Part 1 ***
After the initial shock had worn off, I sat down on the couch clutching the paycheck. Maybe I was a little bit unhinged, I pondered; after all there were still ways to explain all that had happened. The kids could have changed school. How would I know, right? The paycheck could be a payment for some company related business that my wife had found and just forgot to mail. All explanations within the realm of believability. I yawned tiredly. Maybe I should just sleep on it.
I was just about to close my eyes when the doorbell rang. I sighed deeply as I slouched towards the door. My energy levels were dangerously low, and my mind was wandering all over the place. I really couldn’t carry a conversation in this state, so I was hoping it was only some kids pranking me or something. I opened the door hesitantly, only to be greeted by the creepiest smile I had ever seen.
“Hi there,” the cheery old mailman insisted, “I have a package for you.”
I stood there blinking for what must have been ten seconds. I was just so fazed by that strange expression on his face. Even weirder still, he didn’t seem to flinch as I must’ve stood there staring like a total lunatic; he kept portraying that toothy grin like it was some sort of contest.
“Ummm,” I ventured eventually, “you sure?”
He offered me a square box, wrapped in brown paper. He pointed to the label on top of it.
“That your name?” he asked.
I read the label. Sure looked like my name.
“Yeah, but I haven’t…” I started, but the increasing intensity of his smile threw me off. I grabbed the package promptly and took a step back, signalling that the transaction was completed. He just stood there frozen, still smiling like a murderous devil doll.
“The lies have become the truth have become the lies, yes?” he said just as I was about to close the door.
“What was that?” I asked super rhetorically.
“Oh, you’ll come around,” he laughed heartily, “Do say hello to the missus for me, will you?”
“Sure thing buddy,” I whispered under my breath, slamming the door shut in his creepy face.
I immediately ran to the living room window, keenly watching the strangers every move. He just stood by the door for a solid minute, before turning on a dime and pacing down the street with some haste. I shook my head in frustration. I felt like I had walked into a Twilight Zone episode or something. Everything just seemed slightly too absurd to be real.
I placed the box gently on the living room table. It was light, and about the size of a…medium sized box, I guess. I eyed it suspiciously, contemplating all the possible bizarre things that could fit inside it. A severed head? Sure, but there’d be some blood or something, right? Not if it was wrapped in plastic, though. A bomb? That would be too mundane, surely. Some sort of elaborate puzzle-gizmo I’d spend days figuring out? That sounded more like it. I paced around the table restlessly. I knew I was bound to open it at some point, so there really wasn’t anything to wait around for. I gently unwrapped it and opened the lid with utmost care.
I studied the content with what I imagine was a puzzled expression on my face. There was just a picture. Nothing else. I flipped the box over and shook it a few times, but to no avail; that was it. Surely an envelope would’ve been enough? I looked at the picture. It was a fairly recent picture of my wife and the kids, where my wife was standing behind them with her hands placed on their shoulders. Obviously professional work. But what did it mean? Was it a threat? Or a gift?
I sat back down on the couch, examining the picture from all angles. There had to be something special about it. There just had to be some deeper meaning. Nothing else made any sense to me at that point. I wasn’t going insane, I just knew it. But wouldn’t that be exactly what an insane person would say? Eventually my mind just overloaded, and I must have fallen asleep.
I woke up in darkness. I must have slept through the day. I got up from the couch yawning, slouching over to the kitchen to get some water. That’s when it hit me. Why didn’t my wife or kids wake up me when they got home? I gargled the water thoughtfully. I walked over to the nearest window and peered through the curtains. No car in the driveway. I remembered the picture then; had it been a threat all along? Were they in some kind of danger?
Without thinking I bolted up the stairs and threw open the door to Aarons bedroom. Empty. Priscillas bedroom. Empty. Our bedroom. Empty. I felt my heart racing, and my mind kept wandering back to the eerie mailman. And his smile. That knowing, creepy grin. And what was that he said? The lies has become the truth has become the lies? Was that some sort of veiled threat? Did he abduct my family? Or know who did? Were they even in danger?
I sat down on the bed, unable to string together comprehensible thoughts. I felt a detachment from reality that I had never considered possible; like a feeling of utter confusion and hopelessness combined. Like I didn’t exist, or the world around me didn’t exist, or both. With nothing tangible to go on except for a mailman who more than likely wasn’t a mailman, and a picture by some anonymous photographer; I knew I was in no way mentally capable of solving this mess.
But wait. There was something that had slipped my mind.
Lisa Garon.
I hurried downstairs and uncovered the paycheck crumpled up into the cracks of the couch. I brought it over to the kitchen counter and studied it thoroughly. There was no phone number on it, but there was an address. I looked it up quickly on my phone. It was apparently registered to some sort of legal firm downtown, Vernon and Love. There was only one phone number listed on their info, so without delay I punched it in and hit dial.
I didn’t actually expect anyone to pick up. It was the middle of the night after all, and even if I by some miracle got a hold of anyone, I hadn’t the slightest clue what I would ask them. I was therefore quite caught off guard when a soft female voice suddenly answered.
“You have reached Vernon and Love, this is Gladys speaking, how may I be of assistance?”
My voice failed me. I tried putting together words that made any amount of sense, but failed miserably. I considered just hanging up, but instead I remained on the line, breathing heavily.
“Jesse?” the woman whispered hoarsely. “Is that you?”
I felt a cold chill run up my spine, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. My name wasn’t Jesse, yet it felt so familiar. Like it somehow was a part of me. Or had been a part of me.
“No,” I finally said, “I am not Jesse. I am looking for Lisa. Lisa Garon.”
Total silence. I couldn’t even hear if the woman on the other end was still breathing.
“Hello? Are you still there?”
“I am sorry,” she said, her voice now shaking, “There is currently no one here by that name.”
The peculiar phrasing made me curious. Currently?
“OK, but did you at some point…” I started.
“I am sorry, I just can’t help you. Goodbye.”
She hung up.
I tried calling again. And again. And again. But no answer.
I slammed my head on the kitchen counter repeatedly and let out what can only be described as hysterical screams. I was losing it. I threw my phone into the wall, bits and pieces flying about like expensive confetti. I sighed deeply. There was nothing else. Nothing I could think of. I thought about driving down to Vernon and Love, knock in their door or something, but to what end? I didn’t even know if they had anything to do with anything.
I started gathering the pieces of what had once been a phone, slowly letting everything that had happened sink in. I was searching around the living room for the missing battery when I noticed it.
There up on a shelf.
A framed picture exactly like the one I found in the box.
Except for one rather important detail.
I was in it.
*** Part 3
Final Part ***