The Fourth Check-Point

What is wrong with people? Do they have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the streets to  see? Sheep lead to the slaughter on pretty words, forced through the fires until their charred bodies are all that remain. It hurts to give everything and receive nothing in return. Keeping one eye open while you sleep and constantly having your heart closed to keep it from being torn out gets tiring and fast. Why can't people be true and honest? Why do good people have to suffer for the falsities of others?


I now knew I needed help. Doing this alone...it just couldn't be done all by myself. I didn't have the will to keep this going. I had sworn up and down I wouldn't involve anyone. I couldn't keep both them and myself safe, but I would lose my mind if I kept this inside any longer. There was a small problem however. Who could I trust? My father? Surely not. He was still locked up for attempting to cut my life short, and I doubted he wanted to see me now, especially to pull him into a world that could only mean death. A friend? I didn't have many friends to begin with, and over my past weeks of self imposed exile I certainly hadn't made any more. Any way I looked at it I was certainly alone.


All thoughts of getting food to nourish my ailing body were gone. I needed to get inside, somewhere safe and away from prying eyes. Of course, no where was really safe, but I was headed towards my dorm room as fast as I could manage it. I could feel the shivers passing through my body, the outside now seeming far too large. There were far too many places for people to hide out in these wide spaces, and in the shadows cast by lights on buildings. I had never before realised how freaky and creepy campus was at night. I suppose that's because I never had anything to fear before, nothing truly scary chasing at my heels.


I bundled myself through the front entry of my residence, fumbling with my key to open up the door to the stairwell. I bounded up the three flights, emerging into the hall and knocking past people on my way past the lounge towards my room. I got a few stares, seeing how pale and skinny I was getting. Now I was never really a body builder, but I had a nice slim build, and a distinct six pack before all this had started. I figure that's why I wasn't dead already. I jammed my key into my door, throwing myself into the room and slamming the door behind me, turning the lock as quickly as possible. I heard a ding from the direction of my laptop and I perked up, swinging around and glaring at the device. That thing had started it all, had sealed my fate. I clicked the mail button, retrieving the email from cyber space and staring at the words as if I could perhaps make sense of them if I kept looking at it harder.


I had no idea what this letter would do to me, how it would certainly impact my future.


"I know you. Your circumstance isn't all that different from my own and I am guessing at this point you could use a friend. Do what you want this invitation, but I think I may be able to be of some help to you.


Your Friend,


N"


N....my new ally? An enemy in disguise? There was only one way to find out. I hit reply.

The First Check-Point

Have you ever felt like you were dreaming, even though you were wide awake?

Things can't be real, but in the back of your head the mantra repeats it's self. "This is real. This is real. This is real."

There is nothing you can do to change what you are seeing, nothing will bring you back to the times that were so calm and predictable, for you already know. What has been seen, can not be unseen.

As I said, this all started with a harmless link. I sat in my room, darkened except for the light of my lamp. The click of my mouse and the tapping of keys was deafening in the silence of the night, but I was absorbed. It was impossible to turn away from. Next thing I knew it was almost dawn, and the studying I was supposed to do had been untouched. So much for the test I was supposed to have. There was something strange about this lore that my friend had sent me...it seemed to me this was far more than just the stories my friends laughed at as hoaxes. It must be real, at least that is what my sleep deprived brain was yelling at me. I decided to ignore it's warning and get some rest.

Class went decently enough, the test not as hard as I believed it to be. I spent the day out, laughing, partying, trying anything to get the topic out of my head. It seemed to be a small itch, always present, begging me to read and become a part of the larger story. Eventually I returned, the pull to hard to escape, my own curiosity a twisted and warped creature wishing to pull me deeper into the new found source of despair.

I clicked the link again, ready to delve back into what I now know is his own personal playground. The list where he can choose his unsuspecting victims from and draw them into his maze like realms, ready to strike them down once their usefulness has expired. I clicked, ready, willing to once again take the plunge....and there was nothing. Nothing at all. The information was gone, deleted and finished. It was too much. The laugh I let out scared me, chilling me to the very core. What was I becoming?

I noticed movement outside my window, and caught the sight of someone in a hoodie. Had they been watching? Did they know? Was it one of his followers who had been sent to see if I would once again take his bait and draw myself into his world? I didn't know...I didn't really care as the fear bloomed in my chest. At this point, there was only one thing I could do, one thing that would make sense to my fear hazed brain.

I ran