Never Coming Home

Why Won't You Stay For A While?

Frank ventured through the white walled hallways of Parallax. He noted just how many people were in the building, many, like Frank, carrying a thin folder that held their resumes.

Frank had absolutely no idea where he was, so he just followed the wave of people who flocked  into an auditorium of sorts. In there, Frank noticed just what kind of people were there. Many looked poor and dressed in whatever rags looked suitable for an interview. One person, Frank recognized, was the friendly neighborhood hobo that lived under the park bridge and threw bibles at strangers. Now, Frank himself wasn't dressed that great. He most certainly wasn't wearing a fancy fitted suit, but he was better dressed than some of the other people there. The whole fiasco struck him as odd and out of place. Nonetheless, Frank ventured on and picked a seat that was the furthest from everyone else. He most certainly didn't want to be spotted out by some of his high school bullies. Well, ex high school bullies. Frank dropped out of high school this year. He was a senior, he could have graduated, but he simply couldn't afford the price. If anything, his mom was more important to him than some stupid education. Frank was old enough to get a job. He was nineteen, after all, so.... what? He found a job that offered good pay for little work. It was almost too good to be true!

Suddenly, a very husky looking man with blond hair and dark sunglasses stepped in front of Frank. The man held a tray with small paper cups. Each cup held two clear blue pills about the size of a dime. Frank glanced up at the man and down at the cups, unsure of what to do.

"What?" Frank asked, voice quivering, "You want me to take those?"

The gray suited man kept still, unmoving, almost not breathing. Frank tried standing up and stepping around the man noting that many similar looking people stood everywhere, doing the exact same thing and holding the exact same trays with the exact same pills. Everyone around Frank accepted the saucer shaped pills, swallowing them down without a complaint. Frank was skeptical, though. After living in Belleville, New Jersey all his life, he knew better than to accept pills from a stranger. Plus, the whole scene felt almost fake, as if it were practiced on a stage. Now,Frank was getting scared. He was unable to step around the large muscled man because he would be blocked by the large silver tray. Eventually, giving up Frank accepted the pills, and placed them in his mouth. He was about to ask for some water, when the pills suddenly dissolved on his tongue, leaving it feeling numb and cold.

'There's no going back now..' Frank thought to himself as he was shoved into one of the four lines that stretched almost all the way to the front door. The boy swallowed nervously, trying to regain some feeling on his tongue. He had no idea as to what was going on around him. Everyone seemed to not process the situation that unfolded in front of their eyes. They looked almost.... robotic.

The neat lines of people eventually filed into four small rooms. Frank was just about to enter one before another large muscled arm caught the boys chest. Frank stopped abruptly, too scared to look the man in the eyes.

As Frank stared ahead, he took note of what the rooms looked like. They were like any regular waiting room, fitted with couches and carpets, much like how the ad portrayed them to be. Suddenly, the rooms began to fill with a white mist. It started from the floors, slowly creeping its way up the worker's bodies. A woman on the far left seemed to awaken from her trance. Her face became bright red, and she began coughing, almost choking. She frantically ran to the glass, pounding on the windows. They shuttered, but didn't give in. Soon, everyone else in the room had awoken. They all pleaded for their lives. Some screamed, others sat down and cried. All in all, they were drowning.

Frank couldn't turn away. He felt as if he was a puppet in his own body. Frank's eyes stayed glued to the glass, not moving, not blinking.

The people began to react horribly now. Some spit up blood, others just doubled over and lied still on the ground. There was one though, one that Frank couldn't forget. An old man with white hair and a lab coat began to turn purple. His eyes seemed to blow up like balloons, growing with every pump of his heart. It wasn't just his eyes, though. It seemed as if his whole body was inflating. It reminded Frank of that scene in Willy Wonka when the little girl, Violet, turned into a blueberry, only this time, the old man didn't become a blueberry. He exploded.

Suddenly there was a shout from behind him. A boy with pale skin and raven hair jumped out of line. He waved his hands in front of people's eyes and shook other's shoulders.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?! SOMEONE! PLEASE! LOOK AT ME!" He screamed. The boy was crying now. His eyes were red and puffy, and his body shook with fear. He then ran up to Frank, tightly gripped his shoulders, looked him straight in the eyes, and whispered "please".

Finally, a tear slipped down Frank's cheek, and he began to shake too. Frank was so scared. Hell, he was absolutely petrified.

The boy in front of Frank gasped, tugging on his shoulders. "You can hear me!" He whispered harshly. "Please! Let's get out of here! Let's g-"

The boy was suddenly yanked away from Frank, but his grip was so tight that it tugged Frank along for a few steps. A security guard dragged the boy away, kicking and screaming. Frank didn't want to be taken away, but he didn't want to die either. Really, he had no choice in the matter because before he knew it, a soft sob escaped his lips, and the boy's cover was blown.

Frank was too, dragged away by two muscular hands, but he gave more of a struggle. Frank may be small, but he sure as hell can fight. He's from fucking Jersey.

The security guard ended up bashing his fist into Frank's face a few times before he was dazed enough to comply. Frank felt blood drip through his lips and nose, and a constant beat of pain rippled its way through his whole body.

Finally, Frank was thrown into a room with another figure, but he really didn't have the time or strength to try anything. He didn't even look up.

Frank just curled into a fetal position on the floor and quietly sobbed. He didn't want this fucking job anymore.

He wanted to go home.

He wanted to see his mama.