#echofic

The city illuminated the sky.

The moon wasn’t strong enough to burn the barrier of false light. The stars were hidden from view by neon.

The streets were never empty as cars soared at uncaring speeds. No people walked the sidewalks. Rain drizzled relentlessly.

In a neighborhood, a row of houses stood watchfully. Every door and window was locked. Thick curtains covered the outside world. Sirens could be heard from all around.

The house was quiet. Two forms were huddled close. Jonathan was scared. He knew he should be, everyone was. Evan had told him that.

Jonathan flinched at the sound of thunder. His heart raced. Blood had painted the city. The hidden figure left a path of gore. Stab wounds and ruined masks tainted the news. He had known all of the victims.

The first to fall had been Brian. Their friend’s crumpled like paper. All of them had slept in pools of scarlet. All of them had screamed for mercy. Not one of them had been left alive.

Only he remained. Jonathan could feel his tears burning his eyes. Crimson stained his mind. The world was over.

His hands were shaking. Only a quiet whimpering could be heard. Tears mixed with blood.

Jonathan had watched all of his friends die. The murderous jay had stolen them from him.

Ohm had mentioned Tyler was an alien to me. What does that mean? What was he trying to say? I sigh. I wish he was more blunt.

I close the dictionary with a slam. I can hear the dusty boom echo slightly through the college library. The librarian comes up to me, a curious yet annoyed glint in her eyes. "Something the matter?" She asks calmly. I shake my head. "Just...friend drama." I grab my bag and leave before she can say another word. I don't need any advice.

"Hey, Craig!" I turn toward the voice, smiling at the source. "Hey, Anthony." My tone sounds so gloomy compared to the other's overflowing joy. Anthony seems to notice immediately and his grin shifts to a small frown. "What's wrong?" He asks, reaching my side. I sigh. "Remember when I...I told you about how I felt about Tyler?" I lowered my voice to the quietest whisper I could muster and Anthony nodded. "Well," I start, staring at my shoes. "I guess Ohm overheard us. He promised not to tell anyone, which I was grateful for, but he also said that Tyler was an alien to me. What does that even mean?" Anthony has his face scrunched in thought when he looks at me. "And you were in the library..." "To look up the definition of alien." I finish. "I figured he didn't mean a little green monster." Anthony shrugs. "Did you find anything?" Now it's my turn to shrug. "Maybe? The only thing close mentioned 'belonging to another person, or thing', or something like that." Anthony frowns. "Is Tyler dating anyone?" My foot hesitates slightly before I keep walking. Tyler was single, right?

"I haven't seen him with anyone..." A though hits me and I almost trip over my own feet. Evan. He had moved to the campus a year ago, and somehow managed to worm his way into our group of friends that have known each other since grade school. If I was honest with myself, I could remember all the times I had seen Tyler talking to him instead of me. "I've only seen that expression once," I hear Anthony say, pulling me from my thoughts. "And what happened next was the dumbest thing he had ever done. So," Anthony places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "Please don't do whatever you're about to. You'll regret it." I glance from Anthony to his hand, then shrug him away. "Whatever. I got to talk to Tyler."

I walk away, Anthony sighing behind me. I don't turn around. If he wanted to tell me something other than riddles he needed to be blunt.

I know where Tyler's dorm is. Not because of any creepy shit, but because we often hang out at his place. When I reach his dorm, I knock. I've already collected my thoughts. I already know the words I'm going to say to Tyler. I have to confess before Evan steals him away. My heart is pounding. I know my anxiety is through the fucking roof, but I need to do this. I need to do it before-

The door clicks open. I stare at the young man in front of me. His black hair is ruffled. His dark eyes scan me curiously. I bite my tongue. "Where's Tyler?" I ask, trying to look over Evan's shoulder into the room. Evan doesn't stop me, but he doesn't let me in either. "Working on an essay on his laptop. Need him?" I give up and lean back on my heels. "Yeah." Evan nods, then disappears.

Damn it. I wish he wasn't so nice.

Tyler soon appears at the door, his beautifully blue eyes slightly dimmed with lack of sleep. He gives me a tired smile. "Hey, Craig. What's going on?" My heart flutters. I have to swallow to prevent my heartbeat from crawling into my throat. "Uh-uhm...I need to tell you something." Tyler shrugs. "Shoot."

A blush burns my ears. A smile pulls at my lips.

"Ty, I love you." I told myself to be blunt. To just admit it and stay calm. But I swear to god I am 100% going to pass out if Tyler doesn't interrupt me. Tyler's expression is unreadable. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. "I have f-for years. I...I just haven't had th-the courage to say anything until now." I watch Tyler closely. I can almost see the gears moving in his head. Surely, this wasn't a difficult thing to understand? It should've taken him a good couple seconds before he would understand and kiss me. I'd dreamed about this event for years and I knew how it played out every time. I would barely finish before he would drag me into the most loving kiss. Then, we would have movie nights where we just sat together and laughed. We would cuddle on the couch. We would spend long nights together. Then, when we're old, he'd hold me close and whisper in my ear...

"I'm sorry." The entire world seemed to be put on pause for a moment. "What?" I ask quietly. I hardly registered I said anything at all. Tyler lets out a long sigh. The gears are still turning in his mind. "Min, we've known each other for years. And...I dunno. Maybe two years ago but..." I can almost smell his brain frying. He was fumbling for words before he finally hit himself in the forehead. "Look Craig, I'll be blunt," I hated that phrase. I hated when he called me Craig. I hated the dread building in my heart.

"Evan and I are together. We have been for about two months now." My life crumples. I can almost hear the shatter of glass as my heart falls to pieces. The lights around me seem to dim. "I'm sorry." I can see Tyler's honest about his apology. He almost never looks this upset. My shoulders slump. Fuck.

I don't know how long I stood there. I know at some point Tyler gave me a pat on the shoulder before shutting the door. Ohm found me in front of the door.

*

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The sky was black. Void of variant, void of the moon, and void of stars. It seemed like an endless pool of ink. A perfect vat of ink for a pen.

Scarlet splattered the walls like an intricate art piece. Intestines wrapped around corpses like expensive scarfs. Skulls were crushed beyond recognition.

Only one man stood in the pile of bodies. Only one man wore a dripping mask.

Delirious. He had enjoyed that name. Reaching the point of insanity that reality became nothing but a 2D frame of reference. Maybe that would be what he would tell the cops.

The blue hoodie he wore was strained crimson with blood to the point of being a dark purple. He licked the blood off of his lips. It was salty, the slightest bit sweet. Oh how he enjoyed it.

A heart was pinned to the wall with a knife. Several strings of intestines were stuck to walls, like dripping lazors that branched across the room. A hammer was stuck through someone’s skull and the floor. The tenants below had called 911 after blood dripped from their ceiling. Dull knives had sawed off limbs and poor stitching held them together in the wrong places. A cup of eyes sat atop the counter in the kitchen. Bleeding handprints smeared the door. Desperate claw marks were ingrained in the wooden floors.

The curdling screams had sang like a melody. The pounding music split eardrums until blood flowed like rivers. One corpse had screwdrivers through their temples. A machete was plunged through someone’s heart and through the wall.

He could see the meaning behind each flick of his wrist. Behind each broken bone and sliced out organ. Each droplet of blood had a place. Each corpse marked the timeline.

Delirious twitched at the sound of the door opening. They were going to ruin his artwork. His one piece of work he would forever be proud of.

“Freeze!” Screamed an officer, pointing a gun at the bloodied man in the center. Delirious smiled, his arm raising and a bullet splattering blood across the canvas. The officer crumpled like paper. He would make a fantastic addition.

His favorite color was crimson. He loved the rosy color that dripped from the knife in his hand. He liked using the sharpened edge to carve smiles into his artwork. He liked carving out organs and adding them to the perfect piece.

A world plunged into flickering darkness.

Shadows that edged people’s vision.

The chill down their spine.

Breathing on their neck.

Able to vanish into the ink of shadows, the monsters grabbed their prey and lead them to their deaths.

Corpses became carriers of the plague.

They moved and spoke like their human versions, replicating their victims and how they thought until the moment was right.

No one knew what to call them, although the common term was “Shadows”.

That was how they seemed, how they appeared until they could find a new host.

A host to spread their kind until all of humanity was wiped out.

It felt like the zombie apocalypse, but instead of molding bodies it was friends and family.

Nothing and nowhere was safe.

The dwindling survivors discovered that one could tell when a Shadow was close by the figures at the edges of your vision, and seemingly endless nightmares.

However, if the nightmares reached your waking mind, it was too late.

Toby had known that.

He had known and taken precautions to avoid the corners of the room.

He had known the neighborhood had been infected with Shadows, it was evident by the occasional knock on the door that begged to be let in, until the creatures grew desperate and tried to tear the door down to no avail.

And he didn’t need to leave, he had food, water, shelter, and Cameron, his best friend and love who he had fled to after the Shadows were proved to be real.

So, why hadn’t he realized?

It had only been two weeks since Toby had run to Cameron’s house, and after spending a few silent nights of listening to shrieks and growls, they were finally growing somewhat comfortable with their new reality.

Cameron had even had a successful supply run the week prior.

Toby was lying his head on Cameron’s lap, the two of them watching some children’s movie that was on some random channel.

Cameron was asleep, and snoring peacefully.

Toby smiled, trying to keep his tired eyes on the cartoon.

He didn’t want to sleep.

He didn’t want to return to the nightmares he had been experiencing since Cam had left.

He didn’t want to think about the truth of what they could mean.

Cameron sighed, then slowly blinked his eyes open before looking down at Toby.

“Hey babe,”

He muttered groggily, pressing a gentle kiss to the New Zealander’s temple.

“Sleep well?”

Toby asked, shifting to look at Cameron. Cam smiled.

“Of course, how about you?”

Toby’s smile faltered as he rolled to look back at the movie.

“I’ve...been better.”

There was a long pause before Cameron spoke again.

“Nightmares?”

Toby nodded slightly.

Cameron sighed.

“Tobes, I need to tell you something.”

Toby sat up quickly, staring worriedly at Cam’s ocean eyes.

Dread was already filling his gut.

“What?”

Cameron let out a small sigh and turned his head away. His hands were trembling.

Toby could feel tears begin to prick his eyes, and he shushed Cam before he could continue.

He didn’t want to admit he had been right.

He wanted so badly to be wrong.

“Don’t say anything, just let me kiss him one more time.”

Toby gently tugged Cam’s face back toward him, making sure his eyes were closed.

Then, he pressed their lips together, feeling Cameron move in rhythm with him.

Tears streaked down Toby’s face.

Toby kept his eyes closed as monsters burned the inside of his eyelids.

He clenched his eyes shut as shadows shifted over his skin.

Grasses and leaves rustled in a cool night breeze. The full moon illuminated the backyards of the distanced neighborhood. Crickets let out infrequent chirps.

A raven-haired man sat on the porch, eyes lazily drinking in the night. He let out a relaxed sigh as he sunk deeper into his chair. Evan had always liked fireflies. And out here, in the country fields of his small town, he was glad he could finally see the small insects up close. He had tried to catch a few of them, usually too worried he’ll hurt them to go through with their capture.

Tonight, he watched a few of them blink as he took a deep breath of the cool night. He loved just sitting outside, taking a break from whatever was happening and just losing himself in nature. It had become one of his nighttime traditions.

Evan watched as two fireflies hovered near the edge of his backyard. They seemed to be blinking in near unison, something he had never seen before. Perhaps they were performing some sort of mating dance? Evan watched the two fireflies until his eyelids drooped.

The next evening, Evan walked out to his porch again. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep outside the night prior, but in case he did, he brought out a soft blanket to keep him warm.

Again, he watched the sun bleed over the clouds and the inky night drip into the aether. The crickets chirped. Fireflies danced.

Evan found the twin fireflies again, this time closer. They were near a large tree that was about 6 meters away from the porch. He smiled as he witnessed their silent ceremony. His breathing slowed and eyelids sank heavy.

Evan stared out over the porch the following evening. He had grown excited for the shrinking moon to flutter into the sky, like a dove seeking shelter. He searched for the fireflies, finding the occasional glimmer a meter or 3 away. Finally, he spotted them. Only half a meter stood between them and the end of Evan’s porch. He watched with a relaxed smirk. The crickets had quieted closer to him, although he could hear them a distance away. Something rustled the nearby grasses.

Evan, his eyelids already falling, sat upright. The muted light from the house seemed to avoid spilling over the fireflies. Evan stood up, peering over the edge of his porch to spot what had rustled the grass. Only the fireflies remained, although they hadn’t blinked off in a while…. Evan squinted at the fireflies, trying to listen to the quiet hum of their wings or their small forms watching him quizzically.