(Image is AI generated using Prompt Hunt. Edited on Canva)
**
I hate people.
Some of them are stubborn; others are hurtful. Some of them take advantage of those who are feeble; others oppress the powerless.
I hate myself.
Not because I’m one of those who belittle others, but because I had been and am still a victim of emotional exhaustion by absorbing various energies around me. I can breathe in the agony of those unfortunate ones, and I can also inhale the enormous aura of those who manipulate others. It's suffocating.
Ever since I was a child, I would isolate myself because the mood and the atmosphere I was in could overwhelm me, and I would usually end up drained by emotional trauma. Not only by my own but also by others.
I had learned to lock myself up in my room, surrounded by books and art materials, so I could escape the chaotic world where I belonged to. Since then, enjoying my own company had helped me become mentally stable. But it wasn’t enough. Because, from time to time, I would still hear negative news and events that would send me into a state of shock. I even wanted to lock my heart, so I wouldn’t feel any emotions and not get affected by dramas.
I needed to evade this situation completely. Being affected by even the slightest stimuli would do me no good.
And one day, the universe answered my silent prayer.
I was in my room when a pigeon tapped on my window. In its beak was a piece of paper. It was a letter from an old friend, Anaya, a self-proclaimed witch.
The bird left after I took the letter from it. With furrowed brows, I opened the note:
Wanna lock your heart?
How have you been, Dorothy? I have heard from the trees that you’re somber. Are you hating your own kind now? Anyway, I'm writing because your birthday is just around the corner. I want to invite you to come to my place. New environment. My heart aches for you.
Love,
Anaya
I smirked at her message. She knew me so well. Since then, I believed that she must’ve really been a witch. But I didn’t fear her the slightest. She was my friend. She wouldn’t hurt me.
**
On the full moon of the month of February, I readied my things for an adventure.
An adventure that would change my life forever.
**
'Take a train, not the usual one. It only appears between 12: 05 AM and 2: 05 AM. Make sure to present your ticket to the conductor, but don’t tell him where you’re going. The name of the town is written on the first letter I sent you.'
' While traveling, don’t peek outside. Don’t be tempted, so close your blinds because you might forget who you are if you laid eyes on any creatures you’ll meet along the way.'
'I’ll be waiting for you at an old abandoned house made of moldy bricks.'
My skin crawled at the final instruction. Not only the message made me shiver but also the terminal I was told to go to. It was surrounded by derelict houses, as dingy as an old photograph. It was like a ghost town during the second world war.
Melancholic, chilling air whistled in my ears, but I ignored it. I mustn’t entertain unusual thoughts at this moment. This trip could be weird and creepy. But I wanted this. I wanted my heart to be locked.
It didn’t take long for the train to arrive. It wasn’t that lengthy, with only eight mini wagons that surely could accommodate six people each.
“Where to?” the conductor asked.
I looked at his sunken eyes that seemed to suck out my soul. His lifeless pale skin sent chills down my spine.
“To visit a friend.” I handed him my ticket, and I shivered when his fingertip touched mine. His was as icy as the ice cubes from the freezer.
After inspecting my ticket, he walked away limping. That was when I noticed that his right foot was missing.
I breathed the nostalgic air on the train. It smelled like my mom’s garlic rice sauteed in butter. Then comes the humming like that of my grandma’s. It was followed by the melancholic strumming of my dad’s guitar, playing his favorite song, Hotel California.
Though curious, I didn’t open my eyes. I just listened to my somber heart beating in solitude with tears streaming down my cheeks.
I yearned for the presence of my parents who were long gone. I missed my grandma whom I hadn’t seen since I was sixteen. It felt like my heart was squished and smashed by the pain of longing.
“This is our final destination. Enjoy your stay in Caogaoyao.” I heard a woman’s eerier voice on the amplifier announce.
When I opened my eyes, the train had vanished into thin air. I found myself in front of the derelict house Anaya told me about.
I was taking a few steps towards the house when someone pulled me from behind.
“Don’t you dare go near that place. They’ll hear you,” a man hissed in my ear.
“Who will hear me?” I asked.
“The trapped souls of Hyde’s victim.”
“What happens if they hear me?”
“They’ll take your body.”
My knees almost gave in when he said that. But I gathered the remaining courage I had to face the man and was stunned. In front of me was the most handsome guy I had ever seen. Under the glimmer of the moon, his brown eyes shined. His pupils were dilated. His high-bridged nose and jaw bones were his prominent facial features. His curly black hair was thick and bushy like his eyebrows.
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to hide the admiration I had for him. For a long while, it was like the first time I became attracted to a man again after several heartbreaks. I could feel my cheeks burning, but I tried to calm down.
“I’m Sebastian. You’re Dorothy, right? Anaya asked me to pick you up.”
And that was it. All the other words he said were gone in a blink as I was captivated by his sweet, baritone voice. I couldn’t care less what he was saying. I only wanted to hear his voice.
“Hey! Are you listening to me?” he asked in an annoyed tone, noticing that I wasn’t paying attention. “Come on. We mustn’t stay here.”
**
We reached Anaya’s home, and what I saw petrified me. My friend seemed to be trapped in her own world. She was staring blankly at nowhere.
“What happened to her?”
“She was under some spell,” Sebastian said. “That’s why I brought you here.”
“You what?! I don’t understand. It was her who invited me to come here.”
“No. It was me. I’ve sensed your connection with her even from a mile, so I thought I should try and contact you. And, fortunately, you answered.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. My mind went downhill because of the course of events.
“Look, I know you can help my sister. I was able to contact you using her cards.” He pointed to the scattered deck of tarots on the table beside Anaya. “A guy was obsessed with her, but she refused him. So, he went to Hyde and seek his help.”
“And who is this Hyde?”
“He’s a quack doctor who has the ability to lock a person’s heart, especially those who are not willing to open their hearts for love.”
I almost choked upon hearing what he said. “I—I also—”
“Look! Once a heart is locked, the owner of that heart would be absent-minded. Like, he or she is alive but in a different realm with someone who casts the spell. We need to find the key to unlock Anaya’s heart, or it will be too late for her! I don’t want to lose my sister.”
Sebastian held my hands and knelt in front of me.
My heart was about to explode, not because of panic but because of the voltages of electricity flowing through my veins because of his touch.
“Where do we find the key?”
Sebastian got up and gently dragged me to where the cards were. He then pulled another ordinary deck from the drawer under the table.
“Anaya has been communicating with me through telepathy. She said she’s happy to see you, and you know where the key is.”
“How do I know?”
“It is what Hyde does. When he locks a person’s heart, he keeps the key in another person. Someone dear but not near his victim. It couldn’t be me because we’re siblings. The key would be accessible that way. You’re Anaya’s only friend, so I’m sure Hyde kept the key in you.”
Puzzled, I thought of something that might’ve connected me with Anaya. “Where is Anaya’s consciousness now?”
“She’s in a different realm with the obsessed guy, and they’re about to get married. That’s why we need to hurry!”
“What happens to the guy once we find the key?”
“He’s gonna be insane. I mean his spell will retaliate against him. He would be one of the trapped souls in the abandoned house.”
“The only thing that links Anaya and me is the letter you sent. I mean, it literally has the word heart in it. Shall we try it?”
Sebastian nodded.
I took the letter, which I noticed, only then, was folded in a shape of a heart.
“What should we do next?”
He guided me to the tarot cards which he shuffled and piled. Then, he asked me to place the letter on top of the deck.
The earth trembled as he began chanting unintelligibly. Then, he called my name.
“Dorothy! Dorothy!”
I pulled my face out of the book I was reading. There was no Sebastian. Only my brother was shaking my bed.
“What?” I asked with furrowed brows.
“You’re reading again. I told you to keep this book away. You’re exhausting yourself. You know you can’t do that, right? You’re sick. You need to rest.”
I sighed when he took the book from me. “I’m bored.”
“You can read as many books as you can once you recuperate, okay?”
“Let’s play Uno cards, then.”
“It’s for next time. Just get well.” I pouted as my brother fixed my table and kept the cards and the book I was reading. “By the way, a friend of yours dropped by earlier. I didn’t get her name, though. Here, she asked me to give this to you.”
My heart skipped when he handed me a heart-shaped piece of paper. With shaky hands I unfolded it and began reading:
“Battling with cancer and being sick sure is bothersome. But don’t worry, we got your back. you’ll heal soon.”
Then a letter A was written beneath. My tears welled after reading the letter.
“So, I wasn’t just reading a book earlier.”