Cosmic Undead

The Plan

"Wait up, Professor Adkins!"

"What?", the professor turned, sharply. "I have told you all you need to here. Whatever I tell Jeremy is what he needs to hear"

"And when he wants to hear the truth, what are you going to tell him?", Big Momma asked.

"How is what I tell him a problem to you?"

"You're not the only smart one here, Professor", Patmos said. "If you're telling him something different, we need to know who you're lying to. Us or him?"

"Come in", Prof Adkins replied, calmly. They stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. "I need you to listen to me, calmly... When we spoke about Somnolence, I told you how to stop him, right?"

"You didn't tell us of any possible way to stop him", Patmos objected.

"Yes, because there was no possible way to stop him. The only possible way I saw to set us free from here is if he leaves too many people in the house. Then, he'll get too weak to keep us in. He either gets defeated on the outside or tear him apart from the inside."

"That's totally impossible because he controls the number of people in Somnolence so he won't overfill himself, knowing how harmful it is to him", Big Momma said.

"I remember I explained that, too"

"Yes, so what possible way are you talking about?"

"A new way that wasn't possible till Jeremy came around. We are all dead and cursed to be within these walls while Jeremy isn't"

"He isn't dead?", Patmos asked. The theory of Somnolence showed only dead souls, killed by Garullon, get into it and they are forced to relive their deaths before they pass on to hell. "How is he here?"

"I don't know. I have no idea but he is not dead. I believe that is the reason he can go in and out of here. He has found his way into Somnolence and somehow, maybe it's a door. If there's a door in, then maybe, we can take the same door out", Prof Adkins said, as if he were hoping. There was a sign of doubt in his voice and on his face but it was obvious that he really wanted to leave Somnolence.

"And if we can't find a door, there's no hope?", Patmos asked.

"Yea, he clearly stated that he wants to leave this place. If he really came in, through a door, he should be out already, right?", Big Momma added. "..... and how does that help us get out with him?"

"If there's a door, he can convey us to it", Prof Adkins replied. "But you're right... and there's another way. I was avoiding it"

"How?"

"Physical combat", Prof Adkins replied and looked up at them. "We've all met Garullon and we know how he can be when he meets a match"

"We don't know how he can be when he meets a match", Patmos objected again. "We've never met anything like him"

"Well, he's a fragile one, despite his abilities. I saw it in his eyes", Prof Adkins replied, calmly. "We have never met a physical match. That's probably true but one thing I'm sure of is Jeremy is just one missing person to the real world. Garullon is yet to create a death scene for him so when they meet, it's going to be a new experience on both side"

"Are you saying Jeremy is a physical match to Garullon 'cause it's not making sense to me?", Big Momma and Patmos stared at each other.

"Jeremy's an i***t. He would probably jump into Garullon's mouth himself", Patmos added.

"No. He is a murderer who has hacked into Somnolence without losing his soul. I'm saying we are going to create a physical match for Garullon... That’s if Garullon doesn’t come for him, tonight"

***

Tupac had pulled a bed out of the walls. That was an example of the reality manipulation Tupac was talking about. Jeremy’s eyes were too heavy to be wowed. Like the bed had some sleep enhancer installed in it, he felt so comfortable, sleeping off, almost immediately.

“f**k! What’s it?!”, he shouted, throwing himself up from the bed. Some strange noise had woken him up. It had sounded like someone was calling him but the voices were mixed. He looked beside him. Tupac had stood up, already. It was probably daybreak, already. He couldn’t be sure since the sky color was as static as a portrait. “Who called me?”

“Hello?”, he walked around the house, wondering where the noise had come from. There was no one around. His eyes were still heavy. He walked back to the room where he had slept. Boom! Tragedy struck. The bed had disappeared. “Aargh!”, he screamed and started punching the ground. “f**k Somnolence”.

“Show some respect. That’s my lunch”, a voice said. Jeremy turned around, wondering where it came from.

“Hello?”, he had walked around the house and there was no one in. That was scary enough. “Who’s there?!”

“I hate introductions”, the eerie voice replied.

“Garullon?”

The building shook violently like the roof would collapse on him. The cements shed from the walls as the cracks spread slowly. The door flung open and a human figure with only a wide mouth it’s face walked in. It had no eyes or nose; just a wide mouth with countless scattered fangs. “Your soul is mine”

“Wait! Please, let me stay here- here in Somnolence, please. I’d do anything”, Jeremy begged. He could only be dead to be in Somnolence so there was no point begging for his life. It was either hell or Somnolence.

Garullon seized his neck and began to laugh, hysterically. Jeremy felt his head vibrating. He could see a thousand faces of Garullon, laughing around him and drooling on his face. “You think my stomach is a camping ground for ghosts? You can’t be in Somnolence. I have chosen your soul. You have taken a life, already. Hell is your home”

“I didn’t kill my wife! I didn’t kill anyone!”

“Really?”, Garullon asked. His squeezed face told Jeremy he was smiling. “Then, who did?..... Who did, Jeremy? Who killed his own wife because of his impotence”

Jeremy stared, widely, in horror. What was Garullon saying? Garullon wasn’t denying the part he played in the phenomenal murders; he was saying what the world would think of Jeremy. It sinked into Jeremy’s head, too quickly.

“You can remain in Somnolence, only on a condition”

“I’ll do anything”, Jeremy replied, confidently.

“Someone has to take your place in hell… You have to choose who it is … and it has to be from the house.”

"What?!", he exclaimed. He had been thinking of joining the family. The urge to return to the normal world was pretty useless since he had become a wanted murderer without a family. "I can't do that!"

Garullon said nothing more. His face changed, countless times, having multiple different looks. He lifted Jeremy off his feet and threw him on the ground.

The door flung open, like it hadn't been open before. The bed returned to the spot where it had been and Garullon had disappeared. The whole room looked like nothing happened.

"Dumbass! You fell off the bed?", Billy laughed at Jeremy who laid weakly on the ground.

Tupac joined in laughing. "The bed's so good you might have wet dreams", Tupac said, walking slowly to Billy. He grabbed the boy, suddenly, by the head and pulled him into the sitting room. "What did I tell you about Language?"

***

He only had a rethink after already taking two spoons out of the food. “Where do you guys get these from?”

“I already told you”, Tupac replied and snapped his fingers.

“It’s the kitchen”, Big Momma said. “You can join us if you have those perfect cooking skills to offer”

“Stay away from the kitchen, son”, Becca warned. “Trust me. The kitchen is the worst place to be”

“Especially when you realize you could just –“, Tupac said and completed the sentence with a snap over his plate.

“What are you guys talking about?”, Lisa asked. She and Billy were still ignorant about the idea of picking all their desires from their mental pictures.

“It’s adult talk, Lisa”, Tupac interrupted, making the others laugh. “R rated talk. Parental guidance advised”

“I’m 23 for crying out loud”, Lisa replied. “I almost got married”

“These fuckers think we’re dummies”, Billy added. “We’ll show them, someday”

“Say that, again, and I will nail you to the wall”, Greg finally spoke slowly, with a deadly voice and a threatening look on his face. He had a fork in his hand. Billy only stared back.

While Jeremy had stopped talking, he had been staring out, through the transparent windows. He had a feeling, like there was someone out there. He didn’t want to make a wrong move. As Tupac had mentioned earlier, people don’t just come around, and if there was someone new destined to stay or go, they would know. The person seemed to be coming closer. His heart skipped. He looked around and no one seemed to be bothered or aware. They were all laughing and saying jokes. Their discussion had muted in Jeremy’s ears and he could only hear his own heavy breath. The person reached the window; the same place where he saw Billy, getting hacked to death. Jeremy closed his eyes, tightly, hoping it would just disappear before his eyes open again. He opened his eyes, slowly, and the person was right behind the window. It was a woman. She stared through, as her face met with the glass, with the desire to go in. Jeremy didn’t know what to do. He pitied the woman, as there was an higher probability that she would only relive her death and end up in hell. He was about to call the attention of others when a knife stabbed her neck, from behind. The knife went deep enough, coming out at the front. Jeremy’s clear view was blocked, as blood squirted from her neck all over the window. The woman choked, struggling with it, as her hands wandered around the wound without touching it. Jeremy could hear her screams and muffled noises. He wondered how none of the others seemed to hear. Still watching, someone grabbed her from behind and leaned on her, pressing her face against the window. It had started like he would make out with her; Jeremy imagined one of those gory horror movies he had hated and the told story of Andrei Chikatilo. The person grabbing the woman had looked like a normal person but his face changed to the creature he had seen in his dream; Garullon. Garullon raised his claws and dug deep into the woman’s eyes, gouging them out. Jeremy was going to scream but he controlled himself, grasping his chair tightly, like he was trying to keep urine from flooding down his pants.

“Jeremy? Are you okay? There’s a bathroom. You can go in if you need to”, Tupac said, after noticing his sudden clutch to the chair.

“Alone? No- no, I’m fine”, Jeremy replied, taking another look at the window. It was clean like nothing had happened; no blood. “It’s just weird gory images in my head. Bad pasts and bad memories, you know”

Prof Adkins dropped his fork, loudly, on his plate and cleaned his mouth. “The food was great. Thank you, Leah. Thank you, Baker”

“It’s our pleasure to serve you, sir”, Patmos said, with a salute, while Big Momma just smiled.

“Before I go in, we might need to talk, Jeremy”, Prof Adkins said. “It’s about-“

“Wait!”, Greg interrupted and walked to the professor. “WE need to talk”.

Prof Adkins followed him, humbly, into the room. “What’s it?”

“I asked them what you guys talked about, yesterday, and they told me”

“That’s needless”

“It’s not. Everybody has to be in on this or else we feel neglected. When I say everyone, Billy and Lisa are included”

The Professor sighed. “Ok. What more do we have to say?”

“You’re not telling him anything”

“And why’s that?”

“He’ll probably freak out but I have a better idea… we have to trust one another. Jeremy and every one of us”

“We should take your idea since I have none but…. Be sure it’s an idea. Garullon’s probably looking for him, already”

Greg smiled. “Trust me”

Immediately they walked out of the room, they noticed a change. Everyone was standing and staring through the window. They hadn’t done that in years since they got used to new arrivals in Somnolence. No matter how sexy the girl was or how handsome the guy appeared, they were all destined for doom in hell.

“Anything new?”, Prof Adkins asked, as he wheeled himself to their side and stood up on his feet.

“The man standing over there: that’s my boss at work”, Jeremy said, pointing. Everyone could see who he was referring to. “What’s he doing here?”