Page 26 of Haunted Prey

I see him now more than ever, lurking in the shadows and dark corners. At first, he was nothing more than a black, ominous shape—a dripping shadow I refused to acknowledge. But over time, he transformed into a specter, one I was too terrified to face. Then I did; I forced myself one night to gaze at him. His face…it was all wrong. A nightmare. A decaying corpse, with his skin peeling back to show the bone, half his face nothingbut a skull smiling at me. Blood dripped from him onto the floor. He stalked me when I walked the halls at night so nowhere was safe now.

I had no choice but to start taking the sleeping agent Leo offered since the lack of sleep made things worse.

Only in the day did Emery not appear, but I was always in a daze. The Lulladex kept him at bay but it also made me feel like a zombie. If I wasn’t napping, I was sitting somewhere staring at nothing with a stupid smile on my face.

The girls looked out of it too but still happier to be here than not. Jonsei appeared as if nothing had happened several nights ago, even though she had a patch over her eye.

“Just a small side effect.” She smiled. “They said it should clear up.”

“Do you remember anything from that night, Jonsei?” I’d asked.

She’d shaken her head. “I just had a bad dream.”

We were all having bad dreams and bad sleep. It wasn’t normal. Something was wrong.

I started to suspect it might be the meds. One morning, I forced myself not to take the pill even if it meant seeing my ghost and feeling like shit the whole day.

“You forgot to take your medication, Eve,” Jackie said when she went to take my plate. “Here, I’ll get you some more water.”

“I don’t want it,” I snapped. Even though that was a lie. I wanted it real bad, wanted to feel that numb, blissful nothingness. But I also hated how badly I wanted it.

“I know it’s hard at first, but it will get better. If you stop now, you’ll have an even harder time. Your body will get used to it, you’ll see.” She’d left and gotten me more water, setting it down on the tray. I hadn’t moved but neither had she, standing over me, waiting.

I wanted to scream at her to get the fuck out. Instead, I quietly took the pill and slid it between my lips then took a sip of water.

“That’s it.” Jackie took the tray. “Why don’t you go down to the spa and get yourself a massage? It will help.”

When she’d turned and left, I waited a few seconds, then went to the bathroom and spat the pill out into the toilet, flushing it down.

I had a headache all day and dizzy spells, but I ignored them as best I could. I took my walks outside despite the weather growing colder, strolling along the forest paths around the facility, hoping the fresh air would do me good. The woods would have been beautiful in the summer. Now, they were barren and way too quiet.

I still went to my sessions with Leo, but my conversations with him had grown more reserved. I confessed to him one day about seeing Emery in my room and in the halls.

“Trauma can bring on hallucinations,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “But they will fade with time.”

I wrung my hands, staring at the fire. “I think the Lulladex is making them worse.”

He had grown quiet. When I glanced at him, whatever had been in his gaze vanished in an instant.

“I don’t recall that being a side effect,” he said. “It may come from the lack of sleep.”

I shifted in my seat. “Yeah, right…”

“Take the sleeping agent and try to get a full night's sleep, Eve. Do some meditation, maybe in the garden. Remind yourself the hallucinations aren’t real.”

I nodded, staring past him. “I don’t want to take the medication anymore.”

“Give it some time,” he said.

I took the sleeping agent and slept better than I had in days after. I thought I could get away with just taking the sleeping pill and not the Lulladex, but the days grew worse, the pain and heartache returning, making me feel sadder than I had ever felt before.

I cracked three days later and caved in.

Maybe they were right and the negative effects would pass.

I was probably fooling myself.

But the nightmares did cease once I took the sleeping agent and fell deep enough that they couldn’t find me.

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