CHAPTER 7 What is that loud, monstrous noise? Where is it coming from? Is anyone else with me? Again, the man is in an enormous, empty room, with a single light coming from the ceiling. Why did I get myself into this? And how? The man was tired and unhappy. The noise was protruding into the room from the outside. It was an evil groan. The groan created an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. The noises seemed to get louder and louder, as if they would soon be as loud as a jet engine. The man thought his head would soon explode. When will this end? I can’t stand this place anymore! I must escape! I must fight! I must live! I must…. he then began his work.
CHAPTER 8 John woke up and the first thing he did was text Brian. Hey Brian. Wats up?! wanna hang out today? Send. After he sent the message, he got breakfast. Sunny-side up eggs and buttered toast, with a glass of orange juice on the side. After he had his first sip of orange juice, he got a text message; Sup John. Lets hang out today. I got something I wanna show u. :) John was happy that Brian was no longer mad at him. He finished up his breakfast and texted Brian back; Cool. Tell me when N where and ill b there. Afterwards, when John learned where to meet Brian, John got dressed up and drove to Brian’s rendezvous spot. He noticed that Brian wanted to meet at the tenement downtown. This confused John and also frightened him. He expected Brian to appear in baggy jeans and a sideways hat, talking slang and vulgar. He did not.
Brian came through the door with the creaky hinges. He was wearing goggles and a trench coat. He looked comical, yet professional at the same time. He walked over to John’s car just as John was getting out.
“Hey, John!” He greeted, shaking John’s hand. “I just thought you would want to see this.” He finished with a smirk as he turned around and headed back towards where he came. John followed him inside. It was run-down and dirty. It looked like it had been abandoned for years until Brian came along. There was a half-eaten sandwich sitting on the table, and on the left of it were thermoses.
“Wow! Brian, what is this? What have you been doing here?” John asked. He was aghast.
“Oh, it is just something I thought about doing ever since yesterday when you asked me to play with those chemicals or whatever you do with your boss. I decided I’d do something of my own.” Brian said, with a hint of arrogance in his voice. John could tell Brian was proud of what he was making.
“So is this why you ignored my calls yesterday?” John asked knowing the answer. “Of course it is, John! Did you think I was trying to bother you? I left my phone off so I did not get distracted. It worked well!” Brian assured John he was not being rude. He was merely minding his own business and could not handle any distractions at the time. John decided to study the table more carefully. The sandwich was a ham sandwich. It contained ham, lettuce, tomatoes, and wheat bread. There were a couple of bites taken out of it, and it looked a little old.
“Brian, how long have you been here?” John was aghast. There were crumbled pieces of paper on the floor.
“I already told you, I have been here since yesterday. I have been working nearly non-stop.” Brian had a sly smirk on his face. John could tell Brian was exhausted, and it was not hard to believe he had been working non-stop. John did not know what to say. This was an apparition. After a long silence, Brian finally added, “Well? It’s cool, right?” John, not sure of how to respond, said, “Uh, well, I guess. It…” He got interrupted while he was thinking of something to say. “You’re just jealous you could not do this! Even with the help of your friend, I bet your science is no where near as cool as this!” Brian was correct. John’s lab was not like this. It was just a time killer. They did it for a couple of minutes after work on some days. This looked like twelve hours of non-stop experimenting, and it worried John. He was worried Brian was not getting any sleep, and was getting stressed over this project. John was not sure Brian knew that John and Stanley were just doing it for fun and not for an experimental prize. Whatever the case, John needed to make sure Brian was okay and that he did not have a problem or addiction.
“Brian, you will go home now, right?” John began, and Brian had a look of disbelief on his face. “Or you could come hang out with me, or just go to bed.” Brian began to form a frown.
“Why, I guess you might be right, John. I suppose I should get some sleep or relax at the least.” Brian admitted. “I must say, I am a little tired with all the work I’ve been doing.” John was relieved that Brian would head home and take a break from his ‘practices.’
“Alright, let us get going and head home. By the way, what have you been doing with your chemicals, John?” Brian questioned, hoping he was outdoing his friend. John honestly replied, “Well actually, Stanley did not want to help so I just called-it-quits for the day. I slept at home.” Brian just nodded his head and got in his car. John followed and got in his own car. They put the key in the ignition and drove off into the direction of their own home. When John got home he sent a text message to Stanley; Sup? Wanna hang out later? Send. He opened up the fridge and took out a carton of milk. He got a bowl from the dish washer, and poured some cereal into it. He added the milk and began to eat. After a couple of seconds, John received a text message from Stanley. It read: Hey man! Yeah we could hang out today. I’ll head over to your house in a few minutes. Cool! John thought to himself. He decided he would finish up his cereal and get ready to hang out with Stanley.
