Nicolas Volaski

Miss Yo

English 3

12/12/13

Gothic short story

"Keep running, I cannot stop running!" Thought Simon, running as fast as his long, chubby legs could handle. Simon was running in the woods, a few miles out of London, he was running from… well, actually, I should explain what happened.

It was one week previous, or one month? I really can't tell anymore, it all just happened so fast. I was in the asylum, it's been my home since I was 10, and my father beat me and killed my mother, something just, snapped, I went insane I leapt up, sprinted at my father, snatched his knife out of his hand, and I stabbed him again, and again, by the time the police got there, I was stabbing nothing more than bones with human pulp surrounding them. You wouldn't even be able to recognize me.

After that, I spent several decades in an asylum, reliving that night over aNd OvEr AnD OVER! But, I'm over it now. Anyway, after about 20 years, I fell into a coma

After about a year, I awoke from the coma, with no memory, just one word. "Simon" was that… was that MY name? No last name, just "Simon." Let's jump in here, why don't we?

"Agh! My head!" I muttered, slowly propping my body up, with the help of my arms. I ran my left hand through my long, sandy brown hair. "I, I can't remember anything. Who am I?" I asked myself while my head was pounding, as if I had a thousand jack-hammers beating my skull. I looked around to try and find out where I was. I saw bright, white lights, and equally bright walls, I heard a HORRIBLE noise. Beep, beep, beep. "Am I… dead?" I muttered, taking in a deep breath through my nose. "AGH!" I exclaimed as my nostrils were attacked with the smell of morphine, iodine, blood and so many other things. As I look to my right, I notice a heart monitor. "Ah! A hospital! That explains the beeping." I exclaimed as I realized where I was.

"Finally up, I see?" Said a feminine voice, as a pungent smell of peach perfume, mixing with all of those horrible smells.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in London; you've been quite the mystery to us, our own John Doe, just showed up outside our doors, in a coma." The nurse said.

After that, she asked me the usual questions, What's your name? What year is it? Etc. The exciting part didn't happen until a few days later, when I was released from the hospital, the strangest thing happened there was a man waiting for me. I walked up to the awaiting chauffer. "Good afternoon Mister Tyler." Said the chauffer. "Tyler?" I thought. "I'm Simon Tyler?" So, I walked up to this tall, monster of a man. I looked up to his face, a rough looking face, with some stubble on his chin, as if he were just starting to grow a beard. He had a regular-sized nose, which had clearly been broken before. He had eyes so black that they seemed to stare into my very soul. And he had a military style haircut in his short, black hair.

As I walked up to the man, he put his hand behind my back, and he said, "Right this way." In what must have been his best attempt at a cheery voice. He didn't say it, but the message was clear, 'you will come with me, or else…'

So, as I got in the car, it smelled like a new car, mixed with, with something, I couldn't quite place, but it smelled horrible. And, with that smell, I had a sort of flashback, as I bent over, gripping my head.

There I was, under the table, scared out of my mind. I heard screaming, coupled with the laugh of a maniac. A bone-chilling laugh that could only be from a crazy person. Then, it just stopped. I heard footsteps as I looked around the corner, I saw a horrifying image. My father, with a manic grin, covered in blood, eyes almost red, and my mother's dismantled remains. At this point, my vision went red, and I jumped at my father.

I gasped when I finally got out of the flashback. The chauffer continued driving as if nothing happened. And, in that moment, I recognized that smell, the smell of a dead body, freshly killed.

When we finally arrived, we were at a large mansion. It was, maybe 5 stories high, and twice as wide, it was very old looking, and even from the front smelled like mold and dust. In the garden, I swear I could see a young man, no older than 28, in a tan trench coat with short, dark brown hair. Then, I blinked, and he was gone.

As I walked in the house, my nose was assaulted with a variety of smells, mold, rotten food, the air even smelled stale, and there was that smell again, the smell of a dead body, except, I didn't have a flashback this time. We went to the stairs, and went down to the basement.

"This is no basement." I thought, "This is a dungeon. And it's occupied." As we walked through the dungeon, I could hear nothing but screams, and smell only people's insides. As I looked into an open door, I saw a person in a strait jacket, muttering something unintelligible. Then, I had another flashback.

"Tell me what you saw that night." Said a man. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move my arms, I looked down, I was in a strait jacket. "I saw my dad k-" It was like my mouth was moving on its own. I was cut off by the sharp pain of a thick, leather whip to my face. *CRACK* "No, you were at the arcade, playing video games all day."

I gasped, as I got off the ground. "Was- was I abused in an asylum?" I thought, as we walked up to a door, at the end of the hall. We walked in, and I heard something completely unexpected, a light-hearted, cheerful voice. "Welcome!" He said, "Come in, come in, I know Crowley can be such a grouch!" So, I walked in, silently noting my driver's name as Crowley. "Now then, you were dead." And with that statement, I had what would be my final flashback.

I was in a pure white room, surrounded by lights. I was in a chair, looking down, I was strapped into it. I heard a voice, it said "Now, we're going to give you some medicine that's going to help you sleep, for a very long time." This doctor said, then laughed evily. I struggled, trying to escape, but I was bound too tight.

I gasped yet again, this time, I was in a chair. The man said, "Ah! Yes, flashbacks are a common side effect of the reanimation process. I brought you back. Now, I'm sure you're curious, but first we'll have a few tests. How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked as he held up 3 fingers.

"3" I said.

"Very good, now, Crowley, retrieve my buzz saw." And, with that, I ran as fast as I could to the door, as the man shouted out, "RELEASE SUBJECT X!"

And that's how we got here, running in the forest. As I looked back, I got a good look at the creature following me. It was a humanoid figure, but it had several different skin tones, as if it were several humans stitched together, it was bald and had a disfigured mouth. But that short pause was enough for it to catch up. It lifted its arm, revealing long claws, as he brought down his arm.

I woke up screaming. I was in my bed, no older than 10, and my mother ran in. She came to my bedside, and soothed me. "Shh. It was just a nightmare, nothing bad will happen to you, we have angels watching over us." And, just as I thought it was all a dream, I looked in the hall, expecting my father, but instead, saw the man in the trench coat, as he winked at me, then disappeared, right in front of me.