#jaydenmeraud

The ship was docked and finallyJake was setting foot on land again. It was great to smell air that wasn’tsaturated with salt and actually have places to go without drowning. He lookedaround at the city as he walk and noted the excessive amount of people movingaround and all the bars. Honestly, he didn’t think there would be that manybars. A dozen scattered throughout the city but over three dozen in onesection?

Jake glanced at all the signs,trying to figure out how they could all be running so successfully nearby butcouldn’t read any of the signs. He stopped and focused as hard as he could onone of the neon signs but it never formed words.

“What the hell…?” Jake breathedout, watching in awe as the sign started to morph and move. The edgessharpened, twisted, and almost seemed to form.. “Are those… teeth—“

CRACK!

Jake shielded his head as thesign burst and showered him in a thousand sparks of different colors. When helooked up the crowd multiplied. People were bumping and pushing and shoving himaround as they moved along. All the faces unfamiliar and each one twisting andmutating like the sign had done. A thousand faces all morphing into a twistedgrin surrounded by darkness. The only highlight of their faces was the grin.Eyes vanished, noses melted off, and ears flew away like a flock of birds. Jakeflipped around from all the shoving, trying to find some exit when he saw onefamiliar face.

“Ethan?” Jake gasped. The manturned and gave Jake a soft smile. The only smile around him that didn’t breedill-intentions. Jake shoved through the crowd. Yet for every person he shovedtheir smiles grew larger. Each growing smile inflated their heads until thepeople walking around were no more than grinning balloons inflating with asickening chorus of laughs.

Jake reached out, yelling forEthan to take his hand when all the heads burst. The momentum knocked Jake tothe side until he slammed into a large rock in the middle of the street. As heglanced around the city it became coated in a sticky red mess of human fleshand bones. He felt a liquid at his chest and looked down to see a gaping holein his body. Air flowed freely between his organs and every racing beat of hisheart was easily viewed.

Terrified of it he grabbed at hisown heart. Against his own will he tugged and yanked, trying so desperately torip it from his chest but continuing to increase the pain circulatingthroughout his body. When finally he ripped it out Jake collapsed on the groundwith the heart still beating in his hand. For a moment he thought he beat whatever affliction was tormenting him. But, a familiar voice sounded in hisear.

“I knew it…” Jake jolted andjumped to the side. But he saw nothing on the fleshy ground. “I knew it.” Hewent rabid looking for the speaker. Turning in rapid succession around in acircle when he felt a beating sensation again. His chest throbbed with a newheart but he still held one in his hand.

“I knew it..” Claws grabbed athis shoulders and the flesh twisted around his ankles. His head was snapped around to see two different eyes staring back at him with hate and sorrow.Ethan growled and slammed him against the ground while the ends of the man’s misshapen claws borrowed into each shoulder. Jake’s eyes went wide when hesaw the gaping hole in Ethan’s chest and a stringy artery connecting the man’schest to Jake’s hand. All the effort to protect the man and he just tore outhis heart. Jake’s mouth dropped and sobs began to rack his body beneath the manmorphing more and more into the twisted grin and yelling that same chorus oflaughs. The mouth opened, showing Jake the gaping abyss inside the man’s body thatreleased a scream, ripping into Jake’s face:

“You just use me like the rest ofthem—”

In a panic Jake jack-knifed to asitting position in his bed. One hand clutched at his chest until he could feelhis fingers digging into his skin while the other tore into the bedsheetsbeneath him. Each breathe that came out felt like needles in his throat and hiseyes kept darting around the room in the darkness searching for glowing eyes ora flash of teeth. Soon his gaze met the sleeping form next to him and he washonestly thankful he didn’t wake Alex up this time.

As he started to calm down, Jakesoon realized that no one had woken up from his stirring. It had become socommon now, why would they? Still, Jake slowly crawled out of bed and went to thebathroom. The second the door was shut he pulled out his phone and sent a text:

| Hey buddy, how’s the nighttreating you? |

Two shaking hands went under thefaucet and Jake quickly splashed cold water on his face. Even though he wascalming down, Jake couldn’t stop shaking. He sat on the floor and checked hisphone every couple of seconds. After the tenth check when he put the phone downit buzzed and he snatched it up to check his messages. One new message:

| ya know… normally I’m the onesending the bootycall so this better not be another one of your tricks |

Jake smiled. Finally, his heartstarted to calm down and he clutched the phone at his chest with his eyesclosed.