Wherever I was, it was dark.
And I don't mean "four in the morning, moonlight streaming through your window" dark. I mean pitch black. I couldn't see anything, not even my own arms that I stretched out before me so I could blindly stumble through the void.
I called out, but my voice couldn't be heard. This place was devoid of light, devoid of sound. It was like I had fallen into a black hole and hadn't been completely destroyed. Just wandering through this bleak nothingness with no destination in mind.
I couldn't even tell you how long I was there. After a while, I started to question if I was even real. My arms were still outstretched— or were they? The darkness was beginning to play tricks on my mind. My legs were still moving, I think, carrying me to no specific destination. It felt like I had been here for years. No sound, no light. I stopped having the ability to feel. My thoughts were scattered now, having no voice to express them. I was becoming nothingness too.
My breathing hitched, a panic attack coming on. There was no sound, of course, but I could briefly feel my chest tightening, my throat closing up. My mind's frantic thoughts taking a turn for the worse.
And then suddenly— Light.
My arms were still held out, as if I were falling. But I was standing upright in a room now. The walls were white. A bed to my left, another to my right. It was familiar, and despite coming from an actual void, I wasn't happy to see it.
I let my arms fall to my sides, the familiar sounds of indistinct chatter coming from down the hall. The window let the sunshine pouring into the room, attempting to show the cheeriness the staff so desperately tried to give. But this room was empty of happiness.
This was my hospital room.
I looked down at my arms, my eyes soaking in every detail since it had been deprived of it only moments earlier. There were bandages wrapped around the entirety of my forearms, a grim reminder of why I was here. They almost blended into the drab color of the sweats and beat up tee shirt I wore.
When you've been in a place like this for as long as I have, you stop caring about how you look.
"But why? I whispered, taking in the room once more. "I was out." Even I could tell how miserable I sounded. I looked down again at my clothes, rubbing my palms over the sweats material. It really was the hospital.
Why had I thought I got out? I had no memory of anything other than this hospital. I turned and looked at the door. It was open.
I stepped out into the hallway, looking to see who was on patrol today. Oddly enough, no one was near. I figured they were in the common room, so I started walking that way, passing a row of doors. 142. 144. 146. On and on I counted. 188, 142, 144.
I paused. I looked at the door next to me. 146. I looked beyond it, to the doors I passed. Had I not just walked past these? My room was 140. Thinking I had imagined it, I began walking again, only stopping when I confirmed my suspicions.
I was once again standing next to room 142.
"What is going on?" I muttered, fear starting to slip in. I took off running, knowing if I was caught I would be reprimanded. But that would be a blessing, it would mean I was free from this awful maze.
I ran and ran, passing the repeating numbers. A never ending hallway of doors. As I ran, it began to twist and turn, making the hallway a kaleidoscope of doors and windows.
I finally stopped running, my lungs struggling to keep up with the movement I had been doing. A choked sob escaped. "Why can't I get out?" I wailed, sliding into a seated position on the floor, next to room 142.
"You'll never truly be free, Emmaline." A voice rang out ahead of me, but as I whipped my head up to see who had spoke, I woke up.
When I opened my eyes this time, I thought that my subconscious was really messing with me.
I was in the hospital again. Or, well, a hospital.
My head throbbed, each pulse of my heart making my brain feel suffocated. I could hear the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor beside me confirming that, yes, I was still alive.
I didn't even have time to figure my life out before Ella was in my face.
"Emma, oh my god." Her eyes were moist with tears, red rimmed, like she had been crying this whole time. "Thank god," she continued blubbering, grabbing my hand and holding it tight. "When Lacey called me I almost had a heart attack. I was almost on my plane! Imagine if I had gotten on it!"
I was still in shock that she had been crying. Ella had always been the strong one. I was the crybaby, Ella was the big sister who never let anything bother her. But here she was, chattering on and wiping away tears over what, me?
"Are you okay?" She finally asked, settling down and dragging the hospital chair closer to my bed. "The kids tried to tell me what happened, but it wasn't making any sense. And then your boyfriend tried to explain it and made it even more confusing. What's going on, Em?" Her voice had dropped to a whisper. I felt for her, I really did. It's not every day that your sister winds up in a hospital from a possible concussion because a demon joined her in the shower.
I blinked a few times, trying to clear away the hazy feeling that still floated around my head. I swallowed, my dry mouth making it hard for me to find the voice to speak. Maybe this was the reason I had that weird dream. I was doped up and cottonmouthed. She quickly handed me a glass of water with a straw, and I gratefully drank it down. When I finished the glass, I began the story.
I honestly didn't expect her to get it. Like, trust me when I say I've seen a ton of horror movies. I know that the adult in the situation never believes the kids. And since Ella was the adult here, and my background was less than credible with my shaky past, I didn't expect her to believe me. But she took it all in, leaned back, and exhaled.
"Holy shit." She muttered, her eyes on the ceiling. "So, Mrs. Dee... Harly did that?" I could practically hear the gears spinning in her head. She was scared, I could tell. So was I. But the kids needed us to be strong.
"We gotta do something, El. Harly is bad news, and Lilly may be in trouble." Ella snapped her head up to look at me when I said that.
"I'll be damned if I let some monster hurt my baby." She hissed and I raised my brows. Mama Ella was nothing to mess with, it appeared.
Before we could really make any kind of progress on a plan or anything, there was a light knock on the door. Norman was there with a bottled soda, the three kids behind him. It was a strange scene, to see a guy I've met once with my nieces and nephew, but I was incapacitated and couldn't take care of them, so I was grateful.
"Norman," I muttered, waving them in. Lilly was all tears and she bolted across the room and climbed into the bed with me. She threw her little arms around my waist and sobbed into my chest.
"Aunt Em!" I gingerly stroked her hair, a little uncomfortable by the proximity. It felt nice to be loved, I was just... Unused to it. "I was scared!" I glanced back at the other two, who were holding hands. Lance seemed terrified, and Lacey tried to hide it, but I think she was scared too. As if she could tell what I was thinking, she hastily let go of Lance's hand and puffed up.
"He saw you naked." She exclaimed, pointing to Norman. His mouth dropped and his hands flew up as if claiming innocence.
"I.. well, I.." He sputtered, looking around. "You were screaming! I had to do something so I kicked in the door. I didn't know you were right there. And.. Naked..." He muttered. My cheeks burned but I couldn't help but laugh. It really lightened the mood some, taking some tension off our shoulders.
The doctor came to visit shortly after, giving me the rundown on what happened. Norman indeed kicked the door in to rescue me, but because I was huddled against it, he also kicked me to the side where I slid into the sink and knocked myself out. I had a large bump on my head which gave me a concussion. I was brought in because no one could wake me and they didn't know what else to do.
Thankfully the nurses rinsed out the rest of the shampoo from hair and at least put me in a semi-modest hospital gown. I was brought in wrapped in a blanket. Poor Norman tried, at least.
They wanted to keep me overnight, and I was okay with it. Ella and the kids left after a few hours. She whispered to me before she took them, indulging me on a little secret. "So you two can have some alone time together." She gave a suggestive eyebrow wiggle and left, leaving me with a scowl and oblivious ghost hunter.
"I don't know if now is a good time or not," Norman began, taking her place in the chair and typing away on his phone. "But I found some information on our spectral friend." He continued, handing me his phone to view.
"Speak for yourself,'" I muttered, taking his phone and looking at what he pulled up for me. It was the same box that I had in my drawer, down to the carving, followed by a short article that seemed to be written by someone who had little knowledge of the box. "Hey, you found it!" I sat up straighter, reading the page. My excitement quickly dropped when I continued reading. The article was for a demon by the name of Ilkasepth.
"Ilkasepth is a demon from folklore notorious for taking on the form of a young child to befriend those of similar ages and eventually killing them. His origins are unknown, but it appeared that he wanted to consume the children's lives and eventually take their place.
He was soon caught, however, and banished to be contained in a small wooden box with a sigil of confinement. The box was kept in a church located in Sighișoara, Romania until a thief raided the church and stole items he deemed as goods. Shortly after, the box's whereabouts were unknown and still hasn't been found to this day."
I groaned. Of course. My dad's box housed a demon from Romania who devoured children and took their lives. "So his victim is Lilly." I muttered. I guess it was sort of obvious since he attached himself to her from day one, but I really hoped for the best possible outcome for this situation.
"Looks like it," Norman agreed, leaning back in his chair as he thought. We were both quiet for the meantime, trying to figure out our next move. "I can email the church and see what information they have."
"You know Romanian?" I asked, impressed, but he laughed.
"No, but I'm guessing maybe someone can read English. Or the demon's name will trigger something." That made more sense, and I felt my cheeks flush again. "I'll attach a picture of the box too, I'm sure someone will have information on it." We looked up at the same time, making brief eye contact. He seemed to notice my blush, and his cheeks turned the same color. "And, hey..." He muttered, looking away. "I didn't mean to see you like that. I just... The 'I want to be a hero' instinct kicked in and the door was in the way. I didn't mean to knock you out or see you naked."
I snorted, but looked down at my hands. "Really, it's no big deal. You did what you had to do. Thanks for knocking me out."
Norman left shortly after, promising to keep me updated on the church's information. It had been an exhausting few hours and by the time he had left the room, my eyes had already closed.
And thankfully, I didn't dream once.
El had brought me some clothes the next day when they discharged me, and I could only help but compare this day with the last time I was released from a hospital. Lilly happily sat in my lap as they wheeled me out, per protocol, and El had joined Lance and Lacey waiting for me at the curb with the car. The sun was bright, warming my skin, polar opposite to the overcast day that I was rolled out to a cab that drove me home in silence a few years ago.
We returned to the house, and ordered Chinese takeout. Neither of us wanted to cook, and we all wanted to sit and be a real family. We couldn't really talk about the Harly situation as he was currently joining us for dinner, but El and I could communicate via text about it later. For now, I had to break the news to her.
"You know Norman and I aren't really dating now, right?" I asked, spearing a water chestnut and flicking it onto the lid of my container with disgust. Water chestnuts were the devil, and no one could convince me otherwise.
El had leaned forward to take a bite, but when I spoke, the food almost rolled out of her mouth. "...What?"
"Norman," I repeated, pointing to her with my fork. "He's just helping me with..." I took a quick glance to Lilly, who seemed oblivious. "Work. We're not dating."
El gave an aggravated grunt as she looked on at me. "Are you kidding me?" I stifled a laugh as she jabbed her own fork into her chow mein. "And here I thought you found someone. He's so nice!" She continued to grumble about it for a while, and I met eyes with Lacey. We shared secret snickers at the obvious disapproval of Ella.
"I think we have more to worry about than my dating life," I muttered and El silently agreed.
"What's there to worry about?" Lilly asked, finally catching in on our conversation. I hesitated, unsure how to answer, but El swooped in to save the day.
"Whether or not we have ice cream in the freezer. Heavy stuff, right there." Ice cream effectively shut Lilly up and saved the day.
As they filed into the kitchen to start making bowls, I excused myself to use the bathroom.
I hesitated in the doorway as I looked at the cracked and splintered door. Norman had really done a number on it. There was a large dent where it almost, but not quite formed a hole, but the hinges were severely bent. The door would never latch, But I figured if everyone was downstairs, it would be no problem to have the door slightly open.
I crept inside, flicking on the light. The bathroom seemed so normal, even after what I went through. I shuddered and decided to make this quick and easy.
It was probably the fastest pee I ever had.
I was washing my hands in the sink and I looked up into the mirror, a habit for some reason, that I had to see myself. But instead, saw smudges on the glass that clearly spelled out D O N T C R Y E M M A L I N E
I didn't even dry my hands, instead I left the bathroom and quickly returned to the group happily scooping out ice cream into five individual bowls.