Page 156 of Lost in the Dark
“Ah, dear Mrs. Aquino. All is well, as you can see. I’m enjoying my stay very much. Perhaps that is why I haven’t left. Plus, I see that we’ve gotten new blood in the water, and you know how much we all like chum here.”
“Please be kind to our new resident, Benji. Let him settle in and let his meds regulate before you go off…making new friends.It was a common courtesy provided to you as well, if you remember.” She’s quick, this one. Always onto me before I even know my own plans.
I bark out a laugh and she stifle her own. I like her, she’s genuine. I like messing with her for the same reason.
“Now, you know I am an upstanding citizen around these parts. I can do nothing but offer the kindness of my company. After all,youenjoy it, don’t you? Isn’t that why you always invite me in?” I wag my eyebrows, and she rolls her eyes.
“Benji, let me know if anything changes. We are happy to help you while you’re here, but we also encourage you to attend the groups we provide so that you may begin reintegrating back into society. After all, that is what this facility is for.”
“You wish to be rid of me already? We’ve only just met.” I place my hand over my heart, wounded by her ‘encouragements’.
“Thank you, Benjamin. Have a wonderful evening.”
And like that, my jovial mood is soured by the name my mother gave me. I scowl and jump up from the chair, almost knocking it over in the process. Exiting the office, I wish I could slam the door, but it’s held by a door stopper. That would require too much effort.
Group must have ended, since the hallways are now filled with wandering bodies. I leave them to their mindless searches and go straight back to my quarters.
Shutting the door to ward off unwanted company, I kick off my shoes and fall back onto my mattress. It creaks and groans, the material not thick enough to provide any sort of comfort whatsoever.
But this dark corner is mine, and that will have to be good enough for right now.
She wants me to leave? Where would I go?Mother’s home and belongings have been put on hold until I came of age, but I never did want anything more to do with her. There’s a taint that follows in her wake even upon death. I got as far away as I could, but it never seems to be far enough. Her face, her voice—they still haunt me from time to time.
She didn’t have much to say during her last moments, though, did she?I internally laugh at that as I turn around and shut my eyes. Supper will be provided within the next few hours.I have time, I tell myself.
A darkness shrouds me. I can feel it on my skin, see it behind my eyelids. Jerking awake, I find the ceiling of my room encompassed by nothingness—a blackness. The only thing that exists in this moment is me on this tired mattress. Narrowing my eyes, I continue to look around to try and figure out what’s going on.
The darkness moves. My eyes catch it, but the moment it comes into my mental awareness, it stops.Curious.
“Whatever you are, if you’ve come to take my soul, might as well have at it. I tire of this life already.” Putting my hands behind my head, I wait patiently to be devoured. Would it hurt? Would it be peaceful? Would I finally be free ofher?
The darkness oozes down like tar, dissipating into a fog, then reshaping back into something indescribable. I lie there, waiting for my end.
The entity falls on top of me with a hard crash, knocking the air out of my lungs, and suddenly, I can’t breathe. My arms flail and claw, going straight through the black mist until the bed opens up like a chasm and swallows me whole.
The sensation of free-falling overtakes my initial fear of suffocation until I land with another hard crash on my back.
Groaning, I cough up the dust that’s kicked up in my wake. “There has to be better ways to die. Like…morepeacefulways. Damn.”
A chittering catches my attention and I snap my head in that direction, flipping over until I’m on my hands and feet. I sniff the air; it smells of sulfur andsomething else.Standing, I dust my pants off and look around, only to find utter darkness. The only light is where I’m standing.
This is new.My nightmares never looked so...bland,before.
A huff from behind makes me turn. Eyes the color of flames and embers glow on and off, making me question what I’m really seeing.
Unlike the last dream, I can feel my limbs in this one, and my movements are in real time.
Do I dare?Is there really anything else better to do?I ask myself.
“You don’t,” a voice answers back, and my head twitches.
Did he read my mind?
“The darkness to be waded through entices me to feed. Ripe for the picking.” The voice is gruffer this time, as if his passions have made him guttural with a deep need.
“There’s not much there. You’re better off next door in good ‘ol Wilson’s room.” That fool is madder than a hatter.
Suddenly, it’s as if the scene in front of me turns into a slide show, each slide bringing the dark entity three feet closer until finally. it’s towering over me. The heat of its shadowed body fans my face.