The incessant pounding of the door roused Julian up from bed the next day. It was a Saturday and he wanted nothing more to do than to sleep till noon. Grumbling in anger, he ignored the knocks and placed the bed covers over his head. The knocking didn’t stop. It became louder. Julian tossed the covers away from his head away, got up swiftly from the bed and walked out of the room.

“I guess the universe keeps devising new methods to provoke me.” He grumbled as he stomped down the stairs.

He reached the door to his living room and opened it to find Randal at the other side folding his arms. And Randal did not look happy at all.

“Randal?” Julian scratched his head in confusion.

“No, it’s Don Quixotte.” Randal muttered dryly. “Of course, it’s me. Julian, what’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?” Julian frowned.

“I’m talking about yesterday. I’m talking about Sam. You didn’t answer my calls. And then when Nancy tries to reach out to you, you blow her off?” Randal said, his scowl deepening.

Julian let out a sigh as he avoided his friend’s eyes. He did not know where to start.

Randal stared at him for while before his expression softened. They had been friends from childhood yet he always found him complicated sometimes. He couldn’t tell maybe Julian’s actions were a way of grieving or just being his typical self.

“ That’s by the way. I think something happened at your neighbor’s.” Randal said.

“ What?” Julian turned to face him.

“Over there.” Randal jerked his thumb to the side.

Julian stepped out of the door to look at where Randal was pointing. Sure enough, he spotted a van parked by Mr. Wyatt’s driveway, a few feet away from Kate’s car. A group of paramedics in white were gathered around Kate who stood by the door, trying to answer their questions. She had her arms wrapped around herself as she looked shaken. Her face was pale white and her hair was disheveled. Her lips moved on heir own but it seemed like she couldn’t make a coherent sentence, as Julian noticed from the confusion on the faces of the questioning paramedics.

“What happened? An accident or something?” Randal asked as he stared at the scene.

Julian shrugged in response.

At that moment, two more paramedics made their way out of the house with a stroller pushed between them. On top of the stroller was what looked like the shape a body wrapped with white cloth with the edges nearly touching the floor. The two friends stared at each other for a moment and brought their attention back to the stroller.

Just then, one of the paramedics pushing the stroller tripped and nearly lost his balance. The movement caused a hand to slip out from under the white sheet. The hand was burnt. The paramedic quickly adjusted the body, returning the hand within the sheet. It was a quick action but Julian saw it.

“No. Mr. Wyatt.” His voice was barely audible as he felt a wave of dread wash over him. Randal barely heard him and turned to face him.

“Sorry, what was that?” He asked.

“That’s my neighbor.” Julian pointed to the stroller which had now been rolled into the back of the van. He quickly stepped into the house with Randal following behind.

“Man, why are you acting strange?” Randal asked as he closed the door behind him. “You’ve been like this since two nights ago. Is there anything I’m supposed to know?”

Julian sighed as he dropped to the large arm chair. Randal sat at the adjacent chair facing him.

“I don’t know, Randal.” Julian finally replied. He stared at his best friend straight in the eye.

“I don’t know anymore. Weird things have been happening for the past two days.” He continued.

“Weird things?” Randal leaned closer, his interest piqued. “Like what?”

“I can’t really explain it. It’s almost as if Sam and my neighbor died in the same way. I believe Nancy must have told you what happened with Sam.” Julian said.

“Yeah, she did. That’s why I called you. That was part of the reason I showed up here, remember?” Randal had a sarcastic edge in his voice.

“ Something tells me my neighbor died like that. He must have combusted from the inside.” Julian said.

“That sounds crazy. How could you tell?” Randal asked.

“I saw his hand. It was burnt.”

“Burnt?”

“Yeah.”

Randal pursed his lips in thought. The whole thing sounded like a huge bucket of balderdash.

“ I’m not really an expert at these kind of things but I think maybe you should try to find a way to relax your mind and body. The whole thing could be a co-incidence. I’m still not sold on the cause of Sam’s death as it stands at the moment. Something is fishy about Cheryl’s story. But for now, you look like you haven’t slept well in days. I’ll check up on you later.” Randal said.

He stood up and moved to the door. As he reached out to open it, he paused as he suddenly remembered something.

“ I think you should also talk to Nancy when you’re done resting.” He turned to face Julian.

“Why?” A frown appeared on Julian’s face as he stared back at his friend.

“You know why.” Randal replied.

With nothing further said, he made his exit and shut the door gently.

_______________________

Nancy hummed in bliss as she dusted the counter in her kitchen. The sweet aroma of her apple pie in the oven wafted through the air. This was how she enjoyed her weekends. Cooking, cleaning and finally relaxing with a novel. Her novel was her reprieve from the world of reality which continuously served her all sorts of disappointment and depression. Deep within herself, she knew what she was doing today was an act. She needed to pretend that everything was fine. She wanted to believe that nothing bad happened within the last forty eight hours. It was all a dream.

A knock on her door brought her back from her moment of bliss. Curiously, she dropped the napkin and moved out of the kitchen to her living room. Opening the door, she raised her eyes in surprise as she saw the last person she expected. Julian stared back at her. Quickly regaining her composure, she folded her arms and gave him an inquisitive stare.

“ Hey.” He said.

“Hey.” She replied.

The duo fell silent after that. Each for difference reasons. Nancy, wondering the reason for his sudden visit. Julian, being surprised for seeing her in a different state of dress for the first time. From the first time he met her, Julian had never seen her look this way. She wore a dark tank top with white shorts. Julian swallowed as he stared at her long creamy legs. She followed his eyes and suddenly felt conscious of her body. It was good to know he wasn’t as dense as she thought. And as much as she was slightly glad he was finally taken a notice to the opposite gender, she was still upset with him. She cleared her throat and he brought his eyes up to meet hers. It was then he noticed another thing. This was the first time he was seeing her without her glasses. Her blue eyes looked even more brighter.

“ I know my coming here is unexpected.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“ Considering the way we parted ways last time, I’ll say you’re not wrong.” She responded.

“About that. I’m sorry.” He muttered as he looked away.

Nancy was sure she did not hear him right. Did he just apologize? Stone cold Julian just apologized? Truly something was wrong somewhere. She stared at him to decipher if he was joking. She couldn’t see any trace of humor in his features. Instead, what she saw was remorse and fatigue. He had the expression of a lost child. There were also bags under his eyes. Her anger gave way to pity as her expression softened. She unfolded her arms and rubbed her forearm sheepishly.

“It’s okay.” She said. “ You can come in.”

She shifted to the side. Julian walked in past her and she shut the door.

“ I’m making apple pie. You want some?” She said as she strolled towards the kitchen.

Julian opened his mouth to answer but his stomach beat him to it with a loud growl.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” She chuckled at his slightly embarrassed expression and stepped into the kitchen.

Few minutes later she was out with a plate of the dessert. The were two forks on each side.

“Sorry, I only made for one.” She said, placing the plate in the on the table in front of him.

“It’s okay.” He replied.

She sat beside him and they both dug into the dessert.

“ It’s been a while you came here, Julian.” She said after swallowing a mouthful.

“I know. I just wanted to talk about something.” He paused in his eating. He stared at her and made to say something else but he clamped his mouth shut.

“Julian.” Nancy stared at him in worry. She placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

“Julian, what’s wrong?” She added in a softer voice.

After a moment, he heaved deeply and stared at the ceiling.

“It’s Mr. Wyatt.” He said.

“Your neighbor?” Nancy raised her brows. “What about him?”

“He’s dead.”

“What?!” Nancy nearly jumped in her seat, her eyes wide in shock. “How?!”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know how. But from what I saw, I have a feeling it’s the same way Sam died.” Julian’s voice was hoarse.

“You mean.” Nancy paused.

“Yeah.” Julian clarified. “ He combusted from the inside.”

Nancy felt bile running up her throat and she almost had the urge to throw up.

“I don’t understand. It doesn’t make sense.” Her voice was almost a whisper.

“There is one other thing you need to know.” Julian turned to face her.

“Yes?” She listened attentively.

Julian hesitated. Should he reveal it to her?

“Julian.” Nancy had a pleading look in her eyes. “You can trust me. Please.”

“ I saw it.” Julian said. “ I saw the tattoo on Mr. Wyatt’s wrist last night.”

“You mean the same one you saw on Sam?” Nancy tilted her head sideways.

“Yes. I know this sounds strange and you might think I’m crazy but you have to believe me. Something is wrong somewhere. It’s not just mere coincidence.” He replied.

Nancy looked at him curiously. She knew he never took things for granted. And right now, the topic of death was not something to play around with. A thought occurred to her.

"How does the tattoo look like?" She asked.

"It has a bulb shape with numbers within. Sam's had a number one. Mr. Wyatt's had a number two." Julian replied.

“I believe you.” She said.

“You do?’

“Of course I do. Julian, I’ve known you for twenty years. You’ve never joked around. While your claim sounds bizarre, it is not entirely unrealistic. Maybe you are the only person who can see that tattoo for a reason.”

“ You think so?”

She nodded.

“I might not be able to help you professionally on this issue but I know who can.” She said.

“And who’s that?” He asked.

“ A parapsychologist.” She replied.