Bloody Door

Recruit T M Ang, C'mon. Endure! We're reaching dinner point soon.' 'Yes, sir!' Dragging his feet, Tuo Mei struggled behind the company. Gradually he lagged behind. He began to lose track of the time. Finally, after walking for what he seemed to be miles, the company came to a halt. They had reached their dinner point. The place, the company settled for dinner was a deserted durian plantation, left unattended after the last of the villagers left Pulau Tekong. The trees had then grown wild, with their crowns spreading like a mad man's hair. The abundant leaves formed canopies that they shaded the entire ground, allowing only rays of light to seep through. If one was to look up, he would notice a graceful dance as the gentle breeze touched the leaves. The whole plantation had projected such an air of serenity, in which no other place in Tekong could match. However, unknown to anybody, evil was steadily pushing its way into the plantation as the sun gradually weakened.

Dinner finally arrived, to the joy of the hungry soldiers. Everybody rushed to grab their food, but in an orderly manner. After eating, many just lazed around their confined area designated by their platoon commander. Nobody, except Tuo Mei dared to cross the boundary. Drawn by the mystical look of a gigantic durian tree, the subconscious soldier staggered towards it. With a sigh of relief, he threw his helmet and field pack down, tore apart the straps of his webbing and sank down onto the ground. 'At last! I can sleep!' meanwhile, at another corner of the plantation, the officers had gathered for a meeting. 'PCs we have a problem here. It's Thursday today and it's gonna get dark soon. However, we still have eight click, what's your opinion?' 'Sir, but the school's rule... I think we should wait here, while Encik goes back to call for transport.' As they were discussing and arguing, a sudden creepy feeling touched everybody's hearts. The entire plantation had become silent, dead silent. The crickets and the toads seemed to be gone. Or perhaps they had decided to listen to their conversation instead of participating. The recruits had gathered into groups, looking at each other. The urgency to leave the place become strong. Just then the dark clouds covered the sky like a big piece of blanket, refusing sunlight to enter the plantation. A creepy feeling crawled in.

'C'mon, PCs get your men ready, we'll walk a bit faster and finish the last eight click.' A roll call revealed that everyone was present. Soon, the recruits were pushing their bodies which were totally exhausted forward and fastened their pace. Singing an army song that sounded more like a funeral tune, the company was filled anxiety. Unknown to everybody, recruit Ang Tuo Mei did not join in. Another recruit, Jason who was just discharged from the sickbay, had joined the platoon during roll call. Somehow the mistake was made when Corporal Cheong failed to notice Jason. A cooling sea breeze blew. Enchanting music filled the air, breaking the magical silence of the plantation. Tuo Mei was dreaming. He could not hear his friends singing. All that he heard was the gentle sweet voice calling him. 'I ask my girl, to take a walk, to take a walk...' Slowly the singing faded.

Captain Chia was looking at his watch with anxiety. It was already past eight o'clock. He knew it was getting late and he knew that he must reach camp before the school's bedtime. Therefore, he skipped the intended rest point and pushed his men to walk faster. He had only one intention in mind, that is to reach camp as fast as possible. The thought of camp finally became a vision. They had managed to make it back before the school's bedtime. 'Dari kanan bilang!' commanded Corporal Cheong. 'Twelve and one blank file, corporal!' 'One blank file? Sure? Fall in properly and number off again!' 'Twelve and one blank file, corporal!' shouted the last man in the file. 'Who's not here!?' After glancing at one another, checking their friends, the answer finally came to light. 'Recruit T M Ang is missing, corporal!' 'Corporal! I think I saw him sleeping when I was eating. 'Tuo Mei's buddy exclaimed. 'Hmm... cannot be what. The roll call after dinner was correct, twelve and no blank file.' Corporal Cheong began to probe for information. At last enlightenment was attained. Recruit Jason had messed the roll call. He was not supposed to be in the file during the roll call, as it was only meant for those who were in the original walking strength. furthermore, Jason failed to inform Corporal Cheong, the Duty Instructor of his return before joining the platoon. Thus, this had caused Corporal Cheong to make an error in the platoon's walking strength.

Immediately the matter was made known to Corporal Chia. Just as fast, a search was activated. The whole company was involved. Platoon 3 was assigned to search the durian plantation. 'Tuo Mei!' 'Recruit Ang Tuo Mei!' everybody was shouting at the top of their voice. Panic filled their hearts as they temporarily forgot about their tiredness. Just an anxiety reached climax, winds started howling and leaves rustled violently. The whole plantation suddenly became very much alive. It seemed to be protesting. The commotion created had caused a rumpus. A creepy kind of feeling struck everybody's hearts once again. However, this time it was a stronger one mixed with fear. Suddenly, the wind stopped, and the whole place was silent again. It was too quiet for anybody's comfort. Nobody wanted to shout anymore. Nobody wanted to walk another step. Everybody was staring at one another, dumb stricken. The trees seemed to be stretching out their branches to touch them. 'Okay... uh... guys... let's head back to camp! It's getting late.' Their officer's commanding order warmed their hearts. In just split second, everybody had gathered on the road, ready to get out of the eerie place. Once all were present, the platoon hurried back to camp, joining the rest of the company on their way back. Just as soon as the soldiers stepped out of the plantation, it became alive again with crickets, toads and all kinds of insects that inhabited the area. They seemed to be laughing, perhaps at the cowardice and incompetence of the soldiers.

Tuo Mei was feeling terrible. He could see the lady in in his dream, tearing his flesh, devouring his body. He heard his friends shouting, calling his name, and he had screamed out, using the last bit of strength that he had left. Sadly, nobody heard his painful scream, nor did they notice him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw them leaving, they had left him to die. Tears trickled down as they disappeared out of his sight. 'Company... Ber... hen... ti!' Charlie company had returned. It was almost dawn and everybody was dead tired. How much they had missed their beds and the warmth of their blankets. After dismissal however, 2LT Razali and his instructors followed their recruits to their bunk. They had not ruled out the possibility of Tuo Mei going AWOL. They intended to investigate further. Just when they had gathered the recruits around, a sudden blackout occurred. Mist started forming. It was evolving from Tuo Mei's cupboard. Cold sweat trickled platoon sergeant. 'Who opened that cupboard? Close it!' screamed the platoon sergeant. Too late! Out of nowhere, Tuo Mei's head appeared, resting on his intestines on top of his cupboard. Was it Tuo Mei's head? Nobody was sure. The face was hideous. It seemed as though half of the face was being burnt by acid. The dermis had melted, exposing the red raw flech. Blood was flowing profusely. If one was to look carefully, he could actually differentiate the cheek bones from the flesh. Teeth marks sank deep around his left eye causing blood to ooze out dripping on his intestines. The intestines were coiled like a rattle snake, nicely under the head, with the end part of the colon dangling at the edge of the cupboard. The intestines was red, yet made redder by the bleeding from the wounds on the face. Somehow it seemed to brighten the darkness consumed bunk. In fact, in no time, the entire cupboard stood out, together with the head and the intestines, as it was tainted with blood. The instructors and the recruits as well as everything else in the room had become the background as darkness gradually devoured them. 'All of you deserted me! Left me to die there!' Anger filled his eyes as Tuo Mei stared at every single soul in the room. Suddenly laughter filled the air. His anger had been appeased. Thunderstorm was over, was it? Everybody looked at him in fear. Their hearts were pounding as though they were racing. Nobody were scared out of their wits. Tuo Mei's buddy even uncontrollably urinated in his shorts, as he closed his eyes, trembling. Silence. The devilish laughter had stopped abruptly. A long frightened silence followed, reminding everybody of the extraordinarily quiet plantation. Tuo Mei was now scanning the room, recording each and everyone's expressions. Finally, the pair of eyes rested on Jason, Tuo Mei grinned.

'Revenge! I want revenge!' His words died off, as a monstrous mouth appearing from nowhere tore away the upper half of the head. Tiny pieces of flesh mixed with blood dripped at the corner of the mouth as it sank its teeth into the skull. Blood spurted out from the hollow of the lower part of Tuo Mei's head, creating a bloody fountain. 'I've... a... fare... farewell gift... for you...' cried Tuo Mei in bitter pain. As soon as he finished his words, something dropped on the floor from his colon. It was shit! Suddenly his colon erected, pointing at the startled faces and started spraying, like a machine gun. Nobody managed to survive this ordeal. Screaming and shouting, cursing and swearing, as they tried to wipe their face. They were powerless against him. Nobody even dares to shift his position. They were afraid that this could be just the beginning. Looking at their expressions, Tuo Mei laughed inside the gigantic mouth. He was laughing at their helplessness. The laughing ended as razor sharp teeth sank deep into his skull. 'Grunt! Grunt!' As the mouth gorged down its delicacy, saliva blended with Tuo Mei's blood dripped on the floor. It seemed to be enjoying every bite of this unusual food. Once it was done, it began licking the intestines lovingly, down to the colon. As though it was having oral sex, it began sucking the colon. Saliva dripped from the corner of the mouth. It was enjoying every single moment. Gradually, it sucked and swallowed the whole colon. It was disgusting, so much so that disgusting was too mild a word to be used to describe it. After what seemed to be hours, it finished the entire intestine. A burp followed by a grin ended the show. The mouth was satisfied. Suddenly it disappeared, vanished into thin air. Following that the cupboard door banged, sucking in all the mist, as it shut itself. Instantly, the light came back on.

All eyes were still fixed on Tuo Mei's cupboard. Nobody had yet recovered from the shock. Just then, their eyes caught sight of Tuo Mei's helmet, resting on top of this webbing on top of his cupboard. Nobody said anything. The image of the mouth, and their friend's head and intestines was still in their minds. They had not vanished into thin air. A long silence. 'Okay, everyone... uh... its over. Back to sleep.' The platoon sergeant broke the dreadful silence. Was it over? Or was it just the beginning? He himself was not sure. Nobody was sure. But he knew he had to do something. Slowly but firmly, he walked towards the cupboard. His mind was racing fast, his heart was pounding faster. He mumbled his prayers. He knew deep inside his heart that he could die with just one false move, and marked the end of his career. As he got nearer to the cupboard, he took out his beret from his trousers pocket, flung open the door and put his beret firmly inside the cupboard. lights flickered for a minute or to then returned to normal. He had subdued the demon! The Singapura crest on the beret did its job. Immediately, without thinking he grabbed a lock and locked the door of the cupboard. Then he took the berets of the other instructors and placed them on the cupboard. Everything was peaceful for now.

Report to Brigade Headquarters on Missing Recruit Ang Tuo Mei
Date:     18 June 1980                    Ref:     X/T 666

13 June 1980, Thursday
0730 hours:     Charlie company had gathered in full battle order waiting to start their 24 km road march. Rec T M  Ang of Platoon 3 was experiencing severe headache. He reported to Corporal Cheong, the Duty Instructor for that day. Corporal Cheong encouraged him to participate in the road march and also assured him that he could fall out halfway if his condition got worse.

1200 hours:     Lunch break. Rec T M Ang was feeling dizzy. He informed 2LT Razali, his platoon commander, who suggested a rest before they moved on. He also offered oitment to ease his headache.

1240 hours:     The company proceeded. Rec T M Ang managed to keep up with the company's rear scouts.

1800 hours:     Dinner break. Rec T M Ang complained to 2LT Razali that his head weighed hundreds of tons. He dozed off at a corner.

1830 hours:     Captain Chia, after a meeting with all the platoon commanders, decided to continue with the road march to reach back to camp before lights out.

1850 hours:     A roll call showed that everybody was present. The company set off.

2130 hours:     The company returned camp. Rec T M Ang was found missing. Captain Chia immediately activated the whole company for a search.

14 June 1980, Saturday
0430 hours:     Search considered futile. Captain Chia command the search teams to head back to camp.

0500 hours:     Just before dawn, the platoon commander and the instructors of platoon 3, as well as the recruits witnessed the unusual phenomenon.

0730 hours:     The unusual incident was reported.

0800 hours:     The camp commander activated a 3 day search for Rec T M Ang.

16 June 1980, Monday
1600 hours:     Recruit T M Ang's remains were found dead near a gigantic durian tree.

Comments
It was strange that nobody had noticed the tree when they searched the durian plantation. What they found was only a skeleton with Recruit Ang's identification tag. Further evidence from the uniform the skeleton was wearing and the field pack beside it supported the fact that the skeleton was Recruit Ang Tuo Mei. The extraordinary speed of decomposition cannot be explained.

Conclusion
Classify case under Category X, also unsolved mysterious of Tekong. Fine to remain closed.

It was 14th June 1993, Friday. The time, 0700 hours. Staff sergeant Jason, Charlie company, newly posted Company Sergeant Major was found dead inside the company's lecture room. The room was actually an ex recruit's bunk, the one that brought back memories of Recruit Ang Tuo Mei, thirteen years ago. Staff sergeant Jason died a terrifying death, with his head been separated from his body and his intestines pulled out. It was a sickening sight, with the head resting on the intestines, on the stage. Blood was everywhere, on the walls, the benches and the floor. Upon investigation, the brigade failed to identify the killer. The case was then handed to the civilian police. The lecture room was put out of use. It was bolted and nobody was to use it ever again. They washed most of the blood stains from the room, except the one on the wall. It was very strange as the stain formed an outline of a door.