“It’s fucking hot in here. Why is it so hot in here? And bright. Someone close the god damn curtains.”

“Can’t.”



Theo tries squinting so as to cut down on the amount of bright light currently burning through his retinas. He can make out a figure leaning up against what appears to be a bar, he can’t make the figure out, and he recognizes the voice but can’t place it.


“And you can’t turn the lights out either.”


That voice again. Theo knows that voice, he heard it not too long ago, in a past life perhaps. The voice is somewhat scratchy, as if the person behind it was a lifelong smoker. The silhouette is that of a thin man, with a buzz cut, approximately 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall. The man is holding a cigarette in his right hand and leaning up against a wooden structure that resembles a bar.


“Why can’t we turn out the lights?”

“Well, you can do it but they will just turn back on. That’s how things run here.”

“Where is here?”

“You know.”


Theo grabs at the collar of his shirt and loosens his tie at the neck, as he examines his shirt further he notices a red swath going down the left side of his shirt, looking at it further he determines the red to be blood at which point he starts to remember what happened before ending up where he is now, wherever that is.


“Hey yo Tay-Oh, come on over here, have a drink with me.”


And there it is. That voice. In retrospect it took Theo longer than it should have. While Luca Arzegotti was probably the member of the Black Circle that Theo had spent the least amount of his time with, he still should have recognized his voice sooner.



“Luca, what are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you.”

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you high again?”

“Obviously but that’s not what this is about. Do you remember the last thing that happened before you remember being here?”

“I was in my office with Erica, she said my nose was bleeding and then bam, here I am.”

"You’re dead, man.”

“Get the fuck out of here. I’m not dead. I’m just dreaming, or something, must have been some bad coke.”

“Nope, there was nothing wrong with the coke, other than you snorted too much of it.”

“If I’m dead than where the hell are we? Heaven? Hell?”

“You really think guys like us get into Heaven?”

“No, probably not. So this is hell? Is that why it’s so hot in here?”

“That’s part of it. Don’t even bother trying to take your shirt off, another one will just show back up. Believe me, I’ve tried. Now come, have a drink.”

“Ok fine. I’ll have a drink. Why did you do it Luca? Why did you have to go and get yourself killed? I know you probably hated yourself for betraying your Black Circle buddies but we would have welcomed you back, probably. We haven’t gotten anyone to fill your roll.”

“I had to man, I just had to. I can’t explain it.”

“Was it because you lost your title? Did you father a child out of wedlock? You can talk to me man, you were my dealer. That’s like being friends, except for I only wanted to see you when I ran out of drugs. But it’s basically the same thing as friendship.”

“It’s not the belt man; it’s just…forget it. You wouldn’t understand. Forget that. We aren’t here to talk about me. Let’s talk about you. What fucked up shit did you get into to end up here with me? Did NAZI carry out his plan to rule the world? Were you one of the casualties?”

“No. Wait, what? Did he say I was going to be a casualty? What do you know Luca?”

“Nothing, nothing. I was just asking. Did you have to fight in another match with Shane’s shit? Did you choke on Shane’s shit? Shane and his crazy stipulations. I miss that guy, and Madison, how’s Madison? Is he still a woman? That crazy bastard. And what about Nova, I miss my Space Man, even NAZI anti everything nut job. I miss them all, even you Theo.”

“Really?”

“No not really. But I feel like I could have missed you, if we got to know each other.”

“Yeah, I hear you man, I thought we were going to be fast friends after you pissed on that stripper in my office. But then you went and helped Sid give Tony Santos a shitty toilet bath. And now look at you. Dead.”

“You’re dead to bud. But you still didn’t answer me, what happened?”

“Overdose I guess. This is such bullshit. Now I’ll be remembered with guys like Heath Ledger and that doucher from Glee.”

“Which one?”

“The gay one.”

“Again I say which one?”

“I have no idea Luca. Where’s my drink?”

“Great question. Where the fuck is the bartender? Bartender…hey bartender.”


Out of the back comes Jason E. Smith, or at least, the body of Jason E. Smith, his head is nowhere to be seen. The headless body is caring a bucket of ice, he stops a few feet short of where Theo and Luca are and dumps the contents of the bucket into what appears to be an already half filled case of ice. After completing the menial task he drops the pocket and then walks over to Theo and Luca. Theo just looks at the headless figure, completely unaware of what to do next.


“Go ahead man. Order what you want.”

“Order with who? He has no head, he can’t hear me.”

“Sure he can, his head’s over there.”


Luca points down to the end of bar where Jason E. Smith’s head is placed delicately.


“It’s cool man, trust me.”

“Ok, I’ll take a whiskey, neat.”


The body of Jason E. Smith remains standing in front of Theo and Luca, Theo repeats his order but again, no movement.


“What’s wrong? I thought you said he could hear me.”

“He can. Oh, sorry, I should have told you, then only have Whole Milk, Water, and Cranberry Juice.”

“What the fuck kind of bar is this?”

“Remember where you are man.”

“Fuck this, I’ll take water. No ice.”


Theo looks around the bar and see’s a bunch of other people lurking around, some chatting with each other, some sitting by themselves, and a few over in the corner playing darts. Some faces he recognizes, some he doesn’t. He looks up to the TV and sees a wrestling match between John Black and JTC, and from the sounds of it, it’s being announced by the tandem of Peter Gilmour and John Madison.


“Is there anything else on? A football game, old episodes of Seinfeld anything?”

“Nope, just this, nonstop.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”


The brightness in the room starts to increase exponentially, Theo and Luca are standing within a few inches of each other yet it’s becoming harder for them to even see each other.


“What’s going on?”

“Looks like it wasn’t your time yet.”

“What? I thought you said I was dead.”

“Guess not.”

“Fantastic. We’ll it’s been real Luca. I'm sure we'll see each other again.”

“Yeah probably. Hey, do me a favor?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Tell Space Man I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, sorry for what?”

“For…”

Suddenly the blinding light dissipates and images start fluttering in and out, Theo can start to hear voices, voices he recognizes, his sister, and possibly Nathaniel, as well as one he doesn’t know.


“I think he’s coming out of it.”

“He is. Theo, Theo, can you hear me? Do you know who I am?”


Theo hesitates for a second, his eyelids continuing to open and close rapidly, each time the image in front of him becomes more clear.


“Theo, can you hear me? Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the guy sticking it to my sister.”

“There he is.”

“What’s going on? Where am I?”

“You’re at New Horizons Rehab in Glendale.”

“What? How the fuck did I get here? Why am I not in a hospital?”

“Well we couldn’t call the paramedics on account of the 20 pounds of cocaine just sitting in your office. It’s a good thing Nathaniel was on his way over, and he’s a doctor, otherwise you’d be dead. Nathaniel sedated you and we brought you here.”

“First of all, it’s not 20 pounds, that’s a gross exaggeration. It’s more like 10, 11 tops. And Nathaniel is not a Doctor, not yet. That’s like calling Sebastian Duke a wrestler.”

“Most people would be thankful you ungrateful asshole.”

“Oh I am grateful. I was just in hell, it was horrible. I was in a bar, a bar with no booze, there was a wrestling match between John Black and JTC playing on a loop. Gilmour and Madison were the announcers, it was horrible. And it was hot as…well, it was hot like Phoenix in July.”

“What are you talking about Theo, you weren’t in hell. You were in the back of a Pryce Industry vehicle, and then here.”

“No Erica, I am serious, I was in hell. Luca was there.”

“Luca, who’s Luca?”

“My drug dealer before McBride.”

“He was also a member of the Black Circle. He was killed a few days ago. And you saw him Theo? What did he say?”

“Nothing really, just asked how I died, wanted me to tell Nova that he was sorry, didn’t say why. Oh, he also thought maybe you were the reason I was dead.”

“Me?”

“No, him.” Pointing to NAZI. “Anything you want to tell me Nathaniel?”

“Not particularly. Other than, you should probably give the drugs a rest, seeing as how they almost killed you.”

“Maybe so. You sure you aren’t keeping anything from me?”

“Pretty sure. Look Theo, we have a match in a few days. You need to get your shit together so you can get out of here. I’m not losing out on those tag team titles because you couldn’t keep your God damn nose clean.”

“Whoa Nathaniel, ease up before you blow a gasket and end up in a place like this.”

“It’s a great place Theo, they staff here is excellent, they will get you back on your feet in no time.”

“Well that’s handy since I need to be out of here by the end of the weekend.”

“Let’s not rush things, let the staff do their jobs and we will see.”

“Yes we will.”

“Alright Theo, we need to be going, I have to get back to the office and Nathaniel has some other work to follow up on, something about Phase 4.”

“Smell ya later.”


“Take care Theo.”

“Ok Mr. Pryce, it’s time for you to begin your mandatory detox.”

“Fucking lovely.”


As Erica and Nathaniel exit the room the Nurse grabs a few pieces of paper that Erica had filled out for her brother’s stay. The nurse then leaves the room, closing and locking the door behind her, leaving Theo in the room with just a mattress to comfort him.