The Man in White

Life - 02

Who was the Man in White, exactly?

Was he truly a divine being who had full control of the world like his family seemed to believe? Or perhaps he was something entirely different? Paul even considered the possibility that he was a sort of superhero or alien.

There was nothing for Paul to go off of aside from his very brief conversation with the man and his family's legends...

And so, Paul came to a difficult decision. He packed a box full of his most important possessions and got in the car. As he turned to look at the apartment complex one last time, he sighed.

He never thought he'd be going back to that place. Not that he didn't feel welcomed there. No, his family was always willing to have him stay there. However, he never really felt like he belonged. He never worshiped the Man in White like they did, which led to him feeling alienated from everyone else.

His old home did not feel like a home to Paul. Instead, it served as a reminder of what once was. It was a reminder of the time that he didn't belong within or outside his family. It reminded him of a time when he was desperately trying to be heard in a world that wanted nothing from him but silence.

The drive there was a long one. The busy traffic and towering buildings of the bustling city began to get replaced with smaller homes, and before long those too were replaced by the expansive countryside.

With nothing but his thoughts and the steady hum of his car’s engine to keep him company, Paul didn’t have anything to do aside from delving into the bottomless abyss that was his own mind.

Would his family be happy to see him? Would they have any questions for him? More importantly, would they have any answers?

A part of Paul felt guilty for going back to his family for the first time in years only to ask them questions. Who was he to leave them, refuse to speak with them for five whole years, and then just show up unannounced, wanting nothing but answers to questions he could have asked long ago?

Struggling to focus on anything other than thoughts of his family and the Man in White, Paul almost didn’t notice his phone buzzing in his pocket. He hurriedly dug into his pants, checking to see who was calling him.

“Speak of the devil…” he muttered as he gazed at the name at the top of his screen.

Grandma...

It felt as if she knew that he was thinking about her. She hadn’t tried calling him in months. Why was it that the moment he started heading towards her, she called him?

Every fiber of his being told him to decline. He had done it hundreds of times before, so what difference would it make now? Surely if he didn’t answer, she would think nothing of it and simply go about her day. However, something felt different this time. The timing was too perfect. Somehow, she must have known that he was in the middle of driving to her house at that very moment.

Just as he was about to answer, her name disappeared from his screen. Letting out a sigh of relief, Paul slumped over in his seat. Why was his heart racing so fast? Why did that woman’s call scare him so much?

Thinking back, his grandmother had always scared him. Something about her was just… different. The way she acted, the way she talked, even the way she looked at people. Everything she did was creepily different from what Paul would consider normal.

After his encounter with the Man in White, Paul was beginning to become paranoid. What if his grandmother was connected to the man somehow? What if she wasn’t even human? It would certainly explain the odd vibe she always gave off.

Paul took in a deep breath and straightened his posture. He couldn’t be freaking himself out like this. He needed to focus on one thing at a time. He began examining the trees that were along the sides of the road. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for and it wasn’t exactly an exciting thing to do, but he needed to distract himself somehow.