Cal took a long overdue hot shower. He let the hot water run through his back. On the floor, the water gathered and created a small puddle. A blurry reflection of him from the water. His vision began to blur and his head started to spin. He looks up into the stream and washes his face. He looked down again to see a clear reflection the water. Not him but someone else. Terrance.
Cal's heart start to race, his ears start to ring, his breathing sped up, and he began to tremble. His headache spiked like a distorting wave from inside his brain flowing outwards.
"What are you doing?"
"You have the guts to just gloss over what you did?"
"You killed me."
"And you're gonna act like you did nothing?"
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Terrance screamed right in Cal's ear
"Please, please, please, stop!" Cal begged
"I'm begging you please stop!" he begged again
Cal turned off the shower and ran out of the shower. He grabbed his towel, dried himself as quick as possible. He felt a chill go down his spine. His stomach began to curl, he felt nauseous. He walked to the sink at rests his hands at the front edge.
He stared at the mirror and his eyes were bright red, from the shampoo that got in his eyes earlier. He suddenly felt a weird, sickening, warmth in his throat. He felt his throat tighten up. He grabs his neck and felt even more nauseous.
He quickly ran to the toilet, opened the hood and shoved his face into the toilet. He threw up, a lot. His eyes watered, his nose felt a burning sensation, his tongue went numb and his ears rang.
Cal slowly got on his feet. He closed the toilet hood and flushed the toilet. He limped over back to the sink. His mouth smelled awful, so he decided to brush his teeth.
He quickly finished brushing his teeth, he cupped water in his hand from the sink tap and gargled with it. He spits out the water. He slowly glanced to the mirror and saw Terrance. The light dimmed and flickered. Rope tied to Terrance's neck, he was elevated from the ground, the rope connected to the ceiling somehow. And there Terrance was, hanging.
Cal turned his entire body around as fast as he can. Terrance was gone.
"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real.." Cal repeated
"That's how you wish it was." Terrance said
"No, no, no, no, no, none of that happened. This is a nightmare, this is a nightmare?" Cal questioned
"It's a memory. A memory of the truth that you refuse to accept."
"Everything is going to be okay. I'll be fine." Cal trying to reassure himself
"Is that how you'll feel after lying? After hiding the truth?"
"..."
"You are just going to hide it forever? You can't. It'll eat you alive, consume you, YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM IT!"
"SHUT UP!" Cal yelled
Someone then knocked on the bathroom door.
"Yo, Cal. You okay? I heard you scream." It was Leon
"..."
Cal couldn't bring himself to respond, so he just curled inside the bathroom, covering his ears trying to shut out the voices.
"Liar."
"Murderer."
The bathroom door then opened from the inside.
"Hey, Cal. You good?" Leon ask
"Huh? Uh... Yeah."
"You were screaming earlier."
"..."
Cal walks pass Leon and into his room. He slam shut the door. He was surprised, his room was tidier than ever. He started crying, not of joy. He was scared.
"They won't care for you when they learn the truth."
"They'll forsaken you."
"They'll hate you."
"Despise you."
"Loathe you."
"You'll be alone. Forever."
"Please... Shut the hell up..." Cal slowly started to succumb to the voices
"They'll know."
Cal wore his usual set of clothes. Unbuttoned checkered shirt, black T-shirt, black long pants. He walked out of his room and joined Leon in the living room.
"Where's my dad?" Cal ask
"He left earlier, needed to do something with the town sherriff."
"Okay."
Leon and Cal walked all the way to their school, a 15 minute fast walk. They walked through the halls of the school. While Leon walked slowly, Cal was powering through them. His head down, trying to avoid anything that would remind him of Terrance.
Leon was confused at first but he realized it would probably bring memories Cal doesn't want to remember. So he started running. And joined Cal. They went through the door they needed to and reached the school gym.
Neil and Aliyah were waiting in front of the door. But Neil was more hidden, he tried to scare Cal (Aliyah told him it would be a bad idea).
Neil tried to scare Cal anyway. This time Cal actually jumped, but his reaction was to punch Neil in the face. He punched him seriously, Neil fell to the ground, holding his left cheek.
"Fuck, Neil. I'm sorry." Cal regretted
"Oww..."
"I told him not to do it." Aliyah said
Neil stood up quickly, stretching his jaw and rubbing his cheek.
"All good. Glad you're here." Neil said
"..."
"Alright, you guys wait. at your benches, okay? I'll buy you guys food, like I promised." Leon said
"Okay."
Leon then walked outside of the gym to go buy food in some people's stands.
"Did he actually promised us to buy food? I'm pretty sure I said it was a joke." Neil said to Aliyah
"Whatever, just be grateful." Aliyah replied
Aliyah walked to Cal and stood in front of him. She gently puts her hand on his face. She looks at him with compassionate yet worried eyes. He stares right back at her eyes. She saw that he was anxious, almost fearful.
"How are you feeling?" She ask
"Like... Like I can't go on." He said in a quiet, depressed tone
Aliyah jumped and was shock at what Cal said. She didn't know what to say to that. What could she say? She stayed silent and grab his hand. She drags him slowly to their seats. Neil followed along.
"You'll be okay, won't you?" She questioned
"..."
It was about 10 minutes before the match, introductions of each member, telling them to be good sports, play clean, etc.
Despite it being warm inside the gym, Cal was shivering and sweating. It hurts for him to breath normally, he uses his mouth instead. His palms were sweaty, he felt a chill down his spine, he can feel his knees getting weaker.
It was time for the game, Leon puts on a show. scoring 7 points in the first 90 seconds. His physical build, skill, accuracy were top notch for his age. He was confident that he'd get scouted.
"Why'd you come here?" The voice ask
"You came here to feel better, yet you just feel more guilty. You can't live with the truth alone, but you're scared of revealing it." The voice said
"Please... Not now god dammit." Cal begged as he held the back of his head
"Cal?" Aliyah called, confused and worried
"You can't keep going. That's what you said. You gave in, so show a little follow through."
"You'll never be able to live with the truth."
"So just end it." The voices said
Cal closed his ears as he heard a loud ringing sound. Sound of his heartbeat followed along the ringing. His heart ached, his chest and throat tightened, his stomach curled.
Cal stood up and scoot over to leave.
"Cal, where are you going?" Aliyah asks
"Yo, where you going?" Neil asks too
Cal fell silent and walked over them. He jumped off from the benches and walked out the gym. A few steps out the gym he fell to his knees. He shut his ears and started screaming. No one outside to hear his scream. Cal wailed in agony, tears ran down his face. He limped over to a tall building, a bell tower. Neil and Aliyah walked out a few seconds after Cal entered the tower.
5 Minutes Earlier
Mr. Moore and James (the sherriff), arrived at Mr. Moore's house. Mr. Moore rushed inside the house. Walked through the door and went over to the living room. A note on the table.
"Cal and I are going to school, Cal's gonna watch my game."
- Leon
Mr. Moore walked out the door and slammed it. He got back inside James' police car and sat down.
"We need to go to the school." Mr. Moore said
"Alright."
Mr. Moore felt uneasy, he felt like something bad was about to happen. His breathing sped up, he became jumpy, constantly bouncing his leg.
"You okay?" James ask
"Sorry, but can we hurry? I have a bad feeling."
"Yes, sir."
James then turned the siren on and punched it. He drove as fast as he can, running through red lights to save time.
It took them about 3 minutes to arrive. They parked in the parking lot, then got out of the car. Mr. Moore started running to the gym, James followed behind him. Soon enough he arrived in front of the gym and saw Neil and Aliyah.
"Where's Cal?" Mr. Moore ask
"He went up to the clock tower." Aliyah said
"Fuck."
All rushed to the clock tower, even James. It was a pretty tall clock tower but Cal was already on top and on the edge. His hand holding the top pillar supporting the roof, looking down.
The wind howling quietly around him. His mind was blank, his ears deafened.
"It'll be over soon."
"Everything is going to be okay."
"You'll join him soon." The voices said in a quiet, gentle voice
Cal slides closer to the edge, puts his right leg over the edge. His hand was no longer holding the pillar. He was ready, he was committed.
"Everything will be okay." He uttered alone
If he wasn't in the military, if he was simply out of shape, if he'd been half a second late, it would've been the end.
Cal's dad rushed from behind Cal and grabs him with both of his hands by Cal's stomach and jumps backwards. He dropped on the ground, still holding Cal in his arms.
Cal started crying, he became even more afraid. The two sat up right and Cal striked in to hug his father.
"Please. I can't lose you. Not you, you're my only son. I can't lose you. You're the only thing I have left." His father cried
"I'm sorry. I... I couldn't stop the voices. I just... I just wanted them to stop." Cal said feeling powerless
"It's okay, I'm here. We're okay."
"I killed him, dad. Terrance! I killed him!" Cal yelled
"No, you did-"
"I did! I was.. I was scared, I didn't know what to do."
"Hey, hey, Cal. Listen to me."
His dad stood him up and held both his hand up to Cal's face. He wiped his tears.
"Listen, you don't have to be alone. You have me here with you. You have friends. You aren't alone. You can talk to them, you can talk to me!" His father said, doing his best to make his son realize
"I'm.. I'm scared!" He cried
"I know... I know. And it's okay, it's okay to be scared. We're only human." His father said
"But.. But I can't..."
"Whatever it is, we'll go through together, promise?"
"I don't know.. I don't think I can."
"Okay.. Okay. When you were born, I made a promise to your mother. A promise I didn't know if I can keep it. But I tried my best to raise you alone. I was scared too. But that's okay. You know why?"
"Wh- why?"
"Because being brave isn't having no fear. It's having fear and you do it anyway."
"I know you're scared, but we can help you. I can help you." His father said as he stopped crying.
"Okay." Cal said as he finally stopped crying
His father smiled and hugged his son again. Then the others joined them on top.