The Many (6 page)

“Mm. Yeah, that must be…” Stacey didn’t finish her sentence. Her entire body had stiffened.

“What’s wrong?” Dr. Ramirez asked.

Stacey’s eyebrows rose high in her forehead, her closed lids strained. The muscles in her jaw locked, preventing her from speaking.

Karl instinctively rose in his seat, preparing to comfort her, but he was halted by a sharp look from Dr. Ramirez. He understood the doctor’s meaning. If he intervened now, he’d never learn what happened to his sister.

“It’s okay, Stacey,” Dr. Ramirez continued. “I know this is difficult, but it’s important we see this through to the end. And remember, I’m right here beside you. This is only a memory, and I’m going to help you through it every step of the way.”

The doctor waited for Stacey’s muscles to relax slightly. Then she said: “Tell me where you are.”

“In a plain white room,” she said in a strange, metallic voice.

“A plain white room,” Dr. Ramirez repeated. “Can you describe it to me?”

“It’s long, not very wide. White plaster walls, bare wood floors. It looks like a showroom at an art gallery.”

“What else can you see?”

“There’s a double bed on my right. White sheets. That’s the only furniture, along with the chair I’m sitting on. No windows, just a door at the far end of the room. It feels like I’m underground.”

“Any fixtures, fittings?”

“Fluorescent lights on the ceiling. And there’s a camera above the door. It looks like a security camera.”

“A security camera. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I can see the lens. It’s pointed right at me.”

Dr. Ramirez frowned. “What else can you tell me? Use your other senses.”

“I can smell pine detergent, like the floors have just been scrubbed.”

“What about sounds? Can you hear anything?

“Only the hum of the lights.” She breathed deeply. “I’m all alone down here.”

“Where’s Adam?”

“I don’t know. But he’s the one who brought me here. I should’ve taken a taxi when I had the chance…”

“Don’t worry about that now, Stacey. Just concentrate on the present. So you’ve woken up an unfamiliar white room that appears to be a basement. And while you can’t remember how you got there, you’re certain Adam is responsible.”

“Yes.”

“
“
Are you still fully clothed?” Dr. Ramirez asked next.

“No, I’m in my underwear. My feet are bare. He must’ve stripped me down.”

Dr. Ramirez paused, her posture changing. “This all sounds very unusual, Stacey. Are you sure this is your conscious memory?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“But why don’t you try the door?”

“Because I’m tied up.”

Karl glanced anxiously at Dr. Ramirez. He felt reassured by the doctor’s skeptical expression. He wondered if she believed Stacey’s memory had descended into pure fantasy.

“Tied up?” Dr. Ramirez prodded.

“Yes. My legs and waist are strapped to the chair. My hands have been tied behind my back, and there’s tape over my mouth. I can’t move a muscle.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Dr. Ramirez asked, “How long do you sit there alone?”

“Just a few minutes. Then Adam walks in.”

“So it’s his place.”

“I don’t know.”

“And what is Adam doing?”

“He’s leaning over me, shining a pen light into my eyes. Making sure I’m awake. He needs me wide awake.”

“Does he say anything?”

“Only to himself. After he checks my eyes, he says – “
Yes, you’re nice and alert now, aren’t you.
” And I’m crying and pleading with my eyes, but his expression never changes. He just looks at me like I’m a biology experiment.” 

“He’s not touching you?”

“No.” There was a long pause. “It’s not him I have to worry about.”

Karl swallowed back a hard lump in his throat. He looked again at Dr. Ramirez, but this time her expression wasn’t reassuring. Her nostrils had flared, and there was a hint of alarm in her eyes. Like she knew where this was leading.

“Who do you have to worry about, Stacey?” she asked softly.

Stacey was silent, her body tense again.

“Is Adam still in the room?” Dr. Ramirez tried.

“No. He left and turned the lights out behind him. I should be relieved but…”

“Go on, Stacey. You need to be brave now.”

“The room’s dark except for a faint light somewhere above my head. My eyes can’t roll back far enough to see, but it must be a tiny bulb, like a single fairy light. There’s a gray glow hanging over my chair and I can see maybe twenty feet in front of me. But the edges of the room are black. It’s like I’m the main attraction. On display. And suddenly I wish Adam would come back through the door. I start screaming into the gag, screaming with everything I have even though no one can hear me. My head feels like it’s going to explode and my throat is being ripped to shreds but it’s better than sitting in silence. There’s something waiting for me in the dark. I can feel it.”

She paused to gulp down some much needed air. Karl was breathless himself, ready to throw on all the lights, but Dr. Ramirez held her nerve. “You’re doing great, Stacey,” she encouraged. “Just a little further.”

Despite her obvious distress, Stacey was tied to Dr. Ramirez’s instructions. “I scream myself hoarse,” she went on. “And right after my head stops ringing, the silence returns and I try to scream again. But this time nothing comes out. And that’s when I hear the second voice.”

“Second voice?”

“Yes. Another man. Older, I think. He’s talking to Adam, but I can’t make out the words.”

Karl had had enough. “This is too much,” he said with a strangled voice, getting to his feet. “It’s time to bring her out.”

Dr. Ramirez thrust a warning hand in his direction, fixing him where he stood. She hadn’t taken her eyes off Stacey. “We’re almost there,” she said, speaking as much to Karl as her patient. “You say there’s another man?”

“Fuck it, I said stop,” Karl snapped.

“…he’s just outside the door,” Stacey continued, unperturbed. “I can hear Adam, too. He sounds calm but the other man is angry. I’m not sure why they don’t come in – it’s like they’re waiting outside. And I feel a change come over me, like a warmth rising up through my chest…”

Karl sat down, shrinking back in his chair. He felt powerless to stop what was coming. Dr. Ramirez was leaning forward, hands clasped tightly. “Yes…”

“Then suddenly the lights come on.”

Karl saw that his sister was sweating all over, her fingers digging into her knees. His arms ached to embrace her; to end her suffering. But like Dr. Ramirez, he was now hell bent on discovering the truth, regardless of Stacey’s discomfort. He had to know.

“The door opens and a tall man with gray hair walks towards me. He’s got a very stern-looking face and weird eyes, but I’m not scared. I think he’s here to help me. He says his name is Ivan, and he whispers something in my ear. Then he starts to untie me.”

“He doesn’t touch you.”

“No, he’s nice. When he’s finished untying me, he tells me to sit on the bed.”

Dr. Ramirez looked worried. “Does Ivan join you on the bed?”

“No, he leaves the room.”

“So you’re alone again?”

“Yes. I’m just swinging my legs off the end of the bed.” Her expression changed; darkened. “But then….”

“Then what? Keep going, Stacey.”

“Two more men come in. They’re dressed in suits…” Her voice trailed off.

Dr. Ramirez swallowed loudly. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Stacey didn’t respond, her face knotted with confusion.

“Stacey?” Dr. Ramirez prodded.

“What’s wrong with their faces?” she whispered.

“Their faces?”

“No!”
Stacey suddenly cried out, startling everyone in the room. “Oh, Jesus –
no!
What are they doing? No, no, no. Oh my God….”

At that point, Stacey’s eyes flew open and her body began shaking violently, like she was struggling against invisible restraints.

Karl was quickly on his feet. “Do something!” he yelled at Dr. Ramirez, rushing to his sister’s side.

The doctor said: “Stacey, on the count of three you will return to the here and now. You won’t bring any of the emotions and fears of the past back with you…”

“Just fucking wake her up!” Karl snapped, trying to pin Stacey’s shoulders back against the sofa as she writhed and thrashed under his grip. Her face was grotesque in its gaping terror, her eyes jutting out of their sockets. She was still trapped in the white room, reliving her ordeal. “It can’t be me, it can’t be me, it can’t be me…” she started to chant, recoiling from the horror.

Dr. Ramirez continued in the background. “…One, you’re rising up from the deep, feeling more alert. Two, you can see the surface now….”

“Goddamnit, wake up!” Karl screamed in Stacey’s face. But she was inconsolable, unable to see beyond the nightmare still playing in her mind.

“…and three, you’re wide awake! Awake, Stacey!”

“It’s not working!” Karl said, still fighting to control his sister’s convulsions. “Call an ambulance.”

“But she’s not physically ill,” Dr. Ramirez said.

“Call a fucking ambulance!” Karl spat. He guessed the doctor was in shock; unable to cope with Stacey’s sudden descent into hysteria. “Do something for….”

Karl’s command was cut short by a powerful buck from Stacey that sent him flying off the sofa. He fell back heavily onto the coffee table, shattering two layers of glass before crashing to the floor.

He’d barely had time to blink when he caught a glimpse of Stacey’s fist flashing toward him. But instead of being dealt a blunt blow, a sharp, tunneling pain dug into the flesh at the base of his throat, fanning out through his neck and shoulders. Stacey dropped the bloodstained pencil beside him and walked through the shattered glass to the window, calmly tearing the blinds down from the head rail.

“No!” Karl cried, ignoring the splinters of glass sticking to his palms as he tried to haul himself up. Dr. Ramirez remained glued to her seat; utterly useless. Karl was on his own. “Stacey! Wake up, for fuck’s sake!”

He managed to struggle to his feet but suddenly his legs collapsed from underneath him, like the puncture in his neck had disengaged his entire central nervous system. He crumpled in a heap on the floor while his sister stood on the ledge and opened an awning window to the cold winter dusk.

“Stacey,” he croaked, watching helplessly as she levered herself onto the frame and tried to pour her body headfirst through the narrow opening. It was too small a gap, he told himself. She would never fit through. But with a little shimmy of her hips that would haunt Karl for the rest of his days, she slipped out.

There was no thud, as if she’d simply floated into the wind, and for a moment, Karl experienced a strange kind of tranquility lying on the shattered remains of the coffee table, staring into the gathering night. He was briefly comforted by the familiar sounds of a city at the end of a working day. The groaning traffic. The occasional beep of a car horn. Until a stranger’s bloodcurdling scream snaked its way through the office window, reminding Karl that his sister had just plunged ten stories to the street below.

PART TWO

1

The loud
whoop
gave Dawn a start, pulling her attention away from the black Demonia boots she was thinking of buying. They were mean and sexy-looking but she worried they were a bit too Goth girl for her. She didn’t know if she could pull off Goth.

“Oh my God!”

“What is it?” Dawn sighed, slapping down the catalogue and looking into the hallway. What the hell was Isobel up to now?

“Come here, baby. You’ve got to see this.”

Dawn groaned, rolling off the bed. There were some definite downsides to having a youthful, New Age Mom who only answered to her first name. Sure Isobel was fun to go shopping with and hang out with and occasionally borrow clothes from, but she also demanded a lot of attention. Dawn sometimes felt like she was the parent in the family.

“Baby, did you hear me?”

“I’m coming,” Dawn said, trudging down to the living room. She frowned at her flimsy canvas shoes as they fell on the stairs, thinking how fat they made her ankles look. If she could find the money, she was definitely buying those boots.

Isobel was sitting in front of the computer, her frizzy black hair blocking the screen. Night had fallen but the curtains were still wide open, giving everyone on the street a clear view inside. Isobel had no concept of privacy, no matter how many times Dawn reminded her. Her mom’s head was permanently in the clouds.

Isobel’s legs were jiggling excitedly under the desk and Dawn guessed she’d been contacted by an old friend on Facebook, or one of her poems had been published on a writer's website, or The Dixie Chicks were getting back together. Isobel worshiped that band like they were the second coming of The Beatles. But the tanned, crop-haired blond on screen wasn't a Dixie Chick. She wasn’t anyone Dawn recognized.

Isobel turned around, grinning at her daughter. “Isn't she something? I can't believe she lives in Portland. She seems so glamorous.”

Dawn suddenly realized what was going on. Isobel was surfing Sweet Violets – the new
dating site her mother had joined. “You get to go out with her?” she asked incredulously.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Isobel said, pretending to take offence. “Are you saying she's out of my league?”

“Yeah, duh,” Dawn said. Her mom looked pretty good for her age – in a buxom, earth mother kind of way – but the blond woman on the screen was something else entirely. “She looks like a movie star,” Dawn said, leaning in for a closer look at her smoky blue eyes and flawless skin.

“I know,” Isobel said, her grin widening. “Her name's Maxine. She's a thirty-three- year-old psychiatric nurse, originally from upstate New York, and she enjoys yoga, eating out and listening to alt country.”

“Sounds perfect, Dawn said. “Has she seen
your
photo yet?”

“
My
photo got me the date, smart ass. She said I had a nice eyes and a nice smile.”

Dawn nodded, trying to look at her mom from a stranger’s perspective. She did have nice, caramel brown eyes. And if Maxine was a breast-woman, Isobel was definitely her girl.

Dawn shouldn’t have been so cynical – she was the one who’d encouraged Isobel to join a dating site. After she split up with Jo, her girlfriend of three years, Isobel had been distraught. She’d even threatened to go back to men. Dawn had managed to talk her down, horrified by the thought of strange, middle-aged men padding around the house. So it was a relief that Isobel had re-committed to the sisterhood. Dawn just didn't want to see her get hurt, and Nurse Maxine with the bedroom eyes looked like a real heartbreaker. 

“So when’s the big date?” Dawn asked.

“Tomorrow night.”

“Wow. You guys aren't wasting any time.”

“Who's got time to waste? I know it's a Saturday but I promise to be home before eleven. You'll be okay on your own, won't you?”

Dawn felt a twinge of shame. She'd always enjoyed their trashy movie Saturdays, but lately, they were making her feel like a loser. She was almost eighteen – she was supposed to be going out and dating boys on Saturday nights, not relying on her mom for entertainment.

“Of course I'll be okay,” Dawn said. “We don't need to hang out every weekend.”

“Maybe you could invite a friend over. What’s Rebecca up to these days?”

“I
said
I'll be okay,” Dawn said firmly. “I was going to study, anyway.”

“On the weekend? C’mon, Dawn – you work too hard. Give yourself a break.”

“Jesus,
Mom.
It’s my senior year, remember? I have to study. Who’s going to pay for college if I don’t get a scholarship? You?”

Dawn regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She winced, watching Isobel’s eyes moisten. She hated hurting her mom’s feelings.

“I’m sorry, Isobel. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes you did. And you had every right.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault Dad was a douchebag and ran off. He’s the one who isn’t pulling his weight.”

“I switched teams, Dawn. You can hardly blame him for leaving.”

“Oh yes I can. He didn’t just run out on you, he ran out on me. And I do appreciate everything you do for me, Isobel. Forget what I said. I’m just pissed because I’m a no-friends loser with nothing to do on Saturday night.”

“But you’ve got friends. What about Rebecca?”

“She’s got a boyfriend,” Dawn said, her voice choking up a bit. “I don’t see her very much anymore.”

Dawn missed her best friend more than she liked to admit. She was cool to hang out with and while they were still friends at school, Rebecca’s weekends were reserved for her new boyfriend, Glen. He was a pretty nice guy, which only made Dawn feel worse for wishing he’d accidentally step in front of a bus.

Isobel caught the emotion in Dawn’s voice and stood up to hug her. Dawn went stiff. “Jesus, no one died,” she said, managing a laugh.

“You miss your friend,” Isobel said, persisting with the hug.

Dawn gave in and squeezed her mother back. It always made her feel better. “You should wear your green chiffon dress,” she said when they broke away. “You look good in that.”

“Mmm, it does make my tits look big.”

“Huge. But you know what they say. If you’ve got ‘em, flaunt ‘em.”

Isobel laughed, giving her daughter a cheeky slap on the hip. “Now where have I heard that before?” she said, a reference to her own efforts to get Dawn into tighter, more revealing clothes.

Dawn left Isobel alone to ogle her date, but as soon as she left the living room, her smile faded. It wasn’t the conversation about Rebecca or the prospect of a lonely Saturday night that troubled her. It was Maxine.

Sure she was gorgeous, but Dawn hadn’t warmed to her photo. Behind the blond hair and blue eyes, she’d detected something else. A sly cruelty in Maxine’s gaze, like she was playing a game she knew she’d already won.

A tense feeling followed Dawn up the stairs and into her bedroom. She hoped Isobel knew what she was getting herself into.