Dome

by Bryan Young

  Tony laughed, “True! But don’t hate on the fun, my guy! We’ll be a few minutes late, but we’re close by.”

  “Don’t you guys always leave early?” Brodie interjected. “How are y'all late all the time? Y’all needa practice punctuality.” Tye rolled his eyes and hung up, reminding the twins to come to the basketball courts.

  “So, what’s the plan for today?” Brodie asked as he and Tye sat on the courts, watching others who had come to the school on a Saturday to use the track and courts.

  “Well, I thought we’d do something different,” Tye said sheepishly.

  “Different? Different how?”

  “Y’know man... Different.”

  “Okay, but... Different how?”

  “Like, I dunno man... I was thinking maybe... Pshhh. Something like...” He rubbed the back of his neck and turned away as his voice dropped to a mumble, “Forgotten Hills different?”

  Brodie’s scooted back and quickly stood up. With fear and confusion in his voice he yelled, “What?!”

  The few people on the campus stopped and stared at the spectacle. With a quick look around, Brodie took a deep breath to calm himself and sat back down. “You want us to go to a place we could get killed at? What are you on, Tye? Is it crack? Is that crack smoke I smell on you?”

  Tye rolled his eyes and said, “I hear your concerns and I respect them. I really do! But man, think of the adventure an—”

  “Hold up, hold up. Adventure? Adventure?!” Brodie’s voice rose higher and higher with every word as he walked around, pulling at his hair as he tried to think of what to say. “Man. Death isn’t an adventure! We have families, futures, and lives to live. And you wanna risk that on some dumb ‘adventure’?”

  “Yup,” Tye responded matter-of-factly.

  Brodie looked Tye up and down, shook his head, and then rubbed his hand on his chin thoughtfully and asked in a blasé tone, “Is this about a girl?”

  “Whaaaaaaat? Nah man! No way!”

  “Gemma Abbasi?”

  “I meeeeaan...”

  “She gonna be there or did you just promise her pics of that hill?”

  “Just pics,” Tye admitted. “Thought we could get in, take a couple snaps to prove we were there, and then bounce.”

  Taking a minute to think about the proposition, Brodie stated, “This is a terrible idea. But... You did help me get with Janice Clements last year so I guess I owe you one. Damn it... Fine. As long as we don’t stay there for too long.”

  “My man!” Tye fistbumped Brodie and just as he was about to call Nathan and Tony, he noticed two figures walking towards them. A pair of twins with unkempt black hair, baggy hoodies, and sandals approached them. The only major thing separating the two was that one was slightly taller and thinner with glasses and the other had slightly longer hair, freckles, and opted for the cardinal sin of socks with sandals.

  “Wassup my dudes!” Tony yelled across the blacktop.

  “Hey, weren’t you supposed to call us? And why are y’all so late? I know it only took y’all all of three seconds to put on those ugly ass outfits!” Brodie said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

  “Yeah, we were. But I may have gotten just a tiny bit stoned on the way here and kinda... forgot.” Nathan admitted, adjusting his glasses.

  Tye looked at the twins in disappointment and stood up. “You guys got high on the way? Couldn’t you at least wait until we were out and about or until you weren’t driving?”

  “Yeah!” Brodie interjected. “Why didn’t you just wait until you got here so we could all smoke together?”

  “Tye doesn’t smoke!” Nathan shot back. “So we figured if we’re not gonna be doing it together anyway, we might as well just start by ourselves.”

  Tye and Brodie looked at each other, turned back at the twins, and then simultaneously said “Fiends!”, mocking their obsession with marijuana.

  While the twins and Brodie began to discuss the day’s plans, Tye went to get his clothes on from his backpack and text Jax.

  Tye: Yo, Jax. The twins are here

  Jax: Cool. How long till you guys get here?

  Tye: Like... 5–10 mins. Just wait outside for us

  Jax: Aight

  From across the court, Tye could hear Tony already yelling at Brodie. “You want to go where?! Bro! Do you even know why it’s called the Forgotten Hills?!”

  “Why’s that?” Brodie rasked rolling his eyes.

  “My dad told me it used to be a super popular spot until the first set of kids went missing. Another group went to see if they could find them and they disappeared too. Around the same time, stories about weird lights and unmarked cars driving in started to pop up. From then on, the place has been abandoned. Some people pretend it doesn’t exist all together. No one even know what the spot looks like anymore. Hence it being forgotten. And you want to mess around there?”

  “Relax, relax. We’ll be in and out in no time. Look, man. This is the best opportunity for a real-ass adventure, right?” Brodie responded calmly.

  “I’m just saying, man! Who knows what’s going on down there?! Demons?! Skinwalkers?! Tweakers?! Aliens?! The freaking works, man!”

  Tye walked over to the commotion. “Not to interrupt, but Tony? Do you wanna quit being a dumbass and have a logical conversation? Some kids went missing. No one said anything about demon-alien-tweaker-skinwalkers.”

  “You never know,” Tony said softly, yet with conviction.

  Tye sighed and nodded before saying, “Look, I know. It’s crazy, but to be honest? It’s not like we were gonna do anything else all that interesting today so... Fuck it. Ya know?”

  Nathan looked at Tony with an eyebrow raised but nodded in agreement, giving in to the peer pressure. Despite their still-existent trepidation, they agreed to make the visit to the Forgotten Hills.

  Tye smiled slyly, “Knew you guys would see it my way. Aight, it’s settled then. We out to the Forgotten Hills! But first we gotta pick up Jax, who’s expecting us in like... five minutes.”

  The four boys loaded into Nathan’s car, with Brodie taking the driver’s seat as none of the other three trusted Nathan to drive in his state.

  “So what is it” Tony asked quizzically, leaning towards his friend from the back seat.

  “What is what?” Tye responded, feigning ignorance.

  Brodie shouted back at the two, guessing where the conversation was headed, “Issa girl!”

  “Oh dude! That makes so much sense! Gemma Abbasi?” Tony questioned, reclining into his seat.

  “Why you all up in my business? Maybe I just like hills and cool places we haven’t been to yet?” Tye seethed, looking down embarrassed at the floor and refusing to make eye contact with Tony.

  “Aye bro! No shame in doing weird shit to try and impress a girl. We’ve all been there, little homie!” Brodie snickered from the front. “Worst comes to worst? We all die. She comes to your funeral, looking all fine in her Sunday best. You come back as a ghost. She’s saying, ‘Oh Tye, why’d you have to go and die?!’ And y’all get it on, Paranormal Blacktivity style.”

  Tye rolled his eyes at Brodie’s scenario. “I must’ve missed the part of the movie where people are out there gettin’ jiggy with ghosts.” Looking out the window and seeing the familiar driveway, he continued, “By the way, we’re about to come up on Jax’s house, so chill with the strange ghost stories...”

  As they drove up in front of Jax’s house, they spotted the familiar slim tall figure with teased dark brown hair and freckles leaning against a fence in a button-down plaid shirt and crisp jeans yelling into his phone. He was nearly pulling out his own hair at what seemed to be a very tense exchange. Seeing his friends, he quickly waived and said, I’ve gotta go! I love you!” as he walked up to the car.

  Despite not being on speaker, the boys could still hear the voice on the other end yelling, “WE ARE NOT DONE WITH THIS CONVERSATION!” Jax pushed the end-call button and loaded into the back with Tye and Tony.

  As
Jax slid his phone into his pocket, Tye began grilling him about the conversation. “So, broski? Ole girl is giving you shit again, huh?”

  “Yup,” Jax replied softly, blowing air from his nose in frustration. “I swear, man. She gets mad over the smallest things.”

  “What’d you do?” Tye asked. “Did you get drunk and throw up on her mom’s carpet for the second time? Or did you get caught with two girls grinding on you at a party again?”

  “None of that!” Jax declared, waving his hands in the air. “I was at this party and I guess... I guess I got pretty drunk and started talking to some other girls, right?”

  “Uh-huh,” Tony chimed in.

  “No, man! It wasn’t like that! I literally just said hi and we talked about school, music, and Margaret. I guess some of her friends were also at the party and kinda Snapchatted us talking and sent it to her so... I think I’m in trouble.”

  “Wait. Dude... You were at a party without your girlfriend? Ah shit. You’re a fuck-up!” Brodie stifled a laugh.

  “She didn’t know about the party and I didn’t want her to worry about me, so I didn’t tell her.”

  Tye stared at his friend for a moment, shook his head, and said with a chuckle, “Bro is right, man. You’re a fuck-up. You probably wouldn’t be in trouble if you didn’t do dumb stuff like that. Mordecai never did stuff like that to her. You got some living up to do, bro.”

  Jax shrugged. “We’re just going through a rough patch. I’m sure we’ll be fine. And hey, uh. Do you guys mind if we take my car?”

  “Uh, sure,” Nathan responded. “We’ll just leave my car out front.”

  “Why do you want to take your car?” Tye asked. “Didn’t know you liked being the chauffeur.”

  “I’m just more comfortable in my own car. Lack of smell,” Jax replied with a smile.

  The boys loaded into Jax’s car and continued to catch up and joke around as he drove to a local fast-food joint.

  After pulling through the drive-thru and getting their food, they settled at a spot to eat. Tye summarized the group’s plans for the day, “So. Everything is settled, right? We finish eating, go to the movies, hang out for a bit till it gets dark, and then we head to Forgotten Hills.”

  “Sounds good to me!” Brodie mumbled through the nine fries in his mouth.

  “Hold up. Forgotten Hills? Who said anything about that?” Jax objected, filling Tye with an irritating sense of déjà vu.

  Nathan, who was just coming down from his high, ignored Jax’s obvious concerns and asked, “So what’s even the plan for getting in? Isn’t the area blocked off?”

  With a smirk that made it evident that the gears in his head had been turning to conjure up a solid plan, Tye laid out his strategy to the group, repeating what the girls had told him and where they could enter the park without getting caught.

  “Damn. This might actually be crazy enough to work,” Brodie gushed. “We’re gonna do this. High fives for being badasses?”

  In collective jubilance, the boys cheered and high-fived each other, celebrating what they deemed to be a true adventure for the ages.

  Hooting and mentally preparing themselves for the challenge ahead, they drove off to face down the Hills of secrets.

  Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

  After their movie, as the five boys drove towards the mysterious hills, Tye sat back and stared out the window at the night sky, brooding over the adventure. He couldn’t stop thinking about what exactly was going on with the hills. There seemed to be more to the story of the missing kids, and his mind couldn’t help but contemplate the infinite possibilities of what they might encounter.

  Noticing this, Brodie gazed at his friend with a concerned expression. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he said, “Yo, Tye. You’re the one that wanted to come here, right? You’re not getting cold feet, are you? We could still turn the car around and hit up a party or something if that’s more your speed.”

  Tye shrugged. “I don’t know, man. Don’t get me wrong. I still want to do this, but I just... I feel like there’s something about this place. I can’t put my finger on it. I’m just getting weird vibes. But probably not too weird when you’re dealing with a place where kids went missing though, right?”

  “Is it weird that I’m getting those vibes too?” Jax added. “Considering I found this out last minute and didn’t really give you my take on it, I feel like I should say I think this is really dumb. But... We’ve been through some shit together and we’ve always made it through. Hopefully this is just another crazy story we can tell our kids.”

  “Aww,” Tony cooed. “That’s a positive way to spin it, buddy. We got this!”

  “Hah. Yeah, I guess we do,” Tye said softly. “Nathan, how are you feeling?”

  Nathan thought for a moment before replying, “Like we’re gonna be horribly torn limb from limb by some monstrosity from hell. What about you, Brodie?”

  “I was trippin’ over it before but honestly? Now? Man. I feel like we’re chillin’,” Brodie declared. “I been thinkin’ about it, right? And bro.. I don’t even believe in monsters or demons. Plus we’re five dudes! On top of that, two of us are tall black dudes! You really think some regular dude is gonna come up in here and start messin’ with us? Hell nah. We good.”

  Tony agreed, “And hey. Even if someone did want to kill us? It’s not like we all gotta be the fastest ones out of there. We just gotta be faster than Nathan!”

  The boys all laughed with newfound confidence and began looking forward to the challenge that lay ahead of them.

  After roughly half an hour of driving, they slowly pulled into the pitch-black parking lot of Buck Hallows Farm. They shuffled out of Jax’s car and took in the cold night air.

  First to hit the gravel, Tye yawned and stretched as Brodie ran to a nearby bush to pee. “Well. Guess we’re gonna do this. Am I the only one taking anything in my backpack or?”

  “Depends,” Jax said with a smile.

  “Depends on what?”

  “Depends on if you want to bring her along...”

  “Her who?”

  “Jax. Stop the annoying bullcrap and tell us straight,” Brodie yelled from where he was urinating on the side.

  “Man... You ruined my whole reveal. Fine. Whatever.” Jax opened his trunk and took out a small case with a punch-in code. He proceeded to type in the code and opened the case to reveal a small firearm. “I was wondering if you wanted to bring my gun along,” he said, dejected at his grand reveal being ruined.

  “Aye! You strapped?!” Brodie rushed over, zipping up his pants. “Bruh. We gotta bring that shit. You never know what’s gonna go down.”

  “Weren’t you the one saying nothing was gonna happen?” Tye asked Brodie critically. “Look, man. I just don’t know if we need a gun. I feel like that just invites more trouble than is worth.”

  Nathan walked over and inspected the gun. “Here’s what I think. Is there harm in bringing it? Probably not. But considering this is a place where kids went missing and where private security does rounds every day, it might behoove us to have some sort of protection. If we really expect to run into um... something... I’m not sure if it’s smart to risk going in without something given the option.”

  Tye looked around at his friends, who all seemed to agree with the idea. He sighed, “Fine. But I’m not carrying it in my backpack. On the off chance that we get caught by security and they search my shit, I’m not going to jail for your dumbass idea.”

  “So who’s gonna take it then?” Jax asked.

  Tye looked around at the options and then turned to Jax. “Well, since it’s your gun and your perm… Wait. Do you even have a permit? Damn it, Jax! That’s not your gun is it?”

  Jax laughed nervously. “I just turned 18 and it’s a whole process to get a permit. So I asked Davis if I could keep one of his in my car until I could get one legally!”

  “Christ man! We could get into serious trouble if a cop found that. Just... keep it hidden or som
ething, alright?”

  Jax obliged and tucked the gun into his jeans, concealing it with his shirt.

  “So, where do we go?” Nathan asked the group.

  Tye pointed in the general direction of the trailhead. “There,” he said, and the boys stared into the darkness. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and quickly input some coordinates into the GPS. Confidently, Tye began to walk eagerly into the darkness using his phone as a flashlight. The other boys looked at each other, shrugged, and then followed behind their friend also turning on their flashlight apps.

  As the distance grew between the boys and the safety of their car, so did the unease and uncertainty. The conversation slowly died down with each step they took down the dark path. After nearly an hour of walking in near silence, the only noises were the ones made by their feet as they hit the dirt and gravel. Tony tried to make a joke but it didn’t elicit as much as a chuckle from the other boys.

  Tye in particular found the quiet the most disturbing. To break the deafening silence, he turned to his friends, “Hey, guys. Notice anything weird about this trail?”

  “Like what?” Nathan asked, trailing behind the others.

  “Like the fact that we haven’t heard any animal calls in the dead of night or that we’ve barely seen any bugs. Flies? Ants? Spiders? Nothing. That’s not normal, right?”

  Nathan stopped to contemplate this fact. He looked around to confirm Tye’s observation and then let out a scream that made the other boys cover their ears and grimace.

  “What the hell are you doing?!” Brodie snapped after Nathan’s outburst. “We’re literally right next to you! Are you tryna bust our eardrums? I swear if we weren’t homies, I’d slap the shit out you!”

  Nathan laughed at Brodie’s anger and said, “But did you guys hear what happened after I screamed?”

  “I’m pretty sure I heard something rupture in my skull but other than that, nothing,” Tye said, rubbing his temple.

  “Exactly!” Nathan said, waving his arms. “Nothing! Not a single animal scurrying away from a random loud noise in the woods? We’re surrounded by the woods and not a single animal responded? Not even a bird flapping away?”