Chapter Text
The sweltering Alabama heat was enough to kill a man, of that much Jay was sure. The late summer sun baked the air into the high nineties and soaked it with suffocating humidity. He had arrived early at the University, heading for the library with his laptop where he could sit undisturbed in the air conditioning until he was driven out by hunger.
It was a trip he made nearly every day to escape the stuffiness of his apartment. He only had class in the morning on Mondays and Wednesday, so all of his extra time he devoted to cleaning up and editing tapes for one of his many on-the-side film projects. It was a hobby—whenever he went out he always brought his camera with him. He didn’t always catch anything exciting but he enjoyed the extra perspective the videos gave him.
It was late into the summer semester when Jay stumbled upon some old tapes he had kept from his high school years. It was mostly shaky footage of him and his friends screwing around; Alex trying to unsuccessfully ollie his skateboard, Tim blowing smoke rings, Jessica putt-putting at the nearby arcade.
Jay watched those last tapes twice. Jessica. He remembered that day clearly—she was no good at putt-putting. He winced at his own voice mocking her lightly. Her laughing. Tim was there, too, but the camera was rarely on him. She told him later that she never intended to be more than friends, but that couldn’t make Jay forget how happy he felt when he was with her.
He had lost touch with all of them when he left for University. Alex and Jessica both went to the same college and were home for the summer while he made up credits from his Fall semester. Jay hadn’t heard from Tim since high school.
It was a burger and fries for lunch. Outside was a sweltering 97 degrees so he stayed local, jumping in his car to drive just down the road. He was halfway through his Coke when he felt his phone go off in his pocket. Fishing it out, Jay squinted at the string of ten numbers that were displayed on his screen without any identification. He decided not to answer.
A couple came in the door, walking to the counter to order. Jay watched the guy put a protective arm around the woman before he was pulled back by his phone vibrating to alert him of a voicemail.
“Jay.” He recognized the voice right away—the lack of greeting was an Alex Kralie signature. “Jay, you need to come home.”
Jay pressed his lips around the straw, pulling up another mouthful of Coke through a frown. Why was he talking so quietly? His thumb found the volume.
“I can’t explain what’s happening over the phone, but you need to get back here. Something’s happened.” Click.
Jay looked at the screen. He redialed the number but it rang through to an impersonal voicemail. He hung up before the beep. It was Thursday—Jay was sure he could make it back home for the weekend. Alex’s call didn’t exactly sound urgent, but Alex wasn’t one to call for help, either. He’d make the drive tomorrow.
The ice crackled in his cup as he dumped his trash in the bin.
* * *
It was Alex.
Jay felt a rush, his weariness vanishing as he answered the phone. “Alex?”
“Jay!” Alex’s voice barked out of the phone. “Where are you?”
Blinking a few times, Jay skipped saying hi and fast-forwarded to “I’m still at school.”
There was a pause. Something loud thudded unevenly in the background. From the lag in Alex’s response, Jay knew that answer wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “You can be here tomorrow, right?”
“That’s what I was planning on.”
“Meet me at my old place—our old place. That house we rented last year.”
“Sure, yeah.” Jay frowned. “Alex, what’s going on?”
As if to answer Jay’s question, the thudding turned into a loud crack, and the sound distorted as Alex started moving around.
“Just meet me, Jay,” Alex said. He hung up.
Jay looked at his phone for a few seconds, unsure of what to do next. If he tried to call Alex back, he was more than sure that nobody would pick up. He looked at the clock. 12:14 am. No answers would be had sitting in his bed but he was too awake now to sleep.
Closing his laptop, Jay climbed out of his sheets and started to pack.