[Mombasa – Evening | Kali Residence]
Dhalik didn't head inside right away.
He stopped just before the door, hand hovering near the handle.
The street behind him was quiet.
Too quiet?
No… just normal.
A couple voices in the distance. Someone closing a gate. Wind brushing against the trees.
Nothing out of place.
Still, he looked longer than he needed to.
Then finally went in.
The smell of food met him first.
Warm. Familiar.
His mother was in the kitchen, back turned.
"You're late."
"Not that much."
A small pause.
She stirred something, then added, "You were with Msemo?"
"Yeah."
She nodded once. That was enough for her.
For him… it wasn't.
He dropped his bag near the wall and sat down, leaning forward slightly, elbows on his knees.
The house felt the same.
Same sounds. Same layout.
So why did it feel different?
He rubbed his hands together absentmindedly.
The park came back to him.
That empty space between the trees.
And the way everything just… stopped.
Not slowly.
Not fading.
Just gone.
His jaw tightened slightly.
"…That's not normal."
Saying it out loud didn't help.
If anything, it made it worse.
Later—
The sky dimmed, light slipping away in slow shades of orange and gray.
The neighborhood quieted down with it.
Dhalik lay on his bed, one arm under his head, staring up.
He tried not to think about it.
Didn't work.
Every time his mind slowed—
it came back.
That moment.
That space.
That man walking through it like nothing was there.
"…He knew," Dhalik muttered.
"Maybe."
Dhalik turned his head.
Msemo stood near the doorway, like he'd been there a while.
"…You didn't hear me come in, did you?" Msemo said.
Dhalik shook his head slightly.
"That's a problem," Msemo added, but there was no edge to it.
Just fact.
Dhalik pushed himself up.
"…You saw him."
Msemo leaned slightly against the frame.
"I saw someone."
"…That's not the same thing."
"No," Msemo agreed. "It's not."
That answer sat there.
No comfort in it.
Dhalik looked away, toward the window.
"…It stopped when he moved."
This time, Msemo didn't respond immediately.
Because that part mattered.
"…Then it wasn't just you," he said finally.
That should've made Dhalik feel better.
It didn't.
"Try it again."
Dhalik glanced back at him.
"…Now?"
Msemo gave a small nod.
Dhalik hesitated.
Not long.
Just enough to feel it.
Then he closed his eyes.
The room didn't disappear.
Not really.
He could still hear everything.
The faint clink of something in the kitchen.
Footsteps outside, passing by.
Normal sounds.
He focused past them.
Or tried to.
At first—
nothing.
His mind wandered.
He caught himself thinking about school. About what people were saying. About how easy everything suddenly felt.
"…Focus," he told himself.
Then—
something shifted.
Subtle.
Easy to miss.
But once it was there—
he couldn't ignore it.
His eyes opened.
"…It's here."
Msemo straightened slightly.
"Where?"
Dhalik looked around.
The door. The corners. The window.
"…I don't know."
That answer didn't sit right.
Before, there was always a direction.
Something to point at.
Now—
nothing.
Or everything.
His shoulders tensed slightly.
It wasn't fear.
Not exactly.
Just the kind of feeling you get when you walk into a room and know someone's there—
even when you can't see them.
"…It's different," he said.
Msemo didn't interrupt.
"It wasn't like this before."
A small pause.
"Then don't treat it like before," Msemo said.
Simple.
But it landed.
Dhalik stood up slowly.
The feeling stayed.
Didn't move.
Didn't fade.
Just… there.
He walked a few steps across the room.
Stopped.
Turned slightly.
Still there.
No change.
"…It followed me," he said.
Msemo nodded once.
"Looks like it."
Again—no panic.
No rush.
That helped more than anything.
Dhalik exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
"…So what do we do?"
Msemo glanced toward the window, then back at him.
"For now?"
A short pause.
"We don't push it."
That answer wasn't satisfying.
But it made sense.
Because whatever this was—
it had already changed once.
And that meant it could change again.
Dhalik looked around the room one more time.
Same walls.
Same space.
Same everything.
But it didn't feel like just his room anymore.
And that thought—
stayed with him.
Even after the feeling faded.
Or maybe—
just moved again.
To be continued…