Corrupted Minds Cannot Escape
A Short Story
Was My Life That Worthwhile?
Julia thought I'd lost it. She thought we all lost our minds, but she too saw it. As kids our night terrors seemed to haunt us, but they were real and coming after us. But Julia believed it was all in our imaginations. All the stress in our lives finally coming back at us, she didn't understand what was going on. Bobby couldn't handle it anymore, so he took his own life. He was the weaker one of us all, but he was still my friend.
When I was young, I watched my parents die right before me. The soul survivor of a car crash. I was five and I thought nothing could go wrong in my little life. I watched it all happen so quickly. The bus in front of us braked so suddenly, my father didn't have time to stop until the last moment. I watched as the front of our car smashed into it, sending glass and metal everywhere.
From the back seat I watched helplessly as metal went flying into my mother's body, piercing every inch; I watched as a shard of glass decapitated my father, both accidents sending blood everywhere. Mixtures of their blood splattered all over the car, even onto me, but I just screamed and covered my body, as the blood spilled on me, and my father's head coming to my side of the car.
I must've passed out, because everything was silent for the longest time until I heard voices, and metal being pried open. "We have a survivor!" One of them yells.
"My god! How could anyone survive this wreck?"
I didn't look up, I stay in my darkness, but hands pick me up and I am sent in the sunlight with rage of kicking and screaming. I wanted to be let go. I wanted to be with my parents, not wanting to be here right now and not in this world. Then they took me to the hospital, where I just lay in bed, not talking to anyone. Then my aunt and uncle came to take me to my new home. I'd be living with them for a while in New York.
That's when the terrors began. My aunt and uncle say goodnight and lay me into the guest bedroom, where I fall asleep, but it's not for long. I am woken by the sound of something un-human, something demonic. I lay straight up. Where was it? I look around, glancing back and forth, until I hear it placed upon the shelves. I place my direction there and that's when I see it.
A black shadow among the darkness, but I could see it's humanoid figure. I couldn't believe what I had seen, maybe I was sleeping. It made that strange noise again, but this time, I heard it from under the bed. I screamed out, hoping to scare it away, but also from my own terror. The thing then pounces onto the edge of my bed and stares at me. I can barley see it, but I know it's there and I know it wants me.
It then lunges at me, as does the one from the shelves and they start touching me and making that horrifying sound. I began screaming, and the thing clasps my mouth shut, forcing me quiet. I kick and punch, forcefully trying to be free. "Sam!" A voice yells out of air, but I don't pay attention to it, until I hear it again. "Sam! What's wrong with you?" My uncle asks me.
I then snap out of it and realize where I am. Was it all just a bad dream? No, it felt too real. I had become too scared and paranoid to go to sleep at night, after that incident, and asked for any source of light to keep me safe. They left the main light on for me, but I soon found out that it was turned off after I fell asleep, for I heard that odd crackling noise again. But that's all I remember, because the next thing I know, I'm in the bathroom about ready to drown myself in scolding hot water. My aunt and uncle shook me out of my trance, disturbed about what I was about to do.
My right shoulder had been itching terribly and when I looked at it, a small wound had been placed in that spot. It had been a fresh cut, because it was still bleeding. THEY had done something to me, but what? I had been marked, but why? Why did THEY want me?
That's when my aunt and uncle decided it was time I go see help. A child psychologist they thought would be best; Dr. Booth was his name. My aunt said he'd help me with going through the death of my parents and that he'd know what was best for me. But there was something else that was bothering me and it wasn't the death of my parents.
That's where I met Billy. Apparently, he suffered the same delusions as I had, but he never told me why he was enduring these images. We grew to be good friends and I grew older. As time went by, THEY slowly disappeared. No more haunting visits from them, they'd left me alone as I slowly grew up. I had a fond interest in art as I felt it was my only way to relieve my stress.
I was never popular and I usually hung out with Billy, but he brought in another girl to the group who seemed to have the same problems we did as kids. The night terrors. Terry was her name and all three of us were the trio of buddies all throughout middle school and high school. Terry and I seemed to be rid of our terrors but Billy always had that nervous look in his eye, like he knew THEY were here.
He met another girl like us, Julia, but we never met until the funeral. You always were terrible at introductions Billy. She was the most normal out of the four of us. She never seemed to be in any sort of distress.
Before Billy's death, he kept complaining that THEY were after him again and he was right. THEY did come back for me nineteen years later. I thought THEY were gone, thought I'd never see them again, but I was wrong. I thought THEY only came after children, so why was it happening to us now?
I'd be asleep in my apartment, with Billy and Terry in the other room and I'd hear that noise, the same noise as when I was a child, but wouldn't remember anything else. I had managed to make it outside and nearly killed some elderly woman with a knife. Thank god I had been woken up by Terry, who knows what would've happened if she didn't wake me.
Then the mark came back. That same itching feeling I had felt when I was younger, and when I look to see, sure enough it's there. Our schizophrenic childhood was coming back to torment us. Then Billy killed himself out of his own fear and left us here to deal with our problems. Gee thanks a lot buddy. I knew I could depend on you. But who am I kidding, maybe it was the easy way out. Maybe killing oneself ended the torture from THEY.
But I wasn't like that and neither were Terry or Julia, we had to figure out how to stop this from destroying us. I didn't know, though, what THEY were planning for us?
After Terry disappeared, I became worried. Julia and I were the only ones left now. I doubt Terry would kill herself and I know THEY had something to do with her vanishing, I just feared one of us were next. But what did THEY do to Terry? Where did she go? Was she killed? I have no idea.
I decided to paint. Paint the picture that resembled THEY. Julia didn't see it, but Terry did and so did I. It felt good to get it all out, relieve all of my feelings onto one little painting. The candles were the only things protecting me from them, since there had been a power failure recently in the building, and they couldn't stop real light.
Bobby complained that it was them screwing with the electricity, and maybe he was right, so I didn't want to take my chances, and I used both the lights and the candles. THEY couldn't get me now. Boy was I wrong.
I heard a tapping at the window, which scared the crap out of me. I look in that direction. Nothing. Get a hold of yourself. You really have gotten paranoid. Your fine, you're safe. I go back to my painting. It's almost done.
Without notice, the water valve comes on, dowsing everything, including my paintings. "Whoa!" I yell as lights explode, sending jolts of light and shards of glass down upon me. "Jesus!" I say, as it ends.
I run to my door to get the hell out of there, but there's this oddly familiar sound at my front door. I look through the peephole and see it. What is that? It's too dark to see anything and I only see the silhouette of something crawling. Then it rears its ugly head through the peephole, scaring me shitless, almost knocking me down. No sense going out through there.
The last light available sparks and I jerk in that direction only to see the mannequin move; it's made its way inside. Fuck! I think, too startled for words. THEY had come to claim me.
I run to the window; another source to escape. "Somebody!" It won't open. No! I yell in frustration, as I turn back to look at the creature. It's not there. One more try, I tell myself and try forcing the window open. Still stuck. Dammit! But then I see someone on the other side, watching TV. "Hey! Over here! Help! Help!.Hey over here!" He of course cannot hear me. Oh the irony. Why'd I even waste my breath. I then brake the window, preparing myself to crawl out.
Then I hear it. The elevator making it's way to my floor. I run to it, but slip through all the water that has soaked my entire apartment. I curse under my breath, but open the door and slide into it. I land hard on the elevator floor, but I bounce right back up and stare at the buttons. Without hesitation, I push the Lobby button and yell at it, "Come On!" but I know that won't make it speed up. Something's not right with it for it begins squeaking and struggling to stay on the cables. It's never done this before. It falls, taking me with it! I thought I was going to die right there! As if this was they're plan, but it stops and begins to climb up. I knew THEY were screwing with me.
I can't give much relief on the moment of quietness, for then it goes up and then back down, quickly, as if THEY were playing a game with me. But then the elevator just went down, and it continues to go down, lights breaking and I think this is my final moment.
Finally it stops for a moment and I decide now is a great time to get the hell off of this crazed ride. I slide back out into that same water drenched apartment that I had been in. I was back where I started.
"Sam?" Her voice calls out to me. What was she doing over here? Oh god! Where was she? I needed her help!
"Julia?" I yell.
A moment of silence. She hadn't answered back, was she trying to find my voice? The elevator slammed down a bit, scaring me yet again and I stare at it, knowing they're there. Something then grabbed at my legs and pulled me down. I screamed as it dragged me under the elevator. It's not happening. It's not real! I tell myself, as I feel my body falling to the earth below. I was going to die.
My subconscious mind was the only thing that I could even remember as I felt my body break the glass barrier. I didn't even feel her break my fall, but I heard her scream, heard the terror in her voice. She found me and I'm guessing I wasn't a pretty site. I wondered then if I was truly dead.
-----
My body ached, my head hurt, everything was in pain. It was cold and I found myself shivering. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself lying in mud, or what I thought was mud. I couldn't get up, my body had been broken in several places, I knew that much. How did I survive that fall? I was nearly several stories off the ground. It didn't matter, I was alive.
I look above me and see the elevator shaft. There was a little bit of light shinning through, placed right under me. "This is going to be a problem," I say. My body was broken and I was down, maybe twenty feet from the surface. The elevator moves up and more light laminates the scenery. I nearly stop breathing.
All around me are what seem to be pods of black, which contain something, and I'm pretty sure I know what. I look down and see that the mud is no longer mud but something much worse. It's a black liquid of some sort and I have no idea what it was. I was in they're lair. "Help!" I yell at the artificial light. "I need help!"
After minutes of desperately crying, I knew no one could hear me. the elevator had began making its way towards the bottom, closing off the sunlight. I heard the demons start cackling and making their usual sound. I fear for what is coming next. Slowly by slowly, the light is soon shut off, leaving me in pitch- blackness. Something grabs at me, tearing my shirt, then I feel another tug at my pants. More of them come, I can hear it in my ears and they start to rip my clothes to shreds. I feel claws dig into my skin, and the warm liquid spill out onto the floor. I scream in pain, as more claws pierce into my skin.
I can hear them munching on something. They were fucking eating me! "Noo!" I yell, and try to get away. It's useless, there's too many of them and my body is broken. I can't do anything. I can only lie back and endure the pain of my skin being torn of and listening to them eat my flesh.
One of their hands covers my mouth, preventing me from screaming, but my eyes are left opening. THEY want me to see myself dying. I could cry for what was happening to me. It wasn't real! I was hallucinating! It was one of my crazy nightmares again! I wasn't dying! I wasn't! THEY hadn't caught me, THEY weren't eating me! NO!
I scream one last muffled scream before a set of sharp teeth chomp down on my neck. I feel the blood in my neck make its way up to my mouth and seep out of the creature's hands.
. . . . . .
Was My Life That Worthwhile?
Julia thought I'd lost it. She thought we all lost our minds, but she too saw it. As kids our night terrors seemed to haunt us, but they were real and coming after us. But Julia believed it was all in our imaginations. All the stress in our lives finally coming back at us, she didn't understand what was going on. Bobby couldn't handle it anymore, so he took his own life. He was the weaker one of us all, but he was still my friend.
When I was young, I watched my parents die right before me. The soul survivor of a car crash. I was five and I thought nothing could go wrong in my little life. I watched it all happen so quickly. The bus in front of us braked so suddenly, my father didn't have time to stop until the last moment. I watched as the front of our car smashed into it, sending glass and metal everywhere.
From the back seat I watched helplessly as metal went flying into my mother's body, piercing every inch; I watched as a shard of glass decapitated my father, both accidents sending blood everywhere. Mixtures of their blood splattered all over the car, even onto me, but I just screamed and covered my body, as the blood spilled on me, and my father's head coming to my side of the car.
I must've passed out, because everything was silent for the longest time until I heard voices, and metal being pried open. "We have a survivor!" One of them yells.
"My god! How could anyone survive this wreck?"
I didn't look up, I stay in my darkness, but hands pick me up and I am sent in the sunlight with rage of kicking and screaming. I wanted to be let go. I wanted to be with my parents, not wanting to be here right now and not in this world. Then they took me to the hospital, where I just lay in bed, not talking to anyone. Then my aunt and uncle came to take me to my new home. I'd be living with them for a while in New York.
That's when the terrors began. My aunt and uncle say goodnight and lay me into the guest bedroom, where I fall asleep, but it's not for long. I am woken by the sound of something un-human, something demonic. I lay straight up. Where was it? I look around, glancing back and forth, until I hear it placed upon the shelves. I place my direction there and that's when I see it.
A black shadow among the darkness, but I could see it's humanoid figure. I couldn't believe what I had seen, maybe I was sleeping. It made that strange noise again, but this time, I heard it from under the bed. I screamed out, hoping to scare it away, but also from my own terror. The thing then pounces onto the edge of my bed and stares at me. I can barley see it, but I know it's there and I know it wants me.
It then lunges at me, as does the one from the shelves and they start touching me and making that horrifying sound. I began screaming, and the thing clasps my mouth shut, forcing me quiet. I kick and punch, forcefully trying to be free. "Sam!" A voice yells out of air, but I don't pay attention to it, until I hear it again. "Sam! What's wrong with you?" My uncle asks me.
I then snap out of it and realize where I am. Was it all just a bad dream? No, it felt too real. I had become too scared and paranoid to go to sleep at night, after that incident, and asked for any source of light to keep me safe. They left the main light on for me, but I soon found out that it was turned off after I fell asleep, for I heard that odd crackling noise again. But that's all I remember, because the next thing I know, I'm in the bathroom about ready to drown myself in scolding hot water. My aunt and uncle shook me out of my trance, disturbed about what I was about to do.
My right shoulder had been itching terribly and when I looked at it, a small wound had been placed in that spot. It had been a fresh cut, because it was still bleeding. THEY had done something to me, but what? I had been marked, but why? Why did THEY want me?
That's when my aunt and uncle decided it was time I go see help. A child psychologist they thought would be best; Dr. Booth was his name. My aunt said he'd help me with going through the death of my parents and that he'd know what was best for me. But there was something else that was bothering me and it wasn't the death of my parents.
That's where I met Billy. Apparently, he suffered the same delusions as I had, but he never told me why he was enduring these images. We grew to be good friends and I grew older. As time went by, THEY slowly disappeared. No more haunting visits from them, they'd left me alone as I slowly grew up. I had a fond interest in art as I felt it was my only way to relieve my stress.
I was never popular and I usually hung out with Billy, but he brought in another girl to the group who seemed to have the same problems we did as kids. The night terrors. Terry was her name and all three of us were the trio of buddies all throughout middle school and high school. Terry and I seemed to be rid of our terrors but Billy always had that nervous look in his eye, like he knew THEY were here.
He met another girl like us, Julia, but we never met until the funeral. You always were terrible at introductions Billy. She was the most normal out of the four of us. She never seemed to be in any sort of distress.
Before Billy's death, he kept complaining that THEY were after him again and he was right. THEY did come back for me nineteen years later. I thought THEY were gone, thought I'd never see them again, but I was wrong. I thought THEY only came after children, so why was it happening to us now?
I'd be asleep in my apartment, with Billy and Terry in the other room and I'd hear that noise, the same noise as when I was a child, but wouldn't remember anything else. I had managed to make it outside and nearly killed some elderly woman with a knife. Thank god I had been woken up by Terry, who knows what would've happened if she didn't wake me.
Then the mark came back. That same itching feeling I had felt when I was younger, and when I look to see, sure enough it's there. Our schizophrenic childhood was coming back to torment us. Then Billy killed himself out of his own fear and left us here to deal with our problems. Gee thanks a lot buddy. I knew I could depend on you. But who am I kidding, maybe it was the easy way out. Maybe killing oneself ended the torture from THEY.
But I wasn't like that and neither were Terry or Julia, we had to figure out how to stop this from destroying us. I didn't know, though, what THEY were planning for us?
After Terry disappeared, I became worried. Julia and I were the only ones left now. I doubt Terry would kill herself and I know THEY had something to do with her vanishing, I just feared one of us were next. But what did THEY do to Terry? Where did she go? Was she killed? I have no idea.
I decided to paint. Paint the picture that resembled THEY. Julia didn't see it, but Terry did and so did I. It felt good to get it all out, relieve all of my feelings onto one little painting. The candles were the only things protecting me from them, since there had been a power failure recently in the building, and they couldn't stop real light.
Bobby complained that it was them screwing with the electricity, and maybe he was right, so I didn't want to take my chances, and I used both the lights and the candles. THEY couldn't get me now. Boy was I wrong.
I heard a tapping at the window, which scared the crap out of me. I look in that direction. Nothing. Get a hold of yourself. You really have gotten paranoid. Your fine, you're safe. I go back to my painting. It's almost done.
Without notice, the water valve comes on, dowsing everything, including my paintings. "Whoa!" I yell as lights explode, sending jolts of light and shards of glass down upon me. "Jesus!" I say, as it ends.
I run to my door to get the hell out of there, but there's this oddly familiar sound at my front door. I look through the peephole and see it. What is that? It's too dark to see anything and I only see the silhouette of something crawling. Then it rears its ugly head through the peephole, scaring me shitless, almost knocking me down. No sense going out through there.
The last light available sparks and I jerk in that direction only to see the mannequin move; it's made its way inside. Fuck! I think, too startled for words. THEY had come to claim me.
I run to the window; another source to escape. "Somebody!" It won't open. No! I yell in frustration, as I turn back to look at the creature. It's not there. One more try, I tell myself and try forcing the window open. Still stuck. Dammit! But then I see someone on the other side, watching TV. "Hey! Over here! Help! Help!.Hey over here!" He of course cannot hear me. Oh the irony. Why'd I even waste my breath. I then brake the window, preparing myself to crawl out.
Then I hear it. The elevator making it's way to my floor. I run to it, but slip through all the water that has soaked my entire apartment. I curse under my breath, but open the door and slide into it. I land hard on the elevator floor, but I bounce right back up and stare at the buttons. Without hesitation, I push the Lobby button and yell at it, "Come On!" but I know that won't make it speed up. Something's not right with it for it begins squeaking and struggling to stay on the cables. It's never done this before. It falls, taking me with it! I thought I was going to die right there! As if this was they're plan, but it stops and begins to climb up. I knew THEY were screwing with me.
I can't give much relief on the moment of quietness, for then it goes up and then back down, quickly, as if THEY were playing a game with me. But then the elevator just went down, and it continues to go down, lights breaking and I think this is my final moment.
Finally it stops for a moment and I decide now is a great time to get the hell off of this crazed ride. I slide back out into that same water drenched apartment that I had been in. I was back where I started.
"Sam?" Her voice calls out to me. What was she doing over here? Oh god! Where was she? I needed her help!
"Julia?" I yell.
A moment of silence. She hadn't answered back, was she trying to find my voice? The elevator slammed down a bit, scaring me yet again and I stare at it, knowing they're there. Something then grabbed at my legs and pulled me down. I screamed as it dragged me under the elevator. It's not happening. It's not real! I tell myself, as I feel my body falling to the earth below. I was going to die.
My subconscious mind was the only thing that I could even remember as I felt my body break the glass barrier. I didn't even feel her break my fall, but I heard her scream, heard the terror in her voice. She found me and I'm guessing I wasn't a pretty site. I wondered then if I was truly dead.
-----
My body ached, my head hurt, everything was in pain. It was cold and I found myself shivering. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself lying in mud, or what I thought was mud. I couldn't get up, my body had been broken in several places, I knew that much. How did I survive that fall? I was nearly several stories off the ground. It didn't matter, I was alive.
I look above me and see the elevator shaft. There was a little bit of light shinning through, placed right under me. "This is going to be a problem," I say. My body was broken and I was down, maybe twenty feet from the surface. The elevator moves up and more light laminates the scenery. I nearly stop breathing.
All around me are what seem to be pods of black, which contain something, and I'm pretty sure I know what. I look down and see that the mud is no longer mud but something much worse. It's a black liquid of some sort and I have no idea what it was. I was in they're lair. "Help!" I yell at the artificial light. "I need help!"
After minutes of desperately crying, I knew no one could hear me. the elevator had began making its way towards the bottom, closing off the sunlight. I heard the demons start cackling and making their usual sound. I fear for what is coming next. Slowly by slowly, the light is soon shut off, leaving me in pitch- blackness. Something grabs at me, tearing my shirt, then I feel another tug at my pants. More of them come, I can hear it in my ears and they start to rip my clothes to shreds. I feel claws dig into my skin, and the warm liquid spill out onto the floor. I scream in pain, as more claws pierce into my skin.
I can hear them munching on something. They were fucking eating me! "Noo!" I yell, and try to get away. It's useless, there's too many of them and my body is broken. I can't do anything. I can only lie back and endure the pain of my skin being torn of and listening to them eat my flesh.
One of their hands covers my mouth, preventing me from screaming, but my eyes are left opening. THEY want me to see myself dying. I could cry for what was happening to me. It wasn't real! I was hallucinating! It was one of my crazy nightmares again! I wasn't dying! I wasn't! THEY hadn't caught me, THEY weren't eating me! NO!
I scream one last muffled scream before a set of sharp teeth chomp down on my neck. I feel the blood in my neck make its way up to my mouth and seep out of the creature's hands.
. . . . . .