Amnesia

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

They got back to the trap house, and saw to their immense relief, that none of the roommates were back yet.

"You ready for this?" Corey asked.

"Not by a longshot," Colby responded, getting out of the car. "But I think I'm gonna shower before we talk, I stink."

Corey laughed, "You smell like antiseptic dude."

Colby made a face at him as they walked into the house, but he knew that it was true. Plus, the smell of the antiseptic just reminded him of the hospital, and that just reminded him of Sam, and nope- He wasn't going there.

It was strange to look across the hall, see Sam's room, and know that he wasn't there. It was the strange emptiness about it that propelled him to draw closer to the closed door. In the end, Colby couldn't help himself, he pushed open Sam's door and walked in. Corey had been true to his word.

Inside, everything was put back on the shelves, the random clothes strewn about the floor were all in the laundry basket and the black marks on the mirror had been washed off. There wasn't even a stain on the carpet from where the whiskey bottle had fallen.

Colby looked around for a few moments more, not really sure what he was hoping to see, before backing out of the room and closing the door gently. Almost as if Sam was there and would yell at him for slamming the door.

He walked into his own room and immediately stripped off. He considered burning the clothes he'd been wearing, but he was actually kind of fond of that shirt, so maybe not. They'd definitely go through two cycles in the washer and dryer before making their way back on to his body, though.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to his dresser to grab a fresh pair of shorts, before making his way to the bathroom.

Colby made sure to take the longest and hottest shower possible and when he emerged, well, he didn't exactly feel refreshed, but he certainly felt a bit better. He put on his shorts and walked back into his room to throw on a t-shirt and jeans before descending the staircase.

Judging by the muted tone of voices downstairs, the roommates were all down in the living room.

He walked in and saw that Devyn, Corey, Aaron, and Jake were lined up in a row on the couch, leaving a small spot at the end for him. Colby sat down and tried to tune into what they were saying. Or he would have, but they abruptly stopped talking as soon as they noticed him.

A few moments passed in awkward silence before Jake cleared his throat, and, being who he was, got directly to the point.

"So, uh, what's up, dude? Your text really freaked me out"

"Yeah," Aaron echoed, nodding his head, perhaps emboldened by Jake he added, "I didn't know what to think when I saw your message."

"Yeah, I mean we got here as quick as we could. What's going on? Does this have to do with uh, you know?" Jake asked, silently referring to the video Sam had uploaded yesterday. The subject still felt too thin and delicate for any of them to broach it without disrupting the carefully created glass shield of silence.

Colby cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah, something like that." He paused. "Look, I need the three of you to promise me that what I am about to tell you, you cannot freak out about it, okay?"

Jake, Aaron, and Devyn nodded.

"So, uh, you know how Sam uploaded yesterday? Well, Corey and I were out trying to film a video when we both got the notification. We dropped what we were doing and immediately drove home. Well, when we got here, I, uh, went up to Sam's room to check on him, and well..." Colby trailed off.