Don't Vibe in my doorway pt. 2

Chapter 26

(Screaming in I'm helplessly in love with my coworker. Oh God it's only getting worse.)

(Holy fucking shit, my life has been turned upside down and I currently have COVID. Ok, recap on my life and why I haven't updated in a long ass time: I moved to North Carolina for two months and got a job. I made friends, formed a family, and fell in love. Like actual love. I broke up with my girlfriend, but we're chill.

The day I went home was fucking wack. I didn't get to sleep till 12, woke up at 1:30 only to ralph my guts up, passed out, was supposed to get up at 3 and leave the house at 5:30, woke up at 5:33, somehow made it to the airport and wasn't able to take my suitcase with me. So all of my clothes and basic human stuff like soap and my favorite belt are in Fucking North Carolina. It's 13 hours away… ok when I get to the airport, I can't take my suitcase, I've got four minutes to board the plane and this is my first time flying. I sit next to this grown ass man and he immediately starts flirting with me. I told him I was finishing up highschool and dude bro starts apologizing for flirting. And mind you he was going to fucking rehab… and I had COVID. I got off that plane and ended up having to sprint through the entire airport to get to my next flight and almost didn't make it. But after that, everything was okay.

Not my mental state though. I'm considering thoughts that I never had before and it scares me. I've always hated kids and vowed never to have them, but now I'm considering it??? Help??? Thought process? No.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing. This chapter is gonna be shorter, and I'm running out of plot. (I lied apparently.) Please give me some ideas or I might have to kill off a character. This is a threat)

I sat there baffled for what seemed like quite some time before Ej spoke up, "well that was quite eventful."

Clockwork flashed a smile, "laughy boy supports women's rights and thinks it's awesome we can live without men."

"GOD DAMN RIGHT!" The laughy boy in question tells from below.

Huh, never would have guessed…

"Aight then," Jane started, "you're welcome, you now owe us. So, movie night. Saturday. All… six of us. Shits gonna be BUSSIN."

"What's today?"

"No fucking clue."

"Fair enough."

With that Clockwork gave a finger gun and the pair walked away, leaving behind three baffled gay asses.

"My brain hurts," BEN muttered, his fingers making their way to his mess of blond hair. Ej nodded and gave a thumbs up. What in the hell does that even entail?

A thought suddenly struck me. I had been meaning to visit my mom. Ooooh I can tell her about my favorite boys.

"Toby, you good bro? You look like you just did crack for the first time… DUDE WERE YOU DOING CRACK WITHOUT ME??" BEN says, putting a hand on his chest as if me doing illegal substances without him was as tragic as the time I sunk the titanic.

"Nah, I wouldn't do crack without you. No, I just remembered that I wanted to go see my mom for a bit."

"Wait… like-" Jack pondered his word choice, -"like your mom? The person who birthed you, kind of mom?"

"Yeeeaaaaah? Jack, what other mom would I be talking about?"

"Idontknowman. It's just odd to me that someone like us has some form of normality outside of this place." Jack explained, not once meeting anyone's gaze. BEN and I shared a worried glance.

Jack continued to stare at the floor as I gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He quickly jerked his attention to me, panicked. Exhaling softly, I smile warmly at the cannibal.

"One day, Jack, I'd love for you to meet her."

Most of the leaves had fallen to the ground as the colder seasons grew closer. No longer red and orange, but a crumpled brown that made a very nice crunch when stepped on. Currently, I was making my way down… forest… crunchin fast-

Anyway

I was walking to me mum's home because I miss her and want to tell her about stupid ass shit like my dumbass boyfriend…s. One could say I was in a good mood. Others might say that the grown man in the tan hoodie shouldn't be allowed back at Sonic because last time he was here he ordered at least sixty corn dogs and ate them all in the span of ten minutes while squatting on a stove and screaming Dancing Queen by ABBA.

It was a bad day.

I continue my trek through the woods, humming to myself subconsciously. Nothing but the sounds of leaves under my converses, bird song, crickets, and distant screaming of children being murdered. Everything was great. Right up until I heard leaves crunching behind me.

At first I shook it off. It's a forest after all, it's most likely a squirrel or bird. So, I didn't stop to investigate. After about ten minutes the sounds started up again. This time they sounded more like footsteps. Swiftly, I spun around, pulling a hatchet out of my belt as I did so.

"Who the fuck wanna die?" I call out to no one. There was nothing there. Just an empty trail. It was at this moment when I realized that the birds had stopped singing and the bugs had gone silent. Fear prickled along my spine and goosebumps formed along my arms. As I stood there, both hatchets now drawn, the silence seemed deafening. Who knows how long I stood there, staring out into the vast sea of trees.

After what had seemed like hours, which was probably only a couple of minutes, I sighed and put my weapons away. God, this fucking place gets to me sometimes. I turn around and began walking again, shaking my head and laughing to myself about how stupid I probably looked.

I'd like to say that I completely forgot about that situation, but it still plagued me. I couldn't stop hearing the footsteps. The birds song hadn't returned either. Every now and then I could swear that I'd see a figure just out of view, or hear soft whispers and twigs snapping.

Unbeknownst to me, my pace had picked up and with it my heart rate. The sounds had gone from little here and there's to nonstop noise. Branches snapping, voices talking just out of range, shadows surrounding me from every angle. My breathing quickened, black started to edge its way into the corners of my vision.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck…"

I fell to my knees and pulled my hands up to my ears in a sorry attempt to block out the noise, but it was to no avail. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I kneeled hunched over in the dead grass. I pulled at whatever strands of hair my fingers caught, trying to stop the madness that wormed its way into my skull.

"God, please, just stop. Fuck. Please. Please. Please. Plea-"

"Tobias dear, is that you?"

Just like that, everything stopped. The shadows disappeared with the footsteps and the songbirds returned.

I looked around in a frenzied panic. How did I get here?

"Toby?"

The familiar voice called out again. I look up to see my mother standing out in our backyard. She was a good distance away, but the worry on her face was as clear as day. I stood slowly, running my hands through my hair as I did so.

How… this isn't right. It should have taken longer to get here. What happened?

"Oh Toby, sweetheart, look at yourself. You're covered in leaves and dirt. Honey, are you okay?" My mother asks, cupping my face. In response, I flinched away not remembering her walking over to me. She slowly pulled her hands away from me, holding them at her chest.

"Honey, you need to take a deep breath. You're okay. Why don't you come inside and I'll make you some hot chocolate?" She insisted, but I remained still. This apparently concerned her more, "Toby. Please just take a deep breath. I don't know what happened, but you're safe now."

She takes my hands in hers and smiles up at me. I take in a shaky breath and let it out slowly, closing my eyes in the process.

"There we go, now come on, let's get you cleaned up."

(1089 words not including the note at the top, 1456 all together)

July 26, 2022)