A Ride to Nowhere

"....This is supposed to be a true story?" Greg asked.

The Guide smiled, his teeth shining brightly in the dimly lit room.

"I guarantee you that all of the stories you will hear today are true. Whether or not you believe me is up to you. I can't force you, nor do I desire to."

"How did you find out about it though?" Lindsay interrogated, arms crossed. "Did you find the cameras? Or did you hear it from Alex herself?" Greg nodded along with her line of questioning.

"We have our ways. That is all I will say about that." The Guide's smile didn't waver.

"Very convenient..." Greg mumbled.

"Guys, come on. Don't be such party poopers." Kim groaned. "The real question is, if the story is real.....is that the real lighter?" She pointed at the ornate zippo on the table. Suddenly, even the more skeptical passengers seemed interested.

"Oh, yes. You can take it if you want."

Kim didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her prize with astounding speed and flicked the cap open.

"But if you use it now, this portion of the ride will come to an end."

Her finger stopped a hair's breadth away from lighting it. The girl's gaze shifted between the lighter in her hand and the Guide, seemingly deep in thought. After a minute of internal deliberation, she closed the cap and put it back on the table again.

"Good choice. You don't want to miss the other stories." a new voice rang out. The whole group turned their heads toward it and saw two new figures walking up to them.

One, the one who spoke, was wrapped head to toe in mummy bindings. That must've been a bitch to put on, Jeannie thought. The bindings weren't empty, either. Strange eye symbols were placed along them at regular intervals. It looked pretty interesting. The only parts of the person's body that were visible were the left eye and mouth.

The other figure, despite wearing a far more regular outfit, showed even less, ironically enough. The blue uniform and hat they were wearing were clearly at least three sizes too big for them.

"Ah, kids, please give a big welcome to our two guests. This is Angel, my assistant. An absolute treasure, if I've ever seen one." The Guide started clapping, and after a few seconds of confusion, the group hesitantly joined in. The Mummy bowed down deep, with exaggerated flair.

"And always trailing behind wherever he goes is Mr. Sinus, our conductor."

The man lifted one of his incredibly thin arms.

"Hey there." The voice was raspy and rough, almost like sandpaper.

"Angel will join us for the remainder of the stories. But Mr. Sinus is here for something different. Is there anyone in this little cabal who has had enough of story time? If so, Mr. Sinus will be glad to escort you to the next part of the ride early."

Jeannie leaned back. She had no intention of leaving for now. These tales were most likely just made up, but she had to admit that the possibility of them being true together with the evidence, flimsy evidence to be sure but still evidence, had her intrigued.

"Yeah, I'm not really feeling it." Jamie said and got up. "Sorry."

"Oh, no need to apologize. We are ready to accommodate all kinds."

"STATEMENT: SAME. STORIES = BORING." Matt rattled off and Greg sighed. He tried to grab his brother as he got up, but the robot enthusiast was too quick.

"Matt, Mom told us to stay together."

"Oh, don't worry yourself, kid." Mr. Sinus croaked. "You'll be reunited soon enough. Now, follow me." He stalked back the way he came, Jamie and Matt hurrying to catch up.

"Great." Greg pouted.

"Now then, let's move on to the next story. You, Skull Knight."

Jeannie's heart jumped.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Uhhhmmm.." She carefully looked over the objects on the table until she was sure. "The broken sunglasses."

Out of the blue, Angel slapped the table hard and sat down.

"Those are my favorites this year. Mind if I do the honor?"

The Guide laughed and nodded his head.

"By all means."

"Wonderful. Listen up then, kids. This one isn't for the faint of heart. Or stomach, hehehe."

---------------- With Friends Like These...-----------------

Rod yawned, his fingers gliding over the keyboard almost absentmindedly. He was writing, again. That was all he did nowadays. Nothing lofty, like a novel or even fanfiction. No, he was writing for his job. An article. A review, to be precise. For a game he hadn't played.

Content-farm sites didn't really care much about accuracy, they valued quantity and speed. And he could deliver both in spades. Of course, working for one website wasn't enough to make a living, but that's why he wrote for more than a dozen. Video games here, movies there, opinion pieces somewhere else, he could deliver it all. He still didn't make a lot, but it kept him afloat.

Sunny Mills was a tiny town, more of a village, really, and the place was cheap. He had moved out of his parent's home last year, the day he turned 18. This house had formerly belonged to a long-time family friend. A widower, no kids. He left the house to Rod's dad, who gave it to him. He didn't know why, still doesn't. The relationship with his folks could optimistically be described as "strained". Maybe they were just glad to have him out of their house. In the end, he didn't really care. He was more or less content.

The majority of his days were spent writing articles, most of the rest goofing off online or chatting with Cass. Cassandra was his only real friend. She had been with him through thick and thin. Did he have a crush? Probably. No, most definitely. But he'd never act on it. It's not like he had anything great to offer. With a resigned sigh he saved the document and turned off his PC. Tomorrow was grocery day, and he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. At least Cass was going with him. Maybe it wouldn't be a total chore.

-----------------------

The next morning Cass came for him bright and early. Her short brown hair looked radiant in the morning sun. "Heyyyyyyyyy." She pointed her finger guns at him, as usual. He had done that once when he was 15 and thought he was the coolest kid on the block. She had burst into a fit of laughter that lasted minutes, and ever since, that had been her standard greeting for him.

"You're too early....." he yawned but she just grinned and pulled him out in the sun.

"If I didn't come early your skin would never know the touch of sunlight, so consider me your vitamin D caretaker."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go."

Despite his attitude, he really enjoyed these outings. Talking with Cass in person was a whole other deal than chatting with her over the phone. No combination of black-and-white letters could accurately get her sunny demeanor and infectious positivity across. But today, that sunny demeanor seemed a bit clouded. Not entirely, but enough to make him notice.

"For a NEET you're pretty observant, you know?" she laughed when he asked her about it.

"Yeah, well, you're the only person I spent any real length of time with, so I guess I just have your mannerisms down pat."

She snickered. "Makes sense. Nothing's up, much. Things have just been... a bit strange lately. Not that you would have even had the opportunity to notice, Mr. Home Alone."

He raised his eyebrow. "Strange how?"

His friend looked up at the sky for a minute and then waved it off. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

".......If you say so."

But he did. He didn't like seeing her like this. The whole situation had distracted him so much that he ran smack dab into another person. The force of the collision caused him to lose balance and fall to the ground, embarrassed and a bit mad. Cass immediately knelt down and helped him up.

"You okay, dude?"

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded, then looked at the person he ran into. He was expecting a familiar face but was a bit taken aback when he saw a total stranger. And a pretty odd one at that.

She was...white. From head to toe. Expensive-looking white leather shoes, a nicely tailored white suit (with a white shirt and a white tie), and a white gentleman's hat. A bowler, maybe? He had to admit, it did fit with her ashen skin and snow-white hair. In fact, the only thing about her that wasn't white was the black sunglasses sitting on her face.

"Hey, lady. Why are you just standing here in the middle of nowhere? I could've broken something!" He never would've dared to confront one of the other residents like this, but the fact that this woman was an outsider gave him the perfect opportunity to try and save face a bit.

The stranger looked at him for a minute, and then, to his surprise, took off her sunglasses and held them out to him. Her eyes were a brilliant white as well. A different shade than the sclera. It was strangely beautiful.

"I am very sorry. Here. Take these as compensation." Her voice was soft like silk. It made his hair stand on end.

"Uhm....thanks, I guess." he mumbled and grabbed the odd gift.

"It takes time for your eyes to get used to the glasses. Things will get clearer in time." With that, she walked off. He and Cass both watched her join a group of four others dressed exactly like her before they all moved on.

"What was that about?" Cass asked confused. He shrugged.

"Dunno, but I got a sweet pair of shades out of it." He turned them over in his hands. Nothing out of the ordinary. The small engraving on the side read "Kittum". Not a brand that he ever heard of, but it wasn't like he was an expert in sunglasses manufacturers.

When he put them on he did a double take. Slowly, he lifted them up and down again to check if what he was seeing was true. And it was. While the sunlight was indeed dimmed there was not even a hint of the usual dark tint that came as a result of the darker lenses. Everything was crystal clear, just a bit less bright.

"These are amazing. I might actually use them casually."

Cass laughed. "Good. They make you look more like the dork you are. I approve."

He gave her a friendly punch to the shoulder. "Shut up. Let's keep going. I have work to do still."

"Oh yeah. 'Work'. Sure. Let's call it that."

The two bickered and goofed off all the way to the store. In between the jokes and ribs, Rod noticed something. A lot of the villagers who walked past them had wide smiles plastered on their faces. Not a grin, or a small expression of joy, full-on lips-parted-teeth-showing smiles. And it wasn't everyone, not even the majority, but a good number.

He probably missed an event of some kind. Wouldn't be the first time. He never really paid attention to the town calendar. And it wasn't his business, anyway. With a shake of the head, he focused back on what exactly he was going to buy until they reached their goal.

The town convenience store wasn't a supermarket, but it had everything he needed to survive for a while. Plus, the owner was a very nice lady. When they arrived they were greeted by an older man sitting in front of the store, holding a tin can.

"How's it goin', Flint?" Rod had always liked Flint. The man had lost his home over 25 years ago but managed to keep his chipper attitude. He slept in the backroom of the church. Father Goodman also fed him whenever he came in for the night with an empty stomach.

"Business as usual, Ronny. What do they say, again? When it rains, it pours, but at least I got something to drink." His hearty laugh was interrupted by a heavy cough. It was getting colder out. Rod was worried, but he didn't want to come as overbearing. Instead, he pulled out a twenty and threw it in his tin.

"Don't spend everything at once, old man."

"Haha, you ain't my mommy, boy. Maybe I'll buy a nice pair of shades like yours."

"You'd definitely wear it better." Cass burst in and I rolled my eyes. Yes, today was a good day.

-----------------------

The next two weeks passed mostly uneventfully. As usual, Rod barely left his house. Whenever he went shopping he bought in bulk for the next 14 days so he had an excuse to stay in. The only thing that he found a bit off was how difficult it became to get a hold of Cass lately.

Usually, they chatted for at least an hour or two every day, but now it was more like every two or three days. Once again, he didn't want to come off as overbearing, so he left her absences uncommented. The next shopping day would be a good opportunity to check if she was doing fine.

The day started on a decidedly sour note. First, he slipped on his blanket, then his breakfast burned, and finally, when he opened the door to go outside the intense rays almost blinded him. 'That's what happens when you haven't seen natural light in two weeks." he thought to himself and grabbed the sunglasses. They were a godsend. Things immediately went from nigh unbearable to definitely tolerable. He made up his mind to thank the strange woman when he next saw her.

When he met Cass he felt weird. She approached and did her usual mocking greeting, but it was her face that he focused on. It was one of intense sadness. He didn't know how to better describe it.

"What's up, dude? You look like you've seen a ghoul." Her tone was still happy and cheerful as always but her expression.... "Maybe it works better with these things."

He didn't even notice at first when she pulled the glasses from his eyes. With one fluid motion, she put them on herself and repeated her greeting. "Heyyyyyyyyy. How's it going? I'm cool now. Look how cool I am."

Even though he was a bit annoyed at first, a huge load was taken off his mind when he saw her smile had returned. "Give that back. You're not edgy enough for sunglasses." With little effort, he snatched them off her head again.

"Oh, and you are, Mister I-watch-children's-cartoons-for-fun?" Cass had been in the process of turning around and starting to move when he put the shades back on, so he could only glimpse at her face for a second, but he could've sworn that for that moment the sad stare had returned. He shrugged as he followed her to the store. Must've been a trick of the light.

This time he made sure to pay attention to the villagers who passed them. Just like last time, wide, happy grins aplenty. All the ones he noticed last time still had the smiles plastered on their faces. Miss Rogers and Doctor Tabbard were especially noteworthy since they were a bit famous around town for never cracking a smile. But this time there were a lot of new ones, too.

Two weeks ago, Roger Mayfair was the only one of his little clique that had caught the smileys. Now all four of them were grinning their ears off. He didn't know what to make of it. It was probably not something worth getting invested in. Better to avoid the drama entirely.

When they reached the store they caught old Flint in the middle of a conversation with someone. It was May Conroy, the farmer's eldest daughter. She was sporting a bright smile like so many others.

"....ed to show you something amazing, Flint. It changed my life, I swear."

Rod stopped Cass and nodded over to the two. He always gave Flint some cash when he went shopping, and he didn't plan on breaking that streak today.

"I dunno, Maysie. These old bones ain't made for wandering far no more. Can't you bring it here?"

The young woman shook her head, her smile not letting up. "I'm sorry, Flint. What I want to show you is not something that can be transported easily. It's very close. Just a few minutes away. You won't regret it, I promise. Do it for me?"

The old man sighed deeply. "Aight, Aight. But afterward, you gotta lemme eat with you today. You know how I love your cooking."

May laughed. Her eyes met Rods and she gave him a little wave before leading Flint away.

"So much for charity." Rod sighed. "So what was that about?"

Cass shrugged. "Dunno. But it's happening all over the place lately. Seems everywhere I go someone invites someone else to 'show them something amazing.' Makes a gal feel left out."

Weird.

"You think it has anything to do with the strange smiles?" He avoided looking at his best friend, preferring to observe the few shoppers entering and exiting the store.

"What smiles?"

Oh. Alright.

"It's nothing. Probably just my imagination."

"If you say so..." Cass yawned and entered the store. Rod followed. As soon as he entered he scrunched his nose.

"Do you smell that?" The scent inside the store was faint, but disgusting.

"Uhm......I guess it's not super fresh, but I don't smell anything especially strange or something."

Rod had walked over to one of the fruit stands while Cass was talking. What he saw made his jaw drop. Countless flies were scurrying all over rotten apples and strawberries. No wonder it smelled. He was surprised it didn't smell stronger. He hurried over to Cass, grabbed her arm, and dragged her out of the store.

"Hey, what's going on? I was going to buy stuff too......." He didn't let go of her hand.

"Don't bother. The food is rotten."

"....What? Are you serious?"

"Yes. I saw bugs crawl all over the stuff." He looked back and saw Cass' face distort in disgust. Satisfied she wouldn't try to double back he let go of her.

"Ewwwwww!" She was silent for a moment as they marched on. "You think Misses Adams is doing alright?"

He shrugged. "Isn't she like 70 years old or something? It could be dementia."

"......I'll ask Mom to check on her later."

In the end, they decided to take Cass' car and do their shopping the next town over. It was a two-hour drive, but the town was fairly big and had everything they needed and then some.

The sun was shining brightly, so Rod kept the sunglasses on all day. The atmosphere on the way was....strange. Muted. Neither of them talked much, despite the length of the trip. Once there, he decided to dig into some of his savings and buy a whole two months of supplies in advance. If Miss Adams really was on the decline, then there was no telling how long it'd take for the situation to resolve itself.

Additionally, unlike Cassandra, he had neither a car nor a license and he couldn't expect her to drive him every time. They could source perishable goods from the farm for a while, while he needed to visit the city to stock up.

Whatever oppressive mood that had hung over them had lifted bit by bit and by the time they were ready to head back, he with his crates of stuff and her with two bags, their dynamic had reverted to what it had been before. After arriving back home she helped him unload in front of his house and they said their goodbyes. On a whim, after carrying everything inside, Rod checked his mailbox. To his surprise, he had received some. Not a letter, or a package, but a note. He pulled it out curiously and skimmed over it as he went inside. There was only one sentence.

"As long as you don't follow them, they will not harm you."

That was it. Back when he was young, pranks actually made some sense. And he wasn't even that old yet. With a shake of his head, he threw the note away and went to work unpacking all his food.

----------------------

A week passed before the monotony of his life was interrupted once again. He got an email from...his parents? This puzzled him for a multitude of reasons.

First, they hadn't contacted him once ever since he moved out, so what was so damn important now?

Second, why didn't they just call or come over real quick? The message itself was surprisingly nothing urgent or important. They had invited him over for dinner. Wanted to catch up with their son.

If Rod's eyes were connected to a power plant the speed and intensity of their rolling could've powered all of San Francisco for a week. But in the end, he didn't really have anything better to do so he decided to go.

He was welcomed quite warmly, more than he ever was when he lived with them. His mom had bothered to put out the fine cutlery and his dad, the head chef at the Buffalo Head Grill, the village's only eatery, had prepared his special meatloaf, Rod's favorite.

He was a bit suspicious at first, but the meal went well. Now and then he had sent his mother some of the articles he was actually proud of having written, mostly ones centered around subjects he was very familiar with. He had been so, so sure that she hadn't opened a single link, but, quite to the contrary, she brought up certain quotes and asked for clarification over other aspects she didn't quite understand all evening.

His dad actually apologized. Not for anything specific, but his demeanor in general. Both teased him over Cassandra, of course, but when he left he actually felt...good. He was glad he went. If anyone had told him this would happen, even just earlier this day, then he would've called them a liar. But here he was.

They had given him plenty of leftover meatloaf to take home, all nicely wrapped in tinfoil. About halfway home the setting sun caught him at just the right angle to be not overly blinding but intensely annoying. With his head to the side, he fished the shades out of his pocket and slid them on.

As soon as he did an unbearable stench hit his nostrils. At first, he thought it was the glasses. He pulled them off to sniff them but when he did the smell was gone.

He stopped in his tracks and looked around. The streets were empty. Hesitantly he put the shades back on. It was there again. Now that he was a bit calmer he was able to pinpoint where it was coming from.

He slowly lifted up the tinfoil and immediately doubled over and emptied his stomach in the streets. The bugs crawling from the furry, rotten meatloaf in his hands also scrambled for safety out of the heap he had vomited into the street, albeit in far smaller numbers. With weak legs, he stumbled over to the nearest trashcan, threw the food inside, and rammed his finger down his throat to make sure all of the offending meat was gone from his innards.

It took him a little while to regain composure. A million questions raced through his mind, but his body turned around and walked back toward his parent's house.

To warn them about the food? To confront them? He didn't even know anymore. But he wanted to do something. Anything.

After the fifth ring of the doorbell, his father opened the door. Rod started to say something but stopped abruptly. Something was wrong here. He had seen his dad not 20 minutes ago and he didn't look.....like that. It was definitely him but....his clothes were tethered. Buttons missing and rips in seemingly random places. His face glistened with moisture and had lost all color. But the worst part was that damn smile. Wide, ear to ear, teeth bared.

"Hello there, son. I wasn't expecting you back so soon." His mouth. It didn't open or close properly when he talked. And there was a smell....not quite as bad as the meatloaf, but not pleasant. "But this is good timing. I wanted to discuss something with you. You remember Andre, from work? Two days ago he showed me something amazing. I can't put it into words......Life changing. I showed your mother yesterday and she was so excited. She absolutely loved it. We want to show it to you, too. Tomorrow, maybe, or even right now. It's not far. I swear you won't regret it."

Rod had stood there silently staring at his dad. The more he talked, the more dread built up in his body. Whatever stood in that door sounded like his father, sure. But the tone was off. He had always been a very stoic man. A calm voice, no matter what state he was in emotionally. But every word that came out of this thing's mouth had a slight hint of mockery to it. Condescension. This was all too much.

"N-no, thank you. See ya around, dad." He stuttered out the words as fast as he could, turned around and forced himself to walk off slowly. To not give away that he knew something was up. As soon as he got home he left a voicemail for Cass. They needed to meet. ASAP. Exhausted, both physically and emotionally, he laid down in bed and fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

-------------------------

It took another week for Cass to respond. She said she had been busy lately but was up to hang out. Rod, for his part, had not left the house since that evening. He had also started to wear the glasses at all times of the day. The only time he took them off was to go to sleep.

Whatever was happening right now, this thing was both his greatest ally and most powerful tool. He didn't know how it worked, or why, but he thanked whatever god reigned in whatever heaven that he had run into the pale lady on that day. He had wanted to research a bit, about the people in white or this Kittum manufacturer, but ever since he woke up after the incident with his parents the internet had been shot.

He wanted to believe that was a coincidence. He really did.

When he stepped outside a foul odor greeted him. It didn't seem to be coming from anything in particular, at least not in his visual range, but it was overwhelming nonetheless. After just a few steps he was forced to pull the shades up. The onslaught ceased immediately.

As he walked to the meeting spot he felt like a fool for refusing to get a license. If he had a car he could just go. Go and never come back. Notify a Hero to check this place out. Anything but stay here. He'd take Cass with him, of course. Or at least he'd try. Maybe it wasn't too late yet. But would she believe him?

He pondered all of that until his vision suddenly went dark.

"Guess who?"

His heart had stopped for a second but when he heard that voice his whole body instantly relaxed.

"Sweaty, unwashed hands? Why, it can only be Cassandra."

She laughed and shoved him lightly. "Shut up. My hands smell great. And I do wash them sometimes."

Suddenly, it was as if the gloomy atmosphere around town had spontaneously vanished. She was just as happy and vibrant as she was before things changed. The two of them joked around for almost half an hour before the topic of the meeting came to the forefront.

"Yeah, sorry if I hounded you or anything, but this is pretty important, I think. What took you so long, by the way? Normally you tell me when you are absent for a bit. Did something happen?"

She giggled and waved it off. "No, nothing. I was just a bit busy. It's a funny story, actually. When I went shopping last time, I ran into Flint. Dude sat before the store like always, poor guy. Anyway, he actually showed me something amazing."

Rod's blood ran cold.

"I didn't wanna believe him at first 'cause, you know I like him, but were not that close, but he talked me into it and boy am I glad he did."

With shaking hands, he lowered the shades back over his eyes. The stench was immediate and overpowering, but that was not what he was focused on right now.

Cass was rotting. All over her body chunks of flesh were simply...missing. Bald spots dotted her once beautiful hair, now both oily and dead.

"So I thought, man, Rod has to see this. You probably think I'm exaggerating or whatever, but I swear to you." Her voice was one of pure malice and glee. Still Cass', but every word dripped with arrogance and perverse, barely contained laughter. "I can show you now if you want. It's not far." Her teeth were gone, a black ooze slowly dripping out of her gums. But when she spoke, when she opened her mouth just wide enough, he could see them where her throat should've been... Other teeth. Longer. Sharper.

He didn't know what to do.

"Uhm.....nice of you to think of me Cass, but..."

Was there anything he could do?

"I really can't..... I mean it's....."

There was no use trying to think of a way out of this. Every cell in his body was firing on all cylinders, yelling at him to get away. So he did. He turned and ran. He heard the thing wearing his dead friend yell after him, but he didn't stop. He turned his head though, just a quick glance. "Cass" was talking to another villager. He was too far away already to make out who, but he could see her pointing at him. This wasn't good. None of this was good Why was this happening? To him? To Cass?

As soon as he arrived at home he barricaded himself. Dragged the couch in front of the door, cupboards in front of windows, etc. Later that night he wished he had just grabbed his essentials and made a run for it, but at that moment the only thing he wanted was to feel safe.

It wasn't long before she knocked at his door. He didn't answer, of course, so she started pleading. Her words made sense. From a "What's wrong? Did something happen?", to "Was it something I said?", to "I'm worried for you, man. Say something, at least." A believable progression.

But it was her tone.....Whenever she professed her worry it was laced with obvious sarcasm, and the whole time she sounded amused more than upset. So he remained silent.

She stayed there for hours. Longer than he thought she would. The next day was the same. He was ripped from a fitful dream by the sound of the doorbell. And it, along with copious knocks, accompanied him through the day. He was tempted, sometimes. To take off the glasses and let her in. Accept that all of this was just some sick dream or fantasy and return to the real world. But he couldn't. Whatever had come to this village had....it had killed Cass. He couldn't let it get him too.

On day three it switched up its strategy. Cass was there still, but she had brought his parents. Another reason why that could not be the real Cass. She knew there was no love lost between him and them. She never would've brought them. It occurred to him then that his parents were most likely dead too. It wasn't until night that he could admit to himself that the thought bothered him.

It must've recognized its mistake because the next day neither his parents nor Cass showed up. Instead, it was Dr. Tabbard. He was urging Rod to come out. That what he was doing wasn't healthy. Would the real Dr. Tabbard have come this quickly? Stayed for this long? There was no way. The thing was trying to keep its voice neutral, but it didn't work. No matter how soft or monotone it tried to speak, it couldn't hold back its spiteful hostility. Eventually, the thing that killed Dr. Tabbard gave up too. As Rod went to sleep that night he wondered what they would try next.

Whatever he had imagined, it wasn't his first and only ex-girlfriend, Julia Samson. They had dated for a little while in middle school but hadn't spoken since then. The breakup was messy. Mostly his fault. He couldn't get over Cass. Invented reasons to be upset and took it out on Julia. She ran home crying that night and he had felt like an asshole all week. And here she was. The real her.

Unlike the other ones, the unbearable stench didn't intensify when she stood at the door. And her voice was calm and clean and.....and normal. For a few minutes, he wanted to open the door. To drag her inside, explain everything to her, and keep her safe. Make up for how badly he had treated her. But he was too afraid. Afraid she wasn't alone out there. Afraid they would get to him if he let his guard down for even a second. So he kept the door shut. Julia only stayed an hour. Promised him to come back tomorrow. He could hear the tears in her voice. And when she returned the next day she was already dead.

He couldn't endure it anymore. The daily torture of his murdered friends and family taunting him through the door in the guise of concern. So he relocated. He took a few week's worth of supplies up to the bathroom, stashed them in the tub, and locked himself in. The air was cleaner up here. And while he could still hear the knocks, he was too far from the front door for the voices to reach him.

There wasn't a lot to do in his self-made prison. He had taken his phone, but the internet was still dead, and no matter how he held it he couldn't get a signal either. So he waited.

---------------------------------

Two days in the knocking had stopped. He didn't trust it. Too risky. Up here he was safe.

He began to write. Everything that had happened since that day. The day he ran into the pale lady. Just in case something happened to him.

----------------------------------

A week later he awoke to an ungodly smell. Tears ran down his face as he heard the knocks directly on the bathroom door. Cass' gleeful and mocking voice filled his ears, telling him how everyone was worried sick. He tried to ignore it, but it didn't stop.

Cass didn't go home. She stayed there all night, talking without pause. He held his ears and cried himself to sleep.

He managed to endure, day after day. Night after night. No one else came to talk to him. Only Cass. When he emptied his last can of beans he knew he was going to die here. He had planned to try to make a run for it when Cass eventually left, but she never did. He knew she never would. But be didn't want to give her..give it the satisfaction of giving in. So he stayed.

Two weeks passed like that. In the beginning, he had hoped a Hero would show up. Deal with these things, save him, maybe save Cass too. He even could've sworn he saw one. A silhouette appearing in a flash of light outside the tiny bathroom window and floating down out of sight. But that could've just as well been a hallucination brought on by the delirium of starvation.

It was a fool's dream. Heroes didn't care about villages in the ass end of nowhere. No one would come to save him. He thought about killing himself, but he was too much of a coward. Too cowardly to live, too cowardly to die. The perfect way to sum up his miserable existence.

Eventually, the stench becomes too much. If he had to die, he at least wanted to be as comfortable as he could get. As soon as he took the glasses off the air cleared, and the horrible, vindictive tone of Cass' pleading turned into one of genuine fear and sadness. He hadn't heard her like this in a long time.

She called his name, her voice hoarse with crying, banged against the door and something in him broke. For the first time since he locked himself in his house, he answered them.

Answered her.

He explained everything. About the glasses, about the smell, about his parents, everything. At some point, he had started yelling. He didn't know when. He was pleading with her to be real, to be the Cass he knew and loved, to just be alive.

She listened. And when he was done she told him what he needed to hear. The sunglasses were a trap. A horrible, malicious trap. A Hero had showed up shortly after he had locked himself inside. The Hero told them that a group of Villains was active in the area. They targeted isolated villages, handing out cursed objects that stoked the flames of paranoia and hatred in whoever used them. She begged him to please believe her. And he wanted to. He wanted to so badly.

So he did.

He looked down at the shades that caused this whole thing. With weak, trembling hands he put them on again and unlocked the door. Cass' body had decayed even more. Maggots were crawling all over her face and the skin on top of her head had almost fallen off completely. Once again, he could almost see something between the gaps of flesh and bone. But the thing raised its hand, and with the claws piercing through the skin of what would've been Cass' fingers it pulled the glasses off his face.

Cass grabbed the offending object with a tear-stained face, broke them in two, and threw them on the floor. He just stood there, not sure what to do next. Wordlessly, she pulled him into a soft, gentle hug. He hugged back.

"I....I thought you were dead....I thought y-you were d-dead! I love you! I'm in love with you! I missed you so much! I'm sorry I acted like a lunatic! I'm sorry! I was tricked!"

She pulled back slowly and smiled. "Yes, you were. I don't blame you. It's not your fault." Before he could respond she leaned in for the kiss. It was chaste at first but grew wilder and more passionate every second. It wasn't long before his knees collapsed and they both tumbled to the ground.

"I...I'm sorry. I'm...a bit weak at the moment."

She gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry about it. Just focus on yourself and let me do all the work. That's how our relationship works anyway, isn't it?"

And he did. Fifteen minutes later she helped him back up on his feet. After they got dressed again they quietly went down the stairs together. At the foot, they were greeted by his parents.

"I'm proud of you, son."

"It's about time, I'd say."

He teared up again. Both went in for a hug and he let them. He needed this. He wanted this. Wanted to repair their relationship.

"I'm really hungry, Dad. Mind making one of your famous meatloafs?"

His father laughed and patted him on the back. "Of course, my boy. Your girlfriend can come too. Cassandra is always welcome in our home."

Cass giggled. "I'd love to." She turned to Rod and took his hands. "But first, I really want to show you something amazing. It'll only take a minute. You won't regret it, I swear."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah....yeah, of course, let's go."

When they opened the door he was surprised at the amount of people waiting for them. It seemed like the whole village was there.

"I got him out!" The entire crowd cheered loudly at Cass' exclamation.

The sea of people parted as she led him ever forward, every one congratulating him as he passed. Or were they congratulating her? He didn't really care. As he looked over the crowd he could see a familiar face away from the rest leaning against the house across from his, it was the pale lady. He couldn't tell for sure at that distance, but she looked incredibly sad.

This made him angry, How dare this woman almost ruin his life and then act all dejected when her plan failed. Their eyes crossed and they looked at each other. After a few seconds, she shook her head, pulled another pair of sunglasses out of her pocket, put them on, and left. Good riddance. He pushed her out of his mind. Now was not the time to focus on monsters like her. Better focus on Cass instead. The village cheered as she led him on. She smiled and they were in love.

For the first time in a long while, he was happy.