Too bad

The drop of sweat had been a stubborn one. It had made its way all the way from the top of his forehead, slithering past his eyes and and creeping up the bridge of his nose, until it stopped at the tip. All the other beads of sweat had not hesitated. It was as if it was natural for them to let go and fall to the floor.

But not this one. Nope, it decided it wasn’t its time yet and it clung to the tip of Jonas nose for dear life. Another sweat from the tip of his forehead had followed the same path as the First, slithering and dipping, avoiding the pot holes he called eyes, until finally it reached the tip of his nose as well. Jonas immediately woke, causing both drops to fall to the floor below. They disappeared, in what appeared to be, the red sand below, cleansing their existence. Jonas looked around, He could see clearer than he was able to five minutes ago. He didn’t even have his glasses. But the sudden strength in sight wasn’t what bothered Jonas the most. Confusion and fear clung to his heart as he noticed, he had been chained to the wall. The wall slanted a little bit, as if it were to collapse at any given moment.

He grabbed the chains that bound him, trying to figure out how tight they had been. He pulled and yanked and tugged, but the chains would not budge. Jonas started to panic, as he began to notice that the chains weren’t just binding him to the wall, but part of the chains seemed to have been fused to his body. There were burn marks all over his arms and legs. Confusion began to climax in the mind of Jonas. Fear began to climax in his heart. He heard distant screams and it had only made him even more afraid. He was afraid to scream, maybe if he stayed quiet, they wouldn’t know he was awake. Well… thats what he thought anyway.

A woman screamed behind him, as if she was directly on the other side of the wall. Her scream wasn’t a fearful scream, but it was more real, more vicious. it was a scream of pain and Jonas could hear it all in her voice. Jonas heard another scream, but it was more sinister. Every time the woman would scream, Jonas would here the deep dark scream right after, as if to mock her. Cries followed and then dark laughter. Jonas began to tug on the chains even harder. He looked up in front of him, as he watched a very tall, very thin man arranging tools on a shelf. his back had been to Jonas and he was extremely quite.

Jonas thought his heart could’t beat faster, but it had and he was afraid, so afraid. he began to cry, trying to figure what happened. Why was he here? Where was he? What was going to happen next? But more importantly, who was the tall man and where did he come from? Was he there the whole time/ Jonas thought maybe he should calm down. What ever was going to happen would happen and there was nothing he could do. Maybe he should just figure out what was going on. He took three deep breathes and quickly closed his eyes. he opened them again and stared at the tall man that continued to work, as if he was preparing for something.

“Sup?” Jonas asked, trying to remain cool. He tried not to show fear, but his teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. his voice was shaky, it couldn’t be helped.

“Sup?” the man responded normally. Jonas hadn’t expected such a normal response, with a normal voice. the man had no shirt. His spine looked as if it was going to fall out. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten in years. Never the less, His response made Jonas feel a little better. Maybe Jonas could talk sense into him.

“Whatcha doin over there buddy?” Jonas asked, teeth still chattering.

“Um… I am preparing,” The strange man declared.

“Preparing for what?”

“I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but… It’s nothing good Jonas, I’m not going to lie to you.”

“Who are you and what do you want from me?”

“Who am I? Well, that’s kind of a difficult question to answer Jonas. You never believed in me before, so why try to convince you now. As far as what I want… well, you’ve already given it to me about…” The man glanced at the wall to his left. A clock squeezed it’s way through the wall. Jonas had not recognized the type of clock. It had more than 12 dials on it. It then squeezed it’s way back into the wall and disappeared.

“… about five minutes ago,” The man continued. He turned around to face Jonas. Jonas couldn’t even begin to dream of what was going on and who this man had been, but one thing had been extremely certain when he turned around. This being standing in front of him was no man. It had six eyes and all sharp teeth. His tongue had been split. One of his eyes seemed to have been burned. Jonas gasped in fear. The chains that had been bound to Jonas began to heat up. The room began to get really stuffy and Jonas couldn’t breathe.

“The chains!” Jonas cried out, as he tugged on the chains. “The chains are burring me!” he cried.The being had stood there and watched. Neither five eyes blinked. He did not smile, nor did he move. He stood there emotionless, just staring. The chains turned fire red as they began to scorch him. Jonas let go the greatest scream in his life. the pain was unbearable. It seemed to have lasted for hours, until finally it stopped. Jonas head fell down in exhaustion, but more than exhaustion, he felt thirsty.

“Please… what did I do?” Jonas cried.

“You did nothing, Jonas. You did nothing and that was your mistake,” The being declared. Jonas glanced at his body, only to see, what doctors might have called, The worse kind of burn scars. They burned so deep that it tore his flesh. The dark figure lifted up a big bucket. “Thirsty?” he asked. He then threw the liquid unto Jonas. Jonas screamed as he arched his back in even more pain. Jonas cried and sobbed, snot and drool releasing form his mouth. He thought he had pissed for the third time. The alcohol the figure had thrown on him had not ceased. It continued to burn. the being, again, stood there emotionless.

“Please stop,” Jonas cried.

“Thank you. I must say Pleading down here, is like giving a door man a $50 dollar tip. it only means I’m doing my job right. and I haven’t even gotten to the good part.” The being set the bucket down and walked away. he came back into the room with company.

“They wanted to say hi to you, Jonas. The being teased. It was his mother, little brother, grand mother and girlfriend. there had been another man he hadn’t recognized. Jonas tried to cover himself, as he had been naked. His mother began to cry as she held his grandmothers hand and held his little brother.

“Release Him! let him go now!” his mother cried

“We need you bro, come on, fight it,” The little brother said as he cried. The chains began to heat up again and Jonas began to scream. he saw his mother crying as she watched. his girlfriend, however had not cared. She was in the arms of another man as they made out. This made Jonas upset. Had she ever cared about him. Jonas let off more screams as flames engulfed him this time. The last thing he remembered was a highway, a crash. Then it hit him… Was he dead? Was he in hell? What happened friend? did he die as well?

“I can answer your questions Jonas,” The being said, aware of everything he was thinking, everything he was feeling. He knew it all.

“Yes, you’re in hell. And worse part is, you’re going to be here for a long…” The being had not finished his sentence. there was darkness and then immediate light. Jonas looked to the ceiling as he was being rolled away. He could see the lights passing down on the hall.

“He’s back, good work doctor. I want an EMP over here stat. I don’t want to lose him again. You’re going to be ok, son,’ the doctor explained.

“Don’t let me die, please don’t let me die. I don’t want to go back,” Jonas cried, too afraid to stop talking.

“We got you son. we’re not going to let you…” There had been a flash of light and then darkness. Jonas immediately opened his eyes and found he had been back in his chains. He had been naked, but the atmosphere had changed. It felt like he was in a freezer. The five eyed being finally smiled and held his heart.

“Well, that was close. They almost saved you. Too bad,” The being declared. He then quickly picked up his whip.

Open the Window

Click Click… Click Click… Click Click

Justina opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling, thinking to herself if she had heard something. The clock on the wall continued to tick. The clock would always “tick, tick, tick” her to sleep. She glanced at the glass of water on her counter, which she last remembered filling with ice. The glass sweated and there had been no evidence of ice in the cup. She lightly wiped the sweat away from her own forehead.

Click Click… Click Click… Click Click

Justina sat up straight, she knew she had heard something. She quickly looked at her clock on the wall.

3:14 am… He was late today.

Justina knew where the sound had been coming from. It came from her window. She slowly slipped from under the covers and gently placed her feet on the hardwood floor. The floor had been sticky from the heat.  But the heat wasn’t what worried her. The stranger that was trying to gain her attention, he was back. Third time this week. Justina had not been as fearful as she was the first day. For as long as she remained inside the house, she was ok.

Click Click… Click Click… Click Click

Justina could see the small pebbles raping on the window and sliding off the side of her house.  She made no attempt to move. She stared at the window, hoping he would just go away. He would stand at her window and watch her sleep, hoping, waiting for her to open the window. Justina was no fool, or so she thought.

“Justina,” the mysterious man whispered from outside. It was light and faint. The window was closed tight and yet she could still hear him. The eerie whisper sent chills down her spine. The fear she thought she had overcome, made a surprise visit. Her heart began to pound slow and hard. It was as if someone was pounding on her chest from the inside trying to run. Her heart was trying to escape, to run. But her mind told her she was safe. Her mind knew what she was talking about. Her mind had saved her a million times, why would he fail her now.

Now if only she could convince her beating heart of that.

“Justina,” the voice whispered again. Slowly, Justina could see the top of someones head in her window, as if the were hiding. His head slowly began to rise until his eyes peeked through the window. His eyes were a deep blue. The blue in his eyes had not reminded her of the beautiful sky or the peaceful lake by her house. It reminded her of death, desperation, deceit… anything bad that began with a D really.

Soon she could see his sadistic smile and his pale neck. He crossed his arms as he floated in front of her window.

“Justina, why do you ignore me?” The mysterious man asked.

“Leave me alone,” Justina declared. Her mind had been proud of her courage. She coached Justina, trying her hardest to drown out the cries of her fearful heart.

“Justina, is that anyway to treat a guest? I am a guest of your home, right?” The pale man asked.

“No,” Justina cried out “Leave me alone before I call the police.” the man dug in his pocket and quickly pulled out a wallet.

“Detective Roger Jones at your service. Why don’t you let me in and we can talk about whats bothering you,” The man declared. He laughed as he dropped the wallet. Justina was well aware of who Detective Jones was and it wasn’t this man. He lifted his finger and lightly scratched the window. He licked his lips as he passionately stared at Justina.

“I’m going to scream,” Justina warned.

“Sure, give them a reason to think you’re even more crazy,” the man laughed. He grabbed the window gaurds and shook it in fury “Open this damn window!” the man declared. his eyes beamed a darker blue, but then quickly changed back, as he contained his composure.

“Go away,” Justina warned. The man smiled in amusement. He scratched his nose and rubbed his chin, hoping their was more to the sentence.

“Sounded to me that you were about to say, or else. Or else what, Justina?” what exactly do you plan to do?”

“Go away! There is nothing here for you. You are going to leave me alone. I’ve been doing well without you. Get away from my window, you pale, death smelling individual. Go kill yourself,” Justina said. Shen worked up the courage to tell him off.

“Oooh, big girl hiding behind the window. Funny, when you were sleep, your heart was so calm. You know, when I was out there throwing pebbles outside of your window, I was harmonizing. I was listening to your heart. It sounded like a symphony. The rocks on your window wasn’t to get your attention, it was just me enjoying my personal little boom box. When you woke up, UGH!! Music. Your heart began to climax and it was my favorite part of the song. Justina,” The mysterious man continued “I’m not going to be satisfied until the music stops. Now open… the window.”

“You… it was you! you killed mom! You killed haley and brad! you took my family away from me! It was you!” Justina cried. “I remember your eyes that night. No, you’re not going to get me! Not this time.”

“Justina don’t do this!” the man warned.

“Help!! Someone Help me!!” Justina cried out. She lifted herself from her bed and screamed as loud as she could. The mysterious man broke out in laughter, as she continued to scream for help. The Metal door opened and three nurses and two guards rushed into her room.

“CALM DOWN MS. CALLPRI,” the nurses pleaded. Justina continued to scream and fight the nurses off of her.

“He’s there, He’s still there in the window laughing at me!” Justina cried. the nurses glanced through the small bar windows. The doctor rushed into the room and stuck her with a sedative

“Shhhh, it’s ok now Justina. He’s gone, He left.” the doctor declared.

“He wanted me to open the window again, Doctor Jones. He asked me to open the window.”

“Never open the window, Justina. Remeber what happened the last time you opened the window. Don’t let him in, don’t let him take over,” Doctor Robert Jones declared. They placed Justina back in her bed, as she began to fall asleep.

“Poor girl. She killed her mother and two siblings, I guess that haunts you forever. She was doing so well this month Doctor,” The nurse declared as she closed the door. Justina continued to sleep.

Click Click… Click Click… Click Click…

“Justina,” Said the low sinister whisper.

WHY

“I don’t need you! I don’t need anybody!” Harvey cried.The crowd looked down at him in shame. “You all can go to hell. Go to hell! burn, all of you!”

The crowd began to silently whisper and walk away. Harvey tried to stand to his feet, full of fury, but he quickly stumbled to the left, falling into the bikes chained to the building. There was small laughter. Harvey glanced at the departing crowd through his bruised eye. He spat at the humored crowd, as they continued to laugh.

“You’re a real piece of work Harvey,” A man declared form behind. “Next time, Harvey, I wont leave you looking so pretty.” Harvey looked up at the tall man that stood in front of him. The tall man towered over Harvey, his smile more judgmental than the rest of the, by passing, audience.

Harvey reached his hand out-slowly. The gravel shifted under his palm, trembling from pain. He smiled, causing a small slither of bloody drool to escape his mouth. The tall man watched, thinking Harvey wasn’t foolish enough to try and stand up for a little more beating.

“You cant be serious Harv, you just got your ass kicked. You want some more? Huh?”

“No, Mikey. Please just leave him. He’s not worth it,” Crissie cried from behind the tall man. Harvey hadn’t known if her statement was meant to save him or insult him. Harvey continued to smile, as he stuck his middle finger up at Mikey. His dusty fingers continued to tremble.

“Real mature Havey,” Crissie declared from behind her tall brother.

“Wait… I got one for you too,” Harvey declared, as he began to flip her off with his other hand. Mikey stumped on his finger, causing Harvey to cry in pain. Mikey mushed his finger in the dirt, as if to put out a cigarette. Crissie kicked dirt in Harvey’s face. Making sure her insult had been clear, she tried to spit on him, but it was to no prevail. It landed on her chin. She quickly wiped it away with the sleeve of her arm.

“Come on Mikey, lets go. We’re done here.” Crissie and Mikey began to walk away, leaving Harvey, bitter, in the dirt.

“I love her!” Harvey cried, Climbing to his feet. “Did you hear me? I love her!”

Crissie and Mikey climbed into the car. Mikey glanced at his sister, recognizing the heart in her eyes.

“Crissie…”

“No, I’m good Mikey, really.” Crissie lied. Crissie tried to block out the Harvey’s cries. They echoed in her heart. Harvey was the worst kind of cheater Crissie had ever known.  He developed feelings for his secret lover.

“Do you hear me Crissie? Shes everything you weren’t. You could never be her. You could never be…”

Harvey ceased his ranting, as she walked out of the store. She had not been aware of the commotion. She glanced at Harvey in curiosity. Her smile hinted that she had not known what had just happened. She slowly walked closer to Harvey, trying to get a clearer look at what she recognized as bruises. Her light brown eyes quivered in fear that Harvey had been hurt. She dropped her bag and covered her mouth in shock.

Crissie started the car, preparing to leave. She had not wanted to see her run into his arms. She did not want to see her comfort the man she had once loved and now hated. She suddenly took her hand off the wheel, as she too covered her mouth in shock. On the ground, where Harvey’s mistress stood, was a pink and white pregnancy test. Tears quickly filled Crissies eyes.

Pain…

Hurt…

Jealousy…

Love…

Hate…

Crissie hadn’t known where the tears had come from. She went through various different emotions all at once, as she stared at the pregnancy test on the ground. Harvey had too noticed the small package. His face stretched in surprise, but then quickly changed to joy.

“Crissie…” Mikey began. “I’m going to go and kick his ass some more.” Mikey climbed out of the car and  quickly walked towards Harvey. Mikey stretched his fingers, preparing them for more exercise. He cracked his neck in anger. Harvey knew what was coming, he knew Mikey would beat him near to death. He knew Mikey wasn’t concerned of future consequences. Mikey spent most of his adult life behind a jail cell.

Tires screeched and roared. Mikey stopped, as his truck flew past him. He tried to grab the truck, trying to stop it from fulfilling the mission the gas pedal had given it. A trail of dust had followed the large vehicle. The engine sounded like it was about to explode. Tears flowed from the eyes of Crissie and out the window. She screamed in pain, her grip on the wheel tighter than her clenched teeth. Her war cry, louder than the roar of the engine.

“Crissie, No!” Harvey cried aloud. But his plea had not reached her ears. Crissie could only hear the distant echoes of his declaration of love. The “miles per hour” meter had just reached 70 when she felt the truck lift, as if she had just run a speed bump in a child safety zone. It was as if Crissie hadn’t even seen her. As if she meant to drive right through her. Blood lightly splattered the window. Crissie bounced in her seat and immediately pushed on the brakes. The truck screeched and immediately came to a hault. Directly in front of the truck was Harvey, arms to his face.

He slowly removed his hands in shock, less curious about why he was still alive and more shocked and confused about what Crissie had just done.His bruised eye stretched open, longer aware of pain. He reached out to the truck, where there had been stained blood. Tears began to flow from his eyes.

It was Crissies turn to smile. Their eyes met briefly. Harvey eyes quivered in pain as if to ask

“Why?”

The window shield wipers turned on, smearing the specs of blood on the glass and then they stopped. Crissie put the truck in reverse, turned her body half way around to see and stepped on the gas…

Roses Have Thorns

Nathan didn’t ask for much. He only asked for attention. Just a little attention. The ironic part was, he had more attention than he needed. Some might have even called him an attention hog. Everyone like him, respected him, mostly because they could use him… and he would let them. Nathan was the coolest guy around and everyone knew it.

If someone was throwing a party, Nathan was there to support. If someone wanted to go on vacation and they didn’t want to go alone, They would ask Nathan, because they know he would. He was the funny guy around and he still found time to laugh at everyone else jokes. Even when it wasn’t funny. Of course this fed their ego’s and developed relationships. They loved his laugh, the way his eyes disappeared under the arch of his eyebrows and the raise of his cheeks. Nathan was a connected man, full of resources and people who adored him.

And although, Nathan had so many friends, so much attention, so many resources, Nathan was terribly lonely.

You see.. after the parties and after the laughs, after the vacations and after the corny jokes, Nathan went home alone. Stuck in the friend zone, cast off as a friend and nothing more, Nathan had no where else to go at the end of the day. Everyone had a girlfriend or a boyfriend, a child or a cousin… But Nathan had no one. No one, that is, until he met Trey.

Trey appeared to be just another one of Nathans disposable associates and neglectful friends… He wasn’t just a friend Nathan would laugh with, but he quickly found Trey to be a good listener. Trey respected Nathan, he adored and looked up to Nathan. Nathan quickly took notice to this and it made him feel special, less void. Nathan finally had a best friend…

Neither Nathan or Trey knew what a best friend was…

They soon found out their friendship would have and unfortunate draw back. Their friendship was too strong and it attracted too much attention. Negative attention. ‘

Trey didn’t have any other friends and Nathan had too many. Nathan forsook his other associates and concentrated his energy on his new friend. This made people wonder, what made Trey so special? Why did he get to get all the attention? Whispers began and because of a lack of understanding, a hint of jealousy and too much curiosity, questions followed the whispers. The faint whispers began to get louder, until one day, Trey whispered back.

Nathan laughed at the whispers and the speculations. He was happy… but Trey was uncomfortable and he would soon pull away, slowly. Trey loved his friend and he had no idea why, but he chose to show it less. Nathan slowly began to notice his friend pulling away. Trey started making new friends and spending more time with his girlfriend. He connected with old friends just to preoccupy his time.

Seeing this, Nathan began to fight for something Trey wasn’t willing to admit. You see, even though there was no sexual attraction between the two friends, Trey began to fear that someday there might be. So he decided to either cast his friend away or change their relationship.

Nathan began to feel stronger for his friend, but Trey continued to pull away. Nathan soon became Jealous of Trey’s new friends, his old friends, his family and even his girlfriend. He made time for everyone else, except for Nathan. Nathan had not accepted this. He continued to fight for something he was slowly losing.

Losing…

Something he had lost.

Nathan was beginning to annoy Trey. Every time they spoke, it had been an argument. Trey began to get tired of his friend and Nathan knew it, but he didn’t want to let his friend go. Nathan had been a better friend to Trey then Trey to Nathan. And no matter how much Nathan pleaded, Trey was gone.

One day Nathan passed by a flower shop. He glanced into the flower stand and saw a bunch of roses, but there had been one rose, that stood out among the others. There was something so peculiar about this one particular rose… It was as if it had smiled at him. Mesmerized by the sight of the rose, without thinking, without carefully evaluating it, Nathan quickly picked the rose up. He smelled the rose and smiled. There was something about this rose… Nathan turned it around and quickly dropped it.

“Ouch,” Nathan cried loudly. He glanced at his thumb, as blood began to trickle down his hand. Nathan glanced at the rose, The beautiful rose.

“Careful,” the shop keeper warned. “Did you forget? Roses have thorns.”

“I’m sorry, I guess… I didn’t expect this one, out of the whole bunch, to have thorns,” Nathan declared as he placed his thumb in his mouth.

“A rose is a rose. Now matter how beautiful, how unique or what color they appear to be, all roses have thorns, my boy. Sometimes we over look them,” said the shop keeper. He picked the rose up off the floor and placed it back in the bunch. Nathan took one more glance at the rose that had caught his attention. but he couldn’t recognize it from the others anymore. So he moved on.