Television Static

As the car shook, the aftershock of the door slammed ever so present. Will sat alone, hands gripping tightly on the wheel with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Amber Jacklin, his once partner of two years, now ex, stalked down the heavily crowded street, her blonde hair shining underneath the city lights and eventually blending in with the rest of the crowd. Amber had yelled at him during and after their date at a crowded Italian restaurant. It had been an honest mistake; Will knew tiny spaces triggered his visions and dealing with people being so close....

He wanted to say no.

But when Amber began gushing about this new place she found, while they both curled up on their bed and the rain gently patting against their apartment window. Will pushed aside his rule of no crowded areas he had since high school to see Amber's bright smile. He wanted to make her happy.

You can control yourself; was the mantra he repeated to his reflection in the bathroom mirror, fixing his cowlick into something presentable hours before his date. You can do this for Amber; This weird freaky thing of yours isn't going to control you anymore.

Hearing those words repeated under his breath gave Will an extra boost of confidence he needed to leave the bathroom. Sadly, the feeling left as fast as it came.

It happened in an instant. One minute, Will had been perfectly fine, chatting about everything and absolutely nothing with his girlfriend. Amber looked as pretty as ever in her red lipstick, and hair done in loose waves. He hadn't realized he had been staring until she made an offhand comment about it, his face flushed. The crowd and body heat only an afterthought as she smiled at him.

TSuddenly a weight pressed down against his chest, forcing the breath out of his burning lungs and lean back in his seat. Amber leaned over, noticing the change in his demeanor. Eyes locked, but unfocused. Will watched as the color slowly began to fade from her face. Little by little, the world as he knew it was drained of all warmth, only flies littered and scattered across the room. The buzzing ringing loud and proud.

From there, his date and relationship with Amber Jacklin went right down the toilet.

Would she have understood if he told her about his visions? Tell her that sometimes his sight would be filled with intense and terrifying images of things he tried to make sense of? When these occurred, he had no control over his body, and unwillingly acted out because of this?

No, he decided, even as they awkwardly existed the restaurant. The effects of his episode still lingered on his skin. Staining it; As if had been a lousy aftertaste of wine stuck on your tongue, no matter how many times you brushed your teeth. His relationship would have still ended the way it did, no matter what he said or done. They had been at their breaking point. This date was supposed to make up for his fuck ups. He spent so long trying to keep this…..freaky thing under wraps from other people. He wouldn't know where to start, much less explain to her what goes on through his head, his sleepless nights, and the faces that still haunted him.

This is the final straw. Amber snapped once they both got into his car, and even with her icy blue eyes piercing right through him, he couldn't bring himself to talk. She gave him a hard glare, clutching tightly on her leather purse, and he idly wondered if she wanted to throw it at him. He'd understand if she did.

Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was for you to freak out like that? With all those people staring at us? God, it's like you don't even care or see yourself.

Will stank lower in his seat, face heated, and his shoulders were tensing. He tried to ignore the shame that slowly settled on his shoulders and right down to his upper chest.

Why did he do that? God, he was such a freak.

I tried to handle this, she gestured to his complete form, and he decided he tried not to let it string. But I can't anymore, Will. I'm sorry. She said, but they both knew she wasn't. If someone had embarrassed you in front of people and always seemed to be distant, lost inside their head all the time, wouldn't you be happy to break things off with them too?

I'm sorry, too, Amber. He said quietly, the first thing he said since the incident, and hoped she understood he meant everything.

Amber sighed and quickly collected all of her belongings in the car and shoved them into her purse. You can have the apartment; I'll come by in the morning to get my things. I'll notify the landlord of our rent payment arrangements for the end of the month.

When nothing was said back, the blonde woman sighed again, taking it her cue to leave. Not once did she look back, and Will didn't have it in him to be mad.

Hot tears blurred his eyesight, tripping down his cheeks and landing into his dress pants. He felt small and pathetic. God, he was a mess.

In an attempt to hide from the world and onlookers he knew had watched the entire scene unfold, Will pressed his forehead against the upper part of the steering wheel and finally allowed the tears he had been holding back fall

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, curled in himself and face covered in tear streaks, it was only when the sudden buzzing from his cell phone that pulled him from his inner turmoil. Will reached towards the cup holders where his phone sat, waiting, and quickly brought the large screen to his eye level, cursing under his breath at the brightness. It shouldn't be that bright. Only people who wanted their eyes to hurt did. Narrowing his eyes to avoid the unwanted sting, he dragged his thumb down and was met with the sight of endless notifications. He cursed again.

Give it to Amber to tell all their friends about what happened. In an hour no less. A new record.

Will mindlessly looked over all the messages he received from his friends, or apparently, ex-friends now. The majority of her friends wrote long texts, pissed, while a good handful kept things short, curious yet genuine and which he, even in his state, could appreciate. Her friends only tolerated him when they started dating. Whispering among themselves, giggling and taking quick glances towards him and Amber during their get-together. Still, he's going to miss them; he did consider them friends, after all. However, friends or not, he didn't have the energy to answer them. No one needed an explanation from him, and if they think they could get one, tough luck on them. He'll never tell.

With an exhausted sigh, Will sat himself up and shift the stick from Park to Drive and with a heavy heart, eases the car onto the road, heading back to his tiny, Amber-less apartment.

***

It was cold and dark when Will entered his apartment. Before they had left, Amber had been hard-pressed about conserving energy, so everything was either unplugged or turned off. He didn't mind, but now, standing in the doorway alone. It reminded him of how isolating this apartment could be. Will hated it.

He shrugged off his coat, dropping it beside the door as he shuffled his way into the kitchen after double-checking the locks and kicking off his shoes. The lights had been left off and had half a mind to ignore the light switch, leaving the room with the only source of light coming from the hallway outside his door and the city lights illuminating the outline of the furniture from the windows. He preferred it; was less strain on his eyes. Had Amber been here, she would have said something about him enjoying the dark to much.

And there you go, thinking about Amber, he thought with a grimace. Better fix that before you start getting all sad and mopey.

Stopping in front of the fridge, Will swung the fridge door open, revealing the two bottles of wine and a large variety of fruits and vegetables, all neatly organized. Amber always liked having things proper. To the point where she'd group them together by color, and he found it cute- Ah, there he goes. Better stop right there or else. He grumbles and takes a bottle out, slamming the fridge door behind him as he drags his feet over to the worn-out couch.

You won't be able to get over her at this rate. Will muttered under his breath as he threw himself on the couch, careless with the full bottle of wine in his grasp. Maybe drinking away your sorrows will help?

That was when the TV across the couch suddenly screeched with life.

Startled, Will stared wide-eyed as the black and white static brought light into the darkroom, the TV filling the once silent room with noise. Amber had left the remote on the fireplace, in no way the thing could have been turned on by accident.

Shit-

He stood up, dropping his wine bottle before rushing over to the TV. The sound of glass shattering was drowned by the loud static noise bouncing off the TV. Will cursed. His jaw clenched, hands shaking as he fumbled to turn off the small flat screen.

Nothing happened.

The static grew louder.

Something moved behind him.

Fuck fuck-

Will repeatedly jammed his finger on the button.

Still nothing.

Broken glass being stepped on a cut through the static. Crisp and clean.

His stomach dropped.

It shouldn't be that crystal clear.

Steps grew closer.

Turn off Turn off-

A cold hand brushed against the back of his neck, nails gliding against his skin. He froze. Those were the same hands as before-

No no no-

Squeezing his eyes shut, Will reached around the back and pulled the plug with a harsh jerk-

***

Once the noise stopped, and the room was plunged into darkness. The atmosphere lifted, no longer heavy, as if a thick blanket had been finally removed, allowing the burning heat to lessen. Whatever had been here left, for how long, Will wouldn't know. He shivered. Will slumped down against the TV stand, his hands flying to his face as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

What the fuck is going on? Couldn't it have been his visions…..right? Will knew the signs and had experienced them since he was ten years old. Here, he had control over his body, unlike all those other times he had them. They only happen when he was around people, and for the most part, his visions had been bizarre, intense, and yet dream-like, where the shapes, colors, and images he saw were but a mere concept. Reconstructed and molten in a way his mind could make sense of it.

These visions, in some way, would try and explain to him of events or people he met, would meet, and connect with. For days he would sit scratching his head or scribbling down all the possibilities of its meaning in an attempt to connect, well, something until it clicked into place.

But, they were never as real as this or the one he experienced in the tiny Italian restaurant. This was different and completely out of his radius of experience. As far as he knew, he was a fish without water in a desert on the hottest day of the year. Helpless. With no way to explain or prevent these from happening again.

And that terrified him.