Voices
It was raining heavily that day when it all started. My mind was so confused and frustrated. This heart kept beating rapidly as if it were about to jump out. Sweat ran down my back and forehead even though the temperature was below 12°C.
"Am I running mad?"
Is the question that I asked myself most on that day. The day I lost my sanity.
...Monday...
"Steven wake up! It's time for you to go and make money!"
My mother was my alarm clock and always made sure I arrived at work 2 hours early. I never had the right to say no because going against her will would lead to endless hours of yapping. So every weekday I woke up at 3:00 am for a job that commenced at 7:30 am. Even though my workplace was just 30 minutes away from home. My mother said that showing up early would make a good impression. But my boss Mr Franskin never gave a damn about me. Probably because I was not so excellent at doing my job. I had just graduated from college so I had zero experience about working in finance. Although that was true it never served as a reasonable excuse to my mother.
So, every weekday, we followed the same routine over and over again. My life was an endless cycle of misery and boredom. Nothing special ever occurred until this one day I will never forget.
" Mr Carter how are you doing today?"
It was weird. For the first time in 6 months my boss greeted me. I thought I was stuck in my daydreams as he looked at me with a smile on his face.
" I am uh.. doing quite well, and you sir?"
" All is good with me. Say uhm do you have plans this evening?"
"No sir. I have nothing special planned as usual."
" Well this might sound a little corny but I need your help Carter."
"Sure boss. What is it you need?"
"My daughter is going to a party tonight and her boyfriend just broke up with her this morning. So I need you to take his place just for today. It's an order!"
If there is one thing that always comes first in this man's life it's his daughter. He would carry the earth on his back for her. So saying no to his offer would get me fired.
"Alright boss, your wish is my command."
" Good meet me in my office once your shift is over. Now wipe that stupid smile off your face and get back to work!"
" Uhm... Alright noted"
Then I started to think to myself.....
Sigh! Come to think of it, will I be able to pull the whole boyfriend thing off? I mean I know I'm good looking but my personality is literally like plain flour.
I had been on a few dates back in college but they never ended well. Every girl complained about my boring personality. I mean who would be interested in a guy who only hangs out with his mother and pet goldfish. That was enough to label me as a loser. But it's not like the date thing was a choice. So I pulled in my guts and then went through with it. And on that night, everything changed.
"Do you remember the rules Carter?"
"Yes sir."
"And what's the first and far most important one?"
"To not disappoint pretty Miss Paisley Franskin."
"Good. Now go do your stuff."
It was around 20:00 pm when we arrived at the venue. I parked Mr Franskin's car at a very visible spot because I didn't want to get into trouble. We got inside the building and there was a huge staircase. Pretty Miss Bossypants ordered me to carry her up the stairs and I did. My legs felt like they were going to crumble. But luckily we got to the party spot in one piece. The lighting at the party was horrible. It was dark and I could not see things properly. This was definitely a plot for the teenagers to do nasty things to each other openly.
"Stop day dreaming and follow me!"
Paisley began to brag about me to all of her friends. Talking about how I am a college graduate, have 12 jobs, live in my own condo, and a full time bad boy. Her fake description of me was a bit too much but wearing her dad's Ralph Lauren vintage suit and carrying his Aston Martin car key sold it off. Whenever her pathetic friends asked me anything I was told to just say "yea whatever" in a deep voice. Her whole friend group actually liked me. The girls kept pulling me in their selfies and the boys kept asking me to tell them more about the cars I own. It's a good thing I watched car shows as a kid otherwise I'd be cooked. So basically things were going well until I heard the most charming laughter from behind me. When I looked back I saw the most beautiful girl in the world. I began to slowly approach her but then I started to experience shortness of breath. Dizziness took over and then I started hearing voices in my head. Then the voices progressed to being loud screams of terror. " It's the sound of the rain! It's the sound of the rain!" I kept telling myself inside. But the voices and screams kept getting louder. I rushed to the mini bar lounge and sat down on a sofa. My whole body was covered in sweat and the room seemed to be spinning vigorously. Then I felt someone grab me by the shoulder.
"Are you alright sir? Here's a drink to help you relax."
I could not see a thing. Everything looked pitch black upon opening my eyes. But I needed to relax. Maybe the alcohol would help. So I tilted my head back and told the figure beside me to pour it in.
"Alright Kyle, open wide"
I blacked out.
Then I was woken up an hour later by Paisley who found me at the bottom of the stairs. I backed up from her immediately. My head was still trying to process everything that happened to me. Paisley sat by me with a joyous smile and it made me more confused.
" Wow Steven I didn't know you were so much fun."
"What?!"
"Oh don't play dumb. You know what you did and it was amazing."
"Me? I did something amazing? Me!?"
" Yes now listen. What you did was pretty cool and well I'd like for you to do it again sometime. It's not like I am asking you to be my boyfriend or anything. It's just cause you are a really good kisser."
"Paisley are you telling me that I kissed you? This is a joke right?"
" You must have hit your head too much for you not to recall all the wild things you did. Bummer. But then the party is over now and we should get going."
"Wait I seriously kissed you!!??"
"Come on let's go it's getting late. Don't spoil this night with your confusion please."
As I drove her back home I kept trying to figure things out. I mean what gave me the guts to do something so bold? And I kept feeling like I did more than that but my head couldn't remember a thing. All I was able to recall were the voices and a strange deep voice saying "Alright Kyle, open wide". I couldn't recall anything else. My mind was so confused and frustrated that I couldn't even drive straight.
"Hey Carter don't kill us okay!"
I kissed a pretty girl but how? Paisley Franskin was now actually my first kiss. It felt like a waste and a win at the same time.
A few minutes later we arrived at her house. She hugged me before running off into the arms of her father. Mr Franskin gave me a thumbs up and then went inside his huge mansion. That meant that my mission was successfully accomplished. I called a taxi and got home at 12 midnight. My mother was very angry and received me with a huge pan smack in the head.
Then I blacked out
I was woken up at 3 am again but this time with a scolding.
" Wake up you lazy creature! There's no way I will let you have peace after the stunt you pulled last night! You were outside spending your small money on prostitutes! Do you know how irresponsible and stupid that is?! Answer me do you!?"
" I wasn't out with prostitutes mother."
" Then what's with the pink lipstick all over your cheeks huh!?"
" I guess Paisley Franskin kissed me last night, I don't know."
"Wait you were out with Mr Franskin's daughter?"
" Yes."
"Seriously!?"
" Yes mother."
"Then why didn't you say so my sweet boy. You should have stayed with her until sunrise. You know what go back to sleep. My son will marry the rich millionaire's daughter so he deserves some sleep."
"No mom it's not like tha...."
"Oh what a dream come true!"
"Mother! I am not dating her. My boss just asked me to be her escort to a party. He'll pay me extra for it."
"Oh Steve you're such a disappointment.
Now get up from that bed and get ready for work!"
" Yes ma'am."
Once I arrived at work people kept giving me stares and strange looks. I felt like an ex criminal. For the first time I actually saw the gossip girls pointing fingers at me. Pretty sure the hot topic was about last night's party. But I chose to ignore everyone and go sit on my small desk as usual.
And for the first time in months my office mate Ezekiel spoke to me.
"Hey Carter, I heard you went on a date with the boss man's daughter. How amazing was it?"
" Uhm... It was fine I guess."
" You must have been such a wild card for you to end up on the front cover of the Sickest RC Parties magazine."
"What?! Show me!"
" Okay okay, see you have been quoted as most likely to become RC's party king. What an honour."
" Well I guess I truly must have been the life of the party yeah."
" Cool. Well think you could share the vibe at my cousin's house party this weekend?"
"You're inviting me to a party?"
" Yes Steve. You in?"
" Yeah I'll definitely be there."
" Cool."
My body froze in silence upon realising that I was actually becoming popular. I felt so known and present for the first time ever. I kept praying that whatever I did last night keeps happening to me every day to keep my streak. But praying for it wasn't a sure way to keep things going. So I spent an hour on the internet trying to find out what happened to me last night. The only thing that kept popping up was getting drunk but I was certain there was more to it. And I kept wondering why the guy who offered me a drink referred to me as Kyle. I felt like a mad man when I was trying to figure it all out. At that point I had forgotten that it was a girl that triggered everything.
During lunch hour Ezekiel and a couple of other workmates asked me to go have lunch with them. We went to some old creepy restaurant from downtown. The boys said they liked going there because the food there was divine. And it was true, their pork chops were simply out of this world. After enjoying the meal an old waitress came to clean up our table. She gave me disturbing stares as she cleaned up. It was as if she could stare into my soul. I pretended to ignore her the whole time but deep down I was frightened. After paying the bill it was time for us to leave. As we were heading out the lady grabbed my arm and put a crumbled up piece of paper in my hand. I quickly brushed her off and put the note in my pocket because it felt important.
After finishing the rest of my shift I stopped to stare at the sky as usual. This time I wasn't begging the gods to end my life but rather to thank them for letting me feel happy again. Despite it all coming from pulling some amazing stunt it felt nice to hangout with people for a change.
Once I arrived home I found my mother bragging about me to her friend over the phone. She was busy telling her about Paisley and the magazine thing. I didn't interrupt her because she needed to enjoy this moment. There was no way everything would go well like in a fairytale. That was when I remembered the paper in my pocket. I opened it and it read "Welcome back Kyle Amerade". I immediately began to feel very dizzy. Then to top it off I started to hear voices again. They sounded like depressed lost souls. Lost souls that were crying out for help. I felt so irritated and frustrated whilst listening to them.
Then I blacked out.
But this time I had a short dream.
I woke up in a world where it was raining fire. Faceless people were running away and screaming in terror. I began to run away too and then randomly found myself in a stone room. It had a beautiful mirror on the furthest wall. As I was about to get a closer glimpse of it I woke up.
" Wake up it's time for work you lazy creature!"
I felt like I was going insane
Why do I keep passing out?
What in the world was that dream?
And who the hell is Kyle Amerade?
Are the questions that I kept ringing around my head. I needed answers immediately. So I decided to go see that old waitress during lunchtime again that day. But things become more frustrating...
