Found You

 

My heart was palpitating wildly, and my hands shook as I turned on the car’s ignition. I had been hiding in a ramshackle hotel on the outskirts of the city for some time. This morning, I noticed an envelope lying on the floor. Someone had slipped it from under the door. The note ominously read, ‘found you, see you soon.’ I broke in a cold sweat, hurriedly packed my few belongings and sat in my car, as my car’s engine purred to life, I heard a petrifying sound. I looked behind and saw…

…A familiar face, clad in a three-piece suit and polished progues. His skin was tanned and didn’t bear a single wrinkle and he had a smile which flashed his even pearly whites. His smiling baby blues and tousled blond hair gave him an air of geniality. The only thing remotely odd about this man was gripped in his hand. A silenced, hand held desert eagle.

“found you.”

“you? -”

But it was too late. With 1 flare of the pistol, the world went black.

As quickly as the dark shrouded, light came.

I shot out of bed. Sweat drenched my shirt and I was panting heavily. Reprieved, I laughed with tears streaming through my eyes. It had all been a dream. A terrible dream. I saw the nearby alarm clock to see it was almost noon! I left the room, still half asleep, unaware of the oddities that surrounded me…

 I reached the living room and was befuddled to see a familiar looking middle- aged woman who I instantly recognized as Mrs. Jhonson, my neighbour. I tapped her on the shoulder

“Excuse me, miss…?”  She gave me a kind smile. It wasn’t enough to mask her consternation

“Jacob, it isn’t funny.”

“Miss Jhonson I’m not Jacob, if I could ask you to please leave-”

She giggled and hugged me.  “you always know how to make me smile, my sweet little boy.”

SWEET LITTLE BOY!? I was 23 years old!

That’s when I became aware of my surroundings. My living room which was covered with bric a bracs and bulletin boards, was now a minimalistic, liveable space. I took a look at the mirror. The obese, sweaty mass, I usually saw was replaced with a 13 something boy with a petite frame and tanned complexion. The lady’s voice broke my train of thought.

“do you know, our neighbour died yesterday.”

“WHAT!?”

“Our neighbour, that plump fellow next door? His name was Alex Williams! I never knew much about him. He wasn’t home yesterday. He got shot.” She looked dejected “crime rates are increasing these days.”

My face went ghostly pale

Seeing the look on my face, she gave a comforting smile. Her phone suddenly chirped with a new message. she smiled and showed the screen to me “something to cheer you up”

There was a message from ‘Jacob’s’ dad

“My work got over early. I’ll be returning home today. See You Soon!”

The last words seemed all too familiar.

“I need to go, bye.”

I ran out of the house leaving behind a confused Mrs Jhonson who mumbled something about teens.

Just as I left the building I gasped. there, entering just then was a man with a three-piece suit and progues, with a hat covering his face. Panicking I jumped on a conveniently parked bicycle and rode away. As I rode, I strained my memory into remembering why I was so horribly scared of the happy man. Nothing. In fact, I didn’t remember much at all! All I remembered was the ramshackle hotel, the purr of my engine and a muzzle flash. I wondered what I might have found if I just had just stayed a little longer and searched around my old home.

 I decided my best bet would be to go to the hotel to investigate further. However, the drive to the outskirts was a long and arduous journey. Even with my new body and boosted energy, I was enervated. Sometimes, I had a sensation as though my brain was splitting into two halves and would have momentary visions of me going down the same road in a car with an unmarked black sedan following closely behind.

One useful thing I gained from these visions was the room number my past body lived in. It was almost evening by the time I reached the hotel. I went in to see a dreary receptionist waiting at the counter. She didn’t notice as I sneaked into the room.

I scoured the room and found absolutely nothing. However, below the bed, lay a leather tome. Inscribed in gold lettering was the title

‘Soul transfer’

‘a guide to temporary immortality.’

‘by Alex Williams’

As I flipped open the book open, a piece of paper slipped out.

A bead of sweat trickled down my temple. Memories came crashing like a torrential downpour. It read

‘Found you, see you soon’

Then I hear a blood curdling scream that pierces the air. I run out to see the receptionist with a brutal wound on her head, behind her are the words, written in blood-

RUN

And so, I do. I run till my lungs give in and I collapse. Suddenly, I hear a man speak to me.

“Jacob, is that you?”

I look up to see an Adonis like figure looking at me worriedly

“Mr. Johnson- I mean Dad?” and then realization strikes me like lightning. Like the bullet that left the suppressed desert eagle.

The man smiles

“Found You.”