by A. R. Wise
“Look at the man on the floor,” said Rosemary. “He came in here screaming about protecting your brother, but have any of you seen him before?”
“I have,” said Michael. “He was staying in the room next door.”
“The Skeleton Man hasn’t been here for more than a couple hours and he’s already affecting the guests.” Rosemary moved Alma away as she gripped the steak knife that was lodged in her stomach. She clenched her jaw and breathed in as she tried to pull the knife free, but it was lodged in too deep.
“Don’t,” said Alma. “You’re supposed to leave it in. They taught us that at a first-aid training we had to take at my school, in case one of the kids got hurt. You’re supposed to leave it in and go to a hospital.”
“No,” said Rosemary. “I’ll be fine. I just have to make it till tomorrow. Just get me back to Widowsfield so that Helen can patch me up.”
“What happens tomorrow?” asked Paul.
Rosemary looked over at him, and then at the others who were waiting for an answer. “We end this.”
“How?” asked Alma.
“We go back to Terry’s house,” said Rosemary as Alma helped push the blanket against her wound. “And then we force our way into The Watcher’s world.”
“Wait, what?” asked Jacker. “You mean back into that nightmare? No way, lady.”
“I don’t need you,” said Rosemary. “I just need Alma, Ben, and Michael.”
“No,” said Paul. “Not a chance.”
“If we don’t put an end to this, then The Watcher and The Skeleton Man will come for each of you. They’ll start with you, and then they’ll move on to the people you love. They’ll take pleasure in torturing them. You saw what they were doing to the souls that were stuck in that town. Just look at how Ben was able to take over this guy’s mind. If we don’t get him out of here now, and back to Widowsfield where he belongs, then by this time tomorrow he’ll have an army on his side.”
“You’re all crazy,” said Michael. “If you think you’re getting me back into that house, you’re dumber than you look, sweetheart.”
“I’m not planning on giving you a choice,” said Rosemary with no patience for Alma’s abusive, drug-addicted father. “I’ll have my friends break every bone in your body and then drag you into that place if I have to.” She lay back down on the bed and took several breaths as she held a wadded pillowcase over her wound. “We don’t have time to argue. Go get Ben, and get him in the van. We have to get out of here. We’re running out of time.”
“She’s right,” said Paul.
“What?” Jacker looked at his friend in disbelief.
“We can argue about it in the van,” said Paul. “But we can’t stay here. With all the noise we’ve made, they’ve probably already called the cops on us. The last thing we need is to have to try and explain all this shit to the police. Especially you, Jacker. They’ll haul you in.”
“I don’t know how much I care about that at this point,” said Jacker. “Christ, man, this is fucked up.”
“Listen,” said Rosemary. “If you take me to a hospital, then the police are going to get involved. We can’t let that happen. The more people we get involved in this the more lives we’re risking. Everyone that learns about what’s happening in Widowsfield will become a target. Our only shot is to put an end to it, once and for all.”
Jacker groaned and ran his hands through his shaggy head of hair. “How the hell did I get mixed up in this shit? All right, damn it, all right. Let’s get that freak out of the bathroom and get the hell out of here. I’m too damn pretty for jail.”
The group glanced around at each other, knowing that one of them would have to accept the responsibility of opening the bathroom door and facing the man in there. No one wanted to do it.
“I’ll do it,” said Paul as he motioned to Jacker to come take the gun and keep an eye on Michael.
“No,” said Alma. “He’s my brother. I’ll get him.”
“Alma,” said Rosemary. Her voice had become weary and lethargic, a result of blood loss. “He’s not your brother. You have to remember that. Ben might be in there somewhere, but the man in that bathroom is a twisted mass of souls. He’s The Skeleton Man.”
Alma nodded, and then went to the bathroom door. She paused with her hand on the cold metal handle, and then took a deep breath to calm herself.
The hinges squealed as the door slowly opened, and a spear of light invaded the darkness, illuminating the stark white tile floor and wall. Ben was revealed, shriveled in his chair with his right hand pressed to the wall. His glassy eyes stared out at his sister as his mouth was open wide with what looked like a t-shirt stuffed inside. Michael’s belt was tied around Ben’s head, keeping the gag in place.
Ben and his sister stared at one another, and Alma weakly said, “Ben, what did he do to you?”
CHAPTER 14 – Rest in Peace
Widowsfield
March 14th, 1996
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Oliver as he stared down at the crippled man on the stretcher.
Lyle Everman’s skin had sagged to the point that he appeared more like a rotting corpse than a living man. The skin on his face was so thin that Oliver could see the ridges of the skull beneath, as if only a silk sheet had been set over the skeleton. He stared directly up, and if not for the noises coming from his mouth and chattering teeth, he could’ve easily been mistaken for dead.
“We’re not sure,” said Vess. “After the original experiment, he fell into this state. It’s some sort of coma, although his eyes are always open and he experiences frequent muscle twitches.”
“Is that what’s happening in his mouth?” asked Oliver, unable to hide his disgust with the way the man’s tongue was slopping around.
“Yes, although he doesn’t do that often. He’s having a particularly bad episode today.” Vess put his hand on the side of Lyle’s face and thrust his thumb under his left eye hard enough to cause the lower lid to move and reveal a good amount of the bloodshot globe. The jelly that covered Lyle’s eyes got on Vess’s thumb, and the old man wiped it off on the cripple’s shirt. “After the experiment, he aged like normal, but then around forty his aging seemed to slow down, just like mine. He’s a freak of nature.”
“I won’t argue with that,” said Oliver as he stared down at Lyle. “He’s definitely a freak.”
“He might be,” said Vess, as if he’d taken offense. “But he’s also the key that makes this machine work. Without him, we can forget all about opening the door to the next dimension.”
“How can you be sure?”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve tried to do the experiment again,” said Vess. “The first couple attempts were absolute failures. We got new psychics, and they often ended up in the same condition as Lyle here, but we were never able to repeat our results.”
“And you think putting him back in there will do the trick?” asked Oliver.
Vess looked around the room, admiring the work that Oliver’s team had done to make it look like it had so many years earlier. “I think it’s our best shot, for the same reason we had you design the room like this; for the same reason we convinced Greece to sell us this boat. We want to do everything we can to recreate the original experiment.”
“Is there any chance I can get you to reconsider letting me stay here to watch the experiment?” asked Oliver.
“I’m afraid not,” said Vess. “But don’t worry, you’ll be taking the place of Einstein. I want you to observe from a boat out near the Eldridge. We have Einstein’s reports about what he and Major Groves saw during the first experiment, and I’m hoping you’ll see the same. If you do, then there’s a good chance the experiment has been a success. And if that’s the case, I might not remember what happened.”
“Don’t you think we should at least put a couple cameras in here?” asked Oliver.
“No,” said Vess with insistence. “The Accord has forced me to do this their way for years. Now it’s my turn to
say how things are supposed to go. No cameras.”
“And The Accord is okay with this?” asked Oliver. Vess didn’t answer, so Oliver asked, “You did speak with them, right? They know about what’s going on here, don’t they?”
“As far as you’re concerned,” said Vess with a grin and a wink, “I’m the only member of The Accord that matters.” He looked at the guards and then motioned toward the open door of the CORD. “Put Mr. Everman on the floor in there.”
“This is a bad idea,” said Oliver as he began to get frantic.
“No it’s not,” said Vess. “Now tell me about this stopgap mechanism. Show me how to use it.” He walked over to the orange box beside the CORD. His two guards carried Lyle into the machine and set the stretcher down. Then one of the guards opened the backpack he’d been carrying and started to pull out folded clothes that were sealed in plastic. He opened them while the second guard carefully slid Lyle off the stretcher before beginning to disrobe him.
Vess snapped his fingers, “Oliver, pay attention. We don’t have much time.”
“What’re they doing?” asked Oliver.
Vess looked in on the two guards and said, “They’re getting Lyle ready. We have the clothes he was wearing on the day of the experiment. I, unfortunately, never thought to keep mine. Hopefully that won’t matter. Now, tell me about the stopgap please. You said something before about it controlling the power to the CORD.”
“Not entirely,” said Oliver. “It’s just a failsafe. It’s running on its own power source, and if the CORD is unable to sustain itself, then it can draw power from here.”
“So it’s just a battery?” asked Vess.
Oliver shook his head and then pointed at a black, coiled tube, about three inches wide, that snaked out from behind the stopgap and into the CORD. “It’s also where the uranium is stored. When you power up the CORD, you also have to cut it.”
“Cut it?”
“It’s just the phrase we use for flipping this switch,” Oliver knelt down and put his finger on a red switch on the face of the box. “The stopgap will regulate the flow of radiation, to prevent the machine from getting too much at once. That’s why we call it ‘cutting it.’”
“I don’t understand the reference,” said Vess.
“It’s a drug thing,” said Oliver, slightly embarrassed. “Like cutting cocaine.”
“Oh,” said Vess with a disappointed frown. “So I need to flip that switch just after powering the CORD?”
“Yes.”
“Easy enough,” said Vess. “You’re going to go with my two friends here. They’ll lead you out to the tugboat we have waiting for you. Stay about twenty or thirty yards away from the Eldridge, for your own safety.”
“What am I supposed to be looking for?” asked Oliver. “I never read about what Einstein saw.”
“He and Groves both claimed that the ship crackled with green electricity, and then,” he snapped his finger and continued, “disappeared.”
Oliver gave a puzzled look.
“Then, just as suddenly, it reappeared in a burst of white smoke. But several of the crew members weren’t so lucky.”
“What happened to them?” asked Oliver.
“Some fell into a sleep-like state, just like Lyle here. But others were found fused to parts of the ship, with their faces halfway in and halfway out of the ship itself.”
“Seriously?”
Vess nodded and then laughed. “Sitting in a boat out of danger doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?”
Branson
March 13th, 2012
Just before 5:00 AM
Alma felt dizzy as she stared at the brother she’d lost sixteen years earlier. His condition was horrifying. His eyes were open wide, the lower lids drooping as if having long ago lost the strength to close, and the whites blazing with red veins from dryness. His cheekbones jutted forth, easily defining his features as the thin, pale skin seemed to hang from his skull. Despite his appearance, she still recognized her brother.
“Ben.”
“He’s not your brother,” said Rosemary from the bed. “Don’t let him fool you, Alma.”
Jacker glanced in at Ben and cursed, “Fucking hell.” Then he glared over at Michael and asked, “Did you stuff that shit in his mouth, you sick fuck?”
Alma quickly moved to release the make-shift gag that had been wrapped around her brother’s head. She was shaking as she did it, and felt her stomach lurch. She pulled the dirty t-shirt out of his mouth and then stepped back again.
Ben uttered his sister’s name, “Alma.”
She fell to her knees before him. The same sensation that had flooded her in the cabin when her mother had taken her there now came again. It was a wave of emotion that debilitated her. The skeletal man in the wheelchair, locked away in the dark bathroom by their abusive father, was unquestionably Ben. She’d never been more certain of anything.
“Give that to me,” said Paul to Jacker. “Let’s shove it in his dad’s mouth to see how he likes it. I’m sick of listening to the fucker whine.” Jacker retrieved the belt and t-shirt from the floor behind Alma and brought it over to Paul.
Alma reached out and put her hands on Ben’s legs. She felt his knobby knees and began to sob. “Oh God, Ben. What did they do to you?”
“Alma,” he said again.
His odor was distinct, a mix of decay and the antibacterial soap they used back at Cada E.I.B . She ignored the smell and pulled his chair closer to her. “I won’t let them hurt you anymore, Ben.”
“Alma,” said Ben again, but this time he continued. “Kill him.”
She didn’t need to ask who he meant. She glanced over at the others, wondering if they’d heard. Paul and Jacker were in the process of gagging Michael. They were planning on loading him into the van first, and talked about cutting the cord on the blinds to tie his wrist with. He was struggling with them, but both Paul and Jacker were far larger than he was, and they had little trouble forcing their will upon him.
“Kill him.” Ben’s words were quiet, but filled with venom. He repeated himself, “Kill him.”
Alma hushed her brother, and then shook her head. “I can’t, Ben. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Remember,” said Ben. Each word was a chore for him to say, but he was intent on convincing his sister to do as he asked.
“Remember what?” asked Alma.
“What Daddy did.”
Alma looked over at her father, who was being forced to stand up after having his hands tied behind his back. Paul and Jacker were focused on Michael, and weren’t paying attention to what Ben was telling Alma.
“What do you mean?” asked Alma.
Ben’s unblinking eyes stared at Alma as he put his hands onto hers. “Remember.”
A lost memory began to return to her as Ben touched her hand.
Alma remembered coming home one night when she was very young, and feeling the wet carpet on her way down the hall. She’d found her father lying nude on her bed, having just showered. He beckoned her to him, and then…
“Alma!” Rosemary screamed from the bed.
Paul and Jacker had left with Michael, and Rosemary managed to turn herself so that she was facing the bathroom. Blood covered her face and hands, and she was clearly in pain as she pulled herself to the edge of the bed. Alma realized that at least a few minutes had passed as she knelt before Ben, but the time had passed without her knowing it, as if she’d fallen asleep. She took her hands off of Ben’s knees as if they’d been burned, and then stared at her brother in shock.
His teeth were chattering as he glared at her.
“He’s lying, Alma,” said Rosemary.
Alma backed away from Ben and shook her head in confusion. “What happened?”
“I’ve been yelling your name, but you wouldn’t answer,” said Rosemary. “What did he do to you? What did he say?”
“He told me…” Alma didn’t want to admit it. She didn’t want to dredge up the awful memory of what her
father had done. The image of his nude body on the bed was clear and detailed, as if it had happened minutes earlier. She could feel his hands on her, and his promise that, ‘This is what Daddies do.’
“What, Alma?” asked Rosemary. “I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me what he said.”
“He reminded me about what my dad did to me.”
“No,” said Rosemary. “No, that’s not necessarily true. What did he say? What are you remembering that you didn’t remember before?”
“He…” It was painful to admit. “He hurt me.” That was as much as she was willing to say.
“It’s not true, Alma.” Rosemary winced as she sat up. She had a sheet tied around her waist, and continued to put pressure on her wound to stem the bleeding.
“I remember it.”
“He’s forcing you to think that way. Come here. Let me help you.”
“I don’t want your help forgetting,” said Alma. “The whole reason I wanted to come back to Widowsfield is because I need help remembering these things. I don’t know what happened to me, but I forgot about so much. I forgot about Ben, and I forgot about what that bastard did to me.” She pointed in the direction of the parking lot where Paul and Jacker had taken her father.
“Listen to me, Alma,” said Rosemary. “This is what The Skeleton Man does. He twists your memories to get you to do what he wants. That’s why I had you give me this.” She took the teddy bear keychain out of her pocket. It was wet with her blood as it dangled from its ring. “You have to trust me.”
“No, I remember it now. I remember walking down the hall and seeing him on the bed, and I remember him holding me down.” The painful memory brought tears to her eyes.
“You remember it exactly as he wants you to, Alma. This is what he does. This is how he made this stranger,” she pointed at the man that was unconscious on the floor, “come in here to try and kill us. You can’t trust anything he says to you.”
“He wants me to kill our dad.”
“Of course he does,” said Rosemary. “He’ll do anything to stop us.”
“Why?” asked Alma. “Why would he try to hurt me like that? He’s my brother.”