Chapter 6: Decisions
Red…. Iron…. Dust…. Blood
His surroundings
Sadness… Remorse… Loneliness… Despair… Madness
His feelings
Terry slowly got up and found that the clean room was now a dusty and a cruel imitation of corridor.
Bars where at each side of it, and through the bars creatures with no possible name were there. Creatures not even a child could imagine. Creatures with only one emotion: Hate . Creatures built from a desire, a thought an idea. Creatures designed and created to bring harm, pain, blood. Creatures to admire. Creatures to hate. Creatures to love. Creatures to be disgusted at. Creatures to be marvelled at.
Creatures…. Fuelled by hate, selfishness, jealousy, greed…. Fuelled by Sin
Terry watched them
These monsters where armed and they wanted only one thing: inflict pain.
The reason?
Just for the pleasure
Their morbid fetish: see blood spilled, to end a life, any life, bring harm…
The cost? Even their own life they were willing to throw to kill their prey, to feel the satisfaction of pain, to feel the joy of hurting, the thrill of the chase
A pleasure far to beautiful to deny.
Hunter, Prey.
Life, death
Sanity, insanity
Creatures with scythes instead of arms, eyes red injected with blood, skin carbonized
Creatures with wheels attached to their backs, with ferocious theets, ready to roadkill the pray and enjoy the taste of blood
Creatures small enough to be mistaken with a child… with a curvy and dangerous smile, skin yellow and eyes black and deep, their bodies fat and ulcerous.
Creatures with claws attached to their backs and fronts, the ones that terry remembered well
Creatures with a female body with long nails and black and dirty hair, eyes sockets empty and theets as white as snow, naked, in a crouching position, the like of tigers before the attack
They were designed to kill. And that's what they wanted to do.
At the end of the corridor there was a bright light, one "exit" of this nightmare. But it was a long corridor, the nightmare wont end that easy thought Terry, and he was right.
He started to walk the corridor and more sooner than he expected felt a sting of claws in his right leg, he peered down and saw that a grinning face was withdrawing the claw.
Terry was afraid, but he wouldn't surrender, he advanced another step and another sting, now in his left leg…
He kept advancing, one step at a time, one wound at a time
A bite in his shoulder. A step
A stab in his forearm. A step
A blow to his ribs. A step
A scratch in his neck. A step
Every step he gave he felt another hit, another sore spot, but before long, blood started to drip from him, and he started to feel dizzy, and started to stagger, and finally started to faint.
"Why do you keep resisting Mister Callo? I can't comprehend it…"
Terry was now back in the medical table, strapped with leashes in both wrists and legs, and his hideous doppelganger was looking at him with those red and fiery eyes
"What's going on? Why I am here? WHY? "– yelled trying to let himself lose from his strains
"You know why you are here…. why you keep repeating the same questions? Is getting annoying… and you know what I can do when I get annoyed" – said his nightmarish double with a grin an a scalpel in one hand- "ok, tell you what… I'm going to give you options, I don't normally do it but in your case I will make an exception, ok: option A, you do what we want you to do or option B: you are going to become another "object" to our students, they are eager for some practice and you know how young people are" – he ended up with a small cackle
"What you want me to do? I don't even know where I am, who are you, if am crazy or if Am dead or…."
He felt a strong sting in his chest and saw that there was a scalpel stuck up there…
"Ohhh sorry, I told you that I sometimes do that when I get annoyed…." – the doppelganger was laughing hysterically watching Terry bleed and black out
For terry it was going back into oblivion, a feeling that oddly enough was starting to be pleasant.
His father was watching him from behind the desk in his study…
"So… you like the house dad?" – ask timidly
"Is nice, big, and with a lot of rooms… Fiona picked it?" – ask his father
"Yeah… is in a nice place, and with Lonnie on the way we couldn't stay in the little apartment"
"You know I just came here to see my granddaughter… -said his father turning around to face the windows behind the desk
"…you still mad. I see"
"You owe an apology to your sister…. And…. To your mother" – said softly
"Dad… it was her fault, why everyone thinks im the bad guy here?"
"You left your sister with absolutely nothing… but I didn't came here to argue with you"
"Great! Cause I was starting to get pissed off"
"I'm going to be with my granddaughter… I hope you would be a much better father than you are as a brother…. Or a son"
"oh yeah? And what about you? Do you want me to remind you all the things I didn't have in my childhood? Or the type of father you were? Look at me now! I'm sitting on top of the world and you live in a garbage can! And look at miss fickle over there…. She is still in the same crappy college apartment, trying to pay the rent every month… This is all me! I get all this myself, not with your help or hers… SO WHY SHOULD I HELP HER? – exploded
"All of this will disappear someday… and the only thing you will have is your family… if you don't destroy it first. I hope you grow up someday" – said leaving the study
"Fuck you" – Terry's last words to his father
"wake up, waky waky!... C'mon Terry! Wake up! – gentle hands rock him in the bed
"ok, ok…. Just a couple of minutes more…" – still sleepy
"C'mon terry…. Breakfast is ready
"ok, I get up" – rubbing his eyes terry watched a beautiful blonde leave the room
A room where the bed was the one and most listed piece of art in the entire room…
He got up, dress up, and leave the room.
He knew where he was, what he didn't knew was why he was here, but sooner or later he would found out that minor detail, now it was time to gaze at Mia
Still drowsy he sit in a stool in front of the counter, like client and waitress
"Ter, you need to go the bank today and see if you can change this check, we need to buy new shoes to Ash"
"Ash? Where is ash? ASH IS HERE TOO? – looking outside frightened
Outside was totally different that he expected, a full and lively community of people walked the streets, cars passed and birds sang…. So…. Odd
A dream… thank god…. Just a dream
"calm down hun! She is in school already…. Damn ter sometimes I wonder if you are becoming too paranoic or something – she chuckled and terry felt at easy
"ohh… so, new shoes? We don't need the that check we just go down the shop and buy it with the credit card and that's that!" – explain terry
"credit card? What credit card? You get a credit card? TERRY! WE IN DEBTS AND YOU GOT A CREDIT CARD! – she was getting angry, very angry, but still, her "angriness" was sort of cute to terry
"what you mean? I earn nearly 20 thousands a month…. We are in debts? How!"
"20 thousands? Hahaha you are funny…. Now the paper pay their employees in thousands… ter you earn at tops no more than 500 dollars. Hahaha"
"what? Ohh… I must still be dreaming then, I dreamt I was a big shot moneymaker of the big city and then I got lost in here and monster attacked me and stuff like that…. Well, if ash needs shoes we'll get the money somehow."- sipping the coffee
"what a great dream, im gonna wake up Lonnie… you wash the dishes " – said she stepping outside the kitchen and going into the room next door
"hey! I always do the dishes!" – practically screaming, but smiling
Another silent, unseen and motionless Terrance Callo was watching this very scene standing next to the front door. He was watching himself, married with Mia, living in a little room, with two kids, and a paper boy job… and that self was happy.
" Whats going on, why am I here? Why is he happy? Has has nothing…." – thought.
"Jeez terry… you are hard learner." – said his conscience with the voice of his wife Fiona
"what do you mean?" – replied watching his other self standing up and going inside the kitchen behind the counter and open the tap of water
"think, why is he "happy"?
"i know… is cause he has the love of a beautiful woman and a happy family… right? "terry said that with a scent of irony very clear
"and you don't?" – replied again his conscience now with the voice of Lonnie
The other self was now putting on some work boots, a footwear he wasn't accustomed to see in his everyday life (not to even wear in his own life)
"yes… but is different" – though out loud with remorse
"no, it isn't, you are jealous. judge the inner voice now simulating Miriam
"But…. He has nothing! I have everything he has multiplied ten!... Why should I be jealous of that? – pointing at the other man now going to retrieve his snow jacket
"because he is happy and you don't… because he has Mia for himself and you don't…. because he is free… and you don't."
The other terrance was now on his way to the front door, ready to leave and to pass through the unseen and incorporeal Terrance
"I just wanted to show you about another life you could've had…."- finish his conscience, now with his own voice.
when the material terry passed through the immaterial terry everything started to change, the clean room was now messy, red, sunless and cruel, everything was sucked of his life, and what remained was the dead space empty of existence, yet everything there was real…
The sound of a piano echoed in the dark distance…