The Storyteller of Pain by Loren Molloy
“How about their names for a start?”
“Oh.” Dr. Page paused to recall the information. “Oh yes. One’s name was a Mr. Rowler...rowlton – rowlings”
“Mr. Rowlington?!” Lily interrupted
“Yes that’s the creature. The other was the one who harmed you,” Dr. Page said, devoid of emotion, but the mirth was evident in his eyes. He was so delighted to have told her.
“EDWARDO’S DEAD!” Lily bursted
“Ah, Yes. That’s his name. Supposedly he couldn’t handle having killed those people, so he killed himself. Stabbed himself with a large, broken piece of his own mirror. Repeatedly. He slit one wrist and stabbed his own eyes out as well. He had also stabbed himself in the neck, trying to sever his own head. One of the orderlies found his hacked tongue across the room.
They think he must have done that first and flung it so he couldn’t cry for help. Something like that. Although honestly, I never see why the reason these poor wretches do things matter; just correcting them from ever continuing, that’s the only thing that makes true sense. It’s the only thing that truly solves it. That’s why my research is so vital.”
Lily could tell he was much more interested in the sound of his own voice than the patients or their problems. She couldn’t listen to another syllable.
“Let’s go John. I can’t listen to another word.” Lily just walked off, without looking back. John walked next to her, silently.
A few minutes later they were in her office. The lights kept flickering, threatening to give out. Lilian was pacing, deep in thought. John sat quietly in one of the chairs thinking. He hadn’t realized he was so stressed and zoned out. He was thinking and rocking quite fast, back and forth.
“What are we going to do?” John whispered up to the ceiling.
“I don’t know!” Lily exclaimed terrified. “It wasn’t a dream.” Lily whispered
“I know, Kitten. I’m so sorry.” John looked up at her, seeing the fear and the hurt so clearly on her face. He knew his matched hers completely.
“Mr. Rowlington’s dead and so is Edwardo. One, personally by the hands of Charles. The other because of a demon who demanded death and got it. We are trapped in a state that is completely flooded. We are cut off from civilization until who knows when, and I haven’t the slightest idea how we are supposed to protect ourselves against 13 demons! I have no idea how many are already released, nor do I have any idea how we are going to stop them.” Lily was rambling panicky thoughts out loud, while pacing again.
“Stop them?” John exclaimed shocked. “How about we just work on surviving, huh Kitten?”
“Great idea! Any suggestions?!” Lily exclaimed in sarcastic frustration, and stared at him in fury.
“Yeah! We need a priest!” John exclaimed sarcastically.
“YES!” Lily exclaimed her eyes brightened!
“The chaplain can help us. Let’s go to the chapel right now. He’s gotta believe us!” Lily said excitedly
“The chapel.” John whispered in surprised joy. He had forgotten all about the chapel at the back of the property. A priest really is possible! John thought with pure relief and excitement. Finally, John thought. ’There’s a light at the end of this hellish tunnel. The priest can cleanse this place. Isn’t that what they are for, to help rid the world of evil?’
As they raced toward the chapel, Lilian thought about what she was going to say. ‘I know this is going to sound crazy but the hospital is being taken over by demons. Demons that Dr. Page & the Head of Asylums are controlling’. She would be locked up right next to Delia in seconds.
The thought caused her to slow down. How many times has she heard that from patients? I know this might sound crazy. How many times has she been told by people, ‘I hear voices that tell me to do bad things’ or even ‘demons are controlling me.’ More times than she could count. Asylums are filled with people who say they hear voices.
Many are there because ’something made them do something bad’. We call them ‘crazy.’ Lunatics who’s minds were sick for numerous and varied reasons. What if they aren’t sick but being messed with by demons just like Edwardo and Delia. We lock them up to be left isolated and judged. Could that really be possible?
Lilian had slowed down completely until she was standing in the main hallway, pulling on her bottom lip, in deep thought.
“What? What is it? Lily what’s the matter?” John questioned her, shaking her good arm gently. Why had they stopped?
“I... I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to the chaplain without sounding crazy, which made me question what crazy really means.”
“Lily... I love you but let’s have this deep, introspective conversation later, huh?” John looked at her in concern. It felt like something was trying to stop them again. Just like that first day he fried to arrive to pick her up. The same horrible feeling was in the pit of his stomach.
Lilian smiled up at John. She was still overwhelmed by hearing such a thing from him but she knew he was right. She was being side-tracked.
“I love you too. You’re right. Let’s go. I’ll wing it when we get there.”
They were almost at the rear of the massive asylum when they were stopped by a panicked Nurse Kingston. She looked frightened out of her skull. Lilian was more frightened now than she was before. The hulking woman was absolutely terrified. When you are counting on this woman to protect you, and she looks too scared to even function, you know you are in serious trouble.
“Thank God you’re here Doc!” Nurse Kingston exclaimed, out of breath. “I think I’m going crazy Doc! It’s just not possible! It’s just not!”
“What are you talking about, Lee?”
“I keep seeing things! Terrible things Doc!” Lee Kingston cried in distress
“What kinda things Lee? Talk to me! Hey- Hey... look at me! What did you see?” Lily was shaking Lee, trying to get her back to her senses. She was miles away remembering the horror she had seen.
“A... a huge dog with glowing red eyes. It’s been chasing me all around this hospital. It smells like rotten eggs and decaying flesh. I was on my way to the mortuary and there it was, right in front of the main door to the morgue. I- I just can’t believe it! It’s not possible! It was huge! No matter where I went, there it was just waiting around another corner for me.”
“A dog?” John asked stunned.
“I think it’s only one. There could be many of them. I don’t know anymore. I just don’t know anymore. No matter where I went, there it was; a massive black beast with red eyes, growling at me. I hate dogs you know. I was bit by the neighbor’s dog when I was young. Thing had rabies. Almost killed me. I hate dogs. Almost killed me.” Lee had begun to spiral into a nervous breakdown.
“You’re okay now, Lee. Breathe.” Lily was trying to get Lee calm before the woman had a true psychotic break, which looked like it was going to happen any second.
“Almost killed me.” Lee muttered again pulling on her earlobe in a repetitive, frantic gesture.
“Lee-” John was about to try and speak to her when Lee looked behind them and began screaming at the top of her lungs.
John and Lily instinctively sniffed. A new scent was immediately present in the air. A smell of rotten eggs just as Lee had said.
A massive, rumbling growl suddenly hit their backs causing John and Lily’s eyes to widen completely and for them to freeze in fear.
“It can’t be,” Lily whispered in horror.
They turned slowly. There standing three feet behind them, was a huge, mangy soot colored black dog as tall as the ceiling with huge red glowing eyes. It reeked of sulfur and death. The dog’s teeth were gargantuan, yellow, and bared. Foam was dripping from its vicious jaws.
John and Lily both took a huge step backwards in fear. John clasped Lily’s hand in his trying not to black out from fear. As they stepped back, the dog took a step forward but with this one step the dog morphed from one single demonic dog into three separate ones. Each one was only
Now all three demon dogs stood growling and baring massive teeth at them. Each one had locked eyes on one of the three people. It was obvious each dog had a target. Each predator now had its own prey.
“Oh boy!” Lily said.
“Nice doggy,” John said in a futile attempt.
The only response they got from the beasts was a roaring howl that could only be described as purely demonic.
Lee went crazy at the sound and screamed madly, “Demon dogs from Hell,” before she took off running.
The major problem with that was it caused all three dogs to start moving towards them. John and Lily were forced to run as well. One dog went after Nurse Kingston. As they turned a corner, all they could hear was the sound of Lee’s screaming.
It only took a few minutes for the other two demon dogs to cause John and Lily to be separated. The moment John felt Lily’s hand slip from his, he began screaming, “NO”. He turned back for her but the beast was too close to him. He couldn’t turn back and live. He had to keep running on and pray she would be ok.
Lily knew she couldn’t keep running, not from something supernatural, and survive. She wasn’t a runner. She knew she would tire out sooner than the beast would.
Somehow the beast had corralled her back towards the administrators’ wing. Lily thought, ‘How did I get up here? We weren’t anywhere near this part of the hospital.’ Lily looked back to see how close the dog was and crashed into something solid. Then Lily instinctively screamed as she crashed onto the floor full force.
“My dear Doctor, whatever is the matter with you? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!” It was Charles she crashed into and he was smiling mischievously. It was sickening to even look at.
“Not a ghost,” Lily said pissed off, catching her breath, and sitting very unladylike on the floor. He didn’t offer to help her up. Just smiled down at her. His eyes were sparkling with some dark humor.
“What?” Lily blasted at him
“You...at my feet. It’s a good look for you,” Charles chuckled
Lilian, furious started to get up. Charles, laughing, pushed her back forcefully, causing her to fall flat on her back, hitting her head.
“Although, now that I see it, you on your back is your best look yet my dear.” Charles pounced on top of her, trying to force himself upon her.
Lily kneed his manhood as hard as possible, causing him to rear up and scream, giving Lily the opportunity to elbow him in the face. Blood spurted out, everywhere, and the pain and force of her hit caused Charles to fall onto his side allowing Lily to get to her feet.
Lily hesitated for only a moment before she yelled “FORE” and kicked Charles in the face with all the force of someone hitting a golf ball on the green, and with the same style as a kicker in football. She must have kicked him in this fashion at least ten or twenty times before she was able to stop herself.
Her foot was bloody and Charles was unconscious or dead. Lily hoped for dead, thinking, ‘One less piece of scum to deal with,’ but she knew better. She could see he was still breathing. She could kill him where he lay but then, somehow, didn’t that make her a bad person. He would have raped her, at minimum, but somehow she heard a small voice say, Do as he does and become what he is. The choice is yours.
Lily chose to shake a leg. Literally, her leg was wet, sticky, and slippery from Charles’ blood all over it. She shook it several times in disgust and saw there was bloody yuck on the bottom of her shoes. She looked at it then wiped it on Charles’ suit before running off.
Hearing a strange clacking sound, she stopped for a moment and checked the bottom of her shoes again. Her bloodied leg must have kicked his teeth out because there was a front tooth stuck in the bottom of it. She picked it out and threw it away. She checked her other shoe just in case but it was clean. She began to run again. She worried about John. Was he even alive?
Meanwhile, John had wound up in the female ward. Then the demon dog chasing him, had disappeared. Catching his breath, he looked around. It seemed strangely quiet. There was always a few who were making noises and shouting nonsense when John would make his rounds. That was normal here. This wasn’t. Victoria, Beatrice, or even Helene would normally be at their doors, seeing who had come in. Even the nymphomaniacs who couldn’t seem to help but scream sexual profanity at him were quiet. He checked each room like it was his usual rounds. Each one was in their beds, quiet and looking terrified.
John looked into Beatrice’s door and saw her sitting by her window rocking, looking outside at the rain, crying. She was whispering repeatedly, “No escape. Not for us. Not for anyone.”
This wasn’t like her at all. Beatrice was in for murdering her husband and his brother. When asked about it, all she would say was, “I told them not ever again. They didn’t listen. I kept my word, though.”
She had decapitated them both, as well as disemboweled and castrated them. She had put all their organs in one big mixing bowl to save on clean up. The state had claimed her insane and threw her in Danvers for life. He had never had a problem with her because as she put it, “If you don’t harm me, I won’t harm you. It’s that simple.”
This terrified mess cowering at the window was not like her at all. Not once in the years he had been there had she even looked scared, let alone completely terrified.
“Beatrice! Beatrice! It’s me John Barkley. What’s going on? What happened?”
Beatrice turned only her head, ever so slowly; a look of horror was plastered on her wide eyed face.
“The Devil and his wife came to Danvers and none of us are going to keep our souls past this night,” Beatrice said horrified. A single tear streamed down from her unblinking, wide hazel eye. Her blazing red hair and orange freckles stood out even more than usual. She was three shades whiter than any ghost. She just turned her head back to the window again, saying, “No escape. Not for us. Not for anyone. ”
John knew he wasn’t getting another word out of her. He couldn’t look at the newly defeated soul before him another moment, and moved on. Every moment was like another drop of fear planted within him. Each step added another drop.
A few doors down was Helene. The only reason she was in here was because she was depressed from finding out her husband was cheating on her. “Melancholia” they called it. Since she made the mistake of making a scene about it in front of her husband’s influential friends, he had her committed at Danvers for life.
John could already see she wasn’t at her door. She was always at her door. She claimed it made for a more interesting view than any window.
“Helene!” John exclaimed as he got to her door. He didn’t see her at all.
“Who’s that?” Helene’s voice croaked out from the other side of the door but much lower than he expected.
John realized she had to have been crouched against the bottom of the door.
“It’s me John Barkley.”
“Prove it!” She exclaimed in a shushed, fearful tone.
“All you have to do is stand up and look at me, and you’ll see it’s me, Helene.”
“That’s what you said last time but it wasn’t you. It was them. Looked just like you. Talked just like you. Wasn’t you. Wasn’t the good Doc neither. Spoke like you, wasn’t you.”
“Helene what are you talking about? I haven’t spoken to you today or in several days in fact. Helene speak to me. What’s going on?”
“Prove it, you. Tell me something you’d know and no other.” Her voice was meek and high pitch from stress.
“The only reason you’re in this country and not at home with your family, is because your husband bought you as his wife. He brought you home with him. Even made you take a more Americanized name than you had in your home country.”
“What was my name in that country before that white devil bought me like a souvenir?” Helene yelled in a hysterical whisper
“Soo-Jin.” John said quietly.
Helene just sobbed for
John smiled gently at her. ‘Poor lady’ he thought. ’She’s never really had much freedom in this life and never would again. All because her husband wanted to continue his philandering without any issues from her.’ She would be imprisoned here for the remainder of her days. She must have been in her mid-sixties and had been in there since she was in her early thirties.
“Yes, it really is me. What’s going on Soo-Jin? Beatrice told me the Devil and his wife came to Danvers! Now you’re claiming to have seen and spoken with me and the Doc already, when that just ain’t possible-”
“Oh I know that now! When I laid eyes on you two earlier it looked and sounded just like you two. Something felt off though, unlike anything I ever felt. So I asked you the same question I just asked you, and the first John got it wrong. I screamed, ‘You’re not John’ and that’s when you and the nice Doc turned right, before my eyes, into that horrible evil couple. The Devil and his wife did come to Danvers, John! They just started cackling at me. Their eyes glowed gold, John! They Glowed!”
“What did they look like?” John asked horrified. It never occurred to him that the person he could be speaking to could possibly not be that actual person. They morphed in front of Soo-Jin into entirely different people. What in the name of everything that’s holy was he supposed to do? How in goodness sake was he supposed to tell the different or even know?
“They were tall and very, very thin. They were dressed in old Victorian clothes like those from the old days... like the pall bears that walked in front of the casket wagon. That was the kind of clothing. Black, old, worn but expensive somehow all at the same time. He had a tall top hat and she had a pinched look on her white face like that of the strictest warden or school marm you ever saw. They both were whiter than chalk but their eyes were the purest black like that of a raven but so much more deadly.
They only spoke one word: “Behave.” It was the way they said it. Their voices were deep and high pitched all at once. The sound felt like it was going to shred my soul. It was their eyes, John! They were the most fearsome. They were the darkest black yet when they spoke that one word, those demon eyes flashed glowing irises of pure gold. Somehow the force of those eyes and that one word, shot me back with such terrible force, I hit the far wall. I must have blacked out because I opened my eyes and they were gone. It’s been silent like this ever since,” Soo-Jin whispered the words through the bars on the door, her eyes constantly darting back and forth.