The Tiff Singularity (A Collection of Lake Wonder Fiction)

Desolation Freeway Journal Entry #1 (Denny)

I meant to start on the road back home today, but I just... Well, the thing is, it looks like I'm lost and/or stuck.

I'm in Georgia. I'm so deep in Georgia. I checked a map. I'm not anywhere near Washington or where I should be. I've been thinking about sending an email to Lucky (or to Robin, since they check theirs more often, anyway), but reception is spotty-to-nonexisent here. I suspect it's for reasons other than the ones when it goes out when I'm at Dad's.

So, I'm in Georgia. I don't know why. I guess I just got lost on my way home, and now I'm here, on Desolation Freeway, where absolutely nothing makes sense. They have a duck mayor in Purgatory. What's up with that?

I'm in Purgatory right now. I had to shower, I'm in a hotel/inn thing, and... Well, where am I SUPPOSED to begin?

I rolled into town after killing a goblin on the side of the road (I wasn't sure how else to get the rest of them to go away after one bit me) and ended up at a diner where I met some people. We ended up going to this Dupermart to kill some mold, then to the graveyard, where we met a ghost and waged a goblin genocide. (Tiff was wrong. Filming the ghost did not make her run away.) 

I don't know what to make of them-- the others. Fletcher is so skittish that I look stalwart in comparison. Sammas is cool, except he keeps RECORDING EVERYTHING and trying to recruit me to his damn company. Mia is cool, even if... Well, when I get back to Lake Wonder, she's ALSO going to be working at LWHS. And now there's this other guy, Freeman... I don't know what to make of him. He stole Fletcher's car.

I know Ms. Darlene said not to, but I'm kind of tempted to wend my way toward the tollbooth. I'm curious about what's down there. We'll see, though. I'd wager everyone else knows better with regard to what to do next. And I'll go along, since I want to get out of here, but also because I think they might need me. Protection is the prerogative, right? Right.

God, I'm tired. Robin was right, this shifting bullshit really DOES make me tired and hungry. I don't know how I never noticed that before. Just goes to show how much I know, I guess.

I miss home. I miss Mom, and I really miss Jessie. I miss her so much. And I'm stuck on this damn freeway... If I'm stuck here forever, I'll never forgive myself. 

Maybe I should take Sammas up on that offer. I LIKE doing this. Fighting things, getting down into the nitty-gritty of it, all of that... That's something I LIKE to do. And maybe it's gone from the desperation of trying to keep everyone safe to a genuine enjoyment.

And I don't know if that's a bad thing or not. I don't want to be a danger to everyone around me, you know? I like to be safe and I feel conflicted at best about what I did to Joey. (I did what I had to do, didn't I? But maybe I still shouldn't have done it. I saw him... And, sure, I nearly boiled over with rage, but I also nearly died of shame, having seen the aftermath of what I did. But I have what HE did etched into my torso for forever, so isn't it fair?) I don't want people to look at me like I'm going to hurt them. I told Betty that I appreciated that she kept the secret and didn't treat me differently-- and I do. I told that Tiff kid the same thing on that day out in Pine Valley. There's a REASON I've never told Jessie or Carissa or Cory. The reason is that I've SEEN the way that people like my dad or that park ranger react, and it's with disgust and fear. It's with terror. And I don't like to scare people, and I don't like to scare myself.

But it's a good thing, isn't it? To put yourself to good use? To keep the world from being populated with the REAL monsters? Those goblins were remorseless. I remember Ema talking about this thing once-- the principle of forfeiture. Ema and Joey were REALLY into debating it back in... What was it, two Novembers ago? I think it's that thing where, if you hurt people, you forfeit your right to not be hurt in turn. Something like that. And they kept hurting people. They hurt me (or tried to). They hurt Mr. Sammas. They killed a lot of people, and they ate them-- and hell knows that Ms. Jackie The Ghost's Galaxy Brain bus wasn't the first OR last group they took out. Why else would she be so adamant about warning us?

Am I concerned that they saw me and what I was? That Sammas seems to know? That Mia and Fletcher drove up while I was full-wolf and tearing those things apart?

Eh. Not super-so.

I will say, I'm a tad concerned about Fletcher. That guy's REAL jumpy. Sammas knows what he's doing, and Mia has a "tardes van" (whatever that is), so I'm not really worried about whether or not they'll be weird about it. Fletcher, though... I know we gave him shit earlier about whether or not he would poop his pants when he saw something weird (he didn't), but I am concerned about the potential blowback? The questions? I'm also a tad concerned about his safety. Heaven knows I can take a gunshot, but that kid for sure can't. Today alone, he got so maimed... (I say kid, knowing full well he's a few years older than me. Semantics, whatever.)

But it's all whatever. Tomorrow's a new day, right?

And I don't care what the locals say. We're going to figure out how to get out of here, even if we have to be the first ones to do it.