I took another bite and put my fork down. The sound of the fork hitting the table made Brian look up. “Oh, you’re up!” His happy face appeared immediately. “Good morning!”
I stared at him with my mouth open; half-chewed food dropped out and onto my plate.
What was that?
“I’d swallow before reopening your mouth next time.” He chuckled and poured himself a glass of water.
I wanted to ask him why he was just acting like that, but then I remembered what had happened yesterday. I had gotten tossed around by what seemed to be nothing. “Hey Brian…”
“Yeah, Jack?”
“Did you see anything happen to me yesterday?”
“What do you mean?”
I wondered if he seriously didn’t know what had happened. “I chased you through several rooms, but I lost you when this thing started beating on me and throwing me around.”
He leaned forward and cocked his eyebrow. “Really? What kind of thing was it?”
After he said that, I knew for sure he was hiding something. “Soyou’re the one asking questions now?"
He said nothing.
“I knew it was you, Brian.” I leaned in, making our faces really close together. “And if it wasn’t, I know you had something to do with it.”
He smirked. “Jack, just because you tripped, doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me.”
I stood up and slammed my hand on the table. “Don’t give me that! You know everything, but you’re not going to tell me anything?” I pointed my finger at him.
“Hey, calm down, Jacky-”
“I didn’t trip; something hit me and threw me against the wall! My feet weren’t even touching the ground.”
Brian stayed silent.
“Tell me what’s going on. What was that?”
He leaned back and took a sip of water.
I lifted my fist to slam on the table again. I was angry.
Looking into his cup, as if something were in there, Brian said, “Did you break a rule?”
I stopped myself from hitting the table.
He smiled and put the cup down. “Well?”
The last statement I heard before blacking out popped into my head.
Never leave a door open.
I sat down.
“That’s what I thought.” Brian returned to his eating.
After being so angry about what had happened to me, I completely forgot about breaking a rule.
“But that’s not fair! You didn’t-”
“It’s a perfect example of fair. You broke a rule and faced the consequences.”
“But you didn’t tell me what would happen if I broke one.”
“You’re okay, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah…”
“So toughen up, Jacky.” Brian stood up and walked toward a door. “Don’t forget to bring the gun.”
Even though his back was turned, I knew deep down that he was grinning. I just had no idea why. I took the gun and notebook and put them in my pants. I ran to the door, hoping Brian wasn’t already gone But when I went through, he was.
“Well, this is great.” I stood in the doorway, wondering what to do. Then I remembered to close the door. I didn’t want to “face the consequences” of leaving one open again.
Then a thought entered my head.I’m not making any progress in this place. What’s the point?
I considered just waiting in my bedroom. It actually didn’t seem like a bad idea.
If I stay in my room, I’ll be able to get all my meals, and I can sit in my bed in case I pass out.
Satisfied with the plan, I turned and reopened the door. But when I opened it, I saw nothing in the room.
I turned back and slammed the door behind me.
I went through doors with no sense of direction. Like usual. Every time I entered a room, I felt like I was just opening the door of the very room I was in. Like the room had portals that only led to the room itself. Was I simply walking through the same room all day? The thought actually seemed plausible for a moment, but I realized it couldn’t be right. There was my bedroom, there were empty rooms, and there was that room that I threw what felt like hundreds of papers into. Every room couldn’t possibly be the same one. It wasn’t possible. Or at least I thought it wasn’t.
I continued to walk as I tried to think of solutions. Thinking about the rooms always gave me a headache, which made it even harder to focus. None of the events that I had seen occur since I first woke up made any sense. Blackouts, invisible person, stuff vanishing. The only thing that made sense was the result of my breaking a rule. But the way it happened was completely implausible. I didn’t see anything. All I heard was the voice. My body moved, and I saw nothing touching it.
Maybe it wasn’t a person.
Getting a huge headache made me stop thinking so hard for a while. Walking through the rooms was always frustrating when I tried to figure things out. But this time, when I just walked for walking’s sake, I felt good. I had no purpose, but to go into another room. Not thinking for once relaxed me.
As I entered yet another room, I began to have a weird feeling. An odd smell filled my nostrils. It smelled bad. I was in the middle of the room, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. I looked back in a corner of the room. What I saw made me jump.
A dead body. Dried blood surrounded it on the floor, and more was splattered across the wall. In the man’s forehead was a dark hole, and in his lifeless hand a pistol. A folded paper rested in his other hand. Some blood had gotten on it. After regaining my composure, I walked toward the man, bent down, and took the paper out of his hand. The front said “To Brian.” I unfolded it and read the words inside, written in blue ink.
I’d tell you to go to hell, but that would be pointless. I tried starving, that didn't work. I tried bleeding to death, that didn't work either. So if I ever manage to die here, what will happen? Guess I’ll find out. It’s been fun, Brian; I hate you.
I looked at the body again. Let out my breath. I had been holding it in ever since I saw it. My palms were shaking as I folded the note and put in my pocket. I closed my eyes. Shook my head.
Is this really hell? Have I already lived a life that led me to this?
I looked back at the man. He was lean, and he wore the same clothes as Brian and I.
Is that what will happen to me?
The man’s expression, from what I could make out on his bloody face, actually seemed somewhat content. He was ready to be anywhere other than here.
So was I.
My hand reached into the back of my pants and touched the gun. I felt the cold handle. I couldn't take this place anymore.
I stood in a fixed position, eyes on the man, hand on my gun, for a several minutes.
Anywhere but here. Is that what I want?
My eyes felt weird. Water came out. Tears. I was compelled by the need to escape. Why this led me to tears, I didn't understand. I just wanted to leave. But the thought of taking a life, specifically with that gun, affected me oddly. I felt just like I did when I woke up. Emotions uncontrollable. But this time, I could put words to them. Sadness.
Anywhere but here.
I gripped the gun and pulled it out.
Anywhere but here.
I was going to do it. I let my finger tighten on the trigger. But what happened next didn't make sense to me. It didn't even feel like me. I heard something. It wasn't outside of my head, but it didn't feel like my mind was the source. One thought rang through my head. Seemingly on its own.
No.
I stopped. My finger lifted off of the trigger. I said it again in my mind.
No.
I dropped the gun. Time seemed to go slowly as I heard it hit the floor.
I sank to my knees. Put my head in my hands. I felt compelled to cry. I did not understand, though. It came from more than just the situation. I felt like I'd been in this position before. But not on myself. I found myself putting more words to my feelings. Regret. Gu
ilt. Had I killed someone in my life? I pictured it.
It seemed all too easy to imagine. Which I hated. Abruptly, surprising even myself, I sobbed. I didn't know what I was experiencing. But it was all from feeling that gun. Something had happened. Something I didn't know yet.
“You’ll have to hold up better than that.”
I turned and saw Brian standing in an open doorway. He entered and closed the door. “That is, if you want to pass.”
“You,” I growled. The emotions turned to anger. Anger towards Brian. But it felt weird.
“Emotions are funny things.” Brian casually walked over to the body. “They can make even the smartest people,” he nudged the body with his foot, “irrational.”
“You,” I said again, breathing out heavily. “Do you even have a soul?”
“I guess not.” He looked at me, smiled, and spread his arms out. “But isn’t that why we’re here?”
The lights started going out again. “Brian, I-"
five
I dreamed. It was the first that I really remembered. I was sitting in some chair with a table attached to it. A desk. I was looking at a paper filled with printed words, numbers, and blanks. My hand, gripping a pencil, ran across the page as I wrote numbers, completed equations, and drew graphs. I finished the paper and slammed the pencil on the desk. “Done.” My voice seemed lighter. I looked up to see a group of three people. Two stood tall and proudly in front of me, and one stood slumped over, mouth wide open.
One of the two smiling people said “Good job, son.” The other standing next to him, a woman, smiled sweetly at me and nodded.
The shocked man had closed his mouth at this point and was walking toward me. “There’s no way,” he said.
The man snatched up the paper, put on a pair of glasses, and stared the paper down while the other man and the woman stood next to each other. The man had his arm around the woman’s shoulder. I noticed a ring on his hand and thought of the wordcouple. Then I thought ofMom and Dad. It took me a second to remember what those things meant. Even in a dream I was struggling to remember what seemed to be the simplest of things. And in the dream, I felt like I was only half-living it. I wasn’t in control of what the person was doing or saying, but I felt what he felt. I wasn’t exactly living it, but I was experiencing it.
The man checking my paper took off his glasses. “This . . . ” He looked at the couple. “This is incredible.” He fixed his gaze back onto the paper, then jerked his head up at me. “How old are you?”
“Fourteen, sir.”I’m fourteen?
The man looked wide-eyed at the couple, then back at me. “Jack, your math comprehension is at the college-level.”
He called meJack. He called meJack in the dream. Was my real name actually Jack? Was it more than just a nickname Brian had given me?
I smirked at him. “Not just math. At least, not according to the other professors we’ve met with. Right, Dad?” I looked over at the married man. These really are my parents?
“Yes, he has surpassed his grade-level in other subjects as well.”
The professor, still astonished, looked at my dad. “Well,” he looked back at me. “Which ones?”
I started answering, “Science, Literature, Histo-”
“All of them, sir.” My dad said.
His mouth hung open again. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He turned toward my parents and gave them a look of unbelief.
My dad shrugged, “He’s got a gift.”
The professor looked back at me. “I'm not one to jump to conclusions about these sorts of things. You still have a lot of school ahead of you. But if you keep exceeding like this, do you know what that could mean for your future?”
I smirked. “What don’t I know?”
→
I woke up on my own again. My head shot up from my pillow. This was the first time that I dreamed something so real. The other time that I had dreamed, it was really foggy and abstract. This time my dream was clearer. Still cloudy, but more distinct than before.
“Good morning!”
“Do you ever say anything else in the morning?”
Brian stared at me, huge smile on his face. “No!”
“Yeah, of course you don’t.” I stood up and walked to the table. I fell into a chair and watched Brian sit down across from me.
We ate for a few minutes without saying a word. Brian looked like he had nothing on his mind; he just enjoyed his meal. I wondered what was going through his mind. Decided to tell him what was going through mine. “Who… who am I?”
Brian glanced at me, but quickly focused back on his meal. “What do you mean? You’re Jack.”
“That’s what you call me. Who am I really? Why am I here? Why do I have to do this?”
He put his fork down. Lifted his head up and stared into my eyes. His smile was gone. “You dreamed, didn’t you?”
"I. . . Well," I didn't know how to respond.
“Yeah, you did.” Brian picked his fork back up and continued his eating.
“How did you-”
“Many people with amnesia recover certain memories through dreams. Your memories are still there, Jack; you just have to get them back somehow.”
I fiddled around with my food. “You seem to know enough about me; why can’t you tell me who I am?”
“Not my place, Jacky.” Brian stood up and walked out of the room.
I got up and followed him after he had closed the door behind him. I spent the next few hours walking, resting, and walking some more. I had become lethargic about the test. Whenever I actually tried, things seemed to go wrong.
Maybe I should’ve just stayed in bed today.I shook my head.But I can’t do that now… I was stupid enough to come out into this maze again.
As I walked purposelessly through the rooms, I became amazed once again at how every room looked so similar. Even the small details of each room looked exactly the same. This occupied my mind for a few minutes as I walked, but then I saw something. I saw something in the center of a room. I saw a crumpled piece of paper.
I picked it up. “I did this.” I had thought that it was gone. I held onto it and walked into the next room. Another paper. In the center of the room. “No.” I picked it up and walked into the next room. Another paper. “No!” I walked room to room, paper after paper, picking up each piece as I went. It took both arms to carry the pile of paper I was gathering. I kept going and going, but in each room was another piece of paper.
“What is this?” I asked, but of course, no one was there to answer me. I yelled and tossed pieces up and let them fall around me. I sat down on the floor and assumed I would start to black out like I did every day, but I didn’t. I was actually fine. It seemed like sleep was finally doing what it was supposed to do. And when I thought about it, I realized I had been staying up longer each day.
Why?
Of course, I wasn’t going to object to the absence of blackouts, but I didn’t understand why I was getting weaned off of them for no reason either.
Oh well, just another question you don’t have the answer to, Jack.
I got up and started walking.
Forget about the papers. You already know that this place doesn’t make sense.
I went through a few doors and stopped again.
And somehow you’re supposed to catch some guy who actually knows his way around here.
I let out a sigh and kept walking. “This crap doesn’t make any sense.” After several minutes of travel, I noticed something different in one of the rooms. Again. I stopped and saw that it was some sort of paper. It wasn’t one of my many pieces of paper, but it looked familiar. I stopped and bent over to pick it up. This thing was folded all around something, making the shape of an “M” on one side with its flaps.
What is this thing called?
I stuck my finger inside the outer flap and tore through. “Envelope.” I pulled out of the envelope a piece of paper. On its face were two perpendicular lines. On the top of the verti
cal line was a capital N, and on the bottom a capital S. On the left and right of the horizontal line were a capital W and E.
I looked up and stood silent for a few seconds. I looked at the paper and analyzed it a second time, then looked back up. “What?” I knew that it had to mean something. But it made no sense. I tried to make a word out of it. All I got was NEWS. But I didn't know what that was supposed to mean. I folded the paper up and put it in my pocket.
I felt tired. And I knew why. I usually fell asleep around this time.Maybe thats why I can't figure this out right now,I thought.Because all I can think of is sleep. It really was all I could think of. But I still continued my routine walk through the rooms, and just waited for when I would pass out. I didn’t. Several hours went by. Nothing happened. I was definitely hungry by this point, but at least I was actually awake for most of the day.
Most of it.
→
“College” was the first thing I heard in my dream.
I looked up at my father. “I know, Dad.”
He couldn’t have had a wider smile. “College!” He ran his hand through his hair. “Jack, you just turned fifteen, and you’re going to be-”
“-a freshman at OCU, yeah Dad.” I grinned and went back to my homework. Opened up a book. “I still have a semester left, though.”
My mother walked in the room, huge grin on her face. “I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe it! You have a bright future ahead of you, Jack.”
My father put his hand on my shoulder. “Yes, yes he does.” He smiled warmly at me. “Have you thought about what you’ll do after college?”
I folded up a piece of paper and put it in my pocket. “Well, I’ve been thinking.”
My parents smiled even wider.
“And?” My mother asked.
I closed the book. “And so far, everything’s gone according to plan.”
→
"Good-"
"Morning. Yeah, got it."
Brian tilted his head. "Well, then, Jacky. Eat up."
I plopped into a chair.
Brian dug into his food, while I slouched and twirled my fork. He raised his eyebrow. "Not hungry?"
Jack in the Box Page 3