In Loving Memory
The next morning I rolled out of bed, feeling refreshed for the first time in a very long time. I couldn’t remember the last time I was in such a good mood. Even the memory of last night’s horrible nightmare did nothing to spoil my mood, and I skipped down the stairs as I went to eat my breakfast. Uncle Charles - Charlie now, I guess - stood there laughing at me, shaking his head. He definitely didn’t expect that out of me, and I could tell that I had already made his day better too. I was determined that nothing would happen today that could possibly spoil this great mood, and for the first time in my life I was excited to go to school and see what new things the day would bring. I was ready to have a new adventure.
I pulled into the parking space at the school and bounced out of my seat. People looked over at me furtively, and I chuckled. I guess none of them were used to me being this happy either. I wasn’t even entirely sure why I felt so good myself. Maybe it was because of the talk I had with Charlie yesterday, or maybe it was the fact that I could call him Charlie at all, which almost made me feel like he was my real father. It seemed so out of proportion with how I felt earlier that it almost scared me, but I would not have wished it away for the world. I finally understood the meaning of the expression “walking on air”.
The first two periods of the day went by as slowly as ever, but I was no longer one of the ones in the classroom whose head was down on the desk, half drowning out what the teacher was saying. I was awake, alive, and ready to learn. And the longer I sat in each class, the more scared of this mood I got. Something did not seem right here. Either something was wrong with me or something in my life was going to go horribly, drastically wrong soon.
By the time third period rolled around there was a knot of tension stuck in my stomach that seemed to be getting tighter with each passing hour. But still there was that unshakable elated feeling, as though everything in my life had finally righted itself. I made a stop in the girl’s restroom and took a look at myself in the mirror. Though I was smiling, in my eyes I could see my trepidation, but perhaps only because I knew it was there. I turned on the water and splashed my face before heading to my next class. By the time lunch rolled around, I was feeling more jittery than happy, though my uncooperative face seemed to suggest otherwise. I could tell that Matt and the others knew, from the way I was talking, that I wasn’t in as good a mood as I had been at the start of the day. None of them had any suggestions, though, other than maybe closing my eyes for a bit. I stared down at my food, unsure as to whether I would actually be able to stomach any of it or not. After deciding it probably wouldn’t be a good idea, I stood up to drop it off, saying that I would be sitting in the library until lunch was over. There were large couches in our school’s library, and I thought sitting in the peace and quiet on something other than an impossibly hard school desk chair would do me some good.
I walked into the nearly deserted library and went to the most secluded corner I could find, out of the line of sight of the strict librarian, Mrs. Renauld. It was unlikely that I would be bothered no matter where I sat, but I still didn’t feel like sitting out in the open. I plopped down roughly on the worn out old couch, sighing as I sank back. Closing my eyes, I hummed quietly to myself, trying to calm myself down. I took deep breaths, letting go of all the tension in my muscles. I felt myself teetering dangerously on the verge of sleep, probably since I had gotten so little last night. I tried to keep my mind drifting off completely, but before I knew it my breath deepened further and I could feel myself sink slowly into the dusky confines of sleep.
* * *
I opened my eyes and surveyed the scene around me. I seemed to be lying on the floor of a concrete room, though what exactly it was I could not tell, because the only light in the room was coming from a narrow sliver near the top of the wall opposite where I was. I felt around me nervously, afraid of what I would find. After learning that there was nothing right around me, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. A few seconds later and I could start to make shapes out in the darkness, and it seemed like I had been dumped in a structure that was still under construction, as I could see what looked like large stacks of timber covered in white tarps lying about the entire room. I stood slowly and walked toward the closest of these piles, hoping that maybe after enough time I would be able to make out the shape of a door or, at the very least, an elevator shaft I could climb down to get out. I reached it and to my utter surprise found a flashlight sitting there. Hoping for the best, I hit the on button, and light rushed out of it, filling all the recesses of this small area. I swept it around the room, turning in a circle to survey everything I possibly could. To my disbelief and utter horror there did not seem to be a single exit in the entire place, and I began to feel claustrophobic. The only proof that there was something on the outside of this horrible box was the narrow beam of light coming through the wall, cutting the darkness like a knife blade. I sighed deeply, and as I did I heard a whisper of fabric moving behind me.
I froze, waiting to feel a breeze coming from somewhere, maybe a way to the outside that I hadn’t seen in my initial sweep. After a minute I was forced to accept that there was no draft whatsoever, and I imagined that I could smell the stuffiness of this place getting more and more intense as I stood there listening. The flashlight beam was shaking as my grip faltered, my heart racing. I knew I had heard something move, and hoped to God that it had been a rat, the only living thing that could have made it into this dreadful place. I waited, tense, almost hoping for a rat to scurry across my foot to prove to me that it wasn’t my imagination, and also to make sure that was all that it was. I couldn’t stand to think of what the alternative could be. Almost as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I felt something scurry across my foot.
But something was wrong. Whatever it had been did not feel like a rat at all, nor any other type of rodent. A chill climbed the ladder of my spine, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. There was obviously something in this room with me, and I did not know what it was. At the same time, though, the suspense was just as bad as knowing, because a thousand pictures of horror movie monsters and villains and serial killers flashed through my mind, and I found myself quite literally paralyzed with fear. As I stood there, I slowly got the feeling that somebody or something was watching me, assessing me like I was here for them to bid on. And suddenly that’s exactly what it felt like. As if I had been dropped in here for some sort of sick game. The feeling intensified until I could hardly stand it anymore. Somehow I found the strength to move, and I whipped around to see what was there.
As soon as I did, I wished I hadn’t, for standing there before me was what would have been called a man if had hadn’t had face that looked as though it had gotten mangled with a lawn mower. Bits of skin dangled off of the things face, dripping pus and blood all over the floor and down its chest, which looked like it had fared just as badly as its face. My eyes widened with horror, and I tried to scream, but could make no sound escape my throat. The thing raised one of its hideous arms to grab me and I stepped backward as fast as possible, ramming my hipbone painfully into the stack of boards. As I hit it, I heard numerous other rustlings around the tarps of other stacks, catching further movement out of the corners of my eyes. I whimpered and spun on the spot, running toward my one shot at salvation, which wasn’t much: the small chunk in the wall that the light was coming through.
As I ran toward the opposite wall, I saw at least ten other of the mangled bodies popping from behind various stacks of wood and from dark corners of the room that my flashlight hadn’t managed to reach into initially. My heart beat faster than I thought possible, seeming to echo off the dirty concrete walls and adding to the din that my pounding feet were making as they slapped against the floor. I could see them all pulling closer to me, and I ducked and dodged as I ran, hoping that I could find some way to break open the window or wall that was providing light. I slammed against the opposite wall when I reached it, flailing wildly at the light with all my strength, seeing that it was indeed glass and if only I could break through it, maybe I could dig my way out. I heard the horrible things approaching me quickly from behind and knew I didn’t have much time to get out of there before I would be ripped to shreds, and I started pounding against the glass with my fists as hard as I could. Suddenly, I heard a maniacal laugh issue from the other side, and glanced out to see Nathan Farmington peering down at me, his eyes black and devoid of emotion, chuckling at my frantic attempts to break through the glass. The hesitation after I looked up at him cost me, and I felt hands grasp my hair, my shoulders, and my arms, pulling me back from the light.
The last thing I heard before I was swarmed by the horribly mangled things was Nathan saying, “Don’t you understand? You’ll never get away from me! No one does!” And then my whole body was shaking, shaking….
* * *
“Tanny! TANNY!” My eyes popped open to see Mrs. Renauld standing over me, shaking me roughly. “Oh thank goodness you finally woke up! I thought for sure that…goodness! I didn’t know what was happening to you!” She stepped back and wiped her forehead with her sleeve, and as I did I could see a crowd had grown in my once secluded corner. I saw them all exchanging glances with each other, looking scared. Most of them seemed to be looking everywhere but at me, even the ones who were peering into the corner. I searched for one familiar face and finally found Matt standing amongst the crowd, the only one of the bunch who dared meet my eyes. He looked at me worriedly, but there was nothing I could do at that point to tell him I would be okay. I tried to smile to him, but it was more of a grimace. If nothing else, my face felt like my own again. Mrs. Renauld helped me up and steered me through the milling group of rubberneckers, taking me to the nurse’s office. I knew what would come next. They’d ask me a million questions about what had happened, whether anything like this had happened before, all the psychological crap they throw on someone when they happen to fall asleep and react normally to a nightmare while in a public place. As we walked in and she pushed me gently down onto one of the beds, I couldn’t help but laugh a little at what had happened. Seems my intuition is fairly accurate after all: today definitely was NOT in my list of top ten best days.
I pulled into the parking space at the school and bounced out of my seat. People looked over at me furtively, and I chuckled. I guess none of them were used to me being this happy either. I wasn’t even entirely sure why I felt so good myself. Maybe it was because of the talk I had with Charlie yesterday, or maybe it was the fact that I could call him Charlie at all, which almost made me feel like he was my real father. It seemed so out of proportion with how I felt earlier that it almost scared me, but I would not have wished it away for the world. I finally understood the meaning of the expression “walking on air”.
The first two periods of the day went by as slowly as ever, but I was no longer one of the ones in the classroom whose head was down on the desk, half drowning out what the teacher was saying. I was awake, alive, and ready to learn. And the longer I sat in each class, the more scared of this mood I got. Something did not seem right here. Either something was wrong with me or something in my life was going to go horribly, drastically wrong soon.
By the time third period rolled around there was a knot of tension stuck in my stomach that seemed to be getting tighter with each passing hour. But still there was that unshakable elated feeling, as though everything in my life had finally righted itself. I made a stop in the girl’s restroom and took a look at myself in the mirror. Though I was smiling, in my eyes I could see my trepidation, but perhaps only because I knew it was there. I turned on the water and splashed my face before heading to my next class. By the time lunch rolled around, I was feeling more jittery than happy, though my uncooperative face seemed to suggest otherwise. I could tell that Matt and the others knew, from the way I was talking, that I wasn’t in as good a mood as I had been at the start of the day. None of them had any suggestions, though, other than maybe closing my eyes for a bit. I stared down at my food, unsure as to whether I would actually be able to stomach any of it or not. After deciding it probably wouldn’t be a good idea, I stood up to drop it off, saying that I would be sitting in the library until lunch was over. There were large couches in our school’s library, and I thought sitting in the peace and quiet on something other than an impossibly hard school desk chair would do me some good.
I walked into the nearly deserted library and went to the most secluded corner I could find, out of the line of sight of the strict librarian, Mrs. Renauld. It was unlikely that I would be bothered no matter where I sat, but I still didn’t feel like sitting out in the open. I plopped down roughly on the worn out old couch, sighing as I sank back. Closing my eyes, I hummed quietly to myself, trying to calm myself down. I took deep breaths, letting go of all the tension in my muscles. I felt myself teetering dangerously on the verge of sleep, probably since I had gotten so little last night. I tried to keep my mind drifting off completely, but before I knew it my breath deepened further and I could feel myself sink slowly into the dusky confines of sleep.
* * *
I opened my eyes and surveyed the scene around me. I seemed to be lying on the floor of a concrete room, though what exactly it was I could not tell, because the only light in the room was coming from a narrow sliver near the top of the wall opposite where I was. I felt around me nervously, afraid of what I would find. After learning that there was nothing right around me, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. A few seconds later and I could start to make shapes out in the darkness, and it seemed like I had been dumped in a structure that was still under construction, as I could see what looked like large stacks of timber covered in white tarps lying about the entire room. I stood slowly and walked toward the closest of these piles, hoping that maybe after enough time I would be able to make out the shape of a door or, at the very least, an elevator shaft I could climb down to get out. I reached it and to my utter surprise found a flashlight sitting there. Hoping for the best, I hit the on button, and light rushed out of it, filling all the recesses of this small area. I swept it around the room, turning in a circle to survey everything I possibly could. To my disbelief and utter horror there did not seem to be a single exit in the entire place, and I began to feel claustrophobic. The only proof that there was something on the outside of this horrible box was the narrow beam of light coming through the wall, cutting the darkness like a knife blade. I sighed deeply, and as I did I heard a whisper of fabric moving behind me.
I froze, waiting to feel a breeze coming from somewhere, maybe a way to the outside that I hadn’t seen in my initial sweep. After a minute I was forced to accept that there was no draft whatsoever, and I imagined that I could smell the stuffiness of this place getting more and more intense as I stood there listening. The flashlight beam was shaking as my grip faltered, my heart racing. I knew I had heard something move, and hoped to God that it had been a rat, the only living thing that could have made it into this dreadful place. I waited, tense, almost hoping for a rat to scurry across my foot to prove to me that it wasn’t my imagination, and also to make sure that was all that it was. I couldn’t stand to think of what the alternative could be. Almost as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I felt something scurry across my foot.
But something was wrong. Whatever it had been did not feel like a rat at all, nor any other type of rodent. A chill climbed the ladder of my spine, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. There was obviously something in this room with me, and I did not know what it was. At the same time, though, the suspense was just as bad as knowing, because a thousand pictures of horror movie monsters and villains and serial killers flashed through my mind, and I found myself quite literally paralyzed with fear. As I stood there, I slowly got the feeling that somebody or something was watching me, assessing me like I was here for them to bid on. And suddenly that’s exactly what it felt like. As if I had been dropped in here for some sort of sick game. The feeling intensified until I could hardly stand it anymore. Somehow I found the strength to move, and I whipped around to see what was there.
As soon as I did, I wished I hadn’t, for standing there before me was what would have been called a man if had hadn’t had face that looked as though it had gotten mangled with a lawn mower. Bits of skin dangled off of the things face, dripping pus and blood all over the floor and down its chest, which looked like it had fared just as badly as its face. My eyes widened with horror, and I tried to scream, but could make no sound escape my throat. The thing raised one of its hideous arms to grab me and I stepped backward as fast as possible, ramming my hipbone painfully into the stack of boards. As I hit it, I heard numerous other rustlings around the tarps of other stacks, catching further movement out of the corners of my eyes. I whimpered and spun on the spot, running toward my one shot at salvation, which wasn’t much: the small chunk in the wall that the light was coming through.
As I ran toward the opposite wall, I saw at least ten other of the mangled bodies popping from behind various stacks of wood and from dark corners of the room that my flashlight hadn’t managed to reach into initially. My heart beat faster than I thought possible, seeming to echo off the dirty concrete walls and adding to the din that my pounding feet were making as they slapped against the floor. I could see them all pulling closer to me, and I ducked and dodged as I ran, hoping that I could find some way to break open the window or wall that was providing light. I slammed against the opposite wall when I reached it, flailing wildly at the light with all my strength, seeing that it was indeed glass and if only I could break through it, maybe I could dig my way out. I heard the horrible things approaching me quickly from behind and knew I didn’t have much time to get out of there before I would be ripped to shreds, and I started pounding against the glass with my fists as hard as I could. Suddenly, I heard a maniacal laugh issue from the other side, and glanced out to see Nathan Farmington peering down at me, his eyes black and devoid of emotion, chuckling at my frantic attempts to break through the glass. The hesitation after I looked up at him cost me, and I felt hands grasp my hair, my shoulders, and my arms, pulling me back from the light.
The last thing I heard before I was swarmed by the horribly mangled things was Nathan saying, “Don’t you understand? You’ll never get away from me! No one does!” And then my whole body was shaking, shaking….
* * *
“Tanny! TANNY!” My eyes popped open to see Mrs. Renauld standing over me, shaking me roughly. “Oh thank goodness you finally woke up! I thought for sure that…goodness! I didn’t know what was happening to you!” She stepped back and wiped her forehead with her sleeve, and as I did I could see a crowd had grown in my once secluded corner. I saw them all exchanging glances with each other, looking scared. Most of them seemed to be looking everywhere but at me, even the ones who were peering into the corner. I searched for one familiar face and finally found Matt standing amongst the crowd, the only one of the bunch who dared meet my eyes. He looked at me worriedly, but there was nothing I could do at that point to tell him I would be okay. I tried to smile to him, but it was more of a grimace. If nothing else, my face felt like my own again. Mrs. Renauld helped me up and steered me through the milling group of rubberneckers, taking me to the nurse’s office. I knew what would come next. They’d ask me a million questions about what had happened, whether anything like this had happened before, all the psychological crap they throw on someone when they happen to fall asleep and react normally to a nightmare while in a public place. As we walked in and she pushed me gently down onto one of the beds, I couldn’t help but laugh a little at what had happened. Seems my intuition is fairly accurate after all: today definitely was NOT in my list of top ten best days.