Spoiler
someone spiked me with pcp a few nights ago, and this is the polished version of what i wrote that night
I knew I was fucked, laying there, staring at the fourth floor ceiling from a heap of rubble in the basement. It was a real shit goes downhill from the start kind of deal, that‘s the best way to put it. I was in the dark, it sketched me real bad. I had always been a nightlight kind of kid growing up. Breathing took awhile, my chest felt crushed but I could hear it…
Hear I told you so…
“It‘s stupid.”, she had said it herself.
“It‘s fun, and I could really use some extra hands.” I was so excited trying to convince her.
“No. I‘m not crawling around in some condemned building just so you can tag a wall. Who the fuck does that? Stupid teenagers and hoods.” She wasn‘t going to budge on the issue.
“It‘s a mural, not a tag. You‘ll have a good time, I swear!” I try to reassure her with a smile but she slid her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.
“Do you want to fuck in the park or something?” It catches me completely off guard, I’m completely taken back.
“Wha-, what? I’m just asking you do something I think is fun. And what the fuck does the park have to do with anything?” She had a nasty temper, but I kind of wished she was here with me…
It took time to get to my feet, I was pretty thankful they still worked though. Not my best idea, I groped around the floor until I finally felt my bag. I dug a can of spray from it and gave the floor a good once over. A snap of my lighter and flames engulfed the ground around me. My eyes caught a glare, even the faint burn was harsh on my eyes.
I managed some junk together to make a rough torch. It burned awkward at first, but it kicked up with a shot of paint. I set in motion slowly, the fall had left me jumping at shadows. The building was a maze, like the drafter was peaking on mescal when he drew it up.
I didn’t make it far. A hefty pain in my knees makes me stop for a smoke break just a few turns from where I started.
I thumb a cigarette out of my pack. The first drag tasted amazing ,but it was short lived. A faint noise echoes through the hall ahead of me, slowly becoming more audible. Something shifted, maybe fell over or down, but whatever it was had my attention. Chills creeped their way around to the back of my neck at what my mind produced. Whatever made the damn noise, it was close, just out my torches spastic reach.
“Where the fuck are those stairs?” I mumble to no one in general.
It all seemed the same as I passed through, decayed bits of furniture here, empty storage rooms there, even a few boilers. Just the same basement bullshit over and over again. It was a squatter’s paradise though, mats and bed nests even proved the damn place was at least recently inhabited. I had yet to see any bums though. Figured they had left, but hey, if a bum could get out so could I.
The shadows started to get to me more and more. The childish notion of things moving, or spooks just around the next corner thrilled my mind.
An electric motor kicked on somewhere far away. It made me jump but as the humming remained constant, I realized I was being ridiculous. I swallowed it and moved on, there was no use sticking around just to scare myself shitless. I’d have killed for a phone because…
I was in it alone…
“the only people who don’t have one are little kids and old people!“ Her voice was raised. She wasn’t going to let up until she won.
“I don’t have one because I don’t fucking need one!“ Two long hours had lurched by, the same back and forth getting no where.
“Are you cheating on me?“
“That has nothing to do with this!“
“You’re trying to hide shit from me!“ At that point I would’ve begged her to just quit bitching about anything for five minutes.
I had something I needed to tell her, a phone didn‘t seem like such a bad idea anymore…
The torch did little to comfort me. It had become a beacon for too many damn moths. Something heavy landed on my shoulder. I jumped, my skin crawled, whatever it was felt too heavy. My eyes creep over, slowly, very slowly. A set of mangy, dirty fingers were clutched to my shoulder.
I’m pulled from my feet and sprawl to the ground faster than I could realize. My torch hits the ground exploding into embers against the wall. I search out my attacker in the dark. I only catch a glimpse of a dirty bare heel hauling ass down another side hallway. I crawled over to my flame and put a wall against my back. I no longer thought about monsters or silly bogeymen. My fears were alleviated only for a new one. I was trapped in the dreary, dark maze. Even worse, I was trapped with some angry bum.
My bladder felt tight from the excitement. Adrenaline had kicked in making my heart beat audible. I got to my feet and jammed the raging torch through the plaster wall. I lit a cigarette of it as I struggled to get my fly open.
“What are you painting?” Her voice was hoarse, still sleepy.
“You’ll see.” I tease as I chase lines across the canvas. It had become a habit to do most my work before she even woke up.
“Do you think t will sell?” She gives me a pearly smile from the bed spread.
“I don’t think I’m going to sell this one.” Her smile had turned pouty with those words.
“We need the money. I’d like to move out of this shit hole.” She flings her arms and I know a conflict is coming.
“Have you considered finding a job or something?” It was just a suggestion. It didn’t take to well though. The bedside ash tray comes flying across the room. A white flash fills my head. Shattered glass takes it’s place next to me on the floor.
“What the fuck?” I murmured to myself, that was my favorite ash tray.
There was something I really needed to tell her, it took all this shit to make me realize it…
The cold, moist air of the abandoned depths hardly moved. The placid flame barely even flickered the deeper I went, only when I walked. I thought of back tracking, finding where I had fallen through. It was a vain thought though, I hadn‘t bothered to mark my turns. A cascade of sheet metal falling and cluttering echoes through the corridors. I spun in all directions trying to catch whatever it was in light. It happened again, somewhere far behind me.
I gave it a while and decided to keep going. Whatever it was far off, too far to care. The noise was probably the creation of an old building falling to pieces. Even If it had been someone, it was probably enough to spook them off.
The hairs on my arms settled back down. I turned back around only to have my them stand straight again. Chills vibrated electronically through my body. A crucifix of modest size blocked my path. A dead and bloated raccoon stood nailed with arms spread. It was even crowned with barbed wire and stripped cables. My skin crawled at the blasphemy, my stomach knotted beneath my shirt. A surreal feeling blossomed in my chest. It was a thick red moment for me as I stared into it‘s empty rotted eyes. I was on edge. What kind of fucked up homeless would make that kind of sacrament.
“This is the weirdest fucking thing I have ever seen.” I said into empty space, somewhat amused.
I tip toed past it, even kept at it down the hall. I realized how stupid I must’ve looked. My torch would give me away long before anything else.
I was done. I had reached a point where I figured I wasn‘t leaving this place. I parked myself against a wall and flipped open my cig pack. Only three were left, great. I lit one. I hadn’t seen a turn in while, it was a straight stretch. I gave it another try and got back to walking again. The hall t’ed off at the end. I almost jizzed myself from what I saw. An exit sign points left. I was almost out. I began a hurried strut towards the sweet night air.
In no time a set of aluminum doors came into view. I slow my roll and rest my palms against the cool metal. Street light spills in through the crack. With one last push, I burst through.
No, no streets. No side walks. No street signs, lamps, or late night pedestrians, just another room. Candles litter the floor, casting a glow that could kill any good feelings. I was back on edge immediately. Something felt completely wrong in the air. There was a large tree bursting through the floor against the furthest wall. No more doors though.
The tree looked old and petrified, night bleached white. Something was unsettling about it. Like a horrendous traffic accident, I didn’t want to look any further but couldn’t help it.
“Holy shit.” My stomach churned as the tree took the spot of the weirdest thing I had seen.
It wasn’t a tree of branches or any distinguishable wood, it was a tree made of hundreds of bones.
I had everything ready to go.
“Our show is on tonight.“ another try to get me to stay home. Her voice had a begging whimper but her eyes said ‘I could go either way.’
“I hate that fucking show, it’s stupid, mtv is fuckin’ stupid.“ I wasn’t going to stay home, no matter what. Not for some show about simple girls with too much money. Not even to flat-back it with her.
“Do you even really love me?” The same bratty tone rises in her voice. I threw my bag over my shoulder. Twilight had just started to set on the stoop.
“Why are you so against normal shit?“ her hands were back on her hips again.
“I’m not doing this, I’m out, be back later.“ I turn to leave. Her hand catches my elbow.
“Give me a kiss.“ She started to pout again.
I had never felt this way about anyone before, I’d give anything to tell her…
Ivory arms and hands made branches, definitely human remains. Skulls hung like apples held by boney fingers. Femurs and collar bones braided together to make a flawless trunk.
I was with in inches of touching distance when for the second time that night, the floor gave beneath me. It was only an instant before I felt the thud of stable ground. I gasped for breath. My ribs screamed in pain. Nothings broken, at least that‘s what I told myself. I glance back up to see that I had gone a good ways down. Darkness was the only thing I saw.
“Pretty fuckin’ tired of this.” I hear my voice echo around.
I dug my smokes from my pocket. I lit and each drag brought more pain. I sit up and hold my lighter over my head, illuminating as much as I could. It was a large stone room, carved from an existing rock bed I would‘ve guessed.
“Oh shit!” skeletons and old decayed bodies scattered the floor around me.
The room wasn’t large as much as it was tall. The trunk of the tree descended from the ceiling into a network of intricate roots made from all sorts of bones on the floor.
“Who the hell would make something like this?” I shuffled across the floor, dodging corpses and the like.
I could see an ancient stone door set tightly into the wall. I tried to move it, wasn‘t going to budge. I resigned to following the wall around the room. People before me had etched messages into the wall, some weren’t even in English. Some were figures just as alien as the tree itself. ‘So, you took the exit too?’ ‘What’s behind the door?’ ‘Let my kids know I love them’ , it was a mosh of last words, some entertaining, some sad.
I started to wonder about the door myself. It didn’t matter though. I didn’t want to be down there much longer. I reached a cryptic message carved into the stone, ‘You‘ll be part of His tree soon.’ It was followed by a carving of the door, an odd figure stepping out.
More and more they talked about the man behind the door, some sort of fucked up caretaker. Some messages reached the point of fanaticism. I read one last inscription ‘Blood will water such a tree, and even then, a tree of death will have new life‘ . I was starting to get worried. There were so many bodies down there, enough to realize getting out probably wasn’t an option. I hear something move from the tree. I checked it out. There was nothing, just white, porcelain bone.
“What the hell is wrong with this place?” a single arm stuck out from the trunk, it‘s hand held wide open.
I touched a finger, and then the fear overwhelmed me. It closed into a tight fist and pulled back in. My light flickered as an unknown breeze hit it. I hear a subtle grinding noise, the door. I looked back to see it sliding away to open up to pitch blackness. Then He, or It, or whatever the horrible thing was. It was something that could turn a young man’s hair white. Something that the most dreadful screams were made of. It was a good reason to lock my closet door at night. There was no human way to describe how frightful it was.
My lighter died. I was in the dark with that fucked up thing. I began to climb. Cold fingers grabbed and pulled at my clothes, ripped out locks of my hair on my way out. I was climbing out through the branches into the room above before I had even realized it. I ran, so fast my lungs were at the bursting point. Through the doors, into the dark, I just ran. My foot kicks something and it sent me flying. I land on a sharp incline, chipping my teeth on sudden edges, beating my knees on all sorts of hard surfaces. The stairs. I ran up them and hit the landing at a dead sprint. It didn’t last long before I hit a wall, it gives under the force, a door.
I burst into the dawn light. Fresh air washed over me as I sprawled to the side walk. I had to talk to her, had to find a phone. My arms and legs shook as I made my way to a pay phone. I thumbed a few quarters into the slot and started punching numbers in. It rang forever it seemed like.
“Hello?” She had probably been asleep.
“Hey babe it’s me.”
“How was your thing?”
“That’s the last thing I want to talk about right now.”
“Whatever, what do you want to talk about…at six in the morning?” She sounded annoyed.
“I need to tell you something.” I tried to find the perfect words for her.
“Is everything alright baby?” There was a tone of worry in her voice, not the kind that’s for me, it was more a self preservation type of worry.
“You are the worst fucking thing to ever happen to me and I want you the fuck out of my apartment.” I set the phone back on the hook and headed home. I could care less about the things that happened to me in that building. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and sleep, alone.
