Will It?

Part the Sixth

Digging for the Truth
The walk from The Ship to Charlie's flat was only a fifteen minute walk. But now the progress among the familiar route felt longer, stretched out wafer thin by the weight of his thoughts. His surroundings blurred into a haze of streetlights, the roar of passing cars, the world moving in a different reality to his own, which now felt fractured.  He locked the door behind him. Hung the keys on their usual hook. Then let out a long slow breath. Okay. Think. Something had just happened. Something he had no explanation for. Kim had been there. He knew Kim had been there, he'd had a conversation with him. But in the time that Charlie was in the toilet he had vanished, leaving no trace behind him. Charlie needed answers.

Sitting at his desk Charlie opens up his laptop, opened up a browser and started typing. If Kim had really pulled the stunt of faking his own death there had to be some record of it. An article. A blog post. Something. The search results came back. There it was. An obituary. He clicked the link and an old newspaper article filled the screen.

Local Artist Kim Sullivan Presumed Dead

Dated twelve years ago it described how Kim, a rising talent in the art scene, had disappeared under 'mysterious circumstances'. His sudden disappearance, quickly followed by a death notice that had supposedly come from a close friend, had convinced many that he had, in fact, died. There was a deal of speculation. Some thought suicide. Others whispered about mental illness. No body had ever been found. Scrolling down Charlie found himself reading the comments in an old forum discussion. There was debate that the whole thing was an elaborate hoax. Some thought it was a publicity stunt. Others were of the opinion that Kim simply wanted to escape the stresses of his art career. Charlie sat staring at the screen. Everything was logical with the version that Kim had faked his death. Gone underground for a while. Then, apparently, had made a comeback. And yet. Why had no one in the pub seen him? He scrolled through more of there results seeking any recent news that indicated a comeback. Nothing. Not a single mention. Not one interview. No social media presence whatever. It was as if Kim had simply ceased to exist, that he had not come back at all.

It was quite possible that Barry had been distracted, and that the young couple had not been paying attention. But that didn't account for there being no sign of Kim in the street. Charlie decided to message his old school friend Mark
Charlie: Hey, weird question—do you remember Kim Sullivan? The guy who pulled all those pranks in school?
Mark replied almost instantly.  
Mark: Yeah, of course. Why?
Charlie hesitated before responding.  
Charlie: I ran into him tonight. He says he faked his death years ago as some kind of stunt.  
The typing bubble appeared. Then stopped.  
A full minute passed before Mark finally replied.  
Mark: Mate… Kim’s dead. Has been for years.  
A cold chill crept over Charlie’s skin.  
Charlie: No. He’s not. I saw him. I talked to him. He was real.
Another long pause.  
Mark: I don’t know what to tell you, man. But we went to his memorial. You were there.
A numb feeling crept over Charlie.

He had been at Kim's memorial. No. That wasn't right. That is not how Charlie remembered it. Yes. He had heard about Kim's death, but he hadn't gone to any memorial. Had he? Somehow his memory suddenly felt fallible, sort of blurred around the edges. He had been feeling somewhat uneasy since the beginning, this just made it that much worse. He was struggling, wondering if his mind was filling in gaps in a fractured reality. Or worse - that something out of the past was following him. His phone buzzed again
Mark: Are you okay?
A question that Charlie had no idea how to answer.

Authors Note
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