Remedy for a Dream

by Matt Cogar

  He stands tall against the sinners and the guilty,

  Punishment knows no name like his.

  He stands strong against the evil,

  For they shall know no name like his.

  Like a rock, he stands,

  For the wicked shall know no name like his.

  I walked down the hallway as it became bent and twisted, distorting into another hotel room hallway. The logbook...the same one from before, was now laid out n the ground. I picked it up, and opened the tome. Inside, scrawled in blood across both pages, was my own name, Jack Berkowitz. “Hey,” a familiar voice called. My

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  heart almost felt at ease as I saw Caroline standing there. I dropped the book.

  “Where were you? I've been looking for you.” “Its a long story.”

  “Tell me,” insisted Caroline.

  “Let's just say I've seen some crazy shit.” “Fine.” Caroline said, agreeing.

  CHAPTER 23

  T R A G E D Y

  Caroline followed as I searched for an exit from this insanity, but there didn't seem to be one. There was no escape from this hell.

  Caroline had told me how she had thought she heard her brother calling for her. She told a story of how she had tried to follow him but discovered bodies instead. She found a little girl, calling for her mommy, but was dead. She said she had a vision of her brother hanging in the closet. She had cried and begged for it to stop but it wouldn't. It was tormenting her.

  I know that feeling. To have something torment you. That day...it will haunt me to the day I die...sometimes I fear having to relive that single event over and over again in the afterlife. I fear death being just black, and if there was a hell, I would fear that even more. What punishment awaited me, I was about to find out.

  I walked down a long hallway, with Caroline. Suddenly, writing, in black ink, was all over the walls. No Mercy This Way, was written everywhere.

  “Is something the matter?” Caroline asked.

  And then the words vanished. “No,” I told her, “I think I'm just losing my mind, that's all.”

  “Well let's find my brother, before you do,” Caroline said.

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  “You're right. We need to find him”

  We searched, but to no avail. We came to a large hallway, with tall, curtained windows. An elevator ahead. We approached it, and heard a door open behind us.

  A man entered. Weakened, and wounded. He was her brother.

  “Caroline...” the man said, weakly. He fell to the ground. Caroline ran over to him, lifting his head up.

  “John!” Caroline said.

  “We have to...get...out of here...this place...there is no...” John coughed up blood. “He stalks me...I can't get out!!” John said, frantic.

  “It's okay, we'll find a,” Caroline began to speak, as the slayer entered the hallway. She looked up in terror, her mouth slightly open. The slayer approached not her, but him.

  “Go...” John told his sister.

  “I won't leave you!” Caroline said, refusing to leave her brother's side. John pushed her away, and stood up. The slayer slashed him down. Caroline watched as her own brother was slaughtered at his hands. She gasped as his body went limp, and fell to the ground.

  Her brother is dead, I thought to myself.

  Caroline collapsed to her knees, in tears. “No,” she sobbed. “It's not fair,” she cried, “it's not right!”

  “Brother,” she spoke, softly, “why did you have to leave me?” Caroline said. She looked up at the slayer. “Why did you have to do this to us? We were so happy. My brother...he was going to get married. I was going to be the flower girl for his wedding.

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  He wanted me to teach his daughter to read and write. I could have taught her to write beautiful poetry. I could have...” Caroline trailed off. She wasn't just sad, she had been heartbroken. The slayer stood before her, cold-hearted, uncaring. He was dead inside.

  She stood up, angry. She shoved him. “How dare you do this to me!” she screamed. “Leave us! Go away!” Caroline yelled, but he did not budge.

  “Caroline...” I called. There was no response. The slayer vanished.

  Caroline turned and ran toward me, hugging me tightly. “Don't you ever leave me alone again!” She told me.

  “I'm so scared,” she said, crying into my shoulder.

  “I...I am too,” I admitted, “but we will make it through this. Together. If it's the last thing I do...we will get out of here.”

  “Promise?” “I promise.”

  I wiped her tears away. Together, we approached the elevator ahead.

  “Jack?” Caroline called, a sense of dread in her voice.

  I turned. Her tears had turned to blood. “What's happening to me?” Caroline asked, frightened.

  The blood began to soak her shirt. She tried to run, but nearly fell. “Please, don't leave me!” She pleaded. “I'm scared!” She told me, her veins turning a dark red, and her eyes becoming foggy, and blank. Her face looked frightening, almost, but there was a sense of immense sadness. “I don't wanna die!” she cried, walking closer to me. “Jack...please...Jack!” She called my name,

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  but I did not answer. I was too horrified to do so.

  “Jack...I'm so alone! He's gone...I'm lost...” Caroline said as she began to cough up blood. She fell to her knees, sobbing immensely, before finally collapsing to the ground, dead.

  Feeling a wave of sorrow come over me, along with a feeling of regret, I took her body, and placed her alongside her brother.

  You're together now, I thought.

  CHAPTER 24

  T H I R T E E N

  The elevator doors opened, finally, as if beckoning me to come in. I entered the lift.

  To my surprise, there was only one floor: thirteen. The thirteenth floor. I pressed the button. The elevator hummed into motion.

  All the power had seemed to go out, as the elevator finally came to a halt. I stepped outside the lift to find myself in another hallway. An ominously red, pulsating fog filled the hallway. The walls were covered in blood, and faces began to form in them. They appeared to be mourning, and I heard the faint, distant screams of the dead. It felt as if I were an entirely different dimension.

  A door at the end of the hallway. The slayer standing by, guarding it. His axe preventing passage. I stepped closer, as the slayer raised its axe, permitting passage. I walked closer. I turned the doorknob, and entered.

  I found myself in a cavernous chamber. It was as if I was inside some cave. Ahead was a natural-looking stone bridge, which I crossed. There was a hospital bed in the middle of the stone cliff. On it was a woman. She laid peacefully asleep. I stepped closer.

  I couldn't believe my eyes. It was her! The woman I

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  loved...my God...it was Catherine! I almost tripped, as I ran as fast as I could to her.

  “Catherine?” I said.

  And then, her eyes began to open, as if from a long slumber.

  “Jack?” She said.

  “Baby...” I said, hugging her. “I missed you so much!” I cried into her shoulder.

  “It's okay,” she smiled. She put her hand on my cheek. “I love you,” she told me.

  “I love you too!”

  I carried her in my arms. I walked across the stone bridge. Suddenly, I felt the warm, fluid sensation...of blood.

  “Oh no,” I said. Catherine, the love of my life, of my existence, was dead in my arms. I fell to my knees, letting her go.“Baby...no. Please...don't leave me! Not again!” I sobbed. The slayer stood in front of me, his axe coated with fresh blood. “Why do you do this?” I asked it, but there was no response, only the silence and stillness of death.

  “Are you my executioner? Is this my hell? Why can't you just end this?” I questioned him. “I...just...want to be…with her...” I said, as I collapsed.

  CHAPTER 25

  H O S P I T A L

  I awoke in a hospital. I felt weakened
somehow, but I heard voices. “What is the status of the patient?” A doctor asked.

  “He's been asleep for a long time. Weeks, even.” Said a

  nurse.

  “I think it is time for him to wake up.” “Now?” The nurse asked.

  “Do it.” The doctor told her, as he left the room.

  The nurse walked over to me. “Hello? Can you hear me?” She asked.

  I opened my eyes. “Am I awake?” “Yes,” replied the nurse.

  “Am I...out of that place?” “You're in a hospital.”

  “I have to,” I said, trying to sit up. The nurse stopped me.

  “You need to rest. You've been asleep for a long time,” said the nurse, “it's time to wake up” she said, as her face suddenly distorted into that of a demon. I was startled, but the vision went away only moments later.

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  “You have a visitor,” the nurse told me. “A visitor?” I asked, weakly.

  “I'll leave you two alone,” the nurse said as she left, and then...I couldn't believe my eyes. It was Caroline! She was alive...somehow…

  “Caroline?” I muttered. “I thought you were dead.” “Dead? Why would you think that?”

  “You have to be dead...you can't be here...I saw you.” “I honestly don't know what you are talking about.”

  “Maybe its just me. Maybe its all in my head. I'm not sure what to believe anymore.”

  “Will you believe me?” Caroline asked. “I don't know...I'm just not sure.”

  “Well...I'm sorry to hear that.” Caroline said, disappointed. Suddenly, cuts began forming on my arm. I sat up.

  “What's happening to me?” I thought. Caroline walked over to me. “Jack...you're bleeding!”

  “I'm...” I began to speak but trailed off. I fell onto the floor. More cuts formed on my arm. Blood was gushing from my wounds.

  “Jack!” Caroline said, “you need medical attention!”

  “I'm...fine...” I said, trying to reassure her.”I'm...fine...” I said, as I fell asleep.

  “JACK!” Caroline yelled.

  CHAPTER 26

  V O I D

  I awoke in a dark, empty void. Nothing but infinite, shadowy darkness surrounded me. I saw him. His back was turned to me.

  I stepped closer, as the slayer turned to face me. I stopped, as images of his hundreds of thousands of victims flashed through my mind. Every single one of them...a sinner. A wrongdoer, an evildoer. He was the slayer of man, the ultimate punishment for their sins.

  I heard the faint moaning of the dead, as hands reached out from the darkness which seemed to be closing in on me. I ran as the slayer chased after me.

  CHAPTER 27

  O T H E R W O R L D

  “Wake up,” I heard as I woke up. Caroline sat beside me. I looked at my arm. She had wrapped a bandage around it, and stopped the bleeding.

  “You were unconscious for a while...” she told me. “How long?” I asked.

  “I'm not sure. The clocks in this place all seem to have stopped. I can guess a few hours.”

  “Come on,” I said, standing up. I offered Caroline my hand, and helped her up.

  We exited the room, and entered the long-since-dormant hallway. It was completely vacant of life. It looked as if it had been abandoned for decades. Everything was faded with dust, and eroded with age.

  We walked down the hallway, but came to a dead end. “A dead end.” I said.

  “Can't be. There was a door here,” said Caroline.

  “Let's find a way out. There has to be another way.” I said, as we turned around. Suddenly, a noise. Like the grinding and twisting of rusted metal. We turned around.

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  A large door has appeared, blocked however by a folding gate, locked by a padlock which sealed itself. Preventing passage.

  We ended up in an elevator. There were no buttons on this lift, however. Suddenly, the doors slammed shut, startling us.

  “What's going on?” Caroline asked, as the lights flickered within the elevator, and it hummed into motion, descending into the depths.

  CHAPTER 28

  C O N F E S S I O N

  The elevator stopped, and we watched it's doors grind open. Stepping out into the darkness, I felt around the wall for a light switch. Sparks flew as I turned it on. The lights above fluttered, and finally came on.

  We were in the basement. It was grimy, and cracked with decay. I could smell the mold and mildew as water dripped from the pipes above.

  We walked aimlessly though the basement tunnels. Needless to say, we were lost. It was as if something was watching us, and we had the dire need to get out.

  “Didn't we just go down this hallway?” Caroline asked, confused. I looked behind me, and in front of me. Both directions looked exactly the same.

  “Let;s just continue this way.” I decided. We began walking, as Caroline shuddered.

  “You okay?” I asked her.

  “Yeah...I'm fine. This place creeps me out, that's all.” And then she asked me...”what happened to your wife?”

  “I...I...” I couldn't speak about it. Caroline stepped out in front of me, stopping me.

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  “Tell me. What happened?”

  “I killed her.” I said, my head bowed in shame. “What?” Caroline said, unbelieving.

  “I shot my wife. I murdered Catherine.” “How can you do something like that?” “No...Caroline...you don't understand.” “I trusted you!” She shouted.

  “I didn't want to do it. I loved her.”

  “Loved her?! That's hardly love! All you care about is yourself, Jack!”

  “Caroline, please...”

  “No! You know what? As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell! You murderer!”

  “Caroline...”

  “Go back to whence thou has come!” Caroline yelled, condemning me. She turned to walk away. I grabbed her arm to try and stop her.

  “Let me go!” She screamed. She wiggled free, and ran away.

  “Caroline...wait!” I called after her.

  “Caroline!” I yelled.