Diaries of the Dead

20 | Coming Down

unedited. 

20 | C o m i n g  D o w n 

         Aiden settled into his chair, his eyes set on the glass of lukewarm beer nearby. His friends—or rather his roommate’s friends—joined him, taking their rightful seats.

        They all began to talk, but Aiden just stared ahead, a sinking feeling already starting to develop in the pit of his stomach. He felt uncomfortable, out of place.

      Personally, he hated gatherings like these. His roommate had convinced him to go out to Hooters with him and some friends to celebrate their greatest victory yet—graduating college.

       One of the boys called a waitress over, gawking at her very prominent breasts as she waltzed over in her bright orange booty shorts. She tossed her honey blonde hair over her shoulder and cocked out a hip. “What would you like?”

      “Some cheese sticks to start us off,” he said simply, not removing his eyes from her. “You, by the way, have very nice assets.”

       The color flushed the waitress’ cheeks as she jotted down the order on her notepad. “Thank you.”

         Another boy chimed in. “They don’t look real.”

         She gasped, taken aback. “How dare you say my breasts aren’t real?”

         Aiden dropped his head, becoming uninterested in the conversation.

      “I’ll only know if I can cop a feel,” one of the boys suggested, a questioning brow rising. He extended his arms and grasped the pair of boobs, gaining a tight hold. “I don’t know…feels pretty fake.”

        The blonde huffed and turned around, sauntering off.

        The boys began to jeer at the waitress as she walked away.

       Aiden, bored and somewhat disgusted, stared out the nearest window. A large neon sign was plastered to the window, tilted to the right a bit. Beyond that, the busy streets of New York stretched away. It didn’t even matter if it was dark or raining. The city truly never slept.

        The conversation around him became muffled as he fixed his gaze out the window. These men were nothing like him. All they cared about were girls, sex and beer.

      He continued to stare out the window, searching for something to focus his attention on. It seemed like a good idea to drift away from reality and get lost in his own little world. It was what he did best.

       The sheeting rain seemed to come together to form an outline of something, or someone.

       Aiden shut his eyes and shook his head, ridding himself of the disturbing thoughts. When he reopened his eyes, the figure was still there. If anything, it was more distinct.

      After a few more moments of staring, Aiden noticed the outline of the figure was definitely a person’s. Soon, all the other features appeared and he saw the two holes where eyes would be. Legs formed, strands of hair grew, and lips drew into a soft smile. The process continued until a grown adult stood on the sidewalk, staring back at him.

       His jaw fell open, illustrating his shock. There, just a few feet away from him, was his very beautiful and very deceased Aunt Jules.

          An unsettling feeling formed in his stomach and he stood up sharply, knocking his glass to the table and spilling all of its contents.