"Skylar?" Neil's eyes widened when he saw Skylar who was at his house, precisely at his dining table. Especially when Neil gets closer Skylar is wearing home clothes, as if this is indeed his home. He looked intently at Neil and observed him. Neil hesitantly asked, "Why are you here?"
"This is my home too. What's wrong?" he half-heartedly replied as he munched on the nuggets in his hand.
Neil chose to sit next to his father leaving a rolling question in his mind about Skylar's behavior and his presence. He glanced at Raihan who remained relaxed eating the food on the table without looking slightly at Neil.
Neil swallowed all the questions and chose to silently take one of the seats and sit down. He still felt how his body and head still hurt just as much as when he forced himself to go back to school after the incident. Neil sighed as painful pulses in some parts of his body were felt.
Neil tried to swallow all the food he was trying to eat. With his thoughts floating at the events of the day, he shuddered. The nightmare will continue to exist and cling to Neil, shadowing and continuing to pursue him. How could Neil have just forgotten about it? It will continue to exist for the rest of his life.
"Look, Dad, he's interrupting our dinner. He wanted to spit out his stomach contents here. You're a slob." Neil gasped from Skylar's rant, only to realize his hand was pressing on his mouth with nausea.
"If you don't want to eat, go into the room. You never want to appreciate food," the father ordered without making Neil think twice. He immediately rushed into the room and locked the door. His tears had long since dried up, Neil's entire body quivering no matter his father forbade him from crying. Neil doesn't care no one sees him now.
He buried his face behind a pillow. Thinking about how there could be Skylar in his house and his father's attitude suddenly changed. Similar questions were raised in his mind. When he gasped when he realized that Skylar had called Raihan a father, what was this?
Neil groaned as the pain throbbed in the back of his head. He massaged his forehead to try to stop but his efforts seemed futile. Neil lay on his back covering his face with his arms and involuntarily put him to sleep.
***
Neil gasped from sleep when he heard the sound of his phone ringing loudly next to him. He frowned a little to find that it was his father who called.
He reluctantly picked up the call and stuck it to the ear. "Hello, Dad. Why call? I'm at home."
"Where? I was looking for Neil," his father asked impatiently. Look for? It wasn't that his father knew he had been in the room and it was his father who told him to come here. Why find him?
"Dad tried to go upstairs, I was in an hour ago in the room." After saying that, there were no noisy footsteps at the other end.
His father returned to speak at the other end in a loud tone. "Neil doesn't mess around now. I'm in the room, you're not there."
Neil reflex instantly stood up from his seat he stared around the room, but there was nothing. He also looked out of the room but there was no father there. Neil went back to the room and closed the door. "My dad is real, I'm in the room. We had dinner, Dad."
There was a long pause between them and Neil who was starting to feel uncomfortable. There's no way his father is playing him, right? Then Raihan started talking again, "Neil Daddy just came home. I'm in your empty room."
Neil's heart was beating fast, still not understanding what was going on, he blinked several times digesting Raihan's words well. Did his father lie? "I'm in my room, dad, there's no dad in the room."
They were silent for quite a while, Neil heard footsteps heading towards his room. That's Skylar? Or his father? Then Neil whispered, he knew the people outside wouldn't hear him. Neil began to ask, "Are you outside my room?"
Then the incoming message buzzed slowly, he immediately opened it for him to read quickly. Instantly Neil's feelings went awry. His mind didn't understand what was going on. It can't be digested by its logic. Because his father sent a photo of Neil's empty room complete with the time listed in the corner of the photo.
Neil panicked, even more, when he heard a knock from outside the door. "Neil?" called Raihan's voice from outside. If that's not his father's voice calling then who?
"Dad? Where's my dad? Where am my Daddy?" Neil whispered impatiently between the door and his phone.
"Neil is calm. Don't hang up dad here," Raihan said trying to calm Neil who was just in vain.
Neil forgot to lock the door until his father had stood in his doorway. Neil looked at his father as if nothing had happened. Although his cold hands spread with natural fear.
Neil whispered very softly on the phone, but his eyes could not be separated from his father who was standing there looking at Neil as if watching him. "I went into my room, but why don't you have a cell phone?"
"Where is my father? Who are they?" Neil groaned inwardly when his call was cut off. He immediately acted naturally by putting his phone by his side sitting and assuming it had not happened.
"What's wrong?" asked Neil, feeling the roar of his breath in his ear.
"It's okay. I want to see if you're learning or playing a game. It turns out not to be both. Who did you call?" asked his father narrowly, Neil retreating slowly. Raihan had never spoken to her so coldly like this.
Neil gulped. "Neil will learn Dad. I called a friend."
Dad squinted his eyes again researching himself, in search of lies. His gaze became normal, then without a word he simply left by closing the door quite hard. Neil breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing what had happened to him. Neil had to wake up to all the weirdness that was going on. But in fact, he can't. Because it's real, it's not just a fantasy.
Neil got up to his feet walking to the bathroom to wash his face. Neil was tired, but he couldn't fall asleep anymore.
His long hands pressed the water tap on the sink that was flowing profusely. He held some water in the arms of his hands and Neil washed the surface of his face. Feel cold water entering the pores.
Neil's eyes immediately widened after he lifted his face to look in the mirror, Neil's beaded eyes did not find the shadow of himself reflected there at all.
"What the other?"
Continued...