A Day Out

Cotton white clouds trudged lazily across the sky as Henri sat in his apartment balcony and watched. The day was a sunny one, and neighbors in the residential buildings chatted and cooked, evident by the smell of barbeque wafting through the air. Families walked together in happy clusters. An old woman living on the ground floor watered her daisies and marigold flowers, some of the water spilling and trickling onto the street. 

Henri glanced down at his watch to remind himself of the time, shifting his book to the left hand as he twisted his wrist. Time was moving quickly, as it did when reading a good classic like Pride and Prejudice, clutched delicately in his hands to avoid wrinkling the pages or bending the intricately decorated cover. It was a special edition, bought by Annalise, a close friend. 

Online college has been tough. Motivation seemed rare to come by. Casual meetups with friends were taken for granted. Every day seemed the same in quarantine. Changes in routine were due, and as non-essential shops opened and more people received their second dose of the vaccine, Henri decided that today was the day to go out with his best friend.

A blurred shape in Henri’s peripheral vision jerked him back to reality. He ducked and stumbled around the balcony frantically, trying to avoid the fat bee chasing him in erratic random paths. After a moment, the bee decided it had enough entertainment and flew off into the distance in a straight line. 

Henri was left crouching awkwardly near the door, feeling embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Shaking his head, he opened the door and slipped inside quickly, lest the creature still be hovering around. 

He set his wallet and keys on the kitchen island to remember to take with him. He locked the windows and checked the stove. A familiar honk from outside made him grin for the first time in a while, and Henri headed out with his belongings. 

Jogging over to Jai’s dark red Honda Civic, Henri hopped in and fistbumped his best friend. They both were wearing similar sweatshirts by coincidence and could be mistaken for each other from the back, with them both having dark brown hair and a similar build.

“Hey man! It’s been so long since we actually saw each other. I’m glad to get out today.”

“Yeah, it really has. Where do you want to eat today? I was thinking we could get some pizza and maybe ice cream from that shop across the plaza…”

Slipping back into regular conversation felt surprisingly normal, and Henri was grateful. He was afraid there would be awkward moments, but knowing someone as well as he knew Jai made it all easy.

His best friend turned up the music and they laughed together, singing along and recounting some of their most special moments before the pandemic. Henri felt a sense of happiness that had been missing during the past couple of months, and Jai noticed with a quick glance, smiling more brightly than before.

“How’s Alina? You guys been hanging out?” Henri asked. He hadn’t heard Jai talk about his girlfriend in a while, always avoiding the question when asked over FaceTime. Henri had always assumed it was because of audio issues, but the strained expression on his friend’s face now said otherwise. 

“She...well, yeah, everything’s fine. We don’t talk as much as before. I don’t know what to say…it just feels off these days, you know?” Jai tapped his fingers on the wheel as they paused at a stop light.

“Yeah, it happens sometimes. I’m sure everything will be fine over time.” Henri paused, unsure what to say next. “Did something happen between you two?”

“No, not really. If I’m being honest-” Jai paused, brows knit with concern. “You alright, man? You look like you’re going to be sick.”

Henri had suddenly doubled over, his face pale. A strange vision appeared in his head and made his gut clench, and all his previous happiness and concern was gone. What he saw…

“I’m not sure what just happened. I just had this strange thought and an odd gut feeling…It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Probably just in my head. You were saying?”

Jai still appeared concerned, but he turned his head back to watch the street light. “Yeah, it was probably nothing. Anyway, I just feel like…”

As his friend continued talking, the image in Henri’s mind remained. It was horrific, and he didn’t know where it came from. He hadn’t watched any horror or crime movies recently. The background of the image seemed familiar, though, and he couldn’t put his finger on where it was. There was a flashing blue light in the corner of the image and a graffitied stop sign fallen over. 

Shaking himself from his eccentric thoughts, Henri tried to focus on Jai’s words for the rest of the drive. When they parked, he still hadn’t quite returned to normal. His stomach felt tight, and he was sure he wasn’t sick.

“Man, I don’t know what it was, but I’m still feeling strange. Like something bad’s gonna happen,” Henry said as they got out of the car.

“It’s nothing. Maybe you ate something bad. Don’t worry about it,” Jai replied, slipping the car keys in his pocket.

“I know, but I never felt this way before. Everything was fine before I got in the car. I don’t think I’m sick.”

“It’s that bad being in my car?” Jai joked. He turned serious when he saw Henri’s expression didn’t change. “Chill, man. If you’re not sick, it’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just go inside and talk about something else, okay?”

Henri nodded in response. Everything was fine, and everything was going to be fine. He wouldn’t let a vague feeling ruin his day.

The pair ordered a large veggie pizza, half with pineapple for Henri and the other half with other toppings for Jai, who claimed the pineapple pairing was an insult to the food. They found a table in the middle of the restaurant. The building had a modern feel to it, with a high ceiling and large spotless windows opening to the side of the nearby movie theater. A family in the corner was celebrating their daughter’s birthday. Everything was fine. 

Yet Henri still felt that clenched pain in his gut. He excused himself to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, fixing his hair. As he looked, his image shifted. Like a glitch. Henri blinked and rubbed his eyes, frustrated. He was likely just tired.

The image in the mirror told him otherwise. Henri gaped as he looked back at himself, and behind him was the terrifying vision he had seen in the car. He felt like he was drowning.

Blood painted the concrete floor, the source being multitudes of writhing bodies on the floor. They were monsters, with blue scales on their backs and drool dripping from fangs. What was this?

Henri sucked in rapid breaths. He clutched the edge of the bathroom sink, unable to tear away his eyes from the image. Surely just his mind had concocted something like this. Surely it wasn’t real.

A knock sounded at the door. Jai. 

“Henri! Are you all right? You’ve been in here for at least fifteen minutes. I thought I’d check on you, since you were feeling sick earlier.”

“Henri?”

Henri turned and flung open the door, eyes wide with fear. He clutched his friend’s arm, panicking. 

“Jai, Jai! There’s something wrong, something horrible’s going to happen. I don’t know when or where. We have to do something!”

Jai grabbed Henri, concerned for his friend’s state of mind. “Something what? I don’t know what you’re thinking man, but nothing is going to happen. You need to stop worrying. The pizza’s on the table, but I get it if you want me to take you home. You might be sick.”

Henri was about to explain, his heart still pounding in his chest. He realized with a start that a line of men was waiting outside, confused looks on their faces. The window behind the bathroom door displayed teenagers entering a coffee shop, the tall trees outside swaying gently with the wind, a man carrying a boxed cake to his car. Everything was fine. He calmed down.

Jai took him back to the table gently, as if he were a fussing toddler. He was certainly acting like one, in a way. 

Henri took a deep breath and felt his heart steady.

“Sorry, man. I felt all these emotions at once. I’m not sure what it was, but I think I might be tired. Or overworked or something. I didn’t sleep enough last night-”

“It’s alright. We’ve all been feeling crazy these past months, maybe it all piled up and got to you now. You need to take care of yourself. You’re sure that you’re alright?”

Henri bobbed his head to affirm. 

Jai ordered another warm pizza, and they ate in a tense silence. Henri felt horrible. They had just met up today and he had ruined it all.

Leaving the restaurant, they decided to skip the frozen yogurt and go directly back to Henri’s apartment.

“I can come with you if you want company,” Jai offered as he parked the car outside the apartment complex. A young girl jumped over a fallen stop sign and pointed at the swirling graffiti on its face. Strangely, there were significantly more people walking outside than when they had left the area. Only the effects of good weather, Henri assured himself. Everything was fine. 

Henri was going to decline, but he thought better of it. It would be better to have his friend around. He felt like he was going crazy on his own.

“If it doesn’t bother you, then yeah, it would be fun to hang out,” Henri replied. He perked up a little bit. “We could play COD, since we tied the last time we played.”

“Alright, sounds good. But you already know who’s going to win,” Jai said with a grin.

“Mm, yeah, sure.” Henri relaxed back in his seat and rubbed his hand over his face. “It’s nice, you know, I missed all of this.” He gestured to the car’s dashboard and the cold pizza box in his lap. “Thanks for helping me out today, I feel much better.”

“No worries, man. It happens,” Jai replied. “Well, I mean it’s never happened to me, but you’ll be fine,” Jai added after seeing Henri’s amused expression. Henri smiled back, and they headed to his apartment.

He opened the balcony door for some fresh air upon walking in, setting the pizza box on the island and going to take a shower while Jai set up the game. He pushed off the weight of anxiety and worry, instead trying to distract himself by thinking about the upcoming research conference where he would present his medical paper.

“Game set up?” Henri asked as he walked into his living room. 

Jai was nowhere to be seen.

The balcony door was shut, however. Henri opened it and stepped out, the cold concrete under the shade freezing his feet.

The figure standing behind the door swiveled to face him. 

Henri screamed.

It had a curved body covered in thick scales. Snarling, the figure lunged at Henri, snapping its knife-like fangs loudly. Jai’s once soft brown eyes furrowed with carnal desire, trained on Henri’s every move.

Henri jumped to the side, scraping his elbow roughly against the dark brick wall on the side. A line of his blood dripped down from the wall, and the monster sniffed and licked the splatter, shivering with pleasure.

Henri leaped off the balcony, landing on the ground hard. He hadn’t bent his knees, and although he lived on the third floor, it was enough of a jump to break his leg. He screamed in pain, hurriedly glancing up at his balcony. Jai was still occupied with the blood on the wall. Henri’s throat was raw and tears clung to his face.

A substance on the concrete caused him to slip. 

Blood. 

The dark sticky fluid ran through the streets, coagulating on the sides. The road was littered with dismembered bodies of monsters. A blue light flashed rapidly from the hotel building across. One of the creatures was bent over, savoring the flesh of the fallen others, growling with delight. 

Henri ran.