Part 1:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/s/LGxIO2yvJv
“That…was…IN-SANE!!” Daniel said as he jolted up from his seat. Roddy and I stood quickly as well and the three of us met in a group hug in the middle of the living room by the coffee table. We were still mostly speechless, offering exhausted, sober laughs to each other before releasing our embrace.
“I can’t believe it,” I said with a close lipped smile, “I cannot believe it. That was so amazing.”
“Dude, I KNOW. Probably best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Daniel replied, shaking his head and looking at the floor.
“Yeah, same here,” Roddy added, “that was like straight up actual Nirvana. I wish we could’ve just stayed there with a dope ass little bear, man!”
“Well, if that was the first wave, just imagine how awesome the next waves are gonna be!” Daniel said confidently.
“Duuuude good point! Good point! As incredible as that was, maybe it was like mild compared to what’s next!” I affirmed joyously.
“Bingo. I say we re-up on the good stuff and strap in again ASAP.” Roddy said.
Within two minutes we had all gone to the kitchen and swilled down another mug full of the magic plant juice and were seated again in the living room, anxiously awaiting what beautiful experience we were to have next. We had turned on another nature documentary, this time featuring a variety of water dwelling birds. About fifteen minutes passed in mostly silence, each of us constantly checking on ourselves to see if anything was beginning to happen again.
“Cmooooonnn, I’m readyyyy….let’s gooooo.” Daniel cut through the patient, yet expectant quiet.
“I know, bro. Didn’t take this long the first time.” Roddy joined in.
“Yeah for real, maybe it’s-“ I started to say, but couldn’t finish my thought, as everything was suddenly plunged back into total darkness.
Life was once again blotted out for a long moment before I regained consciousness.
I heard myself gasp desperately as my eyes reopened. The first thing I noticed is that all was quiet. In my fuzzy disorientation I started to take in my surroundings. I was in a room. A strange room. More like a chamber of sorts. I was completely alone. There was no sign of Roddy or Daniel. I was sprawled on my back and I reached out and felt stone floors beneath me as I stood up. The room was circular, about one hundred feet in diameter. I did a full spin, my eyes consuming all there was to see. Equally spaced around the room were beautiful white marble columns standing against the walls. There must’ve been at least twenty of them. Thick veins of gold laced the pearly pillars, crawling upward like vines. On top of each column were large glass bulbs, with fire burning in each, unattached to a wick or a coil. Their light splashed around the room in a warm glaze. I looked up, and was immediately astonished.
There was no ceiling in this room. In my disbelief I saw that the chamber opened up into the night sky, except the heavenly bodies were pulled way closer than I had ever seen. I could see the dust of galaxies and nebulas like they were low clouds. A comet softly snowed its way across left to right, it’s long tail fanning out behind it in a slowly widening ribbon, like a projector beam before it hits a screen. Purple, green, and yellow stars of all sizes beamed down on me, with breathing halos sparkling around each. I sat back down, too struck by the beauty to remain standing, and so I could get a more panoramic eye full. Over to the edge where the sky met the walls of stone, something else caught my attention. A small, blinking light, slowly growing brighter and brighter. It shone a brilliant pale gold. It was moving toward me. As it got closer I saw that it wasn’t one star, but two, flying in tandem. It quickly came so close to me that I had to turn my head down, as the blinding light filled the circular chamber. I fell prostrate on the stone floor and covered my eyes, quickly succumbing to the brightness and the heat of the approaching astronomical duo.
“Do not cower.” A voice suddenly and smoothly rang out from above. I began to shake involuntarily, figuring I was about to be disintegrated at any moment.
“Arise, Matthew. Do not fear.” The voice encouraged me as the blinding light beyond my hand-cupped eyes began to soften and dim. I decided to obey the suggestion, and sat up and back on my knees, keeping a trembling hand to my eyes. Through my fingers I could see the silhouette of a humanoid figure, floating into the chamber, growing smaller and dimmer until I could make out more detail.
I lowered my hand and got a full view of my new company. The figure landed on the stone in front of me. It was a woman, about 8 feet tall and glowing with angelic luster. She wore a floor length dress, it’s fabric pieced together with thousands of diamonds. It had no sleeves and her arms were strong and bronzed, with silver rings and bracelets on all of her fingers and both wrists. Her neck was long and elegant, enhanced by a necklace with a striking emerald stone. Her countenance beamed out like a lighthouse, with smiling, green eyes and matching lipstick. On her head was a golden crown, pieces jutting up triangularly from an equally priceless headband. She was covered in the warm residual light from when she appeared as the double star, although now pleasurably visible. It was too much to take, although I couldn’t tear my eyes away, unblinking at the glory of it all. She was a goddess in plain sight right there with me.
“Who…who are you?” My shaking voice finally spit out after moments of awed muteness.
“Matthew, you have already asked me this question, and you know I cannot say.” She answered, like a mother reminding her child of an important yet simple lesson it had already learned multiple times, “It would be too much for you. Even in this state, I had to terribly decrease my energies so that I could appear before you in a way that your mind could understand.”
I heard her words but still didn’t truly understand. Taking her all in with my eyes and ears was almost too much, though. I couldn’t imagine what she meant saying this was a lesser level of her being, and she said I had already asked her name before? Did that mean she was Eddy Bear as well? Eddy did mention that he had many forms, which would help the three of us throughout our drug-fueled journey. I figured he meant he would be a variety of different cuddly little friends, not some immortal angel from the depths of space. Regardless, this piece of the amalgamation of the resident nameless being was absolutely stunning. I was growing overwhelmingly infatuated, and my praise could no longer be contained within me.
“I…I…I love you.” I said, raising my hands high above my head in an act of worship.
“NO!” Her voice changed from royally sweet to monstrously deep and gritty.
I covered my face out of terror.
“No, Matthew, you mustn’t,” she continued, her voice returning to soft, silky perfection. “You mustn’t sit there and revere me as a God. I am not here to be admonished or praised by you. I am here to help you, as a dear friend. Also you mustn’t love me” her eyes grew a darker shade of green as her tone got more serious, “You are doomed to what you love, Matthew. You must not be doomed to me.”
“I…don’t, I don’t understand.” I responded in blatant confusion.
“In this place you are to be tested. In this place, you are to find out who you truly are.” The luminous angel said, outstretching her left arm, jewelry shooting out sharp sparkles. “If you concede yourself to me, through your love, then you will have failed. Mans greatest gift and ability is to love. It is also his greatest curse. His greatest pain. The three of you have been brought here to be tried. To be taught the ultimate lesson. If you succeed in trial, you will be rewarded with a crown of wisdom. Fail, and you will be deeply punished, purging your iniquities until you realize the gravity of your mistake.”
The three of us. Daniel and Roddy. They hadn’t even occurred to me this whole time.
“Where are they? Where are the others? Where are my friends?” I asked quickly and sincerely.
“They are near” she answered softly and solemnly, “They are with me in neighboring solar systems, in their own courts. My crueler divisions have chosen them, however. The weaker of you have been chosen by the more venomous pieces of me. They are failing as we speak, Matthew. My sisters are not holding back or correcting them from their desires. I chose you. I chose you because I see great strength. I see a resilient spirit within you.”
I took it all in, trying to make sense of everything she was saying. It’s a…test? And Daniel and Roddy are failing? But I’m not? I’m being shown some kind of mercy from a heavenly being? How am I not failing as well? I literally just did the one thing I wasn’t supposed to do, proclaiming my love haphazardly.
“How…why are the others failing, and yet I’m not? Why am I being spared of punishment and…and…being shown grace?” I asked humbly.
“The others are actively throwing themselves, body and spirit, at me. They are not listening to reason. They are taken by lust. They are fools! Tossing their love away without even a moments consideration. I can read you, Matthew. You are slower to act on the strong pulls of your inner evil. Your mind is older than your brain. I can see your light.” She said, smiling down at me with an almost longing gaze.
“Uhhh. Alright…alright. Uh, thank you. Thank you so much!” I replied, finally standing up and slowly walking toward the angel, stopping about ten feet away from her. A comforting heat rode the waves of her light and caressed my face.
“So…what do I do? What am I supposed to do now?”
“You must return home now, Matthew. You have been seen as worthy, your will being malleable, but unbroken in my presence.” She answered with a placid certainty.
“What about the others?” I pleaded.
“They have chosen their fate. They have given their souls over to temptation, without even a moments hesitation, and must now be punished severely.” She said, words dripping with poisonous judgement.
“No, no, I have to go to them!” I argued. I couldn’t blame them for failing this test. They were humans, just like me. I had just been given mercy while they hadn’t. It wasn’t fair. They were my friends, in a world so sparse with friends, and I had to stand up for them.
“They have been sent to punishment out of their own free will, Matthew. It is their destruction, not yours.” The angel shot back.
“I don’t care!” I returned fire, “Listen, whoever you are, you claim to be able to see inside me, right? Can’t you see how lonely I’ve been recently?! Can’t you see how desperately I’ve been in need of true friendship? I know I don’t know Daniel and Roddy that well at all, I mean, hell, they’re arguably terrible influences on me, but they don’t deserve this! They’re just as human as I am and I am no better! I have to go to them! I have to try to help them!”
I was as honest and serious as I could be, only wanting to be around the others that I had claimed as friends. A voice in the back of my mind wondered if either Daniel or Roddy would do the same for me, if the roles were reversed. No, that didn’t matter. In times like this, I had to be the friend to them that I myself needed so severely. I had to at least try and help them, wherever they were.
The Angel stood in contemplative silence, staring at me with a slightly lowered brow, her visage as blazing as ever. She crossed her arms and her diamond covered dress jingled with a soothing, crystalline rattle.
“You disappoint me, Matthew.” She said sternly, “You disappoint me greatly. I have tried to show you mercy in the face of pain. Patience in the court of ruin. I have forgiven your immature casting of love to me, only for you to clasp your mortal loneliness onto two perfect strangers?! Strangers who wouldn’t even blink an eye if they were in your position? I see them for who they are, just as I see you. They are selfish creatures. They wouldn’t come to your aid even if they had rewards to gain!”
“Even if that’s true, I don’t care.” I defiantly barked back. I had made up my mind, regardless of her disdain. “I don’t care what they would do if they were here where I am. The truth is I’m here, and they are somewhere in need. I have to go to them. Send me! Send me to where they are!”
She listened intently, her sour scowl slowly relaxing as she recognized the absolution in my words. She knew there was no convincing me otherwise.
“Very well. If you wish to go to your so called friends, and join in their punishment, then so be it. You have been blessed with free will, and I cannot stop you in your efforts.” the angel paused and took a deep, almost mournful breath. “This is goodbye, Matthew. Goodbye.” She concluded, slowly raising her arms and closing her emerald eyes.
The stone floor beneath me began to crack and break, as the entire roofless room began to shake violently under the eternal tapestry of stars and space. The beautiful marble and gold columns fell, extinguishing the flames adorning them. I was losing my footing quickly, as stones began to fall down through a slowly opening hole in the floor. I slipped and my right leg plunged down and through where it had stood. I held on to the crumbling floor around me, my arms and hands desperately trying to keep the rest of my body from falling. I looked up at the angel. She was floating again, arms still spread wide. Her shining glory was as brilliant as ever as she began to grow. Her eyes were locked with mine, and I could see an emerald tear crawl down her cheek. She continued to grow and grow with heat and light until she was once again a blinding pair of stars. I couldn’t take the piercing rays, having to throw my hands over my eyes, causing me to lose my grip and fall through the ever-opening floor.
Darkness and wind choked me as I dropped, free falling through an obsidian sky. There were no stars here. No moons, no nebulas or comets. Just pure blackness and hopelessness. I fell for what seemed like an eternity before I began to see a light quickly approaching from below. As the lights grew brighter, my fall actually seemed to be slowing down. It was like an invisible parachute had been deployed, and I was floating down slowly rather than plummeting to my certain death. I looked, and began to make out the roof of a house, zooming it’s approach into my downward field of vision.
Within seconds I had landed softly in the grass of a large front yard, having bent my knees to brace for impact. It didn’t hurt at all, and I quickly got my bearings. I twitched my eyes over everything that I could see, still reeling over the horrific fall. Standing in a yard, I was looking up a stone pathway that led to a house. Surrounding the yard was a short wall of fire, about three feet high all around. Beyond the devilish perimeter there was nothing but darkness, the kind from which I had just fallen through. The entire property couldn’t have been more than an acre. I turned and got a good look at the house. It was three stories, painted dark purple with white trim around large bay windows. The bottom story had a wrap around porch, also painted white, with elbow-high handrails and matching lattice work supporting it. The center of the roof was steep and gabled, with two sharp turrets with small windows on its right and left. Dim, orange light spilled out of all of the windows. A paved pathway led from the blazing wall to the front door, large and painted dark red. Standing on the wrap around porch were at least twenty figures wearing black cloaks, large hoods covering their faces.
“What the…” I whispered to myself.
The ghastly group began to make noise. Nothing like I had ever heard from humans. No, it sounded more like an ever growing scream from a large army of insects. A metallic rattle, similar to a tree full of cicadas in the summertime. It grew and grew in volume until I could almost bear it no longer.
But I had already gone through so much, and with a fresh burst of bravery I decided I wouldn’t let these strange figures intimidate me. I ran up the stone pathway and onto the porch to the front door. The horrid, hooded chorus stopped their hellish singing all at once. I turned side to side, ready for some kind of attack. However, none of them moved an inch, all still facing out toward the yard like dark statues. I turned back to the door and grabbed the large, old, metal knob and twisted it hard. It opened with a loud crack and I pushed the door in. More darkness inside, no sign of where the orange light from the windows was coming from. I side eyed the silent hoods on the front porch one last time to make sure they weren’t moving. They remained as still as gravestones, so I entered the house and was quickly enveloped in shadow.
The door slammed behind me, not of my own doing. I couldn’t see a thing so I reached out my hands, trying to feel for anything that would help me realize what I was walking into. Slowly moving to my left, I felt a wall. Old, chipped paint fell to the floor under my fingers as I began to blindly follow where the room led. As I carried on, the air began to grow cooler and cooler. After about five minutes of my snails pace, I felt the room come to an end. I touched out in front of me and my hands hit a wooden surface. Imagining where a doorknob might be, I reached out and amazingly felt cold, bulbous metal. I turned it and heard a familiar crack. I opened the door.
I was led out of darkness, and an ominous old foyer welcomed me. It was a two story room, complete with a grand staircase that led up to an elegant mezzanine, where the source of light was coming from. An other worldly, orange glow poured over the bannisters and down to me, coming from places I couldn’t yet see.
Suddenly, as I stood in silence, thinking of my next move, a tortured voice blasted out from above.
“PLEEEEEEASE!!!! PLEEEEEASE STOP!! PLEEEEEASE!!” I could hear Roddys voice, echoing through the foyer like a fire alarm. It was coming from upstairs. He paused, then let out a scream that tore into my sanity, squealing in pain louder and higher than any man, woman or child I’d ever heard, even in the most horrific films. He kept on with his piercing cry for several moments, and I had to slap my palms to my ears out of terror and shock.
Then he suddenly stopped, the large room falling into a deathly quiet. I lowered my hands and held my breath. I slowly walked over to the staircase and craned my neck to get any kind of view of the second level. On three of the four walls of the mezzanine above I saw huge, dark red doors, sprawling up probably twenty feet, the high Victorian ceiling not much further up beyond. On the ceiling was a painted depiction of hell, covering its entirety. In the center, a large, swirling inferno, being fed by the black-burnt bodies of hundreds of people being thrown in from all sides by red, smiling demons of all grisly sizes. A large bay window at the front facing side of the second story allowed the orange rays of the outside fire light to come splashing in, the sole reason for any visibility in this house of evil.
I slowly began to climb the staircase. It was carpeted, with a matching dark red hue. The bottom stair was about thirty feet wide, and each subsequent step grew shorter and shorter all the way to the top. It creaked and groaned under me as I slowly summited the rise. I crouched as I came to the top, doing a much closer look around. Roddys screams seemed to have come from behind the door on the left hand side of the staircase as observed from the floor below. I shot my eyes over there. Above the huge door was a small window, equally as wide as the door itself, about eight feet across. A hazy orange glow escaped from within the room behind it. Glancing at the other two doors to my front side and to my right, I could see they had identical design. I began to leave the staircase, slowly walking in the lowlight around the mezzanine and over to the room where I believed Roddy to be.
I approached the door, which stood mountainous and condescending before me. It had a doorknob similar to the other two I had used, except this one was jet black, like an unmarked eight ball in pool. I tried to open it, slowly and quietly, but it wouldn’t budge. I leaned my right ear hard against the huge door, trying to hear anything at all, any sign of Roddy. Nothing. I waited there for a few more moments, the wooden door warm on my right cheek. Still nothing. I leaned away, feeling defeated, looking the door up and down. What was I supposed to do?
I stood in place, trying to spin together the yarns of a plan using my possible options, when suddenly behind me, I heard a loud noise. A deep pop from across the two story room. I jerked around. The door opposite from me had opened. It slowly creaked about two feet into the walkway, a viscous, serrated squall that revealed a tall column of hellish light from the room within.
I froze, staring at the new opening unblinking. A faint noise floated out across to me.
“mmmmm…mmmmmm…mmmmmm!!”
It sounded like someone who was trying to communicate while having their mouth taped shut. It sounded like Daniel. I had to investigate. I had to go to him. Leaning down slightly with my right hand tracing the bannister, I crept around over toward the cracked open door.
Once I got close enough, I pressed my back to the near side of the door frame, twisting my head over my left shoulder to try and get a peek into the room. From this angle I didn’t have much to see, besides more red carpet and more high ceiling. I slowly leaned my head in, until the orange light covered half my face. I gasped sharply as a scene of brutality laid itself out for my painful viewing.
It was a large room. Flushed with the door on the opposite side was a huge, roaring fireplace, with a stone chimney towering up from it, black char surrounding the mouth. The light from that fireplace was more than enough to see the grisly activity taking place. There was Daniel, in the center of the room, tied to a wooden post that rose about ten feet. He was sitting on the floor, legs spread, with his bound arms fixed upwards, as if he was lazily celebrating a score from one of his favorite teams. His head was low, slowly bouncing, like he was trying and failing to stay awake. He had been stripped of his clothes entirely, and his body was covered in deep, sprawling lacerations. Surrounding him in a circle were eight hooded figures, just like those who were standing guard on the porch. With dark, rotten hands, they each held back a leashed, muzzled, wolf-like beast. They were much larger than normal wild dogs, about four feet high and eight feet long, not including their long tails, which impatiently whipped the ground behind them. They were covered in thick, black, matted, greasy looking fur. Inflamed, red eyes pierced toward Daniel from above each muzzle, which were all made of rusted iron fashioned into a small cage. They stood on four, thick legs, held up by large paws, each adorned with three down-curved claws, which were at least six inches in length and bone-white. Their claws were as sharp as scalpels, ripping up the carpet below them. The creatures were scratching and snarling, anxious to tear into a manic frenzy that only starvation can induce.
In the center, the tied up Daniel continued to bounce his head slowly, never raising it high enough to see his face. His dark hair was soaking wet, as if olive oil had been poured over him.
“Mmmmmm…..mmmmmm” he started to groan.
Maybe he was waking up. Maybe I could get his attention somehow and let him know I was there, even though I had absolutely no ideas for an escape plan. I pushed my face a couple more inches into the room, so that when he raised his head higher, he could possibly see me.
“Mmmmmmm….mmmmmmmm!!!!” He moaned louder, finally raising his face to eye level. Chills shot across my skin and my stomach turned sour.
Daniel wasn’t taped up. His lips had been haphazardly sewn shut, five black stitches spread across his mouth, pulled through small, bloody piercings. He wouldn’t be able to see me, either. Both of his eyes had been removed, leaving only gaping, dark sockets, with dark red trails leading down his face.
“MMMMMMMMM….MMMMMMMM!!!” He was fully conscious now, suppressed shrieks of agony escaping through his sealed lips.
All I could do was watch in horror at my friends demise. The beasts circling him were growing more restless, growling louder and louder through their muzzles and tugging angrily at their hooded master’s leashes. Daniel continued his performance of audible pain, growing in volume for a moment, and then fizzling out into a pathetic, childlike sob that couldn’t even produce tears.
I heard a crackling sound coming from the corner of the room that was mostly hidden by the huge, slightly opened door I was looking through. I closed one eye and put the other to the slivered opening that the hinges made and saw where this new, strange noise was coming from. In that corner was a lacquered wooden table with an old record player on top. Another hooded figure was adjusting the needle over pressed vinyl with its disgusting, dead hand. The crackling went on for a few seconds and then turned into music. I recognized the song immediately. It was the lively, upbeat intro to ELO’s ‘Shine A Little Love’. My heart rate sped up. I was utterly floored, hearing a song I loved so much in this situation of doom and misery.
I turned my attention back to the encircled Daniel, leaning back around the door so I could get the same view as before. The music was loud, but not so loud as to where I couldn’t still hear Daniels whines. He was slowly rolling his head around his shoulders, sliding his bare legs around the floor, and flinching his bound arms. He was becoming more desperate, and less human, sensing an impending attack from grisly enemies that he could only sense through his frightened ears.
The cloaked wranglers all at once began to reach toward the heads of the wolf-like beasts and unlatch their muzzles, which fell to the floor with iron jangles. The devil dogs barked, howled and roared with putrid, starving lust. They could finally bare their teeth, yellow and as big as pocketknives, which protruded from their grey, fleshy snouts. They could not be held back any longer. The classic ELO record arrived at it’s timeless chorus, as Daniel let out another surgically-covered cry and the hooded executioners dropped their leashes.
I watched with agonizing helplessness as the beasts swarmed on Daniel like sharks on a wounded, innocent seal. They all dove mouth first onto his body, each trying to pick out their own personal morsels. Daniel’s head was shaking like he was being electrocuted, as teeth and claws tore into every inch of his flesh. One of the hounds latched it’s jaws onto the top of his skull and swiftly scalped him, sending streams of blood down his face and the highest shriek through his tight lips that he had mustered thus far.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned away from the horrible scene, falling to the walkway carpet and scooting myself out of sight, my back to the wall by the doorframe. I held my face in my hands as the sound of Daniel’s death, accompanied by 70s music, continued to pierce my ears. After another couple moments of manic, snarling, animal feeding sounds, I began to hear Daniel yelling, full voiced. His stitching must have been breached, either by his own will, or by razor sharp, unforgiving force. His was a scream of the insane, reserved for when all hope is lost, and when all that exists is suffering. After another long, unbearable moment, he was suddenly silent. The beasts began to quiet down slowly, their abhorrent appetites finally satisfied. Soon, all that could be heard was the heavy, relieved panting of those nourished killers.
I couldn’t move, entirely traumatized by what I had just witnessed. With shallow breathing, I simply continued to listen in, unable to do anything else. Above the low, fulfilled sounds of the devil dogs came a celebratory cheer from the hooded figures, in the same cicada-like steely rattle as I had heard on the front porch.
As tears began to slide down my face, the door to Daniel’s room was suddenly slammed shut, harshly vibrating the wall I was leaning against. It was over. I didn’t save Daniel. I didn’t help him at all. I sobbed into my hands, my knees pulled to my head as I sat.
I stayed there for several minutes, mourning my lost friend and my damaged psyche. Eventually I raised my head in a big breath and looked out across the dimly lit mezzanine level, and my brow raised. The once-locked door that I had first tried, where I had heard Roddy’s voice coming from, was now slid open, pouring warm rays over a couple feet of carpet.
“Roddy” I whispered. I now knew that timing meant everything when it came to even having a chance to save him. In a final surge of bravery, coming from a part of my mind that I didn’t even know existed before tonight, I sprang up and ran around and back to Roddy’s door, kicking it wide open. It was heavy against my shoe, but swung inward quickly and made a loud bang as it hit the wall inside.
It was another large room, similar to Daniel’s, except for the interior layout. This one was more elegant, like the royal suite at the top of a five star Parisian hotel. The walls were a beautiful emerald and gold color, with columns of diamond patterns every few feet. In the far left corner, a beautiful marble white grand piano. There was a sleek black granite bar taking up most of the wall on the right side, backed by a mirror rising halfway up the ceiling, held up by three crystal shelves. Beautiful glass bottles rested on each wrung. Around the room were lavish paintings of nude women and statues of Greek heroes and busts of philosophers. I almost felt a wave of relief, as if this was a safe place, until I turned my attention toward the far center of the room.
My muscles clenched and my stomach became toxic. The glands in my mouth secreted saliva, which I quickly swallowed, trying not to immediately vomit right then and there.
There was a large stone fireplace in this room as well, it’s dancing flames the sole light source for all of the grand luxury. Bowing before the hearth was a pink, bleeding mass, a cruel conglomeration of exposed muscles and tendons. Hanging above the fireplace was a game trophy. It was a human skin, stretched tightly with five nails on its limbs and unrecognizable face. What did look familiar about it was long dark curly hair falling down from the scalp and onto the shoulder area, with tattoos traveling down the leather to the ends of both arms. It was Roddy. I was so shocked that I hadn’t even noticed a large armchair to the right of the skinned body below, a much larger cloaked figure sitting in it and watching the fire, with four Elk-like antlers curling backwards out of the lip of a black hood. On the left armrest, a black, scaly hand with long, bloody claws held a wooden pipe. The creature raised the pipe to its hidden mouth for a moment and then set it back down. Slowly, in smoke, the letter A, bright green, floated up from the front of its hood and all the way past Roddys skin, dissipating at the ceiling.
All of it was way too much to bear. I fell to my knees on the dark red carpet, painfully retching up pale bile and clutching my stomach. After two more horrendous hurls, I raised my face, wet with sweat and mess, throwing my glazed eyes back to the fireplace. The armchair was empty. I scanned the room left to right, reeling from sickness and confusion, with deep troubled breaths. There was no sign of the large hooded monster anywhere. Still on my knees in a pile of my own puke and dwindling sanity, I turned toward the sleek bar area to my right.
“You know, I think I could go for a drink. What about you, Roddy?” I heard myself say in an exhausted, lunatic voice that I didn’t even recognize. I had finally snapped, losing my grip on any handles of hope. But hey, why not enjoy a cocktail by the fire with a friend. I started to get up, a damp smile forming across my face.
That’s when I heard it. From right behind me, the all too familiar rattle, like millions of tiny, rusted, metal wings clanging together at once. A swelling orchestra of nightmares. The maddening percussion of pain. I wasn’t scared, though. The fear tank within me had emptied, dry of even the smallest fumes. As the terrible noise grew louder, I turned my attention back above the roaring fireplace to the outermost layer of my newest and arguably most unfortunate friend.
“Rain check, Roddy. Have an extra one for me buddy.”
I closed my eyes, giving myself up entirely to the dark and to the sea of hellish sound around me. I drew a deep breath through my nose. A low, grisly, percolating growl began right above my head. I exhaled through my mouth. Then, all in an instant, a loud roar and a white-hot flash of sharp pain all around my midsection, right above my waistline. After that, I was gone.
After a period of nothingness, perhaps a couple seconds, perhaps hundreds of years, my hearing finally returned. In the darkness I could hear reverberating, blubbering sobs. Somehow remembering how to move, I slowly fluttered my eyes open. There I was, laying back in the fully reclined easy chair in Daniel’s living room. I quickly inhaled all of the air I could at once, shocked and relieved to be conscious again. I shot my sensitive eyes over to the couch where the crying noise was coming from. To my absolute astonishment, there sat Daniel and Roddy, fully alive and their limbs and organs intact. Daniel was an absolute mess. He was on his side in the fetal position there on the far end of the couch, clutching a small pillow to his stomach. With every struggled breath, he let out an animal-like sound of sorrow and shock. The cushion under him was soaked in sweat and tears. Roddy held a hand to his back, moving it in circles of attempted comfort. Roddy’s face was straight ahead toward the TV, completely blank, lacking any semblance of emotion. His eyes were fixed in a wide, unblinking, thousand yard stare.
I leaned up the easy chair, not taking my amazed gaze off of the two troubled survivors.
“R…R….Roddy?” I said, the dreamlike insanity of my former life and death quickly melting away as I got my bearings.
Centimeter by centimeter he slowly turned toward me, his big brown eyes looking like they belonged to a dead man.
“I….I…I….felt…everything…” he whispered, looking not at me but somehow through me. He then slowly turned his head back toward the TV that wasn’t even on. Daniel continued to be inconsolable there on the couch.
“I…..f-f-felt…..everything.”
Daniel didn’t return to work until halfway through December. It took him three days to even talk again. He holed himself up in his room mostly. Roddy was quicker to recover, although he always seemed to be aware of an invisible threat, anxiously looking around dark corners and keeping way too many lights on at night. I only know all of this because in the weeks and months following Halloween, I returned back to Daniel’s place every single day. Roddy stayed as well. Together we helped each other. We helped each other realize that what we had gone through was not reality, but rather just an ill side effect of a strange drug. A drug that Roddy never forgave his older brother for giving him, no matter his pleas and denial of having any knowledge of it causing bad trips for its users.
My personal recovery was challenging as well, and I had to go to intensive therapy for months. I still can’t sit outside on a summers night, the sound of insects too reminiscent of the evil noise that had been so deeply burned into my memory. I still gasp at the sound of a sprinkler turning on. I am wary of big dogs now, and can’t even buy fake leather goods anymore.
In spite of the horrors I had faced, a shining silver lining had revealed itself, and had remained. Although with a terrible cost, I had acquired, at long last, true friends. Brothers, bound by our traumas. Forever understanding each other deeper than anyone else could. To this day, we are almost inseparable, even after all these years.