DELANCY: Secrets in the Shadows

CHAPTER 51

It was a conventional summer day. It was bright and the sun was shining like it had just swallowed a bunch of light bulbs.Tim and his two parents were helping the movers clear out the big, white truck and place down the furniture.“ Why don’t you go explore Tim? It will be a good opportunity to get used to the new house.” Said Tim’s mom.Tim wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to get out of working. “Fine I guess.” Said Tim, rolling his eyes.

He sludged up the staircase and caught himself opening the front door.Tim slipped off his shoes on the mat that said “welcome” in words that weren't even readable. As he opened the door, he couldn’t help but admire the beautiful house. It was way bigger than his old house. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”Tim thought to himself. This house had a glass chandelier that never stopped shining, a long, glossy, marble staircase that led to the master bedroom. Tim was eager to see the master bedroom. He raced up the stairs and ended up in front of a large wooden door, carved with swirls and beautiful designs.He got hold of the golden door handles and pulled. But, it wasn’t what Tim had expected.The smell of mold immediately filled his nostrils. It had dust, cobwebs, and some furniture covered in old, white sheets.

Tim walked over to the covered furniture, scared like he was about to jump into a pool of lava. He placed his hand, which now had black dust all over it, on the sheet and lifted it. Suddenly, Two big, fat rats skittered across the floor.Tim despised rats and quickly grabbed the broom next to the door for protection. When he was sure that the rats were gone, he went to the kitchen and examined the rusted stove, curious why his parents chose this house.After he finished looking over the whole house, he found a door that led to the basement. He slowly opened the door and saw a long,steep staircase leading to a dark room.He got curious and went down the stairs. As he went down, he noticed that there were strange noises.

They were not regular noises that you would find in a basement. They were more like squeals or screeches, but they were very quiet. When Tim finally got to the end of the long staircase,he found a lantern.He considered himself lucky to find a source of light since he couldn’t even see his pale white skin. He turned it on and a rat scurried across the floor. Tim slowly backed up and tripped over something.As he turned around slowly, he saw an old, rat skeleton. He immediately jumped forward and ran.Once he felt assured, he picked up his lantern and headed towards a light.He didn’t know where he was going but he couldn’t control himself. It seemed to him that it was a door that was ahead of him.He tried to turn around but his legs kept going forward. When he finally got his body under control, he was in front of something. Tim held his lantern up to it. It was a door...a plain, wooden door. Once again, he couldn't contain his body. He watched as his hand cautiously turned the crooked door knob. He stuck his foot in the door and felt that it was very tight and small inside. He was once again curious and stepped all the way in.Suddenly, the door shut behind him.

Locked in and afraid,Tim yelled for his parents but they were still outside helping the movers. It was black and he couldn’t see a thing.Tim could barely breathe with all the dust and the smell of dead animals.He felt around and was so grateful when he found the lantern laying on the floor. At this point, he was very worried. Everything went quiet around him.Tim got scared and backed up against the wooden plank behind him.He felt something squishy under his bare feet, like slime or...wait a minute...he looked down slowly and saw a rat head, surrounded by wet, and cold goo.His stomach turned upside down like he had just been on a rollercoaster that went in loopty-loops over and over again. Like that wasn't enough, he heard something.Something that he could never imagine.

Something that no one could ever imagine.A herd of rats and mice and cockroaches ran across his body and to the other side of the house. They sounded like a bunch of zoo animals that had just been let out of their cages and are all fighting to death.Tim tried to scream but he knew better.The air around him was running low. When all the pests were gone and out of sight, Tim curled up into a tight ball. He felt something on his neck.It was cold and wet. He looked up, with his hand glued to the lantern.He saw a broken pipe above him.He felt a spark of hope.If only he could find a source of food.Then it hit him.His worst nightmare but it was all he had.He put his lantern down, got on his knees, and picked up the rat that he had stepped on earlier.Tim opened the lantern’s little compartment for the candle and held it up to the organs and pool of blood from the rat to somewhat have it cooked.He had to do it. He pinched his nose and ate it. After he finished, of course, he threw up. Then, he curled back into a tight ball, turned the lantern off and fell asleep.

The next morning, he wasn't feeling good. He threw up a ton and had a really high fever.The next day, it got worse. His illness got worse and worse everyday.

Eventually, his mom and dad went looking for him and got worried when they didn't find him.They looked in the kitchen, the bathrooms, around the neighborhood but it was no use. They called the cops but they were no help either. A year had passed and his parents had moved out of the house, thinking it was cursed. A new family moved in.A five year old named James, was told to look around the house.

So he did. The first place James looked was at the basement door. He reached on his tiptoes and opened the door.

He ran down the stairs and saw the same door that Tim had walked in a year ago.

The door opened itself. James hadn’t seen anything like this before. His heart was pounding. He was sure he had seen the doorknob turn. He looked in the door, and there he saw Tim. . Lying on the floor, breathless and his mouth was covered in blood. James ran upstairs and told his mom what he saw in the basement and his mom followed him and looked through the door and saw Tim. She immediately recognized him from the newspaper and called the cops. Once the police arrived along with the ambulances, they rushed down the stairs and carried Tim out.

When they opened the door to leave, a rat ran across the floor.Tim was lying as still as a paralized goat on the carrier, every now and then, giving a little twitch here and there. The police didn't know what to do so, they just continued with Tim. They rushed him to their examination room to do experiments. As soon as the knife punctured his skin, a ton of rats came gushing out of his body and skittered across the floor, leaving Tim dead.They didn’t know what to do next. Except run.

**

You could see the years of service on the face of this strange man. Those years of true combatted wars and secrets that were pressed into his military attire. Even his walk as he escorted me down this old dimly lit hallway, spoke to the honor he exuded as a member of the military. I distinctly remember the lights were flickering as we came closer to the area I would soon be taken to. My mind frantically searches for answers to questions I didn’t even think of yet. The cold breeze draws out goosebumps from the foxholes of my skin. They start to crawl, sending this nervousness throughout my body as my eyes search these ancient stone walls for any information. My pace was hurried by this goon of an Uncle Sam. I guess that my legs weren’t moving in the modulation that he probably hears every time he walks. How much longer until my holding area? Who else is being kept here? Is this one of those “black sites”? Clearly, this is not a place anyone wants to be placed in. So, why am I here?

The distinctive sounds of metal to metal produces a very eerie atmosphere. Even that didn’t compare to what my eyes were seeing. As I was entering the cell there was this woman with scars and bruises in the fetal position. Her hands gripping a thinning sketch pad. The pages of its being now littering the floor of this small containment box. I began to slowly walk closer to her transversing over emerging pictures. Unable to stop glaring at the scattered pages of art, sketched drawings that are manipulating my beliefs as they turn into solid matter. Stuck in absolute amazement recognizing the creativity of small plants and objects rising off the paper. What is this place that I have been brought to? It doesn't seem like some regular human prison.

Soon thinking that if I’m unlike the people I’m seeing then.

What am I doing here?

I argue my placement in Hasp Confinement because it's an unheard of prison last I recall. I am not like anyone else in this place, or I assume I'm not. Taking a moment to question my reality.

My movements cause her to slowly lift her head and sit her sketch pad down. She madly crawls towards my direction as the midst suddenly arises from nowhere. I have only three ideas of things that she could do. She could greet, forewarn or threaten me. I reached my hand out to show that I come in peace. Suddenly as our skins touched, I began to feel dizzy. I started to observe her whole life before my very eyes. Skits of her past leading to her present.

These moments I didn't understand. They were rushing to update me of what I guess I needed to know. A particular moment that slowed down suddenly.

Visions of a life that isn’t mine. Moments that I don’t understand rushing by like a motion picture. I’m trying to reconcile with what I’m seeing. Where am I? Who am I?

The scariest part of this out of body experience. Is that I know I’m not in my own body. I can only assume that this must be the woman from the cell. Suddenly, the moments started to slow down. She is leaving. She was walking away from a woman and a man. As she went to check her stuff, she noticed some things were missing. Angry and for good reason, she was demanding to see whoever was in charge and demanded that something was done. But the police were called. He must have had a lot of complaints like this. The more I remain in her memories the more questions I have.

She seems uneasy. Something is wrong. It’s like she has changed her mind. Why? It’s like she doesn’t want to deal with the police. So, instead. She received her pay. Quickly stuffing it in one of her bags and leaving. She is headed down the road when she is passed by two military vehicles. She has increased her pace. She isn’t running but moving fast enough that the wheels on her luggage are starting to pop off the cracks in the sidewalk. As she turns the corner, she glances back to the building she just left. I guess that must be her job or something. That doesn’t matter now especially since two officers were heading her way. Her clothing was different from what she wore leaving the building all of a sudden. I’m wondering if she had magic from how fast it happened. Who is she? Why are they after her? They don’t send these types of soldiers after just anyone.

She is in full sprint. She has abandoned the luggage she was pulling. It doesn’t look like she knows where she is going. Every other step she is looking over her shoulder checking to see where the men are. Finally, she came into view with weapons drawn! Why are they aiming at her, especially in residential areas? She turns the next corner only to run into the waiting arms of more soldiers. She is quickly approached. What the hell is happening? We are fighting like her life depends on it. This almost feels like the Ninja Assassins movie from how skilled and precise her moves are. She is refusing to go quietly.

One of the soldiers that was chasing her walked up and pointed his sidearm at her head. She stopped moving. Now they are escorting me. One of the military men is radioing in to whoever is in charge. Who is demanding her capture? He is giving confirmation of acquiring the target. Another soldier is trying to contact the MPs at the apartment for a ride but there was only the static. They didn’t want her on the street. The leader, well the one that I assumed is the leader, sends two of the other men ahead. She started to stare hard at this ocean view painting with "The greatest feeling is letting go" Above the art on the side of this corner store building. Being pushed to continue walking.

There is a chilling silence everywhere. This is weird. No people, no cars, no dogs barking. It’s like no one lives here. Suddenly, water is flowing into the street. It isn’t concerning at first but the quantity is increasing. Where is it coming from? No one seems to notice except her. It hasn’t reached the curb but now it's like small rivers flowing through town. Even the soldiers have started to notice. The once silent city is now being replaced with the sound of draining water. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the drainage system is functioning properly. The water is now up to everyone’s ankles. The head soldier has commanded the others to get to higher ground but walking has become difficult. Wading in the water that is now knee high and no one knows where it is coming from. What else can go wrong? Have you ever wished you never asked a question? Well, I have. It was at that moment because seconds later a huge body of water came.

She knew that was the perfect time to escape. One of the soldiers tried to grab her but she slipped away. She ran towards an open window in one of the houses she spotted when she was running earlier. A big wave of water came just as she made it inside washing the soldier down the street. We are safe. She turned to explore the house when everything went white. She grabbed her face and when she pulled her hands back there was blood. What happened? She is falling but never lands. She turns her head to see one of the soldiers from before then everything goes dark.

I’m still here. What did I just witness? I am still trying to piece this event together. Still trying to make sense of what is happening. She is waking up. The rattle of gurney wheels on a hospital floor is a sound I am too familiar with. There was a familiar face that caught my attention as well.

Being rolled down a dark hallway I see a bright light while going through the double swing doors. She quickly let go of me as if I invaded her space and retreated back to the corner of the room. Who was that person that looked so familiar? What was happening? More importantly, why was it happening to me?