Jacqueline peered inside the smooth porcelain toilet, contemplating the depth of rusted pipes that descended far underground. What lurked in those black, hidden places? What horror existed just out of sight, waiting to take her in her sleep?
It had spoken again last night. It was the reason she left the toilet lid closed, the reason she locked her bedroom door before going to sleep. That fetid voice that sounded like the slopping of rancid meat, bubbling up from the sewers beneath what was otherwise a safe, ordinary neighborhood.
She could never remember what it said. It was like waking from a nightmare, knowing you’d been afraid, but unable to articulate why. She could only recall that rotten, murderous voice, speaking of things that made her skin break out in hives, and waking on the toilet with her pants at her ankles, staring into space, eyes vacant and dead.
Well, no more. Tonight, she would sleep on the other side of the house, as far from the bathroom as possible. She would stick a pair of earbuds in her ears and blast Metallica as loud as she could stand. It wouldn’t lull her from her slumber with its dark calling this time.
That night, she lay on the couch, music blaring in the dark. The bathroom door was closed.
Freedom.
The thought was borne across the auditory hurricane of guitars and drums before descending into the bowels of an increasingly drowsy mind. Soon she was floating, melting into the void of unconsciousness, a soul without substance.
That was when she heard its voice.
Jacqueline.
That terrible sound of slapping meat.
Come to me, Jacqueline. Let me ruin you with my dark secrets.
Like a zombie, she sleepwalked through the hallway, the half-crazed voice of James Hetfield twining through her mind like a creeping vine. She stopped beside the bathroom door, dazed, hopelessly under its spell. She twisted the knob, walked inside, and was greeted by the sulfuric smell of rotten eggs.
Come closer.
It sang to her now, a jarring, unholy chorus that held her rapt, bound her to its malevolent charms.
The part of her that had worked so hard to escape its influence was now a thousand miles away. She was another Jacqueline—one that existed only at night, one who’s sole purpose was to serve an ancient, forsaken master. It needed her now, and she would keep it waiting no longer.
When Jacqueline woke the next morning, she once more found herself sitting on the toilet, staring up at the tiled wall, her pants down to her ankles. The earbuds lay at her feet.
Jacqueline opened her mouth and screamed.
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You have an amazing mind. The stories are all so awesome. Thank you for sharing yourself with the rest of us. 🙂
Thank you, Tammy 🙂