Civilization Beyond the Stars - discontinued

4

I patiently waited till the clock struck twelve. Lying awake in the dark listening to songs but not really paying attention to them as my mind was elsewhere. Not because twelve is renowned to be a haunted hour but more because it is scientifically proven that people are in their deepest sleep in 90 minutes and my parents slept at quarter past ten. I had made the deciesion to sneak out tonight. Not a difficult deciesion to make as my curiosity just couldn't sit still. Unlike the hollywood movies, I did not plan on climbing up or down the piping on the side of my building because I don't think that frail piece of equipment could've supported my weight. Instead I am going to do it the simple way, go out through the guest room door. No one ever checks if that door is locked or not, they just assume it will be locked. The main reason for that assumption is that the path to the door is strewn with perils on every step. Numerous rackets and bats, old shuttlecocks, countless boxes with mysterious old stuff and last but not the least, a huge basket full of buried old socks among shoes and other discarded footwear which smell worse than a skunk. That alone is enough to make anyone run back to their mommies but I am armed and ready for that stage because I am aware and experienced with that smell (don't ask).

As the twelfth chime of the clock echoed through the house, I took the locket out, examining it closely once again. A thousand unanswered questions were bothering me every moment and the answers, I believed, was in this shining silver object in my hand. How will I call that man with this locket?

I turned the locket around in my hand looking for a button of a sort or maybe some call sign. Unable to find one I sighed in despair. For a moment I wished to go back to sleep and pretend nothing ever happened and that the biggest worry in my life is not making the top five in my class. To refuse to acknowledge that my life just turned upside down. But however hard I might try to dismiss the meeting as an exagerrated figment of my outworldly imagination, the locket bought me back to the cold reality. Reminded me of the problem I was facing and to find a solution I definitely had to call him.

I tried to find a way to contact him again when a thud sounded from above. My heart jumped to my mouth. It could just be a fallen bucket except I have never seen a single bucket on the terrace. The roof is really thin though, even the rain pattering on the roof can be heard so it couldn't have been a very big object on the roof. The fact that I was alone and it was dark outside didn't help. No one is supposed to be on the rooftop terrace as we own it and that is why this sound evoked a shadow of fear in my mind.

Against my better judgement, I slipped the locket in my pocket and decided to check out what the noise was hoping that it might be the strange man. Carefully making my way around the sofa set in the dark living room, I opened the door to the guest room and stepped into the mess. With so many pieces of metal and low visibility there was a high chance that I may upset something. Every step I took was calculated and measured and I proceeded slowly, carefully picking my way through.just when I was about to cross the room, I inhaled deeply and held my breath. Though it is hard to believe but the smell is so bad that it could have easily made me throw up. Standing in a small clearing, I bent down and as I lifted the basket, one shoe slipped and crashed into an old racket. I froze. My heart hammered against my ribcage as I strained to hear any noises of my parents waking up. After a very tense minute of silence, I resumed the work with an increased level of cautiousness. Thankfully, the door did not creek on opening though it had become tight and swelled due to moisture.

Carefully shutting the door behind me, I stepped out into the lobby. To make matters worse, the light in the lobby had fused out and every shadow cast by the light outside made me jump out of my skin. Though outwardly, I remained calm and kept my composure. The only other apartment on the floor was currently unoccupied, magnifying the eerie feeling. I noiselessly slipped up the stairs.

I considered stealth as one of my strengths. Sneaking upto people and scaring them or spying on people and creating gossip was one of my inborn talents, or so I thought. Because of my apparent lack of a toned body I often ended a bit on the disadvataged side in fights. The bus incident being an exception of course. And playing to my this very strength, I sneaked up the stairs to my own terrace, flattening my body to the wall at the top. The doors to both the rooftop terraces were wide open and strong wind whistled through the narrow and short passage where I hoped to stand unnoticed. Such strong winds were highly unusual on the height of barely five storeys from the ground. The wind blew my hair off my face and forced me to shield my eyes as I peeked round the corner.