The Ball

Chapter 6
The Men

Rin's Perspective

It was that evening that Len got discharged, but Rin didn't know, so she went to the hospital. When she arrived, the nurse at the counter told her Len had been discharged earlier. So now Rin was walking back home. She thought she occasionally heard footsteps behind her, but she dismissed it, thinking it was her imagination. However, as she got to a dark lobby of a flat, the footsteps got louder. Now she was convinced someone was following her. She started to trot quickly, not daring to look back. The footsteps got louder. Rin was sweating now. It seemed like ages, getting out of the lobby... Now someone intercepted her. A big man in a suit, and he was blocking the exit. Now she was truly trapped. She was about to run into a random direction and scream, but someone behind her covered her mouth and held her tight, and her scream was muffled. Rin struggled to break free, kicking at the man shins and thrashing wildly. The other man came to her captor's help, and she was subdued, though still whimpering. One of the men took out a jar and opened it, and took out a rag. They covered their noise with one hand, still trapping Rin, and brought it to her face. Rin could not do anything. Everything was fading…

Len's Perspective

Len got home. He slunk on the sofa and turned on the television. Now he was back to normal life…his parents were still on a work trip. Hmm, he should tell Rin he's discharged. He picked up the phone and dialed Rin's number. No answer. Rin must be out. Her parents were on a job trip too… Ah! He needed to do some homework, and grudgingly turned off the television, closed all the windows and went to his room and finished off the homework and went to sleep.

People certainly made a fuss out of him the next day at school, especially girls. After a tiring morning at school, Len finally managed to shake off a couple of girls tailing him and started for home. Rin was absent from her class, that was weird. So now he was on his way home alone. "Tap, tap" what was that? Len shrugged and went on, and was crossing a deserted pathway. "TAP, TAP" Now he was sure someone was following him, but he didn't want to look back. Eventually, he started to walk faster and the footsteps got louder and faster. Suddenly, Len broke into a run, not even bothering to look back. Immediately, someone also started chasing him. Len looked back to see two men, and they were gaining on to him. Len had no idea what they wanted, but it they looked like they weren't there for a friendly chat. They were gaining in on him… he turned on a corner, and went into a busy road full of people, also where his house was located. He looked back and saw the man staring at him, though no longer chasing him. They vanished quickly. Len slammed the front gate and went into the house. What was that about? Soon he calmed down, thinking they were probably after someone else, and started thinking on who to go to the ball with, as a couple more girls had asked him. And he wondered if Rin was sick, maybe he should visit her house soon. For now, he would relax…