The Empty Building
by Raymond Paquette
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Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3 |
part 2
She is rocking back and forth holding her knees with her head between them, repeating to herself: “I don’t believe in ghosts.” over and over. All I can see is her long black unwashed hair covering her face and her school uniform. I don’t recognize the design. She must go to a private school somewhere.
“Um, sorry to bother you, but could you help me?” I touch her shoulder; her head shoots up, and she skitters back deeper into the garbage. A few cockroaches come out and push themselves deeper into the trash. I shiver, but she’s real. I can feel her. She looks at me with bloodshot red eyes and snorts. I could tell she’d been crying recently. Judging from her unfocused look, I don’t think she has slept in a long time.
“Don’t touch me. You’ll get your ghost icky-ness on me. You can’t trust ghosts. You don’t know where they’ve been.” She goes back to holding her knees. I know I don’t have ‘ghost icky-ness’ or whatever her problem is. I can tell she isn’t all there, but I still have to try. This is the best chance to find Chihiro I’ve found so far.
“Can you tell me what happened here? I’m looking for my friend. His name’s—”
“No friends here. Only ghosts, and I don’t talk to ghosts.”
“Where is everybody?” I ask, screaming. She continues to bury her head into her knees, rocking back and forth. Sighing, I stand up and start to leave when she grabs my ankle. Her hand is warm but sticky.
“Don’t leave me here,” she pleads. “Everybody leaves me.” It feels weird and creepy. She is older than me, and there is something else that seems strange about her, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I want her off of me.
“Let me go,” I say, kicking my leg.
She hangs on. “Please take me with you. I’ve been here for so long, all alone. My mother’s waiting for me, but I can’t leave this place.”
“Can you tell me what happened here? Why does everyone leave?” I asked again, trying to put a smile in my voice. She lets go of my leg, and I stand back. She is sounding sane now, nothing like before. Maybe she’ll be able to answer, but not if I spook her.
“I don’t know. It’s been empty since I’ve been here. I think. It’s been so long since I’ve seen anybody that I don’t remember.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I’ve been here since September 6th, Heisei 3. What day is it now? I kind of lost count.” She smiles as she sticks her hand behind her head and pokes out her tongue. It would have been cuter if she had washed her hair. The dandruff is sticking to me.
I stand there with my mouth open. It can’t have been over twenty-five years since she came in here but that’s impossible. This building had only been completed a few years ago. “September 12th.”
“Really? That’s good. I figured it was longer than just six days.” She gives me a real smile without any attempt at cuteness.
I don’t know how to respond to that. I want to run away, but she’s the first person I’ve met here. Just looking at the amount of stuff she has in here, she has to know that it’s been longer than a week. Besides, how could she get so confused about the date? That’s at least a generation back. It’s Heisei 29 now. Is she crazy? I slide towards the door, ready to bolt.
“Anyway, do you know what happened here? I can’t find anybody.” I can’t trust her, but there is no one else to ask.
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen anybody, and I can’t find my way out. Every time I go to the front door, it’s locked. Can you help me get out of here? I have to find my family.”
“I’ll do my best, but there’s one place I have to go first. Have you been to the 9th floor? I saw something there. I think whoever’s—”
“NO!” she starts wailing. “Not the ninth floor, anything but there. Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go!” Grabbing her head, she rocks back and forth and starts wailing. I don’t know what set her off, but this is too much. I back up, wanting to leave.
She shoots up and pushes me over to the side as she runs out of the room, screaming. I hear the front door slam shut, and she’s gone. Running, I try to find her before she gets too far, but when I step outside there is no sign of her. No sound of a door closing, nothing to tell me where she went.
“Damn!”
I look down. I left my shoes inside. I open the door to get them, but they are gone. How could that be? I was only outside for a minute. Is there somebody else here? Puzzled, I go back to the room where I found the girl. Everything is still there, but it looks like there is more mess than before. The floor is barely visible. That’s impossible. I feel my stomach start to churn, turning my insides to mush.
Did I miss them? There are some packages that weren’t there before and a blanket. I pick it up. She had several before, but this one looks new while the rest are old and tattered. How? I start to heave. This is too much. I don’t want to be here.
That’s when I notice them. My shoes and several other pairs are in the corner of the mess. Just waiting for me. How’d they get there? I pick them up and check them. As I do this, a cockroach crawls its way out. Repulsed, I drop it and step on the roach. I hate the things. I feel the bug juice hit my feet, and remember I’m in my socks. Ewww, Mom’s going to kill me.
I take off my sock and put it in my pocket. I check my shoes, but no more cockroaches. I don’t want to put them on, but I have no choice. I have to get out of this room. Either she is crazy beyond belief, or somebody else is here changing things. I don’t want to meet the other person.
As I leave this strange room, I can’t help but wonder if I shouldn’t get out of here. Leave Chihiro and forget about this place. It’s too weird. No one would blame me for that, not even A-ko. She was always stronger than me, and so was Chihiro. I don’t think they were ever afraid. I can feel the fear rising in me trying to take over. A part of me wants to let it. Be safe.
No! I came here to find my friend, and until I’ve explored every option, I’m not giving up. I clench my teeth and put my shoes back on.
I take the elevator to the ninth floor and get off. Standing in front of 903, I’m struck by how normal the apartment sounds. Downstairs, the sounds of the outside were cut off, but here they’ve come back. It is so freaky weird I can’t get over it. I can even hear kids playing. I try to turn back, but the second I leave the door, all the sounds disappear. I so don’t want to do this, but Chihiro needs me.
I ring the doorbell and wait for the intercom.
“Coming. “ A man opens the door. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
Again, I’m struck by the normality of his answer. After the weirdness of the rest of the building, this is the strangest thing of all. He even looks like a regular businessman and not a crazy axe killer. There’s no way you could describe him as handsome, but neither was he ugly. If I had to put a word on him, it would be, forgettable. His face, it is hard to describe what I’m seeing. It’s almost as if I can’t. Swallowing, I have to ask him the question.
“I’m looking for my friend Chihiro Tanaka. He lives in room 803.”
“The Tanaka’s, Um, that’s the floor below. You got the wrong place. Sorry, but I have to go to work. Is that all?”
“No, um.” How do I say it and not sound crazy? “What’s happened here? I can’t find anybody in the building except for some strange girl living on the third floor.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I saw the Tanaka family just yesterday. If you’ll excuse me.” I stand there as he pushes past me and rushes to the elevator. No way am I letting this guy get away from me, not after everything that has happened. Following him, I get into the elevator.
“That’s not true. I went to his apartment, and it was empty.”
“Huh? What are you talking about, kid? Sorry, I don’t have time for this. I’m late for work.” The doors to the elevator open to the lobby. The man from 903 rushes out and starts running for the door. I go after him but stop. This is impossible. The empty lobby looks the same but, before, it seemed to have a creepy, eerie vibe. This time, it feels more alive, like somebody was there. I can hear people. I walk to the manager’s office and see the light is still on in the room and somebody is sitting at the desk.
“What’s going on here? This place was covered in dust, and there was nothing just a few minutes ago.” I looked, and my handprint and smiley face were gone. I tap on the window to get the manager’s attention, but he ignores me.
Tap Tap Tap He still ignores me, so I start pounding on the glass but still nothing. I try the door, but when I step inside, the room is empty. Looking back through the window, I can’t see anybody either. However, my handprint and face are back.
“Okay, this place is too freaky. Time to leave.” I want to find Chihiro, but not at the cost of my sanity. I will try my mom again. Maybe see if she can pull her ass out of her smartphone long enough. I head to the door and try to open it, but nothing happens. It’s locked. Rattling and pulling, I try to force the door, but it’s no use. “No way! I just saw the man from 903 leave.” Looking out the window I see people passing by, the same thing I usually see. I pound on the glass but nobody looks this way. It’s like the place is invisible. I’m invisible, just like home. I close my eyes and hit the glass one more time. Still nothing.
The only thing I can do is try her place again. Even if that’s the last place I want to go.
I open the door to room 304. I can see her shoes are back and nicely arranged with the heels against the ledge. “Hello, are you in here?” No response. Taking off my shoes, I go to the Tatami mat room, and there she is, sleeping. She must have cleaned up a bit, because most of the mess is gone, and there are only a few blankets. Where could she have taken it all in such a short time?
“Excuse me?” I touch her shoulder, and she jerks awake, scrambling across the floor.
“What the hell! You scared me.” She puts her hand to her chest and takes deep breaths. Then she looks up at me. “Hey, are you real? I’ve been in here for a few days now, and you’re the first person I’ve met.” She comes closer and touches me. I can see hope in her eyes, and she seems like she’s not in crazy town this time.
“You are real. Thank God.” She hugs me, wrapping her arms around me tight and squeezes the breath from me. “I thought I was the only one in this place.”
This is getting weirder. Who is this? She’s completely different from the girl I met just twenty minutes ago. Not only is she talking sense, but I can’t smell her. I think I blocked it out last time, but I could have sworn there was a smell of stale sweat and old meat in the room. Now it’s just like a high school girl. A nice smell. I breathe it in, and it calms me down. I shake my head. This is what old men do.
“My name is Aoi Matsumi, I’m a second-year high school student. How about you?” She pulls back and looks me in the face. Yeah, I wasn’t wrong. It’s the same girl I met, but she’s making sense. How do I respond?
“My name is Shin, and I’m in the sixth grade. I start junior high next month.” I don’t want to give her my full name, so the nickname will have to do.
“Well, Shin, nice to meet you. Are you trapped in here just like me?”
“I think so. I tried the front door, but it was locked. Do you know any way out of this place?”
“No, and I’ve looked everywhere.”
I look at her and bite my tongue. I have to check on something. “Aoi, when did you come here?”
“September 6th. Why?” she asks.
“Heisei 3?”
“Yeah. You’re starting to scare me. Why are you asking those weird questions?”
“Umm, it’s the 12th of September,” I say, gulping.
“I’ve been here for a week. Good lord. My mom must be really worried about me. We’ve got to get out of this place as soon as possible.”
“Heisei 29.” I’m not going to tell her about the regime change yet.
She looks at me in silence. Perhaps she didn’t hear me.
“You’re kidding, right? Heisei 29? Twenty-six years?” She stays silent and then starts laughing, slapping her knee. “Yeah right. Pull another one. Sheesh.”
I smile and nod. I don’t have the heart to try and convince her of the real truth. Besides, I came here to get out of this place. If she can help me do that, I don’t care if she does a complete 180 personality flip. Maybe I can use that craziness.
Copyright © 2024 by Raymond Paquette
