I hear a heavy sigh and the lights turn on, blinding me. “Uh,” says the officer, looking genuinely concerned. “Are you okay, son?” I hesitate, debating if I tell him yes or no. My eyes finally adjust and I look around the room. Metal walls, concrete floor. I’m sitting at a metal table, with a bar made for handcuffs to keep inmates from hurting the officers, I’m not handcuffed though. I’m a victim… I think. “No. Is this place real?”
The officer looks stunned for a minute, and then spoke in a calm, almost soothing voice. “Yes son, this place is real, and you’re very safe here.” He doesn’t speak for a good minute or two. I think they were minutes at least, it’s hard to tell time. “Why don’t you start with what happened?” I tense at the question, not wanting to remember what happened, why my head is fucked up, why I’m sane, yet insane at the same time, but I nod.
“I was in my kitchen, making a snack before I went to bed, when I heard a thump that seemed to come from in the walls. I jumped for a moment, but didn’t question it. I ate my snack in bed, and put on the TV, and heard a thump under my bed. I jumped out of the bed and put my back to the wall, watching the… The monster come out from underneath, what seemed like a uh, a shadow, but solid. As it pulled itself from under the bed, I saw it’s face…” I feel heat behind my eyes, tears starting to well up in my eyes, everything getting blurry. I feel a hand on my back. “Keep going son, we need to know what happened.”
I gulp hard, then look at the officer and nod. “The face was… Horribly messed up. No eyes, it looked like they were gouged, but the edges of the eye sockets were… Shredded, like paper in a shredder. Blood constantly gushing out of the nose, like a water fountain spewing water, and it never stopped. The mouth, the lips were cut off entirely. A huge gaping hole where the mouth should’ve been, sewn over, but the stitching did nothing.” I glance at the officer, and I’m not entirely sure, but it looked like doubt shadowing his face, but he told me to continue.
“The face was the most human part of this monster. It stood up, ten feet tall, it had to crouch down to fit. It had what must’ve been like… Like a hundred tendrils, each as long as it’s body, but barbed, and painful. So fucking painful. It’s skin was black, and looked like rotten flesh, thousands of gashes all over it’s body, each of them spilling what seemed to be it’s blood, but it would burn if it touched you. I ran for the door, but I failed to reach it. It grabbed me by my leg, the barbs tearing my flesh, and threw me out of the window, I don’t remember how many bones broke,” I said, breaking down to body racking sobs.
“I tried getting up as it took its time using it’s barbed tendrils to crawl out the window and down the side of my house, but I couldn’t, too many bones had been broken. When it finally got to me, it didn’t say anything except make a guttural noise, but I knew, the words were in my head. You’re mine now, and if you ever leave, you will suffer a death worse than anything you can imagine. It raises one of it’s tendrils, and then it was just… Black. I woke up in a…” I cringe at the rememberance of the place I was caged in, but continue. “It was a dark room, no lighting, but the entire thing was made of metal, and it seemed to be underground. I don’t know how long I was there but…”
“Seven years.” The officer said, an obvious shake in his voice. Seven years… That’s how long it took them to find me. The heat comes behind my eyes again, and then I say, “I was there for seven years until you found me, and now here we are.” The officer looks at me sadly, then looks to his partner and told him to handcuff me. “What?” My hands get pressed to the table and the officer takes one of them, sliding one end of the handcuffs on. “Why am I being handcuffed?” I demand, hearing the other side of the handcuffs click onto the bar. “Son, you’re a danger to us as you are now.”
I stare at the officer, betrayal ripping through my mind as I start panicking at shouting. “You don’t believe me!” Someone else comes in and pulnges a needle into my neck. “I believe someone took you, but son, your window wasn’t open or broken.” I start crying as I say, “I know wh…” The room is starting to spin. “I know…” Blackness consumes me as I pass out from the sedative.
My eyes flutter open, and I look around me. It’s a white room. My heart breaks as I realize the room is padded, and I’m in a straight jacket. “What’s going on?” I cry under my breath, and then the door opens. “Uhh… Jackson Prior! Welcome to St. Willis mental institute! You’ll be staying here until-“ I stand up, alarming him.
“I don’t belong here.” I say, my voice uncontrollable. “That’s what everyone says Jackson. You’ll be here until we can figure out what exactly happened to you and how we can fix it.” White hot anger with a mixture of anxiety shoots through my body. “I told you what happened, I fucking told you… I KNOW WHAT I FUCKING SAW, WHAT I FUCKING FELT!” I screamed as the door slammed shut.
Great, now I’m stuck here. I lay on the floor, and I fall asleep. Thump. I wake up, and I’m confused as to what’s going on. Thump. My eyes widen and I start screaming. “GET ME OUT OF HERE! ITS COMING FOR ME!” The figure starts sliding it’s way under the door, standing straight up, towering over me. It’s too late.
In a voice that’s not that of a human, not that of a monster, but far, far worse it says, “You left me Jackson. What did I tell you?”