Jorōgumo Cycle

I met Joe at a local Denny’s. Working the night patrol in a small town, not much happens, but when it does, it’s usually not much. Joe was an exception to this pattern. I showed up around midnight and the manager on duty pointed me to a man in the back. I didn’t need the help given how easy he was to single out.

Joe was disheveled. His eyes were bloodshot and focused with a furious gaze on the paper under him as he scribbled something uninterruptible with the crayons the restaurant provided to keep children occupied. I sighed. Drug use was common around here, but it was normal for it to be the same few people each time. I didn’t recognize him which meant he was just passing through town. Something about that didn’t sit well with me.

I looked over my shoulder towards the parking lot. Three cars were parked outside and my cruiser. Enough for the people working, but then how did he get here? Maybe he walked. I kept my hand on my gun as I approached Joe. I loomed over the table and watched him continue. Even up close I couldn’t make sense of what he was drawing. To me, it looked like a person with far too many limbs. Maybe I’d understand if I let him finish, but enabling drug-induced art wasn’t a part of my job description.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said, trying to maintain a calm voice. “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.

My voice seemed to cause something to click in him. His hand stopped moving and his face shot up and looked at me. He was panic-stricken. His eyes darted around the room as if he was looking for something.

“W-where am I?” He asked. I felt myself raise an eyebrow at him. Either he was a really good actor, or it was the truth that he didn’t know where he was.

“You’re at a Denny’s. Over on Lucy and Main.” Joe seemed frustrated at that. The tips of his fingers moved to his temples as he seemed to try to massage a headache.

“That doesn’t make any sense to me. I was just at-“ he stopped. “I- I was at a warehouse. And then I was here.” A greater sense of panic stretched across his face as he tried to piece together the fragments of his memories. When nothing came together some tears started to well up around the edges of his eyes.

It was obvious to me this wasn’t something as simple as a druggie having a bad trip. Something traumatic happened to Joe. Something his mind wasn’t allowing him to remember.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“I-I can’t remember,” he said after a brief pause to think about it.

“Maybe you have some ID on you?”

Joe patted himself down looking for a wallet. The dismayed look he gave told me there was nothing.

“I’ll call you Joe for now then,” I said.

“Joe?”

“Yeah. Like Joe Schmo.”

“Oh. I get it.”

That seemed to calm him down a little. Maybe it wasn’t his name, but it gave him something to hold onto. An anchor to keep him from losing himself to impending madness.

“Come on. Let’s get you some fresh air.”

Joe nodded and then stood up. I looked down at the paper and drawing. What did it mean? We stepped outside of the Denny’s. The air was crisp. The kind of cold air that burns your lungs if you breathe too deep. I was fine, but Joe was a different story. The guy was dressed as if he had just visited a beach. Flip flops, swim trunks, and a v-neck. No jacket or hat or anything to keep him warm.

“Cold?” I asked even though it was obvious from the way he was shivering.

“Yeah.”

“I could warm up the cruiser if you’d like. You’d have to sit in the back, but it shouldn’t be a big deal.” Joe nodded again and together we took shelter from the cold inside the police cruiser. The heater blasted out the vents as soon as I ignited the engine.

I looked in the mirror after I called back into the station to report everything was fine. I expected to see a wave of relief washing over him, but instead, I was met with the sight of him staring out the window with a blank expression.

“Are any of these cars yours?” I asked as I scanned the parking lot. “I can follow you home. Make sure you get there safely.”

“No. None of these are mine.”

That’s what I thought he’d say. My assumption earlier was spot on.

“How’d you get here then? Did someone drop you off? Maybe an Uber? They might be able to tell you who you are.”

I watched Joe in the rearview mirror as he collected his thoughts. Was this going to be another thing he struggled to remember?

“I was at a warehouse.” Joe started as he shut his eyes. “And I-I closed my eyes. I clenched my hands into fists.”

“Uh-huh,” I said as I second-guessed my original assumption about whether or not he was on drugs.

“Then I teleported away,” he finished. 

I rubbed my hands over my eyes. Now it was my turn to be frustrated. I turned and looked over my shoulder to say something, but the words never left my mouth. Joe was gone; vanished into thin air.

“What the hell?” I said. I jumped out of my seat and circled to the back. Out of desperation, I flung open the door to see if he was hidden somehow, but he wasn’t there. I scanned the dim parking lot. If he made a run for it he couldn’t have gotten far. Plus I would have heard the door open.

“If I didn’t do it, you wouldn’t have believed me,” someone said from behind me. I whipped around and drew my gun at the same time. Joe now stood in front of me with his hands up.

“I can go wherever I want now. I can see the world.” Joe stepped forward. “I can take you with me. Let me share my gift with you.”

My mind raced. Did I arrest him on the spot? If what he said was true then it would be pointless. I put my gun back into its holster. Joe's hands came down. I decided to call him on his bluff. When nothing happens I’ll bring him to a hospital to get care.

“Show me,” I said.

Joe took another step towards me and reached his hands out. I took his hands in mine and closed my eyes. It was as if he was giving me instructions through his thoughts. I felt his hands squeeze mine and then my whole body felt like it was being pulled through a tube. Then on the other side of the tube was an intense warmth. I cracked my eyes open and was blinded by a bright sun hanging midway in the sky.

I was stunned. If it wasn’t for the salt in the air sticking to the inside of my lungs I wouldn’t have believed it. Somehow Joe teleported the two of us to a private beach of some sort. There wasn’t a soul around us. I moved to the edge of the water and stuck my finger into it. The cold feeling was another confirmation.

“How did you-“ I said.

“I told you. I just close my eyes, clench my fists, and think about where I want to go.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Joe looked away as if he were ashamed of himself.

“Can you take me back?” I had had enough of this. My worldview had changed in an instant. I wondered if Joe was the only person in the world who could do something like this or if there were others.

“Take my hands again and think about where you want to go,” Joe said. I followed his instructions and reached out to grab his hands like before.

“Come with me to the warehouse,” I heard him whisper in a voice that wasn’t his own. This voice sounded like a nail being dragged along a glass pane.

I pulled my hands back. What was this about a warehouse again? He had mentioned it before, but this time was different. It was as if someone else was speaking through him.

“Joe, what is this warehouse you keep mentioning?”

Joe looked past me and out into the ocean. His eyes were glazed over as if something had taken him over from the inside. I moved in front of him and waved my hands in front of his face. After the third time, I managed to get his attention.

“Yes?” Joe said.

“You were saying something about a warehouse,” I said.

“What warehouse?”

A sick grin grew on Joe’s face. He hunched over as if preparing to pounce. With each movement from his body, I could hear his joints and bones cracking. I put my hand on my gun, but Joe changed his demeanor once again. He rubbed his face and the light in his eyes turned back on.

“Why do you look so tense, Offer Gordon?” he said. I relaxed for a moment but then gripped the handle of my gun again. I could feel the sweat dripping from my palm. It wasn’t unusual for someone to call an officer by their name. After all, they were printed on our uniforms. The problem was Gordon was my first name. A name I never gave him.

“Take me home, Joe,” I said.

Joe reached out his hands. I knew I would have to take them, but I was hesitant to get anywhere near him. I allowed myself to trust him one last time. I took his hand and closed my eyes. A second later I couldn’t feel the warm sun on my back. Instead, it was replaced with the chilling cold of the night air. I opened my eyes and found myself alone by my cruiser. Joe was gone and part of me was thankful.

The following few days I didn’t hear from Joe. It was like he had disappeared. Makes sense given how he could teleport. Still, the whole time he was gone I felt like someone was watching me. Always out of the corner of my eye. Staring at me from over my shoulder. Until one day, I received a familiar call on the radio.

I pulled up to the same Denny’s as last time. When I walked in I saw Joe in the same spot. A wave of deja vu hit me. He sat at the same table with the same erratic drawings. This time however his clothes were far more torn up. He was also skinnier as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks, despite the fact he had only been gone a few days. By far the worst thing though was the smell that permeated his body. It was like a mix of BO and a rotting corpse.

“Excuse me, Joe, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” I said, repeating the same line I gave him when we met.

“We meet again, Officer Gordon,” he said using the same nail-on-glass voice. A chill ran down my spine.

“You need to leave,” I said with a firm, but not too forceful tone, but he didn’t budge. Instead, a twisted smile grew across his face. My breathing stopped for a moment as my heart pounded faster and my hand reached for my gun.

Before I could pull it out of its holster, Joe opened his mouth and let out a deafening scratching sound. It pierced through my ears and reverberated through my head causing it to throb like crazy.

I reeled backward as my hands went to rub my head to ease my sudden headache. Before I could recover, the lights above me flickered and then went out. The building was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything, but I still pulled my gun and pointed it into the abyss towards where I thought Joe sat.

“Come with me to the warehouse, Officer Gordon.” I heard Joe whisper into my ear. Cold sweat dripped down my face as I whipped around and fired a few shots from my pistol. I could feel my hands shaking. Where was he? Did I hit him? I spun around some more in a desperate, but futile attempt to locate him.

Then like a snake coiling around its prey, I felt Joe’s hands come over mine. I tried to resist, but his strength overwhelmed me and forced me to curl my hands into a ball, dropping my gun in the process. Before I could even hear the thud of the gun hitting the ground, Joe had spirited me away.

An ominous air filled the space around me. I pulled out my flashlight, but it wouldn’t turn on. I flipped the switch multiple times hoping it would work, but it stayed off and left me in the darkness. With no other choice, I grabbed my lighter and flicked it a few times until a tiny flame was produced.

With the faint light, I could see rows upon rows of metallic shelves going upwards into the darkness. Upon each shelf were long wooden boxes. I took a step towards the shelves when my foot was knocked into something. I held the light over the object on the ground and discovered another box. This one however was open and empty.

“Joe? Where are we?” I yelled into the dark. There was no answer, but in the back of my mind, I already knew the answer. This was the warehouse.

With no other choice, I chose a direction and started walking. With each step, I could feel the eyes on my back getting closer. I heard something clang behind me and spun around. I stepped towards the sound but stopped when I realized I might be walking straight into whatever threat lurked in the dark. I turned around again and almost jumped right out of my skin.

Standing in front of me, slouched over with his arms dangling in front of him was a decrepit Joe. His body looked as if it had been torn open. A pool of blood was at his feet. As if he were on the verge of death.

“R-run,” he said as he choked on his blood.

I couldn’t respond. The sight that followed after his plea was enough to petrify me on the spot.

The sound of flesh ripping and bones snapping echoed throughout the warehouse. My heart pounded as I watched a spider-like leg twice the length of his body ripped out of Joe’s back. His body fell to the ground in front of me as more of the same appendages tore out of his flesh.

I lost track of the number of legs that sprouted from Joe’s back. At least four, maybe ten at most. It didn’t matter. At first, the legs were flailing around, but now that they had all emerged, they were organized. As if the force behind them had cleared its mind and readied itself.

The legs planted themselves firmly on the ground and raised Joe into the air. His head and limbs limped downwards. It was as if he were just a shell, a container for the horror in front of me.

“Shit. Shit shit shit. What the fuck is that?” I said, panicking as I scrambled to my feet and dashed back the way I came. I couldn’t see without the light and at the speed I was running there was no way the flame would remain lit. So I charged blindly through the dark. When I ran headfirst into a wall I didn’t waste a moment and took off along one of the sides.

I could hear the monster closing in from behind me. How much further could I run before it caught me? Would I find an exit before it reached me? As the despair of my imminent fate reached an all-time high I saw it.

Looming in the distance was a faint light. Maybe it was an emergency exit light. It didn’t matter to me. The possibility of an escape from this nightmare filled me with hope and a second wind. I sprinted to the light and saw a door right below it. I threw my body into the door, turning the handle as I did.

It didn’t budge.

My body bounced off the surface of the door and crashed into the ground. I rolled over just in time to see the monster step into the light. It wasn’t in any rush. As if I were just a toy to entertain it.

Next to the door was a fire extinguisher. It wasn’t much compared to the gun I had lost, but it was something. I aimed the nozzle at the creature and sprayed it down, creating a thick fog. When it stopped coming out, I gripped the fire extinguisher and used it as a battering ram against the door.

After three hits, I felt the lock start to break, but before I could barrage my way to freedom, searing pain ripped through my back and out of my stomach. I looked down and saw a blood-soaked appendage had impaled me. I tried to cry out in pain but only coughed up blood all over the door.

I felt my body lift into the air as my vision began to blacken around the edges. The last thing I saw before I was out was the pits of Joe’s eyes. It was as if they had rotted from the inside out and replaced with a black mold. He moved me closer. I could feel his toxic breath fill my nose. His mouth opened and then there was nothing.

I thought I was dead. I thought the thing inside Joe would have eaten me alive or at least ripped me apart. I was wrong. I was still alive.

I regained consciousness but felt like I was in a dream. The world was a haze. There was noise around me, but it was muffled. Where was I? A sharp pinging sound rang in my ears. I covered my ears, but the sound didn’t dull. It was inside me.

Soon enough, the pinging faded and my world came into focus. I looked around and saw I was in some sort of hospital. A woman wearing scrubs and a worried look on her face sat in front of me.

“Pardon me, sir,” the woman said. “I’m just here to check your vitals.” The woman continued her work as she wrote down various numbers on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard.

“W-where am I?” I asked. I sat up and looked around. It looked like any other hospital room. Although it was far less decorated than normal.

“You’re at a hospital over on Fifth and Charleston,” she said as she wrapped a blood pressure monitor around my arm.

“That doesn’t make any sense to me. I was just at-“ I stopped. I- I was at a warehouse. And then I was here.” A series of images flashed in front of my eyes. The more I thought about it, the harder the details became to recall. I was with someone, but who was it? Was I in danger? I tried to think harder to the point where I could feel a headache starting to well up. The memories of my past slipped away from me until only one subject remained.

The warehouse.