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“Haa… haa… haa… haa…”
In the dead of night, a shadowy figure was pacing through the street with all his might. Fled from the empty main street to a back alley, over the filthy passage piled in trash he went, then returned to the relatively well-lit street. He took a look behind his shoulder, and once again returned to the shadowed path. The loop perpetuated.
There was not a clear destination of this fleeing, nor could the escapee predict how long it was going to last. All that occupied his mind was to run away - away from the devil.
Wh… what was that thing!
In spite of his frantic screams on the inside, he did not dare to release them in the air as the possibility of this exposing his whereabouts brought shivers down his spine.
He initially wanted to take a rest at a back alley in North Point after the night out dining with his friends and get going when he sobered up. Yet in the middle of his nap, he sensed a gust of eerie wind brushing against him. As he pried open his eyelids, the blurry view of ferocious jaws sprang him to life. Since then, he had been on the run.
Neither did he take a good look of its face, nor have any idea what it was, but a voice emanated within him:
That thing is dangerous. If you don’t keep your legs moving, you’ll die at the scene for sure.
He thought to himself that if he fled to a crowded street, perhaps the “thing” would not be able to locate him. However, it was already three in the morning and residents in the area were fast asleep in their beds. If he were to look for a safe haven, would he not have to make his trip all the way over to Lan Kwai Fong which was at least three miles away?
Lost count of the streets he had crossed, he found his stamina running low. He proceeded to hide himself in another dim alley, leaned towards the wall and started huffing and puffing. Scanning around the perimeter, there was no sign of any living creature. The cool autumn night breeze was the only thing greeting him.
It wasn’t there when I checked behind my back so many times… Phew, I guess I managed to get rid of it…
Letting out a sigh of relief, he was about to make his way back home. But little did he know that his fate was sealed the moment he turned around - his eyes locked with the other pair in the dark.
The grave danger he had been running his life away from, was around him all along.
As if it was the abyss itself, he was unable to perceive its body in the pitch-black darkness, except for the glaring pair of ruby red eyes before him. Horrified by its presence, he backed up, yet stumbled heavily on an empty wine bottle lying on the ground. Fear left him paralysed as he lifted his head at the approaching crimson figure staring down at him. At last, in the absence of hope, darkness engulfed every corner of his vision.
And that sight marked the end of his memory.
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