All is not as it seems(P.S. Winn) All is not as it seems
Copyright 2013
P.S. Winn

The young woman opened her light blue eyes slowly. Unsure of her surroundings, she tried to turn her head. A sharp, slicing pain centered between her eyes quickly stopped that idea. A frown appeared on her pretty face. Where was she? The young woman let her mind turn back as she tried to remember the events that had led her to where ever this place was that she found herself. Angela, that was her name. She had been on vacation. Her parents had died a few months ago and she had just wanted to escape. It was all coming back now. She had lost the only family she had when her parents had gone down in a light plane crash and Angela was having a hard time coping. Despite the support of friends, she had decided to just leave and spend some time alone to deal with the devastation.

Angela had decided to just drive her car without any real destination in mind. She would know where and when to stop. The night before she had driven her little car down an overgrown two lane road. Hardly a road really, it almost turned into a path in some places. As she drove she drummed to the beat of a rock and roll song, hands dancing on the steering wheel. She hadn't really been concentrating enough on the road, when she had suddenly clenched the wheel and turned to avoid something standing in the road. The small car had flipped and Angela had found herself upside down hanging by her seat belt. Finally able to release the button she had slammed down onto the car’s roof, now under her. Angela inched her way out of the car. She was having trouble seeing. When she wiped at her eye, her hand had come away bloody. Angela had finally crawled about six feet from the car and was only a few feet from the road. She was having a hard time staying awake and her head was pounding so loud, if there had been any sounds out in this god forsaken place she wouldn't have heard it. Angela was mentally kicking herself for choosing the rarely used road, when a light caught her eye. Not headlights, this was more of a flashlight. Angela squinted and watched as the light swung as whoever carried it took long strides toward her.

Angela shook her head as the bearer of the light stepped close enough for her to look. Something was wrong with her eyesight; it must be the cut that was pouring blood down toward her eye. She tried to wipe it again, but felt she had lost the use of her muscles. Her arms wouldn't lift. Who or what ever carried the light stood over her now. She realized the light was coming from an old style lantern. She looked up, trying to make out a face.

Angela felt her blood go cold and closed her eyes again. She had to be seeing things. The thing that stood over her looked to be at least seven feet tall. The slender face had sunken eyes that had dark circles around them. As she opened her eyes, Angela saw a new creature behind the first; a much smaller head peeked at her. This one had curly blonde hair and was so short it looked at Angela from just behind the taller things knees. Angela felt that the taller being was a male, but she was unsure about the little one. When a large hand reached for her, Angela thankfully passed out, gladly accepting the darkness.

Now she found herself in what felt like a small room, although it was hard to tell. Right now all she could see was the ceiling above her. She didn’t want to risk turning her head and inviting that pain again. A gray light came through a window off to her left. She could just catch the light’s reflection without having to turn her head.

Angela sighed and closed her eyes. Where was she and what had she seen last night? How much damage had her head taken? She felt like crying with frustration, she was afraid even that would start her head aching again.
Angela heard the creak of the door. She held her breath as she felt the rapid beat of her heart as it raced in anticipation. She slowly opened her eyes and risked the pain by turning her head toward the creaking sound.
She wanted to scream, but her voice wouldn't come. It was that thing from last night. He or it, was walking toward her bed. The rambling awkward gait suggested the man had one leg shorter than the other. Angela wanted to lift her arms to cover her face, to use her hands to hide from the sight, but found her muscles still frozen like they had been after the wreck.

The man/thing carried a needle in one hand as it stepped up to the bed that Angela lay on. As he lifted it Angela found her voice and screamed over and over again. The thing ignored her as he stepped closer. Angela felt a prick as the needle slid into her arm. She heard a deep voice just before whatever was in the needle took effect. “You are one of us now, you belong.” Angela tried to say ‘no, no, I’m not’, but the darkness took her again before she could utter the words.

Later Angela opened her eyes again. This time the room was black. It must be night time and she needed to do something. She didn’t know what kind of hell she fell in to, but she had to find a way out. Ignoring the pain, Angela turned her head. The dim light revealed a closed door. Angela slid a leg slowly off the bed, clenching her teeth against the pain. The other leg followed and Angela slowly sat up. Her hands went to her head as the splitting pain she remembered from before hit her like a tidal wave. Gingerly she stood up, then had to lean against the bed as the blackness threatened to return. A few moments later Angela felt steady enough to stand straight again. She walked slowly and quietly to the door and turned the knob. Her heart sank as she realized it was locked.

Angela turned around to get a look at the room she was apparently held captive in. Off to one side she saw a dirty, dusty curtain hanging. She walked over to it and slowly pulled back the shredded cloth. A scream rose to her throat as she looked down onto a dried up grass lawn. Below her a bonfire flared. Around it the dancers were unlike any Angela had seen before. Inhuman creatures swirled and danced the fire light reflected off their dark eyes. Angela saw what looked like a man as big as Frankenstein’s monster. Small, yellow haired imps with long teeth hanging out of their snarling mouths. Pale men and women staying back from the light of the fire but with saliva dripping from ravenous jaws. The worst of all was when another large monster type male carried a young woman to the bon fire. A pole was standing there and she was tied to it, then the small imps lit the poor young woman on fire.

Angela screamed, oh my God, that’s what she was here for, a sacrifice. She needed to get out. As she turned from the window the young woman’s horrified screams filled her ears. Angela covered her ears and tossed her head from side to side. She started to run for the door again, even though she knew her actions were futile. Her foot caught on a loose piece of flooring and Angela flew across the room hitting her head on the door. She smiled as she gladly let the darkness take her again.

In the front office, Nurse Jeffers turned to the new assistant. “Now Cammy, you must remember to take special care with Angela. She is one of our hardest cases. She’s been here in this ward since the death of her parents 10 years ago. She goes in and out of consciousness, but has never recovered enough from her shock to have full comprehension for what happened or where she is.”

Cammy shook her head. “I’ll be sure and treat her with kid gloves.” Cammy took the chart Nurse Jeffers handed her and walked down the hallway. She could hear the nightly screams had just begun.

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