picturesque.

i.

"Vincent, I'm going off now."

My coworker and best friend Trevor said while leaning against my desk. I said nothing, continuing to type my assignment that was due today, fingertips tapping furiously away on the keyboard.

"So you're not going to come to my house tonight?" I asked him the question once more, eyes never leaving the computer screen. "How dare you."

"Sorry, Vince." He apologized, his eyes forming crescent moons as he smiled. Somehow I could feel his gaze burning behind my back. I didn't know why, but something about it always made me feel uncomfortable. "Got a date tonight. Steph's been bothering me all day about it."

"Fine then, so you'd ditch your five-year old friend for your five-week old girlfriend, I see how it is!" I huffed, hitting the "Enter" key so hard it seemed like me and it were rivals.

"I'm so, so sorry, Vince! Look, I'll treat you to pizza tomorrow, oka-"

"Sure, one pizza's gonna compensate for an hour long date, okay," I said while sticking out my tongue at him. "That date of yours better turn out fine."

Trevor smiled a small smile, one out of guilt. I noticed the cup of Sprite in his right hand and sighed.

"You're still gonna drink that?" I said, going back to typing.

"You know I can't live without Sprite, Vince." He replied while fumbling with the papers in his left hand. "I really got to go now, pizza tomorrow, yeah? I'm sorry, I really am. I'll buy you two if I can, okay? Okay! Bye!"

And off he went.

I sighed as I submitted my assignment and logged off my computer. To tell the truth, I didn't really like how this friend of mine is so infatuated with his girlfriend, but what can I do? He's so perfect after all.

Trevor was a weird person to me. He's good in everything; good looks, good behaviour, good social skills, not to mention that all-too blinding smile that had sent almost all the coworkers here, women and men alike, to the hospital. Somehow, it didn't affect me. But I do envy him sometimes. He was so perfect, maybe a bit too perfect...

I looked at the wall clock ticking away. Eight-thirty p.m. Just going to go back home and go straight to bed and sleep until next afternoon.

By the time I stepped out of the workplace, night had already covered the once blue sky, and the streets were empty except for a few shops open and some people visible. This was my neighbourhood: small and deserted most of the time.

Since my workplace is close to my home, I go by foot. Although this time I feel like I'm going to collapse to the ground out of fatigue any minute, and my eyelids can barely open. I stumbled around the dark streets, and I eventually got to my housing area.

I turnt past a corner and I saw someone dragging something across the road at the far end. My eyes immediately shot open as I hid behind a corner.

What is this, burglary?

My feet shuffled forward, anxious to know what was happening. I didn't think twice about my actions and just followed the person. The figure seemed to have a hard time dragging whatever that was, as it was moving quite slowly.

The pale moonlight lit up the dragged thing's features. Only then did I saw, in horror, that the thing wasn't a thing. It was a person.

A woman's empty gaze seemed to bore past my soul, her eyes wide open with terror. Her hair, black, matted and in a frenzy, was all over the ground, resembling spiders. Her beautiful white dress she was wearing was splattered with some liquid, some red liquid. I obviously knew what that was, but I've never seen it in real life before. The whole thing in front of me seemed like i was in a movie scene. I felt the urge to vomit.

Murder...?

The person didn't bother to look back at the blood trailing behind the dead woman, as it kept looking forward. However, as it trudged below a lit streetlamp, the figure turned to look at somewhat my direction, but it didn't see me.

But I saw him.

The light illuminated it all. It was a man, with short black hair and a straight posture. He wasn't looking at me, but he was looking at somewhere else, and he was smiling. His eyes formed crescent moons when he did so, and I didn't know why, but although he wasn't staring at me, I could feel an uncomfortable feeling rise up from the pit of my stomach, a feeling I know all too well somehow.

The hairs behind my back stood rigid out of the blue, and I could feel a stare that seemed to penetrate through every solid that was shielding me, seeing through me completely. I've felt that stare before; the first time I've felt it was my first meeting, with him.

I need to get out.

Following that thought, my feet had the urge to run, so I did. I started running, and I didn't stop until I had reached the front of my house. My heart felt like it was beating slowly up my throat, loud and clear like a drum. I didn't have to pass by where that man stood to reach my house, which was a good thing.

Once I reached my door, I fumbled for my keys in a desperate attempt to open the door. I kept looking around in case that person shows up, and the moment the mechanism clicked and my door swung open, I rushed in and swung the door shut.

With my heartbeat thundering so loud it was ringing around my brain, my head swarmed with so many questions I literally just slumped down on the floor in a daze.

Was that murder I witnessed? I thought. More importantly...

Was that Trevor?