Have you ever looked at a mirror, at your own reflection, and thought - 'There's more beyond that shimmering glass, something else unlike what I have now'.
Have you yearned for another you? For another life. A chance to throw your existence into a garbage bin and come out new and shiny.
No ?
Just me then.
Zack Hall, doing exactly what he does best. Nothing.
Sat on the pavement over on the left side of the road, right in front of a Stop n' Shop, giving lore to my reflection in the glass exterior of the store.
It rained heavily.
I'd already locked the store behind me (Cause I work there) and was still pondering how I'd get back home.
Right when the rain began I ran to check on my bike.
Some dude snapped the bike lock and nicked it out of the alley.
Jerk.
Roll forward to me sitting on this pavement, too lazy and cold to walk home.
But I can't stay here forever.
With a prolonged sigh, I leap up to my feet and brush my wet black hair out of my (Also stunningly) black eyes.
My clothes, a red T-shirt combo'd up with loose black trousers and white/black sneakers, were drenched in salty rain water.
"I'm definitely going to be sick after this" I mutter these obvious words under my breath followed up with another prolonged sigh.
With enough ogling of my body, I gather the resolve to begin my 'Trial of suffering' under the, ever persistent, rain.
I step off the pavement and jolt subconsciously from the sudden cold impact.
Thus began my walk.
Which of course, mostly involved zig-zagging from building to building as quickly as possible and watching out for the barely visible car headlights under the night rain.
I replayed this bizarre scenario over and over again till I eventually arrived before my own front porch.
A 4 room bungalow, excluding the kitchen, bathrooms and living room.
We weren't so well off to afford a multi-story home.
Ever since…My Dad left.
Gah! Fathers, Do you really want to know about that stuff?
If you do, I don't care, I'm not telling.
The main thing is, Dad Left, Mom's Here, THE END.
Anyways.
I arrive at the porch and stare down the wooden front door.
Having had enough of this annoying rain, I walk up to the front door whilst whipping out a jumble of keys from my pocket.
I flip out one specific key from the mash of metal and insert it into the lock.
The door clicks open and I push it inwards.
"Mom! I'm home!" A loud holler balls out of my mouth and rolls throughout the house, seeking its intended recipient.
"OOoooooooooh Honey your back!" Just after announcing my presence, a charming and sweet voice lulled awake and aware.
Out of the kitchen door strode a beautiful plump lady in a cook's apron over a yellow sundress with her hair tied in a bun..
I say plump because she was not necessarily fat, just larger than most.
And her plump seemed to go into her curves, making her a quite arousing woman for her age.
48 years to be exact, she had me at 29, I'm 19 by the way.
This was my mother, Grace Hall.
She rushed towards me and gave me a warm hug.
Her graying hazelnut brown hair smelled of Lavender and her light brown toned skin felt soft and smooth.
She always said I got my Fair Skin and Black Hair from my Father.
Once the hug had come to an end she pulled back and pinched my cheeks with a caring smile plastered on her face.
Laugh lines evident but minimal around her cheeks.
"How was work ?" She questioned as she always does.
"Regular…someone yanked my bike" I said and decided to just tell her about the bike as there would be no point in hiding it.
"Oh dear golly, those hooligans in that area are always up to no good. Don't worry about it son, we'll get another one soon" She caressed my cheek in hopes of cheering me up.
"Well, that aside, go to your room and change to dry clothes, I've got pancakes curdling and cooking all ready for you" Her voice trailed off as she rushed back into the kitchen to tend to her pancakes.
I stand in the hallway for a moment with a soft glint in my eyes.
Life can be heavy at times.
But it gets easier when you have someone behind you through thick and thin.
Especially a loving, trusting parent.
I shake my head to push out bad thoughts and stride over to my room.
My hand reaches out for the door handle of my room and I apply mild pressure on it levering it downwards.
I swing the door open and absorb the atmosphere of my own bedroom.
A 10 X 10 feet Square shaped room with a bathroom sectioned off on the right, arranged in such a manner that my bed was smack in the middle of the room against the back wall and my closet sat snuggled right next to it.
Along with a desk and chair by the left of the bedroom door pushed into a corner, my computer sitting sloppily atop the desk.
Posters of a particular alt rock band I listened to, LoveJoy, were strewn all over the walls.
My acoustic guitar sat beside my bed gathering up dust since I hadn't touched it in more than just a while.
And the floor near my bed was littered with comic books of various iterations.
World's finest, Uncanny, Ultimates.
All these items came into my view as I sluggishly trudged into the room, threw my wet clothes on the ground and lay on my bed on nothing but black tight-fitting underwear.
A pained groan reverberates from my gullet as I curl up into a ball on my bed.
Right then, a soft vibration emerges from within my pillow and pulls my attention to itself.
My phone, a slender black pouched metal bar with that superman 'Hope' chest symbol for a keychain.
I slip it out of the grasp of my pillow and position right over my face while switching body positions to instead lay on my back.
I turn it on and type in my ridiculously long lock screen password.
The culprit of the vibration was a text from Emily, my amazing, beautiful, loving, caring, extravagant girlfriend.
Even these adjectives weren't enough to describe how perfect she was.
Seeing a text from her lights up my mood instantly, infecting me with a soft smile.
My fingers race over to the notification, and with a single tap I'm propelled into her DMs.
Emmy <3 : You back yet ? Text me when you are ?
Her text melts into me like exotic butter.
Z>H : Yeah, I just got back rn, Mom made pancakes :3
I reply to her with a cocky expression behind the screen.
The text sends and I wait about a minute or so for her to notice.
Emmy <3 : What no way, your mom's pancakes are the best T-T
I chuckle quietly and watch as she types out another sentence.
Emmy <3 : Sooooo..
This part confuses me, I wonder if I may have forgotten something extremely important.
My brows furrow as I try to figure out exactly what it was I was missing.
But nothing came to mind.
Defeated, I type the only thing I can.
Z>H : So ?
I already feel the unbounding disappointment from her side of the screen.
Emmy <3 : So our date tomorrow, The one where we watch 500 days of summer together. At the park. Remember?
Sparks and cogs whizz around in my brain as the nodes start connecting.
"I'm a piece of crap" I silently mutter while letting the phone slip out of my hands and tumble onto the bed.
I actually forgot something That important.
I internally blame my bad memory on the bad weather and my stolen bike, then pick my phone back up to reply to Emily.
Z>H : Oh Sh*t I completely forgot, Im soooo sorry
Emmy <3 : It's alright, you probably had a rough day. Get some sleep, M'kay ?
Her response soothes me.
As patient as always.
Z>H : Kay, G'night.
Emmy <3 : Nighty.
I watch as she goes offline, leaving just me admiring her profile picture.
An old pic of the both of them scarfing down milkshakes at a restaurant.
The picture had him on the left, while Emily sat on the right.
A slender, bottom heavy girl with black pigtails in a purple Thrasher shirt and black skirt with black leggings along her supple thighs.
Her black eyes, dimpled cheeks and puckered lips added on to her amazing beauty.
Life may not be amazing.
I may not have a lot, but what I do have is absolutely perfect.
I slide my phone back under my pillow and curl back into a ball in my bed.
My smile fades as I slowly drift to peaceful, content sleep.
My eyelids grow heavy from stress and my vision blurs.
But…not just blurs.
Something weird.
The room swirls and twists, putting me in a dizzy state.
I try to focus my eyes, wondering whether I may be having a stroke of some sort.
And to make things even weirder, the atmosphere of the room seemed to alter to a scarlet red hue.
Scarlet like blood.
Like flesh, coagulating on the walls and ceiling.
Soon everything buzzes in and out and my vision regains its integrity.
The ordeal leaves me gasping and grabbing at the bathroom wall for support.
Wait…bathroom ?
My eyes widen in confusion and shock.
I look up and soothing hot rushing water brushes against my cheeks and drips down my face.
I look down.
I am nude.
I am taking a bath.
How ?
I rush up and out of the bathtub, but trip from my wet feet and tumble onto the ground wrapped in a green shower curtain.
I fall face first onto the floor knocking my forehead against the hard bathroom tiles.
Hearing the commotion, my Mom rushes in to check on me.
"Zack! Dear are you alright ?" She strides in and stumbles upon me lying on the floor pitifully wrapped in a shower curtain.
"Oh Dear!" She exclaims wildly.
"I'm fine mom, I just fell" I groan as I get up from the ground and switch out from the shower curtain to a towel.
"Hope nothing hurts" She rushes over and starts expertly examining my body from top to bottom.
"I'm fine, trust me!" I scream as I desperately try to escape her uncensored grasps.
"Alright then, be careful up here, oh and come down quickly I'm heating up leftover pancakes from last night" She sighs in relief and starts walking out.
But I stop her midway as I notice a discrepancy in her words.
"Leftover ?" I question her seriously.
"Yes, you ate a whole bunch of them last night, you were hungrier than a pack of wolves in winter" She replies innocently.
Immediately after she walks out of my room and shuts the door behind her.
With her out of the room, I could think a little more freely.
I sit down on the edge of my bed and lean forward, placing my elbows on my lap and resting my chin on my hands.
"The last thing I remember from last night…"
I mutter under my breath, piecing together what little information my brain could scrap together.
"I got home, I crashed on my bed, I spoke to Emily. And then…"
I can't remember.
I can't remember what comes next.
'Did I black out ? No, mom said I ate dinner…What the hell ?'
My thoughts scramble for a reason for my missing memory but nothing coherent comes to mind.
A Loud buzz chimes from under my pillow yanking me out of my mindscape.
An alarm.
One I don't remember setting but set nonetheless.
"The Date!!!" I push back my current issues, those could be handled later.
Right now I couldn't let Emily down.
I leap off the bed and into the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush during the rush, and brush my teeth vigorously.
While doing this I whoosh back into my bedroom and slip on clean grey boxers.
I cycle between the bathroom to spit out the pasty foam from my mouth and my room to put on clean clothes
After looping about 6 or 7 times I was ready for my date.
A red sweater over a black collared shirt and Dark Grey Jeans.
My feet are decorated by a pair of black sneakers.
I check myself in the mirror to determine if I look somewhat presentable.
Emily never really cared that much about appearances but still.
It would be nice to look cool for once.
I pocket my phone, grab my wallet and rush downstairs, completely forgetting to lock my room.
As I barrel down the stairs I see my Mom carrying a tray of pancakes and bacon strips.
I whoosh around her and slow down to grab a pancake and some bacon and shove them down my gullet, before continuing my rush out of the house.
"Oh dear, slow down honey!" My Mom exclaims as she twirls around in confusion trying to rebalance the tray of food.
"Sorry Mom! Bye Mom!" I holler out an apology, but I can't afford to slow down.
I'm as good as dead if I'm late.
The door swings open and I run out to the sidewalk.
I stop to take a breather.
The place we usually had our dates was a park not too far off from where we both lived.
We didn't live on the same street so the park was sort of a central point for both of us.
But today we decided we'd stop by her favorite cafe first and grab some Smoothies, then head to the Park.
All our dates were always movie dates.
We'd sit at the park and watch a movie on her I-pad.
Sometimes we'd people-watch or just enjoy the scenery.
Anything was fun as long as we did it together.
A content smile paints my face as I think over the many moments we'd had and walk to the Cafe.
The Black Star, a Noir style cafe that garnered popularity in a variety of places worldwide, especially here in Redwood city.
Its large glass doors loom before me as I admire the black, gray, white color scheme.
It was one such building shaped as though a flat sphere had fallen over on its back.
Its wall had the depiction of a black fedora as its logo as well as the words BLACK STAR written boldly in white ink just below it.
From what I could make out through the windows, the place wasn't lively today.
Usually it'd be packed with students from the nearby college or office workers looking for a coffee.
My eyes scan through the room for a moment till I inevitably spot her.
The love of my life, my soulmate, Emily West.
I see her sitting elegantly at a chair near the back end of the Cafe, her usual spot.
She never really liked being near groups.
Today she seemed to have decided to be a little more modest in dressing.
Her hair was dyed a light brown hue and let down along her shoulders but nevertheless combed neatly.
She wore a brown sweater that perfectly matched her hair and a long dark grey skirt.
She spots me from within the Cafe and her eyes glint with gorgeous joy.
Her lips transform into an alluring wide smile as her hands shoot up and wave wildly to grab my attention.
One word, Majestic.
My eyes settle on her and my body slowly eases up as a calm smile infects my face.
I slowly raise my hands to wave back.
As my hand ascends into the air, I feel something strange consume me.
My vision blurs, then refocuses and soon everything starts to glitch and bleed.
Scarlet red fills my vision, the entire Cafe distorts sinisterly.
The floor feels like mounds of flesh and I lose my balance and start to tip over.
The people around me bend, twist and mangle in unnatural ways.
My heart races faster than I can keep up with.
I gasp for air and clutch my chest tightly desperately trying to stabilize myself.
To me it felt like a long lasting moment but in reality, in mere seconds, everything returned to normal.
My vision cleared and everything went back to its mundane self.
I slowly gasp for air, heaving hard, my chest rising and falling evidently.
My hands quiver uncontrollably and I hold them together to get them to stop.
"It happened again" I mutter these terribly obvious yet foreboding words under my breath in fear.
"You ok Zack ?!" I hear Emily's soft caring voice call out from beside me with a hint of worry and feel her palm placed gently against my back.
'Emily ???' This confusing thought rages through my mind.
I quickly take a look around me, although I'm already sure what happened.
I'm standing with Emily right in front of the park with a Banana smoothie splattered on the road before me.
"Another blackout" I mutter silently again.
This was getting serious.
One could be from exhaustion but two means something's wrong.
I look up and meet Emily's worried gaze and at once I shift my expression to a calm facade.
I couldn't bear to burden her with this, this was supposed to be a nice date.
I'll give her a nice date.
I show an assuring smile to calm her worries and stand up straight.
"It's nothing, must've been all those energy drinks finally getting to me" I let out a soft chuckle as she gazes at me intently.
She then reaches out and grabs my cheeks, flipping my face left and right, then placing her palm on my forehead to check my temperature.
"Are you sure you're ok ?" She asks one more time as the look of worry slowly creeps off her face, replacing itself with an understanding look.
I smile and I proceed to answer.
But I gag as I feel as though liquid piles up within my throat.
I fall to my knees and clench my oesophagus and gag repeatedly as globs of blood and flesh seep and splatter out of my mouth.
But not just blood, I feel my teeth dislodge from my jaw and follow suit in the attempt to choke me.
My tongue joins the fray acting against me in a raw attempt to end my life.
Blood seeps from eyes as they strain from the pain.
My veins pop and I look around at the familiar gruesome sight of a blood filled world bathed in a red hue.
Buildings fall and shatter, roads twist and curl, humans burst like bags of living blood.
Blood pours out of my ears dampening my hearing.
But through it all I could vaguely make out the screams of Emily as she falls to her knees beside me and yells for help.
I feel tears drip on my hair as she watches helplessly at my suffering.
Soon, everything goes black.
I lose all feeling in my body.
I lose all perception of the world around me.
And I drift off into the darkness of my mind.