Part 1I’m still piecing together what happened to me in October of 2013. I was 21 years old, and It’s all a foggy mess. Here’s what I’ve got so far.——Knocking at the door pulled me from my sleep that morning. I rubbed my eyes, and glanced over at my alarm clock. 7:36AMWhat the hell? I thought, slipping out from the sheets as I pulled a hoodie over my frame. Knockknockknockknock!“C’mon, man, gimme a second.” I said softly aloud. I made my way, slowly, out of my bedroom. Passing the couch in the front room of my apartment, I took notice of the blanket and pillow lying alone on it. I couldn’t help but feel empty. I disengaged the latch and turned the deadbolt. “It’s seven fucking thirty in the mor-“ When I opened the door, confusion washed over me as I saw my friend standing outside the entryway.“Ryan?”He was shaky and holding a letter.—— It’s been far too long. Where are you? You said we’d all be together again. Walking along the banks. Wading through Graywater. Small foot steps creating wakes. I’m little to nothing now. I’ll be gone soon. Dust among the lilies. I’d like to share it with you, one last time. - LukeI couldn’t comprehend the letter my friend had handed me. Why was Luke in Graywater? I could hardly remember that place. I knew we were all from there; the place that our friendship first formed and strengthened through adolescent bonds to the same comic book heroes and silly cartoons. My head felt like it was full of bees. It was nearly impossible to gather my thoughts.“When did you get this?” I asked Ryan.“Today, Jay. I was about to go on a run and it was just sitting on my doorstep. I rushed over as soon as I saw it.” Ryan replied, brushing his curly brown hair out his eyes. His green eyes were freshly bloodshot and bags lined his lower eyelids. I glanced back down at the envelope lying on the counter. It looked like an old tea stained pirate map. My Found Family.“That’s it?”“That’s it.”“What the hell is he doing there? We haven’t been there in almost a decade. And how the fuck did this just land on your doorstep? What the hell kind of sick game is he playing?” I questioned. We left our hometown when we were 16. All three of us packed what little we had into Ryan’s 90s shitbox and never looked back. There was nothing left for us there. We wound up in Bend and set roots, just the three of us. It wasn’t too far from our hometown, and it had the infrastructure to provide us with jobs and a decent apartment. Plenty of young lost souls to blend in with as well.“Your guess is as good as mine, man.” The harder I tried to picture that place, the foggier it got. I couldn’t paint a clear picture of that place in my mind at all. “Probably on a bender,” he rolled his eyes, “again.”We hadn’t seen Luke in about three weeks. Usually when he would disappear, he’d turn up in a few days, drunk and confused. After the first week we started to imagine the worst. Recovery is always a bumpy ride. A roller coaster of achievements and relapses. Luke’s toxin of choice: alcohol. I’d stuck by his side through it all. Taking more than a week off work to be with him at a time. What we went through together would be forever ingrained in my mind. The sweat. The crying. The fevers. The vomit. Desperate cries for a single drop. Just to take the edge off. Just one sip to get his head clear so he could get well. He’d tell me he’d felt like he was dying, and I almost believed him a few times. But we made it through. Together. Or so I’d thought.We sat in silence for a brief moment.“We have to go.” I said, trying to hide the fear flowing through my voice.“I know.” Ryan stated solemnly. “I already packed a bag. You should do the same.” I turned to go to room.”But Jay,” I’d never seen a look as serious as the one painted on his face. “This is the last fucking time I do this. We go get him, and then I’m done. I mean it.” I nodded in understanding. “Thank you, Ryan.”Ryan and I had always been on the same wavelength. Especially when it came to Luke. Luke himself was a different story, though. His reactions were always sporadic. You never knew if something you said to him would strike a nerve. He was usually always happy, but he had developed manic episodes that progressively got worse as we got older. He said the drinking helped.“I’ll meet you downstairs.” Ryan said as he opened the front door.I walked back to my bedroom and a stain in the carpet caught my eye. The memory of how it came to be burned in the back of my head. It had turned a dark visceral brown. It wouldn’t come out, no matter how many chemicals I threw at it. A permanent reminder of how I had failed to protect my friend from himself. I grabbed some clothes from the closet, loosely stuffed them into my gym bag and started to turn around. I couldn’t help but feel like something was in the corner of my eye. Scratching at the strangest itch in my brain. Something familiar, but I just couldn’t make anything of it. I shook it off and shut the door as I walked out.I locked the door to my apartment and walked briskly down the stairs to the parking lot to meet Ryan. It was a chilly October morning, and there was a dense layer of overcast blocking out the sun’s warmth. The leaves had fully changed into waves of orange and yellow, slowly beginning to fall. A subtle breeze funneled them around along the cold, gray asphalt. As I stepped into the old beat up car, a glimpse of the three of us riding along under the cloak of night raced through my head. All three of us. Laughing and listening to music both way too loud. Those thoughts kept me warm most days, but they stung in my chest as we began the long drive to Graywater.“I don’t get it. It’s a six hour drive from here. How did he manage to make it all the way there on his own? He hasn’t had a car since that beater he had in high school broke down.” I was floating in and out of thought as Ryan spoke to me.“I don’t know. It doesn’t make much sense to me either. But what matters is that we know he’s there now. And we’ll be picking him up from whatever bar he crash landed at before dawn.” I said to comfort myself as I twirled Luke’s keys around between my cold fingers.Luke was incredibly predictable. He’d developed patterns, just like the rest of us. We could always tell when Luke was about to take it a step too far and fall over the edge. This time was different, though. No warning. He was just gone. No clothes packed, no note left on our counter telling us how sorry he was for fucking us over again. Just a cold, empty space on my couch.I looked over at the clock. It blinked 10:00. We’re coming buddy. I’d hoped my thoughts would transmit to him. I was sending him warm frequencies to let him know he wasn’t alone. I’d hoped he could heard me.——I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep when I was startled awake. The car was parked at a gas station, and I’d assumed Ryan had gone in for a quick pee break. Gazing out the window, I realized that we were encompassed in a thick gray fog, and before I knew it, I was walking down the middle of the small highway. I didn’t know why, my legs were just moving on their own. Somewhere beyond the fog, I could make out what sounding like…coughing? Thick, phlegmatic, wheezing coughs.A strange ringing started to whine all around me. Something caught my eye again. Something lying in the middle of the asphalt, right between the yellow lines. A black red and gray baseball cap with one side of it caved in. A deep red spread into the grooves of the pavement from beneath it. I began to shake violently, acid rising in the back of my throat, and sweat penetrating the layers of clothing that clung to my rigid body. I felt piss seep into my Chucks as the ringing got worse. My eardrums were splitting and my vision started to blur as the hat suddenly disappeared into a geyser of thick fluid. The shock of it knocked me back onto my tailbone, sending splinters of pain up through my back. I tried to scream, but my airways were frozen completely still, like someone had a death grip on my lungs. It crashed over me, soaking every inch of my skin and clothes. The fog had turned a deep crimson, and the ringing took over my entire existence. I could feel my throat ripping apart as I tried so desperately to force any kind of noise out of the chords.The seatbelt locked as I jumped and realized I was drenched in sweat. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I couldn’t catch my breath. I frantically checked outside the window. The gas station, but no fog, just tall pine trees lurking all around, their branches waving softly to me in the breeze. I peered inside, and I could see Ryan at the checkout counter. He flashed a peace sign at me when he saw me awake. What was that? I never dream.Ryan opened the driver side door, and sat down. He held out a drink to me.“He lives!” He cackled. “You conked out man. I got you something, it’s almost your turn to drive.” He held out a bright red energy drink. I gladly accepted it; those days I survived solely on caffeine, nicotine and shitty Chinese food. I looked at the clock. 12:30. “Dude you look like you’re gonna hurl. You alright?” No, I had never been more not alright but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that.“Yeah, yeah. Just anxious. I’m ready to get Luke the fuck out of that town” I was only half lying. Wiping the sweat from my face, I cracked open the can and took a deep swig. “I’m good to switch out if you want to get some rest.”As we wound between an endless sea of pine trees, I couldn’t help but feel shivers run down the length of my spine, leaving goosebumps across the entirety of my skin as I read the passing road sign.Gr ywa e 1|0Portland 75I couldn’t help but tighten my grip on the steering wheel. Why would you go home? I thought. Why wouldn’t you tell us? What the hell kind of bender are you on? No matter how I tried to put the pieces together in my head, I could never find the answers to the questions swirling in my head.The radio caught my ear, snapping me back to reality. I reached down, pinched the volume knob and turned it slightly up. 90s punk rock spun around the car. I could feel Luke’s energy in there with us. I let him and the familiar music wind me down even more familiar dense forest roads and buried memories…——2 Years Earlier. October 15th, 12:53am.The same song was playing on Ryan’s radio. The windows were down, filling the car with fresh cold oxygen. We were leaving Judy’s, the local dive bar our friend group frequented. We’d spent the night under the glow of a lone red light on the balcony, overlooking the streets of downtown. Ryan was driving, and I was in the bitch seat as always, trying to keep my recently sweaty hair out of my eyes. I promised myself I’d keep it cut shorter after this. My right hand was firmly placed on the back of Luke’s neck. We were flying through town way too fast for comfort, but there was no time to think about speed limits. Luke had the worst alcohol poisoning I’d personally ever witnessed.If he wasn’t choking up his typical jager-dark beer potion, he was completely unconscious. He had already spilled his bladder, several times, and he was muttering strange phrases.“You don’t…..don….d-don’t remem….ber….what h-he d….did.” Was the only one I could make out. What are you even saying?“It’s okay buddy, we’re gonna get you some help, I promise.” Reassuring him was all could do. As we pulled into the emergency awning, Ryan sprang out of the car and darted through the automatic doors. I could hear him screaming desperately at the top of his lungs.“WE NEED HELP! ALCOHOL POISONING!” Ryan must have put them under a spell, because not five seconds later two nurses were helping me finagle Luke’s awkwardly tall body out of the car. One of the nurses gasped when she saw the state he was in. They placed him in a wheelchair, and began rolling him in, as if to skip triage entirely and get him back as fast as they could. As they crossed through the doors, Luke violently vomited all over the entryway floors. I grabbed Ryan by the shoulders.“Go park the car, I’ll go back with him and I’ll grab you from the waiting room once he’s settled in.” I said, sternly.“Okay, okay.” He was sweaty and somewhat dazed. I chased the nurses down and followed them into the room Luke was going to be staying in.“This might have been the worse case of alcohol poisoning I’ve ever seen.” The resident medical student said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He glanced over at him as he mumbled through his drunken state. “He’s incredibly lucky to have friends like you. He probably would have ended up dying of liver failure if not for you two.” He grabbed his laptop and slowly walked out of the room.Luke was out cold by the time Ryan made it back. His vitals had evened out, and he was on a full saline drip. The subtle beeping of the monitors droned on over the noises outside of the room. He had fought the nurses for a solid five minutes as they tried to stick him with the damn IV. I never knew he was scared of needles.“No, please. I….I don’t want to sleep. I’ll be good, please.” He begged, jerking his arms away from them. He was completely delirious. I stood in the corner of the room, staring in disbelief at the state of fight or flight he was in. His child-like pleading shook me to my core. I’d never seen him in a such a state of distress. This night had taken such a role on me that I still hear the vitals monitor in my sleep. Low beeps slowly humming through my head.Ryan was sleeping on one of those shitty blue couches they always have in those rooms, and I had pulled up a chair next to Luke’s bed. Why, Luke? Why can’t you give this up? Why can’t you just let us help you out of this for good? I laid my head on a spare pillow I had fixed on the side of bed, and sobbed. I desperately wanted my friend back.Present day.Ryan was fast asleep in the passenger seat as we passed the welcome sign to town. I’d never seen the front of this sign before. It read: GR YWATER.WE’RE SO GLAD TO SEE YOU BACK!I watched in the side mirror as we passed it, expecting to the typical “See you soon!” But instead, it read You finally came home Suddenly, I felt like someone had their hand the inside of my head, fiddling around in the creases of gray matter. I pressed my foot down into the brake pedal like a mobster curb stomping some unlucky rival. The car came to a screeching halt, and Ryan jolted awake as his seatbelt locked up.“What the fuck Jay!? What happened!?” My breathing had gone sporadic, and my fingernails were fully embedded into the steering wheel. I looked back up into the rearview. As quickly as I saw it, it was gone. Replaced with:See ya later, friend!How the fuck.“There was a dog…ran across the road. He’s already in the tree line. You okay?” A very lame fib to throw him off.“Yeah. Goddamn.” He let out a big sigh, and settled back into his seat as I gave the car some gas. What is going on with me? What am I so afraid of? We wound through the outskirts of town, my mind growing foggier as we passed small roads leading back into the woods. The dense abundance of trees guarding homes that lied beneath pine canopies. As we pulled closer to the road that would lead us into the heart of the city, we pulled up to multiple road signs blocking our way in reading, ROAD CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTIONRyan glanced over at me. “So do we go around?” We’d have to back track. It would take hours to get to the other side of town through these backroads. I looked around and noticed a small park nestled in the trees just off the road.“It’s only half a mile to downtown. We’ll park the car there and walk.” Confusion spread across Ryan’s face.“And what if Luke is as bad as he was last time? You’re gonna have to carry him out of there.”“So I’ll carry him then.” I was determined to get Luke out of this place, TODAY, and we were losing enough time as it was.“Fuck, man. Whatever you say.” I knew this trip was already a burden on him. But this was important. I couldn’t fail my friend again.I swerved the car sharply into the parking lot of the small rest-stop like park.The small town was laid out like any other. Lots of quaint neighborhoods surrounded your typical downtown square. And downtown was where we were headed. But this place was unfamiliar to me. Street names twisted and folded in my head. One-ways that led only to dead ends, roundabouts that spun webs of confusion. I got turned around more times than my pride could take. The architecture of the city center screamed wannabe tourist location, but crammed that feel into a town with no more than 30,000 residents. Lots of two story apartment buildings with once beautiful bay windows squeezing each other from sidewalk to sidewalk. Little shops and restaurants lived on the first floor of many of these.“You seein’ this?” He gave me a perplexed look. “This place is dead.”“Was this place ever really alive?” This answer caused me dig deep into my memories.“Can I tell you something? Promise not to call me crazy?”“Hit me.”“I…I can’t remember anything. About this town I mean. This is our HOMETOWN. Why can’t I remember?” A deer caught in the headlights. That’s all I can say to describe the look on Ryan’s face. That and a mix of nausea, maybe.“I can’t either.” I was completely speechless, and we sat in silence for what seemed like eternity. “Let’s get Luke out of this fucking town.”As we followed the sidewalks, we found a directory sitting right at the edge of the block we were on. It showed the full layout of downtown, showcasing all of the local shops and bars. Just two blocks south, there was a bar called Patty’s.“If anyone’s seen Luke it’s a bartender.” Ryan suggested.“Anyone ever tell you you’re really smart?”“I could stand to hear it a few more times.” He snarked.We passed a few people as we walked towards the bar, and this set my mind at ease a little. They seemed tired, and not completely present. Empty eyes and expressionless faces passed us by. It still felt a little empty for downtown a few hours before dinner rush. I tried to push it out of my mind and take in the scenery. In the center of downtown, there was a tiny little park. Adorned with a splash pad and jungle gyms. The tiny trees were popping with vibrant oranges and yellows. But as I zoomed in on the trees, they looked like they were starting to rot. And the jungle gyms had subtle hints of rust throughout their many connecting metal bars. There were three young boys playing on the swing sets, and they creaked and moaned with every push. But they were unbothered. Unaware of the condition of their surroundings, they laughed and played freely. The sidewalks had too many cracks to count, with little dead bolts of grass crawling out of them. Finally, we stumbled upon our destination. I looked up at the sign hanging above the doors. “Patty’s Bar & Pub. Your last stop for the night.” I grabbed the door and held it open for Ryan.As we stepped in, the floor creaked and the strong scent of fried everything mixed with stale beer filled my nostrils. There one older man sitting at the bar. His beer was half empty and most likely flat. There was a small bowl of peanuts next to him, and his chair was surrounded by the husks. Two other men sat at a booth on the other side of the bar. “I’ll ask around in here if you wanna hit the bathrooms.” I nodded and patted his shoulder firmly. A bright red arrow shaped sign hung next the bar, reading “restrooms this way”, in a questionable font.The hinges on the door squeaked as I pushed in the door. The state of this restroom was far beyond questionable. The walls were a rusted orange, with darker almost red streaks pointing down to the floor tiles. They were in far worse shape. Cracks seeped through every one of them. The bar was definitely of the dive variety, but this was still an extremely jarring jump in quality. I really didn’t want to be in here, in fact I didn’t want to be in this hellhole at all. But Luke needed me.“Luke?” I called out. Silence. “You in here buddy? It’s Jay.” Still nothing. Okay. I’m really doing this. I thought to myself as I started to push in stall doors. Empty. The next, empty as well. As I placed my hand on the door of the third stall, I could make out faint breathing on the other side.“…Luke?” I pressed inwards on the door. It wouldn’t budge. The breathing got a little louder, mixing with strange wet sloshes. Like volcanic liquid bubbling, low gargling began to radiate from the stall. I backed away, almost tripping over my feet. The lock started to jiggle unfathomably fast and small wisps of steam floated all around it.I tried my best to make it back to the door, but the stall burst open before I could. Smoke filled the room so quickly I didn’t have time to react, and as I breathed it in I began to choke harshly. I fell to my knees, lightheaded and completely dazed. Just before I could pass out, the air felt fresh again, and my lungs began to clear of the smoke.I looked up, and I thought I could make out a little boy, but my vision was still blurred.“Are you okay, mister?” He asked me. He couldn’t have been more than 5 years old. I could start to make out shaggy dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a superhero shirt and baggy sweatpants. I cleared my throat.“Why are you all alone? Where are your parents, bud?” I asked him. He looked down shamefully.“Gone.” I could hear him holding back tears. “Gone? Gone where? This is a bar you shouldn’t even be allowed in here.” No answer, but he began to sob. This boy felt strangely familiar to me, but I couldn’t seem to place where I’d seen him before. He looked back up at me, but now his eyes were red, with deep yellow irises.“LEAAAAVE!” He screamed, his voice twisted and dark, skipping around in octave. Suddenly, the stall door slammed back open, swatting me like a fly and sending me across the restroom. I made contact with the door, the force opened it, and I landed against the wall outside of the restroom. Pain shot up my back as I tried to gather myself. I heard Ryan running over.“Ryan?” I asked through the pain.“What the fuck happened? Are you alright?” He wrapped an arm under mine and helped me up to my feet. Before I could even think about answering him, I shoved open the door to the restroom and took a few steps in. Ryan held the door open behind me.It was completely empty. I looked over at Ryan.“Ryan, we really gotta find Luke.”“Why what’s going on?”I walked out of the restroom with Ryan pacing after me. The semi empty bar was now baron. Not a soul wandered between its walls. The lights remained glowing, and drinks had spilled over onto the tabletops. How? I started to run towards the door frantically.“What the fuck?” Ryan said, “I was just talking to the bar tender. “Jay, wha-“ I froze before I made it there. I stared blankly out the windows. Subtle ringing filled my eardrums as I gazed out into the completely city center. What were inklings of life before was entirely desolate. “Jay?” His voice was muted in my senses. I pushed open the door and stepped out, Ryan sticking right behind me. Silence. Silence like I’d never experienced. The cold breeze was still steadily swaying through the air. The door to the bar slammed, and echoed out across the barrenness before us. “Well, now what?” He asked. I let out a slow sigh and started walked slowly down the street. “Jay! Fucking talk to me!” I took a deep breath, and slowly released the air in my lungs.“How many other bars are in town?”——We checked all five local bars. Every trace of a human, or animal had completely left the town. As we walked through the town square, I looked over at Ryan.“Okay. The hospital is about a mile from here. If he’s not at the bar, my guess is that he was already taken there after he did what he always does.” I said.“Jay, this place, for whatever reason, is a complete ghost town. I-I really think we need to leave.” I didn’t skip a beat in replying.“I’m going. You’re welcome to go back to the car and wait. I understand completely if this is too much for you. We started walking back to the directory, cutting across the park to save time. The soft dead grass crunched lightly beneath my shoes. We passed completely abandoned cars slightly parked on the sidewalk. Open balcony doors of second floor apartments with curtains blowing in the breeze. The trees drooped and their leaves had started to fall ever so softly to the ground.As we walked up to the rectangular prism coated in maps, one side of it caught my eye. I stepped around, and felt my head flush. Written in red, there was a red arrow lining the entire route all the way to the hospital. It was circled and red lettering wrapped around it that said You couldn’t. What makes you think they can?What is this? I could feel Ryan’s gaze on me. As if he was questioning my thoughts without hearing them. I was determined to get all THREE of us out of here. Together.“Let’s go then.” via /r/nosleep https://ift.tt/h9bU7Ya
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