I was sitting at the dirty bus stop waiting for that darn bus to arrive. In the middle of nowhere, I have to wait 30 minutes for it to arrive just because the other bus doesn’t go the extra mile to my place. I mean it is possible to walk, but 1 hour in darkness while drunk, I’ll pass. Why did I decide to come back here? After all these years of living on my own all fine, mom had to become sick. But what can you do? Pondering on life’s decisions, a black silhouette began approaching to my left, walking down the side of the road. I froze and just sat up straight, looking down at the asphalt below. Footsteps approached and ultimately the person sat next to me.
“It’s Sarah isn’t it?” I turned to the side, flustered seeing a familiar face.
“Jacob? Is it really you? It’s been a while!” Jacob snickered and stared down at the ground. He kicked his legs back and forth and nodded. “So, what are you doing out here? Thought you lived in town?”
“Well, I have my reasons.” His answer was strange, but it didn’t bother me that much at the time. It was just reassuring it was someone I knew that came out of all people. We began chit chatting about life, me mostly though. Complaining about my mother being sick and how coming back to this place didn’t feel good. Jacob just kept listening, didn’t say anything about himself really.
“Sorry for blabbering on about myself. What about you?” His face turned bitter and he let out a loud sigh.
“It’s been the same for the past 2 years or so, kind of cold and dark really.” Cold and dark, is he depressed? I gently scratched his back and tried my best to act like I was there for him. Touching his back he was freezing. Which was strange but the thought vanished after he began talking.
“Is everything okay?”
“Nothing I can do about it really.”
“Well, I’m here for you if you ever need anything.”
“Thanks.” I see the bright headlights of the bus approaching from afar and I stand up.
“Well, that’s my cue, maybe we should meet up sometime next weekend?”
“I’m sure everything will work out fine.” He stood up himself and walked out into the dark night. I tilt my head and shook it. Really began wondering what was going on in his life. The Jacob I knew back in high school was a bright and lovable kid, the class clown, if anything. So seeing him like this broke my heart a little. I sat on the bus and it took off. I tried looking back to catch a last glimpse of him, but he was gone.
Next week I took care of my mother and worked at a burger joint I’d previously worked at as a student, just a side job while taking care of my mother. Colleagues were nice, nothing really special. Chit chatting here and there but nothing really interesting. But they were around my age, a little younger. While talking to them it seemed like they’d lived in this rural town their whole life. So the memory of meeting Jacob kicked in and I just wanted to ask him if they knew him, to see if someone knew if he was okay. So during lunch break I sat down with a colleague and began the interrogation.
“Do you know any Jacobs’ perchance?”
“Jacob? Any last names?”
“Jacob… Jacob… Sanderson!” MY colleague glanced at me and giggled.
“You’re a funny one ain’t you? Everyone knows him.”
“Really? Is he okay?”
“What do you mean?.”
“I saw him the other day at the bus stop close to my house. He looked really depressed. He said some weird things as well. Just checking if anyone else knows anything. Haven’t met him in years.” Her quick glance turned to a risen eyebrow and a stare. She put down her burger and smiled provokingly.
“I don’t know what’s gone into you, but we don’t joke about the dead like that.” A chill crawled up my spine and I almost coughed out my sip of soda in shock.
“What do you mean?!”
“Everyone knows about the case about Jacob Sanderson. The kid who disappeared three years ago, just out of thin air. One night out he left and never came home.” What is she saying? I was sure I’d seen him, I even touched him, spoke to him. He’d answered my questions! I lost focus and I couldn’t concentrate.
“No, it had to be a mistake. There isn’t any other Jacob Sanderson?”
“I’m sure everyone knows everyone in this town. I even know who you are even though we’ve never spoken before this. It’s just how it works around here. The town hasn’t been the same after his case. A large search began for days, no trace at all. Only one thing was found some months after, his wallet on the side of the road in some bushes. I think it was close to your place.” She took a bite of her burger while my jaw hit the floor. Pranks were fun, but not to this caliber. I asked no more of this since I knew nothing else would come out of it. We finished our burgers and I went home for the night. But I didn’t sleep a wink. Just thinking about what she said got me to stay up all night. Next weekend, it was time to go out with some of my friends again. We partied all night and I once again took that damn bus home. But this time I was scared. Thinking back to what my colleague had said I was expecting for him to come again, I wanted to see that it wasn’t for the alcohol I saw things. It was all just a misunderstanding. So that night I didn’t drink at all. I wanted my head to be clear.
I sat there, nervous, my leg pumping up and down. Stressed, my eyeballs looked from side to side. But there it came, the silhouette from the dark. It was him again. He sat down next to me and I couldn’t say a word, not look him in the eye.
“I told you everything would work out.” There was a five-minute pause between our conversation. I was scared to ask.
“So… I’ve heard rumors.”
“What rumors?”
“That you’re… you’re…”
“Dead?” I didn’t move an inch. I sat there as a statue, feeling my heart rate increasing. I moved slightly away from him, focused my eyesight on the ground below and laughed nervously.
“Y-yes.”
“It’s true. I actually came here for your help.”
“W-what?”
“A few meters away from the bus stop, just into the grass plain, my body is buried. Can you please tip the police so that my body can finally rest in peace?” Cold, dark, it makes sense why he would feel that way. That’s what you would feel if you were dead.
“B-but-” I turned to him just out of reaction. His normal face was deformed, melting. His skin had massive holes which made me see his skull directly. Maggots were crawling around whatever dark skin was left and his skin just kept falling lower and lower. His eyes were only sockets while his mouth was a black void gaped right open. His bony hands reached for me as his deformed, almost static voice echoed for help. I screamed in fear. Nothing was in my head. Just fear. I leaned against the glass window inside the bus stop and sat down on the ground, hugging my knees. Tears welled down my face as he came closer while his skin stretched out more and more. The light from the bus could be seen from afar and as I glanced towards it, then back to Jacob, but he was gone. I sat there, like an idiot, hugging myself scared of the dark. Cheeks drenched, eyes red and heart beating up to 140 minimum. I dried my tears as best as I could and tried breathing slowly. I stood up and waited for the bus, jumping in place while still scared, making me look around myself constantly. Waiting those 20 seconds for that bus felt like hours.
Finally it arrived and I lunged myself inside. Sat down on the window seat in the back. I felt safe now. But looking out the window I saw him again, but his face and body were back to normal. Still gave me quite the scare. I could feel sweat rolling down my forehead as he lifted his arm. He began pointing back into the grass behind the bus stop.I tried my best reading his lips, and all I could read before the bus took off was “help me”. I followed him with my eyes before he was all out of sight. And that was the last I saw of him, and that bus stop for that matter.
It took a few days before I had the courage to tip the police. But I did. I just mentioned I had smelled something strange in the area and seen something as well. And on the news the next day, a corpse was found. Eaten alive by nature, it was said to be possible it could be Jacob Sanderson.