Are You Ready?

Justin laid in his bed texting Marcus his friend from his old school, about the disappearances that had been happening in his new town. His back and shoulders ached. "Must'of slept weird" he thought.

Marcus: "Wrnt most of them jerks, especially that wrestling guy. Wasn't he an ass to you?"

Justin: "Idk man. They weren't all bad, a couple of them were nice to me."

The conversation ended around 2a.m. as usual. Marcus was good like that, he knew Justin needed a friend right now.

The next day Justin returns home from school tired after a long day that went by in a blur. He chuckles remembering some of the gifs and memes his few friends from other classes had sent him throughout the day.

"At least I've made some friends, enough to keep me distracted."

As he unlocks the door he looks up from his phone to notice yet another stack of boxes on the porch with his name on them.

"Mom's gonna kill me."

This made three months in a row that the shipping company had made this mistake. He grabbed the mail from the letter box and lugged the boxes, to the shed in the backyard, determined to return them tomorrow before his mom saw them. He put his phone in his pocket and layed down for a nap.

BANG BANG BANG

Justin's head pops off his pillow. Delirious and confused he looks out his window.

"Why is it so dark, is it night time?"

BANG BANG BANG "Police open up!!"

Justin jumps to his feet, cold sweat cascading down his body. But before he can make another move, BAM CRACK he hears the sound of his house door flying open followed by pounding feet on hardwood floors. Panicked, Justin throws his bedroom window open and launches out into his backyard, making a mad dash for the shed.

He locks the shed door with shaking hands, trying not to breathe, trying not to make any sound that could betray him.

"What the fuck!!!" His head screams.

Not knowing what else to do he pulls his phone from his pocket and texts Marcus what's happening.

Marcus: "There after you man you gotta get out of there!"

Justin: "I'm trapped!"

Marcus: "Pull the rug on the back and lift up the latch underneath"

Justin: "What?"

Marcus: "Just do it!"

BANG BANG BANG

The shed doors to rattle. Justin could see bouncing lights spilling in from outside. He did as he was told, lifting up the rug beneath his feet to reveal a door he had never known was there. He threw up the door and backed down the stairs beneath, closing it so that the rug would lay on top. In the sudden darkness he used the light of his phone screen to find and seal the lock on the inside. He allowed himself one breath, but the sound of feet moving above him spurred him to move his own.

Clumsily he crawled backwards down the stairs, keeping his eyes fixed on where he thought the door should be, willing it to stay sealed.

"This can't be happening, this shit doesn't happen to people" he thought, as his feet hit the last step and a warm hum sounded around him.

Dim lights flickered to reveal a large dirt room the size of his living room. And a bench he'd thrown out weeks ago was to the side, holding a variety of instruments and ingredients that reminded Justin vaguely of a lab. In a corner lies a stack of empty boxes.

Justin steps closer to them. He recognized them. His mom had returned them. Hadn't she? But no! There were the boxes from this morning too. Mind racing Justin turned back to the bench. A stack of envelopes rested on the corner with 'TRUANCY NOTICE' printed in large red ink. He reached out for one, but his pocket vibrated. Marcus was calling him.

"Hello" his voice cracked as his eyes darted around the room, taking in as much information as he could.

"Go....Curtain..." Marcus's voice was barely audible as the reception garbled with static. But Justin's eyes flicked to the dark curtain at the back of the room.

"Ok" He managed, his feet sliding forward.

"Call....video....call" As Justin neared the curtain he took his phone from his face to see Marcus was trying to video call him. His eyes stayed on his phone as the thumb of his right hand slid across the 'Answer' button, while his left hand pushed the curtain aside.

A sharp smell ripped Justin's eyes from his phone before Marcus could come online.

"AHHHHHH" Justin fell and crawled backwards, unable to look away.

Several pairs of feet stuck out of tubs filled with foaming liquid. Tied to the toe of each pair is a name tag. The names of all the missing people dangled before him. And a few extra. The friends he had texted that day and....Marcus.

Justin's shaking arm brought his phone screen into view. At first he thought the phone glitched, he saw only himself. But when he reached to wipe away the sweat on his forehead, the face in the screen only smiled, fangs glinting."Hello Justin", the voice crackled. "Are You Ready?"