Day 257 - They were all lying to him

 They were all lying to him

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

The very first thing that seemed odd was the third step on the stairs was a little higher and the wood would creak a little louder when he would step on it. It was nothing. A little thing. A trick of the imagination. Jeremy noticed, but didn’t really realize it. Not until later.

The hallway light began to flicker and when he finally when to change the lightbulb, he would swear that the wattage was different from what he normally used and there were four. screws to undo the fixture when previously he thought there were only three. It was nothing. A little thing. Something easily forgotten or mis-remembered. Jeremy noticed, but not himself that it was an easy thing to mistake.

The door to his bedroom began to stick. It was cut just slightly too large for the frame. He had to push extra hard to close the door all the way, and the bottom of the door began dragging across the rug and wearing it away. Wood night expand or contract with the weather and temperature, he told himself. There was nothing wrong.

The woman in the apartment next door had blood hair, but he was certain she had been a brunette. She her name was Nancy, but Jeremy thought it had been Lily. Maybe Lily had moved and he hadn’t noticed. But Nancy claimed she had been there three years and told a story about the Labor Day BBQ at the building swimming pool. She remembered Jeremy from that day and what he was wearing. Jeremy would have sworn he had never met this woman before in his life. Perhaps he had one too many drinks that day.

His furniture changed. He was certain of it. Jeremy went to lock the door, but couldn’t find his keys. When he did, they didn’t seem to fit the lock. Jeremy spent night awake, staring at the door, holding a baseball bat with a chef’s knife on the table nearby. He had tried to lay in his bed, but his mattress was too hard and his pillows too soft.

Someone was fucking with him. He was sure of it. The next morning, he tore his apartment apart, searching for hidden cameras and microphones. It had to be an elaborate prank or a reality show joke. But he found nothing. The walls were drywall. He was pretty sure there had been some cracks in them, but now they looked fine. Someone could have hidden something in his walls and covered it up. The carpet seemed loose. The tiles in the kitchen shifted when he stepped on them. Everything needed to be torn out or pulled up so he could make sure the cameras weren’t hidden there.

Jeremy found nothing. One thing for certain, he would not get his security deposit back.

He wondered if he was going mad. His whole world was the same, but just a little bit different. It was his life, but not. It was the little things that gave it away. The little things that were not his. The little things that stuck in his mind. The world, not his world.

The neighbors were liars or monsters. Perhaps aliens. Or something far worse. Something dark and twisted. There was no way to tell. No way to test them. He would have to get out. If they would let him. If he was under observation, then there could be no escape.

The phone rang. A voice he did not recognize. Another lie.

The day was turning to night again and he would have to decide what to do. Hide or run, or something deadlier. But he only had a knife. He was sure he had bought Wusthof blades but this one said Global. Something was definitely wrong.

Jeremy was lost and unsure how to proceed. The whispers seemed to laugh and he was very much afraid.