23.

  Living an entire school semester without his parents made Johnny think about how awesome it was going to be once he was to college. He could get used to this. With the money he was raking in with the cartel, he would be able to get his a dorm when he went to UCLA, hell, maybe even his own apartment. The money just kept stacking up. With the margins he was making after the convoy, he was very, very, secure financially.

  It was Saturday if he wanted too Johnny could probably get in touch with some people to make some more sales, but he wanted a day off. Between school, homework, and selling, Johnny was getting worn out, and he needed a day to himself. He went to the kitchen and got himself a glass of coke. Tabby walked out of her room, holding her head, she had been dropped off last night after a party at Sindy with an S’s, Johnny never ceased to be amazed by the company his little sister involved herself with.

  “My fucking head,” Tabby said, rubbing her brow with one hand and keeping her other hand against the wall, guiding herself as she made her way to the kitchen with her eyes half closed.

  “Did you have a good time Tabby?” Johnny asked.

  “Fuck you,” Tabby said.

  “I hope all this partying isn’t affecting your studies,” Johnny said, sarcastically.

  “I have a fucking A in AP Algebra, I’m sure I can keep my grades high enough to impress mom and dad, whenever they get home,” she said.

  “When are they coming home? Have you heard anything?” Johnny asked.

  “We got a call the other night, while you and your little girlfriend were out.”

  “What did they say?” Johnny asked.

  “Everything with Uncle Andre is fucked up, he got arrested, and he’s going to trial, they took his passport and Mom and Dad have to stay there to act as character witnesses for him. Also, they have to find a translator who speaks Japanese. It’s a whole mess, they have no idea when they’re going to be back,” Tabby said as she went to the fridge to grab a bottled water. She took the bottle and started to chug it in a desperate attempt to satiate her hangover, “Apparently the Japanese legal system is completely fucked when it comes to trials involving foreigners so this might take a while,” Tabby said.

  “So they’re not going to be home anytime soon?” Johnny asked.

  “Guess not, good for you, right?” Tabby said, “What would Mom and Dad say if they found out you were storing multiple pounds of green and stacks of cash in your closet?” She said.

  “Oh shit! You know about that?” Johnny’s eyes shot open.

  “Of course, I know! Our rooms are right next to each others. You have so much I can smell that shit before I go to sleep at night, so I snooped around and found it. I just assumed that it was part of you and all your little friend's pot-selling club,” She said, leaning against the fridge.

  “Did you think you were masterminding some kind of evil genius secretive cabal. People know, but most don’t care. You’re getting them weed, they don’t give a shit, you really don’t be as secretive about it as you think you’re being,” Tabby said, “After Doug Whitman got killed trying to buy stuff, almost everyone’s cool with the little price hike you and your crew of flunkies organized,” Tabby said.

  “Yeah most people,” Johnny said, recalling his meeting with Brian. “So, nobodies mad?” Johnny asked.

  “Well, not mad, slightly inconvenienced is a more accurate, hell it’s good for me, I can get all the weed I need,” Tabby smiled.

  “What do you mean?” Johnny asked, looking at his sister.

  “Well, I mean, you wouldn’t like me telling mom and dad that their son is a drug kingpin, right?” Tabby grinned wider.

  “You know, you’re like the third person who’s called me that, I’m not a kingpin, I’m just using like, good business sense, just trying to make a little extra money, now what’s this about you getting all the weed you need?”

  “Well, Uncle Andre is on trial in the land of the rising sun for running drugs, so Mom and Dad are there to help him and hopefully get him on the straight and narrow. Now, hypothetically, I could give mom and a call and tell them what you’re doing, which outside of the fact that weed is nowhere near as bad as the heroine he was moving, is the same thing. Now who is Dad going to be more concerned about saving from a life of degenerate crime, his estranged Ne’er do well brother or his darling only son? I bet they would abandon Uncle Andre with no hesitation and get on the first flight back to the states so he could rip you a new asshole,” Tabby nodded.

  “Fuck,” Johnny shook his head and rubbed his brow, “How much do you want?” he asked, ready to pay Tabby’s tax.

  “four ounces should be enough for my friends and me to get through the rest of the semester, and a little bit into summer, I could ask for more, but I’m a not a greedy bitch,” Tabby took another drink of water and smiled.

  “Done, fine, I’ll weigh it up tonight,” Johnny said.

  “Thank you so much big brother, have I mentioned what a good influence you are on me recently?” She said, laughing.

  “You are so lucky you’re the only girl, it’s like an instant bonus in our parent's scorecard of who’s the favorite,” Johnny said.

  “I know I am, and I know it is,” Tabby smiled.

  The siblings were interrupted by a knock at their door.

  “Ah! Fuck,” Tabby but her hand to her head, “Get that now, I can’t handle loud noises,” Tabby said, rubbing her brow in slight pain.

  Johnny went to answer the door, and Tabby went to their parent’s medicine cabinet to find the Advil. She shook four tablets out of the bottle into her hand and popped them, washing them down with the rest of the water in her Dasani bottle.

  Johnny went to the door and opened it. It was Danny.

  “What’s up? What’s going on?” Johnny asked.

  “Hey man,” Danny said, he had a black messenger bag over his shoulder.

  “Do you need some stuff?” Johnny asked.

  “No, man, I got some stuff,” Danny said.

  “What do you mean?” Johnny asked.

  “Can I come in?” Danny asked.

  “Sure,” Johnny opened the door and let Danny in and closed it behind him, “So what’s going on man, what do you mean you have some stuff, after our little road trip we got stuff coming out of our ears,” Johnny said.

  “Not that kind of stuff,” Danny said, “I’m talking about a different kind of stuff,” Danny said.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Johnny asked.

  “Well, you know how you were car number three, and I was car number four?” Danny said.

  “Yeah,” Johnny said.

  “And that meant that I had a few minutes to kill at the contacts house after you left before I left,” Danny said.

  Johnny couldn’t get a bead on what Danny was talking about. Danny’s face was blank as he held his messenger back close to his chest, “Out with it, what’s going on, we made it man, no one got hit, everyone’s fine, besides Eddy but he’s keeping his nose clean,” Johnny said, trying to reassure his childhood friend.

  “Well, me and the contact, Daryl, we got to talking after you left, I said some things, he said some things, and he ended up making me a little bonus offer,” Danny said.

  “Bonus offer? For what?”

  Danny walked over to Johnny’s kitchen island and reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a quarter gallon milk jug filled with a clear liquid, he put it on the counter and said nothing, looking at Johnny.

  “What’s that?” Johnny asked.

  “It’s acid,” Danny said.

  “It’s what?” Johnny asked, confused by what Danny said.

  “It’s acid, it’s, it’s a quart of acid,” Danny clarified.

  “What?!” Johnny was shocked, confused, yet still very curious, “That doesn’t even make any sense, why would anyone have this much acid? How did he get it into a milk jug? What the fuck is going on?” Johnny had a million questions to ask about this situation.

  “I don’t know, but he had it, and he asked if I wanted to buy it, and I did, so yeah, I have a quart of acid, that’s just what I got going on right now,” Danny said.

  “Why would you bring this here? What the hell do you expect me to do with a quart of acid?” Johnny asked.

  “Well, I got all these little vials we can put them in. My Dad’s a chemist he’s got them all over the garage, I figured we could put the acid in the vials and sell them, and sell them pretty cheap, we could flip them fast make a quick buck on top of what we’re already making with the weed.”

  “Holy shit, it’s a loss leader,” Johnny said, “But why would you bring them to me, why not just do it yourself? I am specifically in the green industry. I don’t mind if you sell this stuff, it’s a different market. You’re going to be selling to the goth kids and shit, I don’t want to be anywhere near those wannabe columbine weirdos,” Johnny said.

  “Well, you seem to know what you’re doing with the whole weed thing, so I thought that you could know the best way we could sell this, I think I could make more money if I cut you in on it and you helped me move it,” Danny said.

  “Thanks? I guess?” Johnny said, still in shock, that a quart of acid was sitting on his kitchen counter.

  “Also,” Danny said, “I looked in my kitchen, and my family doesn’t have a funnel, so I was hoping that you would have a funnel, do you?” Danny asked.

  “Yeah,” Johnny nodded, “Yeah, I have a funnel,” Johnny said.

  Tabby came back from the bathroom and saw Johnny and Danny by their kitchen counter, Danny holding a small two-ounce vial with one hand and their kitchen’s blue plastic funnel in the other. Johnny was holding a milk jug filled with a hazy, clear liquid over it, gently pouring it into the vial to fill it up.”

  “Okay, that’s two, how many ounces are in a quart anyway?” Danny said as he corked the vial.

  “I got no fucking idea, you’re asking me to convert metric to standard, no one in America can do that off the top of their head,” Johnny said as Danny put the funnel in the next vial setting it up.

  “Be careful dude,” Danny said as Johnny started to fill the vial slowly.

  “What are you two fucking reprobates doing now?” Tabby asked.

  “We’re funneling acid into tiny easy to sell vials, what does it look like we’re doing?”

  “Are you serious? Is that seriously a jug of acid? You have enough LSD there to kill all four Beatles, Yoko, and the swami they met in India,” Tabby said.

  “Yes, it’s ridiculous I know, now quiet, I got to concentrate,” Johnny said, looking over at his sister just long enough to not realize that the vial had filled up.

  “What?” Johnny looked down, “Shit,” he said, as he quickly pulled out the funnel, spilling some of the liquid out and onto his fingers, “God damn it,” Johnny said, not thinking as he brought his fingers to his mouth and quickly sucked the acid off of them. He looked up and saw Danny, his eye’s wide and lip trembling.

  “What’s wrong?” Johnny asked.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Are you insane!” Tabby said.

  Johnny looked at her, then to Danny, then at his hand, then back at Danny, “Oh shit, I just, umm, shit did I umm,” Johnny gulped as he felt his heartbeat start to rise.

  “You better buckle up man,” Danny said, “You’re going to start to swqrudsiasa,” Danny said, looking at Johnny with concern.

  “What?” Johnny said, breathing harder, panicking.

  “I said, you're going to start sqrudsiadia, diggilidino and gdafsdfad, you got to lay down,” Daddy put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder and led him to the couch. Johnny fell back into it. He looked around the room. He could see the paint on his walls starting to run, melting off with small patches of technicolor raindrops began to roll down his house’s walls. He tried to focus on something, anything he could find, he looked at the T.V.”

  “Why is he looking at the T.V.,” Tabby asked Danny, “It’s not even on,” she said, looking at her brother.

  “Acid can cause hallucinations,” Danny said.

  “Really? I’ve never done acid. I thought that’s just what people said, like, oh yeah you see shit, I mean, people say that about pot I thought it was just a figure of speech,” Tabby looked at Danny, “It can really make you see hallucinations?”

  “It can,” Danny paused, “Actually I don’t mean can. It does, that’s exactly what it does, with as much as he took, Johnny’s about to start seeing some serious shit,” Danny said.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Tabby said, “Like, do we need to call someone?”

  “No, I’m guessing by the surface area of a grown man’s ring and index finger, he probably took about four hits, nothing dangerous, he’s just going to be in la la land for a while, nothing to be concerned about,” Danny said, watching Johnny’s eyes get wider as he kept them glued on the empty television.

  “How long is a while, I mean, like two hours? Four hours?” Tabby asked.

  “LSD is a very different drug than the rookies like you use,” he turned to Tabby and put his hand on her shoulder, “I hope you don’t have any plans tonight, because, with the amount he took, we’re going to be in this for the long haul,” Danny said.

  “How long?” Tabby asked.

  “Ten hours, twelve if this is good shit,” Danny said.

  “Twelve, what the fuck!” Tabby said, “What kind of reprobate uses this shit! I mean pot is just fun, who the fuck wants to hallucinate demons for twelve hours!”

  “We don’t know he sees demons, we don’t know what he’s seeing, what acid does is tap into subconscious mind and bring all the things you don’t know you’re thinking about to the forefront, some people have said they can see god while they’re on it,” Danny said.

  “So that means that Johnny’s about to see his whole subconscious about to unravel in front of him?” Tabby asked.

  “Yeah, also yes, he’s probably going to start seeing some demons,” Danny said, “This might get fucked up,” Danny said, looking at Johnny and taking a deep breath.

  Johnny watched the television, it was the channel 113 34 O’clock news, with lead anchors, Zack and Amy. The same anchors from the school’s morning announcements.

  “Oh shit, they’ve done well for themselves, Zacks’s got a nice suit, I wonder if they’re still fucking,” Johnny said, leaning forward and watching the news.

  “Wait, why did he mention Zack and Amy, aren’t they that couple who host the morning announcements,” Tabby said.

  “No,” Danny said.

  “He didn’t just say their names? I could have sworn he did,” she said.

  “No, I mean they’re not a couple,” Danny said.

  “Really?” Tabby said, looking at Danny, then back to Johnny.

  “My summation is that Johnny is watching a news program of some kind on the non-powered television, and as his subconscious is creating this program from whole cloth, using Johnny’s most prominent association to newscasters to create the projection, that being Zack and Amy,” he said.

  “Okay, I have seen you get so high you had to empty your pockets, so you could be light enough to stand, how the hell are you all of a sudden an expert on something, anything,” Tabby asked him.

  “I’ve done it a few times myself,” Danny said.

  “Number one, why? Number two, how often?” She asked.

  “Spiritual purposes mostly, and I probably do it about once every three months, or whenever my parents are out of town, or a little on Fridays,” Danny said.

  Johnny continued to watch the television, Brain popped up on the screen in a cheap grey suit, “So In sports today, the Fighting Mallards remain undefeated, and they will always will be,” he smiled.

  Amy looked over at Brain, the sportscaster, “Well that’s because of their great captain,” Amy and Zack looked at each other and laughed, then leaned in and gave each other a deep loving kiss. She bit his lip and looked at him, “I knew they were fucking!” Johnny said.

  “They’re not fucking dude,” Danny said, looking over at Johnny after overhearing him.

  “Why do you keep saying that like you’re so sure?” Tabby asked.

  “I know, okay. It’s a common misconception, they’re just friends, I’m not talking about it anymore, come on, let's focus on Johnny,” Danny said.

  The two looked back at Johnny. His breath had gone from deep, quick, breaths to long slow ones. He was still watching the television.

  “The Mallard’s certainly are looking good, let’s hope they stop taking so many god damn drugs,” Wendy said.

  “That’s right Amy, you hot little sexpot you,” Zack said as he gave her a wink causing her to blush.

  “They have so much more chemistry on the 34 o’clock news,” Johnny said under his breath.

  “In other news,” Amy turned to the camera, “Your death, and how it’s inevitable and ultimately, will be completely your own fault,” her smile widened, “Johnny Vincent,” Amy’s tone got so much more severe when she mentioned her viewer by name.

  “What the fuck,” Johnny’s breath started to pick back up, “Holy shit!” he said, as a flaming, seven-foot-tall, horned demon with an exposed ribcage walked by, very nonchalantly as he carried a chain whip, dragging it across the ground.

  “That looked big, what did he just see?” Tabby asked.

  “Probably one of those demons I was talking about earlier,” Danny said.

  “Sup Angelo?” Zack said, looking back and giving a quick wink and thumbs up to the demon.

  “That’s just Angelo, don’t worry pretty soon you’re going to be getting very well acquainted with him Johnny, once you’re burning in hell because you’re a drug kingpin,” Chris said.

  “I’m not going to hell, tons of drug kingpins don’t go to hell,” Johnny said, looking away from the TV for a second, “Okay, maybe most do, but that’s because they kill people, I don’t kill people, I sell weed, I sell something that’s literally never killed anyone in the history of history,” Johnny ranted at the TV, but in the real world Danny and Tabby heard his words as the garbled, fevered rantings of a rambunctious spirit.

  “This is getting ridiculous, he’s fucking ranting at a television that’s not even on, we got to do something,” Tabby said.

  “No, no, trust me, let him work through it, you’re going to give him too much stimuli,” he said.

  “He sure is, oh I bet he thinks he’s so smart, this just in,” Amy put her hand to her earpiece, “News flash, you’re not as smart as you think you are Johnny, you’re just an asshole who’s fucking up everyone’s good time,” Amy laughed.

  “That’s certainly going to put him in the running for prom king,” Zack said.

  “I don’t want to prom king, I have never thought about that, ever, ever,” Johnny said, shaking his head.

  “Not even once?” Amy asked, smirking at Johnny.

  “Okay maybe once, but that’s not just me. It’s like being president, every guy thinks about it at least once. You think just because you and your little boy toy Zack are going to win, Fuck you,” Johnny said, pointing at the screen.

  Tabby got on the couch, getting next to her brother.

  “No, Tabby, he’s being stimulated right now, you’re going to give him too much data, he won’t be able to take it,” Danny said, trying to warn her.

  She gently rubbed Johnny’s shoulder. His head darted towards her, “Tabitha?” Johnny said.

  “Yes Johnny, it’s me, it’s Tabby, your little sister, you’re at home, you’re fine, everything is fine, don’t worry,” Tabby said in a calm, gentle voice.

  Johnny looked over at Tabby, “I’m okay, I’m okay,” he panted.

  “Are you sure,” Tabby reached up to her chest, “Danny says that was more than a small hit of acid, he says you’re going to fucked up for a while,” Tabby said as she reached up and started to unbutton her top.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Johnny said.

  “I can’t understand you,” Tabby said as she continued to unbutton her top, she slid it off and gently shook her shoulders in front of Johnny, showing off her perky young breasts. She looked over to Danny, “He’s really out there,” Tabby said, as she tossed her shirt aside and turned back to Johnny, topless.

  “What the fuck!” Johnny said putting his hand to his eyes not wanting to look at his topless sister. He quickly got off the couch, wanting to get away from her.

  Tabby turned to Danny, Johnny turned his head there too, seeing a big amorphous blob wearing a San Francisco 49’ers hat. He turned back to his sister and watched as she leaned back, topless in front of him.

  “What the hell are you doing Tabby, have some decency,” Johnny said.

  Tabby, still fully clothed in the real world, looked at Danny, “I can’t understand anything he’s saying, his voice is all garbled,” she said, looking at Johnny. She watched as he got up, waving his hands, not yelling, but still loud, speaking incoherently as he made his way to the hallway. He reached out and grabbed the wall, he looked over, and the wall turned to a loose jelly that started to absorb his hand into it, “What the fuck,” Johnny panted as he put his foot on the wall to give himself leverage.

  “What’s going on?” Tabby said as she and Danny watched Johnny flail around the hallway.

  “He’s stuck in the wall, or at least he thinks he’s stuck in the wall,”

  “You mother fucking house!” Johnny shouted as he got his hand free, balled it into a fist, and punched the wall as hard as he could, yelling out “Fuck you!” as he did, “Ah,” He cried out.

  “Don’t worry this is normal, happens all the time,” Danny said as he stood next to Tabby looking over after Johnny. He was oddly calm at the predicament his friend was in.

  “Really, Normal? That is normal?” Tabby said as they watched Johnny start, attempting, to do cartwheels down the hallway.

  “Totally normal,” Danny said, still calm as if he had way too much experience with friends being in this state of affairs.

  “Why is he doing cartwheels?” Tabby asked.

  “He thinks he’s being chased, it’s fine,” Danny said.

  “Chased? Chased by what? And why would cartwheels help anyone being chased get away?” Tabby said jaw dropped as she watched her brother go insane in their family house’s hallway.

  “Number one, he’s being chased by those demons we talked about earlier, Right now he’s trying to flee them, he’s found out just running doesn’t work, so he’s trying to be more creative in how he runs from them,” Danny said, “Right now, he’s thinking if he comes up with a more interesting way to avoid them, he’ll get away,” Danny said.

  Tabby looked at Danny, “You are way to calm, and way to knowledgeable about how this situation is playing out, my brother is losing his god damn mind,” Tabby pointed at him.

  Danny quickly reached up and grabbed her hand putting it back down, “No, you do not want to point at him, trust me,” He looked at Tabby, “Trust me,” he said, he looked at Johnny, “The best thing we can do right now, at the beginning of this, in stage one as I like to call it, is just let him work through his shit, and eventually his somewhat coherent rambling, will eventually degrade to totally insane, and at that point, we’ll get him in a bed eventually and let him just kind of, roll around and get it out of his system,” Danny said.

  “You’re sure he’s going to be okay?” Tabby asked.

  “He’s going to be okay, I mean,” Danny said, “He’s not okay right now, he’s probably dealing with some serious shit, but he will be okay eventually, it’s going to be fine, we just have to watch him while this whole thing blows over,” Danny looked at Johnny who was shaking, kneeling over in the middle of the hallway.

  “This is so long,” Johnny said, he looked up, the hallway extended an insane length either way. He looked down towards the bedrooms and saw an endless stretch of walls and family photos. Johnny looked up and saw a picture of him, Tabby, and his parents at a theme park. Young Johnny and Tabby were both wearing mouse hats with their names on them, “We’ve never been to Disney land, no way Disney land has a hat that says Tabby,” Johnny said, looking back and forth. He reluctantly put his hand on the wall, “Don’t fucking suck me in again,” He said to the wall, “I need you right now,” he watched the wall, hoping it wouldn’t suck him in again. As he watched it, more technicolor drops started to drip down the paint of the hallway. Johnny looked up, he saw blue, red, green, and another color, a color incomprehensible to people who weren’t on four hits of acid. “You’re not a real color,” Johnny put his hand on the wall, and the raindrops of the unique color leaked onto his hand, “There’s no fucking way this is real,” Johnny said, looking deeply at the intricate and unknowable beauty of the small waterfall coming from the wall

  As Johnny looked at his hand Tabby and Danny looked on, “He seems to have calmed down, what’s going on?” Tabby asked.

  “Well, it’s been about an hour, his mind has settled into the high, or trip as it’s more accurately called, right now his mind is settling into a calm, the demons at least are probably disappearing, he’s just got one more hill to get over, then he’ll pass out and we can just check his vitals every few hours and we’ll get him through this no problem,” Danny said, assessing the situation.

  “How the fuck do you handle doing this alone?” Tabby asked.

  “Well, number one, I don’t do four hits at once, that was his first, most crucial, mistake,” Danny said.

  “What other mistake did he make?” Tabby asked.

  “Doing acid, when he has a ton of demons to work through,” Danny shook his head.

  “I thought you said he wouldn’t see demons anymore,” Tabby said.

  “Well yeah, not like hellfire, horns, and tail literal demons, I think he’s worked through those, but his personal demons, yeah, he’s still probably going to be dealing with those,” Danny gently stroked his weekend razor stubble.

  Johnny looked at his hand, at the unknowable color, as he admired it, the ground started to shake below him. Johnny watched as his hand trembled, he heard a rumbling coming from down the hallway. He looked up and saw it, a giant baseball, with a radius of at least five feet, tumbling towards him like that scene from Indiana Jones.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Johnny said, turning and running away from it. As he ran the hallway extended, ever growing, he turned and saw more and family photos, visiting the circus that featured elephants who were all pink, and of course Johnny and his fathers fishing trip, on the planet Mars.

  Johnny took a left and looked over his shoulder as the baseball rolled past him. He continued to run forward, making every impossible turn he could in the endless hallway labyrinth he found himself in. It was quiet now, then Johnny heard something, something sounded like a duck quacking. He turned another corner of the hallway and saw it. A regular sized black and green mallard standing in the middle of the hall. It looked up at Johnny, made direct eye contact with him, then quacked at him.

  “Manny?” Johnny asked, “Manny the Mallard? Is that you?” Johnny said.

  It quacked again, but this quack sounded different, like it had syllables, as if the mallard was trying to say something.

  “What, are you, are you talking? What are you trying to say?” Johnny asked.

  “Murderer,” the duck quacked out.

  “What, no, no, no, not you Manny, not you too, I’m not a murderer!” Johnny called out, then felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned and saw Doug Whitman in front of him. “Doug, what the hell are you doing here? You can’t be here, you’re dead, you’re fucking dead,” Johnny looked over his former classmate, his grey t-shirt was full of slits and dripping with red blood from the fourteen still bleeding stab wounds that Doug suffered at the hands of tweaked out mugger.

  “Look what you did to me Johnny,” Doug Whitman said, “I’m dead now, because of you,” Doug said.

  “Fuck you! You’re dead because you’re a cheap son of a bitch, you could have just paid me fucking ten extra dollars, and you would have been fine!”

  Johnny heard another voice coming from behind him, “Selling drugs is so cool isn’t it Johnny?” Johnny turned and saw Teddy Wilcox, well part of Teddy, the entire side of his head was blown open like the t-1000 after he got blasted with a shotgun at the end of Terminator.

  “No, no, no, you didn’t even work for me, what happened to you is on you man,” Johnny said, unable to look away from the gaping hole on the side of Teddy’s head.

  “Yeah, but you just made it sound so cool, sell drugs, party, have fun, you’re a bad influence Johnny, a bad influence,” Teddy said.

  “Hey, it’s like a high school reunion,” Doug said looking at the other ghost, then back to Johnny, “You know, that thing that we certainly won’t be going to,” he said.

  “Why do you all look like this? What the fuck is going on?” Johnny asked, rubbing his face, pulling his hair as he looked around at his deceased classmates.

  “Yeah, this is how purgatory works, you just show up there how you were when you died, this is what our existence is now,” Doug said, panning his hand over the stab wounds up and down his chest, “Though, you know you probably won’t have to worry about purgatory, right?” Teddy said.

  “What, no, no, fuck!” Johnny shut his eyes tight and pulled on his hair as he cried, out, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Johnny started to hear a loud beeping sound as he fell to his knees, he collapsed onto the floor and culled up in a ball, shaking and huddled as everything went black around him.