Epilogue (B)

A Light at the end of the Tunnel

+ Howie +

I felt odd. Like almost in a state of sleep but I was wide awake. I think I was awake. My eyes were opened and I was able to look around, even though I couldn’t see very much at all. It was dark but not pitch black as I had feared it would be. When I went through the hole in the wall, I was most afraid of that humming sound. Rationally, I knew a sound couldn’t hurt me but it was so menacing that I couldn’t help but fear what was on the other side.

At one point, it was almost unbearable. I knew I had to crawl to reach my destination but I also knew I’d have to block out that sound to be able to move ahead. Talk about your double edged swords. It’s impossible to crawl and cover your ears at the same time. So, I would move a little, then stop and shield my ears from the intense vibrations coming from all around me. That’s what it turned into as I continued on. It was less of a noise but more of a sensation. It was going right through me and at one point I was certain it was going to rip me apart.

It was not an enjoyable experience but thankfully, it stopped.

The silence was welcome and terrifying. It was an extreme to go from intensity to nothingness. It felt like I was in space. A place between sleep and dreaming and that’s where I was right now.

At one point I thought I was dead. The thought occurred to me when I felt as though I was in space. I even closed my eyes and tried to float. Of course it didn’t work and I just laid there on the ground on my stomach like an idiot. Nicky would have done the same thing.

My thoughts shifted to my dead little brother. How much we had been through together the last few weeks. How much we had become closer just because there was no one but him and me. I didn’t take the time to grieve like everyone else did. I wouldn’t allow myself but here in this small hallow place I was overcome with sadness for my friend.

Things were going to be different from here on in. Nick was coming back. Not ours but this fake one. The worst part was the fact that it would just have to remain a secret between the four of us. I acted like I was okay with it, but secretly, I’m not sure if I would be able to accept this kid as one of us. He’d forever be the one who killed Nicky. I’m not sure how he’ll even adapt to our world. For all we know, once he gets here he might bail on us. I need to shake that thought off though because as of right now all I should be worrying about is getting out of this hole.

I glanced over at the walls surrounding me to see they were shimmering. It looked as though they were made of coal with bits of crystals shining through.

“What is this place?”

My voice sounded odd. Like how you sound after swallowing helium. I actually found myself giggling as if I was in the back of our tour bus and not some weird vortex between worlds.

I was getting angry at myself for acting the way I was. This was a serious situation, actually perilous. I had no idea how everyone else was or if they even made it through in one piece. Lives were lost, chances are Charlie and Don were already dead and yet here I was giggling about the sound of my voice?

I hated having all this time for self-loathing and reflection so I picked up my pace. The quicker I got to the end of this hole, the better it would be.

It felt like I had been crawling for hours and going nowhere. What if this was all there was? Maybe I’d be resigned to a life of forever crawling around this place looking for an opening that just didn’t exist? I mean sure, Charlie and Matt knew this was a way out of their world but they never said anything about an opening into ours. I wish I had thought about that earlier.

“Crap.”

This time my voice sounded more like me and less like Latino Mickey Mouse.

I also noticed that the hole was gradually becoming bigger as the walls moved further away and the ceiling grew a bit taller with every few feet I travelled. Soon I’d be able to stand up and walk. I wish I knew where the others were though. It made me nervous that I hadn’t caught up with Brian and AJ yet. I knew that Nick and Kevin were behind me but those two were ahead of me.

“Brian, AJ?” I shouted as loud as I could, finally standing up and allowing myself to stretch.

“Guys, can you hear me?” I yelled once more.

I was just about to give up hope when I heard AJ loud and clear, “D, is that you?”

Within a minute or so he came into view, standing there rubbing at his neck with Brian by his side. All of us were able to stand comfortably but Nick and Kevin would definitely have to duck for a while at least.

“Thank God! I was afraid I had lost you guys.” I embraced both of them, happy for the company.

“It’s been a pretty trippy ride so far, huh?”

I nodded at AJ. “I’ll be happy when it’s all over.”

“Have you seen Kevin and Nick?”

I shook my head, “They were right behind me though. Maybe we should just wait here.”

AJ and I sat down while Brian chose to just lean against the wall. My eyes had adjusted to the dark but it was slowly becoming lighter. It reminded me of twilight. A time I had become very accustomed to witnessing.

“How much longer until we’re out of here you think?”

Brian squatted down beside me, “I walked a little further down and saw a really bright light. When I heard AJ I turned around and came back this way and then we found you.”

“A bright light?”

“Yeah and it was humming just like the one we went through to get here.”

“Fantastic.”

“I think it’s the entrance back to our world but I wasn’t about to go through alone. This time Kevin can go first.”

“Do you think they succeeded?”

Brian was now on his feet once again and taking a few steps towards where I had just been.

“Charlie and the rest?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know if they’ve even tried yet. I have no idea how long we’ve been down here.”

“Feels like a fucking year.”

“I know AJ, but it can’t be more than an hour at the most. They would have needed longer than that to get in place.”

“Think we’ll feel it when it happens?”

“I don’t know.”

“What if we haven’t cleared the area by then? What if this all falls on top of us, what if…?”

“AJ please stop. Worrying about this crap will do none of us any good.”

Thank you Brian! I swear this kid has a way of being the voice of doom in any kind of situation. I had all those doubtful thoughts swimming in my head to begin with. I didn’t need his too.

“I hope they’re okay.  They should have been here by now.” Brian inched his way closer towards the smaller area of the tunnel.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” I tried to sound optimistic, but I wasn’t.

So many things could have potentially gone wrong starting with Nick trying to come to our world. Maybe there would be repercussions for that. Maybe the hole would swallow him and then Kevin would be stuck on the other side. I hated thinking that way, but seriously, this kid wasn’t from our world. A greater power out there had to know that. The same power that wouldn’t allow the two Nick’s to live together in harmony in the first place.

“I see them!” Brian said as he ran out of our view and into the small darkness.

I sighed and gave AJ a quick ‘see? Everything is okay, I told you so,’ look.

After a few minutes Brian and Kevin emerged, carrying Nick.

“I knew it.” I whispered as AJ ran over to help.

“What happened?”

They managed to carry him to where we were originally and then gently laid him on the ground. Brian looked somber as did Kevin. AJ seemed confused but I knew instantly.

“Is he okay?”

“AJ, this is our Nick buddy.”

Brian gently placed his hand on Nick’s face. “What happened, Kevin?”

“He stayed behind to take Alan’s place.” Kevin said with tears in his eyes.

“He did?”

Kevin nodded, staring down at the body of our friend. The shimmering light in the tunnel made it look like he was asleep instead of dead.

“Why would he do that?” AJ sounded angry.

“Because he knew it had to be done.”

And there it was, once again we had to mourn the loss of our friend. Not only the one we had known for years but the one we had yet to know. The one who turns out was braver than all of us combined.

“What’s up ahead, do we know?”

Kevin broke us all out of our thoughts. I’m sure he had this entire journey to let what happened sink in but to us, this was all new. We once again went from a world with Nick to one without him and that really sucked.

“We encountered a bright light which I think is our exit.” Brian stood up and moved away from Nick and back towards the main goal, getting out of here.

“Well, then let’s keep going. Who knows how long this tunnel will be stable for?”

Kevin bent down to pick up Nick but when I saw how physically drained he was, I quickly moved in to help. I can only imagine what it was like for him to have to drag the body along through that small, dank hole. AJ and Brian quickly came to my aide and the three of us carried him all the way to the light while Kevin lagged a bit behind.

Brian was right about the light. It was really bright and the humming coming from it was making my insides hurt. If the other one didn’t tear us apart, this one was more than likely to.

“Holy shit.”

It was a very appropriate exclamation.

“So, do we just go through or maybe we should test it out first?” AJ walked over and tossed a rock into the light before any of us had time to object.

The humming and the light both intensified and then went back to normal. We didn’t hear anything explode which was a good thing but we didn’t hear anything land either, which was a bad thing.

“Well that did a big fat nothing to ease my mind.”

We all looked over at AJ and nodded.

“I say we just go through together on three.”

Kevin thought about it for a minute before agreeing with me, “We started this journey together, let’s end it that way as well.”

“Whatever happens…” I added.

“I love you guys.” Brian said as a perfect period at the end of my sentence.

The three of us still held on to Nick but now Kevin placed his hand on my shoulder and the other one on Nick’s leg.

“On three…”

I nodded as my heart began to race.

“One…”

I wasn’t sure if I should close my eyes or leave them opened.

“Two…”

Suddenly the ground began to shake as we were thrown off of our feet and into the light before Kevin had a chance to say three.

~*~*~*~*~

My head hurt and I felt dizzy, like I had the worst of hangovers. Maybe I did? Was it possible that this was all some alcohol induced dream? If that was the case I’d be forever grateful and never tell another soul about it as long as I lived. The horrible smell made me realize it wasn’t a dream though. It was the most rancid thing I have ever smelled. I didn’t want to open my eyes, too afraid of what I might find.

Against my better judgment, I did open my eyes to be met with piles of garbage. It took me a second to realize where I was. I pulled myself out of the dumpster and tried not to vomit as I did. I was all gooey and just gross. Lord knows what I had all over me. It was covering my hair and everything.

“Guys?” I yelled trying to get as far away from the smell as I could.

It seemed as though I was in an alley of some kind. I walked closer to the sound of humming. It intensified the closer I got to the end of the alleyway. The sun was out and there was a nice breeze coming from above.

“Guys?” I said once again before leaving the safety of the small space I was in.

The humming got loud to the point of almost a growl and then a huge shadow appeared right over my head. I ducked down for protection until I figured out what was happening. It was a plane taking off. We were at an airport.

That realization was all I needed. My adrenaline kicked in and I found myself running out of the alley and around the corner where I saw one of the main terminals, but more importantly I saw AJ standing by an empty cart looking as gooey and confused as I was.

“AJ!” I yelled as I ran towards him.

“D? What the hell?”

I shrugged but couldn’t help but smile as another plane passed overhead.

We both walked into the terminal to find Kevin standing by some chairs with a look of awe on his face. He was all gooey too. “Kev!” I shouted just as Brian walked out of the restroom looking less gooey then the rest of us.

When all four of us were together, Kevin managed to grab a newspaper that was sitting abandoned on a chair. “We’re back.” He said not really believing himself. I grabbed the paper out of his hand, aware for the first time of the stares from passersby coming our way.

“May 22nd, 1999!” It’s the day we left.

Brian grabbed the arm of an older woman who was walking past us, “Excuse me ma’am but where are we?”

“Get your hands off of me!” She bat him away.

“Sorry…are we in New York?” He asked not caring that he seemed like a crazy person.

“Of course you are. Do I need to call security?”

“That’s okay ma’am, we’ll take care of it.” 

I glanced over shocked to see Matt standing there. Not the one we had just left, but the one who died in the plane. I didn’t realize it until now, but they were one in the same. That’s why he looked so familiar. You could tell we were all thinking the same thing.

“What the hell is all over you guys? Have you been dumpster diving or something?” He seemed annoyed but I didn’t care. I walked right over to him and gave him a hug.

“Good to see you, man.”

“Whatever. We’re running behind schedule and the plane will not wait forever. Where’s Nick?” He looked at his watch in disgust.

That’s when the reality of the situation hit us all like a ton of bricks.

“I’m going to track him down!” He let out a huff and then took off in search of Nick.

“Brian?” Our heads turned to the sound of Leighanne who was standing there staring at us all like we had ten heads.

He ran and grabbed her in a huge hug, twirling her around and kissing her and telling her how sorry he was. She was embarrassed and pulled away from him. “What has gotten into you?”

“I can’t find him!” Matt interrupted the reunion looking more perturbed than ever.

“That’s okay. We’re not going to take this plane anyway.”

“Excuse me?”

“We aren’t going to take this plane. We’ll take a bus, no more planes.”

“What do you mean no more planes?”

“Just…trust me.”

He looked at Kevin and shook his head, “I will never understand celebrities.” He walked away to call someone from our management that would most likely try to force us on to that plane, but good luck because there was no way. Not in this lifetime. Not in any…

“Guys…”

It couldn’t be happening, but it was. There he was standing there looking confused with goo all over him, his arms out to his sides as he walked trying not to slip on the slime that was congealing around his ankles.

“Jesus Christ…how is this possible?” Kevin whispered in awe as Brian ran to his best friend and pulled him into a hug with so much force they both ended up falling to the floor.

“I guess this story has a happy ending after all.” AJ said as he turned to me and smiled.

“Guess so.” I was barely able to get out, overwhelmed with gratitude and love for being given this second chance.

I went to help my brothers up and we all embraced, not knowing how we were back and not caring.

 A news report on the TV above our heads showed a very angry Donald Trump complaining about the state of affairs in our country and how if he had the power to make a change he would and that change would be coming soon.

He guaranteed it.