The Cure To A Broken Mind

Chapter 11 ~ Out Cold

        4...

        Near dawning silence boggled my mind and teased my sensory as the room around me pushed a growing sense of isolation onto me.

        I thought, perhaps by some miracle, he'd return to me shortly. He had stated the nap would be short, after all. But, in the long run, minutes quickly turned to hours, and soon I slouched back into the wall.

        I slumped rather tirelessly against the front door, watching the fireplace across the room for what seemed like forever. The doctor seemed to stay locked away in his room for twice that time, leaving me abandoned in the dimly lit space.

        I absolutely refused to sleep.

        Eventually, though, I took note of the receding light cast on the floor. The sun was making its bed along the horizon and soon enough would step from her heavenly throne to leave the world in darkness.

        I figured, maybe this would be a perfect time to kill, glancing off toward the kitchen.

        Without much thought, I stood, walking my way past the counter and edging toward the fridge. It wouldn't be long before dinner anyhow, so why not start cooking?

        As I reached to pull open the door, my mind was already dancing with alternative ways to prepare the meal. I was almost excited to have something to do, but just as I grabbed around the handle of the refrigerator, I was met with a smell worse than anything I'd ever gotten a whiff of before. It was horrid, absolutely repulsing-...it seemed to radiate from just behind the door.

        Suddenly, I questioned how well 049 could read expiration dates. That and my lack of attention; how had I not noticed the stench earlier? Perhaps it was just clouded in the scent of the cooking.

        I nearly cringed at the thought, now.

        "God..." I grumbled out softly, raising a hand to plug my nose. I narrowed my eyes a bit now, further deciding I had time to do a bit of cleaning as well.

        Sighing, I finally reached out again to open the fridge door.

        Drawing it open, now, the smell grew at least ten times as putrid. The combination of scents almost  layered- strong, rotten, and musky. It almost smelled like mothballs and garlic, but above all, I would have called it 'death's perfume'. If that wasn't bad enough, though, the cause of the smell had me reeling.

        The shelves within the fridge had been withdrawn, removed to make room for the mass inside. Not only this, but the inside walls had been painted a provoking crimson, the red liquid staining in splotches and pooling beneath the figure, desperate to escape as it dripped to the floor.

        The person in question was a male, looking to be only a couple years older than me, slunked over into the side of the fridge. His gaze stood cloudy and motionless, watching something right passed me that maybe I just couldn't see.

        His right leg had been severed at the thigh, the wound left completely unattended to, a sticky brownish red drooling from the open gash. At least it was a clean cut; the flesh didn't seem rugged in the slightest.

        At first, I don't think I had even realized what had happened. As seconds passed, though, it hit me like a freight train. A rock formed in my throat, and suddenly the air became thick to a point it was difficult to breathe. The legs holding me up grew wobbly, and at that moment I thought I was certainly going to topple over.

        Practically immediately afterward, however, I turned my head and gagged, wringing my hands around my neck nervously.

        That sure as hell wasn't 'veal' I had eaten earlier.

        Suddenly, I vomited all over the counter, my body aching as I leaned onto it with my arm. At the time being, I was terrified the doctor might hear me. I could only imagine winding up as another week of food for him if he knew I'd found out. I tried desperately to catch my breath...

        The 'veal' I'd consumed earlier that day had spilled from my mouth entirely in a grotesque, chunky gargle, leaving me heaving slightly over the counter. I was trembling by now, holding my gut tightly between my knuckles. It was bad enough I'd thrown up, at least ridding myself of such a cannibalistic act, but it left me feeling tired, being the only thing I'd eaten in a while.

        My knuckles grew nearly white in color as I grabbed around my shirt, slowly looking up through the living room again.

        It took me a moment, but I recoiled finally, I stumbled out passed the refrigerator, bumping the open door on my way to the living room.

        I hesitated toward the front door, near instantly growing desperate in an escape. Without considering the consequences, I grabbed the doorknob firmly, yanking and pulling in an attempt to pull it open. Unfortunately, it didn't budge, and I was met with the dark realization that it was locked.

        I started to hold my breath, oblivious as to where the key could have possibly been hidden.

        Slowly, I clutched back around my throat, a trembling noise sneaking from my lips into the quietness of the room. I took a few steps from the door before almost swinging around to look at the doctor's.

        I couldn't possibly ask him. I needed to escape him. This man, this monster- I loved him but I couldn't stay with him a moment longer.

        Panic began to crash back into me like the ferocious waves of a wondrously black sea. A wonderously black sea I was so strangely familiar with, as well...

        Facing the door again, I heaved a bit once more. In a brilliant moment of thought, I glanced to the window, hurdling myself toward it and popping the hatches.

        My heart pounded in my ears so loud it almost hurt. A distant, though nearing ringing noise pulsed behind it, eventually growing so loud it was as if a grenade had gone off next to me. The room itself grew too silent to listen to...

        As I lifted the window, a voice lost in the sea of noise called for me, faint as a whisper.

        Without thinking, though, I lifted myself up, only to be grabbed around the sides and yanked back to the floor. My eyes widened as I was dragged back to earth. 049 shouted my name again before I felt teeth come down on my shoulder, ripping through my flesh.

        Only a moment longer...

        I passed out cold.