Funny title I suppose for the disaster you’re about to hear, but maybe it won’t keep you up late knowing I’m eventually going to die here. Should I recap? Yes. Do I want to? No. Of course not. But here we go anyway. Before this phone dies, I might as well get my story in, so I don’t end up a corpse with no history. Cool, right?
It all began with a date. On an app. On my phone. How specific do you need me to be? Don’t ask about what app or who I swiped on. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I actually attended the date, which was a huge step for me. It went quite great. I ordered some good food, and she ended up leaving with her middle finger up. Not sure what I said, since a lot of that was a blur, but I ended up going on another date, not that the first one even needed to be in this story, but this second date was much more of a success. I showed up about thirty minutes early to get us a good table, it was a small Italian restaurant, run by a family, a man and his wife. The wife was the main waiter of the restaurant, and if it was very busy, he’d send out one of his kids, the oldest had to be about thirty. The youngest twenty.
Anyway, I’m way off track, let me get back to what I was saying. The guy showed up to the date and we managed to talk enough and even managed to set up a second date the next week. How? I don’t know. Is that a theme you’ve noticed? Good. It’s better you catch onto what’s going on, because I sure as hell won’t be able to in my last moments.
He was tall, muscular, and had dark hair, most likely black hair, and had a bit of stubble. He even wore a suit to the date, while I had worn the sweatshirt I wore on the same date with that girl.
I returned home after the date, and opened the door. I know I closed it behind me, but when I turned around, it was wide open. Perhaps I was just too tired, or maybe a ghost did it, how the fuck would I know.
I went to my room, took off my sweatshirt and pressed the highest setting on my air conditioner, set an alarm on my phone, and went to bed.
I woke up, late for work. Fuck. I checked my phone to see if my alarm went off. Fuck, it didn’t. I then checked to see if the alarm was even there. Fuck! I didn’t set it!? Or perhaps it vanished?! Fucking phone!
I called into work and explained my situation… slightly untruthfully.
“Yeah, I kinda got a call that my grandma died last night, and well I’ve been at her house, y’know. I wouldn’t want to show up to work all crying and snotty right?”
“I’m so sorry for your loss. Please, take the rest of this week off.” My manager exclaimed, his voice sounded caught.
Sweet. No more work this week. I can sleep.
And I did, believe it or not, I slept for eight more hours, waking up quite late. My bedroom door was wide open, and the windows were blowing air into the house. Fuck! My AC was still on! My poor electricity bill…
That was when…
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Fuck. Now I have a visitor. I looked horrible. I quickly fixed my hair and rushed to the front door. I looked out the window by the door, and there was no one there.
Are you serious… I wasted all that time for some ding-dong ditcher?
Actually, no. I looked down to see if perhaps someone was hiding low to the ground, and could see a package on the ground. Now, I know this has gone on for some time, but here is the first exciting part. That. Damn. Box.
I opened the door, lept out, grabbed the box and slithered back inside, closing the door behind me. I walked to the counter and pulled a knife from the drawer. I stabbed a hole in the middle of the package, and dragged the blade down the tape of the box. Once the tape was off, I flung the flaps open to see…
A small box.
Trust me, I thought this was one of those damn box inside a box inside a box things too, but this box was special. This box could… give me the ability to see people’s lives with just a touch.
I don’t care if you believe it. Just trust me.
I didn’t know anything about this obviously, but when I opened the box and felt a strange pain in my head, I didn’t know what to think. The box was open, and my soul had been sold to the devil, oh… not really. That was a joke I think.
I spent the rest of that day watching tv and sitting on my phone. Truthfully, this happened for many more days, before I realized the ability I now had. The first interaction I had, would be with the date. My first interaction wasn’t with my date, but on the date.
“And here’s the menu.” The waitress said, handing me the menu. The small menu didn’t have much room to grab it… I would… have to touch the waitress’ hands. I shivered, and clenched my seat with one hand while I touched the person’s hand. Instantly, my vision went black, and I could see something flash before my eyes. Her life.
It flashed, sure, but it sure felt like years. Her entire life flashed. Ballet, studying, getting into college, dropping out, signing up for something, funerals, birthdays, moments. Every second was burned into my mind.
Just as fast as it started, it stopped. The waitress didn’t seem as phased as I was, she simply let go of the menu and walked away. She didn’t see what I saw… so why… why did I see her life? Why did I see something like that, and why didn’t she see anything.
I instantly thought back to the box. Fuck. I probably opened some cursed box… well… now that I have super powers, I can try to find out something cool, right? Or maybe learn the code to a safe?
Far from it. I stood up to leave, forgetting about the date entirely, but a crowd had entered the restaurant. They pushed their way through the place and I saw them coming toward me, going to an open table. I tried to duck out of the way, but one of their elbows touched me. The whole thing happened again. His life, the birthdays, the fire, the car accident, the blood… the… dead body.
When I got out, the guy continued walking with his group.
I was panicking. My head was hurting, their memories were becoming mine. I was her, and I was him… and I was me? Who was I really? Who am I?! Was I always me? Were they always me?
“You sure showed up early.” My date said, my head whipped to the side, where he was staring at me.
“And you wore a suit.” He said.
I looked down quickly, and I was, indeed, wearing a suit. I remember putting it on… but… that memory was becoming hazy.
He walked up and pulled out my chair, I may have just pushed it in to leave, but now I had to stay. I sat down, my head was slowly calming down. The pain stopped. My memories pushed through the others.
“It’s nice to see you again, Andrew.”
Andrew? That is my name… but it sounded wrong. It sounded like he had just called me by a name I didn’t have. My name wasn’t Andrew, but it was.
“You too… Hey, Darius, is something wrong?” I asked, hoping he was experiencing this too.
“Huh? No. Today has been… swell. You seem to be a bit beat up. Perhaps we should cut this date short and I can take you home.” He stood up, and began to walk over to me. I felt like crying. I ruined this date with my mental issues again… right? That fire… that fire… and the car accident must have caused trauma… I remember back to a happier memory. My ballet classes. Yes. They were innocent and fun. All the birthdays I’ve had… the different colored cakes… seeing the same numbers… but on different cakes.
“Here. I’ll help you up.” Darius said, reaching out to me. Before I could decline, he touched my shoulder.
It flashed again… but… there was me. No… I was looking through someone else’s eyes… at me. A dark figure loomed near the person. They ran… the figure followed…
The figure was trying to kill this person… me… no Darius. Darius… was speaking.
I spoke with him… in unison.
“I am not me… you are not me… what you are seeing now… is what I want you to see. I shall pass this on to you, and you will deal with the beast. I really do care for you Andrew. But on that first date, I knew you were the one. However, when I pass this on to you, I will not be able to remember anything I am doing now, and I will revert back to who I was before… before I caught this… affliction. Who I was before was…”
I stopped speaking, but he continued.
“a murderer.”
When I came back to the real world, I was in a car. I looked around as much as I could, but I was in the front seat. There was someone else in the car. Darius.
“Thank you for the second date, Andrew. When I saw you on that first date… I seem to have forgotten something. You took something from me, didn’t you? Why? What did you do?”
I tried to speak but my voice was muffled through the tape on my mouth.
“No no. Don’t speak. I’ll find out what happened.” He said.
We had arrived somewhere, and he pulled me from the car, carrying me into some house, and walking into a basement that was surprisingly clean. He laid me on the floor gently and smiled. He removed the tape, and I tried to explain to him, yet I didn’t realize I’d sound or seem crazier than him.
“When this was affecting you, you became a good person! Passing it on to me just made you a horrible person again. Darius please! I know your life! I know it!” I yelled, and fell to the ground. My head ached. It pulsed.
That dark figure in his memories. The memories came back to me, but the figure was… in a different spot. It was close to me. He had been watching me, trying to figure out how to pass it on.
The dark figure… was in his life for all of his life, but it was vanishing.
The figure was in my memories… I could remember it… or… was it just always there to begin with and I can just now remember?
My head kept throbbing, and my own memories flashed before my eyes. My mom… on her death bed… the figure was strangling her… my dad’s factory accident… he was pushed… by the figure? Me… what compelled me to go on the date? Can you guess?
I thought back to someone braver than myself.
My old best friend, who died just last year to a terminal illness. I had held his hand as he did, and… I could feel his memories… his strength. Before I had this ability… I could think back to when I touched someone and… take their memories.
When I started this story… I had such confidence. That wasn’t mine. It wasn’t me. It… was my friend.
All off this makes no sense… these memories aren’t mine. I’m not… I’m not Andrew.
Andrew… is dead?
But why was I… pretending to be Andrew… and who was Andrew? I have memories of being dead.
He’s… not in the basement with me anymore.
I curled into a ball, questioning who I was, who I am, and who I will be. It’d be best if he’d kill me… right?
Maybe not.
He may have left me here, but he left me with a phone. For what reason? I don’t know. Why am I on this app. Why am I here? Perhaps he wants me to post this before he murders me.
Yeah. That’s it. I can hear a voice… of Andrew. He’s telling me.
Heh. This story really is fucked, ain’t it? What do you think? Was this entertaining, or am I just using too much dark humor?
Well I’ll post this, and then either get stabbed, starve, get shot, be tortured, be killed by the figure. But no.
Andrew tells me of another way to pass on this curse. Sure I can’t pass on the ability to see other’s lives, but now you might see a shadow move in the corner of your sight. If you do, realize you may have just taken something from me. When Darius reads this, perhaps he too will get the curse, and maybe… just maybe, he’ll come back to who he was, and I’ll leave this horrible horrible stinky gross ass basement. The hanging bodies… skeletons is a bit uncomfortable…
Anyway, I must thank you. I may soon be released from this curse, and perhaps… perhaps soon I will post another one of these. Perhaps I can take the curse back and destroy it, or perhaps I can go back to the whiny side of myself and let you all die for my safety.
Be safe. You kind kind people.