“Sitting outside the door this late will get you nothing.”

I hurriedly came here out of spite for my friend, but it seemed he did not entertain it this time. Prepared as I was, anyone would have fared me as a beggar.

“Shout with your might, but no one is going to listen to you from there. I heard the place is especially isolated. The owner barred it, as a certain someone kept stinging him.”

I remembered, and it was definitely me. At that time, I had come for a different reason. He had joined the military, being forced by his parents. I had come to cheer him up, but he did not entertain it that time as well. I had waited outside for a while, with no response. It felt strange to me now that he was an honest man once.

I started to feel cold, and the night will come soon. If I must hurry, I will be able to catch the train at the 8th hour. I quickly got up, but my spite did not sit well with me. The fact is, he stole something valuable from me. A chain of quite great expenses, given to me by my father. I knew he lived here, and that he was the lord of this region. I could’ve done nothing to him.

I rushed to the train station by foot, and I could not spare a moment’s rest. It was already half past the 7th hour, and it was already quite desolate nearby. Many spirits come out at night, after all. Especially in these lands, people are advised against the hour of the Dusk. But, the train leaves for the central province, and they do not know that there is such a rule. The central might as well not care for the outskirts, and I petitioned this a while ago, and it did not go anywhere. Now, I could sense the air becoming dry, oddly so, when I arrived at the train station, nearing the departure time.

This train, I believed, would leave early, as there were no passengers from this station except me. It became delayed two hours hence, and the people on board started to feel sickly at this. I too felt nothing but annoyed by the delay, and it was soon that an announcement was made.

“Passenger no. 443, please arrive at the deck.”

I checked my seat no. and they were calling for me. I glanced at my belongings first, and remembered to check it later on. I could not trust anyone, especially considering how they looked at my attire with unexplained suspicion.

I started going towards the most forward cart, and the richmen started to look at me as I crossed. Quite possibly from my inadequate clothing, and the regular suspicion that they harbored for everyone poor. I started to smell a strange odour, which could perfectly be the rich perfume they wore, or it could be the spirits that the locals talk about. It may as well be the rotten odour spreading from the corpses, from the graveyard nearby, and it could well be my drowsiness.

Now, I started to feel a certain oddness at their gaze. Their whispers reached my ear, and I could sense that they talked in mockery. This odd feeling became more apparent as I moved across the train, and each cart became more empty than the previous one.

When I arrived at the deck, there was no one. I could hear my breathing, and my footsteps echoed. The windows were shut close as well, and it was completely dark. Then, a voice came through it.

“You must sleep now. You must first accomplish what you came here for.”

I started to feel drowsy again, and felt a headache come striking. I felt the air shriek, and I saw blood on my hands, and a gun near me, and a door with a similar feeling of nostalgia.

Sooner or later, I could not tell the time had passed. It felt almost like a dream, with time fading into a surreal tick-tock.

I woke up, and found myself outside the door of my friend’s house. I feigned the entire sequence as a dream. After all, what sane man would not!

Now, there was an odd feeling about the house which I failed to shake off. It felt ominous at first, but that feeling slowly turned into suspicion. I started to gaze at its structure, and soon I realized that it was different from before. A fading memory kept me in limbo: the house started to remind me, with a strong feeling of estrangement, of an emblem or sigil of some sorts. Nonetheless, it became apparent that there was a deeper meaning to it.

“Attention! It is almost the hour of the Dusk. Commonfolks, retreat inside!”

I heard the voice come from the loudspeaker, placed above the tower. A few men ran past me in haste. They seemed to rush to the left of the house, although I failed to see any structures nearby. My head started to ache. It must be the spirits, and it must have been them earlier as well. I leaned on the gate, and heard a creaking sound from it. This time, the gates were open. The headache started to become worse, and I started to go across the land to take shelter. There was nowhere else nearby that I could go to. This place should be enough against spirits.

I started to sense various spirits in the perimeter, but I did not spare any time to look out. I felt dizzier, and the air shrieked again.

“Like a lullaby come by.”

I heard a humming come from within my ear, and all I could get was that it resembled a part of a tune. I looked around to expect someone, but I could not find a single person. I rushed inside the house. The ache slowly started to disappear, and the dizziness faded. I let out deep gasps, and put my left hand on the wall for support. My head felt it might explode from the thumping. My legs were about to give in. I was not able to relax however, due to the eeriness that I was feeling. The lights were left on, with no sound whatsoever. It felt oddly quiet. I checked my watch. It was still not the 10th hour.

I started to raise my face when I noticed a slight smell of blood. I started to realize the situation well, from the blood-ridden knife lying beside the telephone.

There, my friend lied in blood.