a creative moment

I open my eyes for the first time in what seems to be ages. Disoriented, I look around, trying to discern my location. Blinking heavily to get the apathy out of my eyelids, all I can see is a thick heavy fog around. “Hello” through uncertainty, it’s almost a whisper coming from my lips. “Hello!” I bellow, shear fear encouraging me to make myself known in this emptiness. It seemed that my howl had awoken the mist that surrounded me, for it started to retreat before me, revealing ever so slowly a white picket fence. A very familiar white picket fence, with a small heart posing as the handle. Slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed, I headed for what was surely my home.
I threw open the gate with a clumsy fury, straining my eyes against the bright fog for just a glimpse; and finally, there she stood. I waited patiently, fearfully as she towered over me. Staring wide eyed and open mouthed, I inspected every inch of the two story facade of the home I never thought I’d see again. Minutes passed as I stared nostalgically at the curtains, sifting through ancient memories of a less complicated time. Finally I gather as much courage as I could, slowly, shakingly reaching for the doorknob. Grasping it tightly, I shut my eyes in expectation of what lay behind the willing barricade. I push the portal open while gritting my teeth, sweat pouring down my face with a force that was crushing my head. I opened my eyes, prepared for the horror that I knew awaited me in this hallowed place and… nothing.
The walls were a pristine white, the hardwood floor looked as though it were recently finished, and there was a faint smell of lemon in the air. “I’m home’” I thought to myself, “I’m finally home!” The corners of my lips crept sneakily upwards as I allowed myself to take in my surroundings. I stepped towards the staircase in front of me and ran my hand along the banister, reminiscing about a better time.
Movement caught the corner of my eye. My senses returned with a force that could rival a charging rhino. I stared at the bouncy entrance of four and a half feet of pure love. Jet black hair falling to her shoulders, lazily laying on her favorite polka dot dress. My Alexandra – my daughter – skipping down the hallway and humming her favorite tune.
I can hardly bear it. Alex! My Alex! Right in front of me! What an inopportune moment for a dusty throat! “Al-” I can’t even get her name out without coughing up a storm. Quickly I clear my throat and call out again “Alex! Sweety! Wait, it’s daddy!” Throwing caution to the wind I chase after her, my eyes glistening as I reach out to hold her.
“Honey, is that you?” I freeze at hearing my wifes voice. “I’m in the kitchen hun, how was work?” I watch my daughter skip down the hallway and out of sight. I turn and head to the kitchen, clumsily walking towards the only woman who ever mattered to me. As I look onto her for the first time in what feels like eons, the dam in my eyes burst, tears streaming down my face. “I’m just making dinner.”
I cannot believe it. After all these years she is standing in front of me, chopping up vegetables with her back to me. I want to go over and embrace her, but the shock has me stuck in place. “Sarah” The name barely escapes my mouth audibly, “theres so much I want to say to you, so many things that I want you to hear, its been so lo-”
Drip.
Terror grips me, my eyes widen while my heart pounds my chest into submission.
Drip.
Blood, crimson and thick, dripping from the counter my wife was using. “Whats wrong hun? You went quiet all of a sudden. Aren’t you happy with me?” She turned, wielding a blade that was balanced between the steel and the blood. She had chopped the carrots, and continued up her arm, neatly slicing her limb into several pieces as if she was going to put herself in the soup. I stare in disbelief, ‘what would compell her to do this’ I thought. My eyes make the long painful journey away from her dismemered arm up to her face. A face that I no longer recognized. Decrepid, deformed, cracked and eyeless she stared at me. Black liquid dripped from her eye sockets, like a river of tar oozing its way down to hell. “DON’T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE!?” She screamed, startling me from my stupor.
I back away slowly, feeling for the doorway. Wielding the blade she advances, I turn and attempt to flee, but Alexandra was standing in the hallway, slowing my escape. The same cracked, twisted eyeless face stared up at me. “Daddy, why don’t you love us anymore? What did we do wrong daddy?” I put my hand over my mouth in an attempt to stop the vomit that has suddenly decided to aquaint itself with the world. The house had become a horror, like the last time I had left it. The walls were smeared with blood, slashes and scratches lined the hallway as if a struggle had just occured. I run toward the front door, escaping the accusing stare of my distorted daughter, only to be blocked by the horrific visage of myself. There I stood, staring at a doppleganger stuck to the door by an enormous metal spike. The only thing that differentiated itself from me was its face, the same distortions that my family shared was mirrored on its – my – face.
“This is your fault” Accusations that cannot be denied spew from the disgusting face of my twin. I head for the only escape I can think of, the stairs. Alexandra and Sarah were standing at the bottom, angry, accusing faces staring threateningly at me.
“This is your fault!” All three apparitions begin chanting. “This is your fault” I cover my ears to no avail, and start sprinting for the stairs. Alexandras’ dress comes alive, the thick dots becoming little winged demons with needle sharp teeth. The chanting is now overpowered by the high pitched screaches of hundreds of tiny flying creatures that chase me up the staircase. I run, terrified, filled with the guilt of my murdered family. I reach the top of the stairs, bloodied by the constant advances of the demons. The master bedroom lie just ahead, if only I could reach it I could escape this hell! The creatures swarm behind me, screaching and nipping, ripping, tearing at my body. I can’t continue forward anymore, the pain! The pain is too great to bear! Like a great school of pirhana they attack. Crawling, I try to escape the barrage of teeth, but the room does not get any closer. I roll over onto my back, trying to protect my body as best I can, but the demons are relentless. Finally they give just a little, I look to get a better look at my assailants, but they have become a great black mass, moving as one like a giant serpent. A great hole opens up and it charges me, throwing me into the deepest darkness I have ever known, everything blanks out.
And I awaken, strapped to a gourney, unable to move. A bright light shines into my face, my mouth is gagged by a tube that chokes down my throat. An I.V. hangs precariously to my left. Panic takes me. I thrash about, attempting to free myself from my bindings, whimpering like a beaten dog as I do. “He’s awake.” A male voice that I don’t recognize says. “I thought the tranquilizer kept them down for at least another five hours.”
“This one has been on and off of them for the last three weeks, some tolerance has been building up.” An unfamiliar female voice said, unemotianally. “Give him the same dose this time, we’ll double the dosage during the next rounds.”
“Yes doctor, right away.” The first voice said coming into view with a syringe in his hand. Testing it carefully he looks down at me, staring right into my eyes. “You know doc, this patient seems pretty tense, do you think we should give him a break from the drug?”
“No, these tests are very important. Besides, the drug puts them in an almost comatose state. They just lie there, very comfortably and without dreams. He’s just in shock from waking up.” The man shrugs, plunging the needle into my I.V. My eyelids start to get heavy, there is no way to fight it.
I open my eyes for the first time in what seems to be ages.