Author: Rahul Srinivas
“So that’s how I end huh. Never imagined I’d go out this way. Well, I should’ve seen this coming, I suppose, given my condition.”, Trevor thought to himself as he was on his knees and a could feel the hand from behind, holding the sharp knife near his neck, ready to slice him up any second.
Trevor developed a condition since his small ages. Being an orphan, alone in the streets, he used to get lonely. A child with no companion, nobody to play with. This loneliness had caused him to develop an imaginary friend with whom he could play, talk and share things. He always knew that Joshua was just a fragment of his imagination. But for Trevor, he was real. He was an escape from the cruel world.
Not long after this, he was found by a nun and was taken to an orphanage. Here, he grew up with other kids, laughing and playing, like the child that he was. But never once did he forget Joshua. Even though he was just an imagination, Joshua was there for him when he needed him and he did not want him to feel alone like he once did. So he grew up with Joshua.
He was happy to be more fortunate than some other street kids who were guided into wrong paths. He grew up in a loving place, with friends who became a family. He left the orphanage at the age of 17, for his studies. He graduated and became an electrical engineer.
Throughout all this, he always continued talking with Joshua. Joshua even helped out Trevor at times. Whenever Trevor forgot the answer to a question, or got nervous on a date or was having any problem, Joshua would come to him and help him out and would pat on his right shoulder and say “Don’t think too much.”, and walk away.
2 DAYS EARLIER:
The notification sound on Trevor’s phone went off. He opened the message just to see a random number send a location to him. He dismissed it thinking it’s a wrong number. He switches off the phone and sees the time. 14:00 displayed the phone’s clock. “Another three long hours. I am already sleepy.”, he said to himself as he got back to work.
After a long day’s work, Trevor goes back to his home and sleeps.
SAME NIGHT, 21:30 HOURS
Trevor wakes up and opens the message of the location.
“That idiot! Trevor opened the message. I asked him specifically, not to text me before eleven!”, said Joshua to himself, as he left the house.
00:30 HOURS
“I told you not to text me. What were you thinking?!”, shouted Joshua.
“You know the location of the pickup point changes every night.”
“And the pickup does not happen before one. Can’t you text me two hours before?”
“Jeez, sorry man. It won’t happen again. What’s the big deal though?”
“That’s none of your business. You work for me. Now give the package and bounce.”
“Whatever, man”, said Dev to Joshua, as he gave the package to him. Then Joshua delivered the package to another guy and went back to Trevor’s home.
“Better delete this.”, said Joshua as he deleted the message of the location, before going to sleep.
THE NEXT DAY:
Trevor wakes up and goes through his daily morning routine. He checks his phone. 13:50 displayed the phone’s clock.
“Three more hours”, Trevor said to himself as he let out a big yawn. He opened his messages.
“That’ weird. I remember it being there yesterday.”, Trevor thought to himself as he saw that the message of the location was deleted.
Right then, Joshua comes to him and says “Don’t think too much”, and tapped on his left shoulder.
That night, Trevor goes to his home and decides not to sleep. At 11’o clock, he got a message of a location in his phone and decides to go to that location.
“Don’t go there. Trust me you don’t want to”, said Joshua to Trevor as he was about to leave.
“I knew you were upto something! You always taped my right shoulder. But today, you taped the left. You panicked. What’s there? What is in that place? What are you doing with my body?!” shouted Trevor.
“I can’t tell you”, said Joshua.
“Then I guess I just have to find it out myself huh” said Trevor as he walked away, and left his home.
PRESENT DAY, 00:20 HOURS:
“Here’s your package man”, said Dev to Trevor, thinking he was Joshua.
“Package? What package? What’s in this?”
“What do you mean what’s in this man? It’s the stuff. The whole drug chain?”
“Drug chain?”
“Yeah man. Did you forget? I coo. You transport. Your guys distribute?”
“WHAT?!”
“It was all your idea man. What happened? You alright?”
“Listen up. I don’t know who the heck you are, but if you don’t leave this place now, you’re gonna be in trouble. I called the cops and they’ll be here any minute.”
“Joshua, you did what?”
“I’m not bluffing. And don’t ever call me Joshua again.”
“You’re crazy man”, said Dev as he ran away.
Trevor sat on the side of the road as Joshua came and sat next to him.
“I know the cop thing was a bluff”, said Joshua.
“Well, you know everything about me. Same doesn’t go for me does it?”
“Told you you didn’t wanna know”
“When did you do all this? How long has this been going for? How did I never know about this?”
“Well, it started long back and I’ve been working on this in the nights. Ever wondered why you always felt so tired in the afternoons?”
“Well, now I know what you do with your mind and my body. All I have to do now is get rid of you.”
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
“You’re just a fragment of my imagination after all”
“Well, Trevor. Think again”
That’s when Trevor realised who he is, and who Joshua really was.
Joshua was a disturbed child who murdered his own parents when he was just 12. He was admitted in a psychiatric ward and tried to convince the people there. But whenever he lied about him changing, the polygraph told the truth. So, in order to convince them , he decided to tell the same lies, but this time he’ll mean it. At least, a part of him will. He created a whole story, a whole new personality, a whole new part of him in his mind- Trevor. He created another orphan just like him and gave him a life and used him whenever he wanted to. He started leading a normal life as Trevor and continued his crime life as Joshua. This had been happening for more than 7 years and now he was no more watched by prying eyes of the state and was free of anymore psychiatric checkups. He had no more use for Trevor.
“You are a fragment of my imagination, Trevor. You never really existed. And now, you never will.”, said Joshua as he took a knife and took it near Trevor’s neck.
“So that’s how I end huh. Never imagined I’d go out this way. Well, I should’ve seen this coming, I suppose, given my condition.”, Trevor thought to himself as he was on his knees and could feel the hand from behind, holding the sharp knife near his neck, ready to slice him up any second.
“Goodbye my friend”, said Joshua as he slice up Trevor and was free, once again.
