Chapter
4 – Whispering Smoke
A
white feather and a cryptic message about a mortal prison has consumed Vlad's
mind ever since his last encounter with Red Eyes. He doesn't recall anything
else that happened that day, but the feather weighs heavy on his mind. He's
never been a religious man, but as he clutches the plastic cross he was given
by one of the guards as he lays on his bed. He has accepted that now is the
best time to have faith in a higher power. He has acknowledged a demon is
lurking within these walls, so why is it troubling to accept the possibility of
another celestial being hiding as well. He wonders if he's gotten that bitter
in his old age that it is easier to accept the existence of a demon versus an
angel.
"Release
me from my prison of bone, and liberate your soul," comes a whisper.
Vlad
sits up in bed, clutching the cross harder while crying out, "Who's
there?" Since his mental breakdown (what HR claims he suffered to avoid
further investigations), Domus Metis has been empty save him. The state decided
to relocate patients until an official statement can be released about the
incidents happening within these walls. The person who even stops in here to
see him is Johannes, but he only stops long enough to bring Vlad his meals.
Something happened between him and Johannes, and Johannes refuses to talk about
it.
Vlad
watches as a large, white feather drifts from the ceiling, landing at his feet.
He reaches down, and grabs it while glancing around his cell wondering when did
a bird get inside here. He studies it closer, and notices that it's almost long
as his arm. He wonders where it came
from as he runs his fingers over it causing it glow while warming his hands. As
he hears the front security gates swing open, the feather flashes white before
vanishing into thin air. As the gates close, he hears, "Free me..."
Vlad
looks towards the gate, and sees a man with blond hair strapped to a wheelchair
being escorted by four guards into Domus Metis. The man is wearing a muzzle and
a straight jacket as the guards have Tasers in their hands. As Vlad looks at
the man while passing his cell, he remembers where he saw this man before. This
man was the one in the file Detective Ramos showed him before Red Eyes appeared
that day. He looks at the man and wonders was he also possessed by Red Eyes, or
is this man truly that troubled. Sadly, due to his current location, he may
never find out.
He
watches the guards carefully wheel the man into one of the cells, and unstrap
him. The man gets out of the wheelchair, and sit down on the bed. Vlad notices
the guard removing the muzzle hands shake as the man sits there and stares at
Vlad with an empty look in his green eyes. Vlad studies him as a guard removes
the straight jacket, and they rush out of the cell, slamming the cell door
behind them as the man refuses to move. He nods his head at Vlad before laying
down on his bunk.
A
tap on Vlad's cell wall makes him stumble backwards. Outside his cell, Michael
stands there with a smile on his face. Vlad notices there's something different
at Michael. He seems much more relax, not the nervous HR director he used to
be. He motions for Vlad to come closer. Vlad places his head against the cell
wall as the room suddenly goes cold.
"You
two are both here for the same reason," Michael explains. "Blaming
your sins on a man with red eyes."
"The
only sin I've committed was not loving my wife," Vlad replies.
"I
know all your sins, comrade," sneers Michael while pointing towards the
other cell. "I also know all of Travis Vanderson's sins as well. You two
will be spending a lot of time together so maybe you can help each other
renounce your sins, and face your punishment."
"This
isn't punishment enough?" retorts Vlad.
Michael
looks at Vlad as Vlad watches Michael's eyes start glowing red. "We will
decide your fate. So, until then, be a good doctor, and help the new
patient."
Vlad
stumbles back so fast he trips over his own feet, and lands on the floor. He
looks up at Michael as Michael stands there sneering as his eyes continue to
glow red. Michael snaps his fingers, and walks away. As he gets close to the
door, Vlad looks over and sees Travis' cell door is wide open. Inside the cell,
one of the guards has his hands around Travis’ throat as gray smoke drifts out
of the guard’s mouth
"Let
me go!” exclaims Travis as smoke continues to bellow out of his mouth. “Let me
go before he kills us all!”
“Jimmy,
let the patient go,” orders one of the other guards.
“He
is a murder, Thomas,” states Jimmy in a shadowy voice. “He should pay for his
sins.”
“Let
him go!” Tom shouts as he grabs Jimmy’s arms, trying to release his grip around
Travis’ throat.
In a
blink of an eye, Vlad watches as Jimmy grabs Tom’s throat, and with a single
jerk upwards rips Tom’s skull off his spinal cord like he was ripping off a
sheet of notebook paper. He drops the severed head onto the floor as gray smoke
begins to exit from his mouth. He collapses next to the lifeless corpse, the
smoke still drifting from his mouth. As the smoke begins to drift further into
the cells, Vlad starts coughing as a wave of nausea washes over his body. Vlad
slumps to the floor as smoke begins to exit from his mouth as well. Within
minutes, everyone inside Domus Metis collapses onto the floor as the gray smoke
fills the entire area.
As the smoke begins to drift further into the
cells, Vlad starts coughing as a wave of nausea washes over his body. Vlad
slumps to the floor as smoke begins to exit from his mouth as well. Within
minutes, everyone inside Domus Metis collapses onto the floor as the gray smoke
fills the entire area. Inside Travis’ cell, the blood splatter on the wall
begins to shift and spells out a word Vlad has never seen before: Vola
As
Vlad tastes blood in his mouth, he watches Michael leave the area cackling up a
storm as his eyes continue to burn red. Once Michael is gone, the smoke begins
to stop as Vlad looks up, and sees another feather drifting downwards. As the
feather gets closer, the smoke turns into mist as the guards begin standing up.
As the feather lands on Vlad's chest, he hears the whisper once more saying,
"Liberate me...."
