wall and pressed his back against it. His eyes fixed on the approaching figure. She was only a few steps away from the door. Kef pressed against the wall, willing for it to absorb him. But he heard a knock behind him. Glancing behind, his heart leaped to his throat.

There was another mine. And this was a boy. He had an identical mask, except that his had fake tears drawn at the bottom of his eyes. But they were red. Blood. Kef staggered backwards, landing on his back.

Just as he was about to get up, he saw two other child mimes walking towards the room. They cornered him. Each taking one wall. They pressed their masked faces against the glass. Their breaths forming mist on the surface. Then they brought their palms up and pressed them onto the panel.

Slowly, they moved on palm up the wall. Then another. Their head tilting one way. Then the other.

Kef looked at the mime girl. The same one who had been tailing him. She was pressing her entire body against the glass. Seconds later, she fell right through the glass. Into the room. With Kef!

"Noooooo!!!"