Watching Over Me

“Are you there, God? It’s me, Zach. Zach Jolt. I’m freaking out right now, I’m really freaking out.”

I opened my eyes and looked back down at the figure on the floor. 

The man, ten minutes ago running towards me red-faced and panting, now a shattered statue, his skin bleached of any coloring.

I looked away again.

Shit! This wasn’t real. This was just a dream that I would wake up from any time now, startled yet relieved.

Five more minutes passed, and the icy rain which pricked my bare arms felt very real. 

That was a feeling he would never have again, I thought, unable to look back at him.

“God, I’m so sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry! Oh shit, I didn’t mean to say fuck. I didn’t mean to kill him, I’m so scared right now. Please, I need your help!”

Sirens blared from behind me, and I jumped at the sudden sound. 

I needed to get out of here. 

I grabbed a handful of my short, black hair anxiously, trying to look around for the best possible escape.

The shrill beep from my phone startled me again, and I reached a shaky, wet hand inside my pocket to take it out.

Unknown number.

You can’t leave him here, Zach

I gasped. 

Fuck, who sent this?!

I spun around again, but I was the only one alive in this alleyway besides the rats. There were no windows, no mutters or screams. Just me, and the cold, dead man underneath me.

Oh my God, I was going to puke. My stomach was in a huge knot that seemed to end at the foot of my throat, and I gagged, threatening to spill the pizza I had eaten earlier. Those were happier times. Innocent times.

A ping came from my phone again and I looked down reluctantly.

Quick, you need to take him down to Gilligan’s Lake.

Who is this???, I responded.

You said you needed my help, didn’t you?

God?? But…there was no way…

I didn’t have time to think about who the hell was pranking me, they were giving me some pretty solid advice. But how was I supposed to carry this…this huge guy to the lake?

Another ping

Grab a garbage bag and the skateboard

I peered around me and sure enough, there was the skateboard, lying tiredly against the wall. I pulled a slimy garbage bag out from the dumpster without bothering to empty the contents and quickly slid it around the corpse.

“He tried to hurt me, he tried to kill me,” I tried to reassure myself.

I wasn’t sure why he had run at me with his hands ready to pop my throat, it all happened so fast. Wrong place at the wrong time? Whatever it was, I was in trouble. Big trouble.

I checked my phone for any more pings, but there were none. The sirens were getting louder.

I peered around me again.

“I don’t know which way to go, where is the lake?” I panicked.

And sure enough, another text came.

Go down the street to your right. You’ll have to be quick

Fuck, here goes nothing. 

I grabbed the very end of the slick garbage bag. Luckily the man’s weight kept him solid on top of the skateboard as I rolled him down the street at a hurried pace.

I passed by an elderly woman, and tried to nod normally. She stared curiously back at me, her eyes glowing from underneath her newspaper shelter.

Tomorrow I would see myself plastered to the front page of that newspaper if I wasn’t quick enough, I thought hauntingly.

Ping!

Take a left down this street and you’ll be at the lake. Hurry, they’re starting to come on foot

The phone nearly dropped from my shaky hands as I hurriedly turned my makeshift vehicle with a great pull.

It was getting darker outside, and the air had gotten progressively colder with the onset of the rain. I picked a bad day to wear a sleeveless hoodie, though I wasn’t expecting to become a murderer.

I ran until my legs felt numb, and finally, there it was, Gilligan’s lake, which almost seemed to be rocking with the droplets of rain causing movement down below.

I pulled the bag near the edge of the lake, and started to peel back the garbage bag. Catching another terrifying glimpse of the man, his face now a bluish tinge, I hesitated. My stomach lurched again.

Footsteps echoed in the distance, growing closer.

“I can’t do this, why do I have to throw him in the lake?”

Do you want to make it out of here alive, or not?

I closed my eyes, removing the rest of the bag off of the man, and lifted him by his torso. 

“Oh God, oh God!” I cried, pushing off against the muddy ground and releasing the man into the water.

I heard a sickening plop, and watched as the large man slowly sunk down into the darkness, fading quickly out of view.

I sighed, and rubbed my dirty hands against my damp jeans. 

“Freeze!”

Oh shit.

Turning around slowly, I was faced with three officers, guns pointed directly at my face.

“Put your hands up slowly,” the main cop ordered.

I begun to raise my hands, taking one last look at my phone

The skateboard.

I peered down, and sure enough, the skateboard was just within reach. I slid my foot slowly towards it, waiting for the right moment. 

As the cops started inching closer, I quickly thrust my body onto the board, crouching down as I rolled away.

Gunshots deafened me as they sprinkled the air, the cops screaming out “Stop!” and “Come back!” as if it would make any difference.

I zoomed back towards town, through the alleyway I had come from, and down a dark street, narrowly avoiding the oncoming car which blared its nasally horn in my face as I flew.

“Which way do I go?!” I asked hurriedly, staring out into the pitch black at the two roads in front of me.

I looked down for a quick second.

Turn-

What did it say, turn right? Or was it left? I didn’t have another second to look down at my phone, I had to go.

Taking a deep breath, I chose the right path, and WHAM!

I hit into something small, possibly a rock in the road, and went flying towards the ground.

My knees scraped against the pavement, and I knew for certain I was bleeding but I had to get up and keep going. I checked the skateboard, which was now missing a wheel.

NO!

I looked back down at my phone.

Turn left, it had said, and in the same instant a strong light blinded me.

There were three loud bangs and piercing pain screamed from my abdomen. I fell back down to the floor, watching helplessly as the ground turned red beneath me.

The flashlight that shone on me began to grow dimmer, and dimmer, until the entire world turned to black.

“Aw man, I died!” Tommy shouted, slamming down the controller.

“Well, you should’ve listened when I told you to go left!” Kim smirked, grabbing the controller and pressing a series of buttons, “It’s my turn.”