The Light Worker

1.

I stared into the mirror, sweat dripping from the tip of my nose. Eyes losing focus, the world around me went soft. I tried not to focus on the blood running off my fingertips and down the drain. I tried not to picture the last five hours of my life on repeat, but the images just kept coming. And as I sank down to the floor, tears rolling down my face, I realized that this is the only place I could have ended up. I’d really like to tell you it wasn’t all my fault…. But the claw marks up and down my arms would tell you otherwise.

It’s hard to believe that only six weeks ago I was sitting at the Tumbleweed Bar and Grill with my childhood friend Rusty Milligan, having a pint and a laugh. “Ok but really though, when’s the last time you went on a date Charlie? And that blind date doesn’t count, you didn’t even make it through dinner!” I took the last swig of my beer and pushed it across the table. My eyes traveled up to the band on stage finishing up their set, a southern rock group from Tallahassee. The singer was a cute little brunette with thick thighs, cut off jean shorts, and tattoos for days. She gave me a little wink as they headed off stage and outside. “I’m not sure Rus… after that last one with your mom I swore off for a while,” I said, with a sheepish grin. He threw his bar napkin across the table and we both burst out in laughter.

“Okay man I think it’s time I called it a night, I have work tomorrow morning.” Rusty threw his head back and snored dramatically in response, “Come on man, just one more?” I shook my head and yawned. Rusty yawned too, shrugged his shoulders and then grabbed his jacket and started to push away from the table. “Alright old man, you let me know when you have time for another night out. And I’ll let you know next time my mom is free.” We both burst out in laughter again, as we stumbled out through the peeling red bar door into the parking lot.

I made my way to my car, which was parked at the other end of the lot. It was pretty dark out, but I could just barely make out the outline of my vehicle. As I reached into my front jean pocket searching for my key fob, my foot caught something in front of me. I tripped, falling and scraping my face against the rocky dirt parking lot. “Fuuuuck,” I groaned as I rolled myself over and started to dust myself off. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone, and toggled on the flashlight. This decision led to immediate regret, as I looked down to find my jeans soaked in blood. I scrambled backwards in horror, the lifeless body of the singer I saw not 10 minutes ago inside lying in front of me. This is the night it all began...in hindsight, I should have stayed for that one last beer.

After spending the next two hours in the parking lot explaining the night's events to the police, I tiredly unlocked my apartment door. As it closed behind me, my cat Mr. Diggles rubbed up against my leg, purring. I bent down to pet him, then peeled off my dirty, blood stained clothes. I chucked them in the garbage can, plopped down on the couch with the cat and flicked on the TV. I found some random anime show, stretched out and the world around me faded away.

*BANG BANG BANG BANG!* I jolted awake, the cat flying off my lap and running to hide in the bedroom. Bleary eyed, I adjusted to my surroundings and realized I passed out on the couch. *BANG BANG BANG!* Someone was pounding my apartment door so hard it was shaking. “Alright, alright I’m coming dammit!” I rubbed my eyes and headed for the door, opening it still half asleep.

The next thing I knew I was waking up again. I fluttered my eyes awake, head pounding, blood crusting one eye shut. I coughed and wheezed, grabbing my chest as I realized I had a broken rib. I was being dragged by one arm down the hallway of my apartment building. I squirmed and flailed trying to break free from whoever was dragging me, but was unsuccessful. The last thing I remembered was opening the door, and being rushed by a dark figure. I kicked my legs and tried to scream, but immediately began to choke. I could feel hands around my throat but saw nothing there. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I was going to die, the world around me faded to black again.

Bright lights stung my eyes as they opened, the buzzing of the fluorescents seeming to pound inside my ear drums. I could hear the IV bag dripping next to me, the soft plodding of feet passing the door of the hospital room. I coughed and slowly began to sit up, blinking hard and trying to comprehend what was happening. “Oh God Charlie you gave me the biggest scare of my life!,” My mother sobbed and threw herself on top of me, clinging to me. “Ow, Mom...ribs,” I coughed. She quickly sat upright. “Oh I’m sorry honey I was just so worried! The police called me, one of your neighbors found you unconscious in the alley next to your apartment building. Thank God they found you, the doctors said somehow you lost so much blood you needed two transfusions. Do you remember anything?”

I scratched my head and thought about it. The only thing I remembered was a dark blur rushing me, and the short time I was conscious during the attack didn’t really make sense. No one would believe I was being choked by hands that didn’t exist. Hell, I didn’t even believe me. “No...not really. Did the police say anything else?” My mom clasped my hands with tears in her eyes. “Well they said that your apartment looks like someone tossed it, they are in the process of looking through everything. They want you to make a list of anything that might be missing once you are feeling well enough to go home. For now honey, just rest, okay?” I nodded my head and laid back in the bed. I stared at the ceiling, and slowly faded back into oblivion.

“OPEN YOUR EYES!” Something was screaming inside my head. It was dark all around me, and I couldn’t move. My arms and legs were being held in place by a swirling, black tar like substance. I tried to resist it, but its grip tightened. In the distance, glowing eyes in the darkness drew closer and closer to my immobilized body. I opened my mouth to scream, and the swirling darkness holding me down rose up and shot down my throat, suffocating me to the point that my eyes rolled back into my head.

“Charlie, OPEN YOUR EYES!” I woke up gripping the hospital bed sheets, soaked in sweat, blood running down my chin. I sputtered and coughed out blood, my tongue raw from biting down on it in my sleep. A nurse stood over me, her complexion akin to casper as if she had seen the ghost herself. She quickly snapped back into action and helped me sit up in the bed. “Are you ok Mr. Mason? Let me take a look at your tongue, it looked like you bit it pretty hard.” I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth, trying to gauge the damage I had done. “I’m ok,” I said brushing my hair back. Can I just have some ice chips? “Of course, I’ll be right back with them. And Mr. Mason? I’m going to have to ask you to take your necklace back off, it’s hospital policy for while you’re here just in case anything were to happen it might be in the way.”

“Necklace?” As she stepped out of the room I looked down to see a symbol pendant made of shiny black stone that appeared to open from the top. I tried to twist it open, but couldn’t. I wasn’t sure if it was stuck or if I was just too weak from my injuries. I took it off and put it on the nightstand, bewildered as to how a piece of jewelry I’d never seen in my life appeared on my body. “Add it to the list of mysteries,” I whispered to myself. My stomach growled incredibly loud, almost in response to my statement. “I wonder how the food is in this place.”

Cleaning up my apartment after the hospital stay was a massive pain in the ass, but nothing appeared to be missing. The police told me there had been a string of attacks in the area lately, which they could only assume to be gang related. The area had gotten bad in recent years, and organized crime was on an upswing. Given that my memories of the event were probably imagined through my trauma, I wasn’t inclined to argue their theory. All I wanted to do was move on with my life and get back to normal, but that swirling blackness was all I could see every time my eyes closed.

Over the next few days I barely slept at night, and kept finding myself staring into the open fridge. Nothing sounded good, my stomach even turned a little at the thought of eating. Still though, the hunger pangs continued. I wrote it off to a result of my healing injuries, or perhaps a side effect from the medication I was sent home from the hospital with. Normalcy, that’s all I wanted. I couldn’t wait to go back to work on Monday and get back to living my life.

I rolled to a stop in my usual parking spot at work, rolled up my windows, and took a deep breath. I knew people would act weird when I got back to work; after all, the story of my attack was all over the local paper. There was a lot of speculation about the recent spring of attacks around town, none of which were based on evidence. After all, there was none. Not a shred. Each attack was different, yet similar in one way- none of the victims divulged any descriptive information about their attacker, other than it being a dark figure. The details of my ordeal weren’t written in any paper, and I can only imagine what my medical records said. While I was very clearly beaten badly, no cause was found for the amount of blood loss I endured. No wounds substantial enough, no explanation. Hell, if anyone had questions, I probably wouldn’t know the answer, anyway.

Eyes followed me as I walked to my cubicle, but no one said a word. Apparently avoidance was the coping mechanism of the day. I was fine with that, I’d rather focus on my work than talk about what happened. I just wanted it out of my mind. I could feel myself sinking into my routine, in front of the computer, pulling up customer complaints. Yes, normal. I can do this.

All of a sudden there was darkness all around me, the glow of the computer screen burning my eyes. I rubbed them to take the sting out and looked around. The office was empty, all the lights were shut off. I looked at the computer screen to find the time, 1 AM. What the hell is going on? When did everyone leave?? My eyes traveled from the time at the bottom of the screen, to the word document opened in front of me. My jaw damn near hit the floor when I read what was typed out.

CHARLIE. OPEN YOUR EYES CHARLIE! OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES! IT’S COMING FOR YOU. YOUR BLOOD. WATCH FOR THE SIGNS.

YOU HAVE THE KEY.

I ran from the office to my car at a speed I didn’t think my body was even capable of. I punched the gas in reverse and peeled out of the parking lot so hard I thought I might spin out into a pole. Flying down 181st Street, I frantically commanded my car to dial Rusty. “He...Hello?,” his groggy voice said through the speakers of my car. “Rusty, some crazy shit has been happening ever since that night, I think I’m losing my fucking mind! I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t anymore. Shit, shit, shit!” I swerved out of the way inches before hitting someone’s garbage can. “Breathe dude,” he yawned into the phone, “ Come by the house, I’ll leave the door unlocked and we can crack open a beer and talk this shit out.” My car screeched to a stop, halfway parked on the grass. “I’m already outside, brother.”

..........To Be Continued.