I remember, I had a friend named Albert. He was without a doubt my best friend. We met when he we were seven. He had light blonde hair and deep blue eyes. I had just moved towns and we instantly became friends. We would spend all day together doing whatever during the Summer, and would hang out pretty frequently after school during the rest of the year.
During the second month of school, 2007, a new kid joined our class. Nobody knew why. They were rumours, of course, but nobody knew for sure, and to be honest, me and Albert didn’t care. We made friends with the new kid. His name was Kyle. He had long black hair that fell down to his shoulders and brown eyes with flecks of gold. We started to hang out with him. Never at his house, though. Never at his house. We didn’t know why at the time, but it never really came up.
Anyway, kind of being friends with him progressed to spending all day together. One particular day, exactly 5,229 days ago, we were eating ice cream and drinking Coke or Pepsi or something. Kyle asked if me and Albert wanted to have a sleep over at his house. We agreed. We waited until the next weekend to do it.
Kyle had a big house. His mom opened the door for us. She was beautiful. Tall. Long blonde hair and green eyes. She was almost mystical. Kyle wasn’t bad looking, but he obviously didn’t get his looks off her. We went inside. Kyle showed us to his room, the bathrooms, the kitchen, parlour and other various rooms. It’s hard to remember every room. There were to many. However, I remember walking through the halls. There were ornate glass cabinets with taxidermy owls - in every hall - that seemed to watch us as we moved. I wasn’t generally a scared person as a teenager, but those owls striked fear into my heart.
We plopped our bags in Kyle’s room. He turned on his Xbox and we played for a while. His mom eventually called us down for dinner. It was chicken and potatoes. His mom started making small talk. It was almost intoxicating, honestly. This woman, talking to me? It was a good thing I was wearing a baggy pair of tracksuit bottoms. After dinner we played some board games. I believe it was Cludo, but I’m not sure. We fell asleep in Kyles room watching DVDs.
I woke up alone, still in my clothes. My phone, keys and other things were still in my pocket. I could feel a sense of dread wash over me. I thought they might just be in the bathrooms. I tried to fall back to sleep. I couldn’t. I eventually got up and went to check downstairs. Maybe they were awake and didn’t want to wake me. The owls freaked the fuck out of me. It was different this time though. This time they started hooting. The noise started low but gradually got louder. I started to run. I checked the kitchen. Nobody.
I went into the parlour. It wasn’t a room anymore. It looked like another land. Barren ground as far as I could see. I was about to turn around. I was horrified. But, just before I could, I felt a push in the back. I fell into it. The door disappeared and I didn’t see who pushed me. I walked for a while.
I found a castle and decided to enter. I had nothing else to do. I eventually entered a room with a woman sitting on a couch. It was Kyle’s mom, but she was… different. She was still beautiful, but also unnerving to look at. She was wearing a black three piece suit.
She got off the couch and looked me in the eye. “Hey, Dylan. Come here’” she said.
My feet obeyed her instead of my mind.
“Y’know, Albert’s no fun. He didn’t listen to us. But you will. You’re a good boy, aren’t you? You’ll listen to me.”
She turned around to presumably get something. Her spell was broken and I turned and ran hell for leather.
I barely got out the door of the castle when I got floored by something. I turned to see Kyle. He was like his mother. Slightly unnerving to look at. Creepy.
“Dylan! Where you going, buddy?” he asked, almost as if this was all one big game. “You weren’t trying to leave were you?” his tone shifted to angry.
“After I was your friend?! Motherfucker!” He started dragging me back towards the castle. I tried to grip the ground, but it was no help. My arms were being torn up. My mind started racing. What can I do? Phone? Fight? Keys? Keys!
I struggled, but I got my keys into my fingers. I somehow managed to stab him in the eyes. He let go of me and swore as his hand went to his eye.
I scrambled onto my feet and ran hell for leather. I kept running, looking for the door out. I couldn’t find it, but I eventually fell into the halls of the house. I was stunned.
I scrambled up and ran out the door. I ran the whole way home. I thought of calling my parents, but my phone was missing. It must’ve fallen out at some stage.
I banged on my door like a madman until my parents opened the door. I ran inside. I told them about what happened. They assumed I was drunk. Not totally unreasonable. They were supportive. I still got grounded for two weeks.
It took a while for me to get back to school. I wouldn’t leave the house for weeks. But, I eventually did.
I never saw Albert or Kyle again. I know I’m not insane. Everyone looked for Albert. There were search parties. He was never found.
At 28, I still sleep with a gun under my pillow.