Chapter 4:
June 12th, 1987
After a few days of unnecessary physical therapy, medications, and lots of rest. The nurse walked in with a doctor, "Mr. Brasston, you've shown us all the progress needed for us to give you the go ahead to leave." Jeremy took the man's words of joy with a simple nod. "Okay, I thank both of you for helping me get back on my feet!" "It's our job Professor! But… There is one more thing you need to do before you leave." The doctor's positive demeanor shifts into a much more sullen expression and looks down at his shoes. "And what's that?" The doctor looks back up at Jeremy with an uncomfortable look on his face. "We need you to go down to the morgue, and sign the certificate of death for your friend." That awkward silence fills the room, Jeremy stops breathing for a minute, and recalls everything that happened that night. "I-I can't, it's not like I'm his family!" "No you aren't but, he had you down to be incharge of his estate on his will, we pulled up his public information and your name was the only one listed!" Jeremy looked surprised but believed it. Jeremy was really the only person Donald liked. He knew Donald couldn't stand anybody else! "I see. I'll stop down on my way out." Jeremy said with his head down. "Understood, Mr. Brasston, I am truly sorry for your loss!"
The morgue wasn't dark like you would expect, the room was a medium gray color with fluorescent bulbs in the ceilings, and plenty of ventilation made the place chilly. Jeremy just stood there above the empty shell, the memories of all the mischief, the heartbreaks, and laughs he and his partner got into. A single tear rolls down his left cheek, trying to keep his composure. A mortician walks over to Jeremy, Jeremy talks but doesn't face the man. "Did he have a chance?" Jeremy mutters softly, the mortician shakes his head. "No, a large piece of metal from one of the gas tanks flew in through the windshield and pierced his forehead. The entire front half of his brain was completely compromised. Not to mention the force of the explosion broke his ribs, sending fragments of bone in his heart. Even if we had gotten to him right away, it wouldn't have made a difference." Jeremy just stood there clenching a fist. "The only positive side of this is he didn't suffer!" "Jeremy now holding back the tears in his eyes, and the influx of emotion. He turned to the mortician and spoke in a broken voice. "Just give the damn paper, so I can go!" The mortician obliged and handed him the death certificate. Jeremy signed it with tear drops blotting a few dots in the paper. "Thank you Mr. Brasston, I am truly sorry for your loss. The mortician walked away with the paper. Jeremy broke down on the floor sobbing yelling "Dammit" at the top of his lungs. Once he collected himself he placed his hand on his friend's body and said "I'm sorry." Before walking away. Before exiting the morgue, Jeremy passed by a body that for some reason caught his attention. Something about it just felt off, something didn't feel right about it. He got closer, but couldn't really find what was so off putting about. Sure it's a dead body, but it seemed empty, like there was never an ounce of life in it. As the mortician walks by, he notices Jeremy standing over the random body. He walks over, "It's such a shame when we get young ones, it really is!" Jeremy perked his head up and turned to face the mortician. "Young?" Jeremy asked, "Yeah, young woman, only fifteen!" "H-How'd she die?" The doctor huffs, "That's the thing, we really don't know how she died!" "Her parents brought her in, said she was acting depressed, but there were no signs of cuts, nothing in her system that could suggest an overdose, Nothing but… her organs just stopped!" The mortician stated all perplexed, "It's almost as if … all the life in her just…left!" The mortician said softly before walking away.
As Jeremy exited the elevator. He walked with his head down through the lobby, "Hey Mr. Brasston?" A familiar voice echoed behind Jeremy as he turned around to see the doctor, running with a suit in his hands. "Doc what is that?" The doctor out of breath attempted to speak. "Your suit! I've fixed it up for you!" "Oh gee you didn't have to do that!" Jeremy stated in shock at the gesture. "Mr. Brasston! That's a 2000 dollar suit! With all that you've gone through, I thought the least I could do is repair it for you!" Jeremy just looked shocked, not really knowing what to say. "Uh thank you Doctor. Really, shouldn't have!" "Nahhh, it was nothing, my father was a tailor, he taught me how to do it myself!" The doctor said all proud of his work. "Well that's good to hear. Thank you doctor!" "Just doing my job, oh and one more thing, when do you go back to Canada?" "In two days why?" "I just want you to take it easy until then, so no Kayaking in Lac Léman, or skiing in the Alps!" "Ha, I wouldn't do that stuff even if I was in the condition to!" Jeremy sarcastically remarked. "Good to hear, have a safe trip back Mr. Brasston!" "Thanks!" Jeremy shouted as he walked away from the over talkative doctor.
As Jeremy walked out of the hospital, the heat pretty much smacked him in the face. He was dressed a little too warm for the weather, the hospital provided him with a Cotton shirt and pair of sweatpants. Plus it made him look like a bum who just got out of bed, all that was on his mind was to get to the hotel and into some more appropriate clothes. "Hey taxi-" he shouted but stopped at the idea of taking a cab. The events from a few nights ago left a bitter taste in his mouth for taxis. "I'll just take the bus," he said to himself. The bus ride wasn't much better, but it was good to have other people around. The skyline of Geneva was huge, buildings topped with plants to give them a more 'Nature Feel' to them, and to symbolize the unity between nature and man . Jeremy finally arrived at the hotel; it was a huge resort, made for events such as the one he attended. He looked up and sighed, before walking in. The main lobby was ornate to say the least. It looked like a palace, with velvet red carpeting, smooth marble columns, and a few golden statues of Greek gods. Jeremy didn't even make it to the elevator before everyone's eyes were on him. "Shit" he says to himself, stopping dead in his tracks at the realization. Most of the people from the world science fair were staying at this hotel! The room filled with whispers: "Look, he lives!", "The man who beat death!", "It's a shame what happened to his colleague." Jeremy was relieved that they weren't insulting him, but still he didn't like all that attention on him. Still, it was good to see they were willing to show him some rare amounts of humanity.
Jeremy got up to his room, opened the door to find two beds, each with a suitcase on top. Jeremy threw his suitcase on the floor. And plopped face first into the pillow. He just wanted to go home, go home and forget that any of this ever happened. He thought of one way to ease his mind temporarily. The bar in the lobby. After a couple of hours had passed, the bar gradually filled up the later it got. "And that's when I said, Sir I'm a theoretical physicist, not your therapist!" Three men laughed at a table when one of the stops. "Hey Martin look!" As the one man pointed to Jeremy solemnly walked the bar with his head down. "That's him isn't it?" "yeah that's him alright!" Jeremy, unaware he's become the topic of a conversation, gets up on a bar stool. "Sheesh almost feel sorry for the guy." "Who wouldn't Andrew, he got in a car crash and lost his best friend!" "Shit! I actually feel bad for making fun of him when he was left!" "You me too Andrew!" The man said while looking up at Jeremy who's quietly sipping his drink. "Still he's a piece of shit!" The third man finally chimed in the conversation. "Why don't you two like Professor Brasston in the first place?" The other two men looked at their friend in unison, one broke the silence. "He tried exposing Satoshi Shizuki from some alleged allegations!" The third man's eyes widened, as he almost spit out his drink, "Shit really, what did he say about him?"
Back at the bar, Jeremy quietly sipped on some rather strong Swiss beer, hoping to ease the pain he's physically and mentally suffered. Looking into the yellow liquid through the glass. He remembered him and Donald were supposed to get drinks that night, as a tear rolls to his eye, he takes a big swig to ease the pain. The noise of the bar goes silent as if everything around him was put on mute. One sound appears, starting soft until growing louder and louder and louder. It becomes so unbearable Jeremy has to cover his ears, but not even that helps. The sound of uncontrollable low pitched laughing, the same laugh those shapes had. It fills his head, not even his thoughts remain. The whole room grows dark, the laughter starts rising in pitch until it finally settles at a pitch, the laugh now sounded like that of a young girl. It finally stops. In a moment of silence, pure unnatural silence. Jeremy stands there shaking in fear, only his body exists in this space. Nothing but straight darkness. He felt something tight around his leg, it was the thing. Appearing in a loud roar, that rang Jeremy like a bell. It yanked with one pull, knocking Jeremy on his face, before dragging him towards it. Jeremy screamed and wailed for someone to help, trying in a desperate attempt to escape. It was no good, the thing pulled him closer and closer till he could make out every little detail on the hangers, a large hole opened at the base of the hook that dragged him. A whole full of infinity spanning spikes. Jeremy accepted this was his fate, he closed his eyes with a tear running out, as the thing swallowed him. "AHHHHHH" Jeremy shut up screaming at the top of his lungs, he was back at the bar. Everyone jumped, one woman screamed. He looked around, now everyone's eyes on him. With looks of various degrees of annoyance. "Sir, if you're going to act like that you need to leave!" The bartender furiously said to Jeremy. Jeremy looked in front of him, a row of empty shot glasses. "H-how, shit my head, how long was I out?" Jeremy asked, holding his hand to his head.
The bartender let out a laugh of sarcasm. "After you finished that big jug, you asked for seven shots of the 'Closet thing to death I had', and that was at 7:00 PM, it's Midnight!" Jeremy looked both impressed and embarrassed, impressed at the fact he didn't die from alcohol poisoning. "I'm guessing I didn't order any food did I?" He mutters. "Nope, you drank all that alcohol without anything to absorb it. You passed out quickly!" Jeremy just laid on the counter, moaning in pain at his head, and stomach. "Do you want me to call wheelchair service to take you up?" Jeremy slowly raised his head "Please!" Before puking all over the bar, and passing out. Jeremy awoke in a cold sweat back in his room, the tv in his room was turned on to some European sitcom. He rolled over to look at the clock: 8:21 AM. His headache, although not as intense, is still there. Jeremy didn't do anything the rest of the day, he sat in his room with the windows shut, sitting alone in the dark with the TV in the background put on mute. He didn't come out to eat, or drink, instead having everything delivered to his room. Just wanting this trip to be over.
Jeremy forced himself out of bed the next day, knowing it was finally the day he was going home. Surprisingly, his day in isolation actually made him feel a lot better. He even smiled at himself in the bathroom mirror. After a quick shower, he brushed his teeth, got dressed and packed up everything to go. But before he walked out of his room, he stopped to look at Donald's suitcase still sitting on his bed. He went over and opened it. There were about three unopened boxes of cigarettes. Jeremy smiled, "He couldn't even go a whole hour without smoking!" Jeremy said with his eyes tearing up. He took a cigarette out of the box, and lit it. "This ones for you Donny" Jeremy said as he smoked it, shortly coughing up a storm right after. "Goddamn, I still don't know how he managed these things!" Jeremy said with a scratch in his voice. He walked out of the hotel with one suitcase in each hand. There was no way he was getting on the bus with two suitcases. In an ounce of liberty, he shouted "TAXI", immediately a cab pulled up. "Hey Buddy where to, the driver said, "The airport" Jeremy said. "Okay, hop in!"
The ride was smooth, Jeremy didn't feel scared, down, or depressed. He no longer dwelled on the incident, although still upsetting to think about, it was in the past now, and the past is in the past. He just had to move forward. The cab eventually came to a stop, "Were here!" Said the driver. "Thank you for the ride." Jeremy said, stepping out of the car. "How much do I owe you?" "8.50 pal, hey have a safe flight back!" He said to Jeremy as he handed him the money, Jeremy smiled "I will!" he shouted back at the driver as he drove away. Jeremy looked up at the terminal. He looked at the inside of his wallet. Inside one of the pockets was a picture of him and Donald from their college days, he smiled before putting it away. He opened his carry-on bag to get his ticket on passport, while zipping it back up he dropped it. "Shit" Jeremy said to himself. As he turned to pick it up, he noticed something across the street. Standing in an alleyway was some sort of animal, as soon as he saw it, everything around him went silent, the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat. It looked like a stuffed animal. With snow white fur. And large red eyes, eyes that stared directly at him. Jeremy started feeling anxious the more he looked at it. his heart rate was rising. Its eyes were too big, they never blinked, as they stared right at Jeremy. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread, the uneasiness it brought, it didn't even look alive, but Jeremy felt that it was. Just starring, as if, it was peering straight into his soul.
A truck blaring its horn sped down the street in front of Jeremy, causing him to fall back on his ass. He could finally hear everything around him again. Looking in the direction of the truck, before looking back at the alleyway, it was gone. Everyone around him just stared in confusion, like there was something wrong with him. He noticed this and quickly got up, collecting his passport in the process. "What the hell was that?" he thought to himself. A voice on the loudspeaker outside the airport came on "Attention, Flight 379 Geneva to Hamiltion will be boarding in five minutes. I repeat' Flight 379 Geneva to Hamilton will be boarding in five minutes. "Oh shit that's me!" Jeremy says to himself rushing in the airport. After going through the painfully unnecessary airport security measures, he finally got on his plane. First class, only the best for an astro-physicist he thought. One seat with its own snacks and drinks, and a tv. He turned it on hoping to watch a mind numbing movie on the way home. And ad plays "Goddammit" he says to himself. "Do you wish to shoot for the stars, work in orbit above the Earth, or wake up on another planet? Here at Shizuki Enterprises, those dreams start here. In the past forty years, my father transformed this company; from a small hut playing with small rockets, to the backbone of our world's space infrastructure! As I; Satoshi Shizuki will honor my father's legacy by further advancing our technology!" "Oh brother," Jeremy said, shaking his head. "We've conquered the moon, the eight planets, the asteroid belts, and three years ago today, we launched three ships on a journey to our closest interstellar neighbors. But all of this couldn't be done without the help of the hard work our employees put in!" Jeremy rolled his eyes. "But, we still have a long way to go before we truly can become a galactic wide civilization. But with your help, I see that happening pretty soon! Shizuki Enterprises: Headquartered in Mitakihara, Japan. Remember; The Future Is You!" Jeremy scoffs, "That arrogant prick!"
