Bus Stop 13 ➼hood

Five Chapters After The First

|Calum|

❝ did you touch my shoulder? ❞

***

I felt so conflicted. 

The darkness has returned, the temperature had dropped a lot, Rosalyn is no longer here, the scary images of the trapped are gone and I am alone.

I like to think that I'm sitting on something solid, and that there's nothing around me or anything because I can't see anything.

I wonder what my friends are doing? It must have been a few hours, perhaps already dawn now. Michael would be rising early today from his aunt's house in Melbourne because he mentioned something about dying his hair blue today.

Luke would still be sleeping or watching some movie on his laptop as he ate breakfast in bed and enjoying the dark. And Ashton would be helping his mother with chores before he went off for his shift at the video store. 

For a moment, I just sat there crying more than I've ever cried, thinking how I might never meet these people anymore. These people that changed my life. And my parents. God, my parents. And Mali. I promised her last week that I would get a tattoo about her.

I have to try to get out of here. I just have to. For the boys. For my parents. For Mali.

I am still crying, with my eyes closed shut, trying to think about Rosalyn and the old man's words. Calm yourself Cal, and get your shit together. Now think.

99. Holes. What did it mean?

I know that the bus was some kind of time warp shit, since the trapped don't seem to age. I know that it traps you in here. But I also know that it is possible to escape.

Rosalyn made it out, and I believe her. Well, I have no other choice but to believe her.

99.99. What is it about 99?

The old man had said something about a trick. A trick? Meaning that none of this was real? A hallucination? Lucid dream? An illusion?

"You are getting warmer, Calum Hood. Soon enough, you will figure it out." Rosalyn's sudden voice scares me even more than I already am I almost piss my pants. Her voice sounded more far away than it did before. Where is she, exactly?

"Please, I need more help."

"Do not make me repeat the reason why I can't."

"What's the use of figuring this out? Will it get me out?"

"Yes. Definitely. But at what level, I do not know."

"What do you mean, level?"

"It depends on your willpower, your mentality. This place changes you, Calum Hood. It drives you crazy, you've seen the living proof. You will know what I mean when you discover the secret. Only then will you know just how strong you are." She replies.

"I can't do it." I say, burying my head into my hands exasperatedly. I am almost on the verge of giving up. "Who's doing all this, Rosalyn?"

"Someone that I cannot mention." 

She sighs softly. She sounds like she pities me and I take that as a good sign, in hopes that she would help me more. "Look at all the signs Calum Hood."

And then she's gone. I admit, I feel less alone with Rosalyn talking to me, even when she's not really here. Even when I can't really see her, and do not know what she really is. I'm not sure if she's a ghost, some kind of spirit, or a monster.

But something about her presence makes me feel like there's still hope.

It could be the bus driver behind all of this, though. Of course! Why didn't I think of the bastard? To think of it now, I didn't really see his face, he could really have been faceless like Luke said after all.

A tingle runs down my spine when I think of the possibility of this theory bearing a speck of truth.

Wait. The tingles. The sign. 99. The bus driver. The signs.

Infinity.

Time warp. 

Trapped. Rosalyn escaped because she figured out everything.

99. Infinite. Holy shit.

It's all an illusion.

[fluorescents stories are amazing. like seriously i can't even begin to describe it. i love them all especially miss jackson]