Chapter 1

One second he’s there, the other he’s gone.

A moment ago he was telling me about his recent addiction to mango flavored soda.

The next his mouth is so full of blood I can barely make out where it is.

The car, or truck, or tank, or whatever it was came at us so fast it didn’t even register to me until it was too late.

But not to Nolan.

Nolan was different.

Somehow, he saw it coming much faster than I did — so much faster, in fact, that he’s the reason I wasn’t hurt at all.

At the last second he pushed me out of the way, but it wasn’t fast enough to save himself as well.

All I remember is kneeling next to him over the warm concrete, holding his bloody hand which was growing colder by the second, calling his name over and over.

His eyes were unfocused, looking up at the perfectly blue sky above us.

Even as I cradled his head and yelled, he didn’t answer.

His short, golden hair had splashes of red marring it everywhere.

He was still alive, however.

At least, for a few more seconds.

No… he can’t die like this, I thought.

Not before I tell him.

Not before I stop being a coward and tell him.

So, I did.

I squeezed his hand and poured my heart out.

But it was too late.

His heart stopped beating, and he stopped moving for good.

I cried as if a part of me had died, as well.

Nolan and I had been friends since elementary school — best friends, in fact.

We instantly became something like brothers, always spending our free time together whenever possible, always telling each other secrets and dreams about the future.

I wanted to be a doctor like my father, simply because it felt like the right thing to do. Nolan meanwhile had wanted to be a firefighter since he was six, and never changed his mind.

He was pretty childish like that.

That night I cried until my eyes were dry.

Until my head hurt so much I passed out.

I don’t remember how I got home, or what happened exactly after that, other than the vague sound of sirens in the distance.

Either way, at one point I got into my bed, as I found myself staring at the ceiling, then closed my eyes and hoped they would stay shut forever.

But the next morning I was unfortunately awake again.

***

I got dressed for class, since I didn’t know what else to do, my body mostly on autopilot at this point.

But when I got there, something was… off.

I expected people to gossip about what had happened to their classmate, or to come ask me annoying questions since I was always with him.

Instead, everything seemed… normal.

I looked at his seat, a few spaces away from my own, and sure enough it was empty… until some other classmate arrived and sat there like that was his place all along.

I was furious.

I stood up, ready to confront him, but the teacher arrived at that moment and sat us all down, so I did.

Roll call.

Nolan’s name did not come up.

For a moment I even wondered if I was in the right classroom, but I recognized everyone else, so there’s no way I was wrong.

“W-What’s wrong, Ray?”

Sam, the quiet, anxious guy that sits next to me, suddenly whispered. He was the president of the Occult Club and rarely ever spoke to me.

“...What? How can you ask me that…”

“Huh?”

“Why is everyone acting like this?”

“Um… I-I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

I think I freaked him out, because he turned away and started opening his notebook awkwardly to get away from our conversation.

At the end of class, I finally walked up to the guy on Nolan’s desk.

“Hey.”

“Huh? Oh, hi, Ray. What’s up?”

“Why aren’t you at your own desk? What are you doing on Nolan’s desk?”

“Who?”

“Nolan. This is his desk.”

“This is my desk…”

“No!” I slammed his book closed. “You sit over there! This has always been his desk!”

“I told you, I have no idea who—”

“Nolan!!”

“Eek!”

The entire classroom stopped talking, and they were now looking at me. But I didn’t care. I continued to stare down this kid.

“He just passed away and you’re taking over his place like it belongs to you!? What’s your problem!?”

He stood up to face me.

“What is your problem, Ray!? Who the hell is Nolan!? Does anyone here know a Nolan? Anybody!?”

He gestured dramatically at the classroom.

Nobody replied.

I felt like I was going insane.

I pushed his desk away and stormed out of the class.

I left campus altogether.

What is going on? Why was everyone acting like I’m crazy?

This made no sense.

Nolan was friendly and outgoing, he got along well with everyone in class, so how come nobody remembers him?

I walked aimlessly trying to make sense of it.

Eventually I decided to go to his home.

I remember something through yesterday’s haze, something about his funeral.

Only the mention of it, not a date or anything else.

But on my way there I saw the weirdest thing.

A little kid buying a familiar can of mango soda from a vending machine.

Or at least he was trying to, but it seemed like he couldn’t reach.

I walked over and pressed the button for him.

He looked at me, startled.

“Here you go.”

“...........”

He didn’t take the drink from me.

Instead, he stared.

Something about it gave me chills.

He opened his mouth very slightly and said one single, chilling word.

“...Ray…”

My heart nearly stopped.