Chapter Six
Pain. That was the first thing that Lewis experienced as his mind stumbled back into consciousness. There was an indescribable pain that seemed to unceasingly thud inside his mind. Lying there he focused on this pain for a moment before deciding to open his eyes in an attempt to see what was going on.
His eyelids responded slowly to his request that they open, and it seemed to take considerable effort just to accomplish this most basic task. When his eyelids finally did peel away though he found his vision to be in no better shape. Everything was a blur to him, and only a few colors could be made out at first. Gradually though the blurs smoothened and took recognizable shapes. Far beyond he could see the plaster ceiling and the glow of a fluorescent tube could be identified out of the corner of his eye. What caught his attention though was the blur that took up most of his field of vision. The blur became a face, a young woman's face, and as he began to realize this he found the face to suddenly be smiling back at him.
"Shh Dr. Lewis," the young woman gently shushed as her face confused him and that confusion displayed itself upon his face. "Everything is going to be all right now."
Despite the woman's reassurance Lewis found this fact to be in serious doubt. Still very much dazed and confused he suddenly sat up, bringing himself up from the bed where he lay and to eye level with the woman that smiled back at him. "Who are…." he started to question her, but suddenly lost the strength to continue as another wave of pain hit him and another feminine voice came to his ears.
"Dr. Lewis, please lay back down," the new voice told him in a firm tone that lacked the pleasing gentleness of the other one.
Unable to keep upright as the pain washed over Lewis' mind, he abided the request and laid back down. The second voice he recognized almost immediately and he turned his head to look at the dark red hair of Dr. Hunt before she turned back around and approached him.
"You should feel thankful Terry, that in addition to being such a skilled psychiatrist I double into a rather decent physician. Who knows what would have happened to you if I hadn't have been here to apply an ice pack to your head." She said with a sarcastic grin as she placed the icy cold bag on his forehead.
"Thanks Joyce," Lewis replied with the same sarcasm before he too smiled. While the two doctors didn't know much about each other they knew enough for a loose friendship to be formed. Friendship might have been too strong of a label to place upon them, but neither of them felt that the situation was dire enough to be so analyzed.
As this friendly moment passed Lewis suddenly was thrown back to his last conscious memory. Christian had attacked him! He had attacked him suddenly and in such a way that pushed him into the black depths of unconsciousness! "What happened?" he found himself suddenly and frantically asking.
Applying a reassuring hand to Lewis' shoulder Dr. Hunt shushed him for a moment before saying, "It's okay Terry. I'm going to go and get Randy, let him know you're all right. He can explain things to you." A comforting smile made its way from her face before she turned and made her way out of the room.
Once Dr. Hunt had exited the room Lewis began to lay back down in an attempt to regain some comfort when suddenly he caught sight of the young woman again. In his brief exchange of words with Dr. Hunt this woman had remained completely silent, and as a result Lewis had forgotten about her. Now though he focused his attention back on her, found her to still be smiling, and asked again who she was.
"My name is Michelle," she casually said as she pointed to a name tag that she wore. "Don't worry Dr. Lewis, everything is fine now."
Taking his eyes off of the woman's face, which was still smiling, he looked down at her name tag. It was pinned to a white blouse and immediately Lewis realized her to be in the normal outfit worn by Brookhaven's nursing staff. This seemed to give Michelle a purpose for being there, and yet as she was someone that Lewis didn't believe he had seen before, he was still left confused.
"I'm new here, working as an intern," Michelle responded, reading Lewis' thoughts by way of his expression. She probably would have said more to Lewis at this moment, something that he would have gladly accepted, but suddenly their conversation was cut short as the room's door opened, giving way to the two Brookhaven doctors of Joyce and Randy.
"Ah Terry," Lewis' friend said the moment he entered the room. "I'm so glad to see that you're better. Joyce here told me that she couldn't find anything wrong with you. It's almost as though you just passed out. No matter though, I'm just happy Christian didn't hurt you." Standing there and looking at his friend Randy felt the sudden urge to hug him, but after a moment's struggle his mind decided against it. He didn't want to impose himself on Lewis, in case his friend was not as well off as he assumed. That plus he didn't want to impose any embarrassment that Lewis might get from the friendly gesture. Instead though he placed a hand on Lewis' shoulder, letting this simple gesture convey to Lewis how happy and relieved he was.
"Well I'm not completely..." Lewis began, about to tell his friend about the throbbing pain that still rested inside his skull. Before he finished his thought though, he suddenly realized that the pain was gone. It had simply vanished as though it had never been there, leaving nothing but his memory of it in its wake. Confused about its abrupt end Lewis found himself catch sight of Michelle's smiling face one more time as she slipped out of the room.
Shaking off any reminiscing thoughts about the pain or the strange nurse Lewis refocused his mind back to Christian and the cause for his being here. "What happened Randy?" Lewis pleaded the question. "What happened between me and Christian?"
"I don't know Terry," Randy replied as his smile faded into a look of concern. "I was standing outside of the room's doors, waiting in case you needed me, when suddenly I heard a shattering noise come from inside. By the time I reacted and opened the doors you were on the ground unconscious, with Christian standing over you. I asked him what had happened, but all he would do is stand there in silence and look at me." A chill ran down his spine as Randy remembered the cold and blank stare that Christian had shown him. "After I checked to make sure you were still alive I brought you here and paged Joyce to come check you out while I handled Christian."
Listening intently as his friend spoke Lewis took in every word, thought it over clearly, and posed those thoughts to the rest of his mind. Nothing that Randy said helped to ease the tension in Lewis' mind as his wonder about what happened grew. "What did you do with Christian?" he asked of his friend, believing that Randy's answer would determine his next course of action.
"I had one of the guards put his shackles back on him and stand guard while I came back here to check on you. He's still down the hall for the moment, but since he attacked you I think he should be placed back in isolation right away."
Concern was reflected in Randy's tone, and Lewis felt grateful that he had a friend that was so concerned with his well being. But he knew he couldn't let that concern get out of hand and end in doing something as brash as throwing Christian back into isolation so quickly. "I have to speak to him again. I have to know what he did to me." These statements were meant to be ones uttered only in the recesses of his mind, but without realizing it he said them aloud, catching the interest of both Joyce and Randy.
"Wait a second Terry," Randy suddenly said with a tone that was full of concern. "Christian attacked you. He may not have done any serious harm, but it was an attack nonetheless. I don't think you should go back in there and risk your well being just to hear the mutterings of a madman."
"Randy's right. There's no reason for you to go in there and risk yourself for nothing. Besides, while he may not have left any physical damage, who knows what kind of psychological trauma could have been caused by the whole incident."
Hearing these words Lewis laughed inward at them. 'If only she knew the trauma I was already suffering.' He thought to himself. "It won't be a risk," Lewis found himself firmly saying and believing. "Besides, I have to." Lewis simply put as his eyes moved to meet Randy's. In the moment that their eyes locked Lewis conveyed to his friend the need he had for once more speaking with Christian. That need Randy already knew from before. It was a need that Lewis had harbored since Randy had first told him about Christian, a need that lay unfulfilled despite already being in the presence of the man once. Ultimately it was a need that Lewis could not, would not, feel satisfied about until after he was able to get some answers from the man.
"Terry, I think you need to get a proper perspective on this." Joyce said with her own concern as she looked over the man she had been called to treat. While she may not have had any special affinity for Lewis, she still would hate to see anything bad come to him. Because of this she was as adamant as possible that he stay away from Christian. It was a firmness that would have held to the last, and only ended up failing at the slight touch and gentle words of Randy.
"Joyce, let me talk to him for a bit. Alone."
Surprised by Randy's words she turned to look at him for a moment, and in that moment she saw something new and strange twinkle just behind his eyes. Something bigger then a simple faint was going on here, she could tell it by the way Randy looked at her if for nothing else. "Fine," she suddenly relented. "If either of you need me I'll be in room 'C3' with a patient." After looking over both the doctors once more she gave a small sigh before exiting the room.
Lewis' eyes watched as the female doctor made her way out of the small exam room and as the door closed behind her he gave out an exhale of relief. With only Randy and him left he felt like he could be honest about Christian and about what was going on. Moving his gaze back to his friend he simply said, "You know that I need to speak with him again, Randy. He has the answers I need."
"Are you sure?" Randy asked as he took a step forward and sat down next to Lewis on the rigid cot. "If he didn't give you the answers that you needed last time then what makes you so certain that he'll do so next time?"
Looking away from Randy and into his own calloused hands Lewis gave another sigh as his mind tried to think of the best words to say. "He might not have given me the answers that I was asking for, but he did give me enough to know that he is involved in this."
"Involved in what?" Randy asked earnestly, though after recent events he feared exactly what Lewis meant.
Getting up off of the cot Lewis paced across the small room for a moment, trying to decide for himself exactly what was going on and how he could tell of it to Randy. "This whole thing. This situation. This hell." Cursing at his inability to better label what was going on Lewis just looked at Randy, hoping that some how his eyes could convey the rest to his friend. "He's connected to Cassie in some way, and that connection is causing all of this."
"But how?" Randy pressed. "Christian was locked up in isolation since before Cassie was brought here and for the entirety of the ordeal. How could he even know about her, let alone have some connection?"
"I don't know!" Lewis shouted in frustration. When he saw his friend cringe at the reply he instantly regretted the harshness of his tone. "He knew about her though, Randy." Lewis said in a much softer tone. "He knew about her being here and that she had been murdered."
Despite his friend's words Randy still found it hard to believe that Christian knew so much. He supposed that the man could have overheard someone talking about Cassie and her gruesome demise, but for some reason he felt this wasn't the case. Only he and a handful of nurses had been allowed to be near Christian, and while he knew some of the nurses could be rather chatty, he doubted any of them would have told the man so much. So how had he known?
"There's something else," Lewis said with hesitation as his hands nervously rubbed each other and his feet continued in their pacing. "He mentioned the Red Demon. And he did so in a way identical to Cassie."
The only bit of information that Randy had on this so called Red Demon was what Lewis had told him after his experience with Cassie. While he had grown accustomed to the ravings of the insane and their sometimes vivid imaginations, he couldn't help but to get a chill at hearing Cassie's description of him. And if a second hand account from Lewis had been enough to send a chill down his spine, then he could only imagine what Lewis had felt taking it in firsthand.
"Randy," came the sudden name in a tone obviously filled with fear, "I have to figure out what's going on. Something big is happening here, something bigger than just me, or just Cassie and Christian, something even bigger than any simple demon. It's something I need to find out now, before…" Lewis' words failed him at that moment and he had to force down his emotions along with a great amount of saliva before finishing with the words, "it's too late."
Looking upon his friend and this horrible state that Lewis had fallen into Randy felt so much pity for him. He wanted to put a reassuring arm around Lewis and tell him that he was overreacting, that what was going on was far from anything that should be causing him such pain and such misery, but he knew those reassurances would be lies. From his peek into this hell Randy could tell that this situation was far from anything of the sane variety. While he may not have been as wrapped into it as Lewis he wasn't about to discourage his friend. For some reason he felt that if either of them were to lose their vigilance for even the briefest of moments then something new and even more terrifying would step until their lives and so would worsen their state.
Despite the knowledge that any words of reassurance would be in vain Randy felt that he needed to say something. He could not just sit there and play witness to the failing of Lewis' mind. Now he wished only to help his friend, even more so than he had wished in the past few weeks, yet he wasn't quite sure how to handle it. True he was a skilled psychologist, and had been tasked to help heal the mental state of Brookhaven's residents, but he had never thought the need would arise when he would have to apply those hard learned tactics to anyone still legally sane; especially not a friend as close as Lewis. With a sigh he relented to the idea, seeing that it could do no harm. "Terry, please sit down," he said as he gestured back to the cot, "and tell me what exactly Christian said to you."
Unsure of whether that was such a good idea Lewis paused for a moment and stared at his friend in hesitation. He didn't want to sit here and discuss his feelings with anyone. Not Joyce, not Randy, not anyone at all. All he wanted was to get back to Christian, get back to the conversation they were having before he had collapsed, and back to where he hoped answers lay in wait. Looking into his friend's eyes though he felt strangely compelled to fill this request. Slowly he let his tense muscles ease before he sat back down on the cot and took in a deep breath.
With his friend next to him, providing a meager feeling of safety, Lewis went over everything that he had been told by Christian before finally deciding to tell Randy. "He said that I have sinned Randy. A horrible and terrible sin and that this Red Demon is going to come and judge me for it soon."
Taking in these words Randy's first thoughts were about how difficult it had seemed for Lewis to tell them. To recount such details must truly have been a frightening concept to Lewis, and Randy felt bad for forcing him to recount them, but he knew it was necessary. If he was to be of any help at all to his friend then he needed to know everything that had happened. Having absorbed his friend's words he decided to add a few assuring words of his own. "You're a good man Terry," he said as he placed a hand on Lewis' shoulder. "Everyone has sinned, that's part of being human. But you are a good and kind soul. There is no way you could have done anything to incur such a judgment as you saw done upon Cassie."
"I want to believe you, to believe me, to believe everyone in this matter Randy, but I don't feel like I can. He said that my mind had buried knowledge of my sin deep within me, so deep that I'm not even aware of it anymore. I want to believe he was lying to me, but I just don't know."
Giving another sigh it suddenly hit Randy what had happened. Of course he should have seen this coming, as it had to be possible because it was so plausible. "Terry, he's gotten inside your head. Somehow he figured out just enough about you to slip in and torture you with whatever he can come up with. It's something that a lot of insane people tend to do, especially the criminally insane. You have to fight back though. You have to prove that you are better than that, because I know you are."
It made sense; certainly in any sane way at least. Yet Lewis still could not accept Randy's explanation as fact. Christian may have done nothing more than fill the stereotypical shoes of an insane man for the purpose of driving Lewis insane. Yes, from a sane perspective it did make sense, but in a place surrounded by insanity Lewis knew this was not the case. "You might be right," Lewis admitted to his friend with a sigh, "but I still feel that I need to speak with Christian again. To confirm your words if for nothing else."
Randy suddenly felt lost against his friend's unyielding resolve to have one more meeting with the mental patient. In the pit of his stomach he knew that for Lewis to speak with Christian again would be a bad idea, but in the face of his friend's resolve he couldn't help but to finally and begrudgingly relent. "Okay," he said with a hint of defeat to his tone. "You can speak with him again. He's still down in room 'M3', so it shouldn't be a problem for you to." Lewis started to stand up at these words, but Randy grabbed him by the arm for a moment and said, "First though, is there anything else that Christian said to you?"
Going over the encounter once more in his mind Lewis tried to determine if there was anything else that needed mentioning. "No," he started to say with a degree of hesitation as he made sure there wasn't anything else. He was about to stick with that answer, before something came to his mind. "Well there was something, something that he whispered just before I collapsed."
"What was that Terry?"
"He said a word; at least I think it was a word." Focusing his mind on that final word that Christian had uttered Lewis made sure that he had indeed heard the man correctly. "Husha," he suddenly blurted out, leaving Randy in a rather confused state for a few moments before Lewis finished the thought. "He said husha, several times in fact, before I collapsed and fell unconscious."
"Husha?" Randy asked with confusion, having no clue what this simple word could mean, if it had a meaning at all. When Lewis gave a nod to confirm that his friend had been right Randy couldn't help but to be even more confused. "Are you sure he didn't say hush up, Lewis? You know, so that you wouldn't call for help or something."
Again his friend presented him with a clear and logical answer for a bizarre piece of the insane puzzle he was part of. Shaking his head Lewis knew that again his friend's explanation wasn't meant to be the truth. "No, it was definitely husha. Whatever that means."
The younger doctor sat there thinking for a moment, but he had no better clue as to what the strange word meant than Lewis. It seemed familiar in that distant and vague sort of way that often drives you mad. Resigning to look it up later, Randy saw no further excuse for delaying their inevitable meeting with Christian. Standing up and smoothening his white doctor's coat for a moment he simply gestured to the door before Lewis took the lead and the two men entered Brookhaven's drab hallway.
Out of the small exam room and back into the dark hallway an odd sense of comfort came to Lewis. This hallway was familiar to him, as he had walked it many times throughout his tenure as psychologist here. It was in that sense of familiarity that came Lewis' odd comfort. With all the talk of demons and insanity Lewis felt relief in seeing this dull and unchanged hallway. For some reason knowing that some things would remain the same no matter what happened gave him this relief, and with it the courage to face the insanity of Christian once more.
When the pair's short walk down the hallway left them at the doors for room 'M3' Lewis reached for the handle and let out a deep exhale of emotion as he readied himself. Randy stepped forward to take the lead and Lewis found himself once more looking at his friend, feeling the need to remind him of how this task he must do alone. Picking up on this Randy said, "Last time I let you go in alone and he attacked you. Not this time my friend. I will not be left to feel helpless should he decide to attack you again." Feeling grateful for the genuine care that his friend showed him in this moment Lewis could do nothing but happily comply with a nod before the two entered the room.
Inside the room nothing had changed either. The walls still looked bare, the floor still was dirty, and Christian still seemed very ominous as he stood staring out the window. Exchanging a look between each other the two doctors stood there for a moment, not quite sure how to break the cold silence. Luckily for them it was Christian that spoke the first words; though how lucky that fact was debatable.
"Couldn't trust to be alone with me again Dr. Lewis?" An icy coldness ran through Christian's words as he spoke. Icy enough to cause a shiver to run down both Lewis' and Randy's spine.
"Christian I want you to tell me what is going on here," Lewis pleaded flatly. "I want you to tell me exactly how you knew about Cassie and how you managed to write that note."
"I have no wish to speak with Dr. Sampson, and nothing further to say to you Dr. Lewis," Christian stated over his shoulder as he refused to turn away from the window's view and towards the doctors.
Ignoring the question on how Christian knew that it was Randy that had accompanied him Lewis asked the question again. "Will you tell me what is going on here? Please Christian?" he asked with a new sense of desperation to his voice.
The moment that Lewis pleaded to this insane man for answers was the moment that Randy's tension over the matter grew. He wasn't sure whether his friend's sudden desperation was genuine or simply a ploy to gain sympathy and trust from the man before them. Whatever the case was, he felt it to be a bad call to appear weak before anyone as disturbed as Christian was. Lewis' sign of desperation, in Randy's opinion, would prove only to hinder their chance for answers and it in turned caused Randy to be even more anxious to leave than he already was.
There was a different reaction to Lewis' words though in their receiver. Ever slightly, Christian's lips curled into a grin. Hearing the pain and the anguish in Lewis' voice caused a bit of joy to enter into Christian's being. He relished in this man's pain, and as Lewis believed him to be the cause of at least part of that pain made Christian enjoy it even more. Turning halfway around his eyes locked with those of the doctor. In those eyes of Lewis' Christian saw the desperation to be true, and he smiled inwardly again for it.
"You would like me to stand here and connect the dots for you wouldn't you doctor?" Christian asked in an almost playful tone. "Go from A to B to C, until the picture is all drawn out for your understanding, right?" Still looking into Lewis' eyes Christian instantly found his answer, to which he responded with, "I won't do that Dr. Lewis. There would be no fun in it." He said before turning back around towards the dirt smeared window.
"Fun?" Lewis blurted out, upset at how Christian viewed his falling into insanity. Tightening his hand into a fist he tried to push the comment aside and try once more to get something out of this man. "The note Christian. Just tell me about the note. You said that you sent it as a warning, but how did you get it to me?"
"Did I say that I was the note's author? No. I just said that it was a warning, not that it was from me."
Whatever game that Christian had suddenly decided to play was growing very old very fast in Lewis' opinion. His patience agreed with him on this point. If Christian was unwilling to admit his responsibility for the note than maybe Lewis could get something else out of him. "How do you know about the Red Demon? About Cassie's murder?"
"Everyone knows about Him, Dr. Lewis. Some people though choose to deny His existence, thus forcing Him to become invisible in their minds and so their eyes. This though is helpful as it allows Him to complete His work without notice."
Stepping forward Lewis continued his questioning. "The sin, my sin, what is it? What did I do to warrant his attention all of a sudden?"
"Your sin is a most despicable one that you shall undoubtedly be forever damned for," Christian said with disgust as he turned back to face Lewis. "It is a sin that has tainted your soul for many years, and when you face Him you should thank Him that He has let you live for all these years in a veil of innocence."
Patience failing, rage boiling up inside, and frustration at Christian's evasiveness consuming him, Lewis lost control. He had lost control twice recently, once to Officer Simmons and once to his friend Randy, but neither of those previous instances could compare to this moment. Consumed by all of the insanity that he had forced away as of late Lewis moved to stand before Christian, grabbed the man with his right arm, and pressed him against the wall, all in such a swift motion that Christian had been left no time to react.
"You will tell me what I need to know, NOW!" Lewis insanely shouted at Christian in a tone full of rage. Sweat and a lack of proper bathing left the man's throat slimy underneath the grip of his hand, but he ignored it. After having to put up with Cassie's death and every other insane tidbit that followed Lewis had been left with little reason to care about such things as this antagonist's well being any more. All he cared about now was what he desired, and all he desired was an end to the insanity.
"Terry!" Randy shouted as his friend's sudden actions forced him to step into the situation he had played witness to. Grabbing onto Lewis' free arm he tried to pull his friend away from his victim. "He's not worth it Terry!" Randy almost shouted as Lewis stood there, unmoving in both his resolve and his body.
"Go ahead, kill me," Christian dared with cold eyes and an arrogant tone that caused his words to wash over Randy's. "Set my soul free from this place. Let your hands be coated with my blood and your damnation be further assured."
Tightening his grip for a moment Lewis could feel Christian's breath shortening, though his face gave no sign of panic. In that moment Lewis' mind saw Christian as the sole cause for his hell, and in this belief came the thought that with bringing Christian's life to an end would also bring about an end to his hell. Something though, some buried and nearly forgotten fragment of sanity took hold of Lewis. That something fought back the insanity that consumed Lewis in that moment and suddenly he realized the magnitude of what he was doing and the horror of what he was about to become. Letting go of Christian he stumbled towards the door, not willing to lay his eyes upon either the bringer of insanity or his friend. That stumble pushed him through the room's doors and left him collapsed against a nearby wall where his head fell into his hands and he quietly sobbed.
Randy soon followed him, dispensing comforting words and reassurances that Christian would not be a bother to him again. It didn't matter though. Nothing at all really mattered. None of it mattered in that moment to Lewis as all he could do was sit there and pray that salvation from this hell was still possible.