Distorted (an Alex Kralie story)

Part 19- A visit

  The operator came just in time. He snatched Tim and all my hope away. I looked down at where Tim was and I lowered the gun I had in my hand. Doing anything now is basically pointless. I have nothing left to do, and I surely don't have anyone to talk to. Everyone I know is a cold, fearful person who wants to stay out of my life.

  I heard the sound of keys jingling in the door. All the lights were already off, the blood stains were cleaned. The house looked fairly normal and there were many places to hide. This person had keys to the house so it could either be a realtor or someone who has lived here in the past, the ones I knew being Amy and Jessica. Amy is dead... Jessica is most likely alive... so it was my time to hide.

  I ran to a bedroom. There were not only one but two voices, so whoever was coming in was being a friend, and I could tell now it wasn't a realtor of any sort. I kept the door unlocked because I don't need more suspicion as to who else was in the house.

"Wow, your apartment looks fairly nice for being quite aged"
"Yeah. I haven't been here in a while. I almost even forgot I lived here!"

  That was Jessica and one of her friends. I couldn't tell at the moment. Most likely they were an old friend, and I knew it wasn't Amy.

"I bought some groceries because... now since I can actually afford the rent on my own, I'm going to live here"
"So you didn't live here before?"
"No, actually. I didn't exactly live here. I've been gone"
"Doing what?"
"That shouldn't matter to you, it's not really important"
"It is important. I've known you for six years! You should be able to tell me everything"

  Since the door was open just a crack, I could see Jessica looking down at the floor. She was going to lie about her past experiences with Rosswood and Jay. She wouldn't tell another soul about that. She doesn't want to remember that.

"I was lost... on a small camping trip I had. I decided to stay at a hotel for a while"
"That's unfortunate... Did you see any hot guys at the hotel??"
"Well there was one guy— uh, I meant there was literally only one guy at the hotel... we seemed to be the only people there, besides the staff"
"Odd"
"Very odd"
"Hey Jessica..."
"Yeah, Veronica?"

  The friend, whose name is Veronica, said something in a very quiet tone. I couldn't hear anything but a whisper. But after that, Jessica nodded in agreement and Veronica went down the hallway.

  She was smiling and walking down the hallway. Veronica stopped to look at a picture hanging on the wall, while I found the mask Tim left. It was in the same room I was in...

"Hey uh, who are the people in this picture?"
"Oh that's Amy and her boyfriend Alex... They were my old roommates, and they left and never came back"
"And why is there a small piece of paper slipped in the frame too... what does this mean: 1102? Is the 0 supposed to have an x in it or did someone just screw up that bad on trying to draw a zero..."
"They just messed up"
"Huh"

  She started walking down the hallway, as she was doing so I put on the mask and a coat I found lying on the bed. It was a pale blue and meant for winter, I haven't worn this one since I was with Jessica and Amy in that shed... where Tim came out of no where and attacked me.

"Did you hear a noise?"
"No," Jessica looked up at Veronica from the dining table.
"I think it came from this room..."

  I peered around the corner of the door, she saw the mask I was wearing and she walked faster

"My imagination is going wild today. First it was the man in the woods, now I'm seeing masks!"

  Jessica looked at Veronica as she left and closed the restroom door, so that's where she was headed.

"She knows," Jessica whispered to herself.

  There was a loud scream coming from the restroom. I didn't do anything, I was still in the bedroom. And as much as I wanted to go look... I just decided to leave my mind at bay.

"You're a genius Jessica," Veronica said as Jessica was now running to her.

"I-I'm a genius? But you screamed!"
"You put fake blood in the sink... it looks so realistic! It's as if it's real blood!"
"Yeah... I fooled you," Jessica said with a fake smile, questioning what happened.

  I looked at the palm of my hand, sweat started to drip down onto the floor. As I looked around the corner the sink went off and Veronica walked out of the restroom and sat back at the table with Jessica. They both went back to talking.

"Jessica."
"Yes?"
"Why do you have a mask hanging on the corner of your bedroom door? I mean it's ingenious, because it can be used for scaring away people. But why do you have it on around me?"
"Then again, Veronica, I haven't been here in a while. And if you need me to, I can go take it down," Jessica said with a gulp.

  Veronica looked up at Jessica.

"I should go take it down. I'm curious about it... I want to examine it. I only got a quick look at it"
"Uh— I wouldn't do that if I were you"
"I'll be back soon"

  Veronica walked this way, I had on the mask. I stood there.

"It's as if there's a person standing there"
"I am standing here," I said in a lower tone than my normal voice.

  Veronica leapt and ran to Jessica.

"THAT WASN'T A MASK, SOMEONE WAS WEARING IT! I SWEAR! THERE IS A PERSON STANDING THERE, WE NEED TO GO CHECK IT OUT! MAYBE CALL 911 IF WE NEED TO!"
"You remind me of one of my other friends, always jumping to conclusions and wanting to solve mysteries"

  Veronica grabbed Jessica's hand and ran down the hallway, they ran into the room I was in. I was now hiding somewhere else.

"Wh-where did he go?"
"I don't know, I think you just need to get more sleep or something..."
"Trust me he was right there! He talked to me!

  I came out from behind the restroom door, I had my fists clenched. I was walking slowly to them. Veronica was the first to run. Jessica hesitated, she had history with the mask.

"I'M OUT OF HERE"

  Jessica followed Veronica. They didn't call the police. I took off the mask and looked in the mirror. My reflection was different from my own.

  It showed the mask in my reflection, and it showed writing in black marker.

  The writing said: "we are distorted"