Soon

A Story by Brooke

One event comes after another. The nightmare lasts a lifetime, never showing any mercy. I wonder how so much chaos can happen to a person all in one day. The scenes play in my head over and over again. For some reason that day will not stop replaying. I put my hands on my head hoping they will cease to exist, no luck. I close my eyes and wait for the scenes that lead me to my downfall to play once more.

I walked in the door after a long day of work and placed my purse on the kitchen counter. I grabbed a snack from the fridge and took a relaxing seat on the couch. Right as I got comfortable, I heard a loud bang. I abruptly got up and ran to the window. I peered out the glass frame, but saw nothing out of order. My neighbor was walking her dog, and I saw a man jogging. Nothing abnormal seemed to have been going on. I walked back to my seat and slowly sat back down. I looked around once more to make sure it was safe. As things settled I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. That’s when the walls started to shake. The room started spinning. I felt as if I was in a tornado. My heart started beating to the point where it might have pounded out of my chest. I shut my eyes waiting for this to end. I hesitantly opened my eyes to see nothing out of place or broken, just myself clinging onto the couch.

My eyes became tear-filled as I realized my surroundings did not match my images. My head was spinning, and then I suddenly heard my doorbell ring. I open the door and a fragile old woman stood in front of me. “May I help you?” I asked.

“Soon. Soon it will all be gone,” She said with cold, dead eyes.

“Excuse me?” The old lady stared into space and ignored my question. “Hello? Can you hear me? What are you talking about?” I snapped my fingers in her face, but it was if she was in a trance.

“Rachel?” I hear my name called. It was my neighbor who was walking the dog. “Are you alright? Who are you talking to?”

“What are you talking about? This woman right here,” I said while pointing at nothing. The old lady had vanished. Beads of sweat rolled down my face. My neighbor walked away with a concerned look on her face. The woman’s words play in my mind like a broken recording, “Soon. Soon it will all be gone.” I wondered what it meant. I pushed the thought into the back of my mind, and assumed the lady was insane. However, the way she just vanished sent chills through my body.

I turned around to go to my room, but suddenly I screamed. The old woman was right behind me. “Soon! Soon I tell you. They will get you, sweetie. There is no escaping it!” She grabbed my shoulders then repeated the word “soon” over and over and over. I pushed past her to run to the phone to call the police, but I tripped over my own feet. The woman’s eyes looked like black ice as she repeated once more in a voice that was not her own, “soon.” I curled into a ball on the ground with tears running down my face. Then I heard another knock on my door.

“No! Get out of here, leave me alone!” The door opened and I heard multiple footsteps approach me. I felt hands on my shoulders. I refused to open my eyes. I flailed my body around like a fish out of water, refusing to let them take me. “Ma’am, stop! We’re here to help,” they said.

“No, no don’t hurt me!” I became out of breath and weak, I opened my eyes, but the tiredness in my eyes allowed me to see nothing. The hands held me down, and I accepted the bitter defeat.

An annoying beeping sound awoke me from my dark, dreamless sleep. I felt a pain in my hand. My eyes opened and the sight of a hospital illuminated in front of me. An IV stuck out of my right hand- that explained the pain. I heard distant voices from my room. They suddenly came closer and their words are something I’ll never forget.

“The police said she was completely out of her mind. She thought they were attacking her. Her neighbor had called the police. She said Rachel had been screaming, and talking to herself claiming people were there. She described her as chaotic.”

***

“So, Rachel, how are you feeling today? Having anymore hallucinations or images at all?” The psychiatrist asked me while writing notes on a clipboard.

“No.”

“Are you still taking your medication? How about the old lady, does she still visit you?” I once again hear the soft sound of the pen scrolling across the paper.

“Yes. No. Can I please leave?” I ask while standing up.

“Ok, our session can be done for today. Get some rest.” I walk out the room I despise the most, with its quiet walls filled with hopelessness as one person judges my sanity. I walk the hallways that are soaked with dread and despair. How I ended up in a mental institution is something I’ll never understand. I finally reach my room, and there she is. She’s waiting for me as she always does.

“I told you there would be no escape, you’ll be stuck here with me for all eternity,” the old lady says with a sinister smile curving on her lips. Her constant appearance reminds me this chaos that is my life is a never ending nightmare.