Being in Ohio and having it in the upper 60s, low 70s was perfect in Jack's opinion. The sun being high in the clear blue sky and gentle breeze bringing the scent of pine trees close by was refreshing. The flowers planted around the trees brought a pleasant scent with it as well. Jack could hear the sound of mowers in the distance and the hum of a few cars driving on the road. He closed his eyes. This was about as much peace as he was going to get for the next 6 hours.
A plane sounded its descent overhead and he opened his eyes. Taking another deep breath and looking out at the small rural airport across the road, he wondered what had made the man who owned it decide to have the "runway" and hangar this close to the road. Calling it a runway was a stretch considering it was nothing more than orange cones marking in the grass where to land. Thankfully the guy didn't fly commercially. He just owned a lot of personal planes and liked to fly them.
Jack reached over to grab his lunch bag. He grabbed nothing but air. "Right..." he whispered to himself.
He forgot to pack lunch and bring it with him. He groaned deeply and pulled himself out of his 2015 Dodge Challenger. Jack's car was black and had a glistening finish, with neon green racing stripes all the way down it. The inside was a dark charcoal color. The radio he had installed himself was a touch screen that he could plug his phone into and synced it. This allowed him to make phone calls with voice commands and brought up google maps for him to see where he was needed to go. Kristy was not certain if it was worth saving as much as he did for it. Well in his mind it was worth it, so it had to be okay. Right?
Memories of Kristy suddenly bombarded him. That was something that the orphanage gave him that he could be thankful for. Kristy Winters. A lovely and beautiful brunette. Soft brown eyes you could get lost in. Soft lips. Curves in all the right places. She was super witty and kept him on his toes. Jack knew from the first time he met her that she was the one for him. Even her laugh was captivating. They went through so much together. She definitely did a better job at not seeing what they didn't see... if that makes sense? Jack wished he had her resolve. Had it not been for her, he doubted he would've made it out of that hell with his soul still intact. Jack and Kristy had leaned on each other a lot during that time. Confiding in each other and talking about everything and anything except the current predicament they were in.
When the admin noticed how much time they spent together, they tried to separate them. It had been an ill effort. That's when they discovered the art of slight of hand. Passing each other notes through students, when that stopped working, they went through different designated pick up spots. Sometimes they even would just "bump" into each other and pass the note that way. Nothing could stop them. From 11 until they got out at 18 they did this. Jack knew he would have been lost without her help. He also knew Kristy felt the same way about him.
Jack looked down at the clock on his phone, he felt a sudden jolt of anxiety shoot up in his heart. "I'm late!" he yelled aloud.
Jack had got so caught up in his head he wasn't paying attention to the time. He sprinted to the entrance only to realize halfway there he had forgotten to lock the car. The last time he forgot, he had a bottle of pills left in there by some stranger. Jack had called the police immediately when he found them. The officer chastised him for leaving the car unlocked. He refused to make the same mistake again.
He spun around and fumbled for the keys in his pocket. Trying to pull them out, the ring was snagged on a thread inside. He pulled harder and his pocket came inside out and ripped a small hole into it. Breathe. Just breathe, he thought to himself as he inhaled a deep breath through his nose and exhaled out of his mouth.
Pressing the lock button on the fob and turning back to the entrance, he almost slipped on a patch of loose asphalt. Another deep breath. Out of the corner of his eye something fluttered by. He refused to look. "I don't need another thing to talk to therapist about. It was just a bird." he thought to himself. He opened the door and went for the door after it that lead to the production floor. Scanning the key card, he pushed the door in at the same time.
"There's that face. Hard jawline set, bushy eyebrows furrowed, and lightly dry lips pulled back in a bitter grimace. Good ole Mike. The demon was whispering..." Jack stopped himself from finishing the thought. "There is no demon. Mike's just upset with me because I'm late coming back from break... again... It's gotta be the meds that are making me so spacey..."
Mike has had it rough though. He lost his wife in a car accident a month ago. His kids, son who's 18, and daughter who's 16, won't talk to him. Why, you might ask? Mike was the one on the phone with their mother having a screaming match when she lost control of the car and slammed it into a tree. He's been in a constant state of depression ever since. It wasn't uncommon for him to show up just a little buzzed for work. Everyone had a soft spot for him, so the supervisor didn't ever say anything to him. Jack wondered how long sympathy would last before enough was enough.
Walking up to the machine Jack looked at Mike and said, "Hey you're good to go to break bub."
Mike rolled his eyes and grunted something under his breath about it not being long now. "That didn't sound like Mike though... was it that demon? Agh! Obviously not the demon because there isn't one! Do I need a higher dose of meds? Anyways... Something is definitely wrong with Mike though... Even his body language, he's brooding and overall darker in spirit..." Jack thought. Jack decided that he should talk to him and ask him how he's doing. Jack thought he could use a friend, but continued to ponder on how to approach the situation.
Mike made his way out the door and with him took the dreadful feeling his emotions brought. Jack's mind began to wonder about the events of what later that night might be like. Kristy having a hyperactive imagination like him, they often stayed in and watched movies together. This movie night was her pick. No doubt it was going to be a chick flick or comedy. Not that Jack minded, because it made her happy and that's all that mattered. The only thing he had to remember was to stop by the store and get her some Reese's cups. The big ones. They were her favorite. Up there even with the big Kit Kats. The movie night wouldn't be complete without those treats. At least that's how her beautiful mind would see it. Jack caught himself smiling at the thought.
Jack was finally heading to the store after work. The way the music put his heart at peace will always be an understatement. He loved that Spotify picked out the songs he liked and tended to speak to him through the music. Singing along and praising God, he would lose himself in the music.
Pulling up to the store he found a parking spot three spots from the front. Walking in, he kept his head down. Jack had been in enough times that he didn't need to look up to know where he needed to go. it took thirty paces towards the back and a right to get to the candy aisle. Hopefully no one would be in the aisle, so he didn't have to be bothered by his imagination. Looking up briefly, he confirmed that he was alone. "So far so good," he thought. Walking to the Reece's big cup, he reached out to grab it.
Suddenly the icy fingers wringed at his gut and he felt the onset of anxiety going up his spine. This feeling was a painful reminder of what happened to his parents. It also told him that the meds had worn off.
Jack couldn't help but wonder how many times this month it had been that he'd had an episode like this. Five medications and still they couldn't figure out what would Jack to stop seeing things and having these waking nightmares. Either way he knew something was about to happen. It always did.
Jack's imagination began to take hold of his mind. He saw everything in vibrant detail. Time felt as if it was slowing down. Instinct threw his head forward before he even knew why he was moving. A whipping wind smacked at the back of his neck. A bullet slicing through the air where his head once had been.
While still moving forward he turned his head to see the assailant. The dark silhouette of a man, almost a shadow, is all he could make out. Flashes of Jack's parents penetrated his mind and caught him off guard. Anger and rage threatened to consume him. Hatred at this figure bubbled inside of him. For all but a moment he wanted to kill this thing. But something changed. A faint feeling pulled at his attention. It was trying to guide him away from the anger, the hate. He allowed the new peace to consume and focus him instead.
Recovering as quickly as the feeling came, he noticed the man had not moved. Time was still moving impossibly slow.
Jack turned back to where the bullet had been heading. He reached out and grabbed it as it was starting to hit the shelf. This was all in his head after all, and what better way to take advantage of a nightmare than to remind it of that fact. Faster than the bullet had come at him, Jack tossed it back at the gun making it fly out of the mans hand. Now no longer seeing things in slow motion, and all senses on high alert, Jack gets into a fighting stance.
As the shadow was about to charge, darkness filled up the being. It no longer looked human, but a hulking mass. If the intent was to be intimidating it was doing a fantastic job. Jack wasn't certain what to do next. No matter how he tried to dodge this beast it was going to clip him one way or another. Judging by its bulk and grossly veined arms, it was going to send him flying. Fear threatened to cloud his judgement.
Slowly the same warmth that had just guided him toward peace was now filling him again. A light that would flood into him every time he fought a shadow. Fear dissipated and what was replaced became white hot, raw, and pure warmth that electrified every nerve ending, and coursed through every vein. He willed that light to come to his core. The raw power that seem to come from the heavens. It filled every part of him and exploded out. A blinding light that incinerated the shadow. It was like a bomb had went off inside of him. Uncontrollable energy.
As always, came the end of that great feeling. It struck Jack as odd that he never went straight for the light. Every other time he always ran from the shadows in his nightmares.
Jack felt his head throb beginning towards the back, and then working its way to the rest of his brain. He felt dizzy. Nauseous even. This is how it always happened with his waking nightmares. He would feel as if God touched him, then pain in his head and ringing in his ears that made him pass out. Having the distant knowing that when he woke up, Jack would find nothing out of place. The gun would be gone and the charred floor from the shadow being vaporized, cleaned. With that final thought Jack succumbed to the call of darkness. His world went black.