Threshold, Part Two

Goddamn it, Claire. You should have known this was a darkness deeper than medicine could heal. Doesn’t take a fucking brain surgeon to realize that. I swear to God sometimes I think you’re adopted. You’re still dumb. AND I’M STILL FUCKING DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!

Claire began to cry. She picked up Mr. Ramirez’s necklace and put it on. Her own necklace with a cross on it hung in her locker. She hugged her legs and rocked back and forth in the squeaky desk chair. No one had noticed her yet.

“This makes no sense. This can’t be real. She’s dead.” Claire whispered to herself.

She picked up the bloody endotracheal tube Mr. Ramirez had ripped out of his throat. Alan was consoling Faith. Her round face was buried in his chest. Dr. Singh stood beside them and draped his arm over their shoulders.

“I can’t breathe. This should help.” Claire whispered. She spit onto the end of the tube and shoved it past her lips and down her throat. A moment later she pulled it out. Brown and black vomit sprayed out of her mouth and onto the gurney.

“Oh my fucking god, Claire! Are you alright?” Faith screamed.

Claire’s phone chimed and buzzed in her back pocket. She released her legs. When her feet hit the floor, the room shook. She looked at Faith robotically. She sat with perfect posture with her hands on her lap and her torso hinging at her waist at ninety degrees. “I’m fine. Perfectly fine.”

“How can you be perfectly fine?! You just fucking threw up all over our dead patient.” Faith screamed.

“He’s fine. Mr. Ramirez is with my mother now. They’re both resting in a nice warm place.” Claire said.

“Callum, what do we do?” Faith asked.

“I think she’s in shock. You said she has history of…” Dr. Singh trailed off when he felt Claire’s eyes bore into him.

“She does.” Alan confirmed. “Takes Zoloft and Lithium.”

“What’s wrong? Everything is fine.” Claire said.

“Honey, I think you’re in shock. Come lay down with me in room 6.” Faith said.

“I don’t want to. I hate that room.” Claire said.

“Claire, let’s go.” Alan said, grabbing hold of her wrist.

“Touch me again, Alan, and I’ll kill you. I know you’re fucking Faith.” Claire said.

Dr. Singh knelt in front of Claire. He put a tender hand on her shoulder. Before he could say anything, Claire opened her mouth and vomited all over his face. She wiped the black bile off her lips then smiled up at Alan.

“Now, I’m ready to go.” Claire said with a sadistic smile.

Faith wiped the vomit off Dr. Singh’s face then handed him a cup of water. The three of them held Claire down in the chair as they pushed her into room 6. It took all of three of them to get her onto the gurney.

“Restraints!” Dr. Singh yelled

“It doesn’t matter. You’re all going to die tonight, Callum. When I’m done with Denburgh, I’ll go to your posh little neighborhood and kill your pretty little wife and your kiddos and your doggo.”

“Claire, you’re sick. We’re going to help you.” Dr. Singh said.

“You can’t help me. Can’t save me either.” Claire said calmly. Faith rushed back into the room and handed the restraints to Alan and Dr. Singh. A moment later, she was secured to the rails of the gurney.

“This room feels like home. I can’t really get comfortable for some reason. Alan, could you be a dear and take this necklace off me? It’s burning a little.”

Alan eyed Dr. Singh and Faith nervously. “Faith, are you seeing this?” he asked.

The three watched as the silver necklace burned Claire’s skin like a hot fireplace poker. She writhed like she was in pain. The restraints held but the gurney rocked side to side even though the wheels were locked in place. The silence was cut short by a muted buzzing coming from under Claire.

“Oh, I wonder who that could be.” she said.

“Faith, no!” Alan said.

She reached into Claire’s back pocket and pulled out her phone. “Foolish bravado. That’ll get you killed around me, sister.”

Faith ignored Claire and answered the call. “Hi, Greg. Yeah, she’s right here. I don’t see how that’s relevant. It’s just my name. Fine. But just for a little while.”

Faith tapped the phone and put Greg on speaker. “There isn’t much time, Claire. Sweetheart, if you’re in there, fight. Okay? Fight it.”

“Hey, pookie. Did you know he’s way bigger than you? He satisfied me like you never could. And my tongue did things he never knew could be done.” Claire said.

A forked proboscis dropped out of her mouth. The tongue-like structure licked all the vomit off Claire’s mouth. Her almond-shaped eyes transformed into obsidian pools. Droplets of blood tumbled out of her nostrils. Her eyes teared crimson. She screamed then lunged at Faith who held her ground. The restraints kept her in the gurney but the bed moved forward several feet. Alan and Dr. Singh held it down.

“I know you don’t mean those things. Just hang on until he gets there. Faith, take me off speakerphone please.” Greg said.

Faith tapped the button again. She kept her eyes on Claire and backed away several feet. “What now?” she asked.

“Keep her restrained. She’ll manipulate you and hurt you if given the chance. Go to her locker and get her necklace. It’s got a silver cross on it. Put it on because that thing will try to take control of you too. I tried to help her but I didn’t have enough faith. It’s too late for me.”

“Greg, what the fuck are you talking about?” Faith asked.

Claire had been whispering chants in Latin into Alan and Dr. Singh’s ears. Each of the men was slumped over on either side of the rails. She turned her head to look at Faith then grinned macabrely. “He’s right. It is too late for him. Can’t save everyone, Faith.”

Claire ripped her hand free from the restraint and stabbed her finger into Dr. Singh’s eye. She pulled it out then plopped the bloody eyeball into her mouth. Her stomach made a gurgling sound then she vomited black and red bile onto Dr. Singh’s face. He fainted and fell backwards onto the floor.

“Let’s get him into the room next door!” Alan screamed. He was rubbing his eyes like he had just woke up from a nap.

Faith dropped Claire’s phone then helped Alan carry Dr. Singh out of the room. “I’m taking him to the locker room.”

“Why?” Alan protested.

“Greg wants us to get the crucifix in there.”

“Faith, that’s ridiculous.”

“Alan, you saw what just happened in there. Just trust me.”

Alan sighed. He grunted as he dragged Dr. Singh’s body over to the empty wheelchair. “Fine. Wheel him in there. I’ll deal with her.” Alan said. He put his hands on Faith’s face and kissed her. “In case you didn’t know, I love you. It wasn’t just sex to me.”

Faith smiled with tears in her eyes. She kissed him back then wheeled Dr. Singh past the nurse’s station and into the staff locker rooms.

One by one all the lights in the unit turned off. Alan fumbled for his phone and turned on the flashlight. He shined it in the direction of room 6. Claire was gone. The restraints were still on the gurney. Her phone lay on the floor. The screen was cracked but Greg was still on the line. Alan tapped the end call button then walked down hall. He stopped in front of room 3. The door was open. Mr. Ramirez’s corpse was laying still in the gurney. The window was open. He looked down to see if Claire has fallen. He gasped as the desk chair in the corner of the room began to spin all on its own. It squeaked like someone was sitting on it. Alan thought of his daughters as he started toward the door. The air in his lungs left him as it slammed shut. Claire emerged from the bathroom. No, Alan thought, this is something else. I have to fight it. Her scrubs were covered in filth. Her pale face was gaunt and jutted at odd angles. The thing’s eyes were wide obsidian pools focused on him. He planted his right foot and landed a right cross to the thing’s temple. Claire’s jaw crunched from the force of the blow. Alan followed up with a punch to her right cheek which also broke. Undeterred, the thing caught his fist as he tried an uppercut. It punched him in the gut. Alan bent over reflexively. The thing grabbed him by the cheeks with both hands. It tried to stick Claire’s thumbs into his eye sockets. Alan shut his eyes desperately but the thing was too strong. Its razor-like black nails forced its way into his eyes. He screamed in pain as the thing scooped out his eyeballs then stuck them into Claire’s mouth. She chewed and chewed and swallowed. The thing grabbed Alan’s throat and raised him off the ground. This shouldn’t have been possible. Alan was six-five and weighed 230. Claire was five-five and barely broke 120 pounds on the scale. She walked Alan over to the window. His dangling feet hit the edge. He felt a breeze cool on his sweaty back. Blood and tears streamed out of the holes in his face.

“Claire, if you’re in there, I forgive you. Keep fighting it.” Alan whispered.

The thing smiled then threw Alan out the window. He fell ten stories and landed on Faith’s Toyota 4runner. His split-open head ended up next to his ankles. Claire looked down at Alan. She began to cry. The pressure in her chest grew. Her mind began to dim again. She was fighting back. She felt a phantom buzz in her back pocket. Then her wrist buzzed. Greg was calling again. Pain exploded out of every part of her. Her back, her ankle, her face. Her stomach tried to throw up Alan’s eyes. She turned toward the gurney and fell onto Mr. Ramirez’s chest. She touched his face. His eyes were closed. He looked so peaceful in death. Claire fell to her knees and forced her finger down her throat. She threw up bits of eyeball. The room spun a thousand times around her. The lights flickered rhythmically. Her ankle was on fire. She felt her jaw and cheek, both of which were broken. Claire stood onto wobbly legs. She looked down at her buzzing wrist. Greg kept caling. Before she could answer the call on her watch, the thing grabbed her throat. Its hands burned her skin. Before Claire could scream for Faith, a disembodied hand stuck itself into her chest. The thing squeezed her heart. Claire fell backwards, hitting her head. The thing grabbed her by her injured ankle and dragged her out of room 3. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream for help but her throat was too burned and dry to form any words. Claire looked at her wrist as her watch buzzed again. A text from Greg: He’s on his way. An old family friend. His name is Father Gabriel Carrasco.

The thing took Claire to room 6 and threw her back onto the gurney. Part of it was still inside her. She gathered what courage remained inside her and looked at the thing in the eyes. It had taken control of Faith. She put Claire back in the restraints and attached them to the rails of the gurney.

“It’s okay, Faith. Let it go. I’m going to fight. It wants me. Don’t you?” Claire said, laying her head on the pillow.

Faith began to cry. She looked pale and sickly instead of her usual tan and vibrant. Her head was pulled backward by a disembodied hand. The bile spewed out of her and hit the ceiling. It pooled in the center. Dr. Singh returned from the locker room wearing new scrubs and with a bandage over his missing eye.

“Faith, come on. We have to go. We can’t fight this thing!” Dr. Singh screamed.

Claire’s bottom lip trembled as she waited for the demon to re-enter her body. She felt weak, cold, broken, and alone. There would be no going back after this. It was going to be a part of her.

“Let him in. He’s a priest, I think. His name is Gabriel—”

The door slammed shut before Claire could finish her sentence. Dr. Singh pulled Faith out of the way before the door could hit her in the face. The lights continued to flicker in a rhythm. Something started to knock from inside room 6. It went tat-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat then lub-dub lub-dub.

“What is going on?” Dr. Singh asked.

“I don’t know, Callum. All I know is I’m not leaving Claire.” Faith said.

Dr. Singh started for the exit. The doors closed and locked on their own. Something knocked on from the other side. Tat-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat, lub-dub, lub-dub.

“Guess no one’s leaving. What do we do?” Dr. Singh asked.

Faith shrugged her shoulders. “Alan would know. Where is he—”

Faith covered her mouth as she ran toward room 3. She stopped in the doorway. Dr. Singh ran after her. His jaw dropped when he saw the open window. Mr. Ramirez’s body was on the floor. They stepped around him and looked down. Faith shuddered and gagged when she saw Alan’s body on top of her car.

“Oh my god,” Dr. Singh said after he looked down.

“It was Claire,” Faith said. She couldn’t even bring herself to cry. “No. It was that thing inside her. It was already inside me. I don’t know what to do. Maybe this Father Gabriel will.”

They both jumped at the loud knocking on the unit door. Dr. Singh was first to investigate. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who was standing behind it.

“It’s Murray! Open the door, Murray! We’re trapped.”

Denburgh’s longest tenured security guard looked nonplussed at having to fish the keys out of his belt at this late into the night shift. The young man standing next to him kept apologizing. He made eye contact with Dr. Singh through the little window in the unit door. He stepped back when he saw what was inside room 6. The door had opened silently. The lights in the unit turned off simultaneously. The machines in room 6 began to beep even though none of them were plugged in. Murray dropped the keys. He slammed his face into the doors until he broke his own nose. He pressed his face into the little window. He tried to scream but the sound was cut off by the invisible hand squeezing his throat. It squeezed until Murray’s neck broke. The young man wearing a black suit and a new cassock suppressed a shudder and made a sign of the cross. A deep and guttural voice emanated from room 6.

“Only the priest can come in. I’ve been waiting for him. That pussy of a doctor can leave if he wants. I’ll keep an eye on Faith and Claire for you, Dr. Singh.”

Claire fought against the restraints. The lights in the unit turned back on. The machines in room 6 fell silent. “Open the door, Faith. Dr. Singh can leave if he wants. Let Gabriel in.”

Faith pulled the heavy doors open. Murray’s body fell inside. “Let’s get him outside. The less bodies in here the better.” Gabriel said.

Faith and the priest pulled Murray outside the unit. Dr Singh felt guilt in his belly despite the throbbing from his missing eye. “Dr. Singh, I’m sorry. It wasn’t me that did to you. You have to believe me.” Claire said.

The doctor had one foot in the unit and other outside. He looked down at Murray and thought of Alan and Mr. Ramirez. Too many lives had been lost. He trotted to room 3 and grabbed Mr. Ramirez’s arms while Gabriel lifted his legs. They laid him gently next to Murray. Gabriel knelt by both men and said a short prayer.

“Grant eternal rest unto these fallen men, your sons, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.” Gabriel rose quickly. He dodged the swinging doors as they closed and bumped into Dr. Singh.

“Sorry, doc. I am glad you decided to stay.” Gabriel said. His hand was still gripping his crucifix.

“Impulse,” Dr. Singh said mirthlessly. “No thought process. But I figure if anyone deserve a second chance, it’s Claire. She’s a good person and a good nurse.”

The machines in room 6 began to beep again. The lights shut off right before the PA system crackled. A feminine voice began to laugh. To Claire’s ears, it sounded like her mother.

Everyone knows, honey. Everyone! Our family. The neighbors. They all know how your father liked to watch you dance naked. You were only eight years old! I had to do it. He deserved what I did to him. I threw his little thing into the trashcan after I cut it off. Then he had the nerve to have me committed. Those fuckers should have never left me alone. I had a goddamn heart attack. When I got here, all I had to do was stab myself in the throat with one of those sharp tubes. I was so good at helping the doctors put them in. I was good fucking good at my job. Faith was just a little baby pig when I was in charge. By then, I’d changed my name back to Collins and you were with your new Christian family. You know what’s really fucked up? I asked Him to come. I asked for His help to kill your father. It was me, darling. He is the eater of souls. He especially likes the pure ones. The virgins. I guess your only sin is making your brother fall in love with you. And now you’re all alone. No one can help you. Not even that baby priest.