The house in Bukit Timah

[ilikeoldchangke]

I fell asleep on the couch within minutes.

When I felt a tap on me, I jumped and held onto Seven’s forearm.

Seven gestured to me that it’s time to go.


I got up and looked around the pantry. The lights were dimmed to a comfortable level like that of a spa. Its dark enough to rest but I could still see where everyone is.


Yiling was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair tied up in a pony tail.

Hong and Seven were up, so was i.

It seems that we are the only ones involved in this.

Declan was up making coffee with his hair in a mess while Cindy was grunting while doing pushups.

The rest were all sleeping.

The clock on the pantry reads 6.10am.

The 4 of us went straight to the garage and I took the wheel of a nondescript Toyota Vios.

Yiling : turn up the small road over to the cook house…

Jackson : ok….

I pulled up at the cookhouse and all 4 of us stepped out for a breakfast of fried beehoon and coffee.

Ok, we’re having breakfast. I’m sure whatever we are going to do can’t be that bad if we’re having breakfast first.

I could not resist asking Yiling as I sip my coffee.


Jackson : are… are we going to be breaking the law… ??

Yiling chewed on her breakfast and said no.

Yiling : No…… unless you want to…

Jackson : errr…. I’m a law-abiding citizen….

Hong : hahah…. You’re saying you never fudge a parking coupon, made a illegal u-turn…. or park on a double yellow line before….

Jackson : come on… those are different….

Yiling : finish up and let’s go…. I’ll see you all at the car….

We got back into the car at 6.45am and the sun is already up.


Jackson : what are those for… ?

Yiling was carrying onto 2 plastic bags of fruits she grabbed from the cookhouse fridge together with a box of peaches.

Yiling : gifts….

I didn’t know where we are headed but I kept driving until we are about to hit the main road.

Jackson : am I suppose to ask where we are going…. ?

Yiling : go onto PIE…. Towards airport…

Jackson : ok….

I kept in the middle lane and I stole a few glances at Yiling who was seated beside me.

She’s looking out of the car, lost in thought.



Hong’s mouth was slightly apart and I thought I heard him snore as he slept in the backseat.

Seven was enjoying the music from the radio, nodding his head to the rhythm.

As we got closer to the exit towards Bedok, Yiling told me to go to the old folks home I delivered the fruits and vegetables to.


Jackson : ok…

I arrived at the home and the gate was padlocked.


Jackson : It’s too early… I don’t think Mr Ho is here yet…

Yiling : How is he… ?

Jackson : hmmm ok I guess… when was the last time you met him….

Yiling : a very long time ago….


We got out of the car and I hit the intercom a couple of times but no one answered.

Looking at the home itself, I could see the lights are all off on level 2 and 3.

There are signs of activity on level 4 and 5. I could see the ceiling fans turning.

Yiling : climb over the gates…


Without a word, Hong and Seven started to scale the gate into the old folks home.

Jackson : hey hey… hey…. Wait.. wait.. this is not nice… this is trespassing…

Yiling : I hold the title deed to this plot of land… I own this place….

Yiling removed the bags of fruits from the car and handed it over to Hong through the gate.

After passing the box of peaches, Yiling started to climb the gate as well.

Jackson : shit… arghhh…


The simple grille gate is not high, at 1.8m, it’s a easy climb especially with so many horizontal bars scattered along it’s length. The top of the gate is flat as well.

I joined my colleagues within the compound of the old folks home and asked what is this about.

Jackson : what are we doing ??

Hong and Seven each held a bag of fruits while I held the peaches.

Yiling started walking towards the administration offices on the ground floor by the courtyard.

When we got there, I was surprised to see it deserted. There’s no one around.

Yiling : there should be a security guard on duty….

Walking towards a particular room, Yiling opened the door to an empty room.

She looked at me as if I have the answers and I told her I’ve never been inside any of these rooms before.


Jackson : They should all be upstairs…. On level 5….

Yiling looked towards the other end of the home towards the boundary wall that it shared with the temple.



Yiling : I’ll go check out the temple….

Hong : Seven … you go with boss….

Yiling : No need… it’s broad daylight….go up… check every floor and see what’s going on…

Yiling walked on ahead, trudging in her black boots that looked so sexually appealing with the ends of her blue jeans tucked in.


I went to the old and creaky loading and unloading lift and was hit with a strong smell of disinfectant.

Jackson : ewww…

It’s a pungent smell as if someone just flooded the whole lift with Dettol or something.


Hong : that fucking stinks….

Jackson : so how…. We take 1 floor each….?

Hong : yeah… faster that way….

Seven gestured to the top floor before doing a walking motion on his palm with 2 fingers.

Jackson : you mean start at the top and we work out way down ?? good idea….

I hit level 5 and stepped back to the centre of the lift.


The old metal door vibrated angrily as it struggled to close presubly after years of neglect. It’s like someone forgot to oil it’s moving parts.

Even after the door shut, it took a few seconds for the hydraulics to start hissing and bringing us up.

I looked at the indicator light on the lift panel switch from level 1 to level 2.


The humming of the lift got louder and I could hear metal parts knocking onto each other as the light struggled to get to level 3.

When it got to level 3, I could feel the humming drone down a notch as the lift jerked a little before it stopped.

It stopped at level 3.

Someone must have called for it.

When the lift door vibrated and slid to its side like the parting of a stage curtain, I was hit with a smell that I would never forget, not even on my death bed. It’s was a stench so strong that it made me sick.

Before I could deal with the stench, I felt the hair on the back of my neck and the rest of my body stood on it’s end as I was confronted with the sight of what laid on level 3.

My fingers started to tremble and I gripped the box of peaches so tight that the box started to crumble.

I could not believe what my eyes are seeing.


Lying on the floor barely 5 metres away are 3 bodies. Corpses of the old folks that used to live here. They are obviously dead and I could see a few flies buzzing around their heads.

A makeshift corridor of sort has been created on level 3 out of plastic sheets.

Set back about 3 metres from the window, a continuous stretch of plastic sheets has been erected from the floor to the ceiling.

[ilikeoldchangke]

I could not tear my eyes away from the bodies.

It’s the first time I saw a dead body.
They are still dressed in their nursing home clothes. I could see the bottom is soiled with excrement. A puddle of unknown liquid has pooled under their bodies.

My eyes slowly lifted from the corpses and onto the men standing up on level 3.


They have masks on to filter out the smell.

They are dressed in nursing scrubs and I recognised one of them as the staff that was eyeing me suspiciously during my first time here.

There’s 8 of them.


And at that moment, all 8 of them were staring at us from about 30m away.

2 of them were trying to carry the body of another old lady onto a plastic sheet.

No one said a word.


They never expected us to see them, and we, never expected to see this.

I could feel a spark inside my belly slowly ignite. My breathing got faster.

I tried to take a step forward but I was held back by Hong.

Hong : Jackson….. no…


The 2 men carrying the body dropped her corpse like it was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Like they were not carrying a human.

Something was exchanged among the fake nursing home staff, one of them called out.

“ Yakob !... Sven ! … Yusuf !! “

I thought there were only 8 of them but I was wrong.

There were more.


3 more appeared out of nowhere and 2 of them was dragging along a barely breathing resident.

My heartrate spike and as my fingers closed around the box of peaches so hard that the box disintegrated, and everything just fell into the lift floor.

I know that resident.

The old lady Nancy. The one that always asked me to dance.


Her face was bloodied, and she was missing several teeth. She’s crying and sobbing. Her clothes were badly ripped and she might as well have been naked. Bruises were visible all over her arms and face.

Nancy : sobzzz… sobzz…. Ahhhh… Jackson ….sobzz….ahhhh…. Jackson ….

The 3 men were called out because they were nearer to the lift whose door is starting to close having been stationary for a while.


The door rumbled and slid along narrow grooves choked with dirt and grime.

I could hear my own heart racing in my head as I tried to process what I just saw.

I have a lump in my throat and it was getting hard to even swallow my own saliva.


The door of the old lift managed to shut to it’s ¾ mark before I saw a hand slice in and forcibly stop it from closing.

Instinctively, I took a couple of steps back.


I was standing in the middle with Seven on my left and Hong on my right.

As the lift door opened fully, the 3 men dressed in medical scrubs peppered with blood stains greeted us with surgical masks on their faces.

Again, no one said anything.

The 3 men stepped into the loading and unloading lift with their back to the door and a staring match ensued.


My hands were by my side and I could feel Hong’s hand reaching for mine the same time Seven did the same.

You see, the thing with goods lift, it’s all stainless steel on all sides. They are as good as mirrors.

I could see the reflection of everything around from the corner of my eyes.

Hong’s left hand was carrying the bag of fruits and he slowly handed it over to me the same time I saw his right disappear into his pants pocket.

Seven’s right hand pushed the bag he was holding to my left hand and through the partial reflection in the lift, I saw him stretched his legs, neck and shoulders.


The old alarm of the loading and unloading lift started to buzz angrily as the door vibrated in protest as it rumbled to close.

I exhaled slowly and relaxed my fingers as the two sides of the lift door strained to meet each other.

Hong was the first to break the silence.


Hong : Jackson ….

Jackson : hmmmm….

Hong : First chance you get…. You go to Boss….

Jackson : ok…


My body felt hot like it was on fire.

All hell will break lose the moment the lift door close and I reckon it’s going to be 3 seconds away at the very most.

I was counting it down in my head.

3 seconds before the door closed, I saw Hong’s right hand emerge from his pocket with a knuckle duster around his fingers.


2 seconds before the metal door met in the middle I stopped breathing the same time I saw Seven shifted his right leg behind him.

I felt the rumble and vibration of the lift as it’s door shut like the jaws of a metal beast the same time my fingers relax, dropping the bags of fruits onto the lift floor.


And if Nancy were well enough to ask me the same question she always did, I know what my reply would be that day.


Today. We dance.

[Irrumare]

Bravo.
Marvelous.
Spectacular.

[Mann1]

Your story is amazing and keeps enticing readers to come back for more. Well done!

[water_boi]

Originally Posted by ilikeoldchangke

Today. We dance.

thank you bro ilock!!! but more pls!!!!!

[Seowkao]

Great start to Wednesday. Please continue, ILOCK!

[madmen11]

The level of excitement and suspense.. You never fail to immerse us into the world of the characters bro ilock..

你真的很厉害。

[btblue8]

*slow clap*

[blurking666]

we are not worthy!!!! ORZ!!!

[otamay]

Damn good updates here, getting very exciting every moment, please continue.

[BradyTom]

Wonderful story, hoping for more updates soon

[Happyendingz]

Great story. Now what do I do till 2nd March for the next update?

[strikeback9413]

Very very nice story, thanks bro!

[diputs1269]

Awesome exciting updates here, cheers!

[bloggert]

Great story development!!

It sounds like Aaron might be the mole to me ... just a hunch.