Onyx Neon Shorts Presents: Horror Collection - 2015

by Wesolowski, MJ

  “When can I go home?”

  “It’s very simple, Vanessa,” he lightly closed his notepad. “I’m just asking you to talk to me. Tell me what they are, and only then will we be able to begin the process of getting you home. You said that on the night of the incident the rayis.... “

  “Stop saying their names!”

  Without warning it stood up completely and in two steps it was inches from my face. I dropped my head between my elbows and began to rock in my chair. I could only see a pair of gray feet in front of my own, long thick nails adding inches to the foot, while the skin seemed as if it would rip apart if touched too harshly. Its cold breath washed over the back of my neck.

  “Vanessa?” The doctor called out. “Vanessa, they aren’t real. There is nothing there.”

  I coward back into the chair, cradling my knees.

  “Vanessa!” He sat there snapping his fingers. “Vanessa...!”

  Finally, I screamed.

  I think this was the part they liked the most, seeing me dragged out of the session kicking and screaming, questioning my own sanity. Huge men dropped me onto a stretcher. I wiggled and yelled out until my voice couldn’t rise over a squeal. One grabbed both of my arms and the other my legs. I wriggled free and my foot caught his mouth.

  The doctor followed the orderlies out and watched me from his doorway.

  Next to him stood one of his younger nurses, I watched as she prepped the needle.

  “I need you to calm down.” The doctor said.

  “Why did you keep saying their names?” I asked breathlessly. “They don’t like when you talk about them.”

  He cuffed his hand around his mouth and dragged it down the length of his beard.

  “Vanessa,” he said firmly, “We’ve been through this, time and time again.”

  I took short quick breaths as tears spilled over onto my face.

  “They’re right there,” I could barely hear myself. “Right behind you!”

  The doctor shook his head in response. He glanced at the nurse for a moment, before walking back into his office.

  The nurse reached past the orderlies and wiped down my arm and pushed the needle into the bend of my elbow. I could feel the sedative rushing through me, easing every muscle.

  “Everything is going to be okay Vanessa,” someone whispered before I lost consciousness.

  * * *

  The next day I was accompanied by two orderlies when I met with the doctor. He was sitting on his couch waiting for me. His hair wasn’t neatly combed back as it usually was; salt and pepper strands fell onto his face. He was already writing in his notepad.

  “Hopefully you’re feeling much better today.” He quickly glanced up at the orderly next to me with the swollen lip as we were sitting down. “So let’s talk ....” he paused for a moment. “....about them.” On the far-side of the room there was one of them; it was hovering above a pair of reading glasses on the doctor’s desk; resting its hand in the air as if it couldn’t actually touch them. There was another one, more interested in a picture frame on the desk that was flipped over so that it was no longer visible. “What are they doing now, Vanessa?”

  I turned my head to face the doctor, one of the orderlies was still looking in the other direction, trying to see what I could.

  “They’re interested in your stuff.” I explained.

  “Why my stuff?” He pushed the word out like a preacher cursing.

  “I have my theories.”

  “Would you like to discuss some of those with me?” He asked.

  “Nope.” I said. His eyes immediately looked up from his notepad and met with mine, his head followed at a delay. I could see he was clenching his teeth together in his mouth, his nose slightly flared.

  “Well, I would like to discuss some of those with you.” He said.

  “Can they be in here?” I asked using my thumb to point at one of the orderlies. He took in a slow deliberate breath and let his eyes rest on the ceiling for a moment.

  “I can imagine that this is something you don’t want to talk about, and I really do want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t talk about what happened that night.” He scratched his beard hard and waited for me to say something in response and when I didn’t, I was escorted out of his office.

  * * *

  I didn’t see the doctor again for about a week. His office was the only room I knew of that had a window in the entire building. Sometimes the smell of the weather filled up his office and overflowed into the hallways through the crack at the bottom of his door. Today it was gloomy outside and I could smell the rain before I opened the door. The doctor stood in his office, trying to get a stain out of his shirt.

  “You’re early.” He said, surprised.

  “Actually, I’m late.” We both glanced up at the clock on the wall.

  “Take a seat.” He pointed in the direction of the couches as if I didn’t already know where to go. “I was told that you’ve been complaining about things in your room going missing,” he began once I was seated, though he continued with his shirt. “You’ve been blaming these disappearances on this rayis…”

  “Who else would want my things?”

  “Maybe you’ve just misplaced them.” He sat down at his desk and began opening and closing drawers in search for something. He then started searching through the pile of manila folders and loose paperwork on his desk. Not finding what he was looking for, he scooted his chair back and began looking on the floor around his desk. Eventually he popped back up with a silver pen.

  “They like to take things that belong to me.” I said.

  “Like your hair brush and toothpaste.” He walked over to his couch and sat down. He grabbed the notepad sitting on the wooden table and began to write. “To my understanding, you don’t have much need of that hairbrush since you cut your hair, and you stopped using that toothpaste because there was a hole at the bottom. We gave you a replacement. These aren’t incredibly special items.”

  “They aren’t,” I mumbled. “But they’re mine.”

  “When was the last time you saw them?” He asked.

  “I haven’t seen them for a week.” I began biting the skin off my lip as he wrote “Lately, I only see them when I’m meeting with you.”

  Our fourth meeting was only hours after the third. It was late at night and I asked to see the doctor. Usually the doctor isn’t in, or he turns down the request because, as he says, his free time doesn’t belong to us. Surprisingly though, the doctor was in his office and he was willing to speak with me. I was escorted by one of the nurses working the night shift in my ward. She wore her uniform a tad bit shorter than the rest of the women she worked with. Usually when someone needs to speak with the doctor outside of their scheduled times, she was the one that walked with us. We used to see her and the doctor around together all the time. She knocked lightly on the door; when he answered she smiled at him, though he didn’t offer one in return. He opened the door just wide enough for me to slip through, then he closed the door behind me.

  “Long night?” I asked as I plopped down on the couch.

  “A very long night indeed.” He used his fingers to push his hair out of his face. I’d never seen him without his white coat before—he looked like someone you would see every day. He was an older man, about fifty, which was considerably older than me. He was very tall and slender. His white shirt was pulled out of his black slacks, and his tie was pulled down away from his neck. The room smelled of alcohol, beneath the mist of the rain. On the floor next to his feet there was a suitcase, which he kicked under his desk when he saw me looking at it. “Why was it so urgent that you speak with me?”

  “You know, I couldn’t see them before.” I said.

  He walked over and sat on his usual couch across from me, there was a half-eaten TV dinner on the table between us. He didn’t reach for the notepad this time; he rested his forearms on his thighs and watched me as I spoke.

  “Things started going missing around th
e house, little things that you wouldn’t notice unless you were really thinking about it.”

  “Much like your hair brush and toothpaste.”

  “Exactly like that.” I said, snapping my fingers, “I don’t think they care for those little things though, they’re just testing themselves.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “When I see them, they’re usually hovering over things but not actually holding anything. More recently, though, this hasn’t been true.”

  His face was squished together, his brow really low on his face.

  “After they took those things, they eventually came after my mom, is what I’m trying to say”

  “Vanessa...”

  “And Doctor, I think they’re after you next.”

  “Vanessa, I don’t th—”

  “They’re intrigued by you and your connection to me.” My words were beginning to run together. “I think only the people they touch can see them, that’s why—”

  “Vanessa, stop!” He said. His eyes were wide as he looked at me. “These things that you’re talking about aren’t real. I’m not a material possession of yours, I don’t belong to you in any way.” He shook his head. “You’ve only regressed in your time here.”

  “I’m not making this up!” My voice was beginning to rise. “I’m trying to help you.”

  “I think it’s time for you to leave.” He stood up, walked to his door and yelled out that he needed some assistance. Two orderlies came in, each grabbed one of my arms and lifted me off the couch.

  “This isn’t fair!” I was beginning to cry, I couldn’t see the faces of the men attempting to carry me out, a pair of pink blurs. I was struggling. I picked my feet completely off the ground at one point and when that didn’t stop them, I dropped my feet and allowed them to drag behind me. “They took her from me!” I yelled out. I was trying to pull my arm free, but I wasn’t having any luck.

  “Stop!” The doctor yelled behind us. “What did you say?”

  The two men twisted me around so that I could see the doctor.

  “They took her.” I whimpered. “They took her from me.”

  “Is that what you think happened?” He squinted his eyes and turned his head sideways. “Your mother is dead. Why do you think you were put here, Vanessa? They don’t lock people in places like this because they can’t find someone.”

  “My mother is missing.”

  “She died that night.” His face was torn between compassion and confusion. “Have you forgotten that already?” He asked softening his voice.

  I felt as if I was being choked, I couldn’t get anything out. The top of my shirt was soaked, the cool breeze coming through the window froze it against me. I looked up to see two rayis’ leaning against his desk, smiling at me.

  * * *

  I refused to talk to the doctor for three weeks after that night. When we spoke again he personally called me to his office. It was after the time we were usually scheduled to meet, his window was wide open, and leaves were blown in from the outside and scattered around his floor. His office was a mess, his desk was covered in papers and folders, along with leaves and scattered coffee mugs.

  I walked in and sat in my usual spot but this time he sat next to me. He looked as if he hadn’t had any sleep in the past couple of weeks. He had visible bags under his eyes, and he kept rolling his neck as if he were trying to stretch out the muscle.

  “I wanted to apologize about what I said to you the last time we spoke.” He let out a deep breath before speaking again. “I shouldn’t have told you that information in the way I did, and I apologize for being so unprofessional with you.” I dropped my eyes and stared at his hands as he spoke. “I want to see you get better, and I know you might not see that, but I really do.” He locked his fingers and tapped his thumbs together. His left ring finger was bare, though we all knew he was married. “I want nothing more than to see you out of here, but you have to help us out.”

  “What do you want to know?” I asked quietly without looking up. I could feel my eyes beginning to water up again. “Do you all think that I killed my mom?”

  “No, Vanessa.”

  “I wouldn’t forget something like that, you know?”

  “We don’t think you killed her, but we think you saw who did.”

  “It was them, like I’ve told you.”

  “They aren’t real, that is your mind creating things to cover up a traumatic experience. Vanessa, this isn’t uncommon...” he paused, careful of his words. “Just tell me what happened that night, please.”

  I took in a few deep, shaky breaths. I cuffed my hands around my mouth for a moment, gently rocking in place. Slowly I allowed my hands to drag away from my mouth, falling limp on my lap.

  “It took me a while to notice it, how she wouldn’t look directly at me.” I began. “Her eyes were always in my direction, but slightly off as if she was looking at something behind me. She complained constantly about not being able to find things and my father, feeling helpless, would buy her new things to replace the old ones. He couldn’t fix her and I think that’s what scared him the most. One day he left for work and never came home. My mom wasn’t wrong, things around the house were missing—nail clippers, spare reading glasses, pencils and pens—things you wouldn’t really notice unless you were paying attention…

  “That night the house was freezing. I heard her up late talking to herself, like I heard her doing for the past couple of months. It wasn’t until the talking turning to yelling and the yelling turned into screaming did I run downstairs. My mom was in the kitchen when I found her, she was laying on her side, using one of her arms to pull herself backward across the floor. The other hand was outstretched in front of her, like to defend herself against something invisible that was attacking her. I yelled for her once and she didn’t respond. The second time I called for her, she screamed. She was begging that I be left alone and I was begging for her to stop, to stop her bullshit because I was scared and I needed her to see me. I promised her that I was the only person in the room. I took a step towards her with intention of lifting her off the ground, but I was pushed into another room by this incredibly powerful force. I listened to her scream; I wanted so badly to help, but I couldn’t move. Eventually the screaming stopped, and I got to see the face of the monsters that took my mother from me...”

  “Vanessa, it’s okay.” The doctor’s voice rang through.

  I didn’t realizing I was crying. “There were two of them.” I said, barely raising my voice.

  “Two?” He asked.

  “One grabbed me and the other was with my mom.” My voice was shaky.

  “And his face?” He grabbed his notepad and was writing frantically. “What did his face look like?” He pressed.

  I looked up at the doctor and my answer got caught in my throat. There was a hand resting on his shoulder. There were only four fingers and the gray papery skin cling tightly around the bones. The long fingernails were just short of digging into his shoulder. When I didn’t respond right away, he allowed his pen to drop.

  He followed my gaze to his shoulder before closing his notepad and putting it back on the table.

  * * *

  The seventh meeting was the last one and completely unplanned. I was on my way to dinner with some of the girls I share a ward with, when I passed his office, his door was cracked and a strong smell of grass was beginning to seep out. I peeped my head in and the doctor was sitting on his usual couch, looking out his window. He must have heard the opening of the door because he abruptly turned around to see who was there.

  “Oh, Vanessa.” He said once he got a good look. “I didn’t think I had anyone scheduled for today.” He pulled back the sleeves of his white shirt and looked at his watch.

  “No, no.” I said stepping completely into his office. “I just noticed your door was open and looked in.”

  “You missed your last few sessions, Vanessa.” He said quietly.

  “I didn’t have any new
information for you.” I stepped further into his office and closed the door behind myself. On the table sat the doctor’s notepad and next to it was a fancy glass, filled a little less than halfway with what I assumed to be whiskey. He rested his hand on the glass for a moment before finishing off what was in it, puckering his mouth at the taste.

  “You really believe that these things killed your mom?” He asked without looking at me.

  Before I could answer the door swung open, and a was standing in the door. “I’m sorry, but I thought I lost her,” she said looking between the both of us carefully. “She’s going to have come with me.” She waited at the doorway for me to follow her out.

  The doctor cleared his throat and looked into his empty glass. “She’s right, I think it’s time for you both to go. I need to finish up something in here anyhow.” He picked himself off the couch and a low moan escaped his mouth. He walked to an area behind his desk where there was a larger glass bottle filled with more whiskey.

  We both watched as he poured himself another glass.

  Once he was finished he took a seat back on the couch, and went back to looking out his window. The sun was beginning to set. I didn’t say anything else, I turned and began following the nurse out.

  “Hey, Vanessa.” The doctor called after me suddenly, getting up and rushing over to the doorway where we stood.

  But before he could say anything else, there was a loud sound of something hitting the floor behind us. We all turned.

  The nurse was looking at the fallen electric pencil sharpener, but I was looking at the thing that knocked it over, and if I didn’t know any better, I would say that the doctor was too.

  When I woke up the next day the hallway was dry. The smell of pee, vomit and plastic had completely evaporated overnight. When I left my room, cops were scattered around my ward, pouring from the doctor’s office. No one really noticed as I slipped past the officers in an attempt to see what was happening.