Nillium Neems (14 page)

Blood spurted and I knew I was in trouble.
Mousy rustled in terror and ran at the beast, trying to ravage it
with his teeth for all the good that would do. The Copley Worm
grabbed me by my other leg and started thrashing from side to side,
like a dog rending a new favorite toy.

Just as I thought the end would come, I felt
the Worm lifted from me. I looked up to see it soaring through the
air, thrown once more into a wall. An old man appeared standing
over me, reaching down a hand to help me up. Black, pinstripe
pants, while silk shirt, black jacket, and even blacker tie. A
serious, almost hawk-like face of a man in his sixties peered down
at me, wireframe spectacles entirely at home on his quizzical
face.

"Siegfried?" I guessed, grasping his hand
and getting to my feet. I was afraid to look down at them, for fear
that I wouldn’t have any.

Siegfried saw my concern and smiled, raising
an eyebrow. I looked down and both feet were intact, along with
both legs. Not a wound in sight.

"How do you do the whole ‘healing me’
thing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow of my own. I must admit, I
wasn’t as good at it as him.

He pointed towards our crumpled opponent,
indicating that there was little time for explanations. The Copley
Worm was already getting itself oriented once more, ready to
strike.

"I have conserved all the strength I have
for this day," Siegfried said, facing the Worm and raising a hand.
"Now that we have our chosen warrior, we shall take back what is
ours!"

"Foolish spirit," The Copley Worm hissed.
"You choose a little girl as your warrior? I have enjoyed beating
her many times over."

Mousy rustled pointedly and Siegfried
glanced down at him, an expression of surprise on his face.

"Paul Souris, I almost forgot about you. You
have guarded her faithfully and served her well. Now you must do
all you can to aid her at the last."

He waved a hand towards Mousy, and my friend
flickered, sparkled, and changed, appearing as he too must have in
life. A youth not much older than myself, sandy brown hair the
color that his fur had been, bangs hanging down over those ever
blue eyes that I knew so well.

Siegfried was weary from his efforts, his
own form flickering briefly so that the slug was visible for just a
moment, before reasserting itself as a tired old man.

"At last!" Paul shouted cheerfully in a
light French accent. "I can speak in more than rustle!"

The Copley Worm hissed and launched itself
towards us.

"Although perhaps not for very long..." Paul
added sadly as our enemy bore down on us.

But I had a bit more confidence now, now
that I had some help. And Paul still seemed to have rodent-like
reflexes, stepping quickly to the side ready to intercept our
attacker. I started to do the same, planning to kick its side as it
shot past us, before I realized it had switched targets. Why go for
some loopy mental girl, when it could attack the leader of its
enemies first?

It was almost upon Siegfried, who was too
tired to flee, when I threw myself on top of it, holding it down
with my bodyweight. Twisting, writhing, going insane with movement,
it threw me sideways and watched me slide across the ground with an
oomph. But I’d given Paul enough time to act, who stomped down on
its head with vicious force, stunning it. With a grin, he picked it
up and flung it against the wall for a third time.

I got to my feet, took my cue to finish the
creature, and picked up the heavy tome I had threatened it with
earlier. Whack, whack, thud. It was a heavy book. I kept hitting it
just to be sure, until Paul grabbed my arm and gave me a concerned
look like I was pyscho or something. I glanced down at the Copley
Worm. I had reduced its poor little wormy head to pudding.

Chucking the book aside with a sheepish grin
on my face, I wiped my hands of a job well done and turned towards
Siegfried.

"Oky doke, Pops, I got that one dealt with.
What do you say we go smash this Directory guy and teach him a
lesson about turning people into Monsters?"

Siegfried smiled and motioned with a hand
for me to lead the way. Mousy fell into step beside me, while
Siegfried followed just a little ways behind. I opened the door on
the far end to find one final hallway, which ended at a door marked
‘Executive Offices’.

It was here that I saw them, lined up
against the walls, silent guardians on the road to Hell. The
Killer, Twisted Puppet, Skeleton, Green Ooze, Scarecrow and
Shambler. Eleven more Tormentor’s that I hadn’t met stood alongside
them, each more insane and disturbing than the last. They formed a
line all the way to the Director’s office.

The Skeleton’s eyes flashed and he beckoned
me forwards with a wave of one bony digit.

"The Director will see you now," he hissed,
and I realized in alarm that it was in the emotionless voice of the
former Dr. Sirius.

Walking between their silent ranks was
perhaps the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced, their
heads turning to watch me as I passed, gazes locked onto me with a
malevolent hate. I thought about running, but I didn’t have much
choice but to obey the Skeleton’s words. For if I ran, then
seventeen Tormentor’s would fall upon us like wolves upon three
lambs.

An eighteenth Tormentor opened the door as
we reached it, holding it open politely. It was the Elegant Statue.
Once we’d passed through, he closed it gently behind us and led us
through a small waiting room to another door. Once more he held it
open for us, this time waiting without as we all entered. The quiet
sound of the door shutting behind us was one of the more ominous
things that I’ve heard in life. I shared a glance with Mousy and
Siegfried and I think we all took courage from one another.

We found ourselves in a large, oval room,
edges lined with various cabinets and lamps, all made of only the
highest quality. Polished redwood was a major design choice in the
room and most of the furniture was made from it. Uncountable
degrees and awards lined the walls, including two Master’s in
Psychology. Three couches and a table sat in the center of the
room, with an exquisite desk and chair located at the far end, in
front of a wide bay window.

The window took up an entire wall and held
my gaze for a while. For I had expected it to be facing the world
outside the Ward, but instead it was facing within, looking over
the Yard where the Hooded Man had attacked me so very long ago. I
almost smiled as I saw the Tree that I had always loved so much. It
was so close I felt like I’d be able to touch it if I only opened
the window. I could even still see the stars twinkling in its upper
branches.

It wasn’t until he stood, that I noticed the
figure who had been sitting in the chair by the desk. He walked out
from behind it and bowed politely. So identical to Siegfried in
appearance, I felt surely they must be related. Same classy dress,
same hawk-like face, about the same age. But whereas Siegfried’s
face radiated wisdom and a weary sort of kindness, this one had
sharper features, edged by hatred and power.

"Are you the Director?" I asked him, not
sure I’d got the right person. He wasn’t quite the creature from
Hell that I had expected.

"And you must be Nillium Neems," he stated,
ignoring my question. "You have caused more trouble than I would
have thought possible. I truly must congratulate Siegfried on
that," and here he gave a brief nod to the former director of
Atrium. "He has done a remarkable job in seeking vengeance against
me."

The Director ignored Paul entirely,
apparently deciding he wasn’t even worth his notice.

"Did you kill Siegfried?" I asked, already
quite certain of the answer.

The Director only laughed. Siegfried
remained silent. It seemed it was my place and mine alone to face
our enemy.

"The fool left me with little choice. I
wanted power he wouldn’t give me in my lowly position of Treasurer.
So I had to, ahem, ‘elevate’ my role in Atrium Psychiatric
Ward."

"By killing my father!?" I shouted angrily,
taking a step towards him.

"Is that what you were told?" The Director
replied, laughing once more. "Oh, Nillium, you really are clueless.
You don’t understand what you are, do you?"

"He told me his name was Siegfried Von
Nillium!" though even I could hear some doubt creeping into my
voice. "Of course he’s my father. And no, I don’t understand why I
seem to be the only one who can see what’s going on. But I am, and
I’m going to stop you."

"Let me show you something, Nillium. Show
you exactly why you stand no chance."

The Director stepped towards a wall and
punched, the strength of his blow knocking a hole in the plaster
and revealing the walls innards. I nearly threw up at the
sight.

Inside of the wall was not the electrical
cords and insulation I had expected, but bones... and not the bones
or wooden framework of a normal structure, but human bones, all
connected by a deep red wiring that looked awfully like blood
veins. I just stared in shock for a while, not sure what to say or
think. I glanced at my two companions, but both remained silent,
letting me take in an awful truth that they were all too aware
of.

The Director watched my reaction with a
wolfish smile.

"Former patients are to
thank for that," he said smugly. "Their bodies and spirits have
brought this place to life. Every one of them that dies grants my
Ward more and more power, which grants
me
power. I do not let their souls
depart, but keep them trapped here within my grasp."

"B-..." I began, not sure even what to
say.

His smile widened, revealing perfect and
white teeth that could have been in any commercial for a dental
product.

"We have something here in Atrium, known as
the ‘Black List’. It’s a record of all of the patients that are
slated to have ‘accidents’ so that they can empower me a bit sooner
than fate would have it. Of course we only kill those patients
whose deaths won’t be questioned by family on the outside."

I opened my mouth but no words came out. All
words had failed me before this onslaught to all that I considered
good and moral in the world. The Director continued.

"There are a few rogue
spirits who refuse to stay imprisoned, like Siegfried and the
Mushrooms, but even they cannot
leave
the Ward. All they can do is
cause mischief, which my Tormentors stop soon enough. And that is
where you come in, Nillium Neems. You are nothing but one more
attempt to cause me trouble."

"So they gave me the ability to see things
as they are?" I blurted out, still reeling mentally.

"Oh this is too much!" He
said with obvious delight. "You really don’t know, do you? No, they
didn’t give you power to see, they gave you
everything
. Siegfried is your father
in the same way that a scientist is father to his creations.
Because that is all you are, Nillium Neems. You are his creation. A
manifestation of all the hopes and dreams of the spirits who haunt
this place. An embodiment of their pathetic acts of resistance. You
are their defiance given life, created solely to stop
me."

"But I remember my parents!" I shouted, not
bothering to conceal the terror in my voice. "I’m twenty years old
and I remember everything that’s happened in my life!" but even as
I said it, the uncertainty I had felt upon reading my patient file
in Higgins office came back to me. I didn’t remember anything very
clearly come to think of it.

"All false," the Director confirmed, as if
hearing my thoughts. "Every memory you have is false, even of your
‘life’ in my Ward. You have only been in existence for sixty-five
days, and that fact I know for sure. And to answer your next
question, the reason I have done nothing about you until now is
because I was unaware of your presence. Siegfried and his followers
hid you all too well from me..." and here his face took on the
first note of annoyance I had seen.

"When you pulled a bone from the wall in
your room, weakening the structure of my Ward ever so slightly, was
when I first became aware of what you are and the threat that you
pose. So, I looked through our records for a Nillium Neems to
confirm my suspicions, and found every record to be false, planted
there by Siegfried and the others. Your birth certificate was
false, a non-existent doctor listed on it, your parents are false,
the doctor who ‘admitted’ you to this Ward is false, all of it was
false. You are the rather brilliant last ditch effort of the rogue
spirits who stand against me."

"I’m not real..." I said quietly, more of a
realization than a question. Looking down at my hands, not sure
whether to be relieved or upset that my life was a lie, I
understood that I was just a pawn. Meaningless.

The Director nodded. I looked at Siegfried,
whose head was bent, possibly in shame. He didn’t meet my gaze.

"Why tell me all of this?" I asked, turning
back to my enemy. "Why didn’t you have your Tormentors outside kill
me, or you yourself try to kill me?"

"Because I wanted to meet you. I wanted to
see with my own eyes the famous Nillium Neems, and I wanted to tell
you, face to face, just how meaningless your existence is. Your
hopelessness and despair is a feast to me, the likes of which I
have not enjoyed in some time. How does it feel, to be nothing but
a lie? And a rather pathetic one at that."

I stood in thought for a
minute, not really sure what to say. Slowly, I reached up and took
the Snoopy Cap from my head, turning it over and over in my hands.
There, taped to the inside, was the lighter I’d stolen from Higgins
office, along with the Black List. The List of all of those
patients he’d killed.
I looked at Paul, at
Mousy, my friend who had stood by me through so much. He smiled,
though it was a bit strained.