A couple of inches to the left and it would have been Ethan who sank to the cold, hard ground with his heart torn to shreds. Billy would have kept running, his adrenaline much more powerful than the concern for his friend, and he would have been safe.
If Ethan could only force his lips to move through the heavy sedative coursing through his veins. Then he could have apologized to the shadow sitting on his chest. Could have begged him to make his death a little quicker. But it wasn’t so and thus Ethan waited in quiet despair for the flames of hell to take him. He hoped that when it finally happened the devil would relieve him of the shadow on his chest.
Ethan could tell that the door to his hospital room opened. It was probably a nurse, he thought, and paid no attention to the footsteps. The shadow on his chest was never bothered by the presence of others in the room. It always remained seated, simply tearing away at Ethan’s face as was its diligent fashion.
“Ethan?”
Ethan couldn’t recognize the voice but he noticed that it drew the shadow’s attention.
“Ethan? Can you hear me? Blink twice for ‘yes.’”
The voice had come closer and the shadow on Ethan’s chest hissed at whatever source it came from, to no avail.
Ethan didn’t understand why but he felt that the shadow feared this new presence in his room. It jumped from his chest and withdrew into the corner of the room where it waited with a low growl.
“Ethan? Can you blink for me?”
Now that the shadow was gone from his chest, Ethan could finally see what had relieved him from his personal horror show. It was a young girl that leaned over him and gave him the kindest smile he had ever seen. Her features were delicate and soft and she wore her blonde hair like a golden crown. Ethan was convinced there and then that she was an angel sent to save him.
He blinked furiously.
“That’s good, Ethan. Blink twice for ‘yes’ and once for ‘no.’ Do you understand?”
Ethan blinked twice.
“Are you in pain, Ethan?”
He blinked once. He couldn’t feel a damn thing.
“Are you afraid, Ethan?”
He blinked twice. He didn’t care that he was admitting his weakness to this angelic creature. She would understand, he thought, and he had no more strength to hide his weakness anyway.
“Afraid of Billy, Ethan?”
Again he blinked twice.
“Is Billy in the room right now, Ethan?”
He blinked twice. Then watched as the young girl looked around the room. Her presence felt so pure to him and the pale skin on her neck was almost blinding. She was going to save him. He knew it.
“Is Billy in the corner, Ethan?”
He blinked twice and saw her delicate features turn into a look of contemplation.
She closed her eyes and remained silently like that for a few minutes.
Ethan wondered if he should join her in what was sure to be some kind of prayer. A call to whatever power she adhered to, pleading to relieve him from his terror.
Eventually she opened her eyes again and her dark gaze met his own. Ethan saw that she could sense his desperation.
She leaned in closer to his ear and whispered to him, “I can’t make him go away, Ethan. I can only keep him in the corner for a little while. I— I am sorry.”
Ethan forgave her instantly. She had been so kind and understanding and even now that he knew she could only delay the inevitable, her presence felt like a warm bath. He never wanted to get out of that bath ever again. Never wanted to be out of this angel’s dark sight. He would take from her whatever she could give him and be forever grateful.
She walked away from him and Ethan followed her footsteps back to the door. There she stayed and said, “Doctor. You need to get him out of Brettville right now. He is going to die here.”
“What the hell are you talking about? He is in no—”
“He has to go. The others too. Where can you send them?”
“Well… we were going to send them to Bryce, but Arthur—”
“Send them, doctor. Send them right now. I will talk to Arthur Toaves.”
Ethan knew she was right. He was going to die here. The growl coming from the shadow in the corner of his room served as an intrusive reminder of that fact.
When nighttime fell on the town of Brettville it never did so subtly. The red light of the setting sun and the twilight that surrounded it were rudely torn to shreds by the deep blackness of the latest hours. Eventually the moon and the stars would appear in the night sky and twinkle their solemn lullabies.
Shielded underneath the night’s black cloak the people of Brettville retreated to the worlds where others could not follow them. During these late hours the town belonged to the dreams, the nightmares, and the illusions that existed in between.
The mansion of Arthur Toaves stood as if on a lone island slightly beyond the western border of Brettville. In its detachment it did not always obey the same laws as the town that it clung to almost desperately.
Ellie couldn’t sleep. She had tried but to no avail so now she lay on her back staring at the dark ceiling above her. From time to time the ceiling seemed to blur into a wide circle and twist around like a harmless tornado. Ellie tried to hypnotize herself this way, hoping that it would lead her along the path toward a peaceful sleep. Inevitably, though, her eyes would refocus and bring the twisting to an abrupt halt.
“Useless,” Ellie sighed as she turned onto her left side to face the window.
She had a room in the back of the mansion and with it a view of the endless sea of pines surrounding the enormous building. On windy nights the rustling of the trees would reach her room and sometimes sing her to sleep, but tonight the air was calm and carried not even so much as a gentle breeze. A strange sensation in October.
Ellie turned and tossed a little longer but eventually she gave up. Frustrated, she pounded the mattress with her fists and said, “Fine then! Be that way….”
She got up from her bed and walked toward the window. Her first home in Cleveland had been poorly insulated and whenever autumn swung by, her bedroom would be cold. The Toaves mansion was much warmer and she could get away with just wearing a long shirt and her panties. Ellie would have never dared to walk around in her underwear in her last home but here she felt safe from prying eyes. For all his involvement, and nosiness, Arthur had never looked at her in that way. That way that Ellie had gotten to know at much too early an age.
She didn’t want to think about Cleveland anymore.
Ellie stood by the window and watched the sea of pines stretch out as far as her eyes allowed her to see. She sometimes wondered about the worlds within her world.
What creatures ran through the trees now? What lurked underneath, stalking its victims with its night vision, feeding its ever-growing desire for bloodshed?
Predators and prey, a story as old as nature itself. Ellie was sure it was happening all around her. She saw it through the smiles of people she barely knew and in the eyes of perfect strangers. And she felt it now, looking at the pines from her window, this simple truth of nature realized.
Ellie shook her head as she told herself, “I should get back to bed. Even if I don’t sleep, at least I’ll rest?”
She knew she was lying to herself. That she would lie tossing and turning, forcing her mind to refrain from revisiting memories she kept locked away in her own private safe.
She turned around anyway and started toward her bed when a now familiar but still bone-chilling sound echoed through the hallway outside her bedroom.
Arthur was screaming again.
Whenever Ellie heard him in the middle of the night tears welled up in her eyes and her heart pounded in her throat. There was such a horrible torment in the poor man’s voice that she could only guess at the horror he was screaming out against.