My Friend who Vanished (Part 1)
An original thriller by Daniel Mok (4C)

I don’t expect you to believe anything I’m about to tell you.

I have told this story countless times—to family members, friends, teachers, social workers … even to a psychiatrist. They all told me I was too stressed out adapting to a new school life, which was making me delusional. Yet, to this day, I am still living in a state of distrust and suspicion towards others because of this incident. 

I came to the College in 2019 when I graduated directly from our primary school. Form 1 is a terrifying time for a secondary newbie. I struggled with making friends and dealing with the unexpected load of assignments. 

He was one of the only friends I had at that point. He had been in my class since P5 when he transferred from Kowloon Tong Government Primary School. It turned out we had a lot of interests in common, so we quickly became inseparable.

November 21st, 2019. I will never forget that Thursday, nor the friend who had only lived in my memories, Nicholas Lin. 

That particular day at school was tiring as usual and most classmates, including me, had already been exhausted by the lunch break. With my tuckshop ham and cheese sandwich, I couldn’t find a seat at the cafeteria so I opted for one of the benches in the covered playground instead. 

That’s when he approached me. I didn’t know his name, but I was certain from his deep voice and long shadow that he was from a higher form. 

“Hi, did you register for the Rubik’s Cube Club at the ACE last week?  You’re Daniel from 1D, right? I recognised you.” 

I nodded shyly.

“Great. Just wanted to remind you about our meeting after school at the e-learning centre today.”

A meeting today? I thought. Never heard of it until now, but afraid of being judged, I pretended to know.  

“Wait, sorry. Where exactly is the e-learning centre?” I asked timidly.

He paused for a bit.

 “6th floor. Didn’t they show you around the campus before?”

“Yes, I - I just forgot about it. Thanks.”

Then he walked away. Blushing, I didn’t dare to look back at him. Instead, I returned to the classroom after gobbling down the second sandwich.

An hour or two later,  as the final bell rang, I packed my bag quickly and headed out of the classroom, only to find Nicholas following behind. 

“Did you also register -”

“Yes,” he replied immediately. “Quick, we’re going to be late for the meeting. E-learning centre, correct? 6th floor, right?”

“I think so, but I’m not sure which building or wing—St. Paul’s is huge.”

“Me neither. Let’s just find out as we go.” 

I agreed silently since there wasn’t any other solution, a decision I have deeply regretted ever since.

At first, we took the staircase near the gym and climbed it until we reached the top: at the 5th floor. Unaware of the other adjacent staircase leading to the higher levels, we desperately tried to find a way up by wandering along the veranda outside the Form 5 classrooms, but to no avail. 

But then, a familiar sight –  the windows of the balcony! We went there for a Chinese calligraphy lesson during the bridging course. 

“Nick, that’s the balcony there! I’m pretty sure there’s a staircase nearby!” 

So we rushed towards the balcony and there it was, to the left of the balcony —an old staircase.

Eventually, we reached the sixth floor and turned left to find ourselves in an unfamiliar corridor with a dark room on the side. I ran towards the entrance of the room, panting. On the door was a broken wooden sign, with the barely visible words, GP Room 6.

“Not this one.” I told Nicholas before taking another look at the eerily empty room. Something is off. I was trying to think about it when he suddenly screamed.

“I lost my wallet!” Nicholas shouted, searching frantically through his pockets. 

“I’ll have to walk back the way we came in case I dropped it. Daniel, can you tell them I’ll be a little late for the meeting?”

“Ok, come as soon as you find it.”

He headed back towards the staircase and I walked in the opposite direction. Turning right, I saw yet another staircase - this time quite new and white. Fortunately, there were signs on the walls which led me to the school office, where I could ask for further directions.

As I arrived at the office though, I was surprised to discover the lucky fact that the e-learning centre was right beside it! 

I placed my hand on the door handle. I twisted it with all my might. 

The door - The door was locked. Through the tiny square windows, I could see that there was no light inside. 

Had the meeting ended?

Uneasy, I looked through the glass window of the school office’s front desk at the clock - 4:49? Had it really been that long?

I left the school, completely forgetting about Nicholas with so many thoughts flowing through my head. Would I be scolded by the club committee members for missing the meeting? Would I have conduct marks deducted? Would the teacher advisors think I was irresponsible?

The weather was rainy and breezy that evening and I, till this day, still distinctly remember the striped blue cardigan my mother had urged me to wear before going to school, and the long walk I took heading back home.

It was not until I arrived home that I remembered Nicholas. Regretfully, I switched on my phone to text him about the ended meeting.  

Where was his contact? 

Weirdly enough, despite Nicholas being the person I talked to the most, I could not find his contact information. Normally, his name came up at the top of the list. But with so many assignments to complete, I dismissed it as a glitch and started on my homework instead.

When I returned to school the next day, Nicholas wasn’t there.

His seat was occupied by another student. When I told my class teacher about what had happened, he seemed to act as if everything was normal. He didn’t even seem to know who I was talking about.

“Where is Nicholas? Do you know why he isn’t here today?” I asked my classmates.

“Who is Nicholas?”

I paused for a moment and then grinned at the poor joke. Nick was rather popular in our class. As a matter of fact, at least half of the form knew him.

“Just end the practical joke, everyone. It’s so dull. Try something else.” 

Still, all of them looked confused, and for some reason no one spoke a word until I repeated again.

“Come on, Nicholas. Nicholas Lin. Anyone know anything about his absence? His whereabouts?” Unwillingly, I played along.

The whole class then stared back at me in a strange manner.

“Sorry, we really don’t know what you are talking about.” Our class teacher broke the silence. 

There had never been a sixth General Purpose Room in our College. 

It had always just been an empty hallway.

I was overwhelmed with disbelief as everything sank into oblivion.

Within a few days, my family was contacted about the incident and I was sent to the social worker’s office. She said I had been delusional, but I knew that what I saw was real. I tried explaining everything to anyone who would listen, yet, no one would ever believe what I said. 

It was like Nicholas had never existed at all—like he’d only lived in my distant memories.But I know that Nick and I both liked playing the Nintendo Game, Splatoon 2, released in 2017. I know that we liked drawing the characters in the game together on my tiny A5 sketchbook and making comics for their fanfics. I know that we both adored listening to music and I know that we enjoyed ‘The Planets’ performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra together on 7th June, 2019, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre - I even kept my ticket. I know that his birthday was the 4th of August. I know that he has a pet dog named Duffy who is too lazy to do any tricks. I even know that he lives in a flat in Sai Wan Estate, Kennedy Town, because I once went to his house for a sleepover. Yet, I simply could not prove his existence.

That was 3 years ago. 

-To be continued-