The Bell

 

''The Bell''

"Your dad is really cruel, I'm telling the truth. A demon."

"He likes blood a lot, so he had a whole collection of tools to draw blood."

"But he's dead now."

"Do you know how many demons are in a dream?"

"Do you like trying extreme sensations?" - I said - "I know a place."

"In this town?"

"Yeah. The graveyard of the town. There are more gravestones there than in Quang Tri. You can explore as much as you want."

***

Dan and I found temporary lodging in a small town. The industrial sector is not completely controlled here, so I could trust the unbranded fish sauce and fresh fish. There is no internet here, and electromagnetic interference is frequent, so I can't contact the rest of the group. As backpackers, we don't carry much cash, so staying in town too long would be difficult. Although the rent here is very cheap, we may have to leave soon. For now, I have to wait for Dan to fix the car so we can continue our journey.

"Have you heard anything recently?"

Dan asked while tinkering with a wrench.

"I slept early yesterday."

"I didn't say yesterday." Dan continued with his question. "But two days ago, if I remember correctly, at around twelve o'clock. I heard a bell sound, maybe the sound of a Buddhist gong."

I held Dan's words in my head for a while. On the first day in town, I was very tired, so I slept for a long time once I got into the room. On the following day, which was last night, I also slept early, but I only dozed off for a few hours. Maybe my sleep would have lasted longer, but as Dan said, there was a sound that interrupted it. At that time, I woke up. And I still vaguely remember the strange sound. It was not the sound of a gong or a Buddhist bell, if I were to say it was the sound of the wind scraping against the mountain wall, it was not, because the sound was very far away, and it only lingered in my head briefly, but I am sure it was the sound of a bell. I often go to Hanoi every Christmas and have heard the church bell many times. But the bell sound yesterday was not as high, resonant, and pure as the church bell. The bell sound was gradually disintegrating, and...I can't remember anymore, but tonight I will stay up past twelve to have a chance to hear that bell sound again, if it rings out.

I opened my phone. After a night of charging, the battery was full but there were still no messages. After dozens of attempted calls, I only received lifeless beeps. Even the familiar voice at the customer service center didn't pick up. The electricity was still on, and I could still get information about the weather and TV programs, but only in audio form.

The elder group probably went to several places already. I wonder if they made it to Cò Island.

We had lunch at a restaurant not far from our hostel. I ordered a serving of braised pork, sour fish soup, and a plate of boiled cabbage. Đán only ordered a few simple dishes and ended the meal with a glass of white wine.

After we finished eating, Đán bought a bottle of wine.

It was 10 PM, and no house had any lights on. This town was all working people, so it was understandable that they slept early. In many rural areas, the villagers already went to bed by nine. When I turned on the TV, all I got were black and white static lines. Switching channels yielded no sound except for the buzzing noise and the words "no signal."

"Turn it off. There's no point in watching a movie," Đán said as he pulled out a deck of cards from his backpack.

"Wanna play a drinking game? Whoever loses has to finish their cup," he suggested.

"I don't like playing cards," I replied.

I still remembered bringing a few books along with me.

Đán continued playing cards alone, lost in thought. He poured himself a glass of wine after every round, drinking away his sorrows.

The books I brought were not easy reads at all. I hated complicated books and only read them as a trick to fall asleep faster.

The window was still open. My room was the only light in the city.

I let go of the book and sat up on the table near the window. The outside was a mysterious black color. I could still hear the wind blowing. The wind didn't bring any coldness, but it penetrated my skin. I still remembered there was a small tree opposite the window. Even if the wind was only a breeze, it would still sway every leaf. At this time of night, I should at least be able to hear something. It seemed like the wind was blowing stronger, but there was no sound of leaves rustling. What entered my ears was a deep sucking sound, as if echoing from a seashell.

I turned on my personal flashlight, creating a long beam of light. The scenery remained solitary as before. Not a single footprint, only the sound of the wind. Tree leaves were being sucked into the gust, spinning into tiny whirlpools. In the midst of it all, I saw a small bone fragment caught in the wind. Clearly, the wind was only at a gentle breeze.

Dan told me to close the window. I complied, feeling foolish for standing there so long. I'm no poet.

"Did you go out yesterday?" I asked Dan as we prepared to grab breakfast.

Dan woke up before me but still had the sleepy look on his face. He sat leaning against the wall, tilting his head back towards the ceiling. A few strands of uncombed hair stood up. When he sat up straight and got ready to go into the bathroom, I got a better look at him. His eyes were heavy and weighed down with dark circles that seemed to be getting wider and wider, as if they wanted to drag his eyes into an endless abyss.

"What do you care where I went when you weren't here?"

And that was the end of our conversation.

I wanted to clear things up with him because I remembered sleeping in the room all night. My light wasn't on, but I shone my flashlight over to where Dan was sleeping and he wasn't there. Maybe he went downstairs to use the bathroom.

There were only two of us living in this boarding house, while a few others rented rooms. On the first floor was the landlord's domain, and I knew from the beginning that he was very strict about security. The doors were locked early, with three layers of locks. I didn't want to get into any trouble with him because I never went out at night.

The car was fixed. We just needed to wipe it down one more time, install the parts, and then we could drive away. We still had a considerable amount of money with us, but maybe we should leave here right away.

Dan spoke about his father. Since he passed away from a heart attack, Dan didn't want to talk about anything related to him. Today, out of nowhere, he brought it up again and blamed me. "It's your fault," he said. I noticed a shadow on his face that wasn't just sadness or regret. I didn't think Dan's father was haunting him, for when his pacemaker finally stopped beating, any nightmares would have vanished with it. What Dan told me was about the accusations.

In the entire morning, he only talked about it. Blaming and nothing else.

Occasionally, visitors from afar come to rent rooms in this town for a few days before leaving. The locals are hospitable, and there's plenty of land available to open a tourist center. All that's needed is some assistance and investment in electricity. Locking up all the alleys at night forces us to spend the whole day wandering around the town. I've passed by the river, the deserted hills, and the vast rice fields. Besides its clean atmosphere, this place doesn't leave a good impression. Even the scenery here is less impressive than the rural areas I know. Those places have something to see or at least specialty products to buy.

With little fuel left in the car, my friend and I can't go far. According to what I've asked, taking the dirt road will lead us out of town. A few meters further, we'll arrive at another town where commercial services are relatively developed, and people still exchange goods. There may not be a gas station there, but I'm sure I can buy gasoline in stores or at a market. The power signal there should be stable enough for us to contact our group leader. They're probably organizing an outdoor party, taking photos, or stopping by souvenir stands. If it gets dark, they'll put up tents or find a cheap hostel to stay overnight. If my friend Dan and I hadn't arrived late, we could have had two wonderful days with them. I still remember the dusty trips from a few years ago. It was an outdoor party on an abandoned lot. We set up a campfire, opened some snacks, and danced in pairs under the firelight. We had so many weird ideas that it was easy to keep the fire burning all night.

We didn't talk to anyone at the inn. As for the people in the town, I only asked about shopping and directions. Even when they gave me fresh fish or a friendly handshake from an elder, I didn't want to establish any relationships with them. And I knew they were hiding something from me about the ringing of the bell at night. None of them admitted to having rung the bell since last night. The candy and bimbim package didn't help me bribe any of the children. That afternoon, I went around the town again. Dan stayed home while I went out alone. I paid some money to rent a bike from someone in town. It was a bit rough, but pretty durable.

The houses here are not too shabby, but they can hardly be called modern. Except for the dormitories, everything is small within a dozen square meters. Quite a few vacant lots are left as playgrounds for children. I haven't ridden a bike in a long time, so after about ten meters, I felt tired. For many stretches, I had to walk my bike to avoid hitting potholes or slipping down a long slope with sharp rocks.

My memory is very good, so even though I turned into dozens of streets, I still remember the way back to the dormitory. There are all kinds of trees on both sides of the road, but all of them have shed their leaves. Even tall trees up to one meter high to those that could be classified as giant trees have shed their leaves completely. It's summer, so there's no reason why so many leaves have fallen. When I took out a small knife from my keychain to carve a deep line, I saw the sap still oozing out. I interrupted my thoughts with a hypothesis about a great storm sweeping through. The trees were not my concern, so I walked on. Nevertheless, the image of the leafless trees remained in my head. The tall trees with sharp branches stretched out in all directions like claws. The branches protruded, stuck, and formed small thorns around the claw set. I shifted my thoughts to another direction, before it added a deep crack to the trunk, and within that crevice was the sound of a stomach gnawing.

"How does he look?" Dan asked as I walked into the room.

Dan's face still had the greenish hue of someone who hadn't slept in days. His lips were white and dry. His gaze carried a hint of madness, but if you paid attention, you could see his eyes twitching with fear. He repeated that question, and I avoided his gaze. I don't know why, but when I looked at those tired eyes trying to open wide, I felt suffocated. That silhouette was not me because even when I stood still, that strange figure continued to move.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"My father," Dan said, his eyes still fixed on me.

"Your father is very brutal, I'm telling the truth. A demon."

"He loves blood, so he has a collection of tools for drawing blood."

But he has died.

Do you know how many demons are in a dream?

Do you like to try strong sensations? - I said - I know a place.

In this town?

Yeah. The cemetery of the town. There are many tombstones there, several times more than in Quang Tri. You can visit as much as you want.

I nodded my head. I reminded myself of the plan to wander in the cemetery at night again. Going into a cemetery at night wasn't my first idea. Our group had played this game many times before. Of course, no one goes alone but in pairs. Dan and I were always a perfect match. I had enough courage, while Dan was always calm. Even when his foot got entangled in a rotted hand that wormed out from under the tombstone, instead of screaming or fainting, he would gently remove each finger and then move on.

We didn't talk to each other all afternoon. Dan just lay on the bed, tossing and turning because he couldn't sleep. I picked up my phone, tried a few calls, but only heard static in return. Outside the window, some locals had returned home after a day's work, their faces all glowing with excitement, but there was no conversation ringing out.

I still remember that cemetery vividly. It is probably the only cemetery in the town, so it was built very carefully. The entire cemetery was surrounded by a thick honeycomb rock wall. The entrance gate was made of steel, but because it had been there for too many years, it was rusted all over. The lock of the gate had also been worn away. Rust had eaten away at the keyhole and destroyed its structure to match the key. The cemetery had no back door, so I always wondered how the people in town would enter whenever they needed to pay respect to the dead.

The entrance was blocked, but I could still get in by climbing over the wall. At that time, I didn't go all the way in because there was a bicycle blocking the way outside. I clung to the wall and climbed for a long time. Inside, it was very spacious, with the size of a field. The land here looked very flat, with tall and dense grass, but most of it was dead. The tombs were erected high and arranged neatly. The tombs were arranged in straight rows, with just enough space between them to walk around. Perhaps due to the local custom, the tombs were built similarly. They were not built into rectangular blocks, nor did they have roofs; they were all just stone slabs. The size and magnitude of the slabs were equal and arranged neatly, so from afar, they looked like an army standing at attention.

The cemetery with thousands of graves covered by tarps piqued my curiosity and made me want to explore it.

If I manage to persuade Dan, this would probably be the most memorable story that I could share with the group when we meet again.

"The problem is that we can't let the people in town know," I murmured..

Dan continued to toss and turn. After a while, he sat up, rubbed his head, and seemed like he was about to say something but then closed his mouth again.

The sun only held onto a little bit of light, enough to ignite a short-lived sunset. It would linger in the sky for a short while before surrendering the town to darkness and embarking on a long journey.

The children ended their game of tag, and the adults had returned home. It was getting late, and they needed to prepare for dinner.

"He's calling me!" Dan jumped out of his bed and shouted.

"You're up now, it's past six o'clock, get ready to eat," I said.

"He's around here somewhere, that's for sure," I said.

Many times, Dan intended to cut the scars on his body with a sharp knife. His face also had scars, and he once told me that he wouldn't mind if the blade ended the symbiosis between him and that servant guy. But he didn't do it.

Dan stood up, muttered as he walked away, "He's calling me..."

"What's wrong? He's been dead for a long time," I said.

"He's calling me," Dan shouted. "He's calling me..."

"Just go to sleep, and tomorrow we'll leave this place," I said, trying to calm him down.

Dan stood in the middle of the room, silent for a long time.

"I don't have sleeping pills, so I'll have to watch over him all night," I thought to myself.

"You rest, I'll go buy some food," I said, putting on pants and grabbing my wallet. To be safe, I locked the door behind me.

When I returned, the door had been broken and Dan was gone. I asked people in the neighboring rooms, but they just shook their heads. The landlord wasn't aware of the situation either since he was out at the time. He didn't blame me for the broken door but advised me to return to my room because it was getting dark.

Dan's belongings were still in the room, and his bike was still parked under the garage. I asked people outside, but they just shook their heads. He wasn't in the fields or the empty lots more than ten yards away. All I knew was that he had left, and the only clue was the kicked-open door.

There was no activity in the town when it got dark. All doors were tightly shut. I wasn't sure if the town always operated this way or if there were other reasons why they avoided going out at night. But even so, they shouldn't have prohibited me from leaving since I was just a guest. If it was for security reasons, I hadn't heard anyone talk about bandits or wolves, and it wasn't because the town wasn't located in the forest.

It was only eight o'clock, but it was pitch dark outside. There were more black clouds in this town than anywhere else. It seemed like they had to be densely packed enough that even the smallest beam of moonlight couldn't shine through. The black clouds intertwined and formed a giant cage that could contain the entire town.

I wanted to go to the next room to invite some people to play some card games to kill time, but all the rooms were closed. Even though I knocked hard on the door, they still didn't come out to open it. The lights in all the rooms were off, so I thought they had gone to bed, but it was strange that every room turned off the lights early like that.

I had to lock the door from the inside to prevent it from opening. The landlord wanted to replace the door for me, but I declined and scheduled to do it again tomorrow morning. I will stay here for a few more days to find Dan.

A strange sound disturbed the quietness of the room. I opened the window to listen carefully to this sound. It was the bell, clearly. Yesterday, I also heard the bell, and I wanted to wake Dan up, but he had already left the room. The bell seemed not very loud, or maybe it was struck from far away, so I only heard an echo. But if so, why did I hear dozens of bells ringing at the same time? A few minutes ago, the bell sounded very close, I heard as if it was echoing from under the street. The bells also had differences in sound, not entirely from one type of bell. Some sounded deep like those from church bells, sometimes tinkling like wind chimes, and I even heard an echo and hum of electronic bells.

Outside was very dark, the flashlight in my hand could only shine a short section. The wind blew quite strongly compared to two nights ago. The bell was not drowned out by the wind, it still rang evenly, but not following any rhythm.

I closed the window and returned to bed.

...

The bell still echoed in my head. Hazy thoughts painted an image to fit the sound of the bell. It was an outdoor ceremony, a wizard with colorful clothes and face paint was waving a long stick with many bells attached. The sound transmitted from the high-pitched but murky bells like the sound of ghosts echoing from the otherworld.

A stumble made me fall down to the ground. Perhaps I had tripped over a branch or a stone protruding on the way. The flashlight, also my only guiding light, slipped out of my hand and rolled somewhere. Darkness still held power, so I could only stand around helplessly. When I fell, I heard a clatter, maybe the flashlight had hit something and broke.

I shouted loudly but there was no answer. In fact, even though my throat was big enough to shout many times like that, perhaps no one would hear me. The bell still rang and it had crushed my voice. There wouldn't be any lit windows or moonlight shining to help me see the way back to my dormitory. The fall just now didn't make me bleed, but it made me more alert. With what remains in my memory, I might have been outside for a while. I'm not sure why I'm here, only to trip and lose my flashlight, but I know I unlocked something. I don't have as much strength as Dan, but I do have some tricks for unlocking. Don't even talk about three locks, even if the landlord installs anti-theft locks or combination doors, they can't make it difficult for me. The only thing is I don't know how to go back. Wandering around in this dark night won't do any good.

I walked cautiously step by step so as not to fall. First, I had to feel the wall of a house, then I would follow the wall to find the front door. I will sit in front of the door until morning. If that house has a dog, it's great because it will surely discover me and bark throughout the town. Hopefully, the bell will stop ringing for a moment so that the barking can wake up the homeowner.

I got stuck on a large object, blocking my feet. My hand felt the rough surface of a stone slab. After a while, I stumbled upon another slab, almost tripping over it. That way, I trudged in the darkness for a while. The small bells stopped temporarily, and I was about to shout out loud to wake up someone, even if I got scolded afterward, as long as they gave me a flashlight to get back to the dormitory. My mouth opened wide and kept shouting like that. Another bell replaced the small bells. This time it was the sound of a big drum that the temple usually beat early in the morning. This big drum sound was different from the ones I had heard before. There was no ambiguity or any sense of relaxation when listening to this drum sound. This sound covered the whole town and made the darkness even denser. My footsteps were also confused, I only knew that I was walking but didn't know whether I was going straight, diagonally, or in circles.

The bell rang once and disappeared into the darkness. I walked through the night with both hands outstretched. If I had a stick, I would look like a blind traveler.

The silence lasted only a few seconds before being disturbed by various bells. The longer I walked in town, the denser the sound of bells became. My sense of direction was gone, and my feet were led by the sound of bells. As I stepped to the left, another bell rang, causing me to veer off course. Just as I moved, another bell rang behind me, making me jump back.

I stumbled on another rock. With a few more steps, I hit another rock and then another. I fell hard.

My hand touched a rectangular object. I picked it up and breathed a sigh of relief when I smelled sulfur. Quickly, I opened the matchbox and struck a match.

The flame burned brightly on the wooden stick. It only illuminated a small area, but I was happy because I finally found a board that could transport me to solid ground.

The rock that tripped me revealed itself to be a tombstone. It wasn't just any marker or monument but a grave. The picture on the stone was of an old man whose moss-covered face was cracked and incomplete. I lit matches around me and saw other graves. There were four markers, one in each direction. Four crumbling tombstones surrounded me and made me feel trapped.

Four faces. One was covered in moss, the other distorted by cracks, one with eyes wide open like they were still alive, and the last was covered in dust, revealing only a smiling mouth.

The match went out, and I ran frantically in the dark, bumping into dozens of graves. The sound of bells continued to chime, seeming to come from dozens of different locations.

I took a misstep, stumbled and fell back onto a tombstone. I heard a whisper, as though it came from the very tombstone I was leaning on. It was a voice. I couldn't be mistaken, even though it wasn't clear, it was definitely the voice of a human being.

I pulled out my second match and struck it. The flame flickered to life, breaking apart a small portion of the darkness and allowing me to approach the source of the voice.

It was still a tombstone, much like all the others here. When the light shone on the spot where the voice had come from, I saw a face. Not a photograph with a name, date of birth and death, but the face of a living person. It protruded from the stone and twitched incessantly. The face was sunk deep into blackness, one eye missing, the mouth still muttering.

- O.................O..............O..........

The fire burned down to the end of the matchstick and burned my fingertip. The light faded from my eyes, the ringing of bells grew louder and louder, as if there were a bell attached to every tombstone. They rang together, arrogant like the satisfied howl of a pack of wild animals when they see their prey trapped in a snare. The image associated with the face that had been protruding from the tombstone within me was being shredded by the sound of the bells. Only a gaping mouth remained...

Every step backwards I took touched another tombstone. Surely they were clustering around me, enclosing me, building a mausoleum.

The image inside me was gone, my mouth opened and I screamed one last time. It seemed that another scream answered me. Immediately afterwards, there were a series of noises. I heard the sound of tombstones moving. One of them pushed me out of the circle. I was thrown a few meters away. The darkness still held me in its cradle, but the thought of a flame had rescued me from the horror. There must be some matches somewhere. I sniffed the ground and took deep breaths. I crawled along the ground, taking long breaths until I smelled the scent of fresh matches.

The bells still echoed deeply, including the sound of the grand gong.

I struck my last match. I put the burning match into my jacket on either side. The fire spread and blazed brightly. I could no longer see the tombstone with the protruding head. Other tombstones had been arranged into a long wall to hold it captive.

From all sides, dozens of tombstones continued to move. The winding alleys had taken shape. With the flames on me, I could dodge them.

The flame rose higher and enveloped me. My body burned into a torch.

The darkness tore apart, and the bells began to ring chaotically. The tombstones shuffled around, without any order.

The torch rose high, creating a long line of fire. Small pieces of fire fell behind, they would light up for a while before the fingers of darkness grew back and took hold of everything...