Building 8 “Displaced”

“I saw a movie recently. There was something wrong with it though, so I exited the theater at around eleven.

The air was thick with fog, and the entire way home I couldn't get over how out of place I felt.

How not like myself I felt.

I tried to explain it to my girlfriend, but I couldn't really find the words. I finally said that it felt like we had passed over into a different dimension. That it was just enough of a shift to be unsettling. And though I tried to fight the feeling, I couldn't deny how strange everything seemed.

When I got home, I quickly gathered my things and headed inside, but I got to the front door it was slightly ajar. It was possible I just forgot to close it before I left, but I never do that.

I pushed open the door, expecting any number of things, but nothing was wrong. The house was normal.

Well, I thought it was normal.

I went to feed my Halloween crab Sheila. Normally she isn't too thrilled to see me. However, she seemed, off.

While I was making her food, my girlfriend changed her water. It was only when she went to shoo the crab away from the water that I notice something, Sheila wouldn't move. So, my girlfriend picked her up and put her away from the dish. Sheila just sat there, waiting patiently for her to finish with the dish.

Normally Sheila is terrified when handled. I figured my girlfriend was just better at handling her than me.

I tried to put it out of my mind that night and eventually I managed to fall asleep. The next day I woke up to find that it was still foggy outside. I leaned over to kiss my girlfriend, only she wasn't there. I figured she had left early for something.

I hate it when she doesn't wake me up before she leaves.

I fed my crab and went to make some breakfast when I heard the bells ringing in the old church down the road. It sounded like they were forged out of wrought iron, and the tune before the chiming of the time was all wrong. The bells were supposed to be made of copper, not iron. I was confused, so I got dressed and headed off towards the church, the bells never ceasing to toll.

The outside looked normal, but when I entered the church, there was a sign on a stand about ten feet from the door. An arrow pointed to the left, and above the arrow were the words “Displaced Person's, 7:00-9:30. Free coffee.”

I went left, and eventually after descending some stairs, I found a door with the same sign on it. There were voices inside, but they were too muffled for me to hear any of it. I knocked quickly, the conversation inside suddenly cut short.

After a few seconds, a warm voice called out for me to come inside. Upon entering I saw a group of people in a circle, some turning to look at me while others ignored my presence completely.

“Please have a seat.” said one with a clipboard. “We are just getting started.”

“I'm sorry. I don't think I should be here.”

“Well that is exactly why you are here. We want to help get you home. Get all of us home where we belong.”

“What are you talking about?”

The man smiled, then looked at me sternly. “We have all been displaced. I am sure you have noticed. There has been some small changes, but nothing huge. Changes in behavior. In color. Things being different that we are familiar with enough to notice something different. Have you...seen anything different?”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, even as I distantly heard the bells continuing to ring out in a way I could not recognize. I thought of all the changes. And all at once I felt the blood drain from my face.

“Take a seat.”

I did what I was told. I heard other people's stories. I have come regularly ever since.

Best I understand, something has shifted. Not for everyone, but for just a few of us. We aren't on the same plane of existence anymore, and we can't figure out how to get back. I have started to get used to the changes, and that scares me a little. I am starting to find this to be normal, and I am starting to doubt what I believe. The meetings are the only things that keep me sane. That, and the sounds I hear at night.

Out in the fog, I hear something howl. It’s as if it’s searching for something. We don't know what it is, but it is hunting us. We are irregularities. And it wants to fix that.

There were nine of us. Then there were five. Now there are seven. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to hide.

Every night the howls get closer.

There is something scratching at my door. I have nowhere to go and I am tired of things being wrong. I haven't seen my girlfriend in so long. I keep thinking of what happened to her and it makes me panic. There are some constants. Some things that don't change. I can only hope this piece of paper won't change. That someone will see this. The door won't hold much longer. I can hear the lock breaking. It won't tolerate inaccuracies. It wants to make things right.

I don't belong here.”

Somehow, someone had got this...confession, into my house. I called the police. They searched the house, but they couldn't find any forced entry. If I could find the person, I would knock them out.

My life was just returning to normal, and yet every day it seems I have to confront some more strange bullshit. I just want to have a normal life, but it seems like I can't. I want people to stop sending me these...things. I just want to be left alone.

The weather is warmer, and Margaret and I are able to go on the walks we enjoy.

It rained yesterday.

I found a drowned bird on my porch.

I think Loyd chewed on it a little.