Mental Fiction Follows Me

Brian’s POV

“It feels good to be home,” I said as I fell onto my parent’s couch. I kicked my feet up onto the coffee table and leaned my head back.

We had been home for less than ten minutes, and I was loving it. I was also missing the friends we had made. Aiden and Nikki were still with us, of course, and Johnny had even asked Aiden to move in with him. Deandra, Tiana, Tara, and Krys had went to Vegas with the Escape guys. Ryanne stayed with Oli, and they were over in Europe touring now.

“Yeah, I missed having your feet all over my coffee table,” Jan said and pushed my feet off. They landed on the ground, and I gave a small shrug.

“When are we going to unpack?” Zacky asked from beside me. I looked over at him, and for a second I forgot what I was going to say. Sometimes I was still scared that I was going to wake up and it was all going to be a dream. Scared that Zacky and I were still going to be just friends.

“Whenever you want to,” I replied and smiled at him. Zacky smiled back, and the smile reached his eyes. I moved to lay my head on his chest, and then I threw my feet back onto the table.

“I can’t wait to sleep in an actual bed,” Aiden said. I moved my head to see her sitting on Johnny’s lap with her head buried in his neck.

“You and me both,” Nikki replied. She was sitting next to Matt, and one of his arms was wrapped tightly around her. I looked to the other side of the room and saw Jimmy. He was sitting by himself and not talking.

“Hi, everyone!”

“Hi, Aunt Sally,” I replied, knowing the voice at once. I felt her lips on my cheek, and I smiled up at her. She smiled down at me, and then she placed a small kiss on Zacky’s forehead.

“You two are so cute together,” she said and rested one of her hands on my shoulder. I reached up to cover it with my own. It was nice knowing my family accepted me.

“Thanks,” I said and turned my face away from her. I left my hand on hers.

“You must be Jimmy. Syd’s told me a lot about you,” Aunt Sally said. I watched Jimmy’s cheeks turn a light pink and he nervously picked at the bottom of his shirt.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and finally looked up at her. I never thought that Jimmy and Sydney would get together. Jimmy just didn’t seem like the settling down type, and Syd was...well, there isn’t an easy way to describe her. I haven’t seen Jimmy even glance at another woman though, so I know he really loves Syd. And Syd’s crazy about Jimmy.

I think Aunt Sally started to say something else, but she was cut off by the doorbell. I jumped up to get it, but Aunt Sally was already walking towards the door. I had a really bad feeling about everything, so I quickly started walking after her. I watched her hand curl around the knob, and I stood behind her. She took a step back and bumped into me, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The door opened to reveal a man in his late forties, and he was holding a piece of paper in his hand. He was dressed in a military uniform; one just like Syd wore.

“Can I help you?” Aunt Sally asked. Her voice sounded strong, but I could feel her shoulders shaking under my arm. Without saying a word, he held the piece of paper towards Aunt Sally. She took it and slowly opened it, and my eyes only caught a few words.

Sorry to inform you...

Sydney Haner...

Accident...

Sorry for your loss...

“Where is she?” Aunt Sally’s voice was so low that I barely heard her, but the man in front of us heard her.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. There were no remains. The explosion destroyed everything,” he said. Aunt Sally shook her head, and her hair brushed my forearm.

“I don’t believe you. I want my Sydney’s body!” Aunt Sally suddenly screamed.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am, but there was nothing left. All we found was this,” he said and pulled something from his pocket. Aunt Sally grabbed something from the man’s shaking fingers, and I saw a small golden rectangle. You could tell the metal had been burned, and all it had printed on it was: S. Haner. Aunt Sally’s fingers moved over the charred metal, and I felt her body start shaking.

“There’s a number at the bottom of the paper. Call us if you decide to have a memorial service and we’ll pay for everything. I’m sorry for your loss,” the man said. I nodded my head at his words, and then I pulled Aunt Sally back enough to close the door. She slowly looked up at me, and her eyes were the same pale shade as Syd’s.

“She lied,” she whispered, and then passed out in my arms.

Syd’s POV

I had misjudged how far I had ran that day. I had woken up in the early morning, and it was now almost dark. I still hadn’t come anywhere near the burning buildings. They looked to be as far away as they were this morning. I reached into one of my pockets and dug around for my thing of water. I found it and placed it on my dry lips and took a long sip. I couldn’t drink too much though, and I reluctantly put it back where it came from.

”You can really run when you’re scared, huh?” Sage asked. She was in a slightly better mood now that I didn’t have amnesia.

“Yep. I put all those horror movies whores to shame,” I said as I continued walking. Answering out loud was dangerous, but who was around to hear me? I was allowed to be openly crazy for now.

”You could have been a marathon runner or something. Maybe we should try that when we get out of here.”

“No thanks. After this is done and over with, I quit. I’m going to be lazy and do nothing.”

”Have you ever thought of a family before, Syd?” Lillian asked.

“What little girl doesn’t? I don’t know if a family would be for me though.”

”I think having a family would be cool.”

“You? The Almighty Sage? Queen of Cussing and Partying thinks kids would be cool?”

”I’m not that heartless. Kids are like a whole new adventure.”

”It would be amazing, Syd! They would have your light hair and Jimmy’s blue eyes. And they’d be tall, and just beautiful.”

“I’ll be sure to ask Jimmy his opinion on all this.” I gave a small laugh and pushed some hair away from my face.

”Men don’t get an opinion. You’re going to be the one doing all the work.”

”Don’t listen to her. I’m sure Jimmy would love to have kids.”

“Let’s get out of this mess before we worry about anything else, okay?” They both silently agreed, and I trudged on. Before long I could see the burned remains, and the smell of the smoke was overwhelming. There was also the distinctive smell of burned flesh. It was faint now, which meant that at least a day had passed since everything had happened. In all honesty, there was no telling how long I had been unconscious.

The moon was overhead when I finally reached the site, and three was nothing left. It was just a giant black spot on the earth, and that was it. Everyone was gone. There was one thing that bothered me. Other people knew where we were, and there were no bodies. So one of two things had happened. One, someone had came and collected all the bodies. Two, someone had came and noticed that there were no bodies to collect and left to report that everyone was gone. Judging by the damage and the very faint tire tracks, I was going with option two. They both had the same result: I was left here alone and no one was coming back to find me.

I slowly sank to the ground and landed on my knees. My palms fell onto the blackened ground, and I felt my breath come out of my mouth in short bursts. Then I straightened my back, tipped my face up to the dark sky, and screamed.