Sharon’s Note: Sometimes we see things we don’t want to believe. Sometimes, we don’t have a choice. Warning: More questions and willful ignorance.
After a quick look up on Social media and various web searches, we found a Ruben Cruz in the area. He was actually a professional blogger, covering subjects strange and supernatural. His second to last post was one talking about some great urban legend he was hunting for, and would post on, soon. The last post was put up by someone on his behalf Sunday morning. He was sick with a bad sinus infection, and wouldn’t be able to post for a couple days.
I’d messaged him, telling that we had hooked up Friday night, and that he might have my phone. I’d asked if he could meet me somewhere to get it back, and he’d replied instantly that he’d meet me at a nearby coffee shop in a half an hour. Excitedly, I filled Katy in, as she turned the car around. The coffee shop was in the opposite direction. She was kind of distracted, and nearly got us rear ended by the large black van behind us. One of those huge, but sleek suckers with Windows tinted so dark they were probably illegal.
“He thinks he’s having a sinus infection. Maybe he had a nose leech, like me. Maybe he knows more about it.” I was practically bouncing in my seat. Now, I might finally get some answers.
“You caught a parasite from some guy you hooked up with at a bar while drunk. Yay.” Katy’s voice was flat. She seemed thoroughly unimpressed.
“Yeah, because nose leeches are a totally normal type of STD.” I made sure she heard the sarcasm in that. “Come on, Katy! You know as well as I do that something strange is going on here. What about the leech? What about the scratch on my face. What about the thing in the mirror?”
“I never saw whatever came out of your nose or what you supposedly saw in the mirror. You probably gave yourself that scratch when you were flailing around in the car.” She said this with the surety of someone who didn’t completely believe what they were saying, but really wanted to. “You’re just exhausted. We’ll get your phone back from this guy, and then I’ll take you home to get some sleep. You’ll feel better, I promise.”
“I don’t want to sleep.” I blurted.
“What? Why?” She asked, sparing me a glance from the road.
“Something’s waiting for me to sleep. I can feel it.” I hugged myself and stared at the dashboard. “It’s what scratched me, and what did that thing to my reflection. It’s just waiting for me to sleep again. It can only get me in my sleep.”
“Beth, you need some help.” Katy said quietly.
“Maybe.” I was equally quiet.
We got to the coffee shop, and Ruben was already waiting at the table. I recognized him from his online pictures. He looked a little scrambled, his hair in disarray, and his foot jiggling like he was impatient. I walked up to him, ready to introduce myself with Katy just behind me.
I smiled at him, and his face lit up with manic excitement. He jumped to his feet. “You’re Beth right? You saw me Friday? Awesome! Maybe you could tell me what happened to me. I don’t remember a thing.”
Read More:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9
Gray Matters: The Works of Sharon and James Gray 
“The best parties are the ones you don’t even remember?” Also, the best parties are the ones where no one ends up with a nose leech.
LikeLike