A Midnight Mind

Chapter 27: After the Fade

Despite naming the roads that Vic had to take to get to Neil's house, Vic remembered very few of them, and they got turned around on several occasions. Once Ethan put the address into Vic's new GPS, though, they made it the rest of the way with no problems. All in all, it would have been faster to take the bus, but Vic seemed to appreciate spending time with Ethan.

Neil's house was even smaller than Uncle Vic's, and was crammed into a series of identical old-style houses. It wasn't what Ethan imagined Neil's house looked like (for some reason, he thought Neil came from a wealthy family), but the address was right, so Ethan walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

He wondered what he'd say to Neil's mom or dad, but Kara answered the door. She looked up at Ethan with stone cold eyes.

"Come on in," she mumbled. "Neil's downstairs."

"Where's his parents?"

"Neil lives with his dad, and he's not home. He's almost never home."

Ethan followed her inside. They didn't go far before reaching the staircase to the basement. The stairs were made of cement and Ethan felt colder with each step down.

The small basement was divided between an uncarpeted laundry room area and a combination rumpus room and bedroom. A single-sized bed sat in the corner next to a bookshelf overflowing with sci fi paperbacks, as well as a computer desk with two monitors. Nearby was a sitting area with two sofas, a coffee table, and a medium-sized flastscreen TV. The floor was a mess of electronics cables. Pop cans littered the table surfaces.

Neil sat on one of the sofas, watching a movie. His hair was matted and he wore the same t-shirt and jeans that he wore yesterday. His eyes were even more vacant than how they looked when he left his body behind while projecting. He didn't look sick, but Ethan couldn't help thinking of him as a mindless drone in his current state.

I did this to him. He was a brilliant psychic, chasing after the dream man all by himself, and now he's got the mind of a goldfish. He's supposed to get better, but who knows how many of his old memories have been wiped out for good?

"Ethan's here, Neil," said Kara. "You remember Ethan."

Neil looked at Kara, then at Ethan. There was nothing in his eyes to suggest he recognized him. There was no expression at all.

Ethan's chest hurt.

"Hey, man," he said.

"Hello," said Neil tonelessly.

God, I really messed him up. There must have been some other way to save him from the dream man. I should have done something else. He doesn't deserve this.

Feeling awkward, Ethan sat down on the other sofa.

"What are we watching?" he asked.

"Fright Night," said Neil. He didn't sound sure.

"Right on."

Kara sighed through her nose and sat down next to Neil.

"We've been going through some pictures and things," she said, lifting a tablet device from the coffee table. She turned it on and sifted through photos on Neil's Facebook profile, reading aloud some of his status updates. She would always ask him if he remembered doing whatever the status said he did, but he always shook his head. Each time he did, Ethan felt worse.

As she looked through the pictures with Neil, Kara asked, "Are you still looking for the dream man?"

Neil looked up at her.

"I was talking to Ethan," she said. Neil looked back down at the tablet.

He seems to remember the dream man, Ethan thought. There was recognition, there. But Kara doesn't want to talk to him about it. She's protecting him, maybe.