Robin couldn't sleep that night. He's been awake ever since he saw that thing lurking in the bathroom. Was that even real? Or was it his minds playing tricks on him. He got up in a jolt and called out today knowing that John will not be happy with his decision. He didn't care. Robin just wanted to get his mind off of that thing. He got a cup of coffee and contacted one of childhood best friends, Blue.
"Hey Blue," he texted. "I wanted to know if you wanted to have breakfast with me this morning." he set his phone down and hopped in the shower.
Unfortunately he couldn't have a peaceful shower. His mind was still on the thing he saw. It's pale skin, white like paper, a shade of white he thought wasn't even achievable. He also thought about what Sally claimed to hear. A baby? In an old park? That seemed extremely far fetched. His thoughts were spiraling, he looked down to his hands and his fingers started to wrinkle like prunes. 'I think it's time to get out.' he thought.
He dried off and got dressed in his casual outfit. Sweats and a sweater. He grabbed his phone and noticed that Blue responded.
"'Sup Boy Wonder. If you want to have breakfast I'm choosing. Let's go to JR's. Don't keep me waiting." Blue responded.
"You know I hate that place, I guess that's why you picked it." Robin replied.
Blue immediately responded. "Yup. :D"
Robin scoffed, he put on his pair of shoes and was heading to his car. The day was the complete opposite of yesterday. The sun was out, the sky was vibrant, and the trees danced with life. It was almost perfect, but the humidity was off. However it wasn't the time to discuss weather, Robin got in his car and drove off to JR's.
After a ten minute drive he arrived to JR's. The old diner was in shackles, beat down, and rickety. It amazes him how it's still open after fifty years. Robin sighed, he really didn't wank to enter the rundown cabin. He entered and all the memories and nostalgia bombarded him. He sat down, waiting for his friend to arrive. He checked his phone, nothing. The diner was empty. No one was dead. Almost no one eats at JR's, it's retro vintage style hasn't age well in the slightest. It just made it look more outdated. Vinyls were hung up on the walls, the checkered floor was stained, and the red and white cushions were hard as rock.
"Welcome to JR's. How can I help you in this wonderful morning?" a young waitress said trying her best to give a genuine smile. Failing in the process.
"Not yet, I'm just waiting for someone." Robin answered. "I'll be ready in ten minutes." he took out his phone and still had no new notifications. He was starting to think that Blue had played a joke on him. The door opened. Sally entered the building wearing the same thing she had on yesterday.
"Sally?" said the waitress.
"Hey Glenn, listen I need-" Sally noticed Robin sitting on the vintage diner cushion. "Rob?"
Robin looked up. "Hey Sal. Didn't expect to see you here?"
"Wait, you two know each other?" Glenn asked.
"Yeah, he's a friend from work." Sally said. She sat down next to him. "Ordered anything yet?"
"Nope." Robin said. "Just waiting for some friends. That's all. What brings you here?"
"I always come here in the morning to check on my niece." Sally responded looking at Glenn with a cheeky smile. "Isn't she lovely?"
Glenn rolled her eyes and looked at Robin. "I'm extremely sorry you met this lady." Glenn walked off.
Robin nodded his head then turned to Sally. "Pleasant girl huh?"
"Yeah, her humor is very dry." Sally said. "Hey listen, since I don't work today maybe we should go back to the park?" Sally suggested.
"And why would we do that?"
"To look for the crime scene. And maybe investigate the area." Sally mumbled. "Don't worry I came prepared. I was planning on going alone but since you're here I thou-"
"I don't know Sal." Robin interrupted. "I don't think that's a great idea." Robin said picking up the menu and started to scan through it. 'Damn, they haven't change the menu at all.' he thought.
"You know what. That's totally fine." Sally said. "I hate to be a bother." she chuckled awkwardly.
"You still going alone?" Robin asked.
"Of course, I love exploring. That's why I'm a photographer. Love seeing new things."
Robin looked up from the menu, he noticed two people entering the diner. One was a woman with blue hair, she was wearing all gray and had chains coming out of her pants. The other was a young man also wearing gray.
"Boy Wonder?" the woman asked.
"Blue?" Robin responded. "Is that you?"
"Of course it is." Blue said smiling she opened her arms for a hug.
Robin got up and hugged her. "It's been awhile. How have you been?" He sat backed down.
"Great." Blue sat down along with her friend. "Robin this is Gary. My boyfriend."
"Hey." Gary said nervously. Gary was an alright looking guy, nothing too special, average built, average face, he was just basic. Too basic Robin thought. The only thing that caught Robin's eye was Gary's well cared-wavy hair. "You must be Boy Wonder." Gary said. Blue laughed.
"Please call me Robin." Robin said. "No I mean it, please call me Robin. I hate that nickname." Robin then gave a bold stare at Blue who was holding in her laughter.
"Oh, my bad." Gary responded immediately. "I just thought it was... never mind." Gary turned red.
"Who's your friend?" Blue asked looking at Sally. "Or is this your sweetheart?" she said giggling.
Robin blushed. "This is Sally, she's my work partner."
"Hey." Sally said reaching out her hand.
"Nice to meet you." Blue said shaking Sally's hand. "I'm Blue, if you couldn't tell by my blue hair. Can I call you Sal?"
"Sure." Sally said nervously. Sally picked up her menu and began scanning it. It was her way of avoiding and communication with Blue. Sally felt awkward.
Glenn came back looking dead as always. "Is everyone ready to order?" she took out a notepad and a blue pen.
"I'll take the Heavy double." Blue said. "I want my eggs over medium, the bacon cooked at ninety degrees no more no less, my coffee with four cream and four sugar, and three waffles." Blue said quickly .looking over at Glenn.
Glenn had a confused expression. "Can... can you repeat that again?"
"I'm just pulling your leg, just surprise me." Blue said chuckling.
"I'll just take an omelet." Gary said.
"Ditto." Robin said in a bored expression.
"The usual." Sally said.
Glenn walked off. Blue was still chuckling over her little "prank". She looked at Robin.
"So, how has life been treating you Rob?"
Robin jolted. His head was still going on about the creature he saw. He took a deep breath. Maybe talking to his best friend will get his mind off of things. "Um... I actually have a job as a photographer. I work with Sally."
"Yeah." Sally responded. "Fun fact we were actually in Riverside Park just the other day..." Sally stopped. She looked at Robin. He gave her a frustrated stare.
"Wait, you did?" Blue said shocked. "Bro, that's awesome. After this we should totally go there. The four of us." Blue said nudging Gary. "It'll be a blast."
"I don't know about that Blue." Robin said. "I don't think it's right."
"Come on. It's been forever since you and I been on some crazy adventure." Blue said smiling. "Please." Blue said annoyingly grabbing her chubby cheeks.
"Let's talk about this later." Robin said.
"Come on dude, you always love a good adventure. What happened to the bird I know and love?"
Robin bit his lip, he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to say no, he didn't want to make Blue think he became soft over the years. "I'll think about it." he answered.
"You don't have to go if you don't want to." Sally said. She looked at Blue. Something about her rubbed Sally in a bad way. She seemed different compared to other women she has met. "So..." Sally said trying to keep the conversation going. "What do you do for a living?"
Blue's eyes lit up, she grabbed her bagged and pulled out a book. She handed it to Sally. "I'm actually a writer." Blue said happily. "I published my book a couple of months ago."
"You did?" Robin said. "Dude that's great." Robin was genuinely happy for Blue, he knew how much Blue wanted to become an author. "What genre of books do you write?"
"I love horror. So I write horror stories." Blue said.
"Is there a flying turtle in the story?" Robin said sarcastically.
Blue chuckled. "I wish."
"'House of Hell.' What is it about?" Sally asked. Opening the book. Instantly greeted with a vast majority of pages of Times New Roman text.
"It's about a group of six friends trapped in a house, and they all have six hours to get out, with each passing hour one of them dies. They have to escape the evil that lurks within if they fail to do so then bad things happen." Blue said. "Gary doesn't like the ending."
Gary scoffed. "You killed off every character."
"Yeah because they're idiots, what moron goes into a haunted place? You're basically asking to die." Blue replied.
Robin and Sally looked at Blue with a confused expression. Sally returned the book. "Seems interesting." She said. "But horror isn't my cup of tea."
"I love it." Blue said. Grabbing the book and hiding it in her bag. "I love the way authors like Stephen King build up tension and suspense. You know something scary is about to happen but you don't know when. When you least expect it.... BAM!!!" Blue yelled out banging the table making both Robin and Sally jump. She laughed.
Robin shook his head, he laughed. "You're stupid." Robin said chuckling. Blue stuck her tongue out. After ten minutes of small talk Glenn returned with the four's breakfast.
"Enjoy." Glenn said as she walked away. 'Hate this job.' she thought.
"Have you two heard about the disappearance that happened last night?" Blue asked pouring syrup on her waffle. "Some kid disappeared last night. The police started a search party, it's nuts."
"A kid?" Sally asked. "How did he disappear?"
Robin's pupils felt like they got smaller. His mind immediately thought of the creature he saw in the bathroom. Could it be, are all these disappearances connected? He tried to shake it off but it felt impossible. "I think I know why?" Robin said.
"People are saying that the Midnight Man did it?" Blue suggested.
"The what?" Robin asked with a puzzled expression. "The Midnight Man? The Hell is that?"
"It's some urban legend that's been going around for awhile now." Gary said. "But that's some mumbo jumbo that some kids made up years ago when one their friends have gone missing."
Robin laughed. "You can't be serious. That sounds dumb."
"It does." Blue added also laughing. "But it's interesting." She took a bite off of her egg. "This is really gross." she added. "They say that the Midnight Man stalks it's victim. He only appears when the sun is going down or when it's extremely cloudy. But he isn't afraid to reveal himself during the day either."
"Blue please stop." Gary said.
"Oh hush, let me finish, I'm sure Robby is interested." She said looking at Robin with an intense stare. "They say he stalks it's prey overtime. People unfortunate enough to come across it will be traumatized for life. He leaves you in that state until all your fears and anxiety builds up, consuming your body, letting your fears eat you alive. Until you've lost all your sanity. That's when he takes you, when you are completely vulnerable. Who knows where he takes its victims, all we know is that they never return."
"That sounds stupid." Robin said.
"Agreed." Sally pitched in.