Jason blinked.
“What the fuck?” He asked himself, somewhat louder than he expected.
He looked down at his hands, they were rummaging through the driver’s jacket, reaching into his pocket.
He was back in the container, back where he had killed three men.
“No…” Jason started.
“No fucking way.
I wasn’t here.” He raised his hands to his head, smearing blood through his dark hair.
He looked in disbelief at the bodies in the container, suddenly painfully aware of the lump on the back of his head from the impact of the briefcase.
Blood trickled down the back of his neck.
Jason reached down to continue rummaging through the driver’s pockets.
He found what the driver was digging for.
Not a gun, an envelope.
Jason started to think, did he just kill three men for a misunderstanding?
No, it was so real.
He didn’t dwell on the thought for long.
He opened the envelope, and inside was a set of written instructions.
The instructions written on the envelope were specific, a job was being given, and Jason was supposed to do it.
An address was printed on the bottom with the instruction that Jason was to kill everyone in the address listed, take the briefcases the people at the address had, and then bring those briefcases back to this container.
“What the fuck?” Jason asked, puzzled as he looked at the paper and thought about the last few days.
Jason grabbed his phone, he needed a ride.
He scrolled through his phone.
“Where the fuck are you?” He asked himself angrily as he searched for Marie.
She wasn’t in his contacts.
What is going on?
He thought to himself.
Now he really did feel crazy.
What happened to the last several days?
He hadn’t used, he hadn’t gone to sleep after killing these men, why was he here?
He didn’t think about it any more.
Only one option, he had to call Alex.
Jason took a deep breath as he dialed Alex.
A few moments passed and Alex, sounding immediately frustrated answered, “Jason, what do you need?” Jason took a deep breath, “Alex, I need you man.” He was surprised by how weak he sounded.
“Where are you?” The frustration was replaced by concern, Alex hadn’t heard Jason speak this way in a long time.
“I’m going fucking crazy, Alex.
I really need you here.” Jason practically wheezed these words through panic and emotion that wouldn’t stifle itself.
“Where are you?
I am on my way.” Jason could hear Alex rushing out the door.
Jason didn’t answer, he just hung up.
He thought for a second, what would he tell Alex?
He didn’t want to think of it.
His phone started ringing, it was Alex.
Jason threw his phone, letting it shatter completely against the wall of the container.
He stopped down and picked up the padlock, stepping outside and securing the door, locking it firmly in place.
As he finished locking it, Jason did something he hadn’t done in a long time, he collapsed against the door of the container and started sobbing.
Why he felt so weak and miserable now, he didn’t know.
Maybe he felt insane, maybe he felt betrayed by his own experiences, or maybe he wished he didn’t have to leave a world where he could feel spectacular.
Some time had to have passed, because as the moonlight was the only source of illumination Jason had for what felt like a heartbeat, he could see headlights shine behind him, illuminating the stains of blood on the container door from where he slid down it.
Behind him, a Rav4 was parking.
It was Alex.
Exiting the car and stepping forward cautiously, Alex asked firmly, “Jason, what did you do?” Jason looked at Alex, then back at the container, then his hands.
Blood everywhere.
“They were coming after me, Alex.” Alex stepped forward, slower, more cautious.
“Who, Jason?” Jason stopped to think, if he told Alex the truth, he was fucked.
“I don’t know.” “Don’t lie to me, Jason.” Alex said.
“I need to know so I can help you.” Jason didn’t answer right away.
He knelt there, wondering why he even called Alex.
Nothing about any of this made any sense.
“Jason, I need you to talk to me, man.” Alex said, finally close to Jason, kneeling down to meet his eyes.
“Why are you covered in blood?” Jason looked down, “I had to kill someone, Alex.” Alex didn’t look phased.
“Is he in that container, Jason?” Jason nodded.
“They are.” “More than one?” Jason nodded again.
“Open it.” Alex said, more of a request than a demand.
It wasn’t strange to Jason, hearing Alex speak this way in the face of something horrible and confusing, but to an outsider, almost certainly.
Jason did as Alex requested and unlocked the door, slowly opening the container.
Alex stepped inside, shining a red lenses flashlight inside, revealing the grisly scene.
It was worse than Jason remembered, intestines practically hanging outside of the drivers body due to the extent of the stabbing.
“Jesus, Jason.” Alex turned to face him.
“You really made a mess of things here.
Do I even want to know?” Jason shook his head, he couldn’t lie, but he couldn’t tell the truth.
Alex didn’t waste time, he walked out and grabbed Jason by the arm, pulling him clear of the doors before locking them tight.
Alex grabbed Jason by the arm and led him to the car, calling a number on his phone as he got in.
“Hey, it’s Alex.
I need you to make a container disappear.” Alex paused for a moment, listening.
“Yeah, I’ll send you a location.” Alex hung up, texted a few words, then shut off his phone.
“Jason, this is getting out of hand, man.
You know I would take a fucking bullet for you, but I am getting real tired of this shit.
Start talking or I swear to God we’re done.” Jason looked at Alex, he knew Alex, and he knew when he was lying.
He wasn’t.
Jason started to answer, but was interrupted, “No, you know what, I don’t want to know.
This mess is taken care of, but you’re on your own after today.” Alex barked.
Jason sat in silence.
Alex drove on, Jason knew exactly where.
They were going to his cottage.
“Alex?” Jason asked, surprisingly small sounding, Jason wasn’t used to feeling defeated.
Maybe depressed, but never defeated.
“What’s up, man?” Alex asked.
“What is happening to me, man?” Alex didn’t answer.
Alex had his own struggle with this situation.
A trusted friend, former brother in arms, brother-in-law, total badass he always looked up to, reduced to a homicidal, drug addicted madman.
Alex continued driving.
Jason started to drift off to sleep, he was exhausted.
No sun, no sound of nature, no soothing singing, nothing.
That was all Jason could see or hear.
Nothing.
Jason started to push himself to his feet, he was tired, felt broken, and was emotionally drained.
There was a thick sack over his head, he pulled it off.
He was back, the forest, or, near it anyway.
He looked behind him, seeing a large cliff face, where at the very top, familiar ground.
This must have been where he was thrown from.
Jason turned again and felt a sharp pain in his side.
He looked down, a branch stuck directly out of his right side.
“Fuck.” Jason groaned weakly as he reached down to grab it out.
He yelled out in pain as he pulled the piece of wood out of his body, blood trickling out of his open wound.
Shit, he thought to himself as he saw the blood rush, I shouldn’t have done that.
Jason gripped the wound, staggering forward.
“Daphis!” He tried to yell, but his voice wouldn’t cooperate.
“Fenris!” No success.
Jason staggered forward some more, finally collapsing under the weight of the physical, psychological, and emotional trauma of his life.
I hope I finally die, Jason thought to himself.
He fell forward, face smacking the ground hard, and started to slowly drift off to what he hoped would be a permanent sleep.