[ TT ] While you and your friends are reminiscing about the past , you come to a shocking realization .

My stomach cramped and my ears teared uncontrollably. 
 “ Stop. I cant take it. My stomach hurts. ” I gasped as I clutched at my stomach and hunched forward on my chair. All around me, my friends laughed gleefully as well, each clutching their own stomach or wiping away tears from their face. 
 Nonetheless, between spouts of laughter, Alex continued. “ And then, the cop comes back holding the wallet, and says, ‘ I don ’ t ever want to see you again ’. Mo just looked at the cop and says, ‘ I work down the street ’. ” 
 Another bout of raucous laughter erupts between all of us and Mo, who was the focus of the story, raised his hands up, and having collected enough air in his lungs between bouts of laughter says, “ He saw me the next day. ” 
 This seemed to have triggered an almost nuclear meltdown of laughter. Steve laid himself down on the floor in a fetal position and Ben had stood up and staggered to the end of the basement in a feeble attempt to escape his own convulsions. 
 As the laughter subsided, I stood up and made my way to the stairs. “ Anybody want anything? ” 
 Almost simultaneously, all answered in the negative. I continued my way up the stairs and into the kitchen, closing the door behind me and muffling the smattering of laughter that was reaching its end. 
 I grabbed a plastic cup from the counter, opened the fridge and poured myself a nice chilling Coke. After replacing it, and closing the fridge, I felt a chill go down my spine. I became acutely aware of everything that surrounded me. With renewed interest, I looked around my kitchen and noticed how dirty and unkempt everything was. 
 “ I ’ ll clean up tomorrow. ” I shrugged to myself and reached for the door that leads down to the basement. Once again, I became acutely aware. This time, however, it was the silence. So paradoxically silent from just moments ago, it was deafening. A knot materialized in my throat as I opened the door and peered down the now dark and foreboding stairs. “ Guys? ” Their fucking with me, no doubt. 
 I boldly cross the threshold and flick the lights to the basement. A stale yellow light blinked repeatedly, with no discernible pattern, until it stabilized. More silence. I slowly descended the stairs. Each step, bringing me closer and closer to a horror that I could not ever bring myself to fathom. 
 There, in my basement, all my friends lay dead, exactly as I had left them. Ben hung from his neck at the far end of the basement, his arms limp by his sides. His intestines piled about a foot high before him. Steve was laying on the floor, his hands cramped before his face in unnatural positions. His eyes, empty sockets that once held orbs. Av was chained from the ceiling by his wrists, halved in two; bisected just below his rib cage. 
 Alex was sat on a chair, with no shirt and tied with his arms behind his back. His shoulders bent backwards, obviously dislocated and a dark shade of a purple and crimson mixture. “ Pleeeeaaassee. ” He wheezed. 
 So aghast from this last revelation, that my dear friend Alex was still alive and in such horrifying a condition, that my legs gave out from under me. I crashed onto my knees and it was all I could do to catch myself with my hands. Without a moment ’ s notice, my stomach emptied it ’ s contents and it splattered on the ground and rivulets of vomit streamed in various directions. 
 “ What is happening? ” I look around once more at the scene, incredulous that this could have happened in the few moments of my departure. “ What happened? ” 
 Alex lifted his head towards me. “ You… ” he wheezed once again. 
 “ What? I… ” my voice cracks from the stress as I try to comprehend what he means. “ I was gone a minute. ” I feel the room spin underneath me. I roll over and lay on my back and I chuckle at the absurdity of it all. I then giggle. Finally, with my mind fracturing under the weight of all that I had witnessed, I guffaw. 
 As my stomach cramped and my eyes teared uncontrollably, my friends joined in. Alex was going to tell us another story. 

