Nightmare on Third Street - Chapter Four

Kim dropped us off at my house around seven or so, though I couldn't be sure, since my watch had been lost three days ago in an excellent game of soccer. My team had won by three points, and I had made the last goal, along with all the other goals I had made. I was the forward runner on the team; I didn't choose this position, though I definitely wasn't complaining, as I liked the position and scoring goals. I was always up for a rough game of soccer. Dominic was taking after me, for when we had nothing planned, he would force the conversation toward soccer and drag me outside to play. Of course, it wasn't really a game with only two people, but it was enjoyable. Dominic could be pretty sneaky when he wanted to be, and he was fast, too.

"I'll see you Wednesday night, right?" Kim asked as she walked us to the front door. I nodded, her arm draped through my left arm. I looked into her eyes and felt something inside me melt. She snuggled into me, nuzzling my chest. "Good. I hate being away from you."

I kissed her forehead. "I hate being away from you, too. Just think, another year, and you can move in with me."

She gave me a delighted smile. "I know! It'll be great, Bryan. Absolutely wonderful. I can't wait."

Dominic was making gagging sounds, standing a few feet in front of us, looking back at me, tapping his foot impatiently. "I wanna go in today," he said. "Just kiss her already."

I sighed and shook my head, smiling at him. "One day you'll know what I'm going through, little D," I said. 'Little D' was one of my nicknames for him. Sometimes I just called him 'D', or 'D-man', it just depended on what slipped out of my mouth. Dominic didn't mind; he liked having a nickname.

"Well, Bry," Kim said, pulling away from me. "I'll see you later. Call me tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay. I will."

"I love you," she said.

I smiled brightly. "I love you, too." I bent forward and gave her a brief kiss on the lips, but that wasn't enough for her. She grabbed my head and deepened the kiss. I was in sweet bliss, and never wanted it to end.

But of course, like always, all good things came to an end. Dominic grabbed my arm and gave it a tug. "I'm hungry," he whined. "Can we go in now, please?"

"Alright," I sighed as I pulled away. "If you wish to be rude and interupt a good thing, okay."

He paused. "I wasn't trying to be rude," he said quickly, and his eyes widened. "Honest."

I laughed. "I know, I'm just messin' with ya." Dominic hated being called rude, for usually when Mom or Dad said that, he was punished and given a lecture. Now, he scowled at me and pouted, crossing his arms.

"Meanie," he grumbled.

I chuckled and reached out, ruffling his hair. He pulled away and glowered at me. "Gotta go, Kim. Bro's gettin' hungry."

She smiled and nodded. "G'night, Bry. You too, Dominic." she waved as she began to walk off. I watched her as she opened her car door and got in, forcing the engine to roar to life. She pulled away with a small honk, and I waved her goodbye before I continued toward the door. Dominic quickly followed.

I searched for my keys in my pocket, and keyed the door when I found them. Pushing the front door open, I flipped on the lights as Dominic zoomed past me and toward the kitchen. I smiled to myself and kicked the door shut before following after him.

He was searching through the refrigerator when I entered the kitchen, and didn't notice my arrival. I flipped the kitchen lights on and looked over at the phone. A red light was flashing, meaning I had messages. Giving a quick look toward Dominic, he was still searching through the fridge, so I grabbed the phone and pushed the button.

"You have three messages," a female, robotic voice said into my ear, sounding rather monotonous. There was a beep, and then the first message started to play.

"Hey, man, it's Joey. I was just checkin' to make sure you're comin' to the concert tomorrow. You know how upset Remmy gets when someone doesn't show. Oh, and don't forget to practice. He'll nag you all day if you don't practice. Just figured I'd remind ya. Give me a call. Bye."

There was a beep, and another message started up.

"Hey, Bry, it's Jake. What's up? I was just checkin' in, cause I'm bored and stuff. Saw your parents at the store a few days ago. We're having a quick game of soccer Monday, before the concert. You in? Anyway, give me a call, Mr. Anti Social."

I snorted as his message ended. I wasn't anti social, though I knew he was probably saying that because I hadn't called him in a while, when I assured him that I would. I shrugged to myself. I'd just have to called him back later.

The last message beeped on.

"Bryan Randall," an unfamiliar, raspy, muffled voice said in my ear. I froze. I was almost certain that it was the voice from earlier, the voice that had insisted that I was his a few seconds before that dreadful pain had started.

I held my breath as the voice took a breath to continue.

"You're mine," the voice said. I shivered before I could stop myself. Dominic was bored with the fridge, and was now watching me with a slight frown, curious as to why I was shivering. I saw him glance at the thermostat to see how cold it was, and got a confused look on his face when he saw that it wasn't cold in the kitchen.

I only shook my head at his questioning gaze, listening as the voice continued. I didn't want to listen to the voice, I wanted to hang up the phone and be done with this, but for some reason, my body wouldn't obey me. It was as if I were frozen, holding the phone to my ear so tightly that my knuckles had gone white.

"You're mine, Randall," the voice continued in that mysterious, ominous voice. I heard him give a small chuckle. "You're mine, and don't you forget it."

"...Who are you?" I whispered faintly, my voice coming out in a rasp. I tried to clear my throat. "What do you want?"

"Who I am is unimportant. What I want it simple. I want you."

My eyes widened. It was like I was talking to him, but it was only a message. I couldn't be talking to him. But if I wasn't, then had known what I was going to say in advance, which just made me all the more nervous.

"...Me? What...what for?" I asked slowly, my hand beginning to shake. Dominic started to move toward me, an uneasy look on his face, but the look in my eyes stopped him. I vaguely shook my head at him.

"I want you for reasons known only to me."

Jeez, this guy was talking in circles. There was no way I could understand what he was talking about; I'd never been good at riddles.

"You're mine."

I closed my eyes. I was his. What did that mean? What was he talking about? None of this was making any sense to me, which just made me all the more frustrated and uneasy.

There was a laugh. It rang in my ears and bounced around my head, as if embedding itself into my brain so I wouldn't forget it. I tried to hang up, I really WANTED to hang up, but my body wouldn't let me. Damn it, I hated this.

"You're mine, Bryan Randall. And don't forget it." he laughed again, and then it was silent.

The phone beeped and the female's robotic voice said, "You have no more messages."

Feeling returned to my arms. Shakily, I brought the phone from ear and stared at it with wide eyes, before I slammed it down and stepped away from it.

"...Bryan?" Dominic asked quietly, taking a timid step forward, watching me with worried eyes. "What's wrong?"

I didn't answer at first. Then, slowly, I shook my head. "Nothing's wrong."

Dominic was unconvinced. "Bry-"

"Really, nothing's wrong," I said, and offered a smile, trying to look convincing.

"...Who was it?"

"It was no one," I said, staring at the floor. "No one. Wrong number."

"Why would they leave a message if it was the wrong number?" he asked. For a moment, I wondered how he knew I had been checking my messages, then brushed it aside. He must have seen the light flashing when he came into the kitchen and put two and two together.

"Because they didn't know it was the wrong number," I answered faintly. "They thought I was someone...someone named Arthur."

Dominic looked at me uncertainly, but then shrugged. "If you say so."

"So..." I took a breath. "What do you want to eat?"

"Pizza!"

"We had that last night," I reminded him.

He nodded rapidly. "I know, but I crave pizza! Please, Bry?"

I sighed heavily. With the way my stomach was knotted, I figured I wouldn't be eating anyway, and if I did, it probably wouldn't matter what I ate. Nothing sounded good. "Okay," I said slowly. "Pizza it is."

"Cool!" said Dominic.

I sighed and reached for the phone slowly. I wanted nothing more to do with the phone. In fact, I was willing to throw it out and have people contact me the old fashioned way, by either showing up at my doorstep hoping I was in, or writing me letters. It would be much easier than dealing with that voice again.

But I was being paranoid. He had called me; the phone wasn't ringing. I was calling out. I took a small breath and picked the phone up, dialing in the number for Papa John's.

About forty minutes later, Dominic and I sat down at the kitchen table, a large cheese pizza in front of us. I liked cheese and sausage, and sometimes pepperoni if I was in the mood, whereas Dominic liked whatever. He just wanted pizza, he didn't care what was on it. I picked up a slice and put it on my plate. It looked inviting and delicious, but I just wasn't in the mood to eat.

Still, if I didn't eat now, I'd be hungry later. I picked the slice up and took a bite. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I chewed it thoughtfully for a moment, thinking back to what the voice had said on the phone, and then back further to the pain I had felt earlier that day.

'What a day this has been,' I thought to myself. 'I hope it ends soon.' I looked over at the clock on the wall. It read: 8:23. Great. Still a few hours left. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget about today, though I was sure that wouldn't necessarily work. Still, I was hopeful.

Dominic caught me looking at the clock. "What's up?" he questioned, wolfing down his pizza.

I smiled at him softly. "Nothin', just checkin' the time, is all."

He nodded to himself and then began eating again.

I let out a breath and took another bite of my pizza.

"You're mine," the voice rang out through my head.

I froze for a moment. 'Leave me alone,' I thought to myself. 'Go away.'

But, unfortunately, I knew that whatever was going on wouldn't be ending anytime soon.