Before the Horns - A Bob Velseb Story

Chapter 18

Strange fog spread across the unfamiliar street Bob found himself walking down. This was the first time Bob had ever gotten lost on the way home from work. His surroundings were unsettling, like they'd come from a memory just out of reach even though he'd never been here before. There was an uneasy feeling of being watched that made the hair on his neck stand on end and sent shivers down his spine.

Across the street stood a human figure, adorned in a red cloak. It seemed to be the only thing familiar around. Bob had seen it before, he was sure of it. The hood came all the way down the person's face, and was covered in black mesh dots they could look through. It was sewn from a crimson fabric, and the top was trimmed in black velvet. Around the person's neck hung a beautiful gold chain, with the pendant at the end tucked into the cloak beneath the black trim. Because the garment was so loose, Bob couldn't tell if the figure was a man or a woman, and the way his vision kept warping he couldn't even tell if they were human. 

Bob went to approach the figure, to maybe ask where they had met. He knew they had. However, he was unable to step into the road. It was like there was an invisible glass barrier preventing entry to the roadway. Confused, Bob looked both ways down the street, trying to see if there was a break in the invisible barrier. The moment he'd looked both ways, the unseeable glass made a swooshing noise as Bob tumbled onto the rough, black asphalt. Bob didn't question the oddness of it all and continued to cross the road, where a painted crosswalk had appeared. There were no cars coming, so it was safe to make his way across.

He'd been walking a good fifteen minutes now, and only just reached the yellow centerline of the street. The hooded figure was still there, unmoving as it watched Bob staggered about. He felt almost entranced by the figure. Bob wanted to meet them. Bob needed to meet them. Bob had to meet them. Bob had no choice but to meet them. The figure silently beckoned without even having to move and Bob obeyed.

Bob continued his entranced march across the street, unable to stop now. He crossed the yellow centerline, watching as the road stretched farther and farther across, but the figure seemed to stay the same distance away. A quiet hum had begun to whine in his ears, but he ignored the sound. He was too busy going to meet the figure.

The sound grew louder, turning into horrific cawing as the figure warped unnaturally. Its shape rippled, slipping in and out of something even remotely recognizable until it finally stopped shuffling form. The figure it had chosen had fiery red curls, a beautiful round face peppered in freckles, and the piercing green eyes of a siren. She looked familiar, as did the whole situation at this point. Charlie was pointing at Bob, yelling something unintelligible that only formed as an earsplitting squawking noise.

The world warped and shifted beneath their feet, nearly throwing Bob off balance while Charlie seemed unaffected. In an overstimulating blur, light and sound and senses became nothing more than a hinderance, swirling around and making the poor man dizzy. Bob was terrified, and tried to form a single coherent thought, but couldn't over the repeating screeches and unnatural distortion of the world around him. Bob looked around quickly, only for his eyes to land on a bright pair of twin reapers careening down the street to take him to the light. The pair blared an ugly cry, squawking over and over, before slamming full force into Bob's ribcage.

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Bob shot up in bed, gasping for air in a cold sweat. He held his side, which he expected to be excruciating, but was completely in tact. Trembling, Bob sat under the blankets trying to get his bearings. He wasn't dead. His side wasn't crushed. He wasn't in pain. He wasn't on the street. He was sitting in bed. He was in his house. He was awake. 

Oh thank God, I was asleep, Bob thought, drawing in a deep breath. The only thing that had carried over from the dream was the cawing, which was his alarm going off. Weakly, he pressed the button on top to shut it off. He was still shaking a little, but for the most part was okay now. Pulling back the covers, Bob got up to get ready. It was a little confusing to see his room clean, especially after being so disoriented, but didn't take long to remember he'd cleaned the house the previous day after work. Sure, 'the house' only meant his room, but it was a start. It had been months since he'd seen the full carpet of his room in all its glory.

Wearing a fragile smile, Bob started to get ready for work. It felt easier to breathe with the room tidied up, and made his whole morning just a little bit easier. Once he'd gotten dressed, brushed his hair and teeth, and made some breakfast, Bob headed out the door. 

Bob hesitated a moment though, contemplating driving to work today. He had plenty of time to walk since he'd gotten ready so quickly, but after that dream he didn't want to walk anywhere near the road. For just a moment, he took a step to go unlock his car before stopping himself. He wasn't a child, why would he give into the fear of walking just because of a dream? That's what children did. He shook his head and began the walk to work. 

It was cold, colder than the last few days. There was a light morning mist sliding gently over the pavement. A quiet wind whispered secrets to the leaves on the ground, who danced in delight. As peaceful as it was, Bob was still a little unsettled by the similarity to the nightmare he'd had. The setting was just too familiar, and- was that the cloaked figure he'd been trying to meet? Just incase, he made sure to tread on the side of the path farthest from the street, and walk a little quicker than he usually would.

When he arrived at Boys & Grills, Sarah and John were both already there. Both were ignoring each other, off in their own worlds. Sarah was on her phone, hands in pockets and John was sipping a cup of coffee while shivering.

"Good morinin' you two," Bob welcomed, lacking the usual enthusiasm in his voice. 

He pulled his keys out of his pocket with a jittery hand, and shuffled through the keys to find the right one. He really needed to label them somehow. Sarah and John exchanged a glance, silently agreeing something was off about their manager. Once Bob finally got the door open, he let the two in and flipped on the lights. The three quickly tackled the space, working to clean up before opening. In record time the little butcher shop was ready to be opened, with five or ten minutes to spare. 

The silence between the three was new and odd, but none had the initiative to cancel out the lack of sound. It didn't matter much to Bob though, just being in the room with another human being or two was enough to calm his nerves enough for the day ahead of them.