Midnight Memories

CHAPTER - 3:

I wake up to the smell of something bitter sweet, something normal, and a wave of relief passes over me. It was all a dream, I think. The familiar noise of the digital clock sounds very soothing, which also means that I'm in my room. I open my eyes and raise my head to look at the time, but a sudden, sharp, burning pain at the top of my head stops me, which means that it was not a dream. Then I remember that I had passed out and the memories before it come crashing, and I'm almost compelled to stay back and go back to sleep, ignore it all. But I really need to get my head - which is on fire - fixed up. Hence I get up and notice that my head now has a bandage around it. I go to the washroom to examine it and realize that Andy - who is a medical student - must have done this. I dress up and go to the living room to talk the talk I had been desperately wanting.

The bitter smell of coffee was strong in here. Andy was doing some work on the couch. I coughed and he got startled. I apologize while he rummages all the papers in a bag rather suspiciously.

"Good evening, Ty! How are you feeling?" he asks as he hands me a cup of coffee.

"Something is wrong with my head" I say. "I need to get it checked as soon as possible". "Don't worry about that, Ty! It's all stitched up and healing.", he says enthusiastically.

I heaved a sigh of relief. I didn't have enough energy to go around from doctor to doctor for a stupid concussion. I had other things to do. Like knowing how I got this very stupid and very bloody concussion.
As if he read my mind, our conversation takes the turn i wanted it to. "So...", he says with...curiosity? Fascination? "How...did you get this injury?"
I'm about to tell him that i don't know, when he starts raging, "WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN? I GOT SO WORRIED YOU KNOW! I WAS ABOUT TO GO TO THE POLICE!" he screams with teary eyes.
Now this was a first. Andy and I were friends, we really were, but not the type that cried when the other person went missing or anything like that. When I had moved to New York with big dreams that had failed miserably and I had found myself working at a McDonald's, Andy was the one that had given me a room to live into, with almost no rent at all. I had been so thankful, but also vary. Andy and I used to go to the same college, and we were sort-of-friends back then. Until destiny brought us back together and we started literally living together.
He had said that he was lonely, and was afraid to live alone. His father had brought him this apartment, and he just wanted a companion.
So now, when I saw him teary-eyed, I closed up to him slowly and gave him a little pat (Even though after all I had been through today, it was me that deserved at least a dozen pats), and he seemed to relax. His tears were flowing now. "Answer me", he croaked.
"I have no idea", I say. "Please, please tell me what is happening! All I know is that I woke up with a burning pain in my head, and I was covered in blood from head to toe, and I was very hungry, and very thirsty, and disoriented for a while. That's all I know. Please fill up the gaps; Where was I before this all happened?", I ask, my voice finally opening up after saying so much.
"You don't remember?", he asks with that hint of curiosity back. "It was New Year's Eve..."
3 words. So harmless, so full of hopes and parties and beers and countdowns. 3 words, full of love and breakups, and anticipation and cheers and So. Many. Flashbacks.
The memories come back to me bit by bit, pieces of puzzles falling back into their places...

I was walking along the sidewalk, my thoughts very foggy, my heart beating steadily because of all the running I had done to get under this mango tree. The night was very beautiful. Starry. Dark. Mysterious. Mesmerizing. It was very chilly, and I had to snuggle up around the tree for some sort of warmth but the tree itself was very cold, so I went back to my original position and stared at the tree. This tree has always been there, in the middle of the sidewalk, and no one has bothered to chop it away, even though it must have caused a number of accidents. This is what fascinated me so much about it. While the whole world was excitedly waiting to say the words "3...2...1..", this tree stood here, all alone, in the chilly night. As it should, obviously, but, still, the fact that something living could be this...peaceful, fascinated me alot.
I was supposed to be at Rahul Varma's New Year's party, and I had only went because Andy had asked me to. But I just couldn't fit in, as desperately as I tried. So here I am, a lonely man on a lonely road under a lonely tree, and I wish for things to be different. I wish that Mom and Dad had not died. I wish I had listened to them and continued my studies. I wish I did not have this stupid passion for art. I wish for things to change.

And I wish for Andy's car to disintegrate as it turns round the corner and zooms towards me. I back up a little and he gets out of the car, wrapping his hands around his body, a look of obvious worry on his face.
"Why are you here?" he asks.

"Hey! what's wrong?!"
And just like that, as if a rubber band completely stretched, then allowed to snap back, I wake up from my pensive state with a frown on my face. I was about to remember something potentially terrible, were it not for Andy's interference. Still I try to look calm and take a sip of my scalding coffee with shaky hands, and say, "Nothing... just a little pain. I need to lie down for a while". With my eyes down I go and sit back on the couch, stretching my legs.
"Look, I know this is weird, and I have no idea what happened. All I know is that you went missing after the party at Rahul's was over. And I kept looking for you at places, and here you are, almost 1 week later, standing in my house with a bloody head and have no idea what happened!".
This angered me. "Look I don't know what happened either. It must have been some terrible accident. I need time to think it through. I need to go to places, perhaps that mango tree would bring back some memories. I'm sure it would". This idea had just occurred to me and it wasn't that bad either. Perhaps fresh air was all i needed. I decided to get some sleep then venture out into the real world. Thinking about the real world reminded me of my actual, and practical problems. Like, for example, not going to work for an entire week. My heart sinks. I'M FIRED FOR SURE, I scream in my head. Today is Thursday, and as I crash down on my bed I glance at the clock to see that it's 10:08 PM. It's very early to go to sleep, and my mind is buzzing with all the information that I had gained today, so I bring back a packet of Cheetos from the kitchen, (Andy giving me strange looks all the while), and finally, at almost 10:48 PM, I close my eyes and fall asleep instantly.

I am sitting on a chair, in a dark room, as dark as hopelessness and depression and darkness itself. Not a single spark is visible. Not a single sound to be heard. Nothing to smell, nothing to feel. Nothing to give my brain confirmation that everything is fine.
Something changes, and I realize my eyes had been closed shut the whole time. I open them now, and still everything is dark. Not everything though: There is a raging fire reaching almost to the ceiling right in front of me. But still everything is dark. I can see nothing, yet I see the fire.The silence is very eerie, yet I can clearly hear the loud cackles, as if the fire was making fun of me. There is nothing to smell, yet the thick smell of smoke is choking me. I see the fire closing up on me, ever growing and beautiful. It creeps slowly, dancing from side to side, teasing me, and I want it. I want to feel it. I watch it growing around me, the flames enveloping me, and I'm astounded by the colours.
And even though I feel nothing, I know my body is on fire.