Unlocking the Dark Secrets of Jake's Mind: A Descent into Madness and Reality

“Hello?” His house was empty. The door was open though; it shouldn’t have been open. He locked it every day. “Hello?”
Walking inside, Jake looked around. The house was two stories tall with ten or so rooms. Jake knew someone was there. His house was empty. Suddenly Jessica appeared at the upstairs railing, looking down at him in the doorway. Her face was full of tears. In her hands she held a manila folder. Jake knew what was in that folder all too well.

“Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped; we could have done something… Is this why we…?” Jessica didn’t cry. She just looked at him with pity in her eyes. Her black hair was cut short, hanging down to her shoulders. Her green eyes made him fall to pieces, but she wasn’t crying. He could stand her tears, however much it hurt him. It was the pity that tore him to shreds. Suddenly Tyler and Chase were in the doorway behind him. Each looked at him with a hollow, faked smile.

“Sorry man. Wish you didn’t have to work so much, but its just been tough to hang out lately.” Then they were gone. Jake’s throat closed up. Pity. Broken promises. It was all too much. In their place a woman with glasses and a suit appeared, tapping a pen on a clipboard.
“This place is nice. Where are your guardians, young man?”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you call her in the first place, why did you make me do it?” Jessica was crying now, but still her eyes held only disappointment, pity. She was yelling at him, screaming. The woman with her clipboard stared at him blankly. He wanted to scream. It was all too much…



Jake yelled as he woke up, trying to stand up and getting tangled in the desk. His backpack fell over the side and he went over afterward, with the desk on top of him and a headache roaring behind his eyes. Ms. Black stared at him from her place at the board. Looking around, Jake groaned. Chase and Tyler stared down at him, both trying hard not to laugh.

“Damn it…”

“Mr. Parker, please watch your language when we talk after class, or I’ll have to send you to the office on two counts of misbehavior.” The class took it in stride though several people eyed him as though they were on the verge of giggles. Jake grimaced at them and set his chair upright in its place before sitting down. Ms. Black returned to the board as if nothing had interrupted her lecture on writing style and use of devices. Halfway through, Jake found himself drooping. Suddenly the class was empty and he was sitting there alone, watching Ms. Black at the board. Everything seemed normal until the wall next to him faded away and a brick path stood where the rest of the school should have been. Jake stood and began walking. The road led up, slanting slightly toward some distant hilltop. Trees stood on either side of the walkway occasionally. But the sun had set (or was it rising?) beyond that hill, and there was something there that drew him… every step seemed to take him farther on, and yet he still didn’t make it any closer to the hilltop. Soon he was running, desperate to reach the top. The bricks began falling out of the road behind him, but he knew that it would never catch up to him. Still he ran, faster. His lungs began to burn, then his calves and thighs. He never hit the wall; he just kept feeling more and more burn in his legs. Looking down, Jake realized he had run his shoes to shreds and his feet were raw. But still he ran, until he heard the sound of bones on brick mingling with the sound of mortar falling apart and bricks breaking away behind him. No matter how much it hurt, Jake ran faster.

“Parker!” Jake rose so fast a spike of pain pierced his head behind his eyes. The feeling of blood draining from his skull made him dizzy, dizzy enough to waver in his desk chair. No one else was in class; Ms. Black stared down at him with a look of concern on her face. Victoria Black was a beautiful woman; she was barely in her late twenties and showed signs of rigorous athleticism. Behind a pair of thick black spectacles a pair of light brown eyes glittered (literally glittered Jake swore) and her face was usually makeup free, showing only radiant beauty. In her suit and skirt, she was the hottest teacher in the school. But Jake ignored all of that. His head hurt and his feet throbbed absently, as though he really had run his feet through. But he could feel the cushion of his shoes and he knew it was the dreams, not the truth.

“Yes Ms. Black?” She frowned at him; genuine concern showed on her face.

“Are you okay? Jake, this is the seventeenth time you’ve fallen asleep in class this month. I know it’s

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THE END