Chapter 2 - Le Laid

They took me out of my room for a lot of testing. Eye tests, hearing tests, movement tests- you name it, I had it. I flunked everything except for hearing. I guess being blind had its perks.

I had few visitors that week. A lady and a man; apparently they were my old aunt and uncle. I referred to everything from my old life as old and everything from my new life...well you get it.

"But why can't we see him?!" A sharp woman's voice came from the other side of the door.

"We don't know how he might respond. If memories resurface-"

"It would be a good thing," A man's voice joined.

A sigh.

"Look, as the doctor who has been watching over him, I don't think he can handle that kind of trauma," Dr Ecel tried.

"I don't care," the man sounded quite frustrated, "I came all this way to see my nephew, and I'm not leaving without making sure he's okay!"

The door flew open.

"Look you can't just...Well...perhaps a few minutes," Dr Ecel said, walking over to my bed.

"Erik, honey, do you remember us?" The woman asked.

"He hasn't remembered anything from before the accident. Not to mention, he's blind-"

"My name's Erik?" I asked.

'Why haven't I asked Dr Ecel my name yet? Did it just not come up?' I thought to myself.

"Yes. Erik Destler. Your father, Mason Destler was my brother," The man said.

Erik Destler. The more I thought it, the more it didn't fit how I felt. I felt like a Jimmy or a Lenny. Something weaker.

"Who are you?" I wished I could see him. He sounded like an older man, perhaps forties or fifties.

"Thomas Destler. I'm your uncle."

"And I'm Liza, your aunt."

These...relatives of mine told me all about my old life. My father was a lawyer, and my mother worked in real estate. I had a little sister who was four. Her name was Evey. She died as well.

I asked them about myself. They told me I liked playing with spy kits and walkie-talkies when I was younger. As I grew older, I got interested in martial arts. Then track and baseball. Last year, I traded that all in to play video games on xbox live twenty-four hours a day.

So, I was a regular teenage boy.

Well, now I was a regular, blind, immobile teenage boy.

"Thats all?" I yawned. I had no sense of time in this hospital room. It could be ten at night or ten in the morning for all I knew.

"Yes," Dr Ecel pressed, "That's all. If you want to visit with him in the morning, fine by me. But he needs rest. So. Out." She could be quite pushy sometimes. Making sure I took my medicine and got plenty to drink everyday. Too much sleep was unheard of. Too little sleep was like a beeper in her head- the Dr could tell. Ecel was really good at her job. I was lucky to have her.

A lot of time passed in that hospital room. Almost a month after the accident; I had become adjusted to my situation. My hearing was my best trait. I could recognize who visited me by the sound of their footsteps. Dr Ecel was light on her feet, but she always wore heels, and that gave her away. My uncle had heavy footsteps, which led me to believe he was not a thin man, and his boots always squeaked when he turned to enter my room. Liza was the tough one- at first, I mistook her for Dr Ecel. But then, Liza always paused before she opened my door. It was like this- a bunch of taps from a pair of high heels followed by silence, and then the door flying open. I felt like a genius.

I was laying in complete silence, waiting patiently for my weekly appointment with a team of hired doctors. Every week, we all met- Dr Ecels, the surgeons, and my uncle and aunt- to discuss my situation.

There had been no footsteps. No casual breathing. Not even the sound of someone smacking gum between their teeth.

"Hello," A dark, sharp, male voice rang in my ears. The hair on the back of my head stood up.

Run. Run. RUN.

You idiot. I can't run.

"Who's there?" I asked. I couldn't even sense where he was in the room.

"I'm Satan," He said.

Believing he was making a joke, I barked out a tense laugh, "And I'm an olympic gold medalist."

Not the best response, but I'd hoped he'd roll with it..

And he did, letting out the scariest laugh I'd ever heard, "Ah, no you're not. But you could be."

There was something very off about him. I wanted this to stop- this conversation that left me feeling extremely...vulnerable in my crippled, blind state. I wanted him to leave. With every fiber of my being, I wanted to be anywhere but here.

"You're being insensitive. Not to mention, why the hell are you in my room?" I asked, trying to sound offensive instead of pushing that response into my vocal chords by sheer will power.

Escape. Quickly. Leave. Now. Run. Run. Run.

Why am I so scared? I don't know who this is. He probably just has the wrong room or something. Why can't I think with his voice in the room?

EscapeYoureGoingToDie. QuicklyBeforeYouDie. LeaveOrElseYoullDie. NowErikNOW. RunRun. RunRun. RunRun.

"Hell is precisely the reason, my boy."