What Happened to Lucas?

“The world was nothing but a misty cavern, a dim bluish gray cloud is all that's left. The world is so empty now. But still I walk and I wander and I hope to find a memory somewhere in this place I now call home. How do you continue to wander for so long looking for something so useless. But what else is a dead guy supposed to do?” Lucas had long been stuck in this limbo. At first he would run to his memories then he would jog but now he just walks, He no longer minds talking to himself aloud as he knows well by now he will never be heard again.

“The energy shifts so quickly here, every time I stumble upon a memory it’s like I’m there again. I feel my soul fling itself backwards out of my bones and just like that I'm at the restaurant again. Amy is there.”  Lucas felt a smile grow and the warm feeling of his cheeks getting redder by the second came soon after. He feels this every time Amy says “Hey La-La-La-Lucas!” Her normal greeting to him every Thursday night during her drop off, she supplies the produce for the restaurant his family owns..

Lucas always picks up extra Thursday shifts ever since the first time they met. After all he was a sucker for long brown hair and dark brown eyes and to add another nail in the coffin she had dimples, confidence, and a short temper.  They were opposites in all the best ways according to him. Lucas had green eyes and dirty blonde hair, a freckled face, absolutely no self esteem, and he was the most patient person she had ever met. Little does Lucas know, she too is searching for what is left of him.

Amy had always joked of how they were such a match made in hell. She despised the restaurant and Lucas's family but she knew better than to ever say that aloud. If his parents were to stop ordering she may never see him again. To her though, she knew “Porchetta Padre” was hell for Lucas. 

Amy knew something was off that night and she made her last drop to the  Restaurant anyways.  Amy didn’t know what it was that made her so anxious. It was as if the leaves were not falling from the trees the right way or the sky had just seemed so much darker than other nights.. She felt better once she got to her destination when she saw Lucas waiting for her by the kitchen door. 

Her drop off played out the same as it always does, the two of them wink at each other and giggle as they unload the truck, ranting and raving about the day they have both had. And like that “I'll see you next Thursday Loser” Amy said out of the window of her truck. Lucas rolled his eyes “See ya Thursday Girly” 

It’s been 3 weeks now, every Thursday Amy stands at the tree line across the street from the restaurant and she cries. She would normally be on deliveries but something has overtaken her. Amanda, Lucas' mother, brings Amy a fresh homemade meal to the tree line every Thursday. “You should go home and rest sweetheart” She says to Amy. But Amy just sobs and refuses to eat. “I don’t understand,” Amy says. “How do you grieve for someone who’s body you can’t find? What happened to Lucas?”

Her hatred for his family grew as the weeks dragged on, they capitalized on his death. They received so many donations, new customers, and free advertising from new stations. They spent more time talking about the menu than they did their son until about a month had passed and it was as if Lucas never disappeared, as if he never existed to begin with. Well to everyone except for Amy, she was still miserable without him. She was still searching…..

It was the night of the 5th Thursday, another Thursday spent without food, sleep, or love. She had to know as Amy’s hunger began to grow, she ached for answers. She starved for Lucas. She needed to find him; she needed to hold him, dead or alive. She grabbed her jacket and brought her dog Damascus along for the ride. As she hopped in her truck and the oh so fearless bull terrier by her side but practically on her lap, She fled to her destination. 

It was 12am, far past the restaurant's closing time as Amy parked in the lot out back by the dumpsters. She leaves Damascus behind in the truck, windows down of course. She knows her good boy will come to her rescue as needed if something is truly off. Amy stops at the back door and second guesses herself, “what if I’m just hurting the family that just lost their son?” she thought. But then she looked down and saw a security code access lock on the door that had not been there before the disappearance and once again she was sure of herself. 

Amy began to think of alternatives but then Damascus began to growl deeply and so she turned to be face to face with Finneas, Lucas’ brother. She gasped, frightened and confused but Finneas just shushed her and whispered “I’m trying to find out what happened too.”  as he turned and entered a correct passcode and opened the door for the both of them. 

“I'm gonna go turn off the alarm, stay here.” Finneas says to Amy as he touches her shoulder.  And he darts towards the office as Amy looks around the filthy kitchen, Lucas was always so specific with how he kept things clean. You could tell he hadn’t been there awhile, his scent was even erased from the air. The realization caused Amy’s eyes to tear up with such pain. She wiped her eyes and began walking through the kitchen, pots and pans everywhere covered in grease and meat stains with an odd smell. 

Amy had expected to see Finneas back by now but he wasn’t, the alarm was definitely turned off though, at least she thinks so, the walls stopped beeping. She decided she should go to the office to look for him. She begins to walk deeper into the restaurant, as she stands just outside the office door, she catches a mist in her peripheral and she turns to see and feel freezing cold air escaping the walk in freezer which has been left wide open.  She feels immense dread and yet she continues her path, she won't leave without him.

As Amy now stands in the doorway of the freezer she sees nothing but frozen air, a cavern of blue hued fluorescent lights and clouds. She shivers as she enters, feeling the sensitivity of her teeth as the cold hits them when she inhales. Amy gasps when she sees him and just like that the doors slam behind her never to open again as long as she’ll live.

Lucas was now a frozen corpse and Amy would not be far behind. As much as Amy wanted to hold his hand she couldn’t because he didn’t have any, he was quite literally half the man he used to be. Parts of him seemed to have been fileted as if Lucas  were an animal.  Amy tried for hours to scream and bang and cry out but nobody came and it wasn’t long now. She laid beside the corpse of her almost lover and died with Frozen tears upon her cheeks. 

She awoke to see his smile and blushing face as the memories continue to repeat themselves.