101 Psychos

#24 - Drunken Demons

Psycho #24 - Drunken Demons -

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A Tale of Alcoholic Delirium Tremens:

Refers to a hyperadrenergic state, disorientation, tremors, diaphoresis, impaired attention and/or consciousness, and visual and auditory hallucinations. This usually occurs 24 to 72 hours after an extreme alcoholic ceases alcohol consumption. Delirium tremens is the most severe form of withdrawal and occurs in 5 to 20% of patients experiencing detoxification. In 1/3 of those, seizures also occured.

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My head was pounding from my sobriety, I desperately needed a drink. Not crappy water or pointless soda, I needed liquid fire. Something that would ease the ceaseless thumping in my mind and chase away the demons of my past.

I opened my wallet and frowned. There was no cash, not even a dollar rested within the folds of leather. I lived with an elderly woman as her caretaker, and decided to try once again to get an advance in pay from her.

I found the old woman where she usually was, sitting in a rocking chair by the fireplace, watching the flames devour the logs.

"No." she growled as I approached.

"I just need $20." I grumbled after her refusal.

She didn't even look up as she denied me again. "I just gave you an advance two days ago. You get paid in a few days. You can wait." she snapped firmly as she picked up the poker and stirred the smoldering logs.

I stood silently next to her chair and watched as she paid more attention to the fire than me. My hands clenched into fists and relaxed over and over as I stared at the old woman. My hate for her growing with every passing moment. My head felt as though someone was beating it with a sledgehammer, the withdrawals from alcohol taking effect.

"Why don't you actually work for your money and stoke the fire." she ordered with annoyance seeping from her voice.

I'll stoke your fire. I thought as I approached the red brick fireplace. I stooped down to readjust the logs with my bare hands. As I grabbed one of the logs burning only on one end, an idea occurred to me.

If this woman would not give me what I wanted, I would take it. The headache was getting worse with every passing second and my need to drink seemed to make the final decision for me. My desire to be drunk became greater than my ability to reason.

I tightened my grip around the log and swung up at the woman as I turned to stand. I caught her in the jaw, and the force of the collision caused her to fall from her chair sideways. She looked up at me with terror written in her features and begged me to stop. She apologized for denying my request and promised to pay me the money I wanted.

Too late. I thought. I had put up with her high and mighty attitude for quite long enough.

Over and over again I brought the log down on her, still burning on the one end. She tried to shield herself with her fragile arms, but eventually her body went limp. Dark bruises and burn blisters covered her wrinkled flesh. Her clothes were smoldering in a few areas, but it was nothing serious enough to cause a fire. Blood dripped from various wounds and black ash was both streaked and blotched over her broken form.

When she stopped moving I dropped the log back into the fireplace and turned away.

Without giving her a second glance I went to where I knew she kept her wallet. I took everything, all $106. It wasn't like she would be needing it anymore. Her keys sat there too, so I snatched them up as well.

About four hours later the police found me at the bar closest to the house, the old woman's car sitting in front. I couldn't wait anymore, the need for alcohol was to great. I was never concerned about getting caught.

By time the officers found me at the bar my demons were drunk, and I had already forgotten about the old woman by the fireplace.

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