CHAPTER 11

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm not

Maybe I'm in love with you, or maybe I'm nut.

Michael gazed at the woman standing outside the small house. There was a fence blocking them, so she couldn't see him. But Michael was content just seeing her from afar, ensuring she was okay.

He scanned her appearance. She wore a loose T-shirt and basketball shorts, holding a cigarette in one hand while playing with the smoke from her mouth. She stood leaning against the green-painted wall of the house, barefoot, with her legs crossed, looking up at something in the distance.

She could be mistaken for a lesbian if you didn't know her personally, but since he knew her, he knew she's a real woman hiding behind those masculine attire.

She hadn't changed.

Her style was the same as before, but he had to admit she looked even more beautiful now. Her natural curly hair was tied up, with those hard-to-tame strands of curly hair...

The woman took another drag of her cigarette, inhaling deeply, as if venting her frustrations or sadness into the cigarette itself. After inhaling, she blew out the smoke upwards before flicking the butt onto the cement.

A man emerged from inside the house, catching Michael's attention, especially when he approached the woman.

"How many sticks of cigarettes have you smoked, Jia?" the newcomer asked.

The woman glanced at him briefly before looking up again. She bit her lower lip and half-smiled. "I can feel him, Brent. I can still feel that he's still around..." she said, straying far from the man's question.

"Jia... Please... Why are you doing this to yourself? You have to rest eventually. It's been a month since he left us," Brent said.

The woman pointed to her chest. "No matter how long, Brent, if the weight of regret, anger, and sadness are still here, I still can't forget how I let Michael die."

Michael's brow furrowed at the words. What did Jia mean? He watched the two intently, listening to their conversation and waiting for Brent's response, his curiosity growing with each passing second.

"Stop saying that, Jia. You'll complicate the case. You're a police officer, and you can't use your reasons in court," Brent said.

"Who says I'll tell anyone? Besides, my brother, I don't trust anyone else. I'll investigate in my own way. He committed suicide? Ha! Who are they kidding?! Even you, Brent, even if you don't tell me, I know you know Michael wasn't capable of killing himself. He's not suicidal. Someone killed him!”

Brent raked his hand through his hair, and Michael saw his shoulders rise, and then fall, indicating a deep sigh.

"I don't know what's going on, D," Michael whispered to himself, still getting no response.

Michael didn't know what the demon was up to. D was too quiet.

"We both know Michael didn't commit suicide, Brent. He was killed," Jia said firmly.

Brent faced his sister. "Let's say we both suspect Michael didn't commit suicide, but how will you prove it in court if no one saw his body? When someone asks you, what will you tell the investigators? That you dream about what happened to Michael that night? That someone stabbed him to death?"

"I understand where you're coming from, Jia. But we can't just tell everyone you have this psychic power and that you'll see what will happen in the future. That alibi won't hold up in court. Besides, even the helpers trusted by Michael seem to know nothing about what really happened. They were also put to sleep. And I don't want your ability to be exposed to the public, Jia, because I don't want you to get hurt again from their judgments."

Michael understood Brent, especially knowing Jia's abilities. He first met Jia in college. Jia was a loner and weird, so despite her beauty, men didn't approach her. She was the center of bullying until it happened. Someone pushed Jia's attitude to the limit, humiliating her on stage while she was giving a speech.

That was the first time he heard from her mouth why men kept their distance in college.

"You will die tomorrow, Analyn. I saw it in my dreams. You will die horribly. You'll be run over by a truck and even your parents won't recognize you."

That's what Jia told the woman, and the next day, it happened. The police investigated her, and she became the suspect in the woman's death, even though it was a hit-and-run.

He had played a crucial role in clearing her name, testifying as a witness to confirm her innocence. Michael's curiosity about Jia had led him to follow her, and it ultimately helped uncover the truth.

"The truth is often obscured by wealth, Brent. And we didn't have the resources to uncover it. Fortunately, Michael gave you a chance to prove yourself at his company," Jia said, redirecting the conversation back to her brother.

"You know why I joined Michael's company, Jia."

Michael was confused by what he heard from Brent.

The truth is, Brent is his friend. But no one in the company knows about it. The man didn't want people to think he got his position because of his connection to the CEO.

Sometimes, the three friends would meet at a private restaurant. But lately, Jia had been avoiding him, so he didn't see her until she died. At first, he thought she was just mad because he was courting someone else. But he was wrong.

Hearing it from her...

He thinks he knows why she was avoiding him. She knew she was going to die.

But does she know that I'm alive? Michael wondered. He shrugged off the thought.

"We'll get through this, okay? We'll find out what really happened to Michael." Brent's voice was full of assurance, as if he really would find out the truth.

"But how?"

"There's an old man working in Michael's company. I think he knows something about what really happened. He seems to know the reason..."

Brent and Michael stopped talking and turned around suddenly, looking at him.

"Hide behind the tree, Michael. Leave everything to me," D told him, so he ran away from his friends’ house and hid behind a Banyan tree.

From his hiding spot, he saw his friends looking around nervously, as if searching for something.

"You saw him, right, Brent? You saw Michael too, right?" He saw tears welling up in Jia's eyes and shook his head. He didn't want her to cry. She's important to him because she's his friend.

"I—" Brent hesitated, seemingly unsure of what to say. He approached his sister and hugged her.

"I should have told him the truth, Brent. I should have told him before it happened. How can I move on if I feel like he's still here? How? I'm struggling. I keep thinking about him. I keep wondering what if I told him the truth?"

"Shh... Stop tormenting yourself, Jia. Michael will struggle more knowing that you’re suffering. Come, let's go inside. You're not even wearing shoes."

"I miss him, Brent. I miss him. And God knows how I regret not telling him how I really felt about him. I didn't even get to tell him that I love him."

Michael stepped back, surprised by what he heard. He didn't expect to hear that from Jia. He felt regret...

He shook his head, wanting to laugh at the situation.

"Why now?" he asked himself. "Why did I realize I love you too, Jia, now of all times?"

Michael went back to Mang Jun's hut with his shoulders slumped. He was trapped in a situation he couldn't escape. It was too late for him to realize that Veronica, the woman he was courting, wasn't meant for him.

Now that he's trapped in this hollow life, and at any moment, he'll disappear again...

Forever.

Maybe everyone has their own story of one that got away. And in his case, it was Jia.