Daren "D" Word

Daren watched the microwave closely as it popped his popcorn with satisfying syncopated pops. The smell filled his nose and lifted his spirits on this particularly, dark and quiet night. The common areas of the house were empty and dark because his roommates were both in their rooms playing video games.

The kitchen light only reached a small portion of the room next and for a moment, he looked into the wall of blackness. Was that a creak of the floors? Settling of the foundation? Maybe it-

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Daren jumped so high he almost knocked over the microwave. Breathing heavily he retrieved his hot bag of exploded kernels and made a run for his room. He didn't turn off the kitchen light because he was still shaken by the unintended jump scare.

He closed the door quickly and instantly realized that it might have been loud and winced. "Sorry," he whispered under his breath, then he noticed he could see his breath. "What the?" He said, aloud when he heard one of his roommates come out of their room and head to the kitchen. He shouted back that someone had left the kitchen light on. Daren rolled his eyes.

The cold took over his body and he raced for the covers on his bed. The popcorn bag that was too hot to touch a second ago now felt warm enough to save his life. "What the hell?" He asked no one and shivered. Squeezing his whole body close he closed his eyes and a vision filled his mind.

He was standing on a frozen lake, completely naked, and shivering. Looking around he could see the night sky above and trees all around him, then he noticed his roommates. They were sitting where they should be if they were in their rooms and they were still playing video games. Only they weren't in their rooms, they were sitting on gaming chairs, with desks in front of them, on this frozen lake.

"Uhh," He said, again he could see his breath and started to walk towards one of his roommates. As he got closer he could see his roommate's breath too. "Man, I am cold," He said to the people in his game lobby. Darren was so confused, a million thoughts went through his mind, so many thoughts that he didn't realize that he didn't feel cold anymore.

Daren reached out and touched his roommate's face with his finger and his roommate looked in his direction, but somehow didn't see him. He touched the place on his face where the finger had been and looked horrified. His roommate started to say something that sounded like Daren's name but couldn't get it out because of his fear.

Then Daren was back in his room but the sounds coming from outside his door made him realize that his vision may have been more than just a vision. His two roommates were now talking outside his door so Daren walked closer to listen in.

"I am telling you, something strange is going on." One said to the other.

"You're going crazy man."

"He was there! In my room!"

"Shut up dude, you're just feeling guilty."

Something started to whisper in the back of Daren's mind. A memory of sorts. Surfacing slowly.

"He touched my face! I don't know what to do man!"

"That isn't possible bro."

He was back on that frozen lake, and his roommates were there too. They were fishing. They were on vacation. Something, something went wrong.

The roommate that Daren touched was in tears at this point, "I think, I think... We have to tell someone."

The guys were goofing off. One of them pushed the other and then he was pushed. Daren remembered being pushed and falling. He reached up and touched the back of his head and his hand came back red.

"No one has to know what happened! We told them that he was taken by an animal at night. We took his bloody clothes and put them where they would be if that happened. He is at the bottom of that lake! No one will ever figure it out!"

The memory became so vivid and he could feel the pain of his head hitting the ice. He could feel the eerie shatter of his skull cracking. He could feel the blood coming out and his life slipping away.

"Hey," Someone said from inside his room and Daren screamed like a little girl. The woman in his room laughed.

"What?" That was all Daren could say.

"You just figured it out, right?" She asked, in a tone that said to hurry things up.

"Yeah... I'm d-"

"Don't say the 'D' word, okay? It's sorta disrespectful to our kind. Just, when you are ready, come with me."

"Ready?" Daren asked.

"Yeah man, when you finish your business with those two, just let me know when."

Daren nodded his head and began to ponder how he would spend his afterlife.