Thank God that buzzard started pecking at my blistered skin when he did. If he hadn’t, I might not have ever woken up. The heat was excruciating, and my mouth felt swollen and desperate for anything that might resemble water. I wonder if buzzard blood tastes as bad as it sounds. It’s a moot point anyway, since my strained, weak, get-the-fuck-out-of-here swats were enough to let him know I wasn’t dinner yet.

I’ve got to find shade, and I’ve got to find water – fast. Sun block would be nice too, but something tells me there isn’t a Walgreens anywhere near here. The grains of sand ripped at the bottoms of my feet, already baked from the desert sun. But if I didn’t use my last bit of energy now, I knew they’d win, whoever they may be.

This wasn’t like Tony. He and I weren’t exactly friends, but he was a clean killer. If he didn’t like you, he took you out point blank, and maybe a friend or family member or two. None of this twisted sadistic Hollywood shit. And Frank? Frank was small time. He’s too busy running his two-bit bookie operation to be able to execute something like this, not to mention too stupid. I don’t know who I pissed off, but I’m not sure they’ve realized who they pissed off.

There’s a reason they call me 9 Lives. I think I’m up to seven now, but the way I see it, that still leaves a comfortable buffer. Fact is you can call me whatever name you want. I don’t have anything on me except my ratty sun-tattered clothes – no ID, no money, nothing. Not that my IDs gave you much real information anyway. I like to live on the outside, but I guess this is part of the price you pay for such a lifestyle. The sun is finally starting to settle down for the night, but I’m just getting started.

“Rob! When…How…?” I started. No, Rob had said it perfectly. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

He was acting strange, although I suppose I wouldn’t be 100% considering he may have just somehow traveled through space and time. He sat there listlessly, unresponsive now.

“Holy shit, man! I better get you to a hospital!” I was panicking. What was happening? Rob finally broke his silence.

“No, you can’t. They’ll find me there.” He was grey against the cold palid beam. “We’ve got to get to the shipyard. There was a note by the photo…”

“Let me see the photo! Let me see my dad!” I snapped, having forgotten all about it after seeing my best friend somehow Houdini his way into the back of my hijacked ride.

“I didn’t have it with me when I, well, when whatever happened,” Rob replied, still looking puzzled.

“You look terrible, Rob. I’m taking you home. I have to see that picture!”

As Rob began to protest, an old Subaru roared down the dark highway, screeching to a halt just feet from the Dodge, dust cutting through the blinding headlamps. Rob was gone. He had vanished just as quickly as he’d appeared. A tall, bearded man stepped out of the Subaru, heavily armed, his face silhouetted by the backlight.

“James, we’ve got to get the fuck out of here. You’re no longer safe here. I’ll explain everything in the car, but if you don’t start moving faster than a virgin’s orgasm, we’re both dead.”

The voice sounded familiar, but didn’t click until I heard that stupid old virgin line. He was still using it after all these years. It was my dad – alive somehow.

“What about Rob? Where did he go?” I asked.

“That wasn’t Rob. Get in. I’ll explain everything.”

There was a burnt out house at the bottom of the hill that I had scavenged about a month earlier, the garage was still in decent shape and I knew I would be able to stash my new set of wheels there safely, and that’s where they stayed untouched for almost 3 months while I was away. Read more…

Rob was a funny guy sure, but bringing my old man into a practical joke was certainly not his style. Considering how close he was to my father before his death, how clearly unsettled I was by this light thing and how completely obscure the connection of two would be, I knew, even on his most off the wall day, Rob wouldn’t be running with a joke of this nature. He must have been telling the truth, he certainly sounded the part and all signs point to truth, maybe I should invest in a Magic 8 Ball, imagine all the thinking I could be bypassing.

The hotwiring of the Charger was a snap, one of the easier cars to jack, but not the wisest of choices considering their ability to catch the eye. Daddy dearest setting me up for an easy life of crime and free rides, here’s to him. The engine roared to life and I stomped the pedal, instantly kicking me out onto the main road that moments ago seemed much further, can’t say she isn’t fast. Driving the ‘69 hard top at 70 down a road marked for 30 was dangerous, sure, but in General Lee’s black brother who cared. You gotta live a little when you get the chance, especially considering I might be losing it. Plus I’d be at Rob’s in no time, the logical justification.

When I leaned forward I was shocked to see my overweight Tinkerbell friend still occupying her place in the sky. What I wasn’t surprised to see in my rearview when I sat back in my seat was Rob’s face wildly panting and gasping for air. Wait, no, switch that, I wasn’t surprised to see the light in the sky, but not only did I nearly shit myself, I almost wrapped me and the Duke boys around a large oak tree upon seeing Rob.

The tires screeched and howled as they dug into the pavement stopping the Charger, Rob and myself sideways half in the road half out. Rob coughed, swallowed gasped for air and still looking into my paralyzed and pale face via the rearview said “What.. the fuck?” he looked around and repeated much louder this time slamming his eyes shut, craning his head skyward and clawing into the back seat with his fingers “WHAT THE FUCK!??!”

-WarlordSean

Self aware? Last time I thought I was self aware, that’s when the shit really hit the fan. Turned out I was anything but. At least that time, the solution to the problem was obvious and I was able to pull through. A giant white aura in the sky, growing by the minute, invisible to others, was a bit more complicated. My guess at what was about to come may as well come from a Magic 8 Ball.

Staring at the light for an extended amount of time had dried and strained my eyes a bit, only I was so deep in seemingly hopeless thought that my brain did little to remind me to blink. Perhaps on the verge of permanent visual damage, I instinctively blinked for just a fraction of a second. Upon opening my revived pupils, the glow was still there only now it was casting my shadow, only it seemed darker and more, I don’t know, alive, I suppose, than I’ve ever encountered.

Jesus, it’s hot out here, and it’s like 2am. Al Gore must have been on to something. What time is it anyway? 3:45? That’s impossible. As I looked at the time in disbelief, my phone rang and scared the living shit out of me. It was Rob. Hallelujah.

“Rob, give me some good news. I’m freaking out over here,” I answered.

“Hello? James? Can you hear me?” managed to somehow break through, despite the deafening static.

“Rob, I’m here man. Please tell me you saw something. Can you… God, that static. Can you hear me?”

“Listen James, if you’re there, if you can hear me, you gotta help me,” Rob strained. “It’s hard to breath, and it’s even harder to talk, so I will keep this short. I kept worrying about you, and I was looking out at the sky, trying to see your Scooby Doo mystery shit. After gazing out for a good five minutes, I saw a lightning white flash, like some sort of fucking supernova. Everything else went blank. Next thing I know, I wake up and find a picture of you and your dad, dated five days from today. You gotta come over.”

The phone call ended and my shadow was gone.

“Hello?! Rob? Rob? ROB?!” I yelled, as if repeating it would somehow reconnect the call. I tried calling back, but his phone was dead. As I broke in to the Dodge conveniently parked next to my building, I got worried. Hard to breath? Hard to talk? I hope he’s OK. What the fuck was he talking about anyway? Dad’s been dead for 13 years. He knows that – he was standing right next to me when it all happened.

Two days ago is the first time I noticed. It seems pretty obvious now so I don’t think it could have been there too much longer. The part the bothers me most is how it feels like it’s getting closer every time I look away.
The light I noticed in the sky has more than doubled in size since yesterday. A light being slightly larger than the sun that oddly produces no light made me curious. My eyes are not effect when looking at it, my shadow does not appear when the sun goes down, it has none of the attributes of a light and yet it seems so bright. An hour ago I gave up my internet search for an answer. Thirty minutes ago I phoned a friend to see what they thought about it, their answer was unsettling.
“What the fuck are you talking about James?”
Rob was my best friend, he had always been there for me. He even stepped outside to double check, even though he was sure it wasn’t there. Sure enough, nothing. I may be a schizophrenic. If I am, the upside is I’m self aware. Hurray?

-WarlordSean

I wondered if I’d even hear the bang, or if I’d get to see the bullet graze the hood making one of those fun little sparks you see in the movie, *ping!*, or if I’d be granted any special cinematic events as the lead entered my chest like a child’s finger into a cake, crimson frosting spraying out the hole first before moments later being coughed up as my face settles into the pavement. Read more…