With progress comes problems...
The light of the rising sun was filtered by my curtains, tinting everything in my room orange. I rubbed my burning eyes, trying to get rid of the feeling. It had been another restless night, and my hands were shaking from exhaustion, my head feeling heavy. One good thing that came with it was the numbness – being too tired to really be aware of anything. The pulsing anxiety from last night turned into a dull throb.
I was sat at the edge of my bed, listening to the soft sounds of my father moving about, probably getting ready for his shift. It was obviously still very early, but I couldn’t be bothered to check the time. I was contemplating whether I should open my curtains when there were two knocks on my door, startling me. My back was turned towards it, the soft creak of my door opening the only thing that told me my father had entered the room.
‘’Harry, we need to talk,’’ he suggested, moving into my line of sight. I stared up at him, blinking slowly. The bed dipped when he sat down next to me, joining me in staring at the wall opposite us.
‘’I’m worried about you, son. You’re acting strange,’’ he spoke softly, his hand reaching out for mine. I pulled it back, folding my hands in my lap.
‘’Strange, how?’’ I finally looked at my father, raising my eyebrows. He took a deep breath and stood up, pacing back and forth a few times before answering.
‘’I barely see you, and when I do, there’s – you. It’s like something’s missing,’’ he explained, waving his hands around as if they would make things clearer. Honestly, it felt like a slap in the face. I felt anger, like fingers wrapping me up in an iron grip.
‘’You barely see me? I’m sorry, but YOU are always at work, I’m not the busy one. And what’s missing? Really dad? How about my three dead friends? How’s that for starters?’’ I almost felt bad, watching him wince at my harsh tone, but I was through with things.
‘’Harry, I-‘’
‘’Just go,’’ I interrupted him, pointing at the door. He gave me a curt nod before disappearing again, his heavy footsteps fading in the distance. This was not a good start to my day, but I was growing increasingly tired. I waited until I could hear my dad’s car pull out of the driveway before getting ready… or as ready as I could get.
***
Zayn and I had found a crossroads not too far out of town, surrounded by fields. The air was heavy with the scent of crops and the sun was still rising further into the sky, its rays flickering between the clouds. We were leaning against my jeep, the tension slowly building as we both stared at the gravel road. I watched wordlessly as Zayn straightened up, taking the small box from his pocket and walking towards the middle. He turned towards me, his face expressionless but eyes frightened, before he started digging with his hands. A few minutes later, the box was in the ground, and Zayn rushed back towards me. I was suddenly overcome with a strange sensation, causing me to shudder. And then, there was a voice.
‘’Malik! Took you long enough,’’ a gravelly voice with a thick Scottish accent sounded, almost like it came from behind us. We both turned quickly, only to see the fields and long grass swaying in the soft breeze. I took a deep breath before turning again, slowly this time. There was a man standing in front of us, fairly short, with brown hair and an all-black suit. He didn’t quite fit the description that was given us, but I had to admit this wasn’t as frightening.
