Reunion (A Psychological Suspense with Murder, Mystery and the Paranormal) (30 page)

“How do you know?” asked Larry.

“We know because of his eye movements and change in heart rate. Remember, we log his vital signs, so we know exactly how stable or unstable he is.”

Dr. Mueller put his hand on the polished brass knob to his left, and looked in through the small window in the center of the door.

“There he is. Sleeping like a baby.”

Nick burned with anger, because of the consideration the doctor showed David. He couldn’t comprehend any compassion for the monster.

Nick thought, that son of a bitch deserves to die a thousand deaths. Yet he remained silent. He kept his thoughts to himself, carefully studying every inch of his surroundings.

“Right this way, gentlemen.” The doctor opened the door and indicated that they could enter David Ray’s suite. It too glistened with white, like the rest of the facility. However, Nick felt an eerie sense of malevolence as soon as he stepped across the threshold. The temperature dropped by ten degrees as soon as they walked in.

“It’s freezing in here,” said Larry.

“Yes. We like to keep the body cold, but not this cold. I’ll speak to someone about it. Maintenance men just aren’t worth their salt nowadays.”

Nick crossed his arms to warm himself and fixed his eyes on David for the first time since the shooting. He trapped his hands in his armpits to stop himself from grabbing him. He studied the wires and tubes that controlled David’s body, and listened to the steady beeping of the monitoring system. The bed was raised high off the floor for ergonomic purposes. Nick liked that, and made a mental note as he silently made his plan.

Dr. Mueller stood next to Larry. He had his arms crossed as well, but in a superior way.

Nick stared at David lying on the bed, and remembered the moment the paramedics lifted his brother onto the gurney. He remembered when they covered Randy’s face with a white sheet. It was the last time he ever saw his brother outside of a casket and the last time he saw David Ray.

Now, twenty years later, Randy was gone and David Ray was alive and lying there so peacefully. Nick’s blood boiled inside. Although David had not lived life, his scraggly, salt-and-pepper beard and the dark rings around his eyes indicated his age and condition; his bony cheeks revealed his emaciation. Nick couldn’t lament David’s situation; his restful countenance left him fuming.

Dr. Mueller walked closer to David. “I remember the day they brought this young man into the hospital. At first, knowing the circumstances, I remember that some of the staff were
hoping
he’d die…but he never did. He never gave up the ghost. Twenty years later, he is right where he started…barely alive. Although, at times, some of our employees wonder if there is more to this man than we know.”

Larry froze. “Pardon me?”

Nick listened with intent.

“Well, there’ve been some reports by the night shift of strange occurrences inside this room. Being a man of science I have given it very little thought. The night shift staff often have their own problems, you know: substance abuse and that kind of thing. You don’t have to be highly qualified to get a job here as an orderly!” He laughed and shook his head arrogantly. “But sometimes I wonder if there is more. I’m aware of his medical history, and personally, I think that his dark past may be catching up with him.”

“Medical history? What are you talking about?”

“Ah…” The doctor pointed his finger at Larry. “I’ll never tell! Doctor-patient privilege! Besides, it doesn’t matter now.”

Nick stared at David, clenching his fists.

“Nick? Are you okay?” asked Larry.

“Is there something wrong with him?” asked Dr. Mueller, as if Nick were stupid.

Nick took a step toward David.

“Nick?” Larry pressed.

He took another step.

Larry put his hands out, making a warning gesture. “No! Don’t do it, Nick!”

Nick stopped and turned his head toward Larry for a moment, and then he turned back toward the body on the bed.

“Nick, I’m warning you!”

• • •

Bryan and Tanner traced the noise to the boiler room. They hurried down the hall and then felt damp air wash over them as they entered the humid chamber. Steam rolled out of loose fittings, causing the pipes to whistle and sweat. The red exit light over the door flickered, intermittently exposing the murky steam-filled room.

Tanner searched through the mist and then shouted, “Okay! You’ve got our attention! Now what?”

The banging stopped. The two men stood still listening for David’s response. Bryan heard a noise mesh with the whistling.

“Do you hear that?” Bryan whispered.

“No. What is it?”

“That!” whispered Bryan. “It’s a squishing sound. There it is again!”

“I hear it,” said Tanner. “Sounds like wet footsteps.”

Tanner squinted deep into the billowing vapor. He grabbed a length of pipe that had been left leaning against the wall and lifted it like a baseball bat, ready to strike.

At that moment, a pressure valve depressurized near them, exhaling a small cloud of steam that rolled directly toward the two men, startling them. The cloud swirled around Tanner first. He jumped away from the vapor crying out, “Man! That’s hot!”

Bryan saw the cloud of moisture rolling toward him too. As the steam swirled, an image rose from the base of the mist and materialized into a murky, indistinct human form. Bryan reacted by jerking into an attacking position: left foot forward, right foot back. He dropped the flashlight, pulled his gun out of its holster and pointed it at the form before him. “What—the—hell?”

The gun in his hands trembled.

The red light illuminated the vapors as the steam culminated into a bodily form that shimmered and moved. Its features blurred and faded as the darkness came and went. The heat from the steam filled Bryan’s nostrils, forcing him to step backward to get a breath of cooler air.

The figure followed him.

The apparition turned its head, momentarily glancing at Tanner with two dark blemishes that narrowed as they passed by him. Tanner froze in place, paralyzed with fear. He recognized the temperament of the eyes from his dream. He lowered the pipe, aware of his weapon’s impotence. The figure turned its squinting slits toward Bryan. A demonic growl and decaying stench emanated from the steamy figure.

“It’s David!” said Tanner.

Bryan gripped the gun more tightly and cocked his head to the side to inhale a deep breath of fresh air. He inhaled a mouthful of foul air instead and gagged.

“Whatever it is, it smells like crap!”

The form disappeared as the light flickered. Bryan stared hard into the mist, blindly reaching his left hand into the darkness. The red light flashed again revealing that the apparition had inched closer. Horrified by its sudden movement, Bryan recklessly pulled the trigger, sending the bullet through the spirit into a steam line, puncturing the system. The old steel piping splintered, releasing a powerful rush of low-pressure steam directly into Bryan’s face. The gun fell from his hands. He grabbed at his burning skin, crashing to the floor, where he writhed and rolled, screaming.

• • •

Lana stood with her head down and arms crossed. Her feathered brown hair covered her face as she gazed at the blood-covered letters. Her body quivered in fear as she considered all that had happened.

“What are we doing here?” she asked.

Noah and Kate stood nearby, waiting in the dim light of the entryway. Noah strained to get a glimpse of the dark hallway down which the other men had disappeared.

“Part of me thought we’d be fine,” said Lana. “The other part of me wondered if there was something here…something supernatural. But I never expected this. I never thought he’d be so evil twenty years later. And certainly not…this dark.” Lana lifted her head with a sob and looked toward Noah, her cheeks running with tears. He turned and gazed at her compassionately, watching the woman he used to call his “little bird” losing hope.

“Why is this happening Noah?” she asked.

Noah took a deep breath. He looked at Lana with the same caring eyes as he had twenty years earlier.

“He has a spirit, Lana. We all do. And his spirit, like ours, lives on, even if it’s helplessly roaming about in the afterlife.”

“But why is he here? Why now?” Her thoughts muddled. “Why is he hurting us? Why is he—”

Noah interrupted. “We may never know why. But we’re still alive and we still have control over this moment. So don’t be afraid. If it can’t get what it wants from us, it’ll move on.”

“But Noah, what about Maria? She’s dead! What if he wants to kill all of us? How can we stop him?”

Noah walked up to Lana, gently gripped her shoulders and said, “I can’t speak for Maria. Her life was in the hands of God and she’s gone home. You’re strong, Lana! You have the will to continue living. You’re going to make it. Trust me! Try not to think negative thoughts. Think about the ones you love and pray…hard!”

Kate edged closer to join the conversation. Her eyes were filled with disillusionment.

“Nick tried to tell me,” she whispered.

Noah turned toward Kate. “What did he try to tell you?”

“He’s been talking about David’s spirit roaming the halls and speaking to him for some time now. And…and I guess I thought it was just more of the same—more of his drunken stupidity.” Kate’s shoulders slumped and her hands plopped down at her side. “What I mean is, he had a really hard time dealing with the loss of his brother, and lately his PTSD has been on the fringe of madness and getting worse. Things got so bad that I was ready to leave him, because I just couldn’t handle his outbreaks anymore. I thought he was lying or just going crazy. But now I know that he was telling the truth.”

Lana slid close to Kate and put her arm around her.

“What do you think it is, Noah? Is this just a ghost or something else?” asked Kate.

“It’s hard to say, but from what I’ve seen so far, it appears to be a poltergeist of some kind.”

Lana looked up to heaven and hesitantly made the sign of the cross with her left hand—forehead, chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. Her right hand rested on her cane.

“What exactly is a poltergeist?” asked Kate, cringed in fear.

Noah took a deep breath and exhaled, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “A poltergeist is usually a ghost
or
some other form of supernatural being. In this case, if David Ray were the poltergeist, his power would be kept to a minimum, because he had a mortal spirit—that is, a mortal existence. What I mean by that is, he would normally be limited to throwing knickknacks and shaking small objects.” Noah’s brow furrowed. “But I’ve never seen a
ghost
with so much power.”

Lana continued. “Okay, then what are we talking about here? Are you saying it’s a demon?”

“No,” replied Noah. “I’m not making any declarations. It could be a poltergeist, or it could be David, or it could be both. What I’m suggesting is, there might be some other entity attached to David’s spirit, perhaps a demon, or perhaps not. And if that’s the case, then there’s more to this story than we know.”

“So what do we know?” asked Kate. “If Nick was right…and your assumption’s correct, then we’re screwed aren’t we?”

“Not necessarily.” Noah shook his head. “Most poltergeists and other spirits are simply looking for a resolution to whatever torments them. Demons, however, are a different story. Somehow, I don’t think that’s what we have here either.”

Lana looked up at Noah and asked, “What does that mean?”

“It simply means that something is dramatically unresolved within its spirit and it wants our help.”

Kate interjected, “Great! He didn’t kill us twenty years ago and now he brought us here to finish the job!”

Noah looked at Kate and Lana respectively and then his eyes rested on Lana. “I think we all have unresolved issues. I’m sure you can understand the kind of pain involved if you were to pass on without taking care of business, so to speak.”

Lana’s eyes locked with Noah’s. She understood the double meaning. There was a moment of silence. Then, without warning, the group heard a deathly scream from the boiler room. Noah, Kate and Lana turned toward the hallway and ran as fast as they could into the darkness.

L
arry watched Nick’s every move. Nick took a step toward David.

“What are you doing, Nick?” asked Larry.

Nick focused on the life-support equipment attached to David’s body. He watched a semitransparent liquid enter David’s abdomen through a rubber tube. Another tube exited his bowels. A third tube, attached to a respirator, entered his mouth. A thin plastic mechanical bag folded and hissed with each breath, opening and closing as it fed oxygen into his lungs. Nick’s eyes peered directly at the power source: a white 110-volt cord plugged into a red outlet. No ventilator, no oxygen, he thought. But would it kill him too fast? Would it hurt? Would he suffer?

He took another step. The doctor peered at Nick, visibly leery of his intentions. Nick took another step, and turned toward Dr. Mueller to see how near he was. The doctor seemed startled to see rage in Nick’s eyes.

“What’s going on here?” asked the doctor, alarmed.

Nick smirked, his eyes focusing on David. “I’m doing what I should have done twenty years ago.” And then he charged.

“No!” Larry shouted as he lunged for Nick.

Nick was moving at full speed. All of his energy and emotion converged, focusing on David’s body. He shoved it powerfully with both hands, sending it tumbling to the floor. David’s IV pulled out as he plunged downward. The feeding tube and catheter stretched to the point of rupturing and then exploded out of his flesh, spraying liquids and bodily fluids over the surrounding wall and floor. David’s body crashed to the floor with a loud thud immediately followed by another thump when his head hit the hard tiles.

Dr. Mueller hit a red emergency button and sprinted toward David.

“My God!” he shouted. “Are you mad?”

The life-support machine beeped rapidly, warning the hospital staff of the emergency. In addition, a loud ringing tone blared in the hallway, calling for assistance.