Dark Truth

2

Who can it be at this hour? Maybe something has happened? I rushed towards the front door and asked who it was.

“Darius, buddy.” –He spoke.

“Darius?” –I asked. “-What are you doing this late?”

He came inside.

“I came to celebrate!” –he continues. “I bought some beer for us and to catch up. It's not like you become father every day.”

“But she didn’t have a baby yet.” –I said.

“No, she did not. But we can always celebrate becoming a future father.” –He laughed.

I laughed too. He is so funny. I always liked him because of that.

“So, what’s new?” –he asked.

“Nothing much.” –I replied and took one beer and sat on the sofa. He joined.

“-Oh Evan, Evan.” –he said. “Nothing much is much in your life. Tell me what is going on?

“-I have been so tired lately, and don’t know why. It is like I never get enough sleep, even though I sleep too much.

“-Maybe you are tired of sleeping too much?” –he laughed.

He always brings joy and jokes. I love him so much as a friend. He is a great friend.

“-Yes, maybe it’s that. Or maybe I have a lot going in my mind.”

“-What do you mean?” –he asked with a worried look on his face.

He crossed his legs and I could see that he was wearing happy socks that I bought him for his birthday. The green happy socks with yellow bananas. I remember the day when I was going on his birthday. It was a sunny day filled with fresh air and lightness in mind. I never felt so careless. Fran and I were going to the shopping mall to find something special for him. Oh my god, she was so beautiful that day. Her curly brown hair was dancing on the wind. She had sparkles in her eyes to show me that she was happy. Her pearly smile gave me hope. All-day, every day. We went to the shopping mall at the end of the town. It was enormous. It had all the stores in it, and whenever you would go into one store clerks always greet you with a simple but good: “Good day, sir!” We went into one shop and found those happy socks that he is now wearing. We agreed that that would be a perfect present for him. After that, we went to his house. He welcomed us with hugs and kisses. I admired him always. He was, not only funny and a good person, but also smart and so beautiful. Everybody talked about his golden blonde hair. It was a nature mystery. “Genetics.” He would always joke. Every boy in his family had golden blonde hair. It was golden more than gold and always clean and shiny. In high school, he was pretty popular because of his beauty. Even though he could date anyone, he only wanted Helena. I remember again, Helena wasn’t on his birthday that day. She traveled for work. Darius said that it doesn’t matter that she is not with him physically. He knew that she was in his heart. We had lunch with him and during lunch, we gave him a present. He opened it and laughed so hard that he almost choked on a piece of meat. Darius loved the present.

Now, he crossed his legs and waited for me to answer. I was looking at him like it was the first time that I am seeing him. Like we are strangers. Should I tell him what is going on?

He put his hands on my knee. Gazed me directly in my eyes and said: “Oh my, something is going on. I never have seen you like this.”

I grabbed some courage and decided to tell him. I told him everything. I stood in front of him, throwing my hands everywhere. I was astonished by the story. I even told him that I wrote about him and Helena, how they are going to have a baby. And about the neighbors' dog. He was quite. That emptiness of the sound went through my skull like knives. After a short time, he only said: “Show me.”

I stumbled. He repeated. Swiftly, I brought my laptop. There was nothing in it. No saved files with stories. Did I accidentally deleted it? Can that be possible? Am I losing my mind?

“-I guess you were just imagining things.” –he laughed. “-Maybe you were just dreaming since you are sleeping too much.”

Was it all just a dream?

“-I guess you are right.” –I said with relief.

Later, we were talking about the job, how is it going with my writing, what's new with his job, etc. After some time, he went home to his wife, telling me that I should work harder with a catchphrase, it’s better than sleeping. I was alone. Again.

It’s past midnight. The clock is ticking on the wall. It is like the time itself was calling me to work. I started typing. I was writing for who knows how much and I was so into it that I felt so ambitious that I could finish it in one night. But then it hits me. Sharp pain in my head and a strong voice from the closet. EVAN!!!

I woke up.

What? The clock is ticking on the wall and it’s still past midnight. I haven’t written anything. It was just a dream. I don’t know what is happening to me. My head hurts so bad. I looked towards the closet. Nothing is there. Who is calling me? Is it my Fran?

It’s been 5 years since she passed away. I stopped going on her grave. I guess, everything stops after a while. Something fell on the kitchen floor. What was it? Or a better question, who was it?

“-Is anybody there?” – I asked with fear.

Silence. I needed to pass through the corridor to get to my kitchen to see what is going on. I stood up, grabbed some courage, and went straight to the noise. But…Something catches my eye in the corridor. A huge hole on the wall. Through that hole, you couldn’t see the outside world like you are supposed to. It was black and really deep. Hole ate half of Frans's picture on the wall.  This must also be a dream.

“EVAN!” –something screamed from the hole.

I stumbled. I started crying from fear. I never felt this way. What is going on? Darius…Please come to help me. I tried to find my phone to call some help but I couldn’t. I can’t remember where I left it. I decided to run out of my house and to run as far as I can. When I got to my front door, they were locked, chained with some rusty chains, and nailed with some wooden boards. I couldn’t go out.

“EVAN!” –something screamed form the hole, again.

I came near to the hole. I was trying to see how deep it was. I went over it and fell. I was falling and screaming at the same time. It felt like forever. Next thing you know, I was lying on a pavement next to my house, but only now, that wasn’t my house. I could see a child running around in the yard. One man who was working something in the garage dropped some nails. And in one moment, there she was. Fran! By Fran. Oh my god, she was so beautiful. I was so happy to see her again. By Fran. My one and only beloved Fran.

I started yelling.

“-FRAN! It’s me, Evan. FRAN!” –but she couldn’t hear me.

She was so happy. She went towards the child, picked it up, hugged it, and kissed it.

“-My child” –she said. “-My beautiful only child.”

The child smiled and giggled. She went with her child to the man in the garage. I stunned. It was me. I was the man in the garage. I was the man who dropped those nails. What is that? Shirt with the logo of Milos’ industry? Am I still working there?

Then it hits me. Destiny… The variety of destinies. This would happen if she never died. This perfect family.   Good job, beautiful wife, and child. In some kind of parallel universe, I am still happy and I can see that I am not tired. At least one of us got a happy ending. I tried to come near them. I went straight towards them and when they noticed me they changed instantly. Sadness overcomes them. Fran, child, and other me became gray with black eyes and started pointing at me.

“-User Evan!” –they said at the same time. “-Give us back our power.” –and they ran towards me.

I fell backward on my spine and felt like I was falling again like I was falling in that hole. Felt like forever. I closed my eyes to try to find peace and when I opened them again I was lying on my sofa where I was when Darius went home. It’s past midnight. The clock is ticking on the wall and the time is calling me to write. Was this one more dream?

I went to see if there is a hole in my corridor, but nothing was there. It was peaceful. I couldn’t stop thinking about their words. What kind of power? Power of destiny? Of rewriting people's lives? That was the only thing that I could think of. I need to wait for the morning. Will the sun ever rise?

I went to bed. I was so tired of those feeling that I had. I should really go and see the doctor. Maybe something is happening to me. Maybe I am becoming delusional.

First thing in the morning I called the psychiatrist. I set the appointment and needed to see his afternoon. I had my breakfast as always and went for a walk. I ran into Travis walking the beagle on the leash and teaching him where to make a relief. We greeted each other and I pet the dog.   To be honest, the dog is kinda weird. It’s not like other dogs, playful and cheerful. It just stood there. Didn’t move with tail, or bark like any normal dogs would do. Maybe it’s just his kind of temper.

Afternoon came and I went to my psychiatrist downtown. As I was walking in the office, I noticed all the diplomas that he had. He was a well-known psychiatrist in the whole town. The best of the best. He had a diploma from Yale, and from some courses that he passed like: “Paranormal psychology”,” Body language psychology”, etc.

I waited for him to arrive for about half an hour. His secretary was sitting in the waiting room at her table and looking at something on her computer. Finally, after a while, she called my name and I entered the room with only a sofa and chair in it. I guess this is how the séance looks.

“-Good day, Evan.” –he started. “-Sit down, please.”

I sat down. Tactometer started running. I could only hear tick-tock, tick-tock.

“-So, what brings you here, Evan?” –he asked me.

He didn’t look very attractive. He was fat and he was sweating from his bold head. The button on his shirt seemed like it was going to pop. Can he be that good? I guess he can since he helped so many people.

“-I have some weird dreams.” –I started.

I told him everything. About dreams, about my writing that is coming true. About Darius, Travis’s dog. Everything. I was the only one who was talking. While I was telling him what was going on, I started to realize that maybe I should not come. He will think that I am crazy and prescribe me some medicine to calm down. I was amazed by what he has done next:

“-Interesting.” –he said. “Here is a piece of paper for you and I want you to write that you have won, let us say, ten dollars. Let's make something that is really likely to happen.”

I have done it what he asked. I explained to him that it will happen only the next day or after some time. That is when it usually comes to life. He nodded with his bold head and set up the appointment for tomorrow morning. When he got up of his chair, the tactometer stoped and he froze.

The door opened itself and the sun came down instantly. It was pitch dark. I tried to find my phone that was in the pocket, but it was gone. I felt some cold breath on my neck. Something licked me. I closed my eyes and started screaming. All I heard then was a psychiatrist's voice telling me to calm down. I looked at him, shockingly. He saw that something is happening to me and he promised me that he would help me get over it. My phone rang.