Anthony could feel the warmth of the sun nudging him to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned. Looking at his surroundings, silence radiated. He positioned himself in a sitting position and tried to recall what had happened.
"No, it was just because of stress. I didn't see the cat transformed into Aegir, " he convinced himself, messing his hair.
There's no way it is true. Though Aegir seems to like cats and is cosplaying as one, there's no way he is a real cat. "I think I just need to eat and drink meds, I might be sick. " He stood up and dusted his clothes. Passing by the beige colored clock, he stared at the time, 6:06pm.
"It's time. I think Aegir is already home, he might be on the sofa or his room. He should've woken me up, " he said while picking up scattered clothes on the floor and throwing them on the laundry basket.
"Aegir? How does ramen sound for dinner? " Anthony called Aegir, still silence echoed.
Confused that no one answered, Anthony knows that Aegir personhad this keen sense of hearing and Aegir could always hear his call. "Aegir? Where the devil are you?" Anthony asked again, walking through the direction of the living room. Only to find out the television was closed, and right at this time, Aegir would watch his favorite show. The table's organized, no mess made by his chaotic roommate and on the sofa, there's no lazy bum lying-only the two cats, Tibby and Tabby, who look distressed.
He approached the two cats and sat on the sofa, patting their heads. "Aegir's late. Are you worried? " he asked the two cats, which in turn meowed loudly and nudged Anthony's leg-almost like they wanted him to move and go somewhere.
"He will come home soon, I swear I'll lecture that guy, " he promised the cats, slightly annoyed on where the hell his roommate went.
Hours had passed and there's still no Aegir showing, Anthony could feel something starting to build in his gut. "Is he in danger? " Anthony remembered about the bad guy when he first rescued Aegir; worry started to wash over him.
What if Aegir is really in danger? That silly guy can't even protect himself. Aegir is always crying in every little thing. And with that, Anthony is realizing that he is a strong person.
He remembered Aegir's screams when they were watching a horror movie together, the crazy guy clung onto him like his dear life depended on him, and how Aegir decided to sleep on the floor of Anthony's room because of fright. Anthony smiled at that thought.
"Where are you? " Anthony whispered under his breath. Even with his blue sweater, he could still feel the cold chilling wind touching his skin.
This is the first time since his parents left Anthony is feeling this way and he couldn't understand why. "What's this? I am sure he will come home soon, I am worrying over nothing, " reassuring himself, he fished his phone from his pocket and opened a blank note.
"Writing can make my mind calm, yes. My dream a while ago is a worthy scene, I should write about it, " he mumbled and started typing.
"The cat transformed into a human being, everybody couldn't believe their eyes. The sole reason why the cat did it was because he wanted to protect his master... " Anthony paused, blinking his eyes, he still couldn't forget Aegir. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.
"Aegir tried to... " he paused typing again and blinked on the words he typed. He immediately deleted it. "What's with this? " he gripped his hair in frustration.
His heart felt that it's been hammered. He couldn't understand why, he shouldn't care because he doesn't even know that much about Aegir. He could placed his hand on his heart. "Aegir! What are you doing to me? "
Maybe it's because Aegir was kind to him, better than what people are showing him. Aegir never judged him, Aegir was always trying to cheer him up... No one did it for him before.
He shook his head. "No, the deadline of your manuscript is important! Aegir will just go home. He always do, " he reassured himself.
"Maybe if I try it on my notepad, it'll get better? " He told himself, wiping his sweat, sighing.
But no matter where he writes, he always writes the words: Aegir, missing, cat and killed. Which is starting to really get on his system.
Dropping his notepad on the table, he proceeded to get hold of the remote and opened the television only to be greeted by breaking news.
"New bodies found dead, 12 missing, " The reporter announced.
He could feel his body shake, his stomach dropped. He found himself shedding a tear, it dropped almost immediately as he heard the news. And something inside him arose once again, something that he is trying to push aside... fear.
"No...No," he chanted, almost like a whisper. He shook his head in denial. "No... " he repeated it again, he gripped his hair hard.
Aegir wouldn't die... He couldn't... No...
Like a broken record, memories when he felt alone and sad played. Him, crying when his father got missing, his mother and his sister. How his tears shed like waterfall, sitting on the dark corners of his room—praying that he's just dreaming, that it's all fiction, something—a miracle will happen... but it never came. Those days and nights he couldn't function. His heart empty and his will to live, almost depleting. As if night chose to stay and stop dawn from coming. As if darkness was eternal and it chosen him as a prey.
He could feel his tears falling continuously. His voice found its courage to shout, almost like a desperate plea.
He couldn't lose another again. Please... Please...
Anthony found himself grabbing what he could and slamming the door of his apartment shut.
Greeted by the darkness of the night, he found a resolve, he needed to find Aegir.