It was late past midnight, around 3am or so. I had worked overtime again.
I was a doctor by profession, a very young one at that. Because of my young age, I had always been forced to work extra, only to prove myself better to my seniors.
Due to my severe obsession of being a workaholic, I often returned home too late, almost past midnight everytime. This always disturbed my neighbours and eventually led myself to be evicted by the landlord.
I did not know whether I had been favoured by the gods or the devils but around the same time when I was evicted, I had a lawyer come to me saying that it was time for me to inherit the house left to me by my dead parents. For a recent homeless person, this opportunity was very efficient. I had agreed with the lawyer's terms, signed the contract papers and then moved into the new house.
The house was a part of a big community which was just too green. It was located in the north of the City and luckily, I had to only take a train for 15 minutes to reach my work. But the community was really strange in it's own way. I had never seen another person but myself.
It was the first time that I had been returning to my new home so late. I had yet to realise that the community was really scary at dark. The place was dark as an abyss, making me have chills on my back with every step. Since there were no streetlights, I had to hunt my way through with my phone's flashlight.
The moon which had been covered by dark clouds was now visible. It usually took me 20 minutes to walk to the my villa. The path was wide enough for a big truck to pass and I was the only one walking on it right now. I heard a sound from ahead which caused me to instinctively raise my head from the ground.
Infront of me, about 3 metres away, stood a vibrant leopard ready to rush at me. I removed my thick framed glasses and rubbed my eyes, the leopard did not disappear which made me realise that I wasn't hallucinating. All of a sudden, it leapt toward me.
I felt my blood run cold with my entire being glued to the spot. Thoughts of death and pain poured into my mind. But I felt nothing. When I opened my eyes, I saw another creature fighting the leopard. It was a big white wolf with a size larger than average. I was pretty sure that my brain had stopped working.
All of a sudden, the wolf was thrown against a tree by the leopard. It howled in pain while the leopard made its way towards me. I still couldn't move. The leopard jumped at me and, then suddenly, I was thrown metres away from where I stood.
I fell to ground, my glasses fell while the impact of falling made me yelp in pain. It hurt too much. As a person who obviously had no exercise, pain was something much intolerable. I opened my eyes which were squeezed shut because of the pain. The wolf and the leopard were fighting again. But there was something different about the scene from before.
I did not realise it for a long time. After a few minutes had passed, I noticed the change. There was a man dressed in a black suit standing a little away from the fighting beasts. The man had long black hair which seemed to make me doubt about which ancient era the man belonged to. But these were the useless thoughts that were tossed aside right after realisation.
The leopard was thrown to the ground this time, the wolf put its paw on the leopard and then the man clapped his hands and later snapped his fingers. A bright light flashed and the leopard with the wolf had disappeared.
It was shocking!
Soon the enigmatic man made his way towards me. He crouched down and his hand trailed against the black strands of hair that often blocked my sight. He looked at me and smirked, then spoke in an amused tone, "Such a rare person like you shouldn't be wandering around at this time without any protection. You seem to be extremely lucky to run into me though." As he finished his words, he put his hand into his pocket and pulled something out. It looked like a bracelet. The fatigue and pain caused from the fall was so bad that I could not even resist the man's actions.
He smiled at me again, "Don't worry, you will be fine soon. I'm sure we will meet again, Dr. Chen. Till then, adios."
He waved his hand over my eyes and I started feeling drowsy, only to lose my conscious the next second.
Next day...
The sun had already risen when I had woken up. Unexpectedly, I had found myself on a hospital bed with an IV drip connected to my arm. It was only later when I had been told that I realised it.
According to the nurse, I was found unconscious on the way to my house. The reason being overworking and fatigue. Perhaps I had tortured my body too much. But it was only after the nurse left that the events of the previous night flashed on my mind. I hurriedly looked at my wrist, there was nothing. I sighed in relief thinking that everything was a dream. But as my eyes scanned the room I was in, I saw it. On the bedside table, next to my phone it peacefully lay. The green bracelet, I had seen the long haired man make me wear.
Only one question occupied my mind at that time as I grabbed the bracelet and caressed it, 'Was all of that real?'
