Everything was black. The blackness rustled and opened into a clouded night sky. Jake laid looking up when a strangely familiar face leaned over and took him by the hand and lifted him up. Jacob stumbled out of the box he was standing in and onto snowy ground. That man with a familiar face steadied him as he had trouble standing. Jacob looked around and found himself in a snowy field of sorts. Trees were planted here and there, the ground was not even. He felt terrible, like he hadn't gotten about for years. He suddenly felt extremely nauseous. He leaned over and gagged up terrible tasting fluids. The familiar face held him back up and put a coat around him. The man, still steadying Jacob, spoke to three others. He couldn't really make out any of the words. He saw the familiar face pointing at the long box. He guessed they were being instructed to deal with it in some fashion. Jacob really didn't care in his dazed and exhausted state. The familiar face turned to him.
"Alright, we gotta get goin'. My name's Thomas, by the way."
"Ok." Jacob looked him in the face and replied automatically. They walked towards a car sitting still with the engine running on a road in the field. Jacob wrapped his arms tightly around himself in the cold air as snow fell on him, softly but steadily. As Jacob sat down into the passenger seat he heard familiar music playing, music he knew well but that wasn't known well to most. Thomas drove off looking around cautiously. Jake sat back staring blankly out the windshield. It was then Jacob smelled something odd. He leaned his head over to learn it was himself. He really didn't care what was happening at the moment. Nothing felt real to him in his confused state.
"Sorry we got off so quickly...you probably got a lot of questions running through your head. We got a good drive if ya wanna talk." Thomas told Jacob in a somewhat nervous tone as he was still looking around himself.
"No, no...I'm...really tired. Is it cool if I just go to sleep for a bit?" Jacob replied with his mind still in a fog.
"Yeah! Sure...know yourself out." Thomas answered seeming to calm down a bit. Jake laid the seat back and fell into a dream nearly immediately.
He dreamt of walking down the street where he lived. It was a rainy night. He was following a dog that was wandering away. He called out to the german shepherd.
"Fritz! C'mere Fritz!" Fritz looked back with a playful look but kept going forward, but at a slower pace. Jake caught up to the dog and took hold of the collar. Fritz yielded to him happily. They began to walk back to Fritz's home. A distant sound of thunder made the dog shudder.
"It's alright, Fritzy, let's go." Jacob encouraged Fritz. They walked on. The rain didn't bother Jake, he liked a good storm, the lightning added to the good atmosphere. Fritz kept going along, he was more nervous than usual.
"Fritz is a good boy, yes he's a good boy." Jake reassured the dog as he stroked its back. They began to cross the road when there was a loud thunderclap preceded by a lightning flash by less than a second. Fritz started to whimper and panic and sat down, resisting Jacob's pull in his collar.
"C'mon, Fritzy, it's ok." Jake continued to pull. Fritz resisted only harder and whimpered louder.
"Fritz, you wuss, c'mon you're house is right there!" Jake rolled his eyes as the nervous dog dog resisted what was good for him. Fritz's whimper came to yelping, peaked with a bark.
"Everytime! You stupid animal, this is your home!" Jacob pointed out towards a house with one hand. Fritz tugged hard and loosed himself of Jake's other hand. Jake fell onto his backside. There was a flash of headlights, his surroundings spun, a white flash flooded his vision.
A bump in the road brought Jacob out of his sleep. He put the seat upright and looked out the window. They were in a parking lot. The car came to a stall and stopped. Thomas got out of the car and Jake followed suit. Jake stumbled and clutched onto the door for support as he remembered that he was having trouble moving and standing for some reason. Thomas came over to steady him again.
"Doin' alright?" Thomas asked.
"Good enough, I guess." Jake responded. They walked up a set of stairs and into an apartment. The walk brought Jake out of his daze a little and he Attempted to walk alone. He was successful, but slow. His senses then reminded him of the stench he carried for some reason, which he recoiled at.
"Bathroom's that door, if ya want" Thomas informed him.
"Right." Jacob answered as he went into it.
He looked into mirror to see someone who looked like a mess. The reflection had matted hair and an unkept beard. He was also wearing stained and wrinkled formal clothes. Jacob took to removing them quickly as he found out they carried most the stench.
"There's some clothes on the counter there for ya." Thomas's muffled voice came through the door as Jake looked over to see street clothes of the style he preferred. He didn't quite know what to make of everything, but it all felt like a dream anyway, so nothing seemed to matter. The warm water relaxed his stiff and sore body. Scrubbing himself down felt like a massage. He began to wake up as the moisture surrounded him and warmth brought vigor to his frame. Examining his frame, he found that it wasn't quite the same began stepped out of the shower and to the sink. He saw that was more physically fit, not that he was in bad shape before, but now his body was defined. He dried himself off and put the towel around his waist and began to marvel at things now. His face, he couldn't quite point out what was odd about it, besides that it needed a shave, so he did. Looking at his face again he saw his hair had grown out. He pulled it back and what he saw hit him hard. The face looking back at him was not only his own but also the face that belonged to Thomas.
Jacob swung open the door and looked at Thomas, who looked back, as he sat at the couch with a laptop, and a bag of fast food at the table in front of him. Jacob pointed at Thomas with his mouth agape and said
"......WHAT!?"
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