A Short Story

"Chat mate"

It was a cold, rainy morning. Cassidy wakes up early to prepare for work, the same routine she always does. She’s been rejecting her best friends invitation to go out for a while, and moved out of her old place to this new one. She wants a change of surrounding for a start. She didn’t give them her new address this time, including her family, hoping they’ll stop asking her a lot of things. She didn’t feel like answering it and decided to just get herself busy to forget the things she didn’t want to face for now.

Cassidy takes a quick bath, then headed to her living room to leave the television opened with the volume up, hoping to hear out any news regarding to the weather and traffic while she did her make up and put her clothes on in her bedroom. She always wants to know those two, so to prepare for it before heading out.

After a while, she comes out of her room ready to go out. She saw a sudden report for that current time when she checked the television.

HEADLINE:
"A 40-year old woman was found dead in a house on Rosinette Street. Her living partner was charged of murder for the kill. He was under the influence of drugs that time. Their neighbours heard them arguing....."

“I wonder why he’d kill his live-in partner? Is it because they had some misunderstanding?” Cassidy thought. She feel curious about that news and wonder why there are people like that.

Cassidy didn't finished what was reported and just muted the television. Before she heads out, she unplug it from the socket and checked around one last time to see if she’s done what she usually does for the safety of her place. There’s been a lot of report of fire happening around, so she always keep things on watch to avoid such incident.

Cassidy goes to her work. She’s always early on her job, and her supervisor praise her for it. She started in her usual routine, checking on her stocks and making sure every thing is in it’s proper place. Then, she cleans it up a bit and prepared herself for the store to open.

The time move fast when she is too absorbed with her work, doing all her best. She walked passed a section aisle, noticing a group of customers and she stops to listen, hearing them talks about meeting people online. They’re excited by the thought of meeting a perfect stranger and ending up together, like it was fated to happen.

Then, Dina, one of her co-worker walked in on her back, making her jumped in surprised.

“I’m sorry!” Dina said. “I was just wondering what you’re looking out there. I didn’t mean to cause that,” she added, laughing a little to her reaction.

“You surprised me, Dina! I thought it was the supervisor. I don’t want to get caught idling on job,” Cassidy said, feeling relieved.

“So? What’re you checking out here?” Dina asked as she looks around that aisle to find what caught her interest in this area.

Cassidy thought for a second. She didn’t want others to know that she’s taking interest over dating someone she may have met online. They might tease her unstoppable which would be annoying. Dina is different than her other co-workers. She’s very respectful of other people and was very good to them.

“I’ll tell you about it after our shift end. I don’t want to cause trouble to both of us if someone see us chatting,” Cassidy said as she looks around to see if someone caught them talking in the corner.

Dina agreed, and so, they continue their shift. It took them an hour and a half until they’ve finished every thing and packed up for that day. Cassidy waited for her, so they could head down together to the locker room.

“What is it you’re looking out there?” Dina asked, reminding her of what happened a while ago.

“I just happen to hear some customer talking about meeting a stranger online, and that some of them ended up together. Is it really possible to happen?” Cassidy asked. Although she doubt the possibility of it, she still wonder if there’s a small chance for it to succeed.

“Oh, well... I wouldn’t say its 100% accurate, a small percentage, maybe. But if you get lucky then that’s the 1% chance I am talking about,” Dina explained. She’s been using dating app for so long, so she had the experience for it. “Why were you interested to it all of a sudden?”
Cassidy felt embarrassed but asked it anyway, “I heard that you’re dating someone for a long time now. And I was wondering how you end up to that.”

“We’re already engaged since last month. I’ve met him 2 years ago in a dating app called ‘Tinder’. I never imagine it’s possible to met someone online and thought that it could just be a crazy idea. But it turns out well for the two of us although we had some struggle with so many risk and trouble along the way, we actually make it through. Now, I feel blessed to have cross path with him,” Dina said, feeling excited. “D’you want to try it?”

“I wanted to but I felt like it could just be a waste of time,” Cassidy honestly said. She wanted her to know what she thinks of it.

“It’s up to you if you want to try it. But then, don’t you think that trying is better than just leave it to wonder what could’ve happen. It’s more waste of a time to not do anything at all. Have fun while you’re at it. Remember to just keep searching until you find a decent one to talked to. You may encounter a lot of assholes in there but there’ll always be that small percentage of good people who is also looking for a person like you too,” Dina explained, encouraging her to take it.

Cassidy took her advice, thanking her for it and said her goodbye’s when they leave their work together and take their separate path going home. It will be her rest day tomorrow, a good opportunity to try out the app.

Then, the morning came, Cassidy wakes up feeling determined to try it out. She installed it last night to make sure that she’s really ready to go for it. She start off her day with her daily routine. Doing yoga exercised, eat her breakfast and finished up all the chores needed to be done before she starts her online adventure. She didn’t want to deal with any other hindrance to what she is supposed to do today. She’ll really put her focused to it.

Cassidy  grabs her phone, goes to her living room, and checked on the app. She is feeling excited and worried at the same time. She takes a deep breath, took all of her courage out and start it up. “Here it goes!” she thought.

Cassidy makes an account and confirmed it first. Then, she starts filling up her information. She put the usual needed information while leaving the others blank, making sure to keep an air of mystery to it. After that, she uploaded a photo of herself and some other that’ll show what she love. She wanted them to see the person that she is through her pictures.

Then, Cassidy started the matching part. She will swipe right for those that she’s interested with, and left for those that isn’t. She usually checked on their profile and pictures first before deciding what to do with it.

After that, Cassidy waited for notification for a match up. She took a quick toilet break, leaving her phone on the sofa. When she gets back, her phone already has a lot of notification from ‘Tinder’.

Cassidy checked it out and was surprised to find so many matches. “This is not what I’ve expected to received. What to do?” she said to herself, feeling unsure of where to start to. She think about it for a second, and decided to check their profile first and their photos. From there, she cut off half of those matches leaving only those that she thought would be interesting. Then, she starts talking with the remaining, classifying each one to their respective type of chat mate.

Cassidy first encountered the flirty one. They tend to start up the conversation by complimenting her. Then, followed by the wanting or rather being infatuated towards her. They would always say that they wanted to kiss or hug her so bad and many more touching that they could think of. It makes her uncomfortable that whole time.

Then, Cassidy encountered the needy one. They usually starts a conversation like a decent person but after the introduction they’ll start complaining about their life. When she tried to help them out, giving advices, they tend to always reject it. So to avoid that drama, she just ghosted those type of chat mate the first time she see they’re kind. She’s not obligated to keep them company since they just give her negative energy which she never wanted in the first place.

After that, Cassidy encountered the perverted one. They infuriates her the most whenever she cross path with them. They always start up the conversation asking if she wanted to see their naked photo, most especially their penis. She usually rejects them, but they still kept sending their dick pictures. Then, they’ll asked for her naked photo in return which lead her to just blocked them.

Cassidy tried hours and hours of searching for a decent chat mate, but she was unlucky. It was a long exhausting day having to deal with so many assholes in it. So, she decided to just take a break for this remaining time before she goes to sleep tonight. She leave her phone on her bedroom, charging it since it was also drained from that continuous search. She took a bath to relax, then have her dinner and cleaned up, preparing for the day to end.

The following day, Cassidy received an early call from one of her co-worker, asking for an exchange of duty. He mentioned about needing extra money for a very important reason and that he already asked the other if they want to switch place, they just rejected.

Cassidy think about it, knowing she haven’t rested properly yesterday. She doesn’t need that much work schedule since she realize how it just affected her so bad, draining her even more. So, she agreed to him, and he thanked her for it. His rest day today will be switched to her working day, which means she’ll have two rest day for this week and he won’t have that. They called on their supervisor to report about it too, and they got approved.

Cassidy looked at the time in her phone, it was 6:28am. She decided to take more sleep since it’s too early to start up her day. She rested for about 3 hours and  a couple of minutes before she gets up. She suddenly looked at her phone, staring at the ‘Tinder’ app for no reason at all. It felt weird having to get the urges to try it again today, but she reject the idea and think it should be her rest day this time.

Cassidy left her phone in the side bed table and goes to her bathroom to wash her face. Then, after drying her wet face, she heads to her living room and starts her daily routine. She do her yoga exercise to relax her body and soul. But as she do so, her mind kept thinking of the app. She reject the idea once again and proceed in what she’s doing.

After her exercised, Cassidy goes to the kitchen to prepare food for herself. She made a couple of bacon and egg sandwich and a hot cocoa. She sits in her dining table, feeling excited to eat her breakfast but her mind think of the app again.

“Should I try it again? This is my second rest day and I was supposed to take it easy today,” Cassidy said to herself still trying to reject the idea. She finishes up her food and clean up the dirty dishes.

After that, Cassidy immediately walked to her room and decided to try it again. “A few tries wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she thought. She picked up her phone and headed to her living room, lying lazily in the sofa. She opened the app and found a large number of new matches waiting for her to checked.

Cassidy sighed and said, “This is another tiring interaction again.” She proceed on breaking off the numbers, doing the same process of eliminating as she did before. After dismissing uninteresting people, she chatted with the remaining ones and classified them according to their respective kind. It’s just like yesterday, it’s probably another unlucky day, until this one person came.


“Hi!” the man said. “I’m Francis! Nice matching up with you.”

“I’m Cassidy. Nice meeting you as well. How’s your day going?” Cassidy asked, starting off a normal conversation.

“I am feeling relaxed. I just finish cleaning up my room. I guess, this is the thing we have to face when we moved out of our parents house,” Francis said. “How about you?”

“It’s my rest day. I wanted to relax, so I just try this out,” Cassidy said, limiting her word. She wanted to see how he’ll handle the conversation from now on.

“I guess, we want the same thing. But tell you what.... I probably lied saying it’s a calming experience to be in this app which isn’t true at all,” Francis admitted.

Cassidy thought the same thing too. It really wasn’t relaxing to be here, but she didn’t want him to know about it. She must act naive for a start. “What d’you mean?” she asked, pretending she didn’t know.

“Well, honestly saying. I have been in this app for quiet a while. I thought it would be fun since my friend who suggest it and was too hyped about it said it was a good app. Turns out, he probably just overexaggerate it,” Francis explained. “How about you? What d’you think of this app?”

“Hmmm... ‘twas okay. Not unless you encountered a lot of assholes, your day must’ve been ruined by then. I thought I would’ve to do it last for today and maybe try it next time,” Cassidy said honestly.

“Giving up already? How long have you been here?” Francis asked, adding a laughing emoji in the end.

Cassidy is taken back to what he said. It sounds insulting, like she’s somewhat competing on how long she could stand such negative people. “Well, I started out yesterday and thought it’s such a big waste of time to do this everyday. Should I stay longer for this kind of app?” she asked, feeling a bit irritated.

Francis notice it and said, “I am so sorry! I didn’t meant for you to feel that way. I was just joking around, thinking it would make you laugh.” He sounded sincere.

Cassidy took a deep breath, calming herself and letting the negative emotion out. “Fine! I’ll forgive you. I must’ve been pretty sensitive lately. I didn’t even thought that it could be a joke,” she said, liking how he noticed immediately what his mistakes is. It’s a good start for his evaluation.

They chatted the whole day, keeping herself minimizing the words that she’ll say. Cassidy did shared her thoughts here and there but it is also limited. Its like answering an autobiography your friend used to let you fill up before. But so far, it turns out well, having lots of fun talking to him.

The following days passed by so fast. Cassidy was very busy for a while and haven’t talk to her new chat mate. So, she checked on him, seeing a couple of message, each of every day that she didn’t reply. She suddenly felt bad for it. So, she decided to message him.

“Hey, Francis!” Cassidy said, starting up a conversation. She wonders if he would be online.

30 minutes had passed with no response from him.

“He must’ve been busy. I guess, I could try again later or tomorrow?” Cassidy thought.

Cassidy was about to log off, when he suddenly replied back saying,  “Hi, Cassidy! I’m sorry I took so long to reply. I had a calling from mother nature, couldn’t say ‘NO!’ to that.” Francis put a laughing emoji in the end of his sentence.

“Mother nature?” Cassidy asked laughing to what he said.

“I ate a lot of different food with my friends today. We found a restaurant with an eat-all-you-can buffet promo. We get so excited about it and took it. When I head home, I end up running to the toilet. Apologies for the disgusting story I share!” Francis explained. He did sound like he regretted what happened to him and was laughing about it. She find him a funny person.

Cassidy was thinking of what to say to him when she receive a message from him. “How’ve you been? You’re quiet busy for a couple of days, I just notice,” Francis asked, curious of what happened to her.

“It sure is a tight schedule. I apologize for my inability to checked if I had a message here,” Cassidy said. She didn’t want him to feel bad about those times she never replied.

“It’s okay! People have their own lives to take care of. I understand the responsibility we need to deal with every day. We’re not kids anymore,” Francis remarked. She is quiet impressed to him for understanding the situation they were in and how matured he is for this matter.

She smiled and said, “Thanks for understanding! If I was free, I would’ve replied back easily.”

“That will make my day if you did,” Francis said. “Oh, by the way. I remembered something. Let me just get it,” he added. He seems excited to picked whatever it was.

Then, Francis sent her a photo of a cute penguin stuffed toy. “I know it sounds weird but I was into cute stuff like this,” he admitted. He sound embarrassed to share it.

Cassidy scanned the photo, starting from his face then his surrounding. She noticed something weird about it, seeing a pale hand holding the doll too. “If his left hand was taking photo while holding the doll on the right. Who owned this third hand? Its pale and feminine,” she thought. She shakes her head, thinking he may have a sister or female relatives around messing up with him, rejecting the weird idea she first thought of.

“I don’t think it’s weird. People have different preference in what they were into,” Cassidy said. She actually find it adorable to see such man whom were into this. He might have a soft side in him.

“I thought you would think that I was gay. Some people already judge me harshly because of it. That’s why I was kind of hesitant to share it to you. But for some reason, I feel really comfortable with you,” Francis said. She suddenly feels happy knowing that he trusted her.

“I don’t know what to say to that, but thank you. I feel honored for the trust that you give,” Cassidy proudly said. “But seriously? People have to stop judging you just because you like something that most guy doesn’t. What gives them the right?” she added feeling sorry about what he experience.

“It’s okay! I mean there’s just people who were so insensitive about others. They just speak whatever they want,” Francis remarks.

Cassidy was really impressed with his attitude towards that kind of treatment and think that he might be really good.

After that, they spent another day  of chatting. They had lots of fun just like the first time they’ve met. Cassidy lost track of time and noticed how late it is and they still kept going. So, she excused herself and says her goodnight since she have work later. She needed rest even for just a few hours that remains. He understood, agreeing in what she wants and apologized for making her stay long.

The next day, Cassidy still wakes up late, overslept a little. So, she take haste in preparing  for work, skipping her breakfast and move as quickly as she could taking the fastest route to her workplace. She did come in to work but just a minute late, the least she could’ve done to avoid being scolded by the supervisor.

Then, Cassidy starts her work but needed to hurry up to occupy the lost time she’s supposed to be in preparation of her merchandise.

One of her co-workers, Steve, saw her and approach her. “D’you want any help there? I saw you run in late and probably wanted things done quickly,” he said, offering a hand to help. Cassidy didn’t thought of anything else in his action, other than he just wanted to help her finished up her preparation. So, she accepted it.

The day went by so fast, having Cassidy gets busy with a load of stuff to do in her job. Customers are in large numbers today, so that keeps her occupied. But while restocking, she noticed how Steve kept showing up and willingly help her out. At first it was fine until he overdo it, and now most of her co-worker thinks they’re flirting in their job. She felt irritated.

When lunch break came, Cassidy immediately headed to cafeteria by herself, avoiding him. She is about to enjoy her lunch, trying to relax as well when her two co-workers join in. They just sit there uninvited. Steve sit right next to her while the other, Sasha, take the seat infront of her. They stare at her like she was the top trending topic in their job, both wearing that annoying smile.

“I’ve heard that Steve and you were very sweet together in your shift a while ago. There’s a lot of witnesses including me,” Sasha started, feeling proud of what she said.

Cassidy sighed. She sounded more irritated than the usual time and was trying her best to control it. “It was supposed to be just a normal interaction, helping a co-worker who needs it. But everyone assumes it to be more than that, and Steve overdo it on purpose which is really annoying,” she said in a dead tone voice.

“Moody? Everyone knows about him having a crush on you. So, why don’t you just take it and start dating then?”  Sasha suggested. She’s forcing her ideals again, acting like a cupid. It’s as if she owned someone’s life and do whatever she wants them to do. She never like rejection too.

Cassidy sighed again, showing that she didn’t like them being there and is unamused of what they were trying to do. “Didn’t I clear that out already? I don’t like Steve and rejected him many times. I only allowed him to help me because I needed it that time. It shouldn’t be a big deal,” she explains.

“He is giving you a freaking free ticket to be in a relationship. Why can’t you be more grateful? “ Sasha said, raising her voice.

The two of them glare at each other like a cat whom were going to fight. Steve noticed it and immediately cut in between them. “It’s okay, Cassidy! Don’t mind her. I may not be the right person for you but I could be there for you when you need me,” he said, trying to show off and feeling proud that he said something sweet.

“Right?” Cassidy said as she stands up and walked away. She couldn’t handle anymore of their rant and hated that they don’t respect what she want. She already explained it to them, many times but still they keep on insisting in their selfish desires.

It would’ve been fine with him cutting in between to stop them, until Steve starts talking. People may think he was being sweet towards her, but knowing him for a long time makes her realize what he was up to. He’s just good with sweet words to get woman to fall into him. But all of that is just a lie, that includes his way of giving help. If she let him do so, she’ll end up having a debt to pay for him afterwards.

Cassidy is in a bad mood the whole remaining time at work, but still kept her professionalism when it comes to customers.

After her shift end, Cassidy immediately headed home, avoiding the two in her way out. She thought of telling it to her best friends, but then she realized that they could’ve been busy and she didn’t want to interrupt them.

Cassidy sighed and just decided to take a relaxing bubble bath. She might just forget about what happened, just like the other times. She lied in her bathtub and plays a soothing music as she unwind in there.

After Cassidy close her eyes, drifting off to sleep. She was suddenly pulled down into a dark abyss. She felt confused as she looks around seeing only darkness surrounding the whole place.

Then, a hand grabbed her foot. Cassidy tries to take it off, but as she do so more hands come out of nowhere and hold her down. The hands were pulling her into the darkness, it also feels comforting that she finds it hard to resist. She couldn’t explain what’s happening and why’s she being pulled in there.

Cassidy tries to grab onto something and lift herself up to escape from it. She gets out of the water in her bathtub and is catching her breath and coughing out water. She didn’t realize she is drowning until she grasp the reality of what happened.

“What does that mean?” Cassidy asked herself as she looks at her naked body. She could still feel the hands that grabbed her from her dream. “Is it a warning or a guide?” she thought wondering about whether her dream is a bad sign or not.

Cassidy wants to forget about it for a while, didn’t know exactly where she could connect it anyway. She put on her pajamas and headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat. As she’s enjoying her dinner, her phone suddenly ring. She checked it out and see Francis message, saying, “Good Eve, Cassidy! How’ve you been doing today?”

She quickly replied back, saying, “Good Evening as well! I was just taking my dinner, finishes my relaxing bath. How about you?” She is hesitant to say more about what happen to her day. It sounded like she’s just complaining over such thing.

“I’ve been feeling really tired. I got lots of workloads, so I’ve been occupied the entire time. I usually just finish everything as early as possible, so I could relax afterwards but it seems they added more things for me to do,” Francis said. He seems to be a hardworking type. “How’s your day by the way?”

“Well, it’s been pretty weird today for me. But, all is well since I am already at home and I’ll be able to relax,” Cassidy remarks as she avoided telling about what happened to her. She didn’t want to bother people with her day when they already have something to deal with on their own.

“I guess both of us has it rough today. By the way, I want you to look into something that I just receive this morning,” Francis said feeling excited.

Francis sent her a photo of himself holding a new stuffed toy. It was a very cute wolf doll, adorable looking as his other one. Cassidy smile as she see his pleasant expression, seeing as he was excited to show it. Then, she scanned the picture, looking around and noticed a pale face woman peeking from his couch. She finds it weird since that last photo he shared has a pale hand holding onto the doll that time. She just reject the idea thinking it could’ve been a relatives or something, but this time she needs to know.

“Are you leaving with someone? Or your relatives visit you from time to time?”  asked Cassidy, eager to know if the photo’s broken or it’s a real thing.

“I was alone right now. What d’you mean by that?” Francis asked feeling confused in her sudden question.

Cassidy decided to edit the photo and encircle that peeking head of a pale face woman under his couch. She then sent it back to him, hoping to point out what she meant. “I don’t intend to scare you or anything, but who’s that?” she asked.

Francis takes a while to reply as she’s left to wonder why she’s seeing such thing. Cassidy thought that probably she’s having delusions for overworking herself. It could’ve been what her dream means or maybe it’s telling her to relax. She seems to feel like there’s a growing emptiness inside her since then and she’s just avoiding it. It’s already affecting her now.

“It must’ve been the said ghost in this apartment that the landlord told me about. He mentioned about it’s history when I asked about why this place rent were cheap. I didn’t have that much money with me that time since I just moved in from the neighbouring city. So, I take this” explained Francis.

“I don’t usually share about myself but I seems to find it comforting to tell you anything,” said Francis. “I live with my mom in the other city. She raised me by herself since she got impregnated by that man I hated. You may call it as my real father but I never want to give such title to an evil man. He lied about the fact that he’s already married and seduced my mom, taking her chastity only for his selfish desire to taste another woman. She finds that out so late and decided to break her ties with him immediately.” He’s contemplating about what happened in his past, feeling anger to the man he hated.

“Even though I was made from the lust of a man whom weren’t contented with his wife, she didn’t go for abortion. Instead, she takes good care of me. She did everything to help me grow as the man that I am today. I always remember her soft, warm hand reaching out to me whenever I feel down or when I get lost in life. It feels really comforting that I couldn’t help but feel like I want to protect her from any other man who might harm her,” Francis added.

Cassidy feels bad, hearing about his past life. “I’m sorry for what happened!” said she, feeling sad for what he experienced.

“We used to live together a while back before I moved in here. We just had a big argument because of her living partner whom were deceiving her. He told her about the last relationship she had, that I was the one who sabotage it which is actually false,” Francis said, feeling problematic about it.

“Why would you sabotage your own mother’s happiness? I am pretty sure you want the best for her too,” Cassidy said sympathizing with him and is curious to know more.

“I know, right? That live-in partner of my mom hated me because I called him out of doing drugs. So, he made up lies to cause argument between us which cause us to part ways. I know my mom just didn’t want anymore fighting in the same roof and decided to just tell me to move out, though I know she still care about me. I just want her to see the person that he is, that’s why I didn’t contradict to it. I’ll come running to her immediately if she ever need my help and beat the crap out of that man’s face for trying to hurt the person that I love the most,” said Francis, feeling overprotective of his mother.

Cassidy finds him to be a loving son, seeing how he cares for her despite being pushed away for such deception that her live-in partner did. She can’t help but feels like being pulled towards him for some reason. She seems to like him even more, feeling bad about not opening up. “I should’ve been telling you about myself too,” she said.

“Only if you really want to. I don’t want you to think I was forcing you into it,” Francis remarks, showing concern about it.

Cassidy feel even worse for not loosening up a bit thinking it’s unfair for him. So, she takes a deep breath and took all of her courage out to speak up. “I just had a bad day today. Some co-workers pissed me off in my lunch break and I get salty about it the entire time,” said she as she couldn’t help but share a little bit about her day.

Cassidy told him about what happened in her job and why she’s complaining about them. She first told him about Steve, the playboy of their workplace who loves speaking sweet words to get the attention of the woman that sparks his interest. His way after successfully getting the woman he want, making them feel like a bird in a cage and was indebted to pay back what he give willingly.

Then, Cassidy told him about Sasha, the so-called cupid. She usually ship people even if they never really liked each other and was just working together as a team to make their job lighter. She mentioned about how she never likes rejection and will keep pushing forth to what she wants, disrespecting what each individual wanted.

After telling him about her interaction with them and what she feels about it, Cassidy felt like a heavy feeling inside her were lifted off her chest. He tried to cheer her up and joking around here and there to make her laugh but he still keep it serious at some point, showing that he really cared for her. She feels better and thankful for hearing her out. They talked a lot of stuff that night as she becomes more open to him.

Time passed by so fast when they spend their time together. Cassidy learn more about him, and vice versa. He’s very honest about everything, sharing stories here and there. They usually share what things they love towards one another and joke around making each other laugh. They’ve really become more comfortable together.

The day turns to week, and weeks turns to months. They didn’t notice the passage of time as they just enjoy spending their time together and treasure every moment of it. In those current time, Cassidy started to feel like, liking someone again having to meet such genuine person such as Francis.

One day, Cassidy goes out to do her groceries. She needed her important stuff filled up since it was running out. She headed out to the market with a list of what she’ll buy in there. She wanted to make it quick to be able to do other stuff that’s been pending for now and is feeling productive today. So, she do as she planned.

After getting the stuff she needed, she decided to walk home to enjoy that great day. She’s been really happy doing her simple task now ever since Francis came. She can’t stop smiling thinking about talking to him later on.

Before she could reach the apartment building, it suddenly starts to rain. Cassidy take haste to take cover in the nearest building she find, the Appliance store. As she waited for the rain to pass by, a man with glasses stands near her. He also take cover from the rain in that building.

“That’s too sudden!” said the man beside her as he wipe off the excess water that he get from that rain. Then, he look at her with a confused expression thinking of something about her.

“Is there something wrong, Sir?” asked Cassidy wondering why he’s staring at her with a question seeing from his eyes.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” the man said snapping out of his train of thoughts. “I just thought you look familiar to me somehow. I don’t know where exactly I’ve met you but it feels like I know you.”

“Familiar? I don’t remember meeting you before. So, what d’you mean by that?” Cassidy asked feeling more confused. She looks at him, focusing her sight to his face trying to find any resemblance to the people she already know of. Then, she noticed something familiar with him too.

“May I know your name, Miss? If you don’t mind me asking. I just want to clear things out about my questionable thoughts” the man said as he smiles at her pleasantly.

“You should be the first one to introduce yourself before I do,” Cassidy suggest, feeling hesitant for it.

“My mistake! I’m sorry!” said the man apologizing quickly for his behaviour. “My name is Francis.”

Cassidy looks surprised to hear a familiar name. “Francis? Of Tinder dating app?” she asked wanting to know if he’s the guy she knew well. She doesn’t want to assume but it felt like he could be HIM.

Francis think for a while before answering, “How did you know? Well... I shouldn’t be asking that since a lot of people were using the app. What I meant is... Why d’you want to know?”

Cassidy feels excited, knowing she may have met her chat mate unexpectedly. She puts down her groceries in the dry floor and take her phone out, searching for a photo of the Francis she know and showed it to him. “I have a chat mate with the same name as you and I was wondering if he’s you,” she said.

Francis looks at the photo and smile. “He looks handsome, don’t you think?” said he jokingly, recognizing fully who it was.

“What?” Cassidy said feeling confused in what he just said, didn’t even realize that he’s joking. She thought he was praising the guy in the picture. But once she checked back to it, it dawned on her that this guy infront of her and that one in the photo was the same person.

Cassidy was dumbstruck and just stare at him the entire time. Francis laughs at her reaction. “Cat got your tongue?” he said jokingly and sighs in relief. “It was unexpected, I know. But I was happy to finally meet you in person” He smile at her pleasantly.

Cassidy takes a deep breath, taking all her courage out to say anything. “I-I-I was happy to finally meet you too,” she said feeling really embarrassed. She takes her grocery from the floor, fixing up the paper bag. Francis noticed it and tries to help her out.

“You probably have something else to do or somewhere else to go. So, it’s fine,” said Cassidy trying to reject his help. She’s feeling shy towards him all of a sudden.

Francis just took the paper bag from her hand. “You don’t have to worry about it. I really want to help you and besides, I was just actually going home right now. So, I don’t have plans today,” he said smiling at her. He wanted to reassure her that she wasn’t bothering him.

Cassidy sighs in defeat and accepted the chance that was given to her to be with him. He’s a bit stubborn there but she did appreciate it. “You can only take me infront of the apartment building. After that, I’ll be okay by my own,” she remarks.

“Alright! Lead the way,” Francis said smiling ear-to-ear because of excitement. She giggled seeing his expression.

It is still raining that time, so they chatted for a while. They shared what happened to them this day and some other interesting stuff that they’ve encountered this week that they haven’t talk about.

After the rain stops, the two starts walking heading to the apartment building where Cassidy live. They walked side-by-side in the road. She kept glancing at him and wondering what more will she see from him.

While Cassidy is lost in thoughts, she didn’t notice an old lady coming her way. She bumped into her that cause her to fall in the ground. She snapped out off her train of thoughts and say, “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I’m going.” She’s feeling sorry for it. Francis is already helping the old lady to stand up.

“It’s fine, dear! I wasn’t aware of my surroundings too, so I didn’t notice you coming,” the old lady said as she smile pleasantly. She’s so nice to them, it feels comforting.

Before the old lady left them, she looks at Francis and thanked him for helping her to stand up and says her goodbyes to them. Cassidy felt happy seeing such thing even though it was her fault. She’s glad to witness the good nature of the man she was starting to like.

“Is there something that’s bothering you?” asked Francis, remembering what happen a minute ago.

“No, no! It’s not that!” Cassidy object feeling her face warms up, embarrassed about it. “I was just thinking of something that isn’t that much of a big deal.”

“You sure?” Francis asked again trying to confirm it.

“Don’t worry! It’s only a minor thing. Trust me!” Cassidy said trying to cut down the topic about it since she’s not ready to admit about her growing interest towards him. Not until she confirmed it and fully know him even more.

“Okay, then. If you say so!” Francis said, respecting her private matters. He knows that she’ll open up if she wants to later on.

They continue on further to where they’re heading. When they arrived, Francis give back the grocery to her. Cassidy thanked him for his helpful gestures and says her goodbye as they part ways. She immediately goes to her place feeling overwhelmingly happy meeting him at last.

After that day, the two become even more comfortable with each other, meeting a couple more times. They start out once a week which is her rest day. Then, it turns to twice a week until the day of their meet up is adding up as time pass by, seeing each other more often.

They usually head out going to malls, zoo, park and many more. They enjoy each other’s company, even on their busy schedule they find a way to spare one for a meet up.

Then, one time, Cassidy finally asked for his help regarding with her annoying co-workers. He agreed without any objection knowing they haven’t stop what they’ve been doing, and Francis wanted to put an end to it. He started picking her up from work last month but she still worry that she might’ve make it a tough schedule for him.

“Are you sure it’s okay that you’re picking me up after work everyday? I don’t want you to feel obligated to me if it’s really hard for you,” Cassidy said feeling worried about it.

“I wasn’t forced to do it. I really want to do it, willingly,” Francis remarks. “You stop worrying about it. You know that I’ll always give time for you because its worth it.” He smiled at her and rubs her hair messing it up. He wanted her to feel at ease to what he decided to do.

Cassidy pretended that she was annoyed at him for messing her hair, and laugh at him when he stops. He really became a special person for her by now. It’s been a long time since they’ve met, in a dating app maybe around 2 months or more.

“Shall we keep going?” asked Francis as he offered out his hand for her to hold. It is to show that she’s already taken already, infront of her annoying co-workers, that may have stop them by then. They were looking at them with a sad expression knowing they might’ve to give up now.

Cassidy grabs his hand and gently follow him as they walked out of her workplace holding hands. Francis is walking her home just like the other day, enjoying the moment they had.

As they were walking closer to her apartment building, Francis suddenly stops. He had a serious expression in his face. “Cassidy?” he said.

“Yes?” asked Cassidy wondering what’s on his mind that time.

“Can we go to a restaurant close by to have dinner?” Francis asked feeling shy about it. “I actually haven’t eaten yet since lunch. I finish up all my workloads in advance to be able to pick you up on time. But don’t worry about it, I just really want to do that because I want to spend time with you.”

Cassidy was surprised to it but feels happy to what he said. She accepted the offer, knowing he deserve it for doing that for her. They searched around for the nearest restaurant they’ll find to eat, seeing one ahead of them.

When they arrive to a Fast food restaurant, they headed immediately to the line and waited for their turn. Francis noticed a lot of customers dining in tonight, so he asked her to reserve a seat for them. He’ll be the one left behind to order their food, seeing that they might find it hard to get a seat, she agreed.

Cassidy starts looking around that floor first for a two-seat table but find nothing. Then, she headed up and continue her search there, finding one near the window. She goes there and sit, then message Francis that she’s in the upper floor. Next to them is a four-seat table with a group of friends chatting. She didn’t want to listen to them but their topic caught her attention.

The girl in two-braided hair said, “Have you heard the news just a while ago? Another woman is reported to be missing. It’s the fourth victim this year.”

“It’s so scary to go out alone by now since the suspect might still be around and you never know what he looks like,” the girl with glasses added feeling fear towards the unknown criminal lurking around their city.

“I’ve heard that the police were connecting this case to the one that happen last year from a neighbouring city. It’s also about a missing woman that somehow were linked to what was happening now, seeing how the behaviour of the criminal is the same. He lure them to some place, having them taken to his hideout and  cut off their hands and internal organs taken out from their body. They found their dead body on his hiding place but he was nowhere around,” the girl in a ponytail said.

Cassidy feels a sudden fear of that unknown criminal, hearing it out from them. She haven’t watch news for a while, so she doesn’t have any clue to what’s happening around her. She’s too absorbed to her chat mate that she may have forgotten that he could be lurking in that kind of app too. She just don’t know how he interact upon his victim.

Before Cassidy can think about the threat even more, Francis came in bringing a tray with their food in it. She immediately help him out, putting the food in their table carefully. He then noticed her face, she seems disturbed for some reason.

“You look stressed out over something. What’s the problem?” Francis suddenly asked feeling concern about her.

Cassidy looks at him with a confused expression. “It’s nothing!” said she thinking it’ll be better not to say anything for now. She knows that he wouldn’t be mad to her for being cautious since he’s very understanding in nature.

“If you say so!” Francis said, accepting it as he starts eating and observing her.

Cassidy is really thinking about the threat she heard from those girls while Francis was lost in thoughts too thinking what was bothering her. They didn’t notice that they’ve been quiet the whole time they were eating, not until they’ve finish their food.

“Oh, sorry! We’re supposed to be having fun being together for dinner but it seems like we’re occupied by our thoughts at the same time,” Francis said as he laugh about this sudden thing they were having.

Cassidy laugh as well, knowing they did the same thing unexpectedly. “Well, we still have time to relax to spend our time together before heading home,” she said reminding him.

“Are you happy being with me?” asked Francis feeling hesitant, all of a sudden.

Cassidy is confused and surprised at the same time. She wondered why he’ll ask that out of the blue. “The truth? Well, I am glad that I’ve met you. I am very happy every time we spend time together. You’re such a good person and I want to be around you. Why d’you want to know?” she explain and question him at the same time.

“One of my friends just recently ghosted me. I tried to contact him, visit his place, asked my other friend what happened and why he’s doing it. I didn’t get a clear answer. So, I asked you instead to know if I was being a good friend or I was doing something bad that may have push him away,” said Francis feeling sad about it.

“Oh, I’m so sorry for that!” Cassidy said understanding his pain. It must’ve been rough for him. “There’s just people like that. A friend you thought you know so well, then turns out doing such thing. It’s not just about you but rather the action you two did, for what reason it has to be done and why it ended up like that. But in this case, I think it wasn’t your fault.”

Francis smiled weakly, knowing she was trying to cheer him up. Cassidy feel  sad seeing him doubting his self for losing a friend who just happen to be  a selfish prick, not even thinking about his action towards the people that surround him.

Cassidy put her hand on his cheek, guiding his head to look into her and locked his sight to her seeing a concern expression. “I don’t want to say this just to comfort you but I think...” she said feeling hesitant and nervous. “I like you! Well, as a friend but maybe more on someday? I don’t know yet!”

Cassidy feel her face warms up admitting something embarrassing. She didn’t really want to say it not until she’s sure about what she feel for him but she couldn’t stop herself because she really want to cheer him up. Francis laughs at her reaction and thanking her for it.

“Knowing you for a long time we’ve been together, I think I find you to be a very charming person. You have so many good quality in you that I find it to be appealing. It’s just that you lack self-confidence a little but it’s probably because of what you experience in life,” Cassidy added as she suddenly yawn, feeling a bit sleepy. She must’ve been feeling the exhaustion from work now and just didn’t realize it since she’s enjoying her time with him.

Francis is happy for what she said and noticed her continues yawning. “I should get you home now. We’ll just take a cab then,” he suggest.

“We could just walk, we’re a little bit closer now to my Apartment building from here. The sleepiness might go away with that,” said Cassidy. She still wants to spend more time with him.

“You sounded really tired there. I just wanted to get you home sooner so you can take a rest as quick as we arrive in your place. It’s best to take a cab to it than walk since I actually notice some group of man scattered around the area near the Apartment building you live in. I heard someone gets targeted in there and stole their possession. I was just worried that they might’ve some weapon in them and I don’t want to put you in danger,” Francis explained.

Cassidy think about it and remember the theft in there, the guard on her Apartment building did warn her about them. He’s on point, taking a cab might keep them safe from those harmful people, so she agreed. She didn’t want anything to happen to them just for her desire to stay with him longer. They can still meet up the next day anyway.

They headed out of the restaurant and immediately call for a cab. As they go inside the vehicle, Francis help her out sitting next to her in the back seat. He guide her head to lie in his shoulder as he hold her hand and rub it to make her feel relax. He told the driver her address telling him that they’ll drop her there to the guard before going to his place.

Cassidy keeps yawning, feeling more sleepy as the cab starts moving. Before she passed out from exhaustion, she heard him say, “I’ll wake you up when we get there.” She didn’t know what happened next as she drifted off to sleep.

The cab arrived in an Old Apartment building. Francis paid the driver and carried the unconscious woman he was with, going inside that abandoned place. Before the driver took off, he looks at him with a confused expression. He’s wondering why he suddenly change the address to head to after she fall asleep. But then, he doesn’t have something to do with them and he give him rather large payment for the distance they’ve travel. It was actually twice the amount that he could’ve paid for, so he move on to whatever weird occurrence it was.

As the cab drive off, a married couple walking past that Old building see Francis with an unconscious woman going inside. They find it weird since they know who owns that place and whom were the caretaker. They just live around the area, so they would’ve known by now if they hired a new caretaker.

“Dear? Is that an unconscious woman he’s carrying inside?” said the old woman, feeling a bit confused in what she saw.

The old woman’s husband followed Francis with his sight, observing his baggage and his action until he lost him. “That’s weird?! Yesterday I see him bringing in a different woman. I thought they might’ve been getting wild trying it out in an abandoned place. Younger one these days are too adventurous to do it,” the old man said thinking about it.

“Shouldn’t we call for the police now? That guy was acting suspicious for taking an unconscious woman inside. Why would he do that, dear?” the old woman suggest and questioned at the same time as she worries about his victim if he’s somehow the criminal that was taking in woman and killing them, the one in the news.

The old man agreed, taking out his phone and immediately contacted the authority. They told them about this guys suspicious behaviour and how they’ve witness him carrying an unconscious woman inside an old abandoned building.

They mentioned about it being vacant for quiet a long time and the caretaker visiting it every 4 months to checked in it. They said he could’ve been a trespasser in that private building and was using this place for whatever reason he had and for them to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, inside the building, Francis had managed to get back to his apartment with his precious victim. He’s feeling excited as he place the unconscious Cassidy to his metal bed carefully. He looks at her with a lustful eyes as he grab her hand and kiss it a couple of times. He could feel the rush of pleasure run all over his body.

“You’re such a big challenge for me, Cassidy. Your resistance at first to open up, all those hesitating moments. You’ve put me on a good act there. I actually enjoy the whole ride. But now, I could savour the special specimen infront of my eyes. You’ve got such a soft hand, can’t be compared to the other woman I brought in. It’s warm and comforting like how I use to feel with my mom’s hand. You’ll be my second favourite next to my mom. I’ll use yours in the most special way. I get really horny with you love,” Francis said to himself as he give her hand another kiss.

After spending a couple of minutes in a blissful moment of satisfaction for having the woman he’s feeling lustful for so long, Francis head to his table. He take out a map and searched for a new city to go to next, the police have been in his ass for a while now that he needed to move out soon. “I might try to look for a safe place to settle down for now. The police are getting more heat up with my case, if I don’t take a break now I might end up in jail,” he said as he looked at his collection of preserved hands in the shelves on his back. Then stare at the one in his table with a contented look, smiling at a 40 year-old woman’s preserved hand.

Francis lift it up and kiss the jar, smiling at it in satisfaction. “Oh, Mom! You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through this time. I’ve met a very wonderful woman, she’s the same as you. And I’ll treasure her the same as I would to yours, but don’t you worry even if I give her the best treat with my body. In my heart, you’ll always be my number one,” he said excitedly to the hand in the jar as if talking to his mother.

“I did forgive you though even after you believe to your live-in partner more than me. I feel betrayed for what you’ve done! ... I was just trying to protect you that’s why I sabotage your old relationship before the recent one. I caught that guy having a lot of affairs, and this new one you have is also doing that. You don’t even need them to be happy, I am here for you, to take care of you. Why can’t you see that? They’ll just keep on taking advantage of your flaws and use you for their selfish desire to have sex. For what? To make another broken child like me then leave us in the end?” Francis cried to the jar feeling sad remembering his cursed life in the past.

“I thought when I met my first love I’ll forget my hatred towards the man who made me from you. But I was wrong, women are evil too. She used me to get to my best friend, running away with him in the middle of our supposed to be marriage. Then, the friend I trusted knew what they did and supported them, leaving me in so much pain that I find it hard to face tomorrow. I tried to continue living life normally like what you’ve use to say, that good things will come, having to go for a lot of relationship again but still end up the same way over and over. Although I manage to get my revenge on them taking their hands off to add to my collection while killing those that betrayed me and steal the person that I cherish, I couldn’t stop this cycle anymore. It feels too good to be true and this way I can easily face a day without worrying of someone leaving me behind ever again. At least I have you, and them with me, and now my true love Cassidy will be joining the family,” Francis said smiling from ear-to-ear as he put back the jar in the table and goes back to his victim.

Francis prepares what he needed to get her hand cut off. He marks her arm with a permanent ink showing outline for when he’ll starts cutting it. He then picks up the injection and carefully place it to her arm to inject it. He didn’t want her to feel the pain while he’s doing it.

Before Francis could even inject the anaesthesia to her body, the lights suddenly turned off. He puts down the injection back to the table as he goes to the switch to checked the lighting. He flicked it a couple of times but the lights didn’t come back. “Darn it! It’s probably the generator giving up on me. Right when I was about to do the best part?” he asked himself feeling irritated. He take haste on the generator room to fix it, leaving his victim around.

Its only been about 15-minutes when Cassidy wakes up. She feel cold air around her and a ticklish sensation from her feet, like someone is trying to wake her up. She gets up and look around, seeing only darkness around her. She then tried to feel her surrounding with her hands until she touched a cold table right next to her.

Cassidy is touching the stuff in that table, trying to get something she could use like a flashlight. But instead, she felt a sharp object cut her skin. She immediately move her hand away from it. “What’s that?” she thought feeling worried and scared of where she could’ve been and what’s happening around.

Then, the lights suddenly turn back on. Cassidy blinked a few times before she could get a bearing of her surrounding. When she get used to the bright light, she was shocked on what she see. Right in front of her was a shelf full of glass jar, in it was a preserved hand of what seems like a different woman. The cute stuffed toy that Francis once showed her in the photo was also scattered around the place.

“No! It couldn’t be!” Cassidy said to herself in shocked as she shakes her head rejecting the idea that Francis tricked her and was a criminal all along. “It could just be a weird coincidence. There’s no way!”

Cassidy looks down to her arms only to find an outline of mark in it. Then, she look at her right side where she feel the table and whatever sharp object it is in there. She found a lot of tools for operation, like that one in the hospital but this is different since it has a chainsaw.

Cassidy felt her body shaking as she realize that she’s going to die. She feel the fear for her life but still couldn’t accept the idea of Francis being involved in this since all he did in their time together was do good things. It doesn’t seem to fit him, he doesn’t sound like he could do such horrible things. “If it’s not him, who is it? And where is Francis?” she said to herself as her mind were filled with more question to what’s happening around.

Cassidy tries to get up and grab the surgical scalpel as she walked out barefoot heading out of that room. “I need to get out of here! I must hurry! I get the feeling that he was coming back,” she thought.

Before she could make it out of his apartment, Cassidy heard the doorknob shakes aggressively then someone just slam the door hard, knowing that it was locked inside. She immediately retrace her steps back to the living room and searched for a place to hide. Finding nothing around, she decided to hide in the bathroom. It wasn’t a good place to hide to, but she has no choice.

Cassidy locked herself in there, on time. The loud sound of a door forcibly open covered up the sound she make in closing and locking the door to where she was hiding. She heard his footstep going to where she have been a while ago.

Then, the place got quiet for a minute until she heard the footstep coming out of it and was now heading to where she was. “Cassidy? Where are you?” he said. His voice sounds familiar.

“It’s me, Francis! We got involved with a criminal, it’s the driver of the cab we’re riding. He knocked me off and left me behind a locked room. I manage to escape and cut off the lighting to stop whatever he’s going to do to you. I want to buy him some time, so I could save you. Come out please, you’re safe now!” said Francis, he sound worried about her.

Cassidy wants to come out, half believing what he said but something inside was stopping her from moving. Her guts tells her there’s something wrong in it, that she shouldn’t come out, so she keep quiet. She bites her lips trying to stop herself from crying, it wasn’t the right time or right place to do so. It felt like a nightmare she couldn’t get out of. Everything feels unreal somehow but every time she pinch herself, it just prove that she’s living in the real world. She need to escape and in order to do that, she has to have courage and a calm mind to think straight to what she needs to do.

“Get out in there, Cassidy! He might come back any minute now,” Francis said trying to lure her out.

Cassidy calmed herself, breathing in and out. She need to focus in her one goal right now, which is escaping his grasp and run to a safer place. As she do so, the sound of a police siren was suddenly heard just outside that building. “Police? I’m safe! I just need to get out then,” she whispered to herself.

Cassidy take a deep breath, taking all her courage out and pushed the door open with force, knocking down Francis in the floor. She quickly dash out of his place and run to the hallway looking for the staircase.

When Cassidy arrived in there, she stop for a second to catch her breath. Then, she goes down the stairs being careful of her steps. But Francis manage to get there fast and grab her arms tight, pulling her to the wall hitting her back in it hard.

Francis hold her down, tightly grasping on her both hands with his one hand. His free hand grab on her chin, forcing her to look straight at him. “Why’re you running away? I said I was here to protect you, right? You know, I love you and will do anything in my power to keep you away from harm,” he said with an angry tone of voice. He sound like a different person now that they face each other, and it scare her.

Francis forced his way to her, kissing her with force at first and going gently after, showing his affection towards her. But all she could feel with him right now was disgust and fear, so she bites his lips until it bleeds and let go of her.

Cassidy then pushed him away, stabs his stomach with a surgical scalpel she kept with her and starts running back, heading to an open window to just shout out for help. She need to get their attention to look up to where she was.

Before Cassidy could even scream for help, Francis immediately cover her mouth with a cloth. Then, he pushed her face on the window as he tie her hands. She tried to struggle but he seems mad to what she did, punching her stomach which cause her to curled up in the floor. She started sobbing as she feel the pain while he was tying her foot.

Francis then carried her to his shoulder, going back to his place. As he stare outside to see what’s in there, he was stunned to what he find out. The two policeman who just came walking to check out that building he was in, was looking at him from the ground floor. They locked eyes for a minute before both parties decided to move on and take haste to what they’re supposed to do.

Francis didn’t have time to carry her all the way to his place, so he just drop her off to the storage area where he put the dead body of the other woman. That room don’t have lighting in it and was full of blood stain from floors to the walls. It smells pretty bad in there too having other dead body decaying already. He puts her down next to a dead body and cover her up with a black plastic bag. Then, he goes back to his place to face the authority.

The two policeman is running in the hallway, going up the staircase to the floor they see him, Francis, the suspicious man that the married couple reported. He seems to be carrying something when they saw him.

When they reached that floor, they found a lot of apartment room and he wasn’t in the hallway anymore. He could’ve hide somewhere here. So, they’ve checked each door using a UV flashlight, checking for fingerprints in it. The more fingerprints a door has, then it’s the place he use to go to.

They walked passed a lot of doors, finding a few marks only. Then, they saw one that has many fingerprints but when they checked it out, they only found black plastic bag filled with what seems like a body. It must be the storage room where he might have put his victim’s dead body. They get out of it, might come back to it later on as they continue in searching the right door to where he’s gone to.

When they arrive, the police officer quietly move in closer to the door and listen to any sound from the other side. Hearing no movement inside, he signalled his partner to help him kicked the door forcefully to open it.

They’ve kick it two-three times in a row, before it opens. When it did, his partner, being clumsy, lose his footing on the last kick they did and fall to the floor of the suspect’s apartment. Before they could even react, Francis suddenly attacked his partner with a chainsaw. His maniacal laugh echoed the room.

The chainsaw was about to hit his partner, when an unknown force suddenly pulled him to the side saving him from his death. He was surprised to what happen and was confused on how he get there.

The police officer on stand by, shoots his gun to Francis shoulder, making him lose grip off his weapon. “Spare me! I give up!” he cried out kneeling down, showing a sign of defeat.

“Alright?” said the police officer as he lower his gun for a minute, seeing his resignation towards them. He’s feeling doubtful about his action, moving closer in caution. But before he could approach him to put on the handcuffs, Francis immediately point the tip of a bloody surgical scalpel to his partner’s neck.

“Move even just an inch there, I’ll slice his throat,” Francis said threatening him. He then pulled his partner to stand up and follow him, still keeping the scalpel pointed to his neck.

As Francis move backwards, heading to his room, a pale hand suddenly grab his foot from underneath the sofa. He falls back to the floor, losing grip of his hostage.

The police officer noticed it and immediately take action. This time ,he shoot his leg so that he won’t be able to run away. Francis screamed in pain, holding onto his bleeding leg, knowing he screwed up.

Francis glare at the police officer as he keep his gun pointed to him and approaching him slowly in caution. His partner moved away to safety, so he won’t jump on him again if he get another chance.

As the police officer gets really close, Francis quickly throw the bloody surgical scalpel to him. He tries to dodge it, but still gets a cut since it happen so fast. When he look back to him, he’s already shuffling his way to his room. He then locked himself there.

Francis shuffled to his table in pain, opening the cabinet, and taking out a bottle of heroin that he kept and take a bottle of water in his bag next to it. “This will take the pain away. I’ll never have to feel it again,” he said as he take a couple of it in his mouth in a hurry and quickly drink the water to swallow the pills.

Francis started to feel relaxed after taking the drugs and his body doesn’t feel pain anymore. He laugh knowing he could just jump at them to stab them with his surgical tools. Even if they shoot him, he won’t feel anything. But when he turns around, picking up what he need since he’s hearing them kicking the door, he was stunned to what he see infront of him.

“You’re dead! You are all dead! What’re you looking at? Why’re you glaring at me? I didn’t do anything! It’s your fault to begin with. You showed me how fake you are, you cause suffering in my life. You deserve that!” Francis screamed to the women he know he already killed whom was standing around him, looking at him in anger.

Francis turned around to his table only to find his mother, staring at him in disappointment. “Mom? They hurt me! Why’d you go against me too? It was their fault, not me! NOT ME!!!” he cried explaining his action to his dead mother.

When the police came in the room, Francis is already breaking down, seeing something that only he could see. They tried to stop him, jumping on him at the same time as they tried to put handcuffs to him. He still struggle though, cursing at them as he goes insane.

After arresting him, putting him in their custody inside the car. The police officer gets back to the storage room they found a while ago. He checked each plastic bag, finding the 4 missing woman’s dead body and the current victim who seems to fall unconscious from exhaustion and so many mixed up emotion she might’ve experience. He then carried her to the ambulance as he radio for someone to get inside to collect information for the case.

Outside of the building, a flood of people gathered around the old building, looking over the crime scene. A woman pass by in there feeling worried, looking around for something. Her eyes stopped at the police car and saw a familiar face in the back seat.

“Francis! I’m sorry I was late! I need to help him,” the woman whispered to herself as she hurried to her car that was parked in a vacant lot near that area.

A minute had passed when the police car that she’s targeting move on the road going back to their station. She followed them from behind. Then they’ve reach an intersection, the car she’s tracking stopped by a red light.

The woman felt anxious, knowing they’re getting closer to the police station. “I gotta do something. And fast,” she thought.

Then, the woman thought of something and she quickly act upon it. She drove her car fast, passing by the police car and not stopping on the red light.

The police notice it and report it to their station, he told them to send someone to chase for it since they have a criminal on their custody. But before he could finish saying the last number of that vehicle’s plate number, the car that they were reporting was about to crushed into them. They didn’t have time to react.

The woman whom was in that over speeding vehicle that collided with their car, rolled out of her car before the collision happen. She cautiously go to the crushed she cause and checked to see if someone is moving. When she find them unconscious in the front seat, she immediately smash the back seat window with the iron pipe she carry with her.

The woman thought that they might wake up any moment by then, so, when she manage to get the window breaks, she quickly reached inside to open the lock.

Then, the woman shakes Francis to wake him up as she tries to grab any keys on the pocket of the pants of the police and check around the front seat for it. She even take their water bottle and pour it to her handkerchief to clean his face as he get conscious, so it wouldn’t make him suspicious looking when they go out.

Francis looked at the one who’s shaking him, finds her to be the person he knows and tries to get a bearing on what just happen. He saw the police in front to be unconscious as the woman who helped him unlocked his handcuffs.

“Let’s get out of here quick! Get moving, Francis!” the woman said, feeling worried that people might come in and notice what was happening. He followed her along walking in a hurry away from the area and grab a taxi from afar to head to her place.

Meanwhile, at an apartment building, Cassidy was on a video call with her two best friends, Jenny and Lily. She told them about what happen to her today and that she needed someone to talk to. It wasn’t in full detail since she still feel a lot of emotion rising up from that experience, they understand her pain and told her they’ll be there for her. She then, told them her new address and decided that they’ll see each other tomorrow.

“Ah, by the way, I’m so sorry for avoiding you all this time!” Cassidy said, her tone of voice was regretful and in pain.

“Well, we’re mad alright! But it isn’t the time for that,” Jenny said. “Tomorrow we’ll talk a lot!”

“I know!” Cassidy said.

“We’re sorry that that happen to you. We feel bad for not being there for you when you needed us the most,” Lily added.

“It’s my fault anyway. But, yeah, tomorrow we’ll talk about this. I might’ve to rest for now. I hope that’ll help me calm down a bit. Thank you for listening though!” Cassidy said, she was pleased to hear from them again and that they are still there for her despite all her rejection to talk to them.

Cassidy agreed to meet them up in the noon at her place, to give her more time to rest. Then, she ended the call and goes to bed finding it hard to sleep, shuffling around for a while until she get one. She was unaware of the threat that just escaped that time.

The next day, she woke up at around 9am. She grab her breakfast and turn on the television watching random show that time, a flash report just suddenly interrupted that caught her attention, giving her a terrified feeling to what the reporter had said.

The newscaster said that a collision of car happens last night. An over speeding car crushed itself on the police car and that they anticipated what happened.

The police said that it could be on purpose, knowing that the criminal on their custody had just escaped. It could be that he had an accomplice that they didn’t thought existed and helped him get away.

Cassidy felt her body shakes again, feeling that same sensation she had last night. She couldn’t help but worry about the threat that may come to her at any moment. She immediately call her friend to come earlier, and they agreed. They advise her to stay inside her place as they hurry their way in there.

As Cassidy wait for them to arrive, she suddenly get a call from the guards in the entrance of their building. He said about her co-worker named Dina, wanting to see her and give something important.

Cassidy told them to just drop it in there and that she’ll just take it later on but Dina didn’t comply. She said that their boss wanted her to receive it in person, and she shouldn’t just pass it to someone else because it’s confidential. He’ll ask about it later on.

Although Cassidy still finds it odd to have it strictly delivered to her, she agrees to let her in. She was curious of what it was. Dina also asked if it’s okay for her cousin to tag along since she can’t leave him behind saying that he had mental problems and that he just got out of the hospital. Which she allowed it too.

A minute pass, as her doorbell ring. Cassidy expected it to be Dina and her cousin. She opens the door and let them in. She noticed that her cousin’s face were covered with bandages and she wondered why.

Before Cassidy could ask it, Dina interject saying, “Sorry for insisting to get in here... it’s just because its confidential.” She pass the box to her.

Cassidy receives and opened it. She thought it was empty, so she move it close to inspect it and find a note inside, written in it is the word; “You’re mine!”

To her surprised, her cousin quickly inject anaesthesia on her legs and she felt it get numb. He did the same with her arms as he said to her, “I just can’t let you go, Cass!”

Cassidy looks at him and find a familiar eye staring at her as she lay lifeless to the floor. It was Francis, with that same familiar voice too. She’s filled with confusion on how Dina get linked to him.

“I’m gonna have to ready things up outside for our escape. Prepare my tools so we could get things done when I get back!” Francis said as he walked out of her apartment.

Dina whom were left behind, pulled Cassidy’s numbed body to the dining room. She helped her sit down in the chair and tie her there.

“Why’re you doing this, Dina? Who’re you to him?” Cassidy asked feeling weak and confused.

“I am his cousin!” Dina said still proceeding on tying her legs now.

“What about the guy you were engaged with? What d’you think will he felt about this?” Cassidy asked trying to know why she was committing a crime. It doesn’t make sense to her.

“Francis was that guy I am talking about though we’re not engage. But I’ve loved him ever since,” Dina said, starting up her story to clear it up. She always feel like telling things to Cassidy even before. “We’ve met online 2 years ago and fall in love. But our meet up change it, when we find out that we’re relatives – a cousin. I wanted to go on to it even if it’s taboo but he didn’t want to.”

“I still love him and will always do. So, to show my commitment and love to him, I supported him to what he wanted.” Dina added. “He do appreciate it which I hope will eventually lead to us on getting back together. And you getting away destroying that dream? I can’t let that happen!”

“So, you lead me to him? You’ve put me into this mess?” Cassidy asked feeling her mixed emotion rising up again.

“I didn’t do it in the beginning. I did introduce the app to you, but that’s about it. It just so happen that the two of you unexpectedly met there,” Dina said. “The only thing I did to you was that part regarding with Sasha and Steve.”

Cassidy fell silent remembering all that happen and that she realize that she’s clueless to what really is happening. “Is it her fault for wanting comfort to a new person? To find love?” she thought, feeling regretful of her action.

“I told Steve that you secretly love him and that you were feeling shy about showing it. Then, I asked Sasha’s help for it knowing that she always wanted to do that,” Dina continued. “By letting them aggravate you, you’ll end up asking for Francis to help you out which turns out well.”

“Why’re you telling me this?!” Cassidy asked while sobbing as she feared for her life.

“Because you’re gonna die anyway. At least, you know the truth,” Dina explained. “I’ll do anything for his happiness. Even this!”

Cassidy can’t believe the fact that Dina is not the person she thought she knew. She is her first friend in her work place, so, she never would’ve thought that she can do such thing.

As Cassidy was lost in thoughts, finding it hard to process the realization of what was happening, Francis came back. He was finish setting fire to the other side of the building to cause commotion which will also help them get out without their baggage being checked.

Dina had already done preparing for the operation. Cassidy’s right arm had a markings on it and so they’ve started. Francis thought that this’ll be his final victim and would go back to hiding for a while. He’ll try to find a way to retrieve what was confiscated by the police too one of this days.

By the time that they’ve started cutting Cassidy’s arm, people living in the building had already been alerted by the fire.

Jenny and Lily had also come in that time. When they saw the fire, they feel worried and immediately asked the guard on what was happening. After hearing that the cause of fire was unknown and that it just suddenly happen, the first thought that comes to their mind was that Cassidy is in grave danger. She did mentioned about the news that the criminal who almost killed her last night had just escaped.

The two immediately took action fearing for Cassidy’s life. Lily called the police on her phone while Jenny asked one of the guards to accompany her to checked Cassidy’s apartment. They’ve bring the spare key with them just in case it was locked and she was being held hostage.

Inside Cassidy’s apartment, Francis and Dina successfully took her right hand off of her and already store it to the container on their bag. Cassidy lost her consciousness that time from all the pain and the things that was happening. She couldn’t bear it.

They were about to escape but when they reach the door they were surprised to the guard and the woman that came in face to face with them. The guard’s gun was aiming at them and was telling them to back away slowly. They followed to what he said.

As they head deeper into the apartment, they’ve notice Cassidy lying on the floor lifeless and was losing a lot of blood. Her right arms were cut off which makes Jenny feel fear if she is still alive and mad for what they did.

“I need to check her up close. Guard me up, I’ll try to move in closer,” Jenny said, without thinking of the possible danger these two had been. All her mind can think of right now is if she is still alive.

The guard couldn’t argue because she was already moving slowly close to the body. He noticed Francis’ movement and knew well to fire his gun to him before he could do something to harm the woman he was with.

Dina quickly push him aside as she shouted saying, “Run, Francis! Save yourself!” The bullet hit her chest, but still opens her arms in pain trying to protect him. He was still in shocked to find her dying infront of him but he quickly head to the bedroom and locked himself in there.

Jenny also stopped moving when she heard the gun shot and was surprised to see Dina falling down infront of her. The bullet killed her instantly.

Francis couldn’t believe she died because of his action, but he have to live, he have to. Dina’s sacrificed shouldn’t go to waste knowing that she did it for him. He hastily goes to the window and tried escaping from it thru the other room below.

By the time Francis reached the bottom balcony of that apartment, the loud sound of opening a door forcefully can be heard from above. He also look down to find police cars parked outside the entrance gate. He suspect that there’ll be more on the exit gate on the back.

Francis knew that escaped will be hard this time, so he quickly get out of that apartment he goes in and headed down. As he was about to reach the exit, a group of police was coming in close to where he was. He immediately hide in the corner and think.

Francis thought of covering his face again with bandage and to pretend to be running away to safety when he notice one of the tenant of this building who just got out from the top floor was checked thoroughly by the police. He find that he can’t go out with this, so he headed in different direction and change his plan of escape.

Francis run around in hiding to the police that was checking the perimeters and luckily get away from the fire exit when he get a small chance. He thought of climbing this wall on the side of the building, the police might’ve just guarded the two gates of the building and not the sides.

When Francis successfully climbed out to the other side of that wall, he was stunned to find police on standby infront of him. They were all aiming their gun to him, he knew well his resistance is useless since he was outnumbered. So, he give up and feel defeated.

The ambulance just arrived on time as the guard carried the unconscious Cassidy in there. Lily and Jenny come along inside worriedly as they head to the nearest hospital.

After a week of being in the hospital and answering question regarding to how she met them and the interaction they had, Cassidy resigned from her job. She wants to have a break to recover from that traumatic experience. Her two best friend, knowing about the situation to what happened to her accompany her for it. They wanted to help her get better.

Cassidy reserved a private room for them to have a chat about what happened in details. She didn’t want anyone to overhear about it. Then, call them over for dinner.

When they arrive to their private room, Jenny looked at her with raised eyebrow and have her hand on her hips. Lily was just looking at her in disappointment, like a mother would do when a child did something terrible.

“I know!” Cassidy said as she sighed, knowing that they wanted to know everything which she knew was the right time to say now.

“You know you’ve got some explanation to do. I know we shouldn’t be mad at you since you just experience something horrible, but we freaking deserve to feel this way too,” shouted Jenny. She glare at her, showing how irritated she was for having been put aside when they were trying to get to her for a long time.

“We’re worried about you since we found out that you moved away. It hurts that you didn’t say anything about it and you didn’t give us your new address even to your family. We tried to contact you to meet up but you just keep on rejecting it. You weren’t like that before,” Lily explained. Her eyes has a hint of disappointment in it with a mix of worry.

Cassidy feels bad about her past action, they were right about it. It was her fault to begin with, she couldn’t explain why she did it. All she knew about is that she didn’t want to bother them a lot. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looks at them.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to keep it hidden from you. I just wanted to fix things by myself. You two have your own relationship now, it wasn’t all about you anymore, or me. I just thought that it’ll be troublesome if I have to run to you whenever I needed someone to talk to,” she said apologetically. She feel really down and guilty for her action.

Jenny and Lily looked at each other, feeling the same thing for her. They hugged her tight, rubbing her back before they retracted from it.

“D’you want me to remind you how long we’ve known each other? Or d’you want me to slap that cheek of yours so hard that you wake up for the time being?” Jenny remarks as she looks at her with a serious expression, questioning her about it.

“No need for violence, Jen. I am pretty sure she already regretted her action,” Lily said, calming down Jenny. “Can we just hear out what happen and why you did it?”

Lily was always the calm type in their friendship, being so understanding of any situation they’ve had while Jenny was always the hot headed. She’s very straight forward with her personality that she usually scold them when they did something wrong. Then here she was, being so dependent of her two best  friends that she decided to do things on her own which turns out really bad for her.

Cassidy told them about everything that happen from the time that she felt like moving away and hide from everyone she knows, to the time that she met Francis which leads to almost getting killed in the process. She mentioned about how she feel at the moment and how she turns out craving for a partner, seeing that everyone seems to be ending up in a relationship. She envy that status a lot and she couldn’t explain why.

“Just because yours didn’t end up good, doesn’t mean you have to look for another one to cover up the hole in your heart,” Jenny said. She kind of want to explain things in a harsh way, like it was so easy to do.

“I know! Even if it’s been so long since my break up, I think I still feel bad about it. I might’ve just felt guilty over my past action that I wish I should’ve done something more to keep it going. If I was just matured enough to handle a relationship or maybe if I wasn’t that weak,” Cassidy said in a sad tone. She was trying hard to stop herself from crying.

“It wasn’t your fault, Cass. I think you did the right thing. You shouldn’t be staying in a relationship that drains all the positivity in you or be in it whereas it destroys you more than it helps you grow up to a better person, that’s just a toxic relationship. I was actually amaze at how brave you are in that kind of situation. If I was in your position, I might’ve fall into depression by now,” Lily explained. She always clear out things that she do to make her feel good. It helps her a lot.

“You don’t need to look for a relationship with someone, don’t envy others just because you don’t have one. Its all about fixing yourself first after a break up no matter how long it takes, and learning to love yourself again. If you think that it’s getting hard for you to deal with it, then ask for help. You weren’t bothering us for it. You know we love you so much, we couldn’t say ‘NO!’ to you. Our partners will always understand it,” said Jenny smiling at her with a concern expression. Then, she pinch her cheeks hard to show how much she cared for her.

“She had enough of your affection, Jen,” Lily said giggling at her friends’ actions. “And Cass, I hope you don’t think low of yourself from this experience you just had. It isn’t your fault too! That Francis was just a crazy guy who were good at pretending to get a victim. No one knows what a criminal was thinking, and how they end up to that. Just know that, he just took advantage of the situation,” she added. “Even that Dina, your co-worker whom you mistook as a nice person.”

Cassidy looks at her two best friend and smile at them, feeling grateful that she have such good people in her life. She decided that she’ll never keep things hidden ever again from them, and run to their side when she really needed it.

“You know what I learn about this experience?” Cassidy asked them. Both of her friends answered with a ‘WHAT?’ at the same time, thinking about it.

“I guess I shouldn’t have indulge myself over such a word. Relationship, companionship or whatever you call that. I shouldn’t be envious of what others have. It just cause me trouble because I wasn’t focusing on myself first when I am still in the process of healing. I know it would sound pretty empty no matter how you look at it, and I might feel sad about it from time to time but I think it’s okay since I have you two. I still have the guilt over my past action from my break up, I should be more focus on becoming the better version of myself for now. So, when the time comes that I’ll meet someone to love, I am prepared for it. I will be the right person for him because you wouldn’t be able to find one, you’ll be the one who will be the right person for someone,” Cassidy said feeling better now for having her best friends on her side supporting her and will be there at her worst.

After their dramatic chat, they’ve decided to talk about the memories of the first time they’ve met. Those moments they first hated each other for being the person that they are to becoming the best of friends to each other. They also talk about their moments together, how they’ve stayed with each other through thick and thin. They enjoy that evening with a delicious food in their plate, savouring the great moment they’ve had.