Let Me Out

by A H Alhaila

  Everyone felt relived knowing they will be armed and after listening to Joanna. After everyone was satisfied and have agreed to carry out the plan, Steven said, “Whoever wants to face the creature downstairs come with me.”.

  Steven asked those who were still afraid to head to the basement while he went to Elma and said, “Are you ready to start drawing on people?”.

  “How many are we talking about?”, asked Elma.

  “Almost seventeen.”, replied Steven.

  “Before I start drawing I want to know; will you be going out today?”, said Elma.

  “It’s dangerous to go out in the dark, so we’ll leave tomorrow morning”, said Steven.

  “Alright. Let them face the creature tomorrow before they head out. I only have some paint left and I don’t think they’ll be able to close their eyes a whole day and so the paint doesn’t melt and fade away from their sweat.”, said Elma.

  “Okay. Does that mean Sam has to keep his eyes closed the entire time?”, asked Steven.

  “Yes. He knows that. I don’t think he’ll give up easily.”, replied Elma.

  “I don’t think so too.”, said Steven.

  Steven then headed to the basement and saw them looking at the creature with fear. “We won’t do it tonight. We’ll do it tomorrow before we head out.”, said Steven.

  “Why?”, asked someone.

  “We have little paint left. We shouldn’t waste it on practice.”, replied Steven.

  After everyone had gone back upstairs, Steven then turned to his daughter and said, “Oliver hasn’t woken up yet. We have to make use of the time we have before he gets better and wakes up.”.

  “Okay. I’ll do what has to be done.”, said Joanna.

  “Okay.”, said Steven.

  Joanna went to read the books and learn more, while Steven went to check up on everything. Four hours later and just before midnight, Victor came up to Steven with some good news. “Oliver woke up and he’s feeling much better.”. Steven felt relived and went to Joanna and said, “Oliver is up. We’ll do what we planned in a few.”.

  “I’ll go to the basement before you.”, said Joanna.

  “And I’ll get Oliver and meet you there. Don’t forget the toy.”, said Steven.

  “Alright.”, said Joanna.

  Steven went to sit by Oliver and wait for the opportunity to take him to the basement. A few minutes later, some people went to sleep, while others sat with Mr. William listening to his stories. “Joanna has a present for you.”, said Steven to Oliver as he took the child away.

  Oliver became excited as he got up and they both headed to the basement. When they entered the basement, he found his daughter in shock as she was speaking with Oliver’s mother!

  Joanna noticed them coming and became silent all of sudden. Steven left Oliver by the door and approached her. He told him to not move until they prepared the surprise for him. “What’s going o…”. Steven became out of words of what he saw.

  “How could have this happened?”, said Steven.

  “I don’t know how she went back to normal. I think she’s cured!”, said Joanna.

  The black veins have completely disappeared from Oliver’s mother’s body. Her skin and hair color returned normal. “Can she speak?”, asked Steven in shock.

  “No!”, replied Joanna.

  “Oliver can easily recognize her now.”, said Steven. “I think we should cover his eyes and bring him in to see what happens. But, we should be careful.”, he added.

  “I’ll bring him in.”, said Joanna.

  “Okay.”, said Steven.

  Joanna went and put her hands over Oliver’s eyes before bringing him in, making him even more excited about the present. Joanna and Oliver headed towards the electricity room while Steven and Joanna became more nervous the closer they got to it. They both were armed just in case something happens. When the two arrived, Steven opened the door letting them in. Joanna still had her hands over Oliver’s eyes until they became directly in front of his mother. “What do you think it is?”, Joanna asked Oliver.

  After thinking about it, Oliver said, “I think it’s a big ball.”.

  “Nope! Think again.”, said Joanna.

  Oliver’s mother was staring at them. Steven whispered into his daughter’s ear and said, “Use your fingers to cover his eyes only. You’re covering most of his face.”.

  Joanna did what her father had asked. Suddenly, Oliver’s mother started to focus more as she tried to step forward. They felt that she started to recognize him, but she suddenly became quiet and looked towards the floor. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”, said Steven.

  “Her behavior is fishy. I’m afraid she would hurt Oliver.”, said Steven.

  Joanna moved Oliver away a bit to show him the toy placed aside. They were about to close the door when the suddenly heard Oliver’s mother say, “My son!”.

  They were stupefied from what they had heard. After hearing his mother’s voice, Oliver tried to move Joanna’s hands away as he said, “Mommy?”.

  Oliver’s mother lifted her head. Suddenly and out of nowhere, her hands were set on fire and her hair started to also ignite. Steven did not know what was happening, but he knew that they were in danger. “Run!”, he shouted to Joanna. Steven locked the door just before Oliver’s mother was able to break free. Steven remembered that Joanna had the gun and so he asked her to return and give it to him. At the same time, she was trying to keep Oliver away. When Steven took the gun, he said, “Quickly run and tell everyone.”.

  Joanna escaped with Oliver, while Steven was blocking the door, trying to get out the key to lock it. As he was taking it out, Oliver’s mother’s banging on the door, knocked the key far away from his hands. Steven tried to push against the door while also trying to point the gun towards it. He managed to point the gun’s muzzle to the door in hopes to shot her, but the quarrel increased which caused the gun to also fall off of Steven’s hands. Steven was able to stop it from falling as the gun became stuck between the door and Steven’s right palm. The door became hotter and hotter, but the gun absorbed the heat making it easier for him to keep hold on the gun. His other hand felt extreme heat, so he used his arm to push hoping that his clothes would also absorb the heat. Moments later, the heat from the door caused the gun to fire, hitting his arm. Even-though the trigger was hot and Steven feeling severe pain, he focused on grabbing the gun well to get ready to shoot. Steven pushed himself backwards, falling on the ground as he kept hold of the gun and aimed it towards the door. Oliver’s mother was able to push the door open and stood right in front of Steven screaming. Steven shot the gun at her head, throwing her straight to the ground and causing the fire that was coming out of her body to die out. When Steven got up and headed towards the stairs, he found that everyone was in the basement. “What happened to you? Are you okay?”, said Joseph after seeing Steven had collapsed to the ground.

  Chapter Twenty

  “…CH TH…”

  In severe shock, Steven was not able to say anything. He held on to his injured arm and said,” Where’s Victor?”.

  Joseph shouted calling Victor until he finally arrived. Victor shouted in fear when he saw the amount of blood coming out of Steven. “Oh Lord! We have to stop the bleeding. Keep pressure on it until I get the first aid kit.”, said Victor.

  Joseph tore his shirt and wrapped it around Steven’s wound. Joanna did not need to take care of her father as Joseph doing what was required. Joanna asked herself, “Why does Joseph add fuel to fire in arguments making things worse, but he helps us a lot in critical situations?”. Joanna went to take a look at Oliver’s mother and saw something strange! Her body returned back to normal. She started asking herself, “Where did the fire come from? And why are there no burns on her?”.

  Adam, who was standing next to her, said, “What did you say? How did she catch fire without getting burned?”.

  Meanwhile, Oliver came running down towards the basement after escaping from the woman Joanna had aske
d to take care off. “Where’s mommy?”, said Oliver as tears fell down his cheeks.

  Everyone though he was talking about Joanna as he used to call her “mom”. Joanna went to Oliver to hug him before he could see his mother. But Oliver kept on crying and saying,” Where’s mommy? I heard her voice!”.

  Oliver started drawing attention, so Joanna carried him and took him upstairs. “Your mother is there. We discovered that the creatures started imitating women’s voices to kidnap their children.”, said Joanna.

  “Really?”, said Oliver, believing what Joanna was saying.

  “Yes. That’s why we killed it; so that it doesn’t take you.”, said Joanna.

  Oliver was convinced by what Joanna had said. Joanna then left Oliver with a woman and told her to not let him go down to the basement. She then headed towards the staircase door and saw Victor. They both went down together as Joanna asked, “Do you have what you need?”.

  “Yes, I do.”, said Victor.

  “That’s good.”, replied Joanna.

  Joanna and Victor finally got to Steven. Victor then started to treat him as everyone kept asking Steven a lot of questions. Steven remembered that he would not say anything unless he and his daughter agree on what to say exactly. Joanna also remembered because she remembered the many arguments that happened. “Why did you kill the creature? Didn’t we agree that we’d draw on our eyelids and practice with it?”, someone asked.

  “The question we should ask is why did this creature’s body return to normal while the other creatures that we killed didn’t?”., said Elma.

  “What’s more important is why is the electricity room door glowing with heat?”, said Joseph, pointing at the door.

  “We know as much as you do. We found the door opened and on fire. We didn’t find the creature inside. It attacked us from behind and that’s what happened.”, said Joanna.

  “So, how did Steven get shot?”, asked Joseph.

  “I shot myself by mistake when the creature attacked us. I then shot it and killed it.”. explained Steven.

  “Why is your hand burned?”, said Joseph.

  The more questions Joseph asked, the angrier Joanna became. They did not want to say that the creature suddenly became on fire. “The door was about to burn my face while I was fighting off the creature, so I stopped it with my hand.”, said Steven.

  “But how did the door become on fire?”, asked Joseph.

  “We don’t know.”, said Steven.

  “That’s strange!”, said Joseph.

  “Are you done asking question Joseph, or do you have more?”, said Joanna.

  “I didn’t know my questions made you angry Joanna.”, replied Joseph.

  “You should ask questions in the right time. My father almost died a while ago and Victor is treating. You can see that, can’t you?”, said Joanna in an angry tone.

  Everyone began whispering amongst themselves, agreeing with Joanna. “You’re right.”, said Joseph.

  As Joseph headed upstairs, Mr. William said, “The creature’s death won’t keep us from going out tomorrow.”.

  Those who were scared started objecting. Steven intervened and said, “You’ll see how easy it is when the time comes.”.

  Steven stood up and Victor had finished treating him. “Fortunately, the bullet didn’t penetrate your bones. You should use your arm a lot for a week.”, said Victor.

  “That’s a lot of time.”, said Joanna.

  “Will you go outside with us tomorrow?”, asked Adam.

  “We’ll know for sure tomorrow.”, said Steven. “We should get some sleep so that we can get an early start.”, he added.

  Steven and Joanna went to sit in front of the glass windows to talk about what had happened while everyone else went to sleep. “Can you believe what happened?”, said Steven.

  “No! I don’t know how it happened either.”, replied Joanna.

  Fortunately, you were able to hide the truth and not forget our deal. They wouldn’t have believed us anyway and they definitely wouldn’t go out tomorrow. We may starve to death if that happens.”, said Steven.

  “I agree.”, said Joanna. “We should hide the truth from them from now on.”, she added.

  “What’s strange was that Oliver’s mother didn’t suffer from any burns. Her skin didn’t turn black from the fire coming out of her hands and hair. How did that happen?”, asked Steven.

  “I didn’t believe these things could happen.”, said Joanna.

  “These creatures are dangerous. They mustn’t learn from us, nor should we remind them of their children. “, said Steven.

  “I don’t agree with you dad. Oliver’s mother spoke a few words. I think we can communicate with them if we teach th…”

  Suddenly, Joanna became silent and her eyes lit up as if she had discovered something important. “What’s the matter?”, asked Steven.

  “That’s what my mother was trying to say. “teaCH THem”. That’s the completion of the missing letters.”, said Joanna.

  “Hold up! Hold up! Teach them?”, said Steven. “Teach them how to carry gun so they can do to others like they did to Max? Or to capture someone like they captured Sam when they learned from you? Or to teach them who their children are so they can catch on fire!?”, he added.

  “No.”, said Joanna. “Teach them the right things. I read about a drug in mom’s notes. It was a drug still being tested and not approved, but they were going to give it to soldiers. It would make them stronger, more violent, and incapable of feeling pain. But, it did cause memory loss. We can see these side effects on those creatures!”, added Joanna.

  “Okay, but how do you explain the long hair?’, said Steven. “Why did the books not mention anything about the black veins covering their bodies? We haven’t seen them eat yet, have we? How do they survive if they don’t eat anything? How come they can transform without even drinking the drug? They transform others by staring into their eyes. If this is really how it spreads, can it really be called a disease?”, asked Steven.

  Joanna felt a little bummed then said, “I can’t answer your questions, but I feel that what I’m saying is correct. On top of that, she might have written the message while they were being attacked and a sample of the drug was stolen. She wanted to warn us!”, replied Joanna.

  “How?”, said Steven. “They use everything they’ve learned against us. Listen, I’m convinced that your mom was talking about “teaching” because they are the letter that fit. On top of that, “teaching” seems to be revolving around everything we do. The creatures learn from us, but I think your mother may have wanted to write “don’t teach them”. Maybe the word “don’t” was written on that bigger page that went missing and what was left were the two letters on the small paper.”, added Steven.

  Steven slightly convinced Joanna but she still believed she was on to something because of her conversation with Oliver’s mother. “I don’t know if you’re right or if I am, but, I’m going to look for the page that went missing. Then we’ll know if it has the word “don’t” or not.”, said Joanna.

  “You did a great job. I didn’t understand your mom’s message, but you did.”, said Steven. “I hope you find that missing page.”, he added.

  “I’ll look for it. But, believe me, she meant “teach them””, said Joanna.

  “I don’t agree. I can’t be convinced by that.”, said Steven. “I’m sure you’ll find the word “don’t” in that missing page.”, he added.

  “I’ll start searching for it.”, said Joanna.

  “Don’t stay up late.”, said Steven.

  “Okay.”, said Joanna.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  A Blink Separating Them from Death!

  Steven went to get some sleep while Joanna stayed up looking for that missing piece of paper. Steven forgot about his injury until he stretched himself the next morning when he woke up, feeling the pain in his arm. He turned around and found Joanna sleeping next to him. “Did you find the word don’t”, said Steven after wa
king up his daughter.

  “I haven’t found it, even-though you’re clearly very sure that I will.”, replied Joanna.

  “I’m sure it’s in one of her other books at home.”, said Steven.

  “I’ve never seen anyone so sure as you are. I’m sure she meant “teach them””, said Joanna.

  “No, it isn’t. It’s D-O-N-T T-E-A-C-H T-H-E-M”, said Steven, spelling it out for Joanna.

  Joanna laughed at her father then said, “We’ll see where this confidence will lead us in the end.”.

  “If I recall correctly, SOMEONE told me that my wife’s death was an accident and not murder! I’m always confident in what I say, and I always win in the end.”, replied Steven.

  Suddenly, Oliver came up to them and said, “Where’s the toy you said you’d give me?”.

  Oliver had forgotten all about that toy because of the previous day’s incidents. “It’s with me. You’ll get it after breakfast.”, said Joanna.

  Joanna stood up and went with Oliver, followed by Steven, to get breakfast. They found Joseph standing in line waiting for his breakfast too. “How are you doing today champ?”, Joseph asked Steven.

  “Great.”, replied Steven.

  “Have you decided whether you will come out with us or not?”, he asked.

  “I’ll let you know after we all gather around for breakfast.”, replied Steven as he took his breakfast.

  “Okay. Right behind you!”., replied Joseph.

  When everyone received their meals and sat down, Steven said, “As you all know, we’ll be going out today to look for food, medicine, and paint. We’ll also be looking for Sam while we’re at it. I’ll join you guys.”.

  Everyone felt excited when they heard what Steven said. “After breakfast, we’ll meet in front of the staircase door. Elma will start painting on our fake eyes and each of you will be given a gun and knife.”, added Steven.

  In a voice of encouragement, Mr. William said, “Let’s be friends with those creatures and walk around without a care in the world to fill up our tummies!”.