Category : Stories

Sub Category : Suspense/Mystery

Horns were being honked, fingers were being thrown up, and shouting vibrated across the world. It was a day like any other, except a feeling approached me, paranoia? Joy? Fear? I could never tell with my own body. My body is always warm, tingling with sensation, a sensation, always a sensation of sorts. The body is an unnatural natural thing, made up of substances that condense from the universe. Miniature bobble heads are what we are to her. 
     I strolled down the sidewalks of L.A, the streets were tyrannical but calm all at the same time. I was heading to meet a friend, his name was Ricellious, he was about 5'8 or 7, he wore baggy jeans, a hoodie, and his hair was scruffy with a curly fro. An intelligent kid he was, he just enjoyed the delights of women, and it seemed he was influenced easily. I don't think that is bad, we all are influenced by something, it's just the matter of what. He's a good kid still finding his way, he was 18 years of age. I was a year younger than Ricellious but graduated ahead of time. I was a "nerd" you can say, my head was always in a book trying to understand great space and time.
      I came to a stoplight eventually, I waited, watching anonymous cars flagrantly rushing through red glossy traffic lights. A uniformed car chased after a navy blue car. It was nothing surprising, it was just a regular day. 
    Ricellious stood with his back against a gate waiting for me and in the form I had just described. I saw him from a distance of where I stood. As soon as the lights passed, I treaded across, passing cars while being stared at. It always made me uneasy. 
" Hey, Ricellious." I said, giving him a handshake " how have you been?"
" I've been good man." 
" That's good to hear, well here's the book, dude." 
" Oh thanks, I've been wanting to read for quite a bit. " 
" Oh yea? What's made you interested in reading books now?"
" Truth is I just
 want to better myself and understand myself more." 
" That's awesome I'm glad!"
" So if you can, keep the books coming, yea?" 
" Of course my guy ." I said smiling " I got you" 
We went our separate ways. Recellious went home that day. He hadn't opened the cracked, tea stained, and worn out book yet. It laid on his comfy bed, with its title facing up to the lights that shined a reflection towards it.  It read the illusion of source. 
     Ricellious was busy that day with online classes. School wasn't his strong suit, well, he didn't do much for it. He only did the minimum amount in order to pass to the next grade. That was satisfactory to him and that's the only thing that mattered to him. 
      After a long day of nonsense school work, he went to lay down, he thought about turning on his gaming console, his PS4 but then he saw the book. The cover was in a whirlwind of bright vibrant colors that dropped from the sky or was it a sky? He picked up the book and spoke the words on the book cover out loud. 
" The Illusions of Source"
" Ricy?" His mother called out sweetly. 
" Yeah, Mom?"
"Are you ready for dinner?"
" Yea, I'll head down right now… what are we having?"
" Chicken,rice, and beans"
Ricellious looked pleased when she answered those three words. He never did pick up the book… at least not yet.

      23 years passed and Ricellious looked out the window of his workplace. He worked at a Mechanic shop. The day was passing by quicker than most, the breeze felt beautifully while working on these floating automobiles. He got down under the craft, after smelling what the breeze brought, to check what was wrong with it. 
" You need a new gas chamber that stores more gastric mucus so it can Handle all  the acid meshel in the car for it to run right." 
" Oh ok, how much will it be for you to repair?" 
" It would be about 70 dollars, but I am clocking out for today. I can ask someone else to do it for you."
" No, I can wait. I'd prefer you, Ricy, to work on my car."
" Alr then Jan, see you tomorrow. Have a nice day."
He headed towards the office of the mechanic shop to clock out. His workday had officially ended and he started walking down the pavement, going home. Buddy came wailing down behind him in order to catch up with Ricellious. He had to drop him because his footsteps brought about paranoia. 
" My bad buddy, you scared me, but why are you running up behind me?"
" I just came to talk to you." Buddy said grunting as he wallowed on the graffitied floor.
" My bad," 
 " Well how have you been buddy? What ya wanna talk about?" 
"Anything man"
They spoke for quite some time before reaching Ricellious's home. 

His home was bright bricked, red like a barn, with an old chimney that worked well, smoke came out of it, which was unusual. A family member must have been home for some type of celebration, he thought. 
"You want to come in? Maybe get some food to go? I think someone might be home for a celebration."
" Uh.. yea sure, I'm down to freeload off you" Buddy laughed wholeheartedly.
They began walking up the steps to his house, it was unusually quiet that you were able to hear the creek on the porch as you walked up off the steps. Wind gust led by and no one  inside seemed to make a sound. Ricellious grabbed his ring for keys and began to search through them, it took him a while to get the right one so Buddy took in the scenery from the porch. You can see the sun begin to settle down and the orange vibrant horizon flourish onto the world. He finally got the key and opened the door letting the wind whisper into his home. They both stepped in and saw the lights were off, they walked to the kitchen and found no one, and only found a note left behind by Ricellious's parents. 
" Hi Son, me and your father came to visit your grandfather and grandmother, we might not be home till tomorrow. We left you leftovers and it's your favorite, chicken with rice and beans. Make sure to clean up after yourself and make sure to stay safe. I hope work went well, I love you!"
He turned to his buddy to tell him there won't be any food to take and that he was sorry. They both initiated to walk to the steep hallway towards the living room, it was cold with a sense of dampness of darkness, but the fire was lit and flaming away. The breeze made the last of it's flame vanish with it, and  out the window they went. 
Both the men looked unaware but felt chills that would be perceived as a ghost breathing down their necks. There was no ghost, just strong breezes of eeriness. Buddy approached the window where the curtain blew in while the host of the house walked towards the TV Tray wood table. It had a book on it. It was a book from 23 years ago. Illusions of Source. He reached down for it and thought to believe someone must have started reading it. It wasn't opened, touched, or bookmarked. 
" Hey, Ricellious, you think someone came in and robbed the place ?" 
" Why do you ask that?" 
" Well the window was cracked open." 
" It's normally open, I don't think anyone came in."
They both nodded and agreed. Then turned to the book magnetically.  They both approached where the book lay. One of them grabbed the book and read it out loud, then the wind blew once again, but this time it blew the pages open. A rise of hesitance came upon their faces and neither wanted to look down at the words and read them. 
They didn't, they slammed the book closed and put it back.
" What was that, it was like the wind knew what it was doing, it magically casted itself onto the pages…" Buddies eyes were moving waiting for something else to happen.
" I don't know, maybe it's nothing, maybe, I don't know,"
"Maybe"
" Well, wanna go out and do something? Maybe go to the bar?" Ricellious asked.
" Yea, sure, let's go" 
They stepped out the door of the house down the steps and looked at the sunset. It was still there washing itself over the hills and bright green lawns of houses, and people, and it was still waiting for the moon's shift. For a second they got lost in its magnificents and forgot about the sirens wailing down the neighborhood and forgot about the distant sounds from years of tuning. They forgot about the debris of car parts, trash and the smoke that uncleared the skies. They forgot about the junkyard in which they stood in, they forgot. Quickly they came back due to wind pushing them down the steps and onto the street. They then decided to go to the liquor store. It wasn't far, probably only 8 minutes away. They scooted along the pavement that led them down their path. 
       It was quiet for once besides the wailing of sirens. Not many people were out. No one was shouting at one another's neighbor, no one fought for a penny on the floor of the ghetto. It was a gutter uncluttered that was usually festered with people. Both of them did not mention a thing, they just enjoyed it. 
       Once they got to the store it was closed. It was only 6 P.M. though, they usually close at 10 P.M. They were both disappointed. They wanted to get a 40 oz, two packs of cigarillos and a few snacks to enjoy, while sitting in front of Ricellious's porch.  They toaded off to the gas station behind the liquor store but that was closed as well. They looked around and realized no cars were zooming down the streets. The normal bums who sat in the corner by the gas station, filled with urine stained pants was not to be.
" It feels off… don't it?"
"Yea, it does… where's everyone…? It's like they vanished."
" Hey, look at the sign." Buddy said pointing pass Ricellious
The words stated "Shiver runs through the land"
The sign had a symbol of a snowflake with fire around it. Buddy got closer and closer to the sign. He wondered and thought this has never been here! What's going on? Then he remembered the book and looked at his curly haired friend. He didn't say anything because it was such a nonsensical thing to say. 
“ Yes… you're right, that's never been there. When was it placed?”
They looked at each other for a bit. Then a booming sound fell from the sky and all of a sudden their minds became foggy. The walls of life seemed to mirror each street and everything began to seizure into the fourth dimension. Ricy and Buddy both yelled “ WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW????!!!” Their mouths turned muffled and fell into a sound of a distant glitch. Snow shot up  from the ground in slow motion and through every ball of snow they saw the Spira Mirabilis. Both of these men began to spring up from the floor and for a few seconds floated, and were able to see the wind and hear it wailing. Eventually the tiny balls of snow shot out a beam of warmth that sucked them into the Mirabilis.