My Eyes: Part VI

(Story begins here.)

I sat down on the bar stool that Uncle San pointed out to me from behind the counter. Shumei was still standing in the corner, looking at me, though it was more of curiousity than anything else. It was clear that she was just going to observe and not take part in the conversation.

``Okay. But, ah, why are you suddenly speaking in perfect English when you were sounding like a deranged old man earlier?''

``I was?'' Uncle San said, looking a little confused. ``Nah, it must be in your head. Anyway I promised to explain what just happened.''

``Yes...'' I replied, waiting.

``Let's start from the beginning, shall we? We all live in the Material plane, and that's where we are right not, right this instance. Everything you see and do here exist as a part of the Material plane. It's boring, nothing weird happens, basically your regular life.''

I nodded my head. There was nothing new that he had just said.

``But there is another `plane of existence' out there. Coincidentally, that `plane of existence' is in lock-step with our Material plane, which means that things move at roughly the same rate as things that move here. We call this other `plane of existence' the Spectral plane. That's what the great pacifist Axolotl told us.''

`` `The great pacifist Axolotl'? Who's he? Also, if the planes are in lock-step, why is it dangerous to be in the Spectral plane and not in the Material plane. More importantly, why is it that for that moment I ended up in the Spectral plane?''

``I'm getting there,'' Uncle San said, his voice sounding a little tired. ``Be patient, will you?

``Axolotl is one of the beings that exists on the Spectral plane. Though much fewer in number than us, the beings in the Spectral plane possess strange powers that we do not seem to understand how they work. There has been stories that they can create and manipulate types of matter at will, but the way they do it is apparently incomprehensible given our current understanding of Physics. Axolotl is, as I have said, the great pacifist. Unlike the other beings that he described, he was less aggressive, and have the general philosophy of avoiding applying violence as much as possible.''

``And that's why the Spectral plane is dangerous and I cannot be in there?''

``Yes, in some sense,'' Uncle San replied. ``Meeting up with a Spectral being other than Axolotl would have been a terrible problem, because it is likely to attack with impunity, though technically you're never actually completely in the Spectral plane...''

``What do you mean? Didn't you say that I was in the Spectral plane just now before you pulled me back or whatever you called that thing you did?''

``No. I said that you were `sort of' in the Spectral plane. You are one of the people whose Eyes have finally opened. Unlike most cases, people whose Eyes are opened are only really partially in the Spectral plane, or more specifically, only their eyes are actually physically in the Spectral plane. The rest of their body is still more or less in the Material plane, though the percentage of body being in the Material plane varies from person to person.''

``That is freaky. So I'm just a pair of eyeballs floating about in a different `plane of existence'?'' I asked, incredulous.

``Effectively, yes.'' Uncle San sighed. ``This is where things get a little complicated. You will need to learn the conditions in which you will have a tendency to slip in the Spectral plane and learn how to control them so that you don't accidentally do that when you are not intending to do. This will require some getting used to but it is of the most important basic skills that you need to have.''

``Wait, why would I ever want to go back to the Spectral plane if it is as scary as you make it out to be? I have no wish to go back there, not especially if I'm going to meet up with scary things that want to kill me, and am just a pair of floating eye balls.''

``Because there will come a point in time that your ability to use your Eyes will be important for the very survival of our Material plane. Not just your ability, but others who have their Eyes opened as well.''

My Eyes: Part V

(Story begins here.)

``As the great pacifist Axolotl might say, you are in the Spectral plane,'' Uncle San said. ``Sort of,'' he added a short while later.

I looked at him confusedly, the questions swirling through my addled brain. The whole place did seem to feel sort of in-betweeny, the kind of inexplicable neither here nor there sort of feeling. The general location where I was in still fit what I had known about the place for the most part, with the only unnerving thing being the non-response of Shumei. But Spectral plane?

``No doubt you are confused over the one thing that means no sense to you,'' Uncle San said, seemingly having read my thoughts.

``What is the Spectral plane,'' I stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

``Indeed, `what is the Spectral plane','' Uncle San said. ``I will explain to you soon enough, but first, we need to get you back to the Material plane completely. It is not safe to be at the Spectral plane if one is not prepared at all.''

Once more Uncle San stepped up to me. However, instead of putting his hand on my head, he grabbed hold of my arms and gave me a great tug. For a moment, I felt as though I was being wrenched violently through something that I couldn't actually see but could easily felt. There was a strange disorienting feeling that passed quickly and I found myself standing in the shop. Instead of merely seeming normal, things actually felt normal. Over in the corner, Shumei was looking at me like before, except she looked more alive, and her eyes were filled with concern. Our eyes met, and I had to quickly look away, for some reason.

Uncle San was still standing behind the counter as I looked about me to verify my surroundings. Yep, it all seemed to be normal as far as I could tell. Satisfied, I walked up towards the counter and looked at Uncle San dead in the eye.

``So, I'm back in the Material plane?'' I asked in a tentative sort of way, remembering vaguely something that was said soem time back.

``Yes. And truthfully,'' Uncle San said, ``you never really left the Material plane, not wholly.''

``I don't understand you,'' I replied. ``You promised an explanation.''

``Yes yes, that's right. I do owe you an explanation.''

Uncle San heaved a sigh and straightened himself a little. I could hear some of the joints in his back popping.

``Let's take a seat first. The explanation is rather long.''

(Story continues here.)

My Eyes: Part IV

(Story begins here.)

To my surprise, everything seemed to go back to normal. Or rather, back to the original state in which I had once seen them. I could feel my heart racing, my head suddenly feeling very light. There was something rather strange going on, and I haven't the foggiest clue what it was. I reached for the door once again, and found that I wasn't hallucinating earlier---the door did not have a knob.

``Why are you trying to run away?'' Uncle San said with a quizzical voice. ``Why are you acting so confused?''

``Junhao, calm down,'' Shumei suddenly said. ``I know what you are experiencing.''

``Lies!'' I shouted. ``Utter bullshit and lies! What the hell is going on here? Why did you bring me to this weird place? And what is Uncle San exactly? Why is there no way of leaving this shop?''

Uncle San made a move that was too quick to see, and suddenly he was already next to me, despite being behind the counter earlier. He held out his hand and rested it heavily on the top of my head with his palm. He mumbled a few words under his breath, words that I did not manage to catch, and I slowly felt a tingling sensation that was moving from my body upwards from my spine up to the crown of my head. I could feel my panic subsiding, my breathing normalised and my heart rate slowing back down. Then, he stopped, raised his hand from my head and brought it back to his side, chuckling a little to himself.

With the new-found sense of calm, I started to look about me once more. Shumei was still standing there, somewhat emotionless once again, while Uncle San had walked back to his original position behind the counter. I walked forward towards Uncle San, stealing a glance at Shumei, who was still standing there and looking onward with little affect. I started to wonder if it was her that I heard who told me to calm down.

``Well Junhao, let's start this all over, shall we? I am San Chin-Fong, but most people call me `Uncle San'. You are in my shop, and I know what is wrong with you and why you had that sudden reaction.''

``What did you do to Shumei?'' I demanded, emboldened by his relatively meek-looking demeanour.

``Shumei? I didn't do anything to her. It's a side effect of this place and what you are experiencing. She had called me earlier today to inform me that you were acting as though your Eyes had finally opened, and I told her to bring you over as soon as she could before you started to hurt yourself from the things that you have seen.'' Uncle San paused for a moment and cleared his throat. ``Besides, Shumei is one of my agents.''

``Agents? What do you mean?''

``Shumei is a member of our sect since young. Her parents are also a part of the sect. We go around looking for people who have opened Eyes and try to help them deal with the consequences of having their Eyes opened. Not all members have opened Eyes though. Shumei is one of those who doesn't have her Eyes opened, but she has seen enough people who have that she can tell if someone is undergoing the steps that causes their Eyes to open.''

``Then why is she standing there like that?''

``Like I said,'' Uncle San replied. ``It's a side effect of this place.''

``And just what is this place?'' I asked.

(Story continues here.)

My Eyes: Part III

(Story begins here.)

I stepped back, partly in confusion, partly in anger. Things were not going well at all; I have no idea what the deal was, and this Uncle San and Shumei were acting weirder than I would have thought. I blinked my eyes.

The room, formerly dull with the grey cabinets and counter, suddenly presented itself in an amazingly fierce colour of red. ``Uncle San'' himself was a major source of the fiery red colour, his entire silhouette encompassing the sort of red that one would associate with that of a flame. Shumei was standing near him, and despite the fact that she was relatively dark in colour compared to the red emitted throughout the room, I could see that the red aura of ``Uncle San'' had engulfed her.

I kept on backing up, while looking around frantically. The counter and cabinets had shapes of red that reminded me of various curios that one might find in some kind of god-shop, except that some of them had shapes that were more akin to idols and skulls, rather than the more regular joss sticks and incense. I could almost see ``Uncle San'' smiling at my confusion and fear through the shades of red that was present, with Shumei standing next to him, nearly emotionless.

The red that was emanating from the interiors of the cabinets and counter seemed to be flowing and increasing in their reach, until tendrils seemed to reach out from them and snake towards me. I continued to back up, my fear increasing, my anger abating, until I hit the door from which I had entered. I turned around and tried to open the door, but found to my horror that I could not find the handle nor the knob. I couldn't remember if the door had a knob or handle in the first place -- it was Shumei who led me into the shop in the first place. Panicking a little, I turned around once more to face the snaking red, with the closest already trying to wrap its tendrils around my foot.

I screeched in horror and jumped up, blinking my eyes.

(Story continues here.)

My Eyes: Part II

(Story begins here.)

Shumei led the way as I followed her groggily, as though my head were weighed down by something that I couldn't really describe. There was just something amiss that I could feel but was unable to pinpoint exactly---then it suddenly occurred to me---Shumei was reacting rather strangely. There was something odd about her demeanour, and that she had to run an errand with me in tow. Her reply when I asked where we were heading was surprisingly muted, as though she were trying to hide something. Perhaps all these hallucinations that I have been seeing are related to her errands.

We rounded the corner and found ourselves on a quieter side of Katong Shopping Centre, the kind of quiet place where most people would pass by without a second glance; that was how off-the-road it was. The off-shoot corridor felt a little dimmer than most places, even though I was sure that the lighting system in shopping centres were mostly consistent since they are all installed by the same contractors at construction time. Yet the corridor did have that darkened feeling about it. Unconsciously, I blinked my eyes and what I saw confused me further.

Where we were standing, outside of the corridor, the mall had that same husked feeling that I got when I first realised that I had entered the mall. But within the corridor itself, instead of the dark and quiet husk, the entire corridor was painted in hellish colours of red all over, with swirling maroon clouds emanating from one particular shop door, with the rest seemingly unlit and passive looking. The redness seemed to be concentrated most at that one particular door, and as the distance from it increased, the hellish red seemed to give way to the dull darkness that made up the rest of the mall. Horrified at what I saw, I blinked my eyes once more, and everything seemingly went back to normal.

``Junhao?''

``Yeah,'' I replied as reassuringly as I could. ``I'm fine. Maybe I'm just too tired and need some rest.''

``Maybe...''

``Will you be taking long?''

``Hmm... not too sure. Anyway, let's go to the place together,'' Shumei said as she led the way again.

Out of curiousity, I asked her which shop we were heading to. What she pointed to me startled me a little.

It was the same door that I saw the red light emanating in that moment of strangeness!

Trying hard to hide away my discomfort, I followed Shumei as she led the both of us towards the shop.

The door gave a little creak as Shumei twisted the handle and opened it. I could feel a sudden coldness that was emanating throughout my body, as though someone has suddenly decided to turn up the power of the air conditioner, with the only difference that this time, the ``air conditioner'' that was powered up higher was within my body itself. I shivered for a slight moment before shrugging it off. Couldn't really bring myself to look like a wuss in front of Shumei; my pride just wouldn't stand it.

Shumei had already stepped through the door of the shop at that point, and I followed suit. The interior of the shop was an oddly dim location, with inexplicable sources of ambient light that gave the room with enough illumination to allow one to manoeuvre through it without tripping over anything. Apart from the general darkness of the shop, there was a general orderliness within that made it look just like any other shop that was in the shopping centre---there was a counter that stretched from the left side of the door all the way to the back, where columns of cabinets dominated. While on the outward glance the shop looked ordinary save for the low lighting, there was still something that was odd about it. Then it hit me.

There was no clue what the shop was selling. It was true---the counter was a solid mass of grey, while the cabinets lining the back had no windows to show what they were holding. All in all, a very strange place indeed.

I was tempted to ask Shumei if she had make a mistake, but she had already gone towards the rear of the shop already. As if on cue, a person stepped out from behind a hidden curtain at the rear and approached Shumei with a grin in his face. I couldn't bear to stand at the entrance of the shop looking like an idiot, so I walked into the shop tentatively, waiting and observing what was going on.

``Hi Uncle San!'' Shumei said to the newcomer on the scene, ``I'm here with Junhao.''

``Eh heheheheh,'' Uncle San started, ``so you came with Junhao?''

``Mhm.''

``Veerry good, veerry good,'' Uncle San continued, his voice creaking and screeching at the same time. I shuddered a little when he started to speak.

``Hold on a minute Shumei,'' I said, finally finding my voice. ``I thought you were supposed to be doing some errand?''

``I am,'' Shumei said as she turned around to face me.

``Then what has this got to do with me being here or not?''

``Don't you understand?'' Shumei replied, with a face of forlornness. ``My errand is to take you here.''

``What?!'' I ejaculated. ``What is this place? Why did you have to take me here? Who is this `Uncle San'? Answer me Shumei, answer me! Just what the hell is going on?''

Shumei giggled in a most disturbing way and stepped aside to give Uncle San a better view of me.

``Ah!'' Uncle San said, seemingly oblivious to my outburst, ``you have indeed brought Junhao here.''

I swore under my breath. Just what was going on in this place?

(Story continues here.)

My Eyes: Part I

It would be rather unbelievable to be looking at this, that's for sure. Things are always in a flux that is surrounding me, both in the good and bad sense of the word. It is really hard to determine what is real and what is just a figment of my imagination, but I suppose I can still venture a guess or two on that.

It all began roughly two days ago. I was minding my business mostly while sitting in class. As I recall, it was a chemistry class, and the teacher was just droning on and on about some organic chemistry topics. It was hard to stay focused, and soon I found myself drifting off to sleep, only to quickly jerk up in sudden self-realisation that I was nodding off. I would say that it was not the best time to be trying to catch up on sleep---it was a class period after all.

``Junhao!''

``Eh?'' I groggily responded before suddenly sitting up straight in full attention.

I found the whole class looking at me in a strange way, and the chemistry teacher was no different. However, there was something odd about her that I couldn't quite put my hands on. Then it hit me.

She had three eyes. Two in the usual places, and one that was located right in the middle of her forehead.

``Junhao! Did you just woke from your nap?''

I blinked hard and looked again. Nope, only two eyes, nothing weird there. Must've been hallucinating.

``Um, sorry?'' I replied somewhat confusedly.

``Need I remind you the importance of paying particular attention to this topic of organic chemistry? You do know that it is of a significant percentage in the O-levels right?''

``Yes Ms Tan,'' I replied apologetically.

``Good, please don't waste everyone's time again,'' Ms Tan said nonchalantly as she carried on with the droning.

I tried my best to hold out for the remaining twenty minutes to the lesson before the much needed recess break that was to mark the middle of the lessons of the school day. It wasn't easy, but I think I managed okay. When the bell finally run and Ms Tan took her leave from the class, I promptly crashed out on my desk with my head on my hands.

``Junhao,'' a soft voice drifted through my sleepy head, ``you doing alright? You look kinda rough.''

``Buh?'' I opened my eyes lazily to see who it was who roused me from my sleep. What I saw made me awake almost instantly.

It was Shumei, the class beauty. Her skin was flawlessly fair and had long hair tied up in a ponytail. She wore glasses of course, like most of us in school, but the frame was of a subtle pink that fit her cute face quite aptly. Her eyes were not particuarly large, but they contained a sparkle that would bring joy to anyone who looked through them. And of course, puberty hit her slightly earlier, and her physique was made of sensual curves that almost every other girl in school were jealous of. Like I said, the class beauty.

She and I were good friends since a long time ago. We went to the same primary school, and were in the same class for all six years of that. And as luck would it, we managed to enroll in the same secondary school in spite of the streaming that came at the end of primary six and have been assigned to the same classes for the last three-and-a-half years.

Unfortunately for us, we were always teased about our supposed relationship with each other. I was mostly a nerd, doing pretty well in school when I had the mind to, and was not really that good-looking, but that did not stop anyone from claiming that Shumei and I were an item. Shumei didn't seem to mind it that much, but I always felt a little bad for her as it seemed as though she had a bad deal in being associated with me that way.

``Junhao, are you okay?'' Shumei asked again concernedly.

``Yeah, I suppose so. Stayed up too late playing that new game; it's just so addictive,'' I replied truthfully.

``Perhaps you shouldn't play that game too much if it is affecting your school work, right?''

Of course she was right, but I was not going to give in that easily.

``Nah... it's okay. I'll be fine. Thanks for getting back to me.'' I really wanted that sleep so much.

``If you say so... I'm going to get some food from the canteen, you want anything?''

I shook my head. Sleep was more important.

``Okay then, try to stay awake in the remaining half of the day, yeah?''

I nodded in agreement before laying on my hands once more to catch my nap.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. That thirty-minute nap was sufficient to keep me going for the remaining three hours of classes, and at the conclusion of the final class of the day, I was already raring to go home.

As I put away my books in the locker outside of the classroom, Shumei accosted me once more.

``Heading for home?''

``Yeah. You?''

``Sort of. I need to run some errands first. You want to come?''

``Sure, why not?'' Now that school was over for the day, I found that I had some excess energy that I didn't know existed. Might as well spend it with Shumei. After all, I did feel kind of bad for not going with her for recess break---that was the usual routine that I had with her for a long time, and it was broken only rarely, when I had a completely legitimate reason to be otherwise unable to join her.

``That's great!'' Shumei exclaimed as she shifted her school bag on her shoulder. ``I'll wait for you.''

I nodded as I stuffed the remaining book into the locker and slammed it shut before locking it with the small padlock I had. I picked up my backpack from the floor and put it on before following Shumei.

As we walked towards the staircase to exit the classroom floor, I started to wonder what errand Shumei had to do. It was not something particularly unusual, but it was not that often that Shumei would involve me in an errand that she had to do. Often my involvement would come to play when she had to move some rather bulky or heavy items home, or if the particular job required more than one person to be there. And of course, I would be sure to find out what was expected of me as we were going to the location. Rarely do I turn down helping her even after knowing the nature of the task.

``So, where are we heading to today?''

``Um, this place in Katong Shopping Centre.'' That was a rather strange reply, made with a voice that sounded rather unfamiliar to me, as though Shumei had been replaced by a gynoid instead. Not finding it strange enough to warrant a closer look, I took her answer at face value and followed her on to our bus that stopped at the bus stop that we were heading to.

The bus ride was in near silence, with only the sounds from the engine permeating through the air. Shumei was noticeably quiet, and my languor was returning from the lack of physical activity while sitting in the seat. Within a few short moments, I nodded off once more.

When I awoke, I found that I was standing alone with Shumei in a rather dark mall. It was an odd feeling---it didn't feel as though I just woke up from a nap; it felt more like I had just blinked my eyes and suddenly appeared after a blink. The surroundings were of a much different nature, a certain foreboding feeling that seemed to have engulfed me at that point in time. Then it hit me.

As I looked about to take in the sights and sounds that were a part of the mall, I realised that I was looking at what appeared only to be a mall on the superficial level, but was really looking at the husk of a mall. All around me were the shops that were supposed to be there, but they didn't have their main lights on. There were no other people around save Shumei and I, and I found that there was a quiet ambient glow that made an otherwise logically dark and powered-down mall vaguely visible.

``Jun-Junhao, are you alright?''

``Why do you ask?'' I replied in a midly confused tone.

``Well, erm, we were walking along and then you suddenly stopped there and looked about vacantly. You're scaring me you know...''

Now I was more confused. How was I scaring her?

``I'm alright. Do you find this place a little strange?''

``Strange? In what way?''

``Isn't it unusually dark and quiet?''

``Huh? No? It's not dark and quiet and all.'' It was Shumei's turn to be confused. ``Are you sure you are alright?''

I blinked hard. The lights came back on, and the mall was in its usual hustle and bustle, with the afternoon crowd almost in full force.

That was puzzling. The last I remembered, I was on a bus, then the next thing I knew, in a strange form of the mall. Now it seemed like things were okay.

``Uh Shumei?''

``Hmm?''

``I don't feel so good.''

``Huh? What are you talking about?'' Shumei asked puzzledly.

``Wait, didn't you ask me if I was doing okay just a while back?''

``No, I didn't say anything. Are you sure you are fine?''

My head was aching. Something odd was happening, and I was pretty sure that it was not a hallucination this time. I rubbed my temples with my hands.

``It's okay, let's go do your errands?''

``Sure. I think the place is just around the corner anyway.''

``Ah, that's good,'' I replied as I followed her closely.

(Story continues here.)