CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Wednesday, November 2nd

BLAKE'S FLOOR WAS COVERED IN DIRTY CLOTHES. Kandice was forced to pile them into the hamper before she could focus on anything else.

Jackie allowed Kandice to be the one to sort through his belongings. She was trying to find anything that would help her grieve. Jackie was under the impression that Kandice was there to find something for the funeral they were arranging together.

Leave it to her to think of the social implications.

Thankfully, her aunt didn't hover as she sorted through his belongings. Part of her felt guilty for violating his privacy, but she reminded herself he was dead and no longer cared.

There was what you would expect to find in a teenage boys room: dirty clothes, empty soda cans, and stacks of computer games, except there was a destinct lack of porn. Kandice figured it was all on his computer's hard drive, and she hadn't the first clue of how to get into it. Instead she planned to have it wiped and thrown away. Anything he'd done on there would remain a secret he took to his grave.

She slipped into a cleaning mode—tidying up his room the best she could—when she found a journal underneath his mattress while tucking the top sheet. Who knew the last time he'd made his own bed.

Her first instinct was to put it back, but then she remembered he was gone.

Hesitant, she opened the cover:

 

Monday, January 4th

Hello,

I've never done this before—keep a journal—but I need to now more than ever. Not sure where to start, so I guess I'll start at the beginning.

My name is Blake Scrivener, and I'm a prisoner at the hospital. I'm forced to write this on a contraband cell phone, and it's so old school that it actually has a flip out QWERTY keyboard. A god damn physical keyboard, with keys the size of grains of rice.

The room they've provided looks like a cheap hotel, furnished with a small desk and a recliner. There's one key difference—I'm locked in at night. Above my bed is a TV which they cut off at 9 PM—lights out time—and my room even has a private bathroom. Something I've learned, not all rooms come with one. I'd hate to imagine what it's like to share a bathroom with some of these people.

That's the worst part. Not the being stuck in a room like a prisoner. But the fucking people!

 

The journal continued for months as Blake documented his experiences.

 

Tuesday, April 5th

What the fuck! I'm losing my mind. I was out grocery shopping and I saw this thing. It was like a cockroach, but six feet tall and shopping like it didn't have a care in the world. I looked around and there were other people in the aisle, but they didn't see it.

...

I'm going quiet after this and will do everything in my power to avoid going outside. If I don't see people, then I won't see the monsters!

 

Kandice's eyes ached—she'd ran out of tears. Fortunately, she cried without making a sound. Jackie was still downstairs and hadn't witnessed her breakdown.

It's all my fault.