warning: intense content, reader discretion is advised
Though this will be a Christian fiction, the opening chapter may be too intense for some readers. Please let me know how you feel. If it seems to be a little over the top I'll need to rethink it a little.
Chapter 1: The Fear
Sweat beaded on the young woman’s forehead as she desperately fought to control her breathing. It was almost an exercise in futility as the all consuming fear in the pit of her stomach caused her breath to come in short shallow gasped. A tunnel of darkness began to close in on her vision. Little flickers of light danced around her. She felt faint.
Tears broke lose from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. A scream caught in her throat and she just knew she was going to pass out. The vision through the crack in the door terrified her beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
Panic over took her at the sound of a horrified gasp. She put her hand over her mouth fearing the sound had come from her own lips. It hadn’t. It had come from the young man lying on the stainless steel autopsy table. More tears streamed on her cheeks. This was her fault. She had brought the young man down into this place. In search of a thrill, the two had ventured into areas of the hotel that had been closed off to the public.
She remembered how she had giggled and teased him.
“Come on scaredie cat. I won’t bite unless you want me too” she had whispered in his ear.
She could almost feel the young man’s heart palpitate in his chest. He would have followed her anywhere at that point and she knew it. Down through the hidden door the two had gone giggling and flirting. There was little light but enough to see their steps. As they reached the end of the hallway they found a stainless steel door. He had wanted to go back but her curiosity was peeked. In addition to her reckless abandon personality the alcohol coursing its way through her blood system dissipated any inhibitions she may have had. She pushed the door open and pulled him inside with her. It was the latest of incredibly bad decisions she had made over the last few years.
Once inside she had felt a little creeped out but didn’t want him to know.
“What is this place” he had said apprehensively.
In the middle of the room sat the autopsy table. Next to it was a rolling table with an assortment of antique looking surgical tools.
“I don’t think we should be here” he had said and took her by the arm.
She had laughed nervously.
“This is just a gag; you’ve heard the stories about this hotel. They leave this down here to scare people. Come on that passage way wasn’t hard to find. It’s all a part or the fun” she had said to him.
She leaned against his body and kissed him. She could feel his tension.
“Tell you what let’s play a little game” she said then took a linen cloth from the rolling table and twirled it.
She kissed the young man again then placed the cloth over his eyes and tied it in the back.
“Have you ever played blind man’s bluff”, she asked.
“No” he said and tried to pull her close again.
She pushed him back playfully.
“Not so fast speedy. You count to twenty then see if you can find me. If you catch me, I’m yours to do with as you please. If you can’t then your just out of luck aren’t you” she said teasingly.
“I don’t know about this” he replied.
“I guess I was wrong about you, I thought you’d be fun” she said feigning exasperation with his reluctance to play along.
She reached up to take the blind fold from his eyes but he grabbed her hand and smiled.
“You better hope I don’t catch you” he said slyly.
She giggled. She was going to play him good now. She had notice the little door just off to the right as they had come in. While he counted she crept backwards quietly and checked the door. She was in luck, it was open. She slowly slipped inside to find it much smaller than she had hoped. Shelves behind her pressed against her back. It seemed that it was some sort of pharmaceutical storage cabinet.
She peered through the crack in the door trying to keep her laughter from giving her away. If only she had known a few minutes later she’d be fighting her emotions for a chance to live.
It had been then that a dark clothed person wearing a hood had appeared seemingly from nowhere and stood in front of the boy. At first she had though it was a part of the show; just another prop to scare them. The young man feeling the presence of another reached out and grabbed at the man. She almost broke into laughter. That is until the man swung a heavy blow down on the top of his head. The young man’s legs buckled and he fell to the floor limply. Before she had time to react the figure hefted him up onto the stainless steel table.
If only she had listened to Em. If she had of just stayed home and not gone to that party. Then maybe she wouldn’t have had the accident. She’d still be in Cleveland with her mother and her sister. She wouldn’t have had to run away. She wouldn’t be here watching this horror unfold; a horror she felt responsible for. It seemed unreal to her how it was possible that one little decision could affect every other decision, not just in her own life but the affects seemed to touch other lives around her. It simply was not fair to have to be responsible in this way. Yet it was happening.
The young man’s arms flailed unexpectedly in the throws of death twitch. A gasp escaped her throat before she could prevent herself from crying out. The dark hooded figure standing over the young man’s body turned slowly; peering toward her hiding place. Though the room was darkened and a hood shadowed his face, she recognized him. His eye seemed to almost glow with a menacing light. A wicked grin curled around his lips.
He knew she was there. Her mind fought for an answer. There had to be a way out, a way to survive. She had a knack for getting herself out of trouble or so it seemed. Somehow she had always been skilled in talking her way out of problems especially with men. If talking didn’t work then she moved on to flirting or crying and it always seemed to work. That was until six months ago… until that accident. Somehow her charm didn’t seem to make a difference to the officers as they had put her in the back of that patrol car. Why wouldn’t they listen? She didn’t mean to hit that lady, it was an accident. After that she had picked up a new skill in avoiding trouble, she had learned how to run.
“All else fail…run”
These were the words that ran through her mind. They were the words that had run through her mind after she had been released on bond. The urge had been overwhelming then and it was overwhelming now. She had to run.
The dark figure stepped away from the table. A glimpse of a surgical saw in his right hand threatened to cause her legs to give way. Very slowly the man moved towards her. She trembled uncontrollably but waited. The wait was the worst. She felt like her heart might just explode in her chest and rob the man of the need to dispatch her himself. Nevertheless she remained as still as possible.
“Alle alle auch sind frei” the man’s voice almost sang playfully as he raised his carving tool to his face.
He was very near now, blocking out what little light was in the room beyond. She had waited as long as she could. It was now or never. As the man reached his left hand toward the doorknob the young woman shoved with all her might against the door.
The dark clad figure stumbled backwards and tripped over his own feet. His head slapped the floor as the cutting instrument skipped across the room. The young woman let out a scream as all the pent up tension exploded in the form of sound. She slid slightly on the bare concrete floor of the hidden dissections room. She quickly regained her balance and ran.
In the darkened room she was a bit disorientated. She didn’t know which direction to turn. She reached the far wall to find she had gone further from the exit. Frantically she turned. Her feet moved faster than her legs sending her tumbling onto the floor. Quickly she crawled and tried to get her feet back underneath her legs.
Before she realized what she was doing she reached out and grabbed the table that was in front of her. Her hand dipped into something warm as she pulled up to her feet. Her eyes met the lifeless eyes of the young man she had only just met that night. His body continued to twitch slightly.
A wave of nausea sent a cold chill through her. She fought to contain herself. Her eyes turned to the man on the floor who was beginning to stir. Once again she launched herself in the general direction of where she believed the exit to be.
As she passed the man on the floor his hand came out and clutched at her leg. The young woman shrieked as she hopped just out of his reach and bolted through the door into a corridor. She remembed this hallway; it was how they had come through before…
At the end of the hallway the entrance to the hidden stairwell the two young people had stumbled across less than an hour ago beckoned like a lighthouse shines for a ship tossed by the storm. She was going to make it. She was going to live. Only a few feet, twenty at most and she’d be free. Her heart beat faster in her chest as she reached the stairs that led up into the garden behind the hotel. She bounded up the stairs taking two at a time. Her legs burned at the build up of lactic acid. Her muscles screamed for more oxygen. Her lungs ached at the strain to supply the demand.
Her eyes blurred slightly as tears continued to form but a small sense of relief almost gave her wings and she took the last nine steps three at a time. She pushed against the small steel trap door that covered the exit. The door slid back and a rush of damp fresh air rushed past her. Rain spattered her face as she stepped out then pushed the door closed.
“Help” she screamed as she ran toward the hotel.
“What’s wrong missy” a man said and rushed toward her.
The young woman fell into his arms and began to weep. Partly because of her fear but mostly from relief, she was safe now.
“There, there little one, it’s gonna be ok” the man said and patted her on back as he hugged her.
“Mister you’ve got to call the cops…he…he murdered him” she sobbed.
Two more figures appeared next them.
“That’s just a shame little lady” the man sighed sorrowfully “a real shame, I wish you’d just kept to your business”
The young woman felt her heart in her throat. The two people next to them reached out and took her by the arms. With everything she had left she wrenched away. She turned to run. Two strong arms caught her before she could. The two menacing eyes of the dark hooded figure loomed over her; a maniacal murderous grin spread across his shadowed face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Six months later
“No” Emilie exclaimed as she abruptly came awake from a nightmare.
Her breath was heavy and the vision from the dream continued to play over and over in her mind. She turned her head and looked at the clock. The red LED numbers indicated it was still an hour before she needed to get up and prepare for work.
Frustration filled her with anxiety. She knew she’d never be able to get back to sleep and she was already so very exhausted. This was the fifth time this week she had been awakened in such a manner and it was beginning to take a toll on her.
The dream was the same every time, her sister Deidra being pulled from the twisted wreckage of her car. The lifeless eyes of her sister stared vacantly at her as if to beg “why”. The thing that terrified Emilie the most about the dream is that it had almost happened. It had been nearly a year since her sister had been involved in a terrible accident in which a woman was nearly killed. Though Deidra only suffered minor injury’s her car looked as if it had been chewed up and spit out by some prehistoric beast.
Emilie tried to shake the vision from her mind as she threw back the blankets while sitting up on the side of the bed and stretching. She stood slowly and arched her back a little. The mattress needed to be replaced. Eventually she figured she’d get around to it but each time she decided to spend the money she’d talk herself out of it and just replace the foam bed top instead.
She breathed in deeply then pulled her rob around herself as she made her way into the kitchen. The coffee pot sat idle waiting on its timer to elapse to begin brewing. Emilie pressed the button on the machine to bypass the timer and start the flow of hot water through the coffee grounds before taking a seat at her kitchen table. She rubbed her eyes. They were sore from crying. She’d have to remember to pick up some things at the grocery store later to try and ease the irritation. Her grandmother used to make a poultice out of grated apples, cucumber juice and witch hazel that she would put on the eyes of the children when they cried. Something about it always soothed her though she figured it far less about the remedy and more of the comfort of her grandmother’s arms around her that made the difference.
Her mind turned back to her sister. She’d been gone for six months now. No letter, no email, no phone call, not even a post card had arrived to let her know whether she was alive or dead. Part of her thought it was for the best. If she found out where she was, she’d have to turn her in, she’d have to tell the police. Deidra had skip out on bond in typical reckless and irresponsible manner.
Emilie believed her mother knew more than she was saying about Deidra’s whereabouts; at least she had a vague inkling. She had pressed her mother on the subject but she refused to give up any information she may have; fearing Emilie would run to the police.
Her mother was in full on protection mode, allowing her heart to over rule her head. Hadn’t she realized after repeatedly getting Deidra out of trouble that it had only harmed her daughter rather than helped her? Each time the impulsive young woman avoided punishment she went a little deeper into ill advised behavior.
“You just don’t understand your sister Em. Deidra is a free spirit. Someday she’ll settle down, you’ll see. Don’t give up on her” her mother had said.
Emilie would never give up on her sister but she felt in her heart it was time to force Deidra to face her life head on rather than slip past it at every occasion. Nevertheless she’d concede even this point for one phone call from her sister, just to hear her voice and know she was ok; especially on mornings she awoke from the nightmare.
The coffee maker growled and bellowed steam indicating it was nearing completion of its assigned duty. Emilie stood and crossed to the cabinet to retrieve her coffee mug. She pulled the mug down from its resting spot and looked at the cartoon on the side; a fat orange cat holding its owner by the lapels and squishing their faces together. In bold black letters the words “I want my coffee” were scrolled above the image, underneath in smaller letters it read “Welcome to my work week…Happy Monday”.
The mug had been a gift from Deidra to commemorate getting the job with the marketing agency she now worked for. Emilie had been so nervous that she wouldn’t get the job that she had been bouncing off the walls. After she received word she had, indeed, gotten the job she had phoned Deidra first. Later that night she took her mother and sister to dinner to celebrate. That’s when Deidra pulled out the mug with a smile.
Those were different days. Emilie searched her memories for another as happy but none beyond that night came to mind. Instead memories of picking her sister up from parties when she was too drunk to stand much less walk and paying fines on her behalf for petty thefts or shop lifting had replaced anything that could have been considered happy.
Nevertheless Deidra was her sister. Somewhere deep inside the young woman who gave her that silly mug was still waiting for the chance to live again. She just knew it.
Emilie filled her mug with the coffee then loaded it with her favorite creamer and sugar substitute before taking a short sip. Emilie decided there was no use in waiting for her usual time to shower and dress. She’d get ready early and then take her time getting to work. Maybe she’d even stop by the little park a few blocks from her place of employment and watch the sun come up. Besides sitting in her apartment all alone only gave her more opportunity to worry.
Emilie took another sip then placed the mug down on the table and rubbed her eyes again.
~beep, beep, beep~
The electronic ringer on her phone startled her slightly. At first she though she had forgotten to turn off her alarm clock but then she realized it wasn’t time for the clock to sound.
~beep, beep, beep~
The phone rang again, this time Emilie hurried to the phone that sat on the bar that separated her living area and the kitchen of her small apartment.
“Hello” she answered.
“Em” her mother’s voice cracked.
“Mom?” Emilie questioned.
The sound of broken sobs told Emilie something was very wrong.
“Mom, what is it, what’s wrong” Emilie pleaded.
“It’s your sister; I’m so worried about her. I can’t sleep” her mother’s voice replied.
“Do you need me to come over” Emilie asked.
“Em, I just don’t know what to do. I…I need to talk to someone” her mother answered.
“I’ll be right over mom, just let me get dressed” Emilie said quickly.
The sound of sniffles and sobs continued for a few seconds.
“I just need to talk to someone” her mother repeated.
“I know mom, I could use some company too, just hold on I’m only about fifteen minutes away ok. I’ll be right over” Emilie said.
“Thank you Em” her mother managed to squeak then hung up the phone.
Emilie began to fear she had been correct in suspecting her mother knew something more about Deidra’s whereabouts. The sound of the woman’s voice sent dread into the pit of her stomach. Something had happened to Deidra.
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