"Call an ambulance, please," Vince shouted at the top of his voice. He sprung from his bed, panting and forehead trickled with sweat. "Not again," he said, combing his hair with his hands. For some reason he smelled burning wood and leaves from his room, he looked around and peered outside the window. There's not a chance that someone could be burning leaves at this hour in the suburbs. He wasn't anywhere close to a forest either to assume that it came from a wildfire. He stood up and checked outside his window again, and there were no signs of fire or smoke anywhere. He shook his head, maybe I am just dreaming things.

He checked the digital clock on his nightstand, which was flaring at 3 AM. The bewitching hour as what his grandmother used to say. But, he never believed any of those. The Lees originated from Korea and were highly superstitious. He can just hear his grandmother telling him to create an altar and offer some sacrifices so the gods would look after him and set up charms to ward off an evil spirit.

Outside, everything is still pitch dark with just the sound of the cricket and occasional sound of engines roaring from the street. Autumn air is lurking around the corner as everyone prepared for the upcoming Halloween. His grandmother never liked celebrating Halloween and thought that this tradition is inviting spirits to lurk around, even the bad one. As a family, they never joined the trick or treat even in the neighborhood.

None of those hauntings made sense to him until he experienced several unexplainable circumstances himself.

He can clearly remember what happened on that fateful day of October 25. It wasn't a coincidence that brought him there.

Vince sat outside of his tiny house, looking at the cars passing by.

Kriiing.

"Hello," Vince answered.

"Hey buddy," a deep male voice answered from the other end of the line.

"What's up?" Vince replied.

"I already talked to my boss, and I was told you can drop by Monday next week for an interview," recounting the previous conversation they had.

"Really?" he looked perplexed as he checked his monitor bugged with the beeping sound from his phone. "I think I have an incoming call. Sorry to cut you off."

"No problem. I just called to tell you that. Call me on Monday, okay?"

"Thanks, buddy, will catch up with you soon," Vince dropped the call to answer the other line.

"Hey Ash, I was talking to Tyler on the other line," he explained.

"Oh, really? Did you tell him I was helping you out?"

"Nope. He won't believe us anyway."

"Exactly. Anyway, I am just calling in because I finally got a hold of my former classmate, who became a oneirocritic."

"What's a oneirocritic?"

"Someone who interprets dreams."

"Oh yeah?!" he stood up from the bench and walked toward his house.

"So, are you still interested?"

"Yes."

"So would this Sunday be alright? Tyler will be on a business meeting out of town, so no one will bug me where I am going," Ashley said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Okay, no problem. Message me the details then."

"Sure. Will do."

"Oh! Ashley," stopping at the door entrance, "thank you."

"No problem Vince. Happy to help," her voice sounded cheerful from the other end as she hung up the phone.

He might sound crazy now, but he was just desperate to hear from his fiancee. He had not dreamt about her for months except when he moved into Quebec. He opened his fridge and took out a couple of beers and grabbed some nuts by the pantry. He looked around his loft-style 30 square meter house perched on top of a hill that overlooked the city. It was small but suit him perfectly. Another day to down some beer while looking at the urban area of Montreal.

He went right back in after downing two cans, locked himself up to make sure he does not wander around, causing another ruckus in the neighborhood. That was one reason why Tyler had been bugging him to work after saving him from some of the embarrassments he had brought upon himself.

As usual, after a couple of drinks, he laid down on his couch looking at the skyline counting the stars at night looking for the constellations at night time. He remembered Vickie, who seem to have memorized all the constellations in the sky.

As he lay his head down on a throw pillow, a cold gust of wind passed him by sending shivers to his bones. He does not usually get frightened quickly. But the wind gave him some chills as if someone else was looking at him. Rumor has it that the place where his house was set was a deserted place where they dumped the corpse in the olden times, which explains why no one has stayed there for a while. But, he did not believe any of those. The wind might have sensed it as it forced open a window near the tiny kitchen whooshing cold wind into his abode.

"Vince, Vince. Please stop it," the wind whispered into his ears. "Please, please. That's enough." a sobbing voice was heard echoing into the night.

"I am nothing without you, Vickie," he sobbed in between hiccups as his words slurred, "Vickie...vic..kie. Why must you leave me?" Red cloth-covered his eyes when it disappeared, so did Vickie.

He sat on the couch and used his left hand to support his throbbing head. His entire body shivered from the cold whirling wind. As he stood, he noticed a red dress from the peripheral vision of his eyes. It moved too fast whooshing through his yard and to the street. He jumped into his shoes and run towards the direction of the red silhouette he saw, swiftly moving from one direction to the next. There he was blindly chasing the red dress until he found himself outside the abandoned house on fire where Angie was lying flat on the ground.

And there he was, exhausted and feeling haunted for what happened that Friday evening. He opened his door and felt the cold Autumn wind brushed through his skin. At 5 degrees, his whole body will be frozen anytime. He stepped back in, grabbed a Jack Daniel, and shot glass from the pantry until he felt his head drowning in sleep. Returning back to his room, he lay down as the image of Angie crossed over his mind. Unknown to him, a pair of concerned eyes were looking at him outside the window.

Vince woke up from the buzzing sound of his phone. While eyes closed, he groped for his phone on the nightstand. "Hello," he answered.

"Vince, should I pick you up, or should we meet there?" a lady spoke from the other end of the line. He looked at his phone with one eye and saw Ashley's name flashed on the screen.

"Hey Ash, let's just meet there."

"Are you drunk again?"

"No, no. I slept late last night. But I will see you there. Can you message me the address again?"

"Okay. See you there... You sure you are alright?"

"Yep. I am. I will be there in a jiff," he swayed his feet to the side of the bed and stood up. Head straight to the bathroom, washed his face, and brushed his teeth, noticed the black circles under his eyes in the mirror. He looked like he pulled an all-nighter. As he bent down on the sick, a pair of eyes showed up on the mirror and followed him as he stepped outside.