Kaien held Allen’s hand and walked out of the living room with him, passing Dominique who stood near the door. He and Allen knew that Benji and Nathan looked at them with worried faces. But what he and Allen failed to notice was a small smirk on Dominique’s lips.
He let go of Allen’s hand when a tune emanated from the piano. Benji must have played the piano. On usual occasions, Allen wished he could watch Benji coaxing one melody after another from the old piano. What a pretty sound he made! But right now, Allen was not in the mood to turn back and watch Benji play.
Kaien hummed along with the piano’s sound. His hum had happiness in it. It hummed with energy that spread through him, warming him. There was something carefree about the notes as they fell into the salty air about him.
Allen paused, no intention of disturbing Kaien and he was totally soaking in the sound. A full minute passes before he takes another step. “Y-you. . . You don’t believe me, aren’t you?” mumbled Allen slowly as he listened to the piano playing very softly as they climbed up the stairs.
“I believe you,” said Kaien, a sincere smile flashed on his face.
“Really?” asked Allen. His lips, the ones that really did not want to smile after what happened before, creep into a grin. He could not help himself but asked, “Why?”
“Because you say so. Hehehe,” laughed Kaien but only earned a pout from Allen. “I’m sorry. I really believe you, because you said you heard it. Everything makes a sound and I never doubt what other people hear.”
“What? What do you mean?” asked Allen, confused.
“Hehehe. . .” Kaien smirked a bit. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Oh, ok,” sighed Allen as they reached his room. He took his earphone and gave it to Kaien.
“So, what are you going to do now?” asked Kaien, curious what Allen’s plan was for the day since his best plan was going to sleep. He needed to cover his last night’s sleepless night or he would be like a zombie.
“I’m not sure yet,” Allen shrugged, not knowing what to say. “Maybe just look around or just watch a movie on my laptop.”
“Hehe. . . Ok.” Kaien waved to Allen and went back to his room to sleep. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to wake me up. Have fun.”
Kaien hummed a song again as he walked back to his room. His gentle humming filled the room. Even after he closed his door, his humming still was vague to Allen’s ears. His hums were more beautiful than the softest of singers, Allen thought.
Allen stared at Kaien’s bedroom door and mumbled slowly to himself, “I’ll definitely find out who played the piano last night. It must be Benji.”
Later, that night, Allen tried to stay awake. His eyes already felt so heavy and his bed was so comfortable that it was hard to resist and sleep.
“Aaahhh. . . So sleepyyy,” sighed Allen. “Probably he not going to play tonight.”
Allen decided he would wait one hour more, then, if there was no sound of piano being played, he would go to sleep. But, in just a few seconds, he was already in deep slumber.
It was very late, when a hum sauntered into Allen’s dream. A gentle and slow tone at first and the humming grew louder until Allen’s brain woke him up. His eyes flew wide open and he looked right and left in panic. He thought he heard Kaien humming a song but he was nowhere could be found in the room. Unsure what was happening, he took his phone and looked at the time. It was three in the morning.
“Are you joking?” he asked, staring at his phone unbelievable.
His ears caught a melody again but this time it was not the sound of a humming, but the sound of piano. He quickly sat on his bed. Still sitting on his bed, he listened carefully to the piano for at least fifteen minutes.
Even at this hour a piano was pounding out a raucous tune. It was random notes and there was nothing musical about it. It sounds more like an angry drone of dissent. Unlike yesterday, he was sure it was a fully beautiful song. It stopped and started several times, but it was definitely a tune. Like children randomly hitting and playing the piano.
Finally Allen got up and opened the door. Then the piano immediately went silent. He stood still and suddenly felt terrified. He was not sure if he should check on the piano or pretend like he did not hear anything and went back to sleep.
Maybe he should have checked on Kaien and talked to him. Then, he remembered that Kaien could not sleep well last night. He did not want that to happen to Kaien again. Since the piano already went silent, Allen decided he would just go back to sleep.
As he was about to close his door, he heard a music note from the piano again. This time, a slow sad tune issued from the piano. It sounds so much better than before, more like a real song. Not just a random tune.
Slowly and carefully, Allen walked out of his room and went to the living room where the piano was.
He noticed that the door to the living room did not shut tight but the light was not turned on. Only the light from the fireplace was still burning, like it never ‘slept’ at all. He could see the light of the fire from the small opening of the door.
The piano was still playing.
‘Who the heaven plays piano in the dark?’ thought Allen, slowly approaching the door.
As he got closer to the door, he felt his heartbeat increase rapidly. Like it will burst or come out any moment. He was a bit shaking too and he wondered why.
The piano sound became more intense.
Nervously, he took a peek from the small opening. In one corner a piano perched silently, and the embers of a fire still cast a faint glow from a massive fireplace.
Without warning, he ran back to his room as fast as he could. Still shaking, he covered his entire body with his blanket, covered his ears with his pillow and shut his eyes tight. Soon, he fell asleep again.
What Allen saw in the living room was. . .
Nothing. . .
That’s right. Nothing. . . Only the piano.