Everyone who lives here is already dead. Part 3

Part 2

It was supposedly the Lemonade. The Lemonade that Ravi refilled my glass with three times, and that I kept gulping down. And which was laced with something that made me very receptive to messages and could even make me hallucinate. Possibly coupled with some sort of hypnosis.
Nicholas, who had avoided drinking it and was avoidant, apparently did not see the scene of Ravi cutting his throat.

At least not that night. He had witnessed something similar, however, when he moved here. 

That’s what he told me. A very simple explanation.

The thing is, once you become paranoid, you start to question everything and everyone, and I was too agitated and possibly still too high to truly believe him. 

And even if that part was true, what reason did they have to do it? 

“But I know you died,” I blurted out while he was, very carefully and quietly, explaining the drugging to me. He was still on my sofa, far too comfortable, as if this were his own home. Although, to be fair, it probably looked exactly like it.

“Excuse me?” 

“I know that you died. In a car crash. I read about it. Yesterday. Or today. God, I don’t know. Time is weird. Did the day already pass? Anyway, I saw it online too. I can show you the arti-” I rambled on.

“Hey,” he interrupted me. “Benny, it’s Benny, right?”

I nodded.

“Alright, listen, Benny. I know what you’re talking about. The hit and run. I’ve looked it up myself. Was kinda disturbing. But how on earth do you know about it?” 

I hesitated for a moment. How much did I truly want to share? 

“I googled you.”

Nicholas frowned. 

“You couldn’t have. I checked myself, my name can’t be found online. Descriptions of the accident, yes. But not with my name.”

God, my mind was fuzzy. How did I find him again? I knew about the accident from back home. I checked the local news. I must have remembered his name from back then. I finally decided to just tell him.

“I’d read about you before moving here. Your face somehow stuck. I have a good memory.”

He took a deep breath.

“Clearly. Do you remember anything else about me?” 

I shook my head.

“Only what I read. I didn’t actually know you.”

“Right,” he mumbled, the word laced with suspicion. This man was really paranoid. But he seemed to shove that aside for a moment because he continued. “I’ll try my best to explain everything to you.”

But before he could get started on that, a loud knock on the door interrupted our conversation. 

I expected it would be Martha. Maybe with Ravi as support, but I did not feel like seeing either of their faces, so I chose not to move. I already had one crazy person in my house. Nicholas didn’t move either. 

We stayed there, not moving for a moment. Until we heard the door unlock from the outside.

It wasn’t Martha who walked inside, or any of her club members. At least not visibly.

It was a person with a white mask. They just stood there in the entry for a moment, and then they waved.

And suddenly it seemed as if I was somewhere far away. I felt like watching my body from above. I tried to stay somewhat calm, taking breaths, but my lungs would not fill with air. Everything was shaking. No, I was shaking. I managed to glance at Nicholas for any sign of support, but my own panic was mirrored in his face. 

He was just as afraid. 

Finally, it seemed that at least Nicholas had collected himself. He slowly got up from the sofa and took a few steps towards me. 

“We are fine,” he said to the masked person in a surprisingly calm tone. “We are happy. We are fine. We are friends.”

The masked person tilted their head. 

“We enjoy death,” Nicholas added. That seemed to do the trick. The stranger turned around and left, closing the door behind them.

“I knew I didn’t dream about those bastards. Who is it? It seemed like a man. Ravi is shorter, was it Joe? Other neighbors? Who are the other neighbors, anyway? I haven’t talked to anyone else. Is it some organisation controlling all of this mess?”

My questions were never-ending, but Nicholas didn’t answer any of them. He stood there for one more moment and then simply walked outside. I watched him go to his own home through the window. At first, I wondered if I should have followed him. Or if I should simply leave this place altogether. But I didn’t have a car.

Eventually, exhaustion came over me, and I just went to bed. 

—

Nightmares consumed me the entire night. Each one forgotten, or at least too hazy in the morning. I was left with a feeling of dread and guilt. Something I couldn’t quite explain. 

I felt like I was losing my mind. At some point, I wondered if I should look for a mental institution, but then I chose something else. I decided to simply go outside and walk and find other people who lived here. Outside of this street.

I needed to get groceries anyway.

—

I hadn’t been to the town center yet. I’d brought some supplies to get started when I moved here, and then I’d been caught up with Martha’s shenanigans. But it was easy enough to find, so I simply started walking down my street, luckily without running into any of the board game night neighbors. It led me to a street that looked eerily similar to ours, with slightly different colored houses. I passed a few people, too, who waved at me with friendly smiles. I wondered if I should talk to someone, but I was too shy to ask if they were dead.

This continued for a while until I was afraid I’d walked into a maze, but when I left another street, I turned a corner and finally found something new. 

A building that appeared to be some kind of church, and a big space in front of it. And all around were different shops. One of which appeared to be a small market with fruits and vegetables out front. As I got closer, however, I realized that they didn’t seem exactly right. They were too shiny, too perfect. I picked up an apple and noticed why. They were plastic. 

I dropped the apple and walked through the door. It was a small shop with only a few aisles and a small, unoccupied register in the back. 

The aisles were stacked with all sorts of items; cereal, milk, cleaning products, though none of them were name brands. And anything I picked up felt too light. They were fake. Everything in here was fake. 

“May I help you with something on this lovely day?” A chirpy voice sounded right behind me. I turned around to find a young woman wearing a blue apron. 

“Is this a toy shop?” I asked.

The woman chuckled.

“No, dear. It’s a grocery store,” she answered. 

This time, I was the one laughing.

“But all of this stuff is fake. How am I supposed to cook with plastic veggies?” 

She cocked her head to the side.

“Well naturally, with the products provided for you in your home. This shop and the others are simply a way to relive the old days. Some residents like that.”

“Provided for me? No. I brought groceries when I moved here, who would-,”

“No, you were provided. Nobody brings anything here. Oh dear, has nobody informed you about anything yet?”

My head started aching. 

She sighed loudly.

“They usually come at night to not to disturb you. Anything you might need is refilled in your home. Would you like to play grocery shopping for a bit to feel more normal? I can even bag some things for you.” She gave me the biggest smile. 

I heard someone else enter the store, but I was too transfixed on the woman to pay much attention until a heavy hand landed on my shoulder.

I didn’t resist when I was slowly being led outside. Only when the harsh sun hit my face did I finally look at them.

I’d never seen this man in front of me before, but something about him still felt familiar. He looked to be a few years my senior, had velvety black hair, and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen.

“Hello, Benny. I believe it’s finally time you receive some answers,” he said in a deep and rich voice.

—

He led me to the church. Inside, however, there wasn’t much that reminded me of religion. Yes, the architecture was similar. High ceilings, stained glass windows in different colors. There was even an altar at the front, but no pews, no cross or other symbols. There were only two chairs at the front, before the altar. 

“What kind of church is this?” I asked carefully. 

He gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“It’s not a church. Just a building.”

We walked to the chairs and sat down. 

“I heard you’re aware of your death.”

I gulped. He said it so matter-of-factly. 

“I heard, yes. I’m having a hard time believing it, though. I’m sorry, who are you exactly?”

“You can call me Malakai.”

“Do the masked people belong to you?” 

“Yes. They support me in making sure everything here runs the way it should. You will understand it all in good time. We’re here to help you.”

“With what exactly?”

“Letting go.”

He didn’t elaborate further, so I decided to go along with it.

“So. How did I die?” I asked.

This time, his smile seemed genuine. 

“You killed yourself. Jumped from a bridge.”

“That’s impossible. I had no reason to take my own life.”

“You had more than enough reasons. For starters, you had no one. You were lonely. Your work did not fulfill you. But those weren’t the reasons, I believe. The point that tipped you over was your conscience. I suppose it will be easier to understand if I simply show you.”

He pulled out a phone. Sure, in the afterlife, somehow phones exist, I thought. I would continue this dumb conversation and then find a way to get the hell out of this place. 

My thoughts stopped short when he started playing a video.

It was me. My hair was dishevelled, my eyes bloodshot. I hardly recognized myself. And then I heard my own voice speaking.

“I have a confession to make.. It’s now or never. I can’t live on like this… I killed a man. Drove him off the street. It wasn’t on purpose,” the Benny on the camera, started crying. “I was drunk. I shouldn’t have been driving. But most importantly, I shouldn’t have driven off, maybe I could have done something.. Now he’s dead and his face is haunting me. I know this will not pay the price of my actions but-.”

The Benny on the tape stopped speaking, put the camera down, but stayed in the frame, as he walked up to the edge of the bridge. 

The man with the green eyes stopped the taping. 

“I believe that is enough.”

My entire body was shaking. I remembered, remembered the accident. The way I had hidden inside my apartment for weeks, plagued by images of the scene. But something about it still wasn’t right. 

I looked up to see Malakai grinning at me.

“You don’t believe it. You don’t think you’re dead.”

I slowly shook my head. 

“I know I’m not,” I whispered.

His grin almost turned feral.

“Because you’re a coward. You would never have had the guts to truly jump. So Benny, you figured it out. You did not die. But the rest of it is true, you drove a man off the road, and you were drunk. And then you simply left.”

“So what, is this like some new idea of what a prison should be? Play with people’s heads until they go mad?” 

He shook his head.

“I feed you, clothe you, and provide you with company. Does it feel like punishment to you?” He asked. 

I gulped.

“No.”

“My motivations are none of your concern. Simply do what we tell you to do, and you could even feel happiness here. You have two choices, Benny. You can be a good boy and play along here in this haven or you could go back to a world that believes you to be a murderer. Which one will it be?”