Doppelgänger

05. Vision of Death

While waiting for Dad to finish all his work, Zack spent the remaining time visiting a park near the city market. Zack had also informed his father because he thought he would look for me later, so as not to cause concern, Zack chose to tell his father about his current position.

Zack chose a seating spot that was not easily reached by anyone's eyes. This garden chair was covered by a large tree and flowers around it, and its sitting position was also facing away from the crowd, so he was sure that no one would come near it.

He didn't want to cause trouble if he encountered his old friends.

           

Tamara : So, what have you been doing since coming to town today, Zack?

           

Zack looked at his cell phone, Tamara's reply had just come, we had been exchanging messages since earlier because Zack suddenly wanted to tell her. Tamara has always been an excellent listener to every man's complaints.

           

Zack : Not much, just walking around town and saw my old house earlier. Hopefully, none of my old friends will notice that I'm here, because it could be harmful if they visit.

Tamara : Yes, it could not be good. So, it's true what Dad said, you have to be careful.

True, Zack did have to be careful.

Zack remembers when he got more and more hate in High School. Because the environment wasn't that big, the kids he met then were those who previously attended the same school as him. Thus, moving to a higher school level did not improve the boy's position.

They still think of Zack as an anti-social child and continue to bully him. Zack was shunned because they used to think he was sick. After all, he didn't want to have physical contact with anyone. However, Zack figured it would be better that way than accidentally seeing flashes of their deaths. Zack can still hold it in if they only verbally bully him because Zack doesn't care too much about what other people say.

However, the high school years were even more difficult for him. Zack never thought that his friends would be even more daring to show their hatred, oppressing him as if he would always submit to every word they said. But Zack's patience ran out when one of them started hurting physically.

"I'm not a maid that you can order to buy this and that," Zack told Ronald when he told him to go to the canteen to buy all the necessities he wanted.

Ronald is a new student, he didn't attend the same school as Zack in junior high school. But at the next level, he is the head of all the associations that Zack doesn't know about, it's just that his position in this school seems higher and there are lots of friends who are afraid of him.

Is it because Ronald's father owns the school, so that man can have as much power as he wants?

“You do!” the man was furious, Zack knew. "If you want to live quietly in this school, you better obey everything I say!"

Sorry, Ronald. But Zack still has pride.

Zack was still okay when the other kids said hurtful things to him. But Zack doesn't want to submit to someone else's power, especially if that person is like Ronald.

Zack focused back on his reading book, ignoring Ronald beside his desk. "I don't want to," said the man firmly.

But it turned out that Ronald was getting bolder. Ronald pulled Zack's hair so hard that Zack winced. “Stand up, you!” he said emphatically.

Zack finally stood up as the tug on his hair intensified.

"If I say you have to buy, it means you have to buy. Don't you know who I am? Do you want me to make your life miserable?” Ronald let go of his hands on Zack's hair and crossed his arms. "Go to the cafeteria!"

Zack stood still as he stared at him with a straight face. He was not budging in the slightest when Ronald told him to leave. "I already said I don't want to," said Zack once again, more firmly, ignoring the angry look that Ronald had given Zack.

"YOU—"

Ronald raised a hand, intending to slap Zack. But Zack's movement was faster so he could block the slap easily. However, the physical contact due to Zack holding Ronald's hand made Zack see flashes of events about Ronald's death.

Zack flinched in surprise, stepped back reflexively, looked at Ronald in horror, and then said, "D-don't go by car," he stammered. Zack was frightened and at a loss for what to say.

"What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" Ronald looked at Zack with a strange look.

Zack quickly pulled back his hand, holding him from wanting to leave. But that action requires Zack to see flashes of Ronald's death again. Zack closed his eyes briefly.

"Ronald, you don't drive the car yourself!"

"What?! You are weird!" The boy let go of Zack's grip quickly. He was feeling uncomfortable with the sudden change in his character.

But Zack can't... Zack doesn't want to stay silent when he knows the man is in danger. Even though Zack doesn't know precisely when the vision will occur, he still has to warn him. Zack didn't want to feel even crazier after what happened to Granny.

“You will die if you drive yourself! Please, listen to me, don't drive the car yourself!”

All the kids in the class—especially Ronald, were now silent, looking at Zack after he shouted earlier. Maybe they were surprised by the man's sentence, mainly since Zack associated it with death. A few seconds later, they were busy again with their own business. As if Zack didn't say that, they thought Zack was just boasting and felt that maybe Zack was crazy because he was always alone.

Nobody believed him, including Ronald.

The next day, their class received the sad news that Ronald had died due to a significant accident that happened to him. The man could not be saved, he died on the way to the hospital.

All classmates started looking at Zack with strange looks, they were getting further away from him due to what he said the other day. Things got worse when Ronald's parents came to Zack, they found out that yesterday Zack said that Ronald would die because of an accident because Ronald told them and thought it was a joke.

But it happened.

Then Zack became the party to blame for all that happened.