Jessie opened his eyes and was met with the clear night sky. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and his vision blurred. His mouth felt dry, tasting like metal. He opened and closed his mouth trying to get rid of the taste, he lifted his head and looked around. He was surprised, he sat on a metal bench in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.

"Where am I?" Jessie asked as he sat up. He felt his head pound.

He grabbed his head and took a look around his surroundings. He was standing across a house with new blue paint and the more Jessie looked at the house the more familiar it became. He turned around quickly to see an open park lit only with a single lamppost. It flickered and illuminated a freshly painted mural against the park restrooms. It had a familiar signature and Jessie knew where he was.

"I'm in California." Jessie said as he removed his head from his hand "How did I get here?" Blue and red lights suddenly started to flash against the metal bench in front of him. He turned around and took a step back. He felt the cold metal pressed against his skin and a chill ran down his spine.

There were police at the house now, completely frozen in place. As if completely struck in time.Jessie stared at them slack jawed, they were like statues. He waited for them to move only for his skin to crawl the longer he stare at at them.

How did they get here, just a second ago this street was empty?

Building up his nerve he took a step forward, starting to moving across the street. He felt a drop of something wet fall on him as he reached the middle of the street and held out his hand feeling more land on his palm. He looked up and gasped as he saw rain suspended over him like stars in the night sky, each one reflecting the light of the police cars. He took a step back and watched as they receded back into the sky as if someone had tied strings to each drop and was pulling them up. They further back he walked the more they disappeared into the sky, until eventually he felt the cold metal of the bench touch the back of his leg once again.

"What the hell?" Jessie said as he sat back down on the bench and starred at the lights. They flashed lighting up the faces of the unmoving police officers, Revealing a blurred mess of nothing.

"They don't move and they don't have faces either. What the hell is this?"

Jessie said as he stared at the house, sighing he stood back up and took a step forward looking towards the sky. As he walked he watched as droplets of water seemingly appeared from thin air, as he reached the middle of the road he felt another drop touch his shoulder. He looked down at the police and noticed they all had changed positions. He walked forward and watched as one taped off the area, faceless as she continued to cordon off the house with the yellow tape.

"The closer I get to the house, the more everything moves." Jessie said aloud. He reached the edge of the sidewalk and stood in front of one of the officers. He bent down and peered under the brim of their hat, curious to see if anything had changed. He sighed and waved his hand in front of the faceless head hoping for a reaction. Nothing changed.

This is nightmare fuel, can't believe I'm so calm for this.

He stood upright and stepped on the sidewalk grabbing the hat of the officer. As he adjusted the hat on his head he walked towards the door, moving past statues and ducking under tape. He took a step as he reached the stairs of the home and felt himself standing in something wet.

What is this?

He shivered and looked down to his feet, he was standing in a puddle. He gasped and fell on his behind.

There's no way.

He crawled to the puddle and looked at his reflection. He was much smaller than before, and his face looked younger. Years younger.

"Holy shit, I'm a kid again." Jessie said as the rain poured on top of him.

"What the  hell is happening?" Jessie said as he rose to his feet. "What happened to me? Why am I here, and why am I wearing Power Ranger Pjs?" He pulled at his shirt and stared in disbelief.

He looked up the door and felt a chill run down his spine. He turned around to see every statue staring at him. He stood frozen in fear as every faceless man and woman stared at him. He backed up and felt his leg hit the stairs behind him. As he slowly inched his way up the stairs each face turned away from him, he turned to face the door.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jessie said as he stared up at the doorknob that was just out of reach. "This is so embarrassing. Is this how Travis feels?"

Standing on the tip of his toes he managed to turn the knob opening the door.

"I don't remember being this short as a kid, how old am I anyway?" He said as he looked at his tiny hands.

Venturing inside the home he found himself in the living room, the furniture was covered by sheets and dust hung heavy in the air.  Coughing Jessie ventured further in.

"Is this the couch? God it's tall." Jessie said staring in awe at the sheet covered behemoth in front of him. He looked around the couch to the center of the room and in the middle of all of it was a body covered in a tarp. At the edge of where the tarp met the floor Jessie saw what looked like black smoke escape.

"Oh fuck this."

When he saw the body he felt a sharp pain in his chest and his vision became blurry around the edges. Something compelled him to move forward, he could hear a deep reverberated voice saying;

"See who's under there Jessie, see for yourself why your family really left."

He turned to look around the room looking for the person speaking, and saw no one.

"Why look for something that's not there. Why not just take a peek at what is."

He looked towards the body and felt his reservations drift away. The closer he approached, the more intense the pain became, his vision worsened with each step. He felt like he was underwater and could feel the pressure of the entire ocean. He finally managed his way to the body under the pressure and fell to his knees beside it.  The voice spoke once more this time it was calmer and almost familiar to him.

"Once you see the truth there's no going back Jessie. With this act, you're accepting your fate and place in your family. Are you sure you want to continue?"

Jessie paused for a moment, he stared at the body.

"Yes."

The moment he  answered the pain lifted and he could breathe easy once more. Feeling confident in his choice and finding it hard not to give in to his curiosity he pulled the tarp off the body.

He was blasted by the smoke and screamed as a searing pain engulfed him, the smoke coiled around him and burned his skin as it settled into place. The smoke reached his eyes and he was  blinded for a moment. He screamed out as the smoke seemed to dig its way into his skin, his eyes, his very soul. Suddenly the pain subsided and Jessie rolled his head back, staring at the ceiling as he regained his eyesight. He struggled to breathe and watched as every time he exhaled black smoke escaped from inside him. He looked down and the body underneath the tarp sent a chill down his spine and he screamed. It was him under the tarp, his skull bashed in. The voice spoke for the last time;

"Now doesn't he look familiar Jessie. He's you but-

As he spoke the body sat up sharply and stared at him with green glaring eyes and the words continued from his mouth.

"I'm dead!"

As the body screeched at him the pain became more intense than before, it felt like a freighter had crashed into him. He collapsed onto the floor clutching his chest and let out a scream of agony. The body rose and walked to him growing in size and age until he looked just like him Jessie looked up and noticed symbols glowing underneath the shirt of the body as it approached. Jessie felt it's hand grab his throat and pick him up so his eyes were level with the one eye left intact on the body's head. He watched gasping for air as black smoke wrapped itself around its head reversing the damage done to it, and he looked into his own eyes.

As it finished re-growing it's head, the hair on the top of his head grew until it was shoulder length. He emanated a black fog from his whole body.

He pulled Jessie closer and whispered in his ear.

"It was fun meeting you. I'll see you real soon."

Jessie heard a snap and the world started fading away into darkness and all that was left was the corpse's cruel laugh.

—————————————•

Jesse awoke drenched in a cold sweat feeling a burning in his chest like heartburn. Confused about what happened he stared at his ceiling.

What the fuck was that. That was the most intense dream of my life. Why was I dead? Who was that voice, and why was it so familiar?

While he was lost in thought he could hear faint voices from outside his door. Curious he got out of his bed and creeped towards his door slowly, carefully taking each step. When he got to his door he still couldn't make out what the voices beyond his door were saying, so he put his ear up against the door and strained hard to listen.

"No, he doesn't know. He's recovering faster than anyone else. Yes, sir, I'll keep my eyes on him. He won't end up like the others I'll make sure of it." After the voice on the other side of the door finished their sentence they sighed and cursed under their breath. Jessie heard footsteps coming towards the door and quickly made his way to his bed. The moment he threw the covers on himself the door opened and his mother was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Jessie I didn't know you were awake yet. How are you feeling honey." She said as she made her way closer to him, placing her hand on his forehead. He pushed her hand away and sat up in bed.

"Mom, who were you talking to? Who are you keeping your eyes on?" He asked confused.

She looked at him surprised and looked at the door then back at him. She laughed in a way that sounded fake and touched his shoulder. "Honey, that was your doctor he called to make sure you were ok. Were you eavesdropping on me Jessie, that's not a very nice thing to do." She squeezed his shoulder a little too tight and he winced in pain.

"Oh sweetie I'm sorry sometimes I don't know my own strength. Are you okay?"

"Mom I'm fine, you said something about me recovering faster than the others? What others?"

A look of disgust passed her beautiful features, then suddenly it was gone and she laughed.

"Honey you're hearing things, I didn't say anything along those lines. Moving on from your suspicions, Jessie I came here to give you your pills."

She produced a small Dixie cup with a small red pill inside and a glass of water. Jessie felt apprehensive to take it at first and stared at his mothers face.

"Go on then. I don't have all day."

Jessie downed the pill and placed it under his tongue before taking a drink.

"Now honey I have to go to work now and I won't be back till late tonight. Remember to take it easy and don't do anything too exhausting." she said with her plastic smile.

She got up and began to walk towards the door when she stopped short and turned around, cruelty in her eyes.

"Oh and don't eavesdrop, it's not a very good idea. Some conversations should remain private."

She walked out of the room leaving Jessie feeling cold and sad. His mother's changes in mood were something he was used to but ever since he got back from the hospital she's been more aggressive. More prone to becoming a cruel woman than her usual cheerful self.

He sat in his bed waiting for the sound of his mother driving away. It didn't take long for her to leave. It was like she didn't want to be in the house, it seemed that way to Jessie at least. She would work long unnecessary hours just to be away, and when she went out with friends there would be times where she didn't come back for days.

Jessie spit out the pill back into the cup and stared at it.

Something doesn't feel right about this. Missing one days medicine won't hurt me too much.

Jessie sat back in bed and reminisced about his mom's strange behavior. About how she would disappear.

One of these instances happened when Jessie was young before his brother moved in, she left him alone in the house for a week. Scared of being alone, of the dark, and what was in the darkness Jessie would cry every night. That was the last time she did that. That's also the reason his brother moved in so Jessie wouldn't be alone again.

Now that his brother wasn't here Jessie felt an immense sadness wash over him and was filled with fear. He didn't remember much of those few days but all he knew was he was alone again. Consumed in his feelings he broke down in his room alone, without his brother, and without a mother who cared enough to take care of her sick son.

——————————————•

The day past by, and then another and soon it was the day before he was supposed to go back to school. Jessie was lying in his bed too depressed to go out into the rest of the house and see all the new things his mother bought with his brother's blood money. It was just too painful.

His mother wasn't home again, she was away at work and he sat in his room waiting to hear from any of his friends in vain. He knew they were asleep but still hoped they would answer him. After waiting an hour he gave up and decided to go to bed.

He was excited to leave the house and see his friends. Excited to see anyone else besides his mom.

I don't know if I'm a bad son for thinking this but I seriously doubt if she loves me sometimes.

With the thought in his mind, he fell into a dreamless sleep, safe from the nightmarish mist and dead bodies. At home and safe.

———————————•

The next day he stirred awake sunlight beaming through his shades and rubbed his eyes. He heard his mother shout from downstairs.

"Jessie if I go up there and you're still asleep you are gonna be in so much trouble." She yelled from downstairs.

Not realizing the time he checked and saw he was very late for his first day back.

"Shit" he exclaimed.

Fifteen minutes later he was hurrying downstairs and saw his mom in the kitchen watching the news. It was the same station as before.

"As of last night, the disappearance of two of the sick students has been the talk of the town. The police have reported saying that no suspects have been named and there seems to be no connection other than the mysterious illness."

"That's so scary I can't believe that something like that would happen here." His mom said as she took a long drink from her coffee.

"Mom, I'm ready to head out now"

"Finally, I thought you would sleep forever, Jessie. Are you excited to see all your little friends." His mom asked as she grabbed the keys to her car.

"Yeah I am. You don't have to drive me to school mom, I can ride my bike there." Jessie said.

"Ok then honey, saves me from getting up." His mom said as she sat back down and continued watching the news.

Jessie let out a sigh of relief and walked towards the door passing through the living room. Right as he placed his hand on the doorknob his mom called out from the other room and he waited and listened.

"Don't get in any more trouble Jessie, I don't want to have to miss out on anymore work. Another thin-"

Jessie turned the doorknob and left his mother rambling to no one. He closed the door behind him and sighed, he walked to the side of his home and grabbed his bike from behind a bush next to the fence that separated his yard from his neighbors. He wasn't allowed to put his bike away in the garage since his mom scratched her car from hitting it coming back from one of her binges. As he grabbed his helmet from beside his bike and latched it on he reminisced about his friends. He hopped on his bike and made his way to school.

Rose's family was very poor and her parents fought a lot so she ended up spending a lot of her time with Travis and him. He had met Travis a year after Rose. He was a very short kid who was awfully smart but talked too much about nothing at all.

He had known these two for a long time and was excited to see them and tell them about his dream. Though Travis might call him crazy.

Little kid talked big even if he isn't.

He chuckled quietly. He thought of nothing as he rode through the town towards school. He just appreciated the wind that zipped past. Eventually he made his way to school and pulled into the parking lot. He zipped past cars and a few honks as he made his way to the bike rack at the front. He looked up and smiled, it was the first time he had since the day his brother died.