Eternal drifted back to Delicate Rose and both entities coalesced to see a tall man of authoritative bearing looming. She immediately sensed she would be safer under his care. The Doctor! Had she been injured? She couldn’t remember. Her blood! How much blood had she lost? While in her terrified state, this man did not change into a hideous creature to prey on her, but she sensed his inner turmoil.
“Have you ascertained her injuries, Nurse Marteau?”
“They seem to be nothing more than superficial scratches, Doctor Vernier.”
“You’re in safe hands now ... do you have a name?” The doctor smiled down at her, a kindly tanned face etched with a thin moustache. He had the appearance of an actor, suave, sophisticated, reminding her of someone close. But who? This man was also hiding his feelings. Again, something about him reminded her of her own past, but what precisely, she could not discern. He removed her restraints.
“Such pale skin. So delicate.” The doctor checked her pulse with a cool gentle touch and gave a satisfied grunt. He repeated this procedure with a stethoscope to her monotonously slow heartbeat. He frowned and tested her heart again.
“Was she in a distressed state when you first examined her, Nurse Marteau?”
“She has been like that since her arrival, Doctor Vernier.” Nurse Marteau smirked wickedly at the patient.
“Hmm ... this is most peculiar.” Doctor Vernier continued with the stethoscope. “Her heart rate is exceedingly slow ... especially after such an obvious ordeal.” The doctor finished with the stethoscope and wrapped it around his neck. He shrugged, touching numerous cuts and scratches on her face, legs, lower arms and feet, all the time staring into her eyes.
“Interesting ... no reactions.” He gave Delicate Rose an encouraging smile. “Can you remember what happened to you?”
Delicate Rose stared blankly at the man, her fear stapling her mouth shut with tight lips.
“Can you remember where you live?” The doctor waited a few seconds for an answer. “What is your name?” He gripped her right arm and raised it before letting it go.
Delicate Rose’s arm stayed where it was, as rigid as a board. She saw the look of recognition on the doctor’s face. He was thinking of some kind of mental disorder.
“Take the patient to the shower room. Perhaps then she will be more forthcoming.” The good doctor opened the door to leave.
Delicate Rose became frantic. She tried to get off the bed but her ankle restraints prevented her. She so desperately wanted to tell this man what had happened to her, but her memory failed to produce the answer. She could only mouth that one word – Eternal.
The doctor paused at the door. “You know what to do, Nurse Marteau.” He left the room.
With a solid slap from the witch, Eternal took control as she glared into the dead eyes of the thing masquerading as a woman. She tried to scream, but her fear closed her throat. Blinking in shock, her head twisted as the witch slapped her face again. It pushed her down and shackled her to the steel cart, taking pleasure at the over-tightened straps cutting into her flesh.
“Oh my ... are the straps too tight.” The witch cackled. “You’re mine now ... so be a good girl or you’ll never be free ... never!”
With mounting dread, Eternal’s worst nightmare entered the room.
The demonic Bonbon flashed its black tongue. It massaged its bulging groin with obvious intent as it wheeled the gurney out into the corridor, where the tormented screams and moans of the insane filled the air. The gargoyle-like monster leered at her in a most vile manner.
~~~~
Eternal lay helpless as she was wheeled into another room tiled in white from floor to ceiling. Along one wall were attached showerheads, dripping in anticipation. Being so close to this demon forced lurid images of its evil design into her mind.
She flinched at the grenade exploding in its face to forever take away its good looks. Convulsions rippled her body as its hands gripped the throat of a screaming woman, trying to throttle the life from her. Eternal jolted along with the demon as the current surged through its strapped body. But most of all, she received a strong signal that this demon inhabited a paradise for the perverse. It was home to stay.
The wheeled bed came to rest in a small room with coat hooks on the walls and chairs draped with towels. The demon undid the straps with trembling fingers and gasping lungs. It moaned with obvious delight as it indicated for her to disrobe with a shaking hand.
Eternal stared at the grotesque creature in abject terror. She shook her head no. The hideous monster struck her across the face with the back of its pustule-ridden hand.
“Do as Bonbon says or you’ll have some of this.” The demon undid its fly and removed its Devil’s prong. It started to rub itself.
Eternal whimpered in terror. She slowly backed away with thoughts of this demon drinking her life’s blood. Not her blood! Those thoughts quickly evaporated as the rampant demon advanced on her with a sickening grin full of rotting teeth and that black tongue flicking in and out. The room began to swirl.
Chapter 7
ETERNAL’S LEGS BUCKLED when her back struck a wall. There was nowhere to go.
The demonic Bonbon advanced upon her with his vile, twitching erection dribbling green puss. The demon’s thick tongue slobbered with pleasure.
Eternal looked frantically from side to side but all she could see was an empty room tiled in white. She tried to escape but was cut off by the demon. It shoved her against the wall with bone-jarring force. Its fetid breath raped her sense of smell with the stench of death. She squirmed in disgust as its demon horn nudged her groin.
“Nice ... nice ... nice,” the demon said with drool sliding from its ugly maw. “Take it all off for Bonbon.”
Eternal shook her head no, backing away.
The hideous creature grinned, licking its bloated red lips with its black tongue. It blew her a kiss and advanced, stroking its erection.
The demon witch marched in looking for trouble. “Put that away, you damned fool!”
Bonbon fumbled his cock back into his trousers. “Later,” the demon promised as it left with a cackle.
Eternal collapsed to the floor and wept stinging tears of utter defeat. She probed the male demon’s mind. It needed to devour her like a raw piece of meat. That’s how it saw all its victims. She now knew she would die before fulfilling her destiny. Oblivion awaited her where a cold death would strip her of her very existence. She curled into the fetal position and whimpered with utter dread.
Strange whispers hissed like snakes, drawing her from her terror. She blinked at the writhing bodies of naked women before her. They were all possessed by filthy demons. Her hunger visualized their blood spurting from their necks.
The bodies quivered and whispered, “Eternal.”
Eternal noticed her torn dress stained with her blood. She gasped with shock at seeing her wasted essence.
Delicate Rose shuddered back into her reality. She looked with fearful eyes at white chairs bolted to the white tiled floor. White towels were draped over the back of the chairs. To one side was a folding screen, partially obscuring a door. Several middle-aged women were seated upon the chairs giving her frightened looks. They whispered secretively and pointed trembling fingers at Delicate Rose.
One woman asked, “Are you Eternal?”
“Enough of that, girls!” Nurse Marteau glared at Delicate Rose with open hatred. “Well, get on with it.” She shoved Delicate Rose.
Delicate Rose stared blankly from the angry nurse to the other women as they started to disrobe. She had no idea where she was or how she got here. Her keen senses were as drab as the white tiles. She began to tremble with sheer terror gripping her mind like a vice. Pathetic whimpering escaped her lips and hot tears ran down her face. She closed her eyes thinking when she opened them all would be normal. Her inner sense slowly returned as her fear dwindled to a tolerable squirm of snakes in her stomach. Eternal took control with a shudder.
Eternal stared
with complete disgust at the door concealed by the folding screen. She used her power to enter the demon’s mind. Sickening as it was she had to know its intent.
She saw the demon’s hands go about its business folding the gurney. It hummed as it furtively entered the changing room through a secret door and squatted behind the folding screen. Its eye gazed upon her beauty through a peephole in the screen.
Eternal stared at the folding screen with utter disgust. She was shoved again by the witch and sensed a beating was on its way if she didn’t disrobe. She slipped out of her bloody gown. The witch picked up the dress, grunted and stormed off.
Eternal stood naked and bloody before the leering gaze of the male demon behind the screen. The thing likened her pale skin to the fine bone china tea service its mother used on special days. She put a hand to her mouth and gagged as it furiously masturbated, fixated on her vision of loveliness. As it ejaculated, the demon made a decision to take extra-special care of Eternal. She deserved his special attention.
Eternal’s rage surfaced. She dashed across the room towards the screen. The screen trembled. She sensed the demon scurrying into the storage room. Its fear at being found out enraged her further. She ripped the screen to shreds with long fingernails. She thumped the storage door and sensed the demon leaning against it. Its festering heart beat so loudly she hoped it would burst. Perverted whimpering came from the other side of the door and the sound of the demon slumping to the floor. She felt vital, alive, powerful at her small victory.
Eternal walked with the air of superiority to face the terrified glances from the other women. She ignored them, they were nothing to her. When the sting of the water cleansed her cuts and scratches, she shuddered at the flashing images of her immediate past forcing her precarious mind to relive that ordeal. She felt the cold hard rain driving into her face as she stumbled along the country road. All she could think of was escaping this chamber of horrors. But for now, she allowed the warm water to cleanse her hair and body. It felt good.
A distant voice echoed in the darkest recesses of her disturbed mind, calling to her with that single word – Eternal. She allowed the word to fill her with its incessant allure. Instinct told her it was her destiny to embrace that word.
“I am Eternal,” she whispered. She quivered with delight as the terrors washed from her ravaged body to reveal her true self in all her shimmering beauty. She showered in her divine opalescence as if she were the mistress moon herself. The dark music of her vampiric lullaby sent ripples of her power flowing outwards. Her mind filled the room and sensed the timid lives trembling before her. Those poor wretches!
The other women scrambled to the furthermost corner of the shower room, quivering with fear as the strange, dark song filled their deranged minds. They stared at her in awe and trepidation.
“She is Eternal, sent by the Devil himself,” a patient whispered with a look of sheer dread.
“What can we do?” another whispered, hiding her eyes from Eternal’s glory.
“She has come for us,” another said, tears of terror pouring down her face.
The women huddled for comfort, whimpering and trembling.
Eternal smiled at their discomfort and shuddered with delight as the warm water cleansed her body and soul. She was so close to her real world that all thoughts and fears evaporated with the steamy mist from the shower heads. Her otherworldly strength caressed her as the fine spray of water became a torrent of hot blood. She opened her mouth and relished its sweet taste. Moaning with delight, she massaged her breasts and vagina.
~~~~
As Eternal listlessly dried her skin a new torrent of fear crashed headlong into her.
The vile witch charged across the shower room into the changing area intent on inflicting herself on her patients. She came to a sudden stop to see the new patient drop her towel. The other women, fully dressed, were huddled together in a far corner, mumbling incoherently.
One of the female patients pointed and screamed out, “Eternal! God save us!”
The festering creature frowned at the other women and shook her head in anger. “Eternal be damned! Enough of that nonsense or you’ll all miss dinner.” She smiled sweetly and whispered loud enough for Eternal to hear. “What a herd of stupid bloody cows.”
“Bonbon!” she shouted. She herded the stupid cows across the changing room into the tender care of Bonbon.
Eternal smirked at Bonbon’s unease. The demon looked away from her intense gaze and shooed the women along like cattle. As the women entered the hallway they immediately cheered up, delightfully insane, giggling like schoolgirls, but all keeping a wary eye on Bonbon.
Nurse Marteau whirled round and stormed up face to face with Eternal. She tossed a grey hospital gown to cover her hideously pale bitch’s skin.
Eternal repulsed from the onslaught of hateful thoughts from the witch. The thing was sickened by the patient openly displaying her Devil’s slip cover like the filthy whore that she was. It needed to beat some good sense into the patient.
Eternal sent her own message to the witch. The vile matriarch shook her head, trying to dispel the ancient music caressing her tormented mind with the screams of ravens. She stared at her patient with a look of pure hatred and disgust.
Eternal picked up the gown, slipping it on as if in a sublime trance, not a sound uttered.
“That’s better, whore!” the stinking witch said with a sneer. She snatched Eternal by the arm and dragged her out of the changing room and down the corridor.
Eternal stared at the putrid witch trying to wrench her arm from the socket. Her inner sense told her this vile creature had done the same to many of the patients with an equal passion for inflicting pain. She wondered what was to become of her.
Glancing up, she saw her reflection in the steel mirror attached in the corner above a door. The face staring back at her was horribly distorted, almost demonic. She wondered where she was and what these people would do to her as she paused to stare at this twisted funhouse mirror reflection, not recognizing the face. She wondered if a demon resided within her.
The witch yanked her along with obvious impatience.
Eternal was dragged up the winding staircase and into a corridor bathed in unbearable sunshine. She faltered at the scorching light, shielding her eyes from the intense bombardment that seared her soul. Her screams bounced from the plain white walls. She broke loose from the witch and tried to run back through the door.
Eternal could not open the door. She looked around in shock and terror. She was trapped in this furnace. The witch slammed her against a wall, almost knocking out her front teeth. Her lip bled. Her arm was wrenched and twisted behind her back.
“You ever do that again, you’ll be found strangled by your own bedclothes.” The hideous creature sneered into her patient’s ear. The witch smiled wickedly as she forced her patient forward.
The shocking treatment brought Delicate Rose back. She turned her face away from the stinging golden rays of sunlight.
The nurse used a large key to open a door and shoved hard, sending her straight into a prison cell.
Delicate Rose smashed into the tiny cot, slicing her shins on the metal frame. She cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor. She looked up to pure revulsion on the nurse’s face. Her eyes quickly looked away from that hateful glare.
Searing pain lanced her arm. Sunlight from the barred window sprayed harmful rays over her. With little room to spare, she scurried away from the golden glow, almost knocking over a metal bucket chained to the wall. She was slapped across the face by her tormentor. Delicate Rose’s inner sense was bombarded with a barrage of hate, disgust and murderous thoughts.
“Sit down, you bitch!” the nurse screeched almost hysterically, going purple with rage.
Delicate Rose could not turn away from the look of disgust aimed at her. She was forced to sit on the cot with a stern hand on her shoulder. Her fragile skin was gripped with deliberate intent and twisted by bony fingers.
“You could do with some extra meat on those bones, filthy whore.” The hideous woman frowned at the lack of reply. She gripped one of Delicate Rose’s nipples and twisted it almost off. The nurse’s dismay at the lack of reaction froze on her hateful glare.
“I’ll let Bonbon spray his seed on your filthy pillows. He likes that.” She cackled. “I imagine you will too.” Nurse Marteau shook her head with disgust as she left the room. The door was slammed shut with a thunderous boom eliciting wails of despair from the other patients.
Delicate Rose remained on the firm bed and stared out the window. She rubbed her sore breasts and cried silent tears. To shield her eyes from the intense glare she pulled her thin cotton gown up over her face. She removed her improvised sunglasses and turned to the sound of a bolt locking the door. If ever there was a hell on this earth, this was it.
Her tears flowed unabated as she tried desperately to understand her predicament. With squinting, bloodshot eyes she risked another peek out of the window. She quickly turned away, blinking several times to remove the after-image of searing white from her vision.
She removed the only blanket and draped it over the window. She had to repeat this several times with eyes closed from the hurtful rays. Once the blanket stayed up, she curled up in the fetal position on the cot. She rocked back and forth in a state of total exhaustion and paranoia, brought on by fear of – the fear of? It was no use.
Delicate Rose could not remember the source of her fear. She concentrated with every fiber of her body, but nothing came to her. If only she could remember, but try as she might, she could not grasp that intangible truth that lurked amongst nightmarish images of blood and torment.
The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels Page 180
