Darkness

by F. Bradshaw

  I changed as quickly as I could, as I did not want anyone to come in looking for me.

  Then the door to the room opened with a forceful push. My heart started running away with itself again. A short woman walked in. She reminded me of an old granny that you see in the movies with gray hair and glasses. I knew the wolf, and now here was granny. She had eyes that were a deep ice blue.

  “I’m Dr. Heart. I will be administering the injection. We will be keeping you under observation for the next few days, and then depending on how things go, we will get you right home.” Her clinical voice kicked in.

  Instantly an image of her with a large oversized shower cap with pink flowers on it popped into my mind. If she jumped in my bed, I would be tempted to ask her where was little red riding hood. She motioned for me to come and sit on the bed. There was a metal tray with two injection needles filled with black gunk on the bed tray.

  “I need your right arm. This will be quick.”

  Crashing thuds came from outside. She quickly stabbed my arm and jammed in the black liquid. More yelling slipped into the room, but I could not make it out. Loud thumps hit the wall. Ok, if some crazy patient comes in here, they are going to get beat to hell by me. My arm was fully ablaze. The fire seemed to be spreading up my shoulder. It felt like being burned from the inside out.

  My breath caught in my throat. Flames slowly moved up my arm. An aching numbness crept through my veins. Pain radiated down like a spider web being built. It was spreading quickly toward my chest. The burning sensation moved into my chest, and I felt as if the air was being sucked from my lungs.

  “My arm and chest feels like it is on fire and being burned.” I panted out trying to catch my breath. The pain moved to my back to my shoulder blade. I felt like I was going to vomit at any minute.

  Chapter 4

  She rushed from the room, and things were getting hazy. Did she say anything? Remember. I must remember why I am here. I need. I need. I need money. I could feel the life being pulled from me. Pain surged up my spine pulsing into my brain. The light in the room seemed brighter almost like the sun. I fell back to the bed unable to keep upright.

  She came in watching me. I gasped for air with fear kicking in, holding my throat. I was falling into something. All I could think about was how this was just like before… before as my body had smashed against the dash. I was here and in the hospital, but this was not like then. It could not be. That night never happened. Here and now. I needed to be here and now.

  “It will calm down with the second injection. It is just your body getting used to the meds. Everything is fine” Her voice dripping with sickly sweetness. This was no cute little granny. She was a first class bitch. “Usually, we inject right away, and no one feels the pain. I can give you something if you would like.”

  She jammed more black liquid into my arm before I could motion. I nodded, and she grabbed a needle from her lab coat. The injection went in smooth but made my arm just feel heavy. The burning did not stop. It increased, and I could feel it wrapping around my heart. Heaviness settled into me. I was going to die. This was my death. There would be no heaven for me. Only hell waited. Darkness crept across me, and then nothing. Was this what death felt like? This was what I deserved.

  Memory faded back from me. The room was different from the last one. There were no windows, and I could not see where there could be a door. White walls solid like concrete and a gray floor, cheap government crap, filled the room. There was no bed. Just the chains from the floors wrapped around me, holding me in this place.

  This was not what I had signed up for. I felt around the floor trying to awake and to adjust from the heaviness. I saw a faucet with a bowl underneath it. The heavenly aroma coming from it drew me to it. My body moved, and before I knew it, I was across the room. I licked it even though nothing was flowing.

  “These are the rules; you disobey, you starve; you try to escape, you starve; you do not follow every instruction, you starve; you try to feed on anyone or anything, you starve. We do not intend to kill you. You are far more valuable to us alive, even if you are wasting away to nothingness. We have this down to a science.” Her voice was not angry or vengeful. It was as though she were just pure scientist. I did not see granny actually having a heart, at this point.

  The first time the blood came pouring from the faucet, I could not help myself as I put my mouth around it, trying to get every drop. I was very hungry. The blood ran down the sides of my mouth onto my chin and then dripped down to my clothes. I guess it had been two days since the rules were presented to me. If I could just get full, then I could make a break for it and no one would be able to stop me.

  “When the slot opens to your right, put your left hand through. When I say take it back, you will do so.” The voice commanded. It was a new voice, and unfamiliar to me.

  It sounded male, but who knows, maybe I just wanted it to sound male. The voice was deep and husky. Something in me still felt a pull to obey it. I looked at the opening. It was where the door was. Now I could make out the frame. I did as ordered, if only to get myself stronger. I felt him jab me with something. I knew the feeling. They withdrew blood. Were they going to inject someone else with it? Was I being used to sucker more people into being like me?

  Rage came easy. I could not control myself. I reached for his arm, tearing at it, trying to find the way out. I was going to stop this! I was not going to let them use me to make more. Then a burn came over my hands and arms. It was wet, but it burned. I recoiled back from the opening as it shut.

  “That was a bad idea. You will starve until you learn.” His voice, angry and hurt. A feeling of deep disappointment flooded me. Why did it matter if he were disappointed?

  Hours seemed to turn into days. The hunger worsened with each passing moment. I stayed by the faucet waiting for them to relent and give me food. A drop or two, anything would help. Nothing. Blood. I wanted it and needed it. I tried to suck the faucet to see if anything, even a drop, might still be left.

  Nothing. Hunger and nothing else would fill me. Nothing else could enter. Blood. I needed blood. My throat felt like acid had been poured down it. My lips were dry and ready to crack. I could not stand, let alone move. My body became heavier than it had felt with the drugs. I just wanted to escape. I needed an escape. Blood.

  I don’t know if I had a choice or not, but my mind wandered off. My eyes still open wide, and yet I could see my home. The grass was overgrown and looked so soft almost like green fluffy clouds. It invited me as the wind blew through it. The tree swayed back and forth in its treetop. This was so peaceful. Was this what it was to die? Would I get to be here even as a monster?

  The warm white of the house was so inviting. The blue trim of the shutters looked happy. It was a happy blue. Wild flowers swept the right side of the house. From here, I could smell the roses. Grandma always said that the water of the pond was what kept the smell of the rose. It was her rose water. I was free here.

  Pain ripped across my chest. Half-awake and half wherever I was, I looked up. Someone I could not make out. The lines between being here and there were too blurry. I could feel my body being moved, but I could not stop it. The chains dragged across the ground, but it was becoming a memory. I didn’t need to be there anymore.

  Wetness encircled my body. It was not water as water felt smooth and light. This was heavy and thicker. They pushed me under. I did not move. The house was slipping away. A choice was being made. The rage opened my eyes, and I took it in. Fuck peace! It was always just an illusion.

  Blood, its sweet goodness wrapped around me. I started to drink; I just opened my mouth and let it flow. I needed it more than a human needs air. I drank until I had nothing covering my head. It was so warm and fresh. The blood coated my body and slid down my face like rain. The hunger was silent for the moment, and I still had blood left over.

  I laid there unmoving for as long as I could. It was like being in a warm bath, and you just don’t want to move. They had ot
her plans, though. As soon as they realized I was revived, they pulled me. They threw me onto the floor as if I were trash. They said nothing to me. Before I could move, one of them jabbed me. There was no fighting the darkness.

  I awoke, dripping wet from being sprayed down with water. No change of clothes just wet ones. The room felt like ice. Was I supposed to feel cold? I thought you felt nothing when you were dead. The hunger pulled at me. All I could think about was the warm fresh blood. I was an animal. Blood. I wanted to survive. I guess it does work—beat a dog enough, starve him enough, and they will do whatever you want. When I have a chance, I will kill, I will take lives, and I will enjoy it. It was about surviving today, and I could do that. I had the luxury of time.

  Chapter 5

  All I knew was needles, scalpels, and a new drug to pass the time. The normal human knock out drugs had become ineffective. The new drug was painful and took everything out of me. I felt as if my life, my existence was draining away with each dose. The drug burned worse than the injection they had given me. Blood was a part of my life, but I could not let it rule me. I had enough sense not to let them know.

  Time had moved slowly. I never really knew how long I was there. I never wanted to think about what I had done, or what went on. I had rules. Rule number one was never drink or kill a human. The blood taught me that. Humans, no matter how tempting, could never be turned. I had to remember what I was. I could not infect anyone. I would tear this place down and then burn everything.

  “Today we will need a sample of your venom.” He said so casually as though asking for a drink of water.

  I knew what they wanted. I had two types of venom—one used to stun, and one I am sure would turn someone into something like me. They believed stunning venom was all I could create. They thought they had broken me. Maybe in some ways they had. Evil, heartless Granny Hart, had not been to see me in quite some time. I imagine she had done this to others. How many, though, I did not know. I bit down on the bag as I thought about doing that to Jane. She was not welcome around me, but I could smell her on him.

  I just need someone on my side. I needed something to get me through this. I gave him the sample, and he left. I moved to my corner to forget this world. To drown out the blinding light and let shadows carry me home. I wanted to be home again, illusion or not, to be on the front porch rocking back and forth as the breeze rushed the smell of wild roses to me.

  The smell of burnt coffee lingering in the kitchen waiting to be washed away with his next fresh pot. Closing my eyes, I could see it as though I was there. I was home. The memories of the past washed over me as the wind does to hollow mountains bringing the painful moments back ripping across the barren landscape...

  “Emily, I am going to head into town. I have to pick up your grandma and save her from the lovely ladies at the church committee. I think this year’s jams are going to be a tough thing to pass up.” His voice washed over me with the gruff tone of love.

  To me, he sounded like an old cowboy from the movies, but he said it was just the way people talked when they were from West Virginia. He came from a coal mining family, and he vowed never to go into the mines. He did not want to die down there as his brother had. Frank was a tough man in some ways, but when he talked about his brother and the accident, he was a little softer.

  He was my papa, plain and simple. No matter what, I knew he would be there for me as he would say, through thick and thin. The same went for my grandma. Her toxic dyed red hair always stood out to me. She and I had the same eyes, a warm brown. My mother had her eyes. My mother was a memory only in photos. She was gone, and she had made her choice. We never talk about her, and it was just, as well.

  “All right, I will be here, not like I can really go anywhere.”

  “Well, you keep out of trouble, and don’t go kick in any bee hives while I am gone.”

  “You’re going to be gone for like, twenty minutes, tops.”

  “Don’t matter how long I am gone, I know you, and the minute I got my backside turned, you run off and do the most foolhardy things that are half thought out. Do you remember last week with Sam Lawson’s chickens?”

  “The chickens were just fine. They needed a little freedom from that tyrannical ruler.”

  “Yeah, and that’s why I was the one chasing them things for three hours back into their pen. Just stay outta trouble, for once in your life. There is nothing that needs saving while we are out.”

  “You know, Papa, I think while you’re gone, I will just save the world, all before I run off to college next month.”

  “Just stay here, and leave everything the same as it is now. I will be back with your grandma, and then we will have a nice dinner and maybe even take some cake out of the ice box.”

  “Ok, while you are gone, I will keep everything as it is. I promise! Now, you had better go, or she will kill you for being late. You know it is going to rain later, and she does not like getting her hair wet.”

  He gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before walking to his truck. The keys jingled with every step. His blue eyes caught mine, and he half smiled as always before jumping in the truck. The last thing I could see was his fingers, worn, wrapping over the window frame of the truck. He had workers hands, strong and well used. They were still soft. I think my grandma secretly moisturized his hands when he slept.

  I took more after her. I always ran off with ideas that were not fully developed, but nonetheless, they were all to save something. She had been an EMT, and now she helped with the church ladies. They were always going to save someone. Save them from what, was the question left up to the head hen, Mary. She knew what to say as the preacher’s wife.

  “Nothing ever happens without a reason. It is God’s will as to what and when.” She preached worse than her husband did. It was always hell fire and brimstone with them.

  “Ring, Ring,” the old rotary phone called after me. I rushed from the porch to get it. I loved the sound of that phone. Some things can never be replaced.

  “Hello, King residence.”

  “For once, you sound like the granddaughter I raised instead of the wild child who lives with me.”

  “Haha. Very funny, grams. Papa is on his way to pick you up. He just pulled out a little bit ago.”

  “Ah, and whom have you decided needs to be protected today? I hope not the chickens again, and certainly not the cow.”

  “Hey, now the cow was going to be shipped off on one of the meat trucks, and she needed to be saved. She was the best save yet. Plus, Mr. Canna loves that cow. They make a happy couple. I made a promise to Papa that today I would not save anyone. It is his birthday, after all, and I can wait until tomorrow to save the pigs from Ms. Hannah.”

  “You will not save the pigs. The cow was bad enough. She left enough landmines. I will not have a repeat of that. I wish he had started a little sooner, though. It is going to rain.”

  “I know your hair. If you would let me drive to get you, then I could have left a while ago and already be there.”

  “Not after the last accident. When your car is fixed, you are getting some more driving lessons before getting behind that wheel again.”

  “It was one accident, and even you had to admit that the bridge is a bad place to drive on a rainy night. So it was mostly the weather’s fault.”

  “Nice try, kiddo, but we will talk more later. You remember you were not in the car alone, and you drove on a learners permit without an adult. Ash did not count. I need you to take out the casserole I left in the fridge and put it in the oven.”

  “I am already on it. The oven was warming before he left, and it will be done by the time you guys get home.”

  “Ok, love, I have to go. Mrs. Watts needs the phone. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  The phone was heavy laying it back down. I sat down in her chair. I never understood why she needed an electric teal blue chair. It looked odd with the muddy oversized recliner and the dull Native American fabric couch. E
verything in the house was an odd mish-mash of things, but it all belonged. All of it made the house a home. It was our home.

  The waves hit me again. This was the last memory. Those were the last words from them. I needed to keep everything the same. Somehow, this was the dream, and I was going to wake up in her chair. This nightmare had to be the dream. Leave everything as it was… That was the promise I made. They had to keep theirs. They had to come home.

  Chapter 6

  Tapping on the wall behind me pulled me from the memories. I looked around the room, but nothing was there. It was still white on white with blinding light. Now you’re going crazy, Emily.

  “Tap, tap,” the wall called to me.

  “Hello?”

  “Don’t say it too loud or they will hear you.” A voice called to me. I am crazy.

  “Who are you? Where are you?” I whispered back.

  “Names’ Matt. I am sure I am in the next room. If you can hear me, then you’re one of the science projects, too. What’s your name?”

  “Emily. What do you mean science projects?”

  “Well, enhanced hearing means they did something to you. Plus if you are in one of the lovely cells then you must be one of the freaks. How did they hook you?”

  “Well, a flyer came with just the right amount of money.”

  “Did you get to spend any of it? Please say you got the money before you signed on the dotted line.”

  “No, I was going to get it when it was done. I am betting now that is never going to happen.”

  “You’re right about that, although you’re not alone in that department.” His voice quieted down.