The Super Gang

The Empty Space

Adam I. Garcia

Alk-Davies Ultimate

15 May 2022

The Empty Space

Once upon a time there was a boy that had wealth, friends, and great grades, but that boy lost so much due to his friends. They had drugged him, tried sacrificing him to a black woman, and made him look mental. That boy is me, Dennis McKenzie or McKacie. Honestly, I’m still lost about my last name. That day the cops did show up. They listened to my story, but when they ran searches on Suzie Lancaster and Vincent McKenzie/McKacie nothing was found. They have no known proof of existence. And they vanished when the cops showed up, almost like they were ghosts.

An empty white room surrounds me. My hands and arms shackled to my body with a straight-jacket. My eyes had a glaze because of all the medication they are looping me on. I was imprisoned in a mental hospital, but I still believe all of that nasty shit happened to me. CLICK! The door opens and in walks Doctor Loomis holding a needle. He pushes the needle into my shoulder and injects me with the clear fluid. My vision begins to go blurry, as I faint. Waking up moments later, I’m on a medical bed with electrodes connected to my brain. The doctor turns the machine on, suddenly waves of electricity enter my cerebral cortex. I start to see flashes of light and images that feel like memories, but they aren’t clear and don’t make sense. The flashes end, when Doctor Loomis shuts the machine off. He says, “After running these tests, we have concluded that you don’t have any mental illness or anything physically wrong with you. We will be transferring you out of our mental institute and into an assisted living facility. You have just tonight and then you will be transferred in the morning.”

The doctor lets me out of the room and into the dining hall. I get into line to order my food and pills. They put the oatmeal-like slop on the tray. I grab a banana and a bottle of milk. Walking to my usual table, I notice someone new. A man with dirty blonde hair, a scruffy beard and mustache, and a tattoo on his arm. I sit next to the man and hold out my hand, “Dennis McKenzie. How are you doing?”

He says, “Johnny Constantine. I am not mental. I saw darkness when I was a boy. Then seven years ago, I saw it again. Finally, I can feel that darkness reaching every corner of the earth.”

I say, “What do you mean? Seven years ago there was that stunt in New York on the news.”

Johnny says, “Yeah. A powerful black woman held the town hostage and a group stopped her, but they opened up an ice cream shop in that building over a year later.”

I say, “Exactly, I remember that. Noone else remembers. Must we be the only ones that remember?”

Johnny says, “Far as can tell. The heroes might, but unknown is their identity. Now, I must go!”

Johnny gets up and walks away, but it seems as if he blanked out of the room. As the last day in this hospital passes by, I’m prepared and ready for the next mission. Waking up the next day, they handed me my clothes and the coin that I had obtained from my dad. Escorting me out of the building and into the light of day. Staring around the vast landscape and not noticing any cars or people picking me up, I realize that my parents neglected to care about my release. Starting my long walk down the street of a great plateau, I walk and walk for miles, until I come across a tent. I see the faint glow illuminating the quickly darkening sky. Nearing the tent, the coin begins to warm and glow in my pocket. I enter the tent and see an older woman sitting at a rounded table with a glass orb in the center.

I sit at the table and the woman says, “Dennis. You have been and have seen. Walking both paths and being tricked by your friends. The ball will show the truth.” Suddenly, the ball started casting light and pictures that showed the night that they tricked me. And it showed that Suzie did die because Vincent hovered over her corpse crying. He had burns from the fire. As he left the crypt, he waved his hand and it all vanished. Then the crystal ball shows the next day, Vincent was visited by a shadow demon that took on Suzie’s form and made a deal with him. Then it shows the coin.