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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/KryptoXNooB on 2024-10-17 20:11:54+00:00.
Me and my friend Joseph have been best buddies for years. After a while we stopped counting and would just say 15 years to anyone who asked how long we’ve known each other. He was a new immigrant, shy, small and almost looked malnourished but I approached him nonetheless and quickly realized he wasn’t so different after all.
Over the years we slowly became family, it became the norm for him to rush into my house make a PB&J and rush back out mumbling something about how he forgot to pack lunch, of course his “lunch” was at the same time as my dinner since he got Night Shift at work but nonetheless I didn’t mind and even my girlfriend became used to it after the fifth or sixth time, they actually ended up becoming good friends and I still owe him for being my wingman and helping me meet her even after this whole ordeal but enough chitchat, I came here to write down everything in the hopes that it makes it more explainable maybe some of you can somehow explain the unexplained.
Since he started the night shift we’ve not had enough time to hang out so we decided to compromise and hold a weekly d&d campaign online between from twelve to two AM on every Friday, a mutual friend hosts and on this specific Friday, Joe short for Joseph couldn’t make it so he sent a message. From now on I will use quotes for our texts since that’s where most of this happened.
11:16 AM Joe - “Yo Eli I ended leaving last and my car won’t start, since all of my coworkers have left already imma wait on the security guard he should be here in like 15 so I’m gonna be late”
“That’s aright I’ll tell Mark”
Mark is our DM
11:45 Joe - “Security still not here, doubt I’ll make it in time sorry.”
Me - “Damn that sucks no need to apologize tho we’ll just delay it to tomorrow if everyone has time”
Joe - “ No no don’t do that, this is the perfect opportunity for Allison to hop in the campaign as like a side character or something, it’s about time you let your girlfriend play”
”Fine fine you’re right I’ll help her with the character sheet now” message failed to send - try again?
Weird but not out of the ordinary I simply clicked try again and when that failed I tried sending the same message to no avail, after a couple of attempts I decided to give up and try later.
12:15 AM Joe - “Hey man sorry to interrupt you guys but could one of you come pick me up? I would walk to the train station but not only is it snowing but I don’t think I’d even get there in time before the last train”
“Yeah I’ll be there, just send me the address I only have your old warehouse saved on here not the new one” message failed to send - try again?
This is when I started to really get confused, how come I could get his messages but he can’t get mine. I called him but my call went straight to voicemail, he didn’t even have a recording of himself telling to talk after the beep, after all I was one of his few friends and he practically never left a call unanswered or didn’t call back in less than an hour but this? This was out of the ordinary and it made me uneasy thinking of all the possibilities. His phone must’ve died I kept telling myself but either-way I put on some clothes and just sat on my couch leaving my friends DND campaign and awaiting his next message.
12:16 AM Joe - “Yoooo? Why won’t you pick up? Nobody else is answering me either, that’s what I get for taking up the Night Shift but hey at-least the forklifts are now fully charged so I’m just gonna head inside and kill some time by cleaning the shelves and who knows maybe I’ll even accidentally trip the alarm and wake that security guards ass up”
At this point I was panicking, thoughts rushing through my head, none of which made the slightest bit of sense, I swear it felt like putting on my clothes and typing that message to him took way longer than a minute and yet I received the message 12:16 , I had to do something so I called his dad who answered grumbling and clearly on the edge of sleep, I didn’t want to worry him so I told him that Joe’s phone was dead and that he asked me to pick him up but I didn’t know where he worked. Fortunately his dad knew the address and gave it to me, god I was so panicked and shaken that I nearly let the address slip out of my mind before I even started the car, thoughts were rushing in and out of my brain and I felt scattered. I hadn’t even noticed the twenty something messages sent by him in the past 5 minutes.
12:18 AM Joe - “ dude this warehouse is terrifying without all the whirring and grinding of the machinery, I would put on my headphones but I’m scared I’m gonna miss the guard getting in and in turn miss my ride, the alarm didn’t trip after all so he must still be on his way to turn on the security system. “
12:18 AM Joe - “ I just tried calling everyone on my contact list and literally no one answered, my service is fine and I still have minutes, oddly enough you seem to be the only person my messages get through to and you’re probably just in a drunk stupor. Damn it Eli pick up the phone or else I’m going to keep spamming”
12:18 AM Joe - “hey man, I’m tripping or something, maybe it’s just sleep deprivation? Honestly I’ve been in here for hours past my shift now and I was already sleep deprived going into the shift, at least the sun should come up soon and the day shift can let me out”
12:18 AM Joe - “I can’t get out, the doors are locked, IM LOCKED IN. Fuck it I’m breaking a window, what type of dumbass security locks the doors and doesn’t turn on the alarm system. PS: is the sun up for you yet?”
12:18 AM Joe - “windows won’t break but I think my hand did, I really want to sleep but I can’t seem to even though the sleep deprivation is getting bad like real bad like I keep hallucinating figures in my peripheral but every time I look at them they duck and weave out of my vision in the blink of an eye, sometimes I swear that they get closer if they stay in the corner of my eye for long enough.”
12:18 AM Joe - “the figures are not figures, it’s Allison. I think she’s smiling at me.”
12:18 AM Joe - “Have you ever thought about how you guys got together? I do. Almost everyday I ask myself why in the hell I let you have her, I clearly hit it off with her, we had a lot in common and she was having a great time with me when I and only I approached her. YOU weren’t man enough to talk to her. Hell you were still mourning your shitty toxic relationship with your Highschool sweetheart and I got to pay for it. I’ll be honest. It’s also my bad for not telling you just how much I loved talking to her but what was I supposed to do when you wouldn’t shut the hell up about your ex. I thought I’d tell you this because it’s been days and clearly no one is coming for me. I’ve been keeping Allison away by looking at her every time she tries to approach me in my peripheral but I’ve decided to let her get close now. I can tell it’s not really her but it’s as close as I’ll ever get to her. Tell her I said hi.”
I didn’t read these messages at the time, I was too busy keeping my eyes on the dark and icy road. I slammed my foot on the gas when I got to the highway and I was there in 15 minutes, the digital clock in my car reading 12:33 AM. Just like he said his car was the only one in the parking lot, oddly enough it was snowed in by now so either a blizzard hit this lone parking space or the car’s been here longer than a week, I walked up to the warehouse and clicked the big red emergency call button and explained my situation to the guard on the other line who was already inside the building but he got outside the warmth and comfort of the break room to assure me that we would know if someone was inside since the alarm would be tripped by any movement on the warehouse floor.
I think the guard saw my fear and worry, he looked at me with pity and let me inside , I checked every corner, nook and cranny to no avail and on my way back to the car is when I did read the messages. I did what any sensible person would do and I called the cops who unlike the guard were of no use whatsoever, they kept telling me that his messages were probably some weird prank or a way for him to avoid our “childish games” they kept telling me that since his messages were proof that he was alive they wouldn’t even be able yo legally do a welfare check and so I decided to do it myself and drove over to his apartment.
At first I was knocking then forcefully pulling and pushing with all my might and before I knew it I was slamming my full body weight into his apartment door, it wouldn’t give. His neighbors came out and then gentleman was yelling at me, asking if I knew what time it is but when his wife came out she looked at me with pity, I didn’t understand why at first but I guess I was too focused on imagining Joe opening the door and telling me this was all some sick joke to notice my tears running down my cheeks. The lady asked me what was wrong and I simply said that I was worried for my friend, she asked if I checked under the doormat and I hadn’t, so I did and low and behold there was his key. I knew the second the door opened that I was too late, the stench hit me before I’d even noticed the shadow of his legs dangling on the wall next to the turned on tv.
The cops told me he must’ve been dead for at least two days and I was shattered, I told Allison about his death and she took it worse than me, way worse. They were always such good friends, I guess some part of both of them at some point wished that the…
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1g606ya/peripheral/