Singing Parasite [On Hold]

4.2

"What did you see?" Duston asked, gawking at the bright sky. His dark brown hair was a disheveled mess and the dark patches under his eyes told Tyce that the young doctor had only got a few hours of sleep.

"Nothing. It's gone now," Tyce said and looked at the flock of birds, feeling the beam of the sun on his face.

"Yeah but," Duston said, "What was it?"

"If I told you, you won't believe me," Tyce said.

"Why don't you give it a try?" a gruff voice said.

Tyce looked over his shoulder and stared at Paco as he pulled himself out of the sleeping bag. Now, in the daylight, Tyce could see all the scars and wrinkles that had chiseled the old man's body.

"What did you see?" Paco asked, looking for something behind him.

"A big..." Tyce began.

"... Eye floating in the sky?" Paco said. "I've seen it, too." He found the thing he was looking for. It turned out to be a bottle with transparent liquid inside it. "It's called Lord-eye."

"That's a fine name for something like that," Tyce said.

"Yes," Paco said, drinking the transparent liquid and wincing. "I named it."

"Wait," Duston said and stood between them. "Are you guys j-joking?"

"No." Tyce pointed behind him at the window. "There was a big red eye floating in the sky."

Paco coughed and capped the bottle. "Excuse me... ah... don't say it was. Say it is. It's still there. But you can't see it right now. You can only see the eye when it's completely open."

Tyce crossed the room and sat in front of Paco. "This lord-eye of yours... Does it always appear at the same spot?"

Paco shook his head. "I've seen it three times. Each time, at a different spot."

"I can't see it," Duston said.

Tyce looked behind and saw Duston staring out the window.

Damn, he really wants to see that eye, Tyce thought.

"I'm surprised that you saw it on your first day here," Paco said. "It means..."

Tyce brought his attention back to the old man. "It means what?" he asked.

Paco shrugged. "It could mean anything. But... If you saw it then you must have also encountered the stalker."

"I give up," Duston called from the window. He seemed to be in a different world and was not paying attention to the current conversation.

"What did you mean by 'the stalker'?" Tyce asked Paco.

"Creepy guy," Paco said. "Wait. I'll show you." He fumbled to his feet and awkwardly walked across the room to the window. He pushed Duston aside and pointed at an advertisement banner in the middle of the beach. "There. On top of it. A guy dressed in all blacks with a creepy crow-like mask comes there every morning and evening and spies on me. He thinks I can't see him but I can. He just stands there on the top of that thing and just stares in my direction."

"I didn't see him," Tyce said, standing in between the two men, looking out the window at the banner.

"Mr. Paco," Duston said. "But if you know that he is spying on you... Then you must have done something about it?"

Paco shook his head. "I've toyed with the idea of shouting at him and telling him to buckle off... But I couldn't make myself do it."

"Why not?" Tyce asked, exchanging looks with Duston.