Stuart Meczes - The awakening

I stripped the weights off and pushed them back under the bed with the heel of my foot. I was left with the metal bar. I weighed it in my hands. It certainly felt solid enough. I curled my hands into fists and took a deep breath. Then I twisted them against the bar, pushing upwards and towards the middle. The bar didn’t want to bend. My biceps threatened to split through my skin. I could feel the tendons in my neck straining from the effort. A growl of effort came from deep within.

Eventually, something gave way. When I looked back down, the bar resembled a U shape.

“No way!” I breathed. I pushed the metal further with the palm of my hands. It crossed over itself. I grabbed one end and with much less effort pulled it through the loop, tugging both ends like a shoelace. Now the bar was a giant knot.

I stared at the lump of metal in utter disbelief.

This is insane.

The phone ringing almost made me scream. I crawled over the bed and looked at the screen. The number was unknown. A cold chill ran through my body. Is it them? My throat was sandpaper as I picked up the handset and pressed the answer button. “Hello?” I croaked. “Alex, that you?” I sighed with a mixture of relief and disappointment. “Yeah it is, hi Tim. Your number came up unknown.” “House phone mate. Ex-direct. Anyway, just checking you’re ok.” I looked at the pretzel shaped dumbbell as confirmation. “Yeah I’m fine…great actually.”

Tim made an approving noise then stopped to shout at someone. “Sorry, my sister’s doing my head in. Anyway, glad to hear you’re ok. Oh before I forget, I wasn’t the only one worried about you.” His voice had changed and I could imagine him wearing his trademark dopey grin. “What do you mean?” “That ten…Gabriella? She was asking about for your number. I gave it to her, did she get in touch?” “Yeah she left a message,” I said.

Tim whistled. “Mate, I am so jealous, that girl has a soft spot for you. And she is so hot, I mean like…wow. Things are looking up hey Alex?” I gave a little chuckle. “You know what? I think you may be right.” “So where were you anyway?” I paused. I hadn’t thought about whether I was going to tell him or not yet. I needed time to think. “Sorry mate, I’ve got to go. My Mum’s calling me for dinner.” “Err…okay, cool. So does this mean you’ll be back tomorrow?” I glanced over at the wrap of metal on the bed and then to my upgraded reflection.

Go be the person you always wanted to be.

“I'll be there.”

As I wolfed down my breakfast the next day, I heard the post drop. John walked out to collect it.

I’d woken up an hour earlier than usual, almost jumping out of bed with energy. My hair had taken seconds to style. Clothes fit, rather than hanging off me like sacks. I’d bounded downstairs and helped Mum prepare breakfast and tidy the kitchen. She made no reference to the strange comment she’d made. Instead she was back to normal — all smiles and laughs.

“Well, you seem different today,” she’d laughed as I danced about, putting plates away, and humming a Soulfire song.

“I feel different.”

Now as I sat eating team effort pancakes, John returned to the kitchen and dropped a letter next to my plate. I frowned and picked it up. The envelope was high quality, its surface thick and the colour of fresh cream. The writing on the front was elaborate, dark ink scrawled across the paper like spider legs. No stamp. My fingers pressed against something hard inside. I knew this wasn’t a letter to open in front of an audience. So after breakfast, I headed into the hallway and locked myself in the downstairs toilet.

“Bro, we going or what?” Mikey called through the door.

“I’ll see you in the car,” I replied. “Keys are in the bag.”

Slipping my thumb into the corner of the flap, I tore the envelope open. My heart was beating double speed. I tipped the contents into my hand and stared. It was a black key fob. Confused, I peered into the envelope and noticed a small folded note. I opened it up. The message was written in the same spidery handwriting.

Parked on Mason Avenue. This should help you with your new life.

That was all. I crammed the note and keys into my pocket and flushed the toilet for effect. Grabbing my bag from the hall, I shouted goodbye and rushed out the door.

Mikey leaned back in his seat, lost in thought. I’d filled him in on everything I knew so far. The only thing I hadn’t mentioned was the letter and keys. I wasn’t sure what they meant myself yet. He looked over when I took a left instead of a right.

“Hey, just how badly did your memory get affected? You're going the wrong way!”

“I need to make a quick detour,” I replied.

Mason Avenue was a little street not too far from Town. Devoid of streetlights, it was dark and gloomy in the winter morning. Cars were parked nose to bumper on either side. Given the road’s closeness to town, it was doubtful that many of them actually belonged to the owners of the houses.

I parked up on the corner and climbed out.

“What's going on?” asked Mikey, winding down the window.

I ignored him and pulled the key out of my pocket. Held the fob in front of me and clicked the button as I walked. About a hundred yards away something flashed and beeped. I ran to the noise and my jaw dropped.

Sitting unassumingly between a Skoda and a Toyota was a brand new Audi sports car.

Its sleek silver body gleamed in the emerging sunlight. I pressed the fob a few more times just to make sure I was seeing things right. The lights blinked and the car beeped in response.

“Oh my god,” I breathed. I didn't know a huge amount about cars, but I knew this was an expensive one. Excitement swept through me as I opened the door and the intoxicating smell of new leather rushed out to greet me. On the driver’s seat was another small note.

Check the boot.

I fumbled about and found the button that opened it. Once popped, I headed around and lifted it. Bags filled the space. Names like Selfridges, Boss and Versace stamped on them like awards. They contained what must have been thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes: t-shirts, jackets, jeans and shoes. I even found a brand new pair of Ray Ban’s.

I picked a knitted beige jumper and checked the tag.?249.99

I let out a disbelieving laugh. Someone must really like me.

I looked around to see who was about. The street seemed empty. Even Mikey was blocked from view, so I shrugged off my clothes and slipped into the jumper and a pair of jeans I’d found in another bag. I finished with a black leather jacket and matching shoes. Everything fitted perfectly. I shut the boot and walked back to my old car. “What’s going on…where did you get those?” Mikey quizzed, a deep frown etched in his face. I leaned against the door and grinned. “How do you feel about sports cars?”

The engine roared as I gunned down the road. The car was so fast I wouldn’t normally have been able to handle it — I’d only had my licence a few months. But something was different now. I seemed to know exactly what to do at every possible point — when to drop a gear, accelerate, when to brake. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mikey staring at me wearing a look of disbelief.

“Listen,” I said, taking a corner a little too fast, “before you ask, I still don't know what’s going on. A letter arrived today with the keys and this note inside.” I handed him the fold of paper. “That's all I can say. But if someone gave you all this stuff, would you say no?”

He scanned the words and shrugged. “Depends on what they wanted in return. I mean, why else would they do all this?”

I paused. With everything going on, the thought that there may be a catch hadn’t even occurred to me.