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'Hey! Hey, Lydia! Check this out.' Jake stated proudly as he pointed to the tower made from adult diapers.

The girl scanned the pile her friend had made, and let out a sigh.

'Jake, quit playing with the diapers and stack them properly,'

He pouted at her, before turning back to his work. 'Alright, alright,'

He began to re-stack them, when a group of teens from his school came forward.

'Hey, Amy, it's Jake,' he said, looking at the main girl in the group, 'I'm in your math class.'
She took a pack of diapers, gave him a somewhat smile, and threw it to who only I could assume was her boyfriend. 'Hey, don't forget your adult diapers.'
'Yeah right.' he said, before throwing it at the pile, causing them to go everywhere. They left, chuckling and giggling amongst themselves.

Lynette scoffed. 'Assholes,'

'Well, I guess that's one way to knock the tower down.'

Lynette shook her head. 'Sorry, Jake. Here, let me help,' she bent down picked up a handful of packs, before the manager came forward.
'Jake. Phone for you,'
She eyed me. 'You with this girl?'
He nodded. 'Yeah.'

We hoped into her car as she drove to Abe's house.
'Thanks for the ride, Shelley.'
'So, how come you have to go deal with your grandpa?'
'My...dad couldn't get out of work.'
'I didn't think he worked.' Shelley rolled her eyes.
'You know, I'm just gonna, call grandpa.'

'Hello?! This is Abe.' I was able to make out Abe's frantic tone on the other side.
'Hey, it's Jake.'
'No! Don't come here! Listen to me, it's not safe! Stay away!'
'Grandpa, did you take your pills today?'
I tilted my head and frowned. Abe may be getting old, but it would take him a lot more then forgetting to take some pills for him to get this panicked.
'The key to my gun cabinet, it was in the draw and now it's gone.'
'Yeah, dad took it, alright? For safekeeping, it's okay.'
'Your father wants I should fight them without a gun?!'
Then he hung up. I clenched my fists in my lap, a knot of anxiety tying in my stomach.
'God bless him,' said Shelley, 'what's his deal, Alzheimer's?'
'Dementia.' Jake replied.

When we arrived to Abe's street, I could already tell that something sinister had occurred. Whilst Shelley was driving up to his house, a man appeared in front of the car. I caught a glimpse of him, and I flinched so hard I elbowed the car door. Not sure why, but something about him startled me.
Jake turned his head around. 'You okay, Lydia?'
I nodded. 'That guy gave me the heebie-jeebies.' Shelley shivered.

She pulled up onto his drive. 'Holler if you need me.'
I followed Jake as he knocked on the door. 'Grandpa?!' he yelled. He unlocked the door, and I gasped. The house was trashed. Now the background noise over the call made sense; he had been looking for something - they key. We walked out the back where a curtain had been torn.
'Shelley!' The boy called.
Lynette ran her fingers over the ripped material, her brow furrowing.
'I've got a .38 in my car, you wait there.' Shelley shouted back, before retreating to her car to fetch her gun.

'Jake...look,'

He turned to where his friend called from, and he made his way over to her as chills ran down his spine. There was a gaping hole in a barbed wire fence that guarded the first behind it, and just beyond was the beam of a torch
'Oh my god...' he whispered.
'Come on,' Lynette said, taking his hand and slowly dragging him with her as she stepped closer, 'we'll go together.'

We slowly paced towards it. The girl gripped his hand tighter the closer we got. The wind was whooshing around the pair, making it even more eerie. Jacob picked up the torch; it was rimmed with blood. He looked at it on his fingers, before continuing to walk. There, we saw the man lying on the floor. A heavy exhale escaped Lynette's lips. Jacob let go of her hand and ran towards the body. The girl knew the worst had occurred, but didn't try to stop him.
Jacob turned him over, and his eyes were gone. As he desperately tried to dial the paramedics, Lynette covered bet mouth to stop myself from crying. It brought back the nightmares.

Real ones. Awful ones.

Nightmares, back to the night her first loop got raided, and almost all her friends and her old headmistress were killed. By the same thing that killed him.

'-2040 Palm Circle, my grandpa-'
Suddenly, Abe's hand snatched the pair's wrists.
'Grandpa-' Jacob started.
'You have to get away from here.'
'I-I-'
'Please. Listen. Go to the island. Find Emerson. The postcard. Go to the loop.
September 3rd, 1943.'
'It's okay, just don't move there's an ambulance coming.'

The girl zoned out after that. The date echoed in her head continuously.

September 3rd, 1943.

Lynette O'Connor |ONGOING|Where stories live. Discover now