Haunt || Matty Healy

Eleven.

My skull feels like it's cracking open and my brain is seeping through. I groan and hold my temples, rubbing with the palm of my hands as I'm knelt on the floor of my closet trying to find a simple shirt. I swear all my clothes had been in a pile on the floor when I left for school yesterday, but nothing is where it seems to be anymore. I can't even find my red eyeliner that I had wanted to try out.

I sigh and rest my head against the wall, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. Perhaps this was a sign that I shouldn't go to school today. I nearly make up my mind when something literally comes out of nowhere and whacks my face. "Ow," I groan, glancing down at my lap. Haunt lies awkwardly on my lap and if this was Matty's way of telling me to use it then it wasn't very nice.

I gingerly pick it up and open to the first page. I frown at the dark lines of text that blur together. I swear it used to be a blank book. I slip my glasses off, startled at how much clearer the words are. I read a few lines only to find it's literal gibberish. It's Latin, but I can make out a few words similar to what I already know in Spanish, but it doesn't take me long to realize that it's Lorem Ipsum.

"What the hell?" I flip through the pages and I see that it's all filler. There's no substance and I don't understand. None of this is making sense to me but I feel too brain dead to even attempt to piece together fragments of my memory to at least try to understand this.

"Don't hurt your pretty little head, love." I snap my head to the voice, paling when I see Adam's beautiful body draped over my bed. My vision seems to glitch as if I'm viewing everything from messed up camera. My breathing increases but I try to remain calm. "I'm sure you'll find the answer in there one day, George is fickle like that."

"George?" I hear myself question. What did he have to do with this?

Adam hums thoughtfully, grinning at me when he's figured that I can't at all remember much. He gets up abruptly, gliding over to me. His feet don't seem to move yet he's made it from my bed to where I'm sat in my closet. He grasps my hand and it's as I've dunked my fingers into the Artic Ocean. I flinch back but his hold is tight and I've already lost feeling in them. I glance down to find that they're blue and forming frost.

When I glance back up to Adam in horror, I find that we are no longer in my room anymore. We're at a library.

He lets go of my hand and I immediately regain feeling.

"I want to show you something," he says. He tilts his head to the side and despite my better judgment; I think that he's quite...well, not bad looking in this light. I can see him clearly and although it makes me uneasy, part of me is grateful for this. I swallow dryly and follow him. I don't think I have much of a choice, anyway.

"Are you saying Matty is a fallen Angel?" I intake a breath sharply and peer around a bookshelf. I see myself talking to Kelsey. She says something about checking Mythology books and tells me to go through some Wiccan stuff. I frown at the churning in my stomach.

Was this real? It seems mostly real, there's nothing off about it...but I don't remember it. The voids in my memory are going to drive me insane. "Hasn't it already?" Adam asks, amused. He walks past my replica who's sat on the floor now, flipping through a book or two.

I shiver and follow him. "I hate libraries," I mumble. Adam doesn't acknowledge that I've spoken, only takes a seat on one of the chairs placed in the center of the floor. Kelsey is sat on the other end of the table reading over a book on – I swear it says Loki – Norse mythology. Adam gestures for me to take a seat, even going as far as to push the chair out for me without even touching it.

The sudden noise startles Kelsey and she peers up, placing a hand to her chest. "Shit, Nila, I thought you were doing the Wiccan stuff."

I glance at Adam with wide eyes, in shock that she can see me. "My lover's got humor," Adam sings quietly to himself. I furrow my eyebrows before turning back to my best friend. She's already back to reading and Adam's eerie voice sends shivers down my spine, "...she's a giggle at a funeral."