Chapter 2
Alvin de Vera
Alvin tipped a handful of pills out of the Tuesday PM slot of the plastic pill sorter. Then he pulled the pitcher off the blender bottom and poured the half-ice-cream-half-Ensure strawberry-ish concoction he’d made into a plastic tumbler with a lid and a straw.
He yawned wide and itched at the bandage on his elbow. It was late, way later than he usually gave Lola her milkshake and meds and got her to bed. They’d spent over ten hours waiting today—waiting in the busted-up subway car to be shuttled back to the station, then waiting for the paramedics to get them to the ER, then waiting for the doctors to look Lola over. She had some horrifying-looking cuts and bruises on her arms and legs from falling out of her wheelchair, but the ER doc told him that it was all superficial, and as long as he kept the cuts clean and changed the bandages properly, she should heal up fine. They’d considered keeping her overnight for observation, but Lola never did well in hospitals. The risk of complications was low. Better to just take her home.
His phone pinged where he’d left it on the counter playing a chill Minecraft stream as background noise. He glanced over at the Discord message that popped up and saw a good morning from Janxie, just signing on for the day in Malaysia, followed swiftly by a note tagging him that was mostly panicked emoji. He rinsed his hands and dried them on his pants so he could type out a quick reply.
_____
Sorry for radio silence! I’m home with lola, both ok, putting her to bed now. Be on in 30
_____
He put his phone aside, ignoring the flurry of response pings for now. He’d messaged the group from the hospital waiting room with a too-vague note around seven, then he’d been pulled into a bunch of medical paperwork and conversations with doctors and cops and totally forgotten to update anyone. Oops.
He put the pills, milkshake, and a glass of water on a tray and brought it out to the little table next to the beat-up recliner, to the small, hunched, wrinkled woman in the baggy floral dress who was staring blankly at nothing.
This was his grandmother, and other than some cousins in the Philippines he’d only met twice, the only family he had left since Mom died.
“Hey there,” he said softly, holding out the pills for her to take.
“Where’s Alvin…?” she said weakly.
“Alvin’s not here right now, but he’ll be back soon, don’t worry. Here, you need to swallow these, and then I’ve got a strawberry milkshake for you!” He did his best to keep his voice soothing and upbeat, but he was too tired to do his best acting. Still, her face lit up a little at the words “strawberry milkshake” and she swallowed the pills with no fuss.
It still stung a little, knowing that she wasn’t really asking for him when she used his name.
Alvin knew he didn’t look much like the great-uncle he’d been named for, his lola’s beloved older brother. Back when she first started getting confused about things, it took him a while to understand why telling her “I’m Alvin” upset her so much.
Then he’d tried to tell her that Alvin died over a decade ago, of cancer, in a hospital in Manila. That had not gone over well. It was way easier—and kinder, he had to believe, even if lying about something so major felt weird—to just tell her that he’d be back soon and reassure her that she was safe and everything was fine. She’d forget this conversation in a few minutes, anyway.
Alzheimer's was the fucking worst.
Lola drank her milkshake slowly, staring blankly at nothing Alvin could see. While she was distracted, he went into the apartment’s single bedroom and pulled out a nightgown and a new adult diaper. This was another part of caring for her he’d been so incredibly uncomfortable about at the beginning, but, well, people can get used to pretty much anything. Honestly, it was harder back when Lola was a little more coherent—she’d sometimes be half-undressed and suddenly get panicked or upset when she realized there was a “strange man” in the room. It made him feel awful to freak her out like that, but it wasn’t like they had other options—he’d done endless paperwork and doctor visits to get them on the waiting lists for subsidized care, but nothing had come through yet. Nowadays, she mostly didn’t understand what was happening and let him handle the embarrassing parts with as little fuss as possible. Small blessings.
Lola put the plastic tumbler aside, and Alvin got her gently out of the chair and supported her as she shuffled through the shortest possible version of their normal nighttime routine. She was clearly exhausted, and honestly, so was he. Skipping brushing her teeth and washing her face wasn’t that big a deal, or so he told himself with a small pang of guilt.
When he finally had her settled in bed, he stripped off his jeans and button-down shirt and let them fall in a crumpled heap on the floor, then pulled on some sweats and his favorite ancient hoodie. He grabbed his laptop off the desk and settled in on the livingroom futon that doubled as his bed, pulling the blankets around him. He let out a deep, heavy sigh and rubbed his face. He didn’t usually have to keep up the whole hyper-responsible act for so many hours in a row, and dropping it left him feeling wrung out and dead tired.
He considered just turtling and playing some mindless game for a while, but he’d promised to check in. And he knew he’d feel better if he talked to people, even if the thought was exhausting right now. He opened Discord on his laptop and read through the messages from this afternoon.
_____
Al (he/they)
sorry guys cant make it to games tonight
at the er with lola
StarfruitSorbet
Oh no…
Keep us updated, okay?
tired
forget game night
we’ll have anohter one later
*another
just take care of yourself
good_boy_cujo
Yeah, if you need anything just let us know.
anything I can do from fucking florida, at least.
StarfruitSorbet
Has anyone heard from Alvin in DMs or anything? It’s been hours!
tired
i messaged them but havent heard back
probably busy dealing with stuff
StarfruitSorbet
It’s not like him to drop off the face of the earth like this, though. I’m worried it’s something really bad.
I just checked the news and there’s been some kind of terrorist attack in Grisby!
Oh no… What if he was there?
@Al (he/they) Please message us ASAP!!
tired
als at the hospital so theyre ok for now
cmon leave them alone theyll let us know when they can
dont worry about us bud
were here when you need us
Janxie (she/her)
GOOOOOD MORNIN\!!!!
ASDFHJAKLSRHGSAUJFHAWE
@Al (he/they) HOPE YR OK PLEAS CHECKIN ?? ?? ??
Al (he/they)
Sorry for radio silence! I’m home with lola, both ok, putting her to bed now. Be on in 30
________________________________________________new
Janxie (she/her)
?? ?? ??
tired
thats a huge relief
want me to sed you takeout?
StarfruitSorbet
I’m so glad!! We’ve been so worried all day. ??
tired
*send
oh dang you left
good_boy_cujo
ffffffffuck I’m glad to hear that
tired
offer still stands when youre back on
_____
Alvin smiled around the lump in his throat as he typed out a quick message.
His friends were the best.
_____
Al (he/they)
hey guys
Janxie (she/her)
!!!!
U OK?!!
& UR LOLA!!?!!
Al (he/they)
really weird day
StarfruitSorbet
Alvin!
good_boy_cujo
Glad your ok, Al
Al (he/they)
sorry I didn’t check in earlier
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
like I said, I’m fine
Lola too
well mostly
tired
shit what happened?
wait you don’t have to rehash the whole thing now if you dont want
you probably wanna crash
Al (he/they)
yeah, soon
but honestly I’d really like some other opinions first.
I think I might be losing it
Janxie (she/her)
????
Al (he/they)
I kinda
I
I don’t knw where to start
Janxie (she/her)
?? ?? ??
StarfruitSorbet
Is everything all right?
good_boy_cujo
You still there?
tired
you still there
oops
StarfruitSorbet
It says he’s typing!
Al (he/they)
sorry, guys
something really weird happened
tried to sort out how to say this but I think I just have to say it
I think I saw a ghost.
Or an alien? It attacked us
good_boy_cujo
……….
Janxie (she/her)
??
StarfruitSorbet
Is this a joke, or something?
tired
um maybe start at the beginning
Al (he/they)
I know, i know, it’s sounds so stupid
I was taking lola to the doctor. The subway crashed while we were on it
But it wasn’t just a crash
We were between stops. There was this monster thing
It made the subway crash, I think? then it tore open the door and came inside
There was this really tall guy who fought it
Like, he seemed to know what it was and how to handle it. But it hurt him really bad
The monster
I can’t believe i typed that
It wasnt like anything i’ve ever seen before
It wasn’t an animal. It didn’t move like anything alive
I don’t even know how to describe it
you ever play Ico? That old ps2 game. It moved kind of like the smoke monsters in that. Bits of it jumping all over the place, and made out of darkness
Except less human shaped
And more solid than smoke. It looked almost oily or something?
I know it sounds impossible
I don’t believe in stuff like this! I don’t know, maybe I imagined it or something
but it seemed so real.
guys I can’t have a breakdown
I can’t afford to have a breakdown!!
tired
hey
its ok
Janxie (she/her)
?? ?? ??
StarfruitSorbet
Listen, you clearly had a really hard day.
And I’m not going to sit here and tell you what did or didn’t happen.
But there are a lot of reasons why someone might see things that don’t exist.
Not all of them are a big deal! You could’ve gotten caught in somebody’s terrible prank.
Movie marketing gone wrong, or something.
Maybe you hit your head, or the accident shook you up worse than you realized, but you’ll be fine once you get some rest.
good_boy_cujo
Yeah, or like those lsd experiments in the 70s
maybe somebody drugged you
or schizophrenia? Is that the one where you see things?
tired
cujo
cmon
good_boy_cujo
what?
Janxie (she/her)
DON’T BE AN ASSHOLe
good_boy_cujo
Who’s teaching janx bad words??
ok, ok, sorry
but theres nothing wrong with being crazy and on drugs
I’m crazy and on drugs
The boring pharmacy kind and the fun kind
Janxie (she/her)
??
StarfruitSorbet
Anyway!
My point is that it’s too early to panic. There’s a good chance it’s nothing serious.
And if it is something serious, we’ll help you take care of it. We’ll find you the best doctor.
If you need money, we’ll set up a gofundme.
tired
definitely
well figure it out
btw theres chinese food coming to your place in like 20
from peony
told them to just leave it outside so you dont have to talk to them
Al (he/they)
Thanks guys
You’re the best
Btw i’ll cashapp you for the food, Tyra—how much is it?
tired
dont even try it
ill refuse the payment
Al (he/they)
Thanks
Shit, I’m legit gonna cry
Janxie (she/her)
awww
good_boy_cujo
Nah, nothing to cry about
You’re gonna be fine
StarfruitSorbet
You know…
I know you’re stressed right now, Alvin.
But maybe if we go over what happened, we can help you narrow down what you actually saw and why.
You said someone fought the monster, right?
Were there other people on the subway besides that guy?
Did anyone else interact with it?
tired
oh yeah
im guessing the accident was real since you went to the er
Al (he/they)
Yeah…
that part definitely happened. I have the bruises to prove it
and other people reacted to the monster, I think
yeah, there was definitely some screaming
Some people threw stuff at it
Unless that was all in my head too
StarfruitSorbet
Did you talk to anyone while you were in the subway car?
Al (he/they)
Not really
I had to take care of Lola. She was freaking out
We were stuck down there in the dark for a while
wait
There was somebody. She gave me her number
said it was really weird and we might want to be in touch after, depending on what happened
I think she was a mail lady? She was wearing a uniform
good_boy_cujo
A fed?
Don’t trust her. Probably an operative
tired
dude not everyone is secretly a cia operative
good_boy_cujo
Hey I don’t believe in the wild illuminati shit, ok? But when somebody gets in a bizarre accident while riding government transportation and then gets approached by a person in uniform?
I think it’s a reasonable conclusion
StarfruitSorbet
I mean…it isn’t impossible.
good_boy_cujo
see? Even star agrees with me!
StarfruitSorbet
I’m not agreeing, necessarily. But there’s something going on that’s big enough to make you think you were seeing nonexistent creatures, and it crashed a train in a subway tunnel between stations. Just getting down there and messing with the trains without getting flattened would take a lot.
A government or military experiment makes the list, I think.
good_boy_cujo
Could’ve been a mass halusination
hallusination
whatever
everybody’s seeing things
tired
i think thats more likely
the other option is that monsters are real
and they live in connecticut
Janxie (she/her)
unless……..
good_boy_cujo
oh no
come on, Janx
Janxie (she/her)
CRYPTIDS!!!!!
_____
Alvin left them to argue which was more ridiculous—that the government orchestrated the accident, or that it was some new, urban chupacabra—for a few minutes. He reluctantly left his blanket nest and went to the hook by the door to dig through the pockets of his coat.
The note was still in there, luckily. It was just a torn scrap of paper with a phone number written in messy blue pen and a name scrawled above it: Zenn, or maybe Zinn?
If the mail lady was in on whatever happened, she was an incredible actor. Sure, she’d kept it together enough to hand out her phone number to people, but she was visibly shaken when she came over to talk to him. He’d been distracted and freaked out at the time, but he’d at least noticed that much.
His phone pinged a few times in his hoodie pocket, and he pulled it out to see DMs from Tyra popping up on his screen.
_____
tired
listen i know everybodys jumping to the fun conclusions
but if youre seeing things that arent there
thats serious
youre under so much stress with your grandma and now you went through this traumatic accident
i really think you need to get some kind of psych help
you told me all the reasons you cant last time
but ill help you with all that
i will literally start making phone calls tomorrow morning
theyre not gonna lock you up somewhere if you say youre having a hard time
thats not how it works
and there are ways to handle paying for it
sliding scale and programs and stuff
um
i know people get mad when i start acting like im their mom
but this is too important to let it go
love you ??
get some sleep
wear a sweater do your homework eat your brussel sprouts etc etc
_____
Alvin’s stomach twisted. She was probably right, but he really didn’t have it in him to deal with it right now. Talking to the chat had cheered him up a bit, made this impossible day seem manageable. He wanted to hang on to that feeling, at least until tomorrow.
Something crashed in Lola’s room.
Alvin’s head shot up, and he started to go deal with whatever had happened, but he paused. Lola had probably tried to get up and knocked something over by accident—it had happened before plenty of times. But something in his brain was pinging “danger, danger.” He glanced at his phone, then mashed the voice call button in his DM with Tyra before shoving it back in his pocket.
There was another, louder crash from Lola’s bedroom, like the bedside table had been knocked over, all its contents scattered. With that, he dashed over and yanked the door open.
Lola was still in bed, sitting up and clutching at her blankets.
Over her stood a tall, oily-black monster like the one he’d seen on the subway.
Alvin screamed and grabbed the nearest thing in reach—a box of tissues—and threw it at the creature. It bounced off harmlessly, but it at least seemed to get the monster’s attention. The creature didn’t have a face that Alvin could see, but it definitely leaned toward him. It stopped like that for a long moment, and Alvin got the impression that it was studying him somehow.
Then, all at once like water let free of a dam, it oozed right at him.
Alvin grabbed more stuff at random off the bureau and threw it at the creature—a big bottle of vitamins, a hairbrush, and finally the lamp. Everything bounced off uselessly, the lamp smashing into a million pieces on the floor. The thing was getting closer, and Alvin scrambled backward, hoping to lure it out of Lola’s room at least, but he had no idea what to do next. He dodged backward as the thing took a swing at him. He nearly tripped over his own feet, but he managed to keep his balance; he pivoted on one foot and made a dash for the kitchenette. He scrabbled on the counter and came back with a curved, stubby, oft-sharpened kitchen knife and the ancient cast-iron pan—the best weapons he could think of in the apartment.
He swung back around to find that the creature was literally looming over him, ready to strike. He hadn’t even heard it get close! It was in a tall, skinny, vaguely humanoid form, its arms too long for its body—Slenderman? his brain randomly threw out as he swung wildly with the knife and sliced right through its middle.
It was like trying to stab smoke—the blade went right through. But…he was sure he’d managed to hit it with the tissue box back in Lola’s room! Was it only solid some of the time? Was it some RPG thing where it was immune to slashing damage? How was he supposed to fight something like this?!
He didn’t want to fight anything!
He scrambled backward into the living room, keeping it in his sights even after he tripped over the backpack he’d left on the floor. He could hear Tyra’s tinny voice from the phone in his pocket, yelling something he couldn’t make out.
The creature was still near the kitchen counters, standing there frozen. Alvin stopped too—it felt like the thing was watching him again with its eyeless, featureless face. He held up the cast-iron pan like a shield between him and the creature, and noticed for the first time just how badly his hands were shaking.
But it didn’t come for him. It oozed out of its Slenderman form and, like a storm cloud blown by a jet stream, rushed back into Lola’s room.
Alvin didn’t think, just ran—he dashed through the door, dodged past the creature, and got between it and the bed. Lola was standing at her bedside now, holding herself up against the bedpost.
It advanced on them slowly. Alvin got an arm around Lola’s middle, ready to haul her out of harm’s way—but this thing was between them and the only exit. He wouldn’t be able to dodge past on his own, let alone while carrying someone. He gripped his pan in the other hand and prepared to swing as soon as it got close enough. A nagging voice in the back of his head told him that this was a terrible, stupid plan, but he was all out of ideas.
He felt Lola’s papery hands grasp the one he had around her like she was trying to escape his grip. He held on tighter. In that moment all he wanted in the world was to fix this somehow; he didn’t want to fight, he didn’t want monsters to be real, he just wanted a normal life and for Lola to know who he was and for this impossible thing to stop existing. But the creature reached out, unfathomably real.
Alvin’s hands exploded in dazzling light.
