The shrill cry of an unanswered message roused Hella Jeff from his slumber. His pesterchum had still been left on from the previous night. He looked at the bright screen with blurry brown eyes, slightly annoyed that he was being messaged at an ungodly hour; even if it was already later than he had thought.
He let tried to let his eyes adjust to the light as he stared at the screen. A message from his best, closest friend; Sweet Bro glared at him with the light of a thousand suns. Hella Jeff was quite incredulous that Sweet Bro would message him at this time, even if he wasn't much of a morning person.
'Hey bro, you wanna hang?' the message read almost mockingly. Almost as if Sweet Bro intended to annoy him. Hella Jeff's fingers grazed the keyboard as he wrote out a reply.
'Yeah Bro, you wanna go to The Big Empty?' He pressed enter and waited a reply.
'M'kay, I'll be over at one o' clock about. Okay?'
''Kay, see you Bro.' Hella Jeff sighed. He couldn't believe that he was going to The Big Empty. He had never been there before. Rumour had it that a lot of people had died there due to accidents involving a staircase for some reason.
The Big Empty was a strange place, or so he had been told it was. It was just how it sounded; big and empty, white dead space. There was no flora or fauna, or anything. No sun, no sky, walls, or even a ground. Just a lone staircase leading down into more white nothingness. It was the only thing there, or so he had heard it was. It was just dead space.
Hella Jeff looked at the small digital clock in the corner of his computer monitor. It read a simple eleven thirty in small pixels.
'I guess I had better get showered.' He thought to himself. Hella Jeff stood and stretched, raising his hands above his head and yawning on the process. After his mighty yawn he brought his hand back down and used one to scratch the thick stubble that had taken home to his face earlier this week.
He crossed his room and grabbed the towel that obediently hung on the back of his door waiting to be used. He walked into the hallway and made his way to the bathroom. Once there he turned and shut the door locking it behind him.
He then proceeded to turn on the shower to a scolding temperature, strip himself down and hop into the tub. He let the burning water run over his pasty skin embracing him in a burning sensation. It was almost comfortable, like the temperature of your bed when you first wake up.
After washing himself thoroughly he turned off the water to the shower, dried off and then proceeded to wrap a fluffy white towel around his waist. Stepping into the hallway he shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. Goose bumps trailed their way up his arms as he made his way back to his room.
After rifling through his drawers for a long while, he settled for a pair of jeans and a long sleeved blue waffle shirt. Being the time paranoid teen that he was, he looked at the clock sitting on his dresser. A big twelve o' three stared back a him. He didn't need to leave until at least twelve fifteen. So, until then he decided to grab himself some food. He crossed the house to the kitchen where he choose to eat an apple and a quick glass of orange juice.
While eating he made himself a lunch to eat later on in the day. He packed his small lunch that consisted of a bottle of apple juice and a granola bar, into his red and black bag that had the symbol of time on the front. And soon it was time for him to go. He left his house after pulling on a pair of white sneakers, and made his way to the bus stop right outside his house.
After waiting a good solid ten minutes his bus pulled up he boarded and found a seat. His bus ride would last an hour, so he looked out the window at the passing scenery to pass the time.
"St. Statinin and Main." The bus' automatic voice droned in a pitched and annoying voice. He pressed a button that signalled to the bus driver and other passengers of an upcoming requested stop. The bus came to a stop he then got up and hopped off the bus.
The sun beat down on Hella Jeff's neck as he walked down the street. He longed for the shade of trees. However, there where rarely any trees on Statinin Street. There was barely any greenery, it was all dead. Hella Jeff frowned deeply at the fact that there was barely any nature. It seemed, well, unnatural.
As if by instinct he blindly made his way to Sweet Bros house. He climbed the steps and let himself into Sweet Bros Shabby house.
"Yo Bro, I'm here dawg!" Hella Jeff called through the house. A groan was the only response he had gotten from anyone who was in the house. "Bro?" Another groan was heard and Hella Jeff whipped his head in the direction of the noise, his eyes landing on a pile of fading quilts.
He strode over and threw back the quilts looking down at Sweet Bros pale, freckled complexion. "Dude, you need to get your pasty ass into the sun more often." He stated bluntly taking a step backward. Sweet Bro cracked an eye open and sat up.
"Yeah, well it's easy for you to say, you actually like outside." He mumbled. The almost man stretched and ran a hand through his fluffy (and messy) auburn hair, inhaling deeply through his rather large nose.
"Okay, let's get outta' here." He exhaled. Sweet Bro grabbed a beat up pale yellow and white messenger bag, a pair of shoes and then they were off!
The two friends idly chatted as they lazily made their way to The Big Empty. Soon the world around them faded away to a sharp white land of nothingness. No ground, no sky, no walls. Suddenly Hella Jeff remembered something that he had wanted to show Sweet Bro.
"Yo, Sweet Bro, check out this sick move I picked up!" Hella Jeff exclaimed beaming proudly. He then closed his eyes and proceeded to do some fancy footwork. Maybe fancy wasn't the correct term to use for the dance mockery. It looked as if he tried to combine Moonwalking,
Twerking, and the Harlem Shake. Needless to say, he looked like a spastic piece of kelp.
At first Sweet Bro raised a thick eyebrow, then found humour in this and began to laugh huskily. Something then got caught by his peripheral vision. Hella Jeff's foot was getting dangerously close to the edge of that lone staircase.
"Look out for the stairs, bra!" Sweet Bro called to Hella Jeff. But his words fell upon deft ears. And sure enough, Hella Jeff's foot slipped off the edge. Said boy's eyes sot open and a loud gasp forced its way through is lips. And for a brief moment, Hella Jeff's shocked brown eyes met Sweet Bros worried blue ones, before he tumbled downward.
The continuous sounds of bones breaking and cracking made their way to Sweet Bros ears. He watched in a horrified stupor as his friend tumbled to his doom. Hella Jeff's body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Sweet Bro flinched then looked upon the scene with fear.
"Bro?" He called toward his friend, only to obtain no response "Are you okay? C'mon answer me!" Now fearing the worst Sweet Bro made his way down the stairs as quickly as he could.
After what seemed like an eternity he made his way to his friend broken and battered body. He leaned down hovering slightly over Hella Jeffs face.
"Bro, you're okay right?" He whispered trying not to let the cold hard fact that his friend was gone sink in. "C'mon you have to wake up!" No matter how much he pleaded, Hella Jeff was just a lifeless corpse. Fat tears rolled down his round face, leaving trails in the process.
"I-I warned you about the stairs bro." He choked, a grief filled his chest. It was great enough to give him physical pain. Like taking everything out of you and filling the empty space with a stabbing pain. "I warned you about the stairs! I told you bro!" He wailed. But to whom? No one was there, nor could they hear his pleas for help. It was over, he was gone.
