Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump. That's all I could hear through the darkness. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything else other than what I soon realized was my heart thumping back to life. The thumping kept growing louder and louder until it became a piercing ring in my ears. A bright white light came into view, burning my eyes as it grew closer and closer. I couldn't tell where it was leading to, but at this point, I really didn't give a fuck.
All of a sudden, air blasted through my lungs as I shot up off the floor. My eyes tried to focus through the blinding light as I started to hear faint voices and hands pulling at me. I scrambled until I ran into a wall and turned my back to it, my whole body shaking from the sudden return to consciousness. I kept my hands up and couldn't stop blinking as I tried to figure out who was talking to me. "Sir, can you hear me? Can you understand me? Everything is alright. Can you hear me?", a voice asked. My eyes slowly focused in on two EMTs that had been kneeling on either side of me in my bathroom. I looked around and noticed different medical tools around the floor where I had apparently been laying. There was a towel covering me from the waist down, clearly to cover my naked body from embarrassment. The floor was soaked. Clearly the tub had overflowed just like I thought it would. The female EMT cautiously came toward me, hands up in a gentle way. "It's okay", she said, "you fell and hit your head when you got out of the bathtub. We're here to help you and make sure you're okay". The other male EMT started to come towards me, "do you mind if we check you out real quick? We just wanna make sure you don't have any real head trauma". My eyes darted back and forth between them. My panic was finally coming down enough to think straight. The female EMT took one of my hands in hers, "everything is okay, just let us help you. Could you at least tell us your name?". I looked at her, then to him. I nodded to her and told her, "my name's Chase".
They both checked me out for about twenty more minutes, stopping long enough for me to get a pair of pants to cover myself. Eyes, heart, blood pressure, checking my head for cuts and bumps. I did end up having a cut on the back of my head, but it wasn't bad enough to take me to the hospital. As the male EMT was giving me my stitches I couldn't help but notice that the female EMT was looking me up and down, almost like she was interested. She wasn't bad looking, I'd hit it if she'd let me. I must have hit my head harder than I thought, although I don't remember getting out of the tub either. The shit in that needle must've been real strong for me to black out like that. Or hallucinate with that type of vividness. I very rarely have those kinds of dreams while I'm high. I usually just stare at the ceiling and ignore the world and all its bullshit. As much as I had wanted everything to end, I couldn't help but feel grateful that all of that shit was just in my head.
A couple of stitches later I was deemed good enough for them to leave, giving me a couple tylenol for the pain. I was used to taking much stronger pills than this, but hey, they don't carry the good stuff with them. They probably wouldn't have given me any anyway. As I walked them to the door they advised me to not go to sleep for a while just to completely rule out an actual concussion. I agreed to everything they told me and shut the door behind them, watching as the Female EMT waved at me. I made my way back to the bathroom to try to clean up the mess. Not that it would really make a difference. I hadn't taken real care of this apartment since I moved in here two years ago. It basically became a dumping ground for what little stuff I own and a place to sleep if I got lucky. The first thing I decided to do was unplug the tub to let the water out. I really must've really fell out of the tub because the shower curtain and the rod were laying on the floor next to the tub. As I started to pick them up, I couldn't help but notice how good I was feeling. I don't know what kind of tylenol they gave me, but it sure did do the job and then some. I felt like I could stop a truck, one handed. When I went to bend the broken curtain rod to throw it away, I caught a glance of my hands. They looked....better. I couldn't quite explain it. I looked up my arms and also found that the wounds and sores from my other shoot ups were healed and no longer there. Just smooth, toned skin. I turned and looked in the mirror and couldn't help but stare at myself in disbelief.
I was me, but not the same me before I sank into the tub. My entire body had been completely cleared of every sore and puncture I had ever given it. My muscles had toned and firmed somehow. My brown hair still fell in front of my dark brown eyes, which only reminded me of how badly I wanted a haircut. I still had the scar over my right eye from when I tried to climb over a chain link fence when I was thirteen years old. My gauges in my ears looked like the infection I had was finally gone. Other than feeling physically invincible, I looked like a healthier version of the same old me. The last thing I looked for was where that creepy dude stabbed me, or seemed to stab me. There wasn't anything there, not even a scratch. That all but confirmed my suspicion that I had hallucinated the whole thing through my black out.
The sound of my creaking kitchen cabinets broke my concentration. Every hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I glanced at the bathroom door, listening for any other movement from down the hall. The sound of footsteps on the linoleum confirmed there was another person inside my apartment. I left the bathroom and creeped down the hall, trying not to make a sound as I made my way towards the living room.
I poked my head around the corner and saw a random blonde guy standing in my kitchen. He didn't look that old, maybe eighteen years old. He also didn't look that big, which meant I could probably take him out by myself pretty easily. I reached down to the floor and picked up my ball bat. Last time I had to use it I had to pull it out to handle a small misunderstanding with my former drug dealer. It never made it back to the front door where it's supposed to be after that fight. I pulled it up, ready to hit him before he even hears me coming. I got about three steps behind him and stopped.
But he spun around right before I swung.
"BOO!", he yelled. The face staring back at me made me jump back a foot. His face looked like it had been tattooed to resemble a skull. His hazel eyes seemed to glow under the low lighting of my apartment. I dropped the bat as I stumbled backward, falling onto my ass in the process. Even after I fell down, I kept my fists up, waiting for him to jump me. But he just stood there for a second, staring at me, before bursting into laughter.
"Get the fuck outta my apartment", I told him. When he just continued to laugh, I started to get really pissed. "I'm not gonna tell you again dude. I've had a really fucked up morning and I'm not in the mood for your bullshit. Get outta here, or I'm gonna kick your ass", I growled at him. "Yeah", he laughed at me, "you look like you're gonna do some real damage from down there on the floor my dude". I grabbed the bat again as I got to my feet, leaning against the counter. "Go ahead and hit me with it if it'll make you feel better", he said, "but I'll just get right back up". This guy wasn't the least bit afraid for his life, let alone that I knew he was in here. I decided on a new tactic, laying the bat down on the counter. "Who the fuck are you and how did you get in my apartment?", I asked him. He leaned himself against the counter across from me. "By the way", I asked, "did you loose a bet or did you fuck up your face on purpose?". He cocked his head to the side, seeming to mock me. He held up a hand and snapped his fingers, the skull tattoo disappearing like a mist in the air.
When I grabbed the bat again in surprise, he just shook his head. "Better?", he asked sarcastically. I was hesitant to answer, so I just waited for him to continue. "So, first off, I'm Tyler and I'm here because of your fucked up life decisions", he started, "and I came in here through that wall over there", he said pointing to the far living room wall. I must've looked confused, mainly because I really was, because he just kept talking. "Let me guess", he continued, "you just got done convincing yourself that everything you went through was a dream and you thought you'd just be able to continue to float through life unencumbered by any other consequences other than the basics you already have?". When I didn't answer, he took that as my response. "Well my newly deceased friend", he said, "you are wrong in every sense of the word".
I decided to keep the bat in my hand,not really knowing which way this conversation was going to land. If it was innocent, then everything would be fine. If not, then he'd get a bat to the head. Simple as that.
"Okay", I say, "I'll bite. What exactly happened to me? And why does your face change like that?". He crossed his arms as he spoke, almost looking annoyed that I had to ask at all. "Why that old fuck downstairs can't just explain this shit in detail in the moment, I will never understand", he said. I watched him turn, grab a glass, and fill it with water. "The face is something you can do too", he starts, "It's basically an intimidation thing for when you go to end someone. It's helpful, especially if you're dealing with someone who's bigger than you and refuses to go down". "So why use that on me?", I asked him. Tyler laughed slightly, "I just thought it would be funny, honestly". I picked up the bat and kept it at my side, "yeah, real funny dude".
Tyler drank the water down in three giant gulps and tossed the glass into the sink, making it shatter. "Okay, let's go", he said while heading towards the door. I watched him, but I wasn't about to follow that freak anywhere. When he noticed I wasn't following him, he turned and put his hands up in confusion. "Dude", he said, "we gotta go. Let's go". I pointed the bat at him, "what makes you think I'd go anywhere with you? I don't know or even want to know you. Plus, I just got my life back. I'm not gonna spend it with some blonde douche that broke into my apartment".
Tyler sighed, "look man, you're not getting it. You didn't get handed a free pass. You got handed a raw deal in the form of a job to get a second chance. There's a big difference my friend. And, unfortunately, you can't stay here. Not that you would want to anyway", he said looking around, "this place is kinda depressing". He wasn't wrong. It's dirty, small, and it stinks. I always felt like I had better things I'd rather do besides clean my apartment. "Well", he continued, "we really should get going then. I'll explain more on the way". I gripped the bat tight and started to walk towards him. I wasn't going anywhere with this guy. Not a fucking chance. I couldn't see another way out.
"So where exactly are we going?", I asked him, pretending to go along with him. He turned back towards the door to unlock it, "We stay at the vault. It's on the outside of the city", he started to say, but was immediately cut off. As soon as his back was turned towards me, I lifted the bat and swung at his head as hard as I could. The bat connected with his head with enough force to send blood onto the dirty white walls. Tyler hit the floor with a loud thud, completely motionless. I thought I saw him somehow start to wake up for a quick second. A brief moment of panic came over me and I hit him again. I dropped the bat and started to shake from the adrenaline. I wasn't sure what to do next, my mind spinning. I watched as blood started to pool around his head, trying to figure out my next move. The only real option that came to mind was to just leave, just to disappear into thin air.
I made my way back to my bedroom to grab a bag and maybe some clothes. I grabbed as much that I could fit into my duffle bag, plus my phone and phone charger. As I zipped up my bag I heard a noise behind me. As soon as I turned around I was face to face with Tyler, blood running down his face and neck. His eyes had gone black and the skull had reappeared on his face. And he was holding the bat. "What the fuck!", I yelled. I had no time to react or even think as he hit me in the head with the bat. I hit the ground, my head hitting my dresser on the way down. My head was screaming in pain, I couldn't get up. I could feel blood streaming out of my head. Another brief moment of pain and pressure to the back of my head made my eyes go blurry. And then nothing, just darkness.
*****
I opened my eyes and started coughing, a few droplets of blood coming from my mouth. I rubbed my eyes and focused to find myself still on the floor, blood sticky against my face and neck. I sat up and leaned myself against my dresser, the corner of it also sticky with blood. I checked the entirety of my head and couldn't find a wound. Clearly I had been hit, the blood made that clear. But there was no wound, not even a tiny paper cut. I pulled myself from the floor, trying to stumble down the hallway back to the living room. I knew what I thought had happened, but I needed to confirm if what I was thinking had indeed happened.
I made my way down the hallway, sliding against the wall while I did to try to keep my balance. I rounded the corner and found Tyler sitting on my couch casually reading one of the many old magazines from the floor. I coughed again and made him look up at me. He smiled at me, "So, do you believe me now or should I hit you over the head again?", he asked. As much as I really wanted to go at him again, I decided not to. I stumbled my way to the loveseat across from him and landed on it, feeling like I was going to throw up. "Did....did I just die....again?", I asked him, trying desperately to catch my breath. He tossed the magazine onto the floor and crossed his arms and legs, "yup. Tit for tat mother fucker. You kill me, I kill you. Although that would get very tedious after a while. So could we just not do that?". The absolute absurdity of this situation made me shake my head and even laugh a little. I looked at him and gave a small smile. "Nice swing by the way. I went down pretty hard", I told him. He smiled at that, "Thank you. I hit you twice to make sure you went down, and to make it even between us". I touched the back of my head again, "So even fatal wounds heal, huh?", I asked him. Tyler rolled his eyes, "yes, they will heal completely. You have the power of a god basically. Even if you do die somehow, you're just gonna pop back up like a bad weed". I was finally starting to feel better while he was explaining. My eyes cleared up, my head didn't hurt anymore, and I didn't feel sick anymore. "How long was I out for?", I asked him. "A couple of hours. You actually came to a lot faster than most do their first time", he said.
I looked at him, confused. "You keep explaining like there are more people like this. How many people are actually like this?", I asked. Tyler jumped up from the couch and again stood in front of the door, hand on the doorknob. "So many questions, that I am happy to answer. But I'll answer them on our way out of the city", he said, unlocking the door. I still felt hesitant to follow, but I had to know more. I wanted to know everything there was to know about this new life. I pulled myself to my feet, grabbing one of my shirts from the floor before walking towards the door. "Nice", he said, noticing Ozzy Osbourne on the front of it. "Yeah", I reply, "he's my favorite singer". A look of sarcastic relief overtook his face, "thank god, I like him too. Good thing too, considering we're going to be best friends for eternity now". "I'm sorry, what?", I asked him as he whipped open my door. He paused for a few seconds. A look of horror must have been all over my face, because he started to laugh again. "I'm just fucking with you! Unclench your cheeks and let that stick fall out of your ass", he said. He randomly paused again as soon as I was standing right behind him in the doorway, "unless you like it there", and continued to laugh his way out the door.
I turned and looked back at my old life one last time. This depressing apartment was no longer my reality, which I was oddly happy about. But what was ahead of me was still very unknown, and that terrified me to my bones. The only thing I knew for sure was that my death was no longer my end, but had now become my new beginning. I slowly shut the door for the last time and turned towards Tyler. His hard stance and crossed arms told me it was time to go for real this time. "You know what they say. When god closes a door....you run like hell".
We made our way down the three flights of stairs to the small lobby of my apartment building. The age of this place really showed through my new eyes. I felt like I could see everything making it stink floating through the air around me. Several of the other tenants were standing around the entrance as we made our way out the door. The rain had finally stopped, but the clouds were still blocking out the sun. The tenants stared at us as we squeezed our way through them, not bothering to move at all as they continued to smoke. I could almost hear how weak their hearts actually were from all the years of toxins flowing through their bodies. But the smell was too enticing to me.
"Can I bum one of those?", I ask the older lady at the bottom of the stairs. "Sure doll. No worries", she said, handing me one. I borrowed her lighter and lit the cigarette, inhaling as deep as I could. The smoke didn't burn like it used to as it slithered down my throat to my lungs. Tyler smiled. "Wanna see something cool?", he asked. I shrugged and continued to enjoy my cigarette. He got one from the older woman too, lit it up. "Do you even smoke?", I asked him. "Not even a little bit", he answered. As soon as it started to smoke, he started to inhale really fast. Within the span of a minute the cigarette had turned to ash and was gone in one breath. The woman and I just stood there in awe as he exhaled an entire cigarette's worth of smoke into the air. He didn't even cough. I got halfway through mine then put it out on the stone wall. "I think I might just stop smoking", I said.
We headed down the sidewalk for a bit, walking past crowds of people decorating their businesses with halloween decorations, pumpkins, and even lights. City workers were hanging banners on street lamps announcing the annual halloween festival at the end of the month. Stonewall City wasn't anything special, but they definitely know how to celebrate the holidays. For good and for bad. I used to love stealing stuff from the vendors when I was a kid. "Are we allowed to go to that? Or do we just stay out of sight until somebody's about to die?", I asked him. "We are allowed to do whatever the hell we want. Festivals, drugs, alcohol, sex. Literally anything you can think of", he said. "Wait", I stopped him, "I thought we couldn't have sex? I remember that scary fuck saying that when I was....wherever I was before". "No no no no", Tyler said as he put both of his hands against my shoulders, holding me steady, "he said: you will never sire children. He said absolutely nothing about not being able to have sex. Trust me", he said as he let me go and we continued to walk, "if I couldn't have sex for the rest of eternity, I would've figured out how to die a long time ago".
We finally made it to where Tyler had been leading me for a good half an hour. He pulled out a set of car keys and hit the unlock button and revealed he had his own car, a black nineteen sixty eight camaro. As he made his way around to the drivers side, I stopped, looking at the car in awe. We both climbed inside and I immediately started looking around. "This is a pretty nice car man", I tell him, admiring the black leather interior, "where'd you pick this up at?". "I rebuilt it myself", he said, "once it finally hits you how much time you really have on your hands, you kinda just start filling in the extra time with hobbies". I nodded my head in agreement. I mean, what else were we going to do. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. He quickly shifted into drive and sped from the curb towards the edge of the city, quickly going from zero to fifty in what felt like nothing. "How much did this set you back?', I asked, "It had to be at least a few thousand to restore it to this". "You're not wrong there", he said as he turned the car towards what looked like long forgotten forest, "but again, that's another perk to the way we get to live".
As we weaved our way through the dying trees, I couldn't help but admire the way the trees looked as fall overtook them. The falling leaves had always shown me how beautiful it can be to let things go. Too bad it's easier said than done in real life. The further we got from the city, the more dead everything seemed to get. The trees started to look more like brittle bones shaking in the wind. The grim weather just made everything seem all that more depressing. We drove for a couple hours through the decaying woods until a large building began to show its face through the trees. The closer we got, the uglier it got. The fog that had started to build along the ground was only making everything that much more creepy, like this is where Tyler was going to kill me and dump my body. We pulled up the long driveway and parked in front of the large fountain that had seen way better days. It had long stopped working, now overgrown with grass and weeds being choked out from the amount of leaves that had fallen into it. The building itself was falling apart. As we got out of the car bricks and stones seemed to be crumbling before my eyes. Wooden beams lay on the ground in a charred graveyard all their own. The stained glass windows had been broken, cracking the faces of the angels they depicted. The most striking presence came from the large iron cross that stood tall on the top of the tallest tower, large holes in the roof surrounding a single iron rod that held it up. I was shocked by the sheer size of this place. I knew where I was.
"Isn't this the cathedral that burned down like fifty years ago? I remember learning about this place in school", I said. "Yes indeed it is", Tyler said while shutting his door, "the boss downstairs thought it'd be a good place for us to lay low and shit like that. Kinda ironic if you think about it too hard, but whatever". I followed him up the cracked stairs to the large pair of wooden double doors as it started to sprinkle down on us again. "Dude no offense, but my apartment was better than this", I said. "Yeah, no offense to you dude, but your apartment smelled like ballsack and cheese. At least we can breathe fresh air out here", he said back, grinning at me, "out here, it only smells like water and dead ass trees".
Tyler threw open the large doors to the chapel, and it wasn't much better. Destroyed pews littered the ground in broken shambles, moss and other weeds beginning to pull them into the earth. Overgrown trees had made their way through more windows, along with the roots tearing through the old wooden floorboards. The altar at the front of the main stage at the back of the room had long disintegrated into almost nothing. Years of weather and time had all but destroyed this place. Several birds were disturbed when we entered the room and flew out through a massive hole in the ceiling. The whole room looked like it hadn't been entered since before the fire.
We made our way down the long aisle towards the back, mud and wood soft under our feet with every step. "This is where we live now", Tyler said, "it's not as bad as it seems, trust me". We stopped at another set of doors at the very back of the stage. Small trees had begun to grow through the floorboards and toward the doors themselves. A mural of an angel touching a man in the chest had been carved into the wood. Beams of light were coming from the man's chest and carved above them in the clouds, as if this was supposed to be a happy moment.
"This is the entrance to the reaper's den. This is where we hide from the outside world. No mortal person can open this door". I watched as he placed his hands on each door, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. As he did, a thin light started coming from his hands and began to trace over the mural, but it didn't trace the same picture. The mural began to warp into a picture of the grim reaper stabbing a man in the chest, using the same knife that had been stabbed into me. The beams of light now resembled lightning strikes hitting the ground. As the light finished carving its way through the wood, Tyler let his hands drop to his sides. I heard several locks unlock from the other side of the doors, and slowly creaked open on their own. The air started getting pulled into the room on the other side of the doors. "Alright", he said when the doors fully opened, "welcome home newbie".
The inside of this place was drastically different then where we had come. Everything about it felt regal, like a castle in medieval times. The stone walls were clean and stacked perfectly, like nothing could knock them down. The woodwork of the beams holding the ceiling up were thick, like they were holding up the world. Carvings of scenes from different points of the past were carved into the wood pillars around the room. Candles were placed around the room to illuminate every detail. The final touch was the grand fireplace in between two large staircases. The fire roared bright as several gargoyles loomed from above, their eyes seeming to follow us around the room as we made our way towards the stairs.
It soon became very clear that we were not alone here. As I walked behind Tyler I saw several different men wandering around the halls. Some young, some old, every ethnicity I could possibly imagine. Some carried weapons, others just looked like they could take me out with their bare hands. Most of them stared me down as we walked past them, their eyes almost burning holes into my soul. Others didn't seem to notice us at all. I walked faster to stay close to Tyler, not really knowing if I should be here or not. "Where are we going?", I asked him. "Don't worry about them", he said, "I can feel the apprehension radiating from you, and that means they can too. They're not gonna bother you. Even if they do, it's not like it matters. You'll just keep coming back". I silently agreed and followed behind him, as if I had much of a choice at this point.
We walked from hallway to hallway until we finally stopped in front of an unmarked door. "Okay, this is you", he said, motioning towards the door. I stepped to the door and turned the knob. The door creaked open to reveal a pretty sizable room. Furniture made from iron and wood filled the room with everything I could want or need. As I entered the room the one piece of furniture that threw me off was the king size bed that was resting on an iron canopy frame. "I thought we don't sleep?", I asked him. He leaned himself against the door frame and crossed his arms. "Well", he said, "nothing was said about relaxing in bed and watching the weather. Oh yeah, one more thing", he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an iphone and tossed it to me, "new phone. It's hooked up with all the basics, but I highly recommend checking the bank app, it'll put you in a great mood. Oh, and", he continued, pointing to anything he could on me, "I recommend changing up your look. New death, new you. Am I right?".
He closed the door behind him as he left, not saying if he'd be back or if I was on my own from now on. I did take a look at myself in the full mirror and silently kinda agreed with him. I did look rough. I wandered around the room checking things out and realized that there was a bathroom behind the random door on the other side of the room. I flipped on the light and went in. The walk-in shower had shampoos and conditioners, plus razors, clippers and other small necessities under the sink. I pulled the clippers out, knowing I could easily give myself a haircut. I turned them on and started shaving my head. I watched as hair fell in clumps into the sink and onto the floor. It didn't take long for it to all be gone considering how thin it had gotten with what I had been doing with my life. When I finished I stared at myself again for a few minutes, still processing the fact that I'm now back to my former looks before all the drugs wreaked havoc on my system. I took my shirt off and checked myself out fully. I think this is the first time I truly have a set of abs.
Something black on my shoulder caught my eye as I was checking myself out. I tried to wipe it off and it didn't come off. I turned around and I couldn't believe my eyes. The burning on my back I had felt before was actually a tattoo being burned into my skin. The center of my back had an intricate cross tattooed in black ink surrounded by a pair of black and gray wings that spread through the rest of my back. The cross was depicted with metal and stone, crumbling but not broken. The wings looked weathered, but strong. It was massive, but it was hauntingly beautiful. I looked closer and realized as I moved that there were faint shimmers of gold deep in the edges of the tattoo that reflected in the light. I didn't quite understand why I got this until I remembered what the pale man said.
'The mark of the reaper.....the blood of angels'.
As soon as I started to remember a dark mist washed over my face. Within seconds my face had the same face Tyler had used on me. The face of death. I jumped back a little at the sudden shift in appearance. I got closer to the mirror and touched my face, surprised that it didn't feel different. The skeletal face looked and felt like a tattoo, my dark eyes only making it more ominous to look at.
I wandered over to the window and sat on the floor in front of the window. The view wasn't bad from my new room. It was nothing but dead trees and hills as far as my eyes could see. The rain had now picked up into a full blown thunderstorm, with thunder and lightning taking over the skies. I watched the lightning as it lit up my room and then go back to darkness. The rain pelted the glass so loudly I thought it might break. This all seemed a little familiar, but at the same time brand new. My new reflection stared back at me in the glass as I remembered watching the rain as I faded away into darkness, but now I watched it as I would never fade away again.
ns216.73.216.143da2
and then Add to home screen.