Beside Myself

1. Morning Buzz

The mad man looked down at me as I sat strapped in my chair and unable to move. "Where is she, Thompson? Where is your sister?" What was he even talking about? I don't have a sister. In fact, I don't have any siblings or relatives at all. Hell, even my parents passed away when I was only 5. "I'm not gonna ask again, Thompson!" I looked up at him. I could feel the blood running down my face, making a detour around my swollen eye. I still said nothing. Not that I could, anyways. "Hard to crack, eh? A tough one. Hey boys! Looks like we got ourselves a hero! Crank it up, Doug. On max this time!" I managed to throw a glance with the corner of my eye at that Doug standing in the corner as he reached for the switch on the wall. He flipped the switch with so much force, it was as if he couldn't maintain his excitement about what was about to happen. Not a good sign.

I could feel the electricity coursing through my body, surging through every single nerve. I barely managed to contain my screaming, letting out an audible groan every now and then until I could bear it no more and let out an inhumane scream. It was as if my brain grew a heart of its own, and with every heartbeat, a wave of pain emerged from my cortex. Unbearable. The shock seemed to cease for a moment, but managed to regain its intensity again just a few seconds later. What in the world was going on? I was about to slip into unconsciousness when suddenly an alarm rang. A noisy one, too. Was this a dream? The alarm grew louder. My head was on the verge of exploding. No. This isn't an alarm. This is a siren. Doug looked worried. The mad man looked almost as concerned. "They found us!" He paced towards me. "Who did you contact?" Silence. "Very well, then. Doug! Send a detachment at once. Defend the den. We can't afford any more....interruptions. And you!" He shot me a look that broke through the windows to my soul. "We'll meet again, conduit!" Conduit? What was he talking about? Just as he said that, I blacked out.

I woke up back in my dorm, head still swirling. So that was all a dream? I tried to get up but I couldn't summon enough energy to do so. It almost felt as if I hadn't eaten in weeks. None of this made sense. My phone buzzed. Out of all the times and all the days, why now?

More buzzing. Whoever was trying to reach me was definitely not about to give up soon. I took a quick peek at my home screen. 17 unread messages from Zeke. Really, man? 17? At 7 in the morning? On a Saturday? I threw my phone at the other bed across the room. I gotta admit, having a double room for yourself has its perks. Double the space, double the amount of pillows, the fact that you can invite people over easily. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who swim in dollar bills. My roommate simply dropped out after an incident involving a toothbrush and toilet paper. Don't ask. More buzzing. Is it too much to ask for a few minutes of sleep? More buzzing. Fine, fine! I'm up. More buzzing. I get it, Zeke.

I got up, not because I wanted to obviously, and headed over to the other side of the room to look for my phone that I've launched a few minutes ago. 20 unread messages from Zeke. What matter could possibly be so important for Zeke to text me 20 freakin' times this early? I unlocked my phone and checked my messenger, only to find that Zeke had sent me 20 "CHRIS!!!"s. Zeke is typing a message. No! Stop! I closed my messenger and looked through my contacts for Zeke's number, which wasn't really hard considering I only have 17 contacts in there. There we go. Zeke Dunbar. Call. As expected, he answered after two rings.

"Hey Chris, did you get my message?"

"Which one of the 20?" I replied, half asleep.

"Don't tell me I woke you up" The sarcasm hit me through the screen.

"Nah, man. I've been up for-" I yawned "-hours. You're not buying this, are you?"

"Not for one second. Anyways get yourself dressed, we're heading out"

"We?"

"Yea, dude. Don't you remember?"

I checked my watch then threw a quick glance at the calendar on the wall. 27th of April.

"Oh crap! Jane's birthday! How did I forget that?"

"Sucks to be you, man. I thought I told you to set a reminder on your-"

"I know, I know. Just.... Just give me 20 minutes and I'll be ready"

"Alright, man. Remember! 24 Lincoln St., apartment number forty-"

"Zeke. I. Know. We've been there a gazillion times before!"

"Right, right! See ya there, then?"

"See ya there" *click*

I think it's self-explanatory when I say Zeke can be a bit of a nut head at sometimes, but I have to admit, he knows how to be a good friend, especially when he is needed the most. No matter how many times I brush him off, he still manages to draw a smile on my face with that behavior of his. But waking me up at 7 in the morning with 20 "CHRIS!!!"s? He'll get what's coming for him later. Right now, I gotta transform from nacho to macho in, how much now? 19 minutes. Easier said than done.

To shower or not to shower? Now THAT is the question. I headed to the bathroom as fast as I can and turned on the hot water while fetching some fresh clothes from my wardrobe. Blue shirt, blue shirt, blue shirt, yellow and blue shirt, red and blue shirt. Seriously, Chris? I guess the red and blue shirt will have to do. Black jeans, check! Adidas ankle socks, check! Water running on the ground, che- water running on the ground? I left the tap open, didn't I? 13 minutes left, 6 of them spent deciding what to wear. Might as well call myself Caitlyn, huh? I quickly rushed to the bathroom and turned the tap off, plunged into the tub and scrubbed myself so fast, I think I shed a kilo or two of skin. Okay, shower's done, now let's play dress up with only 7 minutes on the clock.

I dressed up, brushed my hair and stood in front of the mirror. "Damn! 10/10 would ask out for Valentine's!" I couldn't help but smile at my own joke. Wait a minute. That grin I just flashed myself; it looks familiar. Almost as if it wasn't mine. That's when it hit me. The mad man! He bore the same smile as he said that we'll meet again. Could it be? Nah. Fat chance. But that word he said though. Conduit. What did it mean? 2 minutes left. Just enough for me to whip out my phone and Google this. C-O-N-D-U-I-T. Search.

(ˈkänˌd(y)o͞oət)

noun: A channel for conveying water or other fluid.

He called me a pipe? Yeah well to be honest, he wasn't a good looking hunk of a junk himself either! Well, we're on spring break from college, and this basically counts as research. Let's hope Mr. Wheatley sees my point of view. 1 minute left. No time for breakfast. I'll just grab a diet coke and head out, and so I did just that, opened the door, stepped out, closed the door, locked it twice so the toothbrush and toilet paper incident won't repeat itself (again, don't ask) and headed out.

There it was: my car, the beauty of the beasts, a black and red Porsche Cayenne. Okay, maybe I don't have swimming pools of dollar bills, but I could still afford a little bit of luxury, right? I took my keys out, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. Ah, the smell of freshly bought leather! I pushed the key into the start slot and turned it sideways. My baby roared. Oh how I loved that sound. I could feel the chill run along my spine. Alright, Chris. Let's do this. Time to get out party on. Just as I was about to smash the accelerator, my phone buzzed.

Reminder: Jane Doe's birthday.

Better late than never, I guess.