Eye See You: Randy Connects pt. 3

Bella.

Dina.

Randy.

Luke.

I glance over the old texts. 

The list hasn’t changed in a while. 

There haven’t been new messages.  No videos or pictures.

Part of me is grateful, but another part of me hangs heavy with dread.  When will the ball drop?  When will a new name be added? When will Bella’s name vanish from that list, replaced with a video. 

A video…

My phone vibrates.

A message.

Letters from the Dead pt. 55

After I had cleaned myself up, I called Leah.

I needed to talk to someone, a friend. 

I needed someone to tell me that the thoughts going through my head, the thoughts of…

I needed her to tell me that this wasn’t real. 

I wasn’t actually thinking about…

I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.

If I couldn’t say it, or even think it, then could I really do it?

I started dialing, my fingers shaking. 

Letters from the Dead pt. 54

Seeing Cherish’s smiling face broke my heart. 

How long had I tried to forget her?

How long had I avoided looking at this very picture? 

There she was, smiling, her eyes looking off in the distance.  Her face was one of hopes and dreams, of a life to be lived.

Little did she know…

Little did any of us know. 

My eyes drifted to the small, senior quote underneath her picture.

“I’ll be seeing you.” 

When? 

How much longer are you going to make me wait?

Will it always just be you, hiding out in the corner of my vision?

Or as a strange, ghostly visage at the end of the hall? 

How much longer do I have to wait to see you again?

Would I have to take drastic measures?

Like Sebastian?

Like Sebastian…

I could feel my stomach lurch, and I ran for the bathroom.

Eye See You: Randy Connects pt. 2

Bella is asleep. 

She sleeps a lot lately. 

I sit in the living room, curled up next to Luke on the couch. 

I ask him who she is seeing.

Who is watching her? Who are they?

“I’m not sure.”

His fingers play with my hair while he talks.

“I’ve never recognized any of them.”

He kisses my forehead.

“Don’t worry about it, okay?”

How could I not worry?

The worries snap out of me, their frustration cracking like a whip. 

“You need to accept what is going to happen.”

I pull away. 

Ruins pt. 26

That night Doug took the watch. 

I lay in our shared bedroom, grateful that I wasn’t alone.

Nora snored softly next to Kay, who lay still and silent. 

I waited for the sound. 

I knew I would hear that chorus of sick laughter again. 

Those things, those once human things, would be hunting again tonight.

How many people were still hidden in this town?

Were there any left?

Had that gaggle of broken, cackling puppet people gotten them all?

I heard it.

The laughter was farther away tonight. 

I didn’t hear a scream, though.

I drifted off to sleep.

Eye See You: Randy Connects pt. 1

Bella was getting worse.

As the days, and then weeks ticked by, as her name stayed on the top of that damn list I watched her slowly fade away.

The nerves gave way to a depression so deep that she seemed to almost completely shut down. 

I can sense Luke watching me from the doorway as I lay next to her. 

She hasn’t spoken in three days.

I stay with her, lie next to her, try to comfort her.

I don’t know how to. Not really.

Death hangs over her like a shadow. 

I watch her eyes.  They dart back and forth, as if watching people who aren’t really there.

“Why won’t they leave me alone?”

Her voice is a dry, painful croak. 

“I just want them to leave me alone.  Just a little bit.”