Fan Fiction ❯ The Phantom's Of Children ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

My first posted writing ever. This is for the spring evil contest. I hope it does well but I’m not crossing my fingers. I just can’t measure up to some of the other author’s here. Please take a little time to tell me what you thought of it. Reviews are like oxygen here, except they don’t have their own symbol on the periodic table. ^.^
The Phantom’s Of Children stats:
Page count: 11
Word Count: Approx. 3,500
Paragraphs: 43
Drafts: 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------

Dr. Springfield glanced through the window into the pure white room beyond. He saw her kneeling on the floor, currently occupied with a small doll she made herself. She was an adorable girl, and it was unfortunate whatever it was that was happening to her. His brow creased as he returned to the problem at hand. Nightmares were normal for young children. They happened all the time. With two grown children of his own and a degree in psychiatry, Dr. Springfield understood that nightmares were distressing for children. However, for all the fear they caused in small children, in all the many forms they took, he had never seen anything like this before.

About two days ago Mrs. Emilia White had shown up at the hospital, with a close friend of his who owned an independent practice in town. Dr. John Parker had been his friend since their college years and knew how much he loved a challenge. That’s when he had met the sweet young girl named Janet.
Mrs. White had explained that for over a year now her daughter had been acting strange. Strange things would happen if Janet was left alone for more than an hour. Janet would turn up with marks all over her body. Claw marks, bruises, broken bones, burns, anything that could possibly be conceived. She had gone on to say that at first she had suspected that a bully at school was harming her daughter, but as the injuries grew in severity she was at a loss as to who would be capable of harming her daughter so badly.

It got to the point that Mr. and Mrs. White kept Janet home from everything but school and soccer practice. And that’s when it got worse. They would wake up in the middle of the night to hear Janet screaming, rushing into her bedroom only to find that she had been injured again. They had repeatedly asked Janet how her injuries had occurred and she would artfully dodge questions giving vague answers. The White’s made the decision to keep their daughter under strict watch while taking her to a psychologist. That’s where John Parker came in. He decided after one interview with the 8-year-old girl and her parents that she needed to be put into a hospital, for closer examination of her behavior.

Springfield had been quite impressed with the girl. During the initial examination she had shown intelligence and cunning, giving the trained professionals working with her a run for their money. So Springfield had calmly stepped in, treating her kindly, as if she were an average eight-year-old girl. Asking about soccer and school, and she easily opened up to him. She told him about soccer practice and math class, school functions and the spring fair. When she finished speaking, Dr. Springfield had looked her straight in the eye and asked her what was hurting her. That’s when a routine examination of a patient took a turn into the strange and disturbing. Janet had calmly looked him in the eye, a clear mockery of the ‘Adult’ look he was giving her and told him very simply, “A monster, a terrible one I can’t hide from. Not even here.”

She had never clarified what that meant, the interview had ended abruptly when all the lights in the room suddenly shut off, leaving the hall outside undisturbed. Janet had merely laughed when all the adults in the room scrambled to figure out what had happened.

Even now her answer played havoc on his brain as he tried to figure out what that could possibly mean. However, he mused, misconceptions commonly held about the type of people he treated said that they would often give nonsensical answers. No matter how true or untrue those misconceptions may be, it was what was typically associated with crazy people. And no doubt, everybody thought she was crazy, except for him.

Dr. Springfield used his ID card to open the lock on Janet’s door, calmly and quietly stepping into the room, trying to force the sound of her strange laughter from two days ago out of his head. It didn’t matter that he thought she was a sweet child, every time he got close to her he’d hear that strangely adult tone in his head, “A monster I can’t hide from, not even here.”

For two days he had observed her from afar. He had hoped that perhaps her behavior would give a clue as to the identity of her ‘monster’. It had proved an exercise in futility. Nothing had hinted as to whom the monster was.

Pulling from his musings, he found the round face of an eight-year-old girl eager for company staring up at him. She jumped up from her spot on the floor racing to him before latching onto his legs shouting out a cheerful, “Good Morning.”
Dr. Springfield laughed, bending down to meet her at eye level. “Janet, I’d like to talk to you today about that monster you mentioned the day before yesterday. Is that all right?” Janet looked up at him seriously, a guarded expression draping over her face. “What is it you want to know?”, She asked carefully. Making sure to look her in the eye to ensure she knew he was being direct and serious he asked, “Janet I need to know more about this monster so I can protect you.” Janet, for the first time since she arrived in the hospital, looked depressed.

“Don’t bother,” she muttered, “there isn’t anything you can do.” Dr. Springfield knew he had gotten too attached to the girl, it tore his heart to see her this way. He decided upon a different approach. “You know, Janet,” he began, ”When I was a little boy I had nightmares too.” Janet looked up at him in wonder and he nodded his head in affirmation. “Yes, I remember I always had dreams about one monster in particular. Her name was Aki, and she was an evil spirit who possessed children.” At this Janet’s eyes widened, he wondered about that but kept going, it was still hard for him to talk about her, even now when he was 47 years old he was still scared of some child hood monster. “I remember Aki in my nightmares would always try to take control of my body and make me do horrible things, but whenever I woke up I was okay. Eventually Aki went away, and I moved on even though I was still scared of her.“ Janet’s eyes were the size of dinner plates. Dr. Springfield leaned in, “Janet, I told you about my monster, so can you tell me about yours?”

That’s when all hell had broken loose. Looking back on it, Springfield wasn’t sure what had happened, but somehow he had ended up with a black eye. He had been informed that no one had been capable of getting into Janet’s room since security had dragged him out of there. When anyone even attempted to get close to the door, the girl inside would shriek like a banshee until they went away.

Walking back to his office, Dr. Springfield sat at his desk massaging his temples, trying to ignore the wailing, both out in the hall and in his mind. Talking about the evil from his childhood nightmares had brought all of the memories to the surface. He remembered the horrible red eyes that had leered at him in his slumber. He remembered all of the horror and fear he had always associated with Aki and her poltergeist friends. Aki had always hated him for he had resisted her possession until she had finally been forced to leave when he turned thirteen, he had received the thrashing of his life that night but it had been worth it because he had never seen Aki again.

Dr. Springfield woke with a start to a horrifying scream that for once did not reside buried deep within his memories. Jumping up form his desk the vertebrae in his spine groaned in protest after sleeping so long slumped over his desk. Running out into the hall his heart stopped beating in his chest for several seconds at what he saw. Blood and what looked to be chunks of several peoples innards scattered and smeared over the floors, walls, and he realized grimly as something wet hit his shoulder it appeared to be on the ceiling as well.

His heart began beating again, and was attempting an escape from his chest by forcing it’s way through his breastbone. This looked all too familiar. Bad memories from a dark childhood forcing their way to the surface in time with the rapid beating of his heart. He saw flashes of pale skin covered in dark blood with eyes to match the morbidly beautiful color. He saw lithe shadow figures surround the seeming angel in the center who gave off a gentle glow. So deceiving, she was anything but gentle.

Back to the present he hurried down the hall a knot in his stomach as cold suspicion settled in his mind. He followed the carnage down the hall every inch he ran just as gorey as the one before it. He came to a stop in front of a room he had left just a few hours ago, and, as he suspected, it was empty not counting the two orderlies who must have been decapitated and disemboweled by the occupant.

She wasn’t there so where had she gone? He turned around quickly retracing the imprints of his shoes in the blood on the floor. Passing his office he realized she wouldn’t be too much farther ahead. He came to the large double doors that led to the courtyard. They too were decorated with the smeared bloody hand prints of those who were brutally cut down just inches from the outside world that would protect them from all of the nightmares except her. And she, Springfield realized grimly, was probably the one who had done most of the slaughtering.

Not wasting anymore time he threw open the doors and raced out onto the grassy lawn. More blood, gore, and generally nightmarish things were found on the other side. With all this blood you really couldn’t tell the garden pathways from the indoor hallways.

He raced down the blood coated pathways hoping to find her before she found a stronger body to steal. She already had Janet’s body but if she managed to find a suitable adult host then she would be able to extend her reach. When she had disappeared 34 years ago he had thought this would never happen. He had foolishly assumed that he was safe. But even so, how had she managed to find him? He had moved on with his life, moving away from the home of his youth into an entirely different environment.

Turning down yet another path, he tried to sort through his memories of childhood looking for something that might have allowed her to find him now. These pathways were too familiar to the dungeons of his nightmares. Blood, so much blood, screams too, loud and wailing. Anguish, pain, agony. Synonyms for the same word, the same feeling.

It was overwhelming his memories. He couldn’t think. Pain. He couldn’t feel. Screams. He couldn’t hear. Tortured figures. He couldn’t see. Rotted flesh. He couldn’t smell.

His memories were mere flashes now. Spiraling out of control as the fear, pain, and long ago suffering collapsed his well-balanced control.

A flash of red. He wasn’t sure if it was her eyes or just more blood.

A flash of silver. It could have been her hair, or perhaps it was just a piece of a torture device.

A flash of black. It could have been the long black cloak she wore, or maybe it was one of the black-hearted spirits that served her.

A scream. He wasn’t sure if it was his or if one of the specters had stepped out of line again.

A stench. She had always smelled of rotting flesh, for the many she had killed. But he couldn’t be sure, was it her or just the many tortured souls left to die slowly in the pits of hell.

A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. Flash, sound, stench. Just a frenzied blur now. All molding together he couldn’t take much more. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sound, a stench. A flash, a sou- “STOP!”, he cried in pain as he clutched his pounding head and collapsed to the ground. He could do little more. It was obvious he wouldn’t make it much further.

“Aw, Jacob, I always told you that you push yourself to hard.” Springfield’s eyes shot open and for a detached moment he wondered when he had closed them. Shaking his head he tried to convince himself the voice had just been another of his blurry memories. He knew I wasn’t though. He had come all this way searching for her. Now she was here and he was unprepared.

Lifting his head he greeted a sight he hadn’t seen since childhood. She stood there in all her beautiful glory, she hadn’t changed a bit. That was when he realized it. Looking at her shocked he stuttered his question, “There’s sunlight here. You shouldn’t be visible. You should still look like Janet!” It wasn’t much of a question but it was the best he could do to articulate his thoughts around his fear and the strange sense of sweet nostalgia. It was her power, that honey-sweet voice would always bring back the memories of the time when he had thought she was kind. Even as he hated her for hurting him during his nightmares, he loved her for the kindness she had shown before that.

She looked at him with those beautiful ruby eyes and he nearly forgave her once again. Her powers of manipulation were still strong as ever. She still held sway over his emotions. She bent down to where he was knelt on the ground and still looking at him with those eyes that reflected fake kindness, she explained in a voice filled with more fake kindness, “Janet gives me more of her spirit than you did, she willingly hands the power of her pure spirit to me to do with as I please.”

Aki gave a short laugh at his pitiful state. “You’re wrong, Aki! Janet would never be fooled into trusting you. She was too smart to be tricked so easily!”, he tried so hard to believe that it was true, but the evidence of Janet’s alliance with Aki stood right in front of him. She gave another laugh and stood up to her full height. Looking at him with chiding red eyes she clucked her tongue as though he were a silly dunce student. “Of course, unlike what I did with you, I took a very straight forward approach with Janet.” He looked up curiously, what could she possibly mean by a ‘straight forward approach.’

He looked on in shock as Aki pushed a piece of blood covered hedge aside to reveal a gruesome scene. In the center of the clearing were Mr. and Mrs. White’s bodies hanging from a large flowering tree. Their bodies were scratched and torn and they looked partially eaten. Their mouths still wide open never quite finishing their dying screams. Wide eyes peered ahead into the lands of the dead, and he could only imagine what horror was imprinted upon their retinas. The last thing they saw before they succumbed to the pain and shock. He had no doubt as to what that had been. Their blood dripped from their bodies mixing on the beautiful white flowers below.
Blood.
Blood red eyes, mocking and unsympathetic, just watch and let you suffer.

Aki let go of the hedge and it sprung back into place. Turning to him with a malicious smile on her face she spoke in a mocking tone, “Of course, Wondergirl Janet tried to resist. She spent all day screaming away in her cell, warning everybody to stay away from her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to contain me forever, but she knew for a fact that without her help I wouldn’t be able to get her small childish body out of that wretched place.” She leaned down narrowing those glittering eyes down to slits. “I do believe that they should have taken her advice. If they had stayed away from the cell I would have starved to death, unable to separate myself from her without a boost of power from an outside force.” Lowering herself more to whisper in his ear, he shuddered at the stench of blood on her breath, “They should have listened. Especially you, Jacob.”

A sudden burst of power, a mixture of desperation and hope her screamed hoping Janet would hear him. “Janet! It’s me Dr. Springfield. You remember me right? Well you’ve got to stop giving her power. You know your parents wouldn’t want this. They brought you here to help you. Would you ignore their wishes and help the one they were trying to purge?!” Slowly but surely his words seemed to get through to the eight year old. Aki’s shocked expression began to change back into Janet’s shocked expression. When her body had once again reverted back to that of a child, Aki’s expression became angry.

“So you have stopped the girl’s power flow. So what! What can you still hope to do?” Springfield didn’t answer as he leapt forward hoping he remembered enough of what she had taught him as a child to accomplish his goal. If he didn’t he wouldn’t have a second chance to help Janet. Reaching forward before she had a chance to pull away from him, Springfield gripped the small delicately boned face of Janet, and discharged whatever power and energy he had left into the child’s body. He waited a precious few seconds watching the frozen expression of surprise on Janet’s face. Then he heard a scream he had been waiting 40 years to hear. He couldn’t see her except for a small glimmer where the light reflected off of her spectral body, but he could hear her screams of agony as she was slowly destroyed by the sun.

Not even waiting to be sure she was dead by now he collapsed holding the small body of a precious eight year old girl close to him. He hoped to offer the child some measure of comfort. Blocking out Aki’s final screams he pressed ear to the young girl’s chest listened for a heartbeat. It was faint and not as steady as he had hoped, but her heartbeat was there. He heard sirens in the background and tried not to worry about the future.

The small body cradled against his chest finally began to respond. Burrowing into his chest she mumbled a meek, “I’m sorry”, before falling asleep. He let out a breath and a small chuckle. Smiling just a little he whispered back to her, “It’s ok. I understand.” No more was said as they slept soundly amongst the nightmares. Protected by their mutual understanding. They lacked fear of these things anymore. They would be ok.

“Paramedics later recounted that they were unable to stand the sight of such inhumane things as they encountered in the small town asylum. The only survivors were found sleeping in the garden, apparently overwhelmed by the adrenaline rush of escaping their attacker. The culprit was thought to be one of the many unstable patients being treated at the asylum. The bodies of many missing patients were never found. Only one doctor and one patient survived. Dr. Springfield is thought to have rescued the youngest patient, Janet White, during his own escape from the building. He never accounted fully what happened during one of the largest massacres ever to happen in the United States. For Court TV this is Anna Denver.”Converting /tmp/php3vCL3Y to /dev/stdout