Experiment in Terror 05 On Demon Wings (9 page)

algebra.”

As she talked excitedly about what she’d be missing on

her Monday, my thoughts automatical y went back to

Creepy Clown Lady. Where was I now? Back in the

hospital or somewhere else? And where was somewhere

else? Where she came from? Where was
that
?

“Come on weirdo, let’s get you back to bed before the

doctor catches us,” she said, placing her hand on my arm,

turning me back to my room. “I think anyone with the name

Dr. Cain is just waiting to inflict some serious punishment

on people. Thank God he’s not a dentist, right?”

I sucked on my lip, debating whether to tel her about

where I saw the doctor earlier. Ada had always believed

me when I talked about the ghosts I saw – she was one of

the few people who did.

I settled back into the uncomfortable hospital bed and

watched as Ada got out one of her magazines and began

flipping idly through it.

“I had something just happen to me,” I said quietly.

Ada paused and lowered the magazine to her lap and

brought her eyes to mine. I had her ful attention.

I quickly explained seeing Creepy Clown Lady in the

hal way, then what happened before I woke up in the

hospital, the demon baby, Dex and Dr. Cain.

“What do you think?” I asked her when I was done.

She shivered and brought her wide cardigan closer

around her skinny frame. “I think there’s no way I’m sleeping

tonight.”

“But what do you think it means?”

She pondered that for a moment, her blue eyes

swimming from the faint glow of the closest light. “I don’t

know. I think what you saw earlier, with Doctor Cain, was a

dream brought on by the drugs, or the shock of what

happened.”

“And Creepy Clown Lady?”

“I guess it could be too. Do you feel any different now

with me then you did five minutes ago?”

I thought it over. “A bit. I feel more awake now. I couldn’t

real y think straight before, everything felt so…muddled. But

I stil think I saw her.”

“Mayhaps. It might have just been in your dreams

though. Maybe you were sleepwalking. It doesn’t mean she

wasn’t
trying to reach you. But I doubt you just strol ed onto,

like, another dimension or something.”

We both laughed at the last part but it sounded forced. I

think we both knew, as farfetched as the other dimension

situation was, anything was possible.

The next three days off of work were like a mini-vacation,

only I was unable enjoy it like a normal person would. My

body was sore and fragile most of the time, which resulted

in a lot of bed rest, which eventual y turned into couch rest.

When I wasn’t sleeping or reading, I was occupying the

couch in the living room like a permanent fixture, present for

whatever my sister, mom or dad wanted to watch. I wasn’t

even that big of a TV person; I just wanted to be around

people, even those who annoyed me, even when my mom

forced me to watch
The Bachelor
.

I started to hate being in my bedroom. I felt strangely

alone and afraid. Each night I could have sworn I heard

someone whispering my name from my closet and when I

wasn’t freaking out over that, I was torn up inside by the

reality of what had happened to me. Though I never wanted

a baby, and having a child would have probably ruined my

life in some way or another, I was fighting a battle between

despair and relief. One minute I was relieved that I lost the

baby, the next I was wrecked to the point of tears for feeling

that way. It was almost as if I was upset over what could

have been. A
what if
that preceded the
what if
. And that first

what if
was something I didn’t let myself think about.

By Thursday night, Maximus got in touch with me. He

apologized for not getting back to me earlier (something

about doing a reading for a local couple) and I apologized

for not having an answer for him about the show. With al

that had happened, returning to Experiment in Terror was

the last thing on my mind and I couldn’t bother devoting an

ounce of thought to it.

He didn’t sound too bothered by my reluctance, though.

“You take your time darlin’,” he said through the phone.

“The only thing I’d like an answer on is when can I take you

out on the town?”

I was sitting on the couch and my mother was at the end

of it, pretending to pay attention to the commercials in

between
America’s Next Top Model
, though I knew she

was listening to my conversation like a hawk.

It was a good question. I hadn’t felt like going to work

and dealing with day-to-day people, let alone go out on a

date. It was far too soon for me to handle.

“I know this sounds like an excuse,” I began, turning

away from my mother for the slightest bit of privacy, “but I’m

real y sick. I haven’t been going to work, even.”

“Sick?” he drawled. “You want me to come by and bring

you soup? My mama taught me a mean recipe, extra spicy,

shoots that cold right out of ya.”

“No, that’s OK,” I told him. “I’m doing better. I just need to

take it easy for a while.”

“Al righty,” he said. “I know when I’m being brushed off.

But I don’t give up that easily.”

“I swear I’m not brushing you off,” I told him. “Though I

admire your persistence.”

“Darlin’, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

I couldn’t help but grin at that and flushed red once I

realized my mother was now blatantly staring at me.

“How about,” he continued, “I cal you next week. Give

you time to pep up.”

I sighed internal y. He real y was persistent. I

remembered the way he hounded me in Red Fox, trying to

convince me to leave with him and leave Dex behind with

the skinwalkers. I didn’t bend then and I tried hard not to

now.

“You can try,” I said, making sure to add a teasing tone

to my voice so he wasn’t
too
discouraged.

“Then I shal . Have a good night, my lady.”

There was a click of silence and I slowly pressed the

end-cal button.

“Who was that?” my mother asked careful y. There was

an edge to her voice.

“Oh,” I said with a shrug. “Just some guy.”

“Dex?” she asked venomously. Her tone jolted me.

“No!” I exclaimed. “Not Dex. Do you think I’m stupid?”

She didn’t say anything. Of course she thought I was

stupid. Look what had just happened to me.

“It was this guy Maximus,” I explained with a sigh, tucking

my feet underneath the quilted blanket. “I met him while we

were in Red Fox. He lives in Portland now.”

“Oh,” she said. She stil looked suspicious but a wave of

relief washed across her brow. It was official; my parents

hated Dex with a passion. And I couldn’t blame them at al .

Not that I cared.

“Is this Maximus a nice guy?” she asked.

“I think so. He’s very polite. Old-fashioned. You’d

probably like him.”

“Then we should have him over for dinner sometime.”

I was taken aback. I gave her an incredulous look. “We

aren’t dating mom. I mean, he just asked me out on a date

but I’m certainly in no shape to go anywhere, let alone

with…a man.”

“But that the last date you went on, nothing came of that.”

“With Brock? Mom, he was a meathead.”

“He seemed like a nice young man.”

“You never met him!”

“He got you to lose weight.”

“Mom…,” I warned.

“Perry,” she retorted in her clipped voice. She turned her

attention back to the show, where vapid American model

wannabes were bitching about each other. “You are a pretty

young woman. You could be on this show, if you lost enough

weight-”

“And grew eight inches,” I interjected.

“And found some confidence. You deserve to have a

nice man in your life. Someone stable, who wil take care of

you, put up with you-”

“Thanks mom!” I rol ed my eyes.

“-and love you. Your father and I, it hurts us to see you

like this. For the last few months you’ve just been…

sleepwalking through life. You’re not yourself anymore. I’m

glad you’re finding friends where you work but it’s time that

you start finding that right person for you.”

I crossed my arms and tried to focus on some bald

model cal ed Raquel. “I’m only twenty-three years old, for

crying out loud.”

“And life goes by far too quickly than it ought,” she

finished in a tone of voice that signified that it was,

thankful y, the end of the conversation.

She went back to watching her show, instantly drawn into

the drama, while I was left pondering what other weird

wrench could be thrown into my life. As if I didn’t have

enough things to think about.

The erratic thoughts about my tumultuous love life

fol owed me into my sleep, where I lay tossing and turning in

my bed, half awake in a delirious state. Final y I had enough

and rol ed over, forcing my eyes open. It was 2:42 in the

morning but I was lucky I had one more day off before I

returned to work.

I sighed at my restlessness and let my eyes adjust to the

dimness of the room. My ears rol ed into effect and picked

up the various noises around me, the faint howl of the wind

outside, the whir of my laptop computer, the fuzzy sound of

static from my TV.

Wait, static from my TV?

I slowly rol ed over and looked at my TV in front of the

bed. It was on, the red light at the bottom left was lit, but the

picture was near black and the faint fuzz of static warped

around the corners of the screen.

That was odd. Why was the TV on? I had only watched

TV downstairs with my mother. I hadn’t watched a thing up

here for days.

I was reaching over for the remote on the bedside table

when the TV suddenly lit up with the grey and black static of

a lost signal.

It reminded me a little too much of
Poltergeist
. My heart

hammered loudly in my chest.

I aimed the remote at the TV and quickly pressed the off

button.

Nothing happened.

I pressed it again, aiming it at an angle.

Again, nothing happened. The static grew louder and the

outline of a woman’s face fil ed the screen, her face

comprised of wavering, jagged black, white and grey lines.

I couldn’t make out any detail except for grey tubes that

were lips. They moved up and down, as if the face were

talking.

This…was not good.

I got out of bed and approached the TV as if it were a

skittish deer, keeping the remote aimed precisely at the

off/on button. I pressed it repeatedly as I approached the

screen, but to no avail. I was going to have to turn it off by

hand.

I was right up against the screen, my hand going for the

physical button on the bottom left corner when the face

moved. I froze, eyes drawn to the dancing screen. The lips

opened.

“Perry!” the face on the TV screamed.

I screamed back. I hit the button with my fist but it did

nothing.

The TV screamed my name again, the voice coming out

of the speakers.

I quickly lunged for the back of the unit, taking the power

cord in my hands and yanking it out of the wal .

“Help me!” the TV screamed again, in a voice not unlike

my own. It wasn’t plugged in anymore. But it stil screamed.

I scampered for the door and flung it open, taking off

down the dark hal way that was only lit by the nightlight by

the bathroom door. I went straight for Ada’s room, ripped

open her half-shut door and jumped into bed with her.

“Ada!” I cried out in the darkness, putting my arms

around her. “My television is possessed!”

I paused after I said that. Ada didn’t feel like Ada. She

felt…
leathery
. Beneath the sheets, something hard and

cold and pointed flicked my way and it wasn’t her legs.

“Ada?” I whispered in horror, an unbearable feeling

rising up in my throat.

Whatever I was holding shuddered, as if it were

laughing.

The rough protrusion stroked my inner calf.

Then the light went on and I was blinded into a sea of

yel ow/white.

“What the hel ?”

I squinted at the direction of the voice and saw the blurry

shape of Ada standing by her door, one hand on the light

switch, the other at her chest, clutching her pajama shirt.

“Oh my God, Perry, you scared the hel out me! What are

you doing?”

I looked down at where I was on her bed. I was holding