The Ramblings of a Confused Fish

Familiar Faces in Familiar Places (Mini Story 1: Part 4)

A strange hope grows in my chest. Uncertainty has been following me like a curse ever since I moved in. Larissa could hold some answers to my crazy living situation. If she can't see Jeremy, looks like I've gotta talk to my parents about getting some help.

I keep checking my GPS app, watching as we creep closer and closer to my apartment. I try my best to talk normally to my best friend, but I'm afraid something in my mannerisms will seem off. I don't want her to ask why, when I can't tell her (well, without sounding crazy). Thankfully, she's too busy complaining about her situationship. Something about the guy giving bad vibes. I said something about trusting your instincts and went right back to worrying.

But, what if Jeremy is real? I frantically think up different ways to explain Jeremy's existence. I could just knock her out and hope she doesn't remember anything. No, I don't think I could bring myself to do it. There's no way out of this.

If Jeremy is as real as I've been treating him, I hope she doesn't freak out. Considering Larissa is who she is, she might run away. She's always been easily scared by horrors and thrillers. Since we were little, she would always try to watch them, especially near Halloween, but she just couldn't do it. She'd start fine, then slowly her eyes would get wider and wider until she couldn't handle it anymore. She hid under a throw blanket and asked me to tell her when it was over. She would ask me how I watched terrifying movies without flinching at jumpscares or anything. I always teased her cowardice, but I quietly wondered if there was something wrong with me.

Soon enough, we were standing outside my building. My mind was a wreck, thoughts shooting in every direction. I was stuck.

I slowly dragged my keys out of my pocket while mouthing a silent prayer for my mental well-being.

I turn the key in the lock and wiggle the doorknob. It always gets stuck. With a turn of my hands and a push, the door swung open, inviting us inside.

Larissa's still talking about something or another as we cross the doorway into the little sitting area. Setting the bags down, she wanders around staring at the room, having never been inside before. But where was Jeremy?

"Hey, this looks exactly like my place! This is where you've been living this whole time?" Larissa laughs. "It's so nice! I thought you were hiding a dead body in here or something." I jump. She was way too close to the truth.

"Haha," I laugh, a note of stress in my voice. I hope she didn't notice. "I just haven't had much time."

A few little clatters sound from the kitchen, and my heart almost stops.

"Is your roommate home?" Larissa asks, startled.

"Uh," I say, tempted to finally clear up the fact that I didn't have a roommate to begin with. Larissa turns around toward the kitchen. I hear something shatter, and I follow her into the room.

There he was, in all of his glory. Jeremy's unblinking eyes fasten on Larissa, his long gooey hand holding a shard of a broken plate and two chicken nuggets. It was a strangely hilarious sight, well, until I looked over at Larissa. The blood had left her face, making her look as otherworldly as Jeremy. Abandoning his nuggets and plate piece, Jeremy's blobby hand shot over to cover my best friend's mouth, just as she let out a piercing shriek. I heard only a second of her scream before being completely silenced by Jeremy's slimy hand. She kept on screaming, smacking at his appendage.

"Jeremy! Let go, I've got it!" I cried. I didn't know what to do other than grab her and cover her mouth myself. She stopped screeching, thankfully, but she started hyperventilating. I put her on the couch, trying to stay calm. I shouldn't have brought her here. I should have stopped her. I didn't really think that Jeremy was ever real, I was certain Larissa was going to come here and nothing was going to happen. Looking at her panicked face, I felt horrible. Suddenly, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she was out cold. I looked around, and surely, Jeremy was there.

I looked at him with new eyes, knowing now that he was no hallucination. What is this thing?