Every human being is born with a flaw. It’s something that you can’t hide, no matter how hard you try. It’s much less a physical thing and more like a trait in your head. Some people think it’s something that you can outgrow, but it will always stick around. People can try their best to ignore, but it’s there. It shows its fangs at your highest and drags you down to your lowest. No one has found a way to get rid of it. Maybe if they did, a perfect human could exist. But then again, who needs perfection?
“Come on, Tao. Get off the computer already–it’s my turn,” Oscar said, leaning against the desk with all the exasperation of someone denied their favorite toy. Tao didn’t even look at him, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
“Nope. You had an extra fifteen minutes yesterday. Nice try, though. Did you think I forgot?” His tone was sharp, but his lips twitched in a smirk.
Oscar groaned dramatically, flopping onto the chair beside him. “You’re such a weirdo. Who even keeps track of stuff like that?” He leaned in closer, peering over Tao’s shoulder until his oversized nose nearly brushed the screen.
“Dude, back up! Your nose is fogging up the monitor,” Tao snapped, shoving him away with an elbow. A loud shush erupted from the librarian’s desk. Luckily, she stayed at her seat while Oscar apologized. Tao offered a quick nod before resuming his frantic scrolling. His eyes darted across headlines as he searched for something he’d heard on TV that morning.
After a few tense moments, Tao let out a triumphant yell, nearly falling out of his chair in excitement. “Here it is, Os! Look–‘High school girl, Sarah Wyles, goes missing after a seemingly normal day.’ I told you she went to our school.”
Oscar squinted at the screen. “Wait a second…I think I recognize her. Isn’t that Jacob’s ex?”
“Jacob Mayland? I thought he didn’t even go to this school anymore,” Tao said, eyebrows furrowing.
“Nah, he flunked a grade. Had to repeat eleventh.”
“Seriously? What a loser,” Tao said with a short laugh. “Man, hopefully he doesn’t screw up again, I don’t want to see him next year. I heard he’s a total psycho.”
As Tao leaned back in his chair, a soft chime interrupted them. A notification popped up on the screen: an email from an unknown sender. No subject line. Just a single link in the body.
“What the…?” Tao muttered, staring at the screen.
Oscar perked up. “Oh, dude, Click it.”
Tao hesitated, his finger hovering over the mouse. “Are you stupid? This screams virus. I’m not trying to get in trouble with the school again.”
“Come on, you’re curious. Admit it.” Oscar grinned, leaning back with the confidence of someone who’d never faced the consequences of his bad ideas.
“Fine, but it’s as much your fault as it is mine.” Tao said, mostly to shut him up. He clicked the link, and the screen went black for a second before a bizarre website loaded.
The page was drenched in strange imagery: in the center, a hand-drawn angel stood triumphantly on a fiery sun, holding a triangular object aloft as if presenting it to Earth. Above it, a blocky text read, The Armageddon Time Ark
“What is this bullshit?” Oscar whispered, leaning in closer again.
“You’re the one who said to click it!” Tao shot back, his voice sharp but shaky.
As Tao scrolled, the page seemed filled with endless text, the scrollbar barely budging no matter how far he went. He sighed and decided to skim the first few paragraphs.
“In The beginning, Man had contact with Perfect Positive Knowledge–” Tao read aloud, his voice slowing as the words grew more convoluted. “For Positive Life and Heaven on Earth - Through his Perfect Operation and The Holy Measures of The Great Creator, Yanseh. Man was materialized here in Perfect Physical Bodies but To Imperfect Spirit. Thus, Man had no access to Perfect Knowledge and learned to live Positively - without wars, sickness, disease, pollution, negative- energy dependence, a social-communist society of bond-slaves and a debt/tax-based economy. He alone had the Perfect Knowledge and bought his own moral agency. Now he must obey the Universal Law under the Positive Right. He must make the Others Perfect, so that Our Lord can accept us in his Perfect Home.” Tao stopped, staring at the screen.
“What is this even saying?” he muttered under his breath.
“Get off this garbage.” Oscar didn’t wait for a reply. He reached over, grabbed the mouse, and closed the window with a click. For good measure,he shut the computer off entirely.
“Dude!” Tao protested, glaring at him. “What if there was more–”
“What if there was more of what?” Oscar erupted. “It’s like you said. There could very well be a virus on this website; somebody could be looking at us through the camera,” he said as he pointed to the camera mounted on the computer monitor. “Let’s go before the librarian kicks us out.”
For a moment, Tao stared at the black screen, his chest tight with a feeling he couldn’t explain. The imagery lingered in his mind: the angle, the sun, the triangle. The Armageddon Time Ark?
“Yeah,” Tao said finally, standing up. “Let’s go.”
Oscar and Tao left the school about thirty minutes before closing. They had originally stayed after school to use the school’s computer to play video games, but Oscar’s pressure cut it short.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Hey, wanna come over? We can try booting up my old GameCube,” Tao said as the boys walked down the side of the street. They lived in a very small town where everybody knew each other.
“Hm…I''ll stop by for a bit. My mom gets out early today so I want to spend time with her,” Oscar replied.
“Nice, let’s g-” Tao couldn’t finish as he was suddenly interrupted by a loud shrill.
“Did you hear that?” Oscar said, his eyes bright with excitement as he glanced towards the property the noise erupted from.
“Nah. I didn’t hear anything,” Tao lied, keeping his eyes forward. His pulse pounded, he didn’t want to get near that property. If he told the truth, he knows Oscar would jump at the opportunity to get into trouble.
“Liar. That sound was as clear as day,” Oscar didn’t buy it for a second.
Tao opened his mouth to argue, but the infamous sight of the Garrison property made him shut up. The house was barely visible through looming trees and overgrown hedges. Every kid in Saline had heard the stories as it was the only interesting thing this town had to offer. The legend went like this: Decades ago, a family had bought an ample piece of land where one singular house was built. This home contained Mark Garrison, his wife, Jess Garrison, and their two kids. For a while, everything was completely normal, and they merged well with the small town of Saline. But when Jess died, everything changed. To this day, nobody knows what Jess Garrison died of because Mark took it upon himself to bury her on his property. After this, Mark became very reclusive, and began pushing away everyone in Saline. He built a towering wood fence around the entirety of his property that now loomed over Tao and Oscar. No one has seen or heard from them in forty years–some say Mark lost his mind and did something terrible to his kids; others claim the whole family vanished one night. Thus, the town of Saline just kind of forgot about them.
“Come on, let’s keep going. It’ll get dark soon,” Tao pleaded, tugging on Oscar''s sleeve.
Oscar ignored him, his gaze fixated on the property. Without a word, he took a step forward, parting the overgrown weeds as he made his way toward the fence.
“Hey!....Oscar!” Tao shouted, attempting to pull back Oscar. But Oscar was gone, trying to get closer to a break in the old wooden fence.
“Fuck…” Tao groaned, tightening his backpack straps before reluctantly following Oscar.
By the time Tao caught up, Oscar was crouched over the break in the fence, wide enough to peer through. He glanced back with a crooked grin, unfettered.
“Come take a look at this, Tao,” he said.
“Seriously?” Tao hissed, placing a hand on the fence, attempting to keep his balance. Slowly, he leaned forward and placed his eye to the gap in the fence.
The sun was still out, but with the amount of trees that covered the property, it seemed like night inside. Just then, a figure came into view. Then another, and finally Tao could see a third figure spread out on the floor. One of the standing figures, held an object in their hand. It was hard to see, but it had a circular shape with sharp edges. A liquid was dripping off those edges. The other standing figures had their hands on their chest, and they were speaking. It was hard to hear because the boys were pretty far away from where the actual house was. The sound reminded him of a pastor giving a sermon at church. Their cadence was powerful and it reverberated in the boys’ ears. Suddenly, the figure on the floor began to violently shake as a beam of green light enveloped Tao’s eyes.
“Ah, fuck!” Tao’s body reflectedly shot back as his fall was cushioned by the overgrown weeds.
“What was that?” Oscar excitedly asked as he put his eye back on the gap. However, there was nobody there anymore. The sole house remained in his view as if it were taunting him. Maybe something finally clicked inside Oscar''s head.
“Come on, let’s go,” Oscar uncharacteristically said, as he pulled Tao off his feet.
The walk back to Tao’s house felt eternal, but a little before darkness, the boys arrived still shaken from what just happened. The house was adorned with Christmas lights all throughout the brick exterior where one might wonder if the house was a beacon for extraterrestrials. One car was parked on the uneven driveway– it belonged to Lucy, Tao’s older sister.
“Is your mom working overtime today?” Oscar asked while plucking thorns off his shoes.
“Hm…I guess. Usually my mom and Lucy are home at the same time,” Tao responded, scratching his head.
The faint sound of television echoed throughout the house as they stepped inside. It was some random reality show that only Lucy would be interested in watching. She was sprawled on the couch, eyes glued to the television screen as she didn’t pay any mind to the boys’ arrival.
“Sup, Lucy. Oscar’s going to chill here for a bit,” Tao said, dropping his backpack on the floor.
Lucy half-mindedly nodded, entranced in the show. Irritated, Tao snatched the television remote from Lucy’s grasp and switched to a random channel.
“Hey. Change it back,” Lucy finally spoke, her tone low.
“Oh, so now you’re paying attention? Did you even hear what I said?” Tao shot back, glaring at her. Oscar simply stood near the entrance of the house, fidgeting with his sleeves.
“Yes, I did. Welcome home. Feel better now?” Lucy replied, her tone dripping in sarcasm. “Now give me the remote back.”
“Ok, jerk. Where ''s om?” Tao snarked, his hand tightly wrapped around the remote.
“Working late. The sheriff called her in,” Lucy said, eyeing the remote control.
Before Tao could respond, a familiar voice cut through their argument. “–the disappearance of local high school student Sarah Lyles continues to baffle investigators,” said the anchor on the TV. Tao glanced up at the television screen where a blonde woman in a navy blazer delivered the news.
“Sarah Lyles, age 17, was last seen leaving Saline High School three days ago. Friends describe her as bright and outgoing, with no history of running away.” The screen shifted to a grainy photo of Sarah, her eyes wide with excitement.
“Authorities say Sarah disappeared sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 after school. Her backpack was discovered yesterday near the edge of Eltor’s Creek, but no other clues have been found.” The anchor paused, pressing a hand to her earpiece as muffled whispers erupted offscreen.
“Breaking news,” she continued, her tone with urgency. “The Saline Police Department has just discovered new evidence implicating Jacob Mayland, age 18, as a possible suspect involved in Sarah Lyles’s disappearance. Investigators reportedly found a letter in Mayland’s backpack. Authorities have warned that the contents of this letter could be disturbing to some viewers.”
Tao felt a chill run down his spine as the broadcast muttered those words. Then, the screen flashed with a scan of the handwritten note. The anchor’s voice recited the words, but it felt more like a confession spilling out from the screen itself.
“Sarah. How dare you lie to me, Sarah? Do you love staying silent, Sarah? Do you think I like when things turn violent? Do you think I like listening to my fists crash like rocks? Do you think I like seeing you in a mess? Why are you so silent, Sarah? Why are you such a liar, Sarah? Do you think I wanted to do this, Sarah? Why won’t you say something, Sarah? Oh, I see now, Sarah. You can’t say anything. Not anymore. I’m sorry.”