The Underground {Palaye Royale} [Mystery/ Thriller] [ON HOLD]

// 4 //

Another hour went by since that episode and the man didn't come back. I stopped talking to the guys because they would just tell me I was going crazy and needed rest. 

I kept thinking, rethinking and anylising every word I could remember of my dialogue with the weird man. 

''I see you trust me now.''

How did he know he was gaining my trust? I don't remember telling him that.

''Let's leave those childish games. And remember, what you love will guide you. Think of music.''

If asking what the hell is happening is a childish game well I must live in a playground then. Also, what the fuck does that mean? ''What you love will guide you.'' Guide me through where, what? 

''You have t...''

I have? Have what? Have what?!

Besides a common body and boring personality, what do I have?

This is torturing me.

To be honest, not just this, all of this. Being in jail, having a talk with a man that just disappears. What the hell happened? I still need to know.

After a long time of pondering, there was only one explanation.

I am going mad. 

***

The following hours passed quickly as I was drifting in and out of a restless sleep with confused dreams, all involving me, Sebastian, Emerson and Remington lost in a forest with some weird creatures trying to kill us, the weird man and some bands I really like, Twenty-One Pilots and Bastille included. 

Needless to say I was confused, and to make it better, hungover. By the time Sophie got us out and while she scolded us all (mainly the boys: ''you're the older ones! You should be an example!''), I tried to remember all that happened. I couldn't focus on that though, as we were reaching home and Sebastian and I were practically kicked out of the car with a scream for us to ''grow up and be the adults we're supposed to be''.

 - Can I stay at yours for the day? I'm too tired to do anything. - Sebastian groaned as we walked towards my house.

- Yeah, sure. - I grumbled back.

We entered my tidy lair, and while Sebastian made his way to the kitchen to make coffee or something, I went to the bathroom. Took a shower, washed my dirty hair and body, and got changed into loosely fit denim shorts and an oversized The 1975 black and white t-shirt, and towel-dried my short hair.

I walked back into the living room and Sebastian was there, sprawled on the couch. He stood up when he saw me, and without a word, walked into the spare bedroom, grabbed some clothes, and entered the bathroom. 

I slumped down on the couch, just to get up a few seconds later and make myself a cup of coffee. As the kettle boiled, I looked around. Everything seemed so surreal; us getting drunk, climbing the Hollywood sign, me nearly kissing Emerson, then going to jail, that weird man that disappeared, what he said... it was still everything clear on my mind but it just felt like a dream.

A bad dream.

***

Later that day, Emerson and Remington came over and we decided to have a calmer night together, without going out nor climbing signs, but definitely with alcohol.

We were spread on the couches, me sharing a cuba libre [rum and coke] with Emerson for starters, watching a random movie that was on tv. 

The guys chatted quietly (as they always do) while I zoned out. There was this weird little voice in the back of my head, annoying me with its disjointed words.

Woods, go, now, music, journey, vampires, fire.

Trees, werewolves, bands, wind, friends, hate.

Water, choices, caution, earth, love, death.

I had no idea of how those words could be in any way connected, and they seemed all quite odd, I mean, woods? Yeah sure there's a trail in my backyard that leads to the woods (and I used to play there a lot with Sebastian and our cousins when our grandma still lived here) but I don't think that there's anything special there. Also, journey? Bands? Vampires and werewolves?... Death?

As the guys continued talking, their voices got louder - I'm not sure if it was real... or all in my head. I was drifting in an out of a restless sleep with rather confusing dreams, all of them, again, involving the weird man.

That fucking man.

What the hell did he do to me?

***

Hours passed and finally I was out of that weird trance. I mean, it felt like hours. Sebastian said it was only a matter of minutes that I was mumbling stuff with my eyes rolled backwards; they thought I was being posessed by some sort of demon and filmed it and showed me the video. It was creepy, and I was genuinely scared of myself.

The movie on the screen ended and it got black. For a few minutes, it was all silent, until an idea popped into my head - which was still spinning around with all the recent events; I was clearly not thinking straight.

- Why don't we go to the woods?