The interior of the house was much different. The tall walls were painted a soothing shade of teal, and there was a minimal amount of furniture. The walls were mostly empty, aside from a few family photos in the hallway by the door. My eyes fell onto one of a young kid and his beaming mother.

I felt an odd sense of nostalgia wash over me as I saw the boy who'd helped me on the playground all those years ago. The photo couldn't have been taken more than a year after we'd met. It was all the same, his light brown hair ruffled in the wind, his adventurous eyes and that wild smile...

Memories of that day flashed in my mind, and I could almost hear his squeaky voice happily telling me that the tooth fairy wasn't real. I remembered how I'd felt slightly superior than the rest of the kids my age after that. They'd all thought this magic miniature flying being was slipping money under their pillows but I'd known the truth. That false sense of superiority had only lasted a few months though, as kids would come to school crying after catching their full grown, non-magical parents in the middle of the night.

My eyes traveled to the woman in the photo. She was crouched next to him, her arms holding her excited son back for the picture while he tried to get away. Her bright smile only enhanced her beauty. She had dark straight hair that matched what Rowans looked like now, in fact, almost all of her features had translated directly onto him- except for her eyes. The light sky blue color contrasted with his auburn ones which now seemed to darken with his mood.

I tore my gaze away from the photo and took my shoes off where Eriks were discarded as Rowan walked past me, hoping he hadn't noticed.

There were canvases everywhere, leaning against chairs, tables, walls, or stacked on the ground. They were of all different sizes and had a diverse array of colors and patterns. They were all placed over tarps which were littered with mixed colors of paint, next to brushes that were neatly placed in jars, as if the artist would be back to continue their work at any moment.

"Where's your mom?" Erik asked exactly what I was thinking and I awkwardly made my way to the kitchen where he was emptying the bag of popcorn into his mouth.

"She's still at the gallery. Has a huge showing tomorrow she's stressed about."

Erik said something that was completely incoherent through his full mouth so Rowan turned to me.

"What do you feel like watching?"

I was taken aback at the sudden, casual way he'd addressed me.

"Um, I'm good with whatever you guys want..."

"Friday night lights-!" Erik yelled as soon as his popcorn was finished.

Rowan looked back at me, his eyebrows raised slightly as if asking is that okay with you?

"Sure, that's good." I said to them, cringing internally and wishing I'd had more social skills.

There was a light knock at the door. Eriks face brightened with joy and he rushed towards it.

"Finally!"

Rowan went to help him and a few moments later he was carrying the boxes past the kitchen, to a separate room with Erik on his heels.

"TV's this way," he said to me over his shoulder, and I followed, keeping my eyes on my surroundings instead of him.

The room we entered was dark. The curtains were drawn across the windows, and the TV sent a dim blue glow through the room. Rowan set the boxes down on a table centered in the middle of a long black half-circular couch.

Eric plopped down on one end of the couch and immediately tore the lid off the box on top, taking a slice of pepperoni and almost swallowing it whole.

I gingerly sat on the other side of the couch as Rowan opened a drawer under the TV which was filled with CDs. I felt a strange sense of comfort at that, I thought my family was the last to still be using CDs. They'd disappeared like an endangered species when Netflix and other streaming services had become popular.

After shuffling around the drawer for a few seconds, Rowan pulled out the one he was looking for and pushed it into the CD player. I wondered what other kinds of movies he had under there.

Not Twilight...

I held back a smile to myself as the thought of Rowan watching a cheesy romcom crossed my mind.

He picked up the remote before making his way to the couch and sitting between Erik and me. He handed me a slice of pizza on a napkin, and I tried to keep my eyes off of his exposed arms, feeling my face flush.

"Thanks..." I muttered, sitting on the edge of the couch, being extra careful to not risk dropping anything on it.

"Of course."

I noticed he was sitting a lot closer to me than Erik. It doesn't mean anything.

The movie started and once I was done eating I felt myself losing focus on it. I'd underestimated how exhausted I was after spending over nine hours on campus and talking to my mom... And finding that strange envelope.

You were going to ask Rowan about Ray...

I snuck a peak at him, his eyes were fixated on the screen. There was no way I'd ask him now... first off, Erik was right there. Second, I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good movie night and my first time at his house. I looked away before he'd catch me.

About twenty minutes into the movie I found myself nuzzling deeper into the cushions of the couch. They were so soft...

"Stop quoting every line of the movie," Rowan was saying to Erik. "It's Friday Night Lights not the Bible."

"You're not even Christian."

"Irrelevant."

"The boy will fill up the Gatorade cooler, walk the dog, and paint your back porch—"

Rowan threw a piece of pizza crust at his head to shut him up and Erik caught it, before taking a bite.

"You underestimate how much I can eat."

"If you're eating you won't be talking so that'll work."

"Oh you think I can't talk and eat at the same time?"

Erik was finding it hard to do that though, and eventually just went back to quietly munching on the bread.

***

Did you get my letter?

The letter... was it even a letter? Could it be called a letter if nothing was written on it?

Wait, why was I thinking of that? I was watching a movie... with Erik and Rowan about football...

No... what?

Did you get my letter?

The same voice asked me, and it wasn't mine.

Leave me alone... you're supposed to be dead.

Wait, why was I so sure Ray was dead? Why was I so sure Ray was the one talking to me? Wasn't I watching a movie?

My eyes opened. I was walking away from the gay club, I'd told Lucy, Madison and Alex I'd gone for water. I was going for water. But I knew how this night ended...

That meant Ray and his friend were about to creep up on me, unprovoked... meaning Rowan was near too.

Aren't you supposed to be watching a movie?

I shook my head, My thoughts were only confusing me. I felt my heartbeat quicken, knowing what was about to happen.

Did you get my letter?

I whipped around, and there he was, exactly where he'd been before under the dimly lit street lamps.

There was someone next to him... someone I'd forgotten about. He was blurry in my vision, like I couldn't quite remember his face... I'd been too preoccupied with Ray, I'd completely forgotten he'd had a sidekick the first night I'd encountered him.

I blinked, and the other man was gone. Ray was on the sidewalk, unconscious. He looked worse than he had last time, there was a lot of blood pouring out of his head that hadn't been there before... it was staining the sidewalk, surely somebody would see?

Rowan was there, and he was helping me to his cousin's bar...

Wait, where did you come from?

Rowan frowned at me, and pointed out into the darkness.

Why'd I forgotten about that other man so easily?

I was back, back in the sandbox. The hole I'd dug the day before had been filled, even though I'd blocked it off with tree branches. I looked around for the boy who'd helped me with my lost tooth... maybe he'd want to help me dig a new one?

I wanted to tell him about the five dollars my mom had left under the pillow. I'd faked sleep and knew she did it. Maybe he could be my friend, I could use the five dollars to buy us both cookies at the bake sale next week.

I spotted him, he was playing tether ball with his friends. They looked intimidating though. His friends would probably laugh at both of us if they saw me, a kindergartner, ask him to help dig a hole. I wondered what he'd do.

I decided to keep to myself, and started re-digging my hole.

Poor boy...

I looked up at the teachers talking next to me. They were watching him with sympathetic expressions, their brows furrowed in worry.

I looked back at him. Why were they worried about him? He seemed happy... ecstatic, about playing that game. Like there was nothing else he'd rather do in the entire world.

I turned back to the sandbox, pushing a big heap of sand out of my way before my hands hit something. I picked it up, panicking.

Oh good, thank you for picking up litter, Evan.

One of the teachers who'd been watching Rowan said, and took the blank piece of paper from my hands, before crumpling up and tossing it in a nearby trash can.

I stared at the trash where it'd been discarded. It was whispering to me. Why was the paper blank?

Wait, did this ever even happen?

"Evan."

My eyes snapped open and I shot up, looking around me. Rowan was leaning over me with a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked past him, seeing the credits of a movie on the TV mounted to the wall. Where was I?

I blinked in confusion before my memories slowly trickled back. Hadn't Erik been there? I looked to the other end of the couch, but it was empty.

"Sorry... I guess I fell asleep." I said, refusing to meet Rowan's eyes. I didn't want to see the worry that'd be there.

"You're really hot..." I blinked, and looked up at him. Am I still dreaming? "I think you have a fever." He said, putting his hand to my forehead.

Oh.

"No, I'm good." I said, pushing myself up to sit. Rowan leaned back and gave me some space. "Where did Erik go?"

"He went home about five minutes ago after the movie ended."

"Shit. I was his ride..."

"No, you're fine. He took an Uber. Said you had a long day and didn't wanna wake you up."

My heart was still pounding from my dream, but gave an extra jolt when I heard a dish clatter in the other room.

"It's just my mom, don't worry."

Oh. Right. Don't worry, his moms just in the other room...

"Oh..."

"Are you sure you're okay? You seemed like you were having a nightmare."

"I'm fine. It was just a weird dream, it's nothing."

Rowan didn't look convinced, but didn't have time to say anything before a tall, dark haired woman entered the room. She was dressed in a casual white gown that was covered in paint.

"Oh, sorry if my noise woke you! I'm Rosie," I smiled up at Rowan's mother, her presence oozing positivity. His features were even more similar to hers in person than in the photograph, and while their eyes were different colors, they had the same captivating draw to them.

"No, it didn't- nice to meet you. I'm Evan." I said.

"Yes, Rowans told me about you," He quickly shot her a look that I didn't catch which she ignored. "I can make up the guest room for you," she finished kindly.

"Oh no need- I should get home, I think my moms waiting for me." I said, feeling my face flush.

"Are you sure? You're welcome to stay if you'd like." Her voice had a comforting warmth to it, one that wasn't fake.

"Yeah, but thank you though. That's really nice of you."

"Of course dear. Next time!" I smiled as she made her way to the other room.

"I can drive you," Rowan said, standing up. It must've been the dim lighting but it seemed as if his face was tinted pink.

"No, no it's fine."

"You just woke up, I don't know if you're good to drive."

"I'm fine, I promise. I'm very awake now." I said, standing up and grabbing my phone.

Rowan walked me to the front door where I slipped on my shoes.

"Okay... just let me know when you get home." I nodded,

"I'll text you."

We stood there for a silent moment before I said bye and headed out the door. I needed to get to it, see what it said. I'd probably been too tired to read it earlier, there was no way it'd just been blank...

Maybe there's just something wrong with you.

I felt less and less safe the farther I drove from his house. I should've let him drive me...

When I parked outside my house, I felt an uneasy feeling come across me. The lights were off, which was odd. My mom always left them on when I was out.

I quickly unlocked the front door, before locking it behind me once I entered my house. It was silent, my parents seemed to have both gone to bed. The tv was on but silent. I went to turn it off, and saw my mothers sleeping figure lying peacefully on the couch, a few essays sprawled on the ground in front of her.

I smiled to myself, before pulling her blanket over her shoulders. I didn't want to wake her up.

After triple checking that everything was locked, I went to my room to get the letter.

Something felt odd when I entered my room, but I couldn't figure out why. I went to the trash to look for the crumpled up piece of paper I'd thrown. Those dreams had to have meant something. Or you're just going crazy.

I emptied out my entire trash can, sifting through the papers in frustration. I couldn't find it. It was like it'd disappeared, or maybe it'd never been there.

Finally, I gave up and sat on my bed. I just need a therapist...

No. It'd been there. My mom told me I'd received a letter. We couldn't both be crazy.

I didn't throw away the envelope...

I jumped out of bed, before stopping dead in my tracks in front of my desk.

The envelope was there. So was the page. But it was no longer blank. Somebody had flattened it out from when I'd crumpled it, and it was laying neatly beside the envelope with large blotches of crimson liquid stained all over it.

I stood frozen there and closed my eyes, expecting somebody to come out of the shadows and kill me in an instant, like some Stephen King novel. Once that didn't happen, I released a small breath before looking back down at the page.

Please don't be blood. Please don't be blood. Please don't be blood.

I picked it up with shaking hands, flipping it. There was nothing written, only a continuation of the red stain that'd seeped through.

A sick, twisted thought entered my mind. I stared down at the paper, and felt my heart beating in my throat as I thought back to my mom.

She never sleeps on the couch...

***