Living Ghosts

A Story by Deeksha Sinha

"A psychiatrist who has an interesting encounter at an asylum"

“You left me daddy”, said the little girl. “You didn’t even try to save me.”

“No, Sophia, no! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry!” cried the man helplessly.

“You couldn’t save me daddy..”

“NO!”
Dr. Goliath Bennett awoke with a start. Even on a cold November morning, his brow was lined with beads of sweat. He swept back his slowly receding hairline and held his head in his hands. After a while, he sighed and lay back down in an attempt to sleep. Realizing the futility of the attempt, he got up to make himself a cup of tea. A few minutes later, he was sitting in his balcony sipping on a cup of steaming hot Earl Grey gazing out into the distance. Being one of the most renowned psychiatrists in the city afforded him the luxury of having an apartment on the Upper East Side overlooking the New York skyline.

To avoid thinking about the reason he couldn’t sleep, Bennett went over the case of the woman he was supposed to be visiting today, a widowed Mrs. Eva Mackenzie, who had murdered her 8-year old daughter. She had been sent to Berkeley’s sanatorium after the defence pleaded insanity. The doctor assigned to her case, Dr. James Rowan, had asked Bennett to offer his expertise. Bennett had obliged simply to keep himself occupied for today.

As he sat staring out the window of the train, his thoughts returned to the nightmare from which he had awoken this morning. He remembered the pain he felt as he saw the little girl’s eyes staring into his own, the eyes which never stopped haunting him. “I’m sorry”, he whispered, trying hard to fight back tears.

“Are you alright, sir?” said the man sitting next to him.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine”, said Bennett, reaching for his kerchief to wipe his eyes. While doing so his wallet fell open on the ground to reveal a picture of a pretty redheaded woman. His neighbour reached down to pick it up before Bennett could react.

“Is that your wife?” asked the stranger. Bennett nodded.

“She’s a pretty young thing. But I must tell you, red hair, in my opinion, is dangerous.”

“Don’t I know it”, said Bennett, with a half smile. He put his wallet back in his pocket, trying not to think about the redhead.

Bennett got off at the station at half past ten and walked towards the place where he was supposed to meet Dr. Rowan. He saw Rowan waving at him from across the street.

“Tell me more about this woman, Eva Mackenzie”, said Bennett, as the two began to walk towards the sanatorium.

“Well, where do I begin? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. She moved here a few years ago with her daughter Susan after surviving a car crash which killed her husband. Neighbours say that Susan was a slightly disturbed child, still reeling from the trauma she had faced and her mother had been over protective of her for this reason. Nobody had seen much of the two until recently, when the mother had started dating a co worker from her office. They say it was serious, wedding talks were on. It seemed as though happiness was back in their lives. However, a day before the murder, the couple had a fight and the man stormed away from the house in a fit. The neighbours could hear screaming and crying from the house all day, it sounded like Eva was torturing Susan when the neighbours decided to step in and take a look. All they saw was Eva standing over Susan’s body with a bloody knife in her hand and wailing meaninglessly at the ceiling. The judge declared her mentally unfit, and she’s been here ever since. Doesn’t talk much.”

Bennett listened with mild interest, his thoughts still focused on his daughter. As they were entering the building, he noticed the stunning amount of graffiti across the walls of the sanatorium. One particular slogan, however, stood out. “ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTERS HERE.” This struck him as odd, as the whole point of a sanatorium was to restore hope in a person’s life; to nurse a patient back to health. Temporarily distracted, he tripped over the front steps and knocked over a nurse carrying a tray of medicines. Hastily apologizing, he helped her to her feet and followed Dr. Rowan to Eva’s room.

The room was dimly lit by a single window somewhere at the top. Eva lay curled up on the floor with her back to the doctors. Bennett eyed her indifferently, barely visible as she was.

“Eva, honey?” said Dr. Rowan slowly, “There’s someone special here to see you today. Would you like to talk to him?” Eva remained silent.

Bennett motioned to Rowan to leave the room. He grabbed a stool for himself and sat facing Eva’s back.

“I bet you hate it when people talk to you like that,” he said. “Like you’re some child who needs constant care.”

At his words, Eva seemed to look up a bit. She was still facing the opposite wall, so Bennett couldn’t see her face.

“My wife was bipolar”, he said. “There was nothing that set her off more than people pitying her. She used to throw such a temper when-“

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Bennett looked up in anticipation as he heard the hoarse whisper. This woman hadn’t spoken to anyone for over six months. He kept silent waiting for her to continue.

“He asked me why everyone in town thought we were getting married. I laughed and said, because we are! He panicked, the b*****d. He said he had no intention of marrying me. He.. He said I had a daughter and he couldn’t take up the responsibility and some other load of crap. And then he left me. Just like that, he was gone. It was all her fault, like everything always is. So I made her go away, for good. But he still doesn’t care. Just like you never did, Goliath.”

The colour drained from Bennett’s face as Eva turned around. The red hair fell around her messily and Bennett found himself gazing into the face of his wife. It all came rushing back.

He watched the flames in the dark as she descended slowly into the room. Goliath turned as his wife walked straight towards him, her eyes murderous.

“Stephanie, what’s wrong?” asked Goliath, looking apprehensive. “Go back to your room, sweetheart.”

“No, I don’t want to. You’re hurting me,” said Stephanie, her voice filled with hatred.

Goliath was forced to stay patient, as he tried soothing her. “Steph, sit down. You know you can’t be around people right now.”

“SHUT UP!” screamed Stephanie. “I saw you with that w***e; you’re leaving me for her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. How could I ever leave you and Sophia?”

“Oh of course, you wouldn’t leave Sophia! She’s the only one you care about! I’m just a crazy woman you keep locked up in your house. Not anymore! I’m leaving.”

“Stephanie, I said sit down. You’re not going anywhere,” said Goliath, turning around to see Sophia walk into the room rubbing her eyes.

“Daddy, what’s going on?” she said.

“Sophia, go back to sleep”, said Goliath, moving towards his daughter to put her safely back in bed. To his horror, Stephanie got there first, grabbing Sophia. She took out a knife and waved it at him, gesturing for him to move away. For Sophia’s sake Goliath stayed where he was.

“You don’t love me Goliath”, she said, close to tears. “I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t stand to see you happy while I suffer. I’m leaving, and I’m taking our daughter with me. Let’s see how happy you are without precious Sophia!” She cackled wildly and brought the knife close to Sophia’s neck.

“NO! Not my daughter, you b***h!” screamed Goliath. He jumped in her way but she stabbed him as he did. She ran out the door with Sophia in her arms.

The last thing Goliath heard before passing out were his daughter’s screams.

Realization came crashing down upon Bennett. Three years ago, his wife had disappeared with his daughter. He had woken up, handcuffed to a hospital bed with police officers asking him all sorts of questions. The neighbours had apparently thought that Stephanie was being tortured by him, and she ran away to escape him. Once he managed to convince the police that they had got it all wrong, it was too late. He spent months looking for the two of them, but it was like they had vanished from the face of the earth. He was forced to give up his search and assume the worst. His dreams were haunted by his daughter, asking him to save her.

His wife had been ill. But Bennett loved her dearly, and didn’t have the heart to admit her in an asylum. Instead he kept her locked up at home, where he tried treating her himself. But then she escaped.

Now, as he stared at the mad woman in front of him, the truth hit him like sharp knives piercing him all over. His wife was alive. Eva Mackenzie was Stephanie Bennett. The little girl who died was Sophia. His little girl. If only he had gotten to her in time. If only he hadn’t given up.

“You kept me locked up for years. This is your punishment”, said Stephanie, cackling wildly. “Sophia’s gone forever!”

Bennett stared at her blankly, the image of his daughter becoming clearer in his head. He stood up and began walking towards Stephanie. He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt. This was his punishment. But Stephanie would pay.

By the time the guards rushed inside, it was too late. Dr. Bennett was crying over the dead body of Eva Mackenzie with his hands around her neck.

© 2014 Deeksha Sinha

Author's Note

This story may have quotes you've read elsewhere. It was written as an entry for a college magazine, which had given us certain criteria to write the story.
Any kind of feedback is welcome.

My Review

Would you like to review this Story?
Login | Register

Reviews

Nic Archer

I really enjoyed it (you may enjoy the story I posted), but I felt like Bennett's realization was a little much. It pulled me out of the moment, which - to me - suggests it should be re-written.
Otherwise, I loved it.

Posted 10 Years Ago

10 Years Ago

I don't think I can change the ending, because this was how I pictured it. I could try re-writing it.. read more

SLD Bailey

I read this last night and found myself still thinking about it this morning, which is a sign of the strength of your writing. I think the strongest points of your piece was the premise which was excellent. I love twisty-psychological thrillers and this short could stand alongside some of the better examples of the genre. Nice incorporation of the quotes, I understand that was part of the criteria and that can be tricky to do without it seeming clumsy, which it didn't.
A few points just to help you improve:

“You left me daddy”, said the little girl. “You didn’t even try to save me.”
“No, Sophia, no! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry!” cried the man helplessly.