Jack was so disturbed by what he had seen he didn’t even greet Mr. Virgil as the young man ran by. Jack almost dropped the security pass before practically throwing himself into the elevator, his heart pounding. Only when the elevator doors closed did Jack finally allow himself to calm down and think rationally.
“Okay,” he muttered, “the facts as I know them. One, I thought something was following me because of a strange echo, but I couldn’t see what. I passed a couple at the corner, and then the sound stopped. I went back, found a broken phone in an alley, and saw, two, headless bodies. Ugh.” He wiped his mouth at the faint taste of bile still remaining. “Then, a tall, faceless blind man appeared, and the alley suddenly was empty.”
Jack considered what he had said.
“Okay, so maybe I don’t tell the police that,” he decided. “Damnit, twice in a month of seeing freaky shit no one will believe, and this time I don’t have any proof.” Somewhere inside, Jack forced down the notion that, maybe, everything had been a hallucination as well. Maybe he was seeing things that weren’t actually there, as some delayed reaction to trauma? He shook his head to clear those thoughts away. Things were weird enough as it were without him gaslighting himself.
The beep of the elevator arriving at the third floor nearly made Jack crap himself. Thankfully, no one was there to see his jump, so red-faced, Jack walked back to his apartment and unlocked the door. When the door to the next apartment over opened up, he managed to keep cool this time and only flinch.
“Howdy neighbor,” Tim Scott greeted as he stepped out and spotted Jack. “Hey, I see the sunglasses; saw my brother’s buddy yeah? Eyepatch’s new too, nice choice. Uh, you okay buddy? You look a little tense.”
“I’m fine,” Jack smiled weakly. “Just, had a close call with traffic on the way back, yeah know? When the rain gets like this, some drivers really need to stay off the road.”
Mr. Scott didn’t look quite like he bought what Jack was saying, but the older man didn’t press the issue. “Well, if you say so son,” he shrugged. “Glad you’re okay. How were the muffins?”
“Good, they were good,” Jack said as he walked into the apartment. “Hope you have better luck out there then I did.” Jack shut the door without another word, walked over to his bedroom, and threw himself onto the comforter. He took a deep whiff of Emily’s scent, the smell always calming him down, and sighed into the fabric. Should he call the police, or should he not? That was the question.
The text tone from his phone finally forced Jack to lean up from the bed and check who had texted. It was Emily, saying that she would be home late as she’d been invited to dinner along with the other new interns by their new bosses. Jack managed a weak smile as he texted her back, telling her to have fun and start networking. He didn’t feel like cooking, he never did when the rain was like this, so Jack opened up his phone to check what he could have delivered.
It was lazy, he knew, and Emily would definitely find out he ate fast food, but Jack at that moment needed some easy comfort food. He flipped through the delivery app before settling on pizza. There was a local place that Emily begrudgingly approved of, owned by a real Italian immigrant family, whose children had managed to add modern conveniences to authentic and fresh cooking; at least that was the claim. The goat cheese they offered for the pizza was even kind of tasty once completely melted into the mozzarella.
Jack dialed them up and waited.
“Hello, this is the Hoof’in Pie, this be pick-up, delivery, or in-house?” came the pleasant voice of a young woman.
“Diane? This is Jack at Farmview Apartments.” he said, “I was hoping to call in a delivery if possible since I can’t reach you on foot today.”
“Oh, Mr. Jack! Good to heat from you,” Diane said over the phone. “Yes, we can run an order to you today. Your usual order, or your special order?”
“Special today. I could use the pick me up,” Jack answered honestly, allowing a short sigh.
“That’s one large, extra homemade pepperoni, extra sauce, goat cheese, and extra crispy?” she asked to confirm.
“Yes ma’am, my comfort food please,” Jack said with a smile. “How soon will you have it here?”
“Give us 20 to 25 minutes and I have it at your door,” Diane said. “Oh, be sure to let security guard know to let me through this time. Not good to delay for business.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Jack said, rolling over and walking back into the kitchen. “Wait, you’re bringing it? You out of drivers today?”
“Everyone else out Mr. Jack,” Diane said, sounding a bit helpless. “Rainy days are busy, but you’re a loyal customer so we make it work for you. Father said loyal customer important, even if girl too skinny and picky.”
Jack laughed awkwardly as he recalled the last time Emily and Diane’s father, the owner of the Hoof’in Pie, got into an argument over cooking and ingredients. It was a good thing the argument had been settled in the end, as Jack wouldn’t have enjoyed being banned from the pizza shop. “Well, I’m quite thankful to him then. Is my tab still good? I know I haven’t been there in awhile.”
“Yes Mr. Jack, you tab still good. Card number still valid, yes?”
“I haven’t changed credit cards,” Jack confirmed.
“Good good,” Diane said. “Then 20 to 25 minutes to door. I see you soon Mr. Jack. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye Diane, see you soon,” Jack answered as he ended the call. He took in another deep breath and shook his head before dialing the landline for the security office.”
“This is security,” came Mr. Vigil’s voice.
“Hi, this is Jack from floor 3. I’ve placed an order of pizza from the Hoof’in Pie. Can you let them through?” Jack asked.
“Okay,” Mr. Virgil answered. “Everything alright? You seemed wild-eyed.”
“Just a close call on the way back at an intersection,” Jack fibbed. “I plan on dealing with it with pizza.”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Mr. Virgil just grunted, said goodbye, and hung up. With that done, the young man was left alone with his thoughts, at least for the next 20 or so minutes.
“Okay, no proof, just had my eyes dilated for the first time, and there’s more than a reasonable chance I can see hallucinations,” he considered. “Sounds like a hospital visit, or maybe a shrink visit. The police won’t take me seriously.” With the matter thought out, Jack couldn’t think of a reason to notify the police of what he’d seen. It would just have to be something he lived with.
“Or die with,” he muttered darkly with a wry smile. “Yeah, sounds about right.”
The thought of the pizza soon to come made his stomach rumble, and made Jack realize his lips were a bit dry. Getting up, he wandered over and grabbed a glass of water, taking gulps to freshen his insides and cool them down. He felt better after the glass, and so filled it up again for later. Placing the water down on the table, Jack walked into the living room and turned on the local news.
As usual, the weather forecast was front and center it seemed, with rainy conditions to persist the whole week though at a lighter rate. It seemed the coming weekend would be sunnier, so perhaps a good time to hike in the mountains with Emily. It had been a little while since they’d hiked together, Jack recalling the last adventure having taken place a month and a half ago. The colors should have grown more diverse since then, and he always enjoyed walking through nature’s tapestry.
The news anchors finally came on and started off going over the incident last week. Jack watched with a curious detachment as the two anchors went back and forth examining the incident per public records, noting the lack of names beyond name-dropping ‘Rosetta’s Diner’. The interviews were more interesting at least, with Jack snorting at Ms. Catrine’s masterful ‘southern mother’ act as she bemoaned the damage done to ‘a piece of city history’ and the ‘forced unemployment of her young and in-school’ employees. He even spied several of the waitresses in the background reading what looked like college textbooks in front of the yellow police tape, creating a pointed image few would miss. Without a doubt, Rosetta Catrine was a master of human relations, and Jack never wanted to get on her bad side.
As the news began to cycle through several of the girl’s interview, a knock at the door drew Jack’s attention. He got up and walked over, peeking through the peephole before opening the door. Diane stood smiling, carrying in her hands the bag with a delectable aroma wafting up. Her face twitched into concern a moment later as she beheld Jack’s face.
“Mr. Jack, goodness what happened to you eye?” she asked in concern. She seemed to reflexively want to raise her hand to touch him, but kept it under control.
“Long story Diane,” Jack smiled weakly. “You can come in and listen if you have the time.”
“Yes, I have time,” she said, entering the apartment as Jack closed the door behind her. “Papa say treat loyal customer well, and business do well. He understand taking little extra time to help you Mr. Jack, even if busy. Older siblings can handle things better anyway. Put on kitchen table?”
“Yes please,” Jack said, following her in.
As she sat the pizza on the kitchen table, Jack had to look away to avoid his gaze being drawn to her as she bent over it. Diane was the youngest in her family, with several sisters and a few more brothers all helped to raise her apparently. Jack had gotten to know the dusk-skinned young woman years ago when he had first started going to the Hoof’in Pie in high school and had practically watched her grow up.
“You’re still making deliveries in heals Diane?” he jokingly admonished, “Didn’t I warn you last time about hurting yourself?”
“It is family tradition,” Diane said, turning her head to look at Jack with a smirk. “I tell you before too. Part of brand, hoof, but without chopping off cow feet. Much nicer this way, and make posture better, no?”
Jack had to look away as she attempted to show him what she meant. Somewhere along the way, she’d picked up odd behaviors like this one, probably from her older sisters given their professions in marketing. Somehow, she hadn’t picked up on why she should, even after Jack’s awkward explanations. That she only started doing this after turning 18 made it all the more awkward for him, though that had settled after he’d begun dating Emily, and saw much less of the younger woman. Privately, he wondered if that had ever been on Emily’s mind, though she’d never seemed the jealous type.
“Mr. Jack, did you hear me?” Diane’s voice broke through his musings. “I ask what happened to you?”
Jack gestured toward the news still playing on the TV. “Not sure if you’d heard the story-”
Diane gasped, raising her hands to her mouth. “No! You were attacked? No, news say one fought off attacker, you did that?”
“Basically,” Jack admitted sheepishly. “I came back to work to retrieve my phone, and found someone had broken in and attacked Hank. I helped get him out, and we were chased into the alleys. I got these,” he gestured to his scars, “fighting the guy off. Hank’s okay; heard from Ms. Catrine earlier he was out of danger.”
Diane shuddered. “Nice city, and yet not so nice. Papa always warns me to stay aware of surroundings, but I never believe him before. I’ll keep eye out from now on when doing deliveries.”
“Good,” Jack nodded. “I’d hate for something to happen to you like that, though your brothers I have no doubt would make sure the perp regretted it.”
“Helps having big family,” Diane agreed with a nod, then frowned. “Also, annoying sometimes. Traditions and such, you know? I want to live own life, go to college, but papa and mama stubborn. You told me I can when you tutored, and I believe you.”
“Yeah, I think you’re smart enough to make it,” Jack agreed. “But don’t ask me to help with family stuff. I wouldn’t want to ruin my good relationship with your papa.”
Diane made an odd face before shrugging. “Well, it is what it is. Still, best I go back to work now, no offense. Will you be able to tutor again for exams end of year?”
“Nothing on my plate right now, just check in again closer to the month,” Jack said with a wink. “Now, you take care on your way back okay?”
“I’ll,” Diane agreed, causing the two of them to chuckle. Raised by her extended family in the Mediterranean for some time, Diane had never quite lost her accented English and even enjoyed playing with it in conversation. It gave her and her family an exotic flair well used in their business. Jack led the younger woman back to the door, only for thing to occur in quick succession: the air rumbled, the sound of electricity sparked, the lights and TV noise went out, and the bulb above Diane shattered.
As Diane and Jack yelped reflexively, the young man moved his body to cover the younger woman with his body, wincing at the feeling of many things striking his back. He felt Diane curl into his embrace protectively, and the two waited several moments for things to settle.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked in the darkness, his eyes struggling to focus as their dilated forms fought back. The light from the window filtering in, little as it was, helped him get his bearings.
“Yes, I alright,” Diane mumbled into his chest. “Um, can you move?”
Jack blinked, and realized in his haste he’d pushed the younger woman into the wall in a somewhat awkward position. Coughing to cover his slip, he moved back and rummaged around for his phone for a light, only to remember that it still sat on the table in the kitchen. “Careful of the glass on the ground,” he cautioned as he moved toward the door. With a click and turn, he opened up the front door to the apartment, illuminating the passage with more natural light. Looking around, Jack noted the lights outside had also gone out, meaning the apartment complex had likely suffered a lightning strike or a surge in the grid.
“You okay taking the stairs?” Jack asked as he turned around. He barely made it over to allow for room as Diane moved right past him.
“Yes, is okay,” Diane murmured as she hurried out into the passage. “We talk later to discuss tutoring. Good bye Jack.”
Jack wasn’t sure, but had he spied a blush on her face as she practically flew away? He blinked and looked after her, only to wince at a small pain in his head. He reached up and rubbed it.
“Oh, thank, thank-you Jack for cover,” came Diane’s voice from down the hall. He looked up and saw her wave, which he returned. Strangely enough, as she turned around, Jack could have sworn there was something different about her. If he didn’t know better, for a moment, it had looked like Diane’s heels were that of her family’s brand.