The Psychological Mystery of Thomas King

Chapter Four: The Lady in White

Thomas

Even though I was able to move again, I just laid there. What was that thing? What just happened to me? And furthermore, how could that lady have seen me in that dream? Was the dream not a memory after all? Or what if it was? I slowly sat up, still shocked.
Was there something wrong with me? Was I going crazy? I've never had what seemed like a sleep paralysis episode before. I almost considered going to Ava's or my mom's room but I refrained myself. I still couldn't go to them. I shouldn't scare them with this.

But still....

What if I really was insane?

My mind wandered back to that dream I had.

"However, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done before the experiment is complete."

What experiment? Why did I keep having dreams about some kind of psychological experiment?

I thought back to the kid on the bed. I remembered how he seemed so familiar to me. He had the same brown eyes, the same brown hair that I had.

I gasped softly.

I knew who that kid was.

He's me.

*******

"Hey, you okay?" I jumped a little. I realized that I was still sitting in Liam's car and that it's parked in the parking lot of the school. Ava felt sick in the morning and I didn't feel like driving either so Liam gave me a ride instead.

"Yeah... I'm fine." I mumbled.

"You sure?" He asked. "You seem a little... I don't know-"

"Freaked out?" I finished.

"Yeah." He said slowly. "Freaked out."

I should tell someone at least. Liam's my best friend. We practically grew up together. I could trust him. Right?

"Yeah... I am a little freaked out. Something strange happened last night. Something bad." I said.

"What happened?" Liam asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Ever since we've moved into our new house," I began explaining, "I keep having a dream about a boy undergoing some kind of psychological experiment."

"Okay." Liam said slowly again. "I'm not following."

"I figured out last night that it's a memory. That boy undergoing that experiment was me." I continued. "I also saw a ghost a few nights ago in the bathroom-"

"Okay, that's definitely weird." He said. I glared at him and he shut up.

"I saw a ghost in the bathroom a few nights ago." I started again. " And last night I had what seemed like a sleep paralysis episode. I saw some weird creature on the wall. It was almost like a spider... but not quite."

"So, what? Your house is haunted?" Liam asked.

"I don't think so." I said. "If my house was haunted, I'm sure I wouldn't have been the only person seeing these things. I know Ava would've come to me. She's not the kind of person who would keep secrets like this. Besides, she's superstitious and scared of paranormal activity and stuff like that." I said.

"Maybe you're stressed?" Liam suggested.

"Stressed?" I asked. That's definitely not the answer I thought he was gonna give. "How does any of this have anything to do with stress?" He shrugged.

"I dunno." He said. "I've been stressed recently. Maybe that's why you keep seeing things."

"But what about the dreams? And that sleep paralysis episode?" I asked.

"Maybe you're just making assumptions about something that isn't there. Like making connections that aren't true. Now for the sleep paralysis ...." He thought about it for a second. "I don't know. That does seem a little weird. It could be the result of exhaustion. Maybe you should talk to your mom about that." I rubbed my face. I still didn't feel comfortable talking to my mom just yet. Maybe Liam was right. Maybe I was just stressed and exhausted. I couldn't remember the last time I actually had a good night's sleep. I had been a little bit behind on schoolwork lately. Plus there were a whole lot of tests that I needed to study for.

But why couldn't I believe that?

"Yeah, maybe you're right." I finally decided to say. "It's probably just stress. And exhaustion."

*******

When I got back from school, I conversed with my mom for a few minutes then went straight to Ava's room, to see how she's doing. I poked my head in her room.

"You alive?" I asked. She's lying face down on the bed, listening to a cassette tape through her headphones. She groaned. "Alrighty, I'll take that as a yes." I said. She groaned again then flipped over, her headphones falling from her ears. She put her arm over her eyes.

"How was school?" She asked and by the sound of her voice I could clearly tell she's sick. Her stuffy nose made her voice sound thicker than usual.

"What am I, five?" I asked, entering her room and sitting on the corner of her bed. She removed her arm from her face, sat upright and glared at me. I rolled my eyes. "Boring as usual. Except for Psychology of course."

"Cool." She said, We both went silent.

"Well... Good talk. I'm gonna go in my room and study." I said, getting up. "Don't die."

"Ha ha, very funny." She said sarcastically. I gave her an exaggerated smile and left her room. Immediately after I entered the hallway, I saw another ghost. I jumped, startled and stared at her.

She had long dark hair, some of the strands in her face. She's wearing a long white dress, stained with dirt. Her arms were limp by her side and she's hunched over a little, like she's sleepwalking. She slowly turned her head to me, her hair falling a little from her eyes.

They were milky white.

I shivered. She turned her head away and slowly walked downstairs. I quickly looked over the railing from the upstairs to see that she's stalking towards the basement. Before she got to the door, she looked back up at me. I stared at her, shaking from fear. She then looked back at the basement door and went straight through it. I was about to follow her before I heard a feminine voice say "Thomas?" I jumped again, and turned to see that it's my sister. "I called you like four times but you never answered. What happened?" She asked.

"I... um... I...." I stammered. "I... thought I... um... saw something." My voice was shaking so bad I could barely get the words out.

"Saw what?" She asked. When I didn't answer she repeated "Saw what?"

"N-never mind." I mumbled. "It was probably just nothing." I went into my room. Ava kept calling after me, but I kept ignoring her.

I laid down on my bed, folding my arms over my stomach. I finally had my verdict:

There's something terribly wrong with me.

And I may be the only one who's going crazy.