These Tricks Aren't For Kids

Stay Awake

Ping! Ping!

Groaning, Geoff rolled over and blindly felt around for his phone's charger cable. Groping blindly, he felt the worn out rubber cord. Tugging it down, Geoff caught the phone in a clammy, sleep-stiffened hand.

With a few quick swipes, he was checking his messages. Of course they were from Awsten. Who else would they be from this early in the morning?

What time was it? Geoff glanced up and saw that it was half past eleven. Maybe Awsten wasn't the madman in this situation.

Are you awake?

Hey. I'm coming over

               alright.

Half awake, Geoff crawled out of his sheets, checking things off of his mental checklist as he made his way to the kitchen.

Clean underwear? Check.

Phone plugged in? Check.

Breakfast? Working on it.

His stomach growled in response as he padded down his hallway. Clumsily, he got past his dining area, fumbling for the boxes of cereal on top of the fridge.

The box of Cheerios he grabbed didn't feel quite right. It was heavier than he remembered. Maybe he had grabbed a new box prematurely.

A quick glance proved that he in fact, only had one box of cereal currently, and it was in his hands.

Geoff gave a quick shrug before grabbing milk and a bowl. He wanted to eat something before Awsten showed up, seeing as how the songwriter had a sort of chaotic and forgetful aura. Not that Geoff really minded it terribly, he just lost track of a day when he spent it with Awsten. The only cure he'd found for that was sitting down with Awsten and planning, and that took the one once of forethought he had. It was just easier to prepare for the potential consequences sooner rather than later.

The first bite of cereal confirmed one thing. These were not Cheerios. Cheerios don't taste like a blend of cardboard and an acid trip. Geoff took another spoonful to try and pin down the flavor better. The more time he spent trying to decipher what he was tasting, the weirder he felt just sitting in his chair.

Was someone watching him? Why did it feel like his flesh was trying to slip off of his bones?

Geoff glanced up and immediately dropped his spoon with a wet clatter. There in his dining room window, was the hunched figure of a greasy looking man climbing into his house. Was that window even open before?

The grimy looking stranger was licking his teeth in an incredibly discomforting manner, it felt obsessive and predatory in ways Geoff had never felt before. How does someone make you feel like scrambling away on all fours with just one slimy look?

Not only did it feel like this strange shadow in his dining room was beaming strange urges into his head, but he had somehow started eating more of the cereal without realizing it.

He felt like his guts were squirming to get out of his body. Like he had a belly full of angry snakes, writhing within. Geoff's flesh felt like a warm wet blanket, trying to slip from his shoulders and down his back.

Everything was too hot, vibrating out of reach, barely within his visual spectrum. It felt like there were two eyes in each of his sockets, rolling around of their own accord. They wouldn't let him look at the strange man now slinking across his dining table, still staring daggers into his skull. The vinyl cloth under his hands and clothed knees was crinkling softly, pushing Geoff's bowl of cereal closer and closer to the edge of the table. He made no moves to stop the tumbling box of cereal.