12th of August, 1984:
Sarah White laid on top of the psychiatrist's Chaise Lounge as the psychiatrist, Peter King, sat beside her on his black leather office chair. Sarah White looked around the inside of the room from where she was laying from—the ceiling was painted in white, a turned off light bulb hung from the ceiling with a dark green lamp shade around it. The walls were covered in red maroon wallpaper, and just in front of her, there was a closed window revealing the busy streets of Liverpool outside. It was raining heavily that day. Rain drops were causing loud splashes against the glass. The room she was inside of was a rather small square-shaped room with a pine wooden door behind Peter King. The carpet in the room was patterned in beige and brown polka dots and the psychiatrist's desk stood nearby behind him with a computer on top of it next to a bunch of files.
"Sarah, tell me more about the bad man with the blackened eyes..." Peter King smiled patronisingly at Sarah White. Sarah was just six years old at the time, wearing a plain, bright green sweater and pink tracksuit bottoms with white sneakers. Her hair was curly and dark—it contrasted nicely against her pale, white face. Peter King, however, was a middle-aged man with blond hair that was greying at the sides. He wore a dark green, stripe-y suit that always made Sarah giggle, for some reason. His smile was wide and wrinkles would appear around the corners of his mouth every time he did so.
"He come's at night... mostly," Sarah White answered, "Every time I try to go to sleep at night he'll show. Mummy says that I'm just imagining these things, that I've been watching too many scary movies, but...I don't watch naughty things like that..." Sarah whimpered.
Peter sighed silently in his head, but managed to hide it through his forced smile. Another kid with a wild imagination, this is going to be a pain...Peter King thought.
"Well, sometimes we all fear the dark, sweetie. I've watched plenty of scary movies and we all imagine strange monsters before bedtime, but what you've got to remember is that none of these monsters are really there, Sarah. All you have to do is shout 'stay away!' and they will go home and leave you alone."
Peter King's smilewidened. Peter's attempt at comforting her fell flat as Sarah's worried face turned into a look of frustration.
"I tried that, Pete, but the black-eyed man, he hurt me!" Sarah cried as she pulled up the right sleeve of her green sweater, revealing several large scars on her small, delicate forearm. Peter was shocked, his wide, comforting smile slumped down into a frown of concern. He thought Sarah was a victim of abuse.
"Sarah, tell me now... who did this to you!?" Peter's patronising tone disappeared and now he was speaking to her more like a detective than a children's psychiatrist.
"I told you, Pete, it was the man with the black eyes..." Sarah's cries grew louder. Peter was about to approach her to give the little girl some comfort, but before he could do so, something strange caught his attention. Peter heard a scratching sound coming from the window to his right. He looked over to the window and saw nothing, but scratch marks were beginning to form on the outside of the window.
"He's watching us, from outside!" Sarah pointed at the window, but Peter could not see anyone standing outside, but a loud thud hit the window, cracking it slightly. Peter jumped back in his seat in shock.
"Make him stop, Make him stop!" Sarah began to shake her head violently, her long, dark hair shook around as she did so.
Peter was dumbfounded. In all his years of being a psychiatrist, he had never witnessed something so bizarre. So he just sat there, too afraid to scream, too afraid to move. Eventually, the window smashed open violently and the once ambient sounds of street life and heavy rain now exploded into the room with a loud gust of wind. Sarah then sat up straight on the chaise lounge and screamed "Stay away!"
And soon enough, the chaos subdued and the wind settled, and now Peter and Sarah were left alone in the small, empty room, "I guess your advice was right, Pete..." Sarah smiled at him through her tears. Peter King, still shaking and covered in sweat from what had just happened, turned around in his chair to face her. He looked at her, then chuckled nervously.
Shortly after, Peter King led Sarah White outside of the room and into the building's hallway. Her father, Cody White, was sitting on a chair next to other clients outside the psychiatrist's office. The wallpaper outside of Peter King's office was olive in colour and there was a long row of other doors leading into different office rooms along the endless looking hallway. The floor was made of marble and, although it was black, its glossy texture shined slightly against the ceiling's light fixtures. Cody stood up abruptly with a look of shock on his face.
"What happened, Peter?" Cody asked Peter King.
Sarah White bowed her head down and walked over to her father. She wrapped her small arms around his legs as she stood. Cody looked down and stroked his daughter's hair as Peter King began to speak.
"Your daughter...I can't help her." Peter King sighed.
"What do you mean you can't help her?" Cody growled. The other clients sitting behind him gave Cody a weird look, but he didn't care to notice.
"What your daughter has is something...I have never seen before. She is mentally sound, my friend, but something else is haunting her." Peter King explained.
"What—what's haunting her?" Cody asked, half puzzled, half annoyed.
"See for yourself..." Peter king said as he opened the door to his office behind him.
Once Cody, Sarah and Peter were inside, Cody's jaw dropped as he saw the smashed window inside of the office room. Peter frowned once he saw Cody's reaction.
"As I was explaining to your daughter here that her monster does not exist, something strange happened...she told me the black-eyed man was there," Peter pointed at the broken window, "She said he was trying to get in from the outside. Now, I have never been a believer of the supernatural, Mr. White, but after what I have witnessed today, I now know that something...sinister is watching your daughter." Peter King said with concern in his voice.
"Get lost!" Cody yelled. His daughter cried as he shouted. He instantly regretted it, but he couldn't help it. This was the third time a psychiatrist had said something "supernatural" was haunting his daughter and now he finally lost his patience and snapped.
"Look what you've made me do. Your idiotic claims have disturbed my daughter. I thought psychiatrists were supposed to help the mentally ill, not harm them!" Cody yelled.
"I'm sorry, Mr. White...but your daughter seriously needs to see a priest or...something..." Peter king tried to persuade him, but Cody refused to see the truth.
"No, I won't let you poison my daughter's mind anymore...come on, sweetie, we're leaving!" Cody snarled as he snatched his daughter's hand and pulled her along with him as he stormed off towards the exit with her struggling to keep up behind. Just before Sarah was dragged out of the building by her father, she looked behind her and noticed Peter King still standing there, his shoulder's slumped forward in defeat. He smiled weakly, with sadness in his eyes as she and her father approached the exit.
About the Creator
Joseph Roy Wright
Hello there!
My name is Joseph Roy Wright, the British author of 12 Independent novels!
I like to write about movies, pop culture, fiction and horror! I review all the latest films (and classics), I also like to write short stories.
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The Revenge
This is a tale of revenge, about a young man who finally snaps one day, letting his frustrations vent, in the worst way possible. His whole life he always let people control him, never standing up for himself and demanding freedom. He always did exactly what his mother and father said, no matter how difficult. His wife bosses him around too, he had failed at dating a million women before her, so was willing to obey just to remain married. He had become weak willed, tired and still very timid of everything and everyone around him. This man was named William Smith and he had been moulded into a victim of modern society, where masculinity was frowned upon and he was often called a creep for daring to approach women, back when he was a single male. His wife, Romana Smith, knew exactly the type of guy William was and manipulated his every life decision since they had met. It was a mostly loveless marriage, that only lasted because they were financially dependent upon each other. Although it wasn't her that drove William mad with rage, it was all the horrible men who thought they were so much bigger and stronger than him, pushing him around when he was in work or out drinking back in his youth. For decades the humiliation of being thrown out of the nightclub in Runcorn old town, and then beaten by the doormen there, was something that still angered him to this day. It was all because he was a little "too drunk", or perhaps weakened by the alcohol, so they saw him as an easy target to pick on. He tried to report their abuse, but the owner, Mack Oaks, defended their corrupt security and called him the drunken idiot who deserved what happened to him. Oh, William refused to believe getting kicked around like a football was a worthy punishment, for simply having too much of a good time. He still had the scars from that attack from several years ago, before he met Romana and eventually got married. Yet it was still very much fresh in his mind. Another time, a few years later after he was assaulted outside the nightclub, William had a night job in a warehouse. The work environment was toxic. There was a supervisor who was also named Mack, who worked there. This guy was very different than the nightclub owner, but the name still unsettled William, who remembered the severe beating that boss allowed outside his club. So he ignored the name and continued working, but this second Mack would prove to be even more ruthless. This supervisor was an absolute tyrant, he'd order William about like a general and the shy young man would do whatever he asked. He felt worthless under Mack's rule, breaking his back lifting stock far too heavy and getting insulted on a weekly basis. It was pure slave labour and he couldn't stand it, William was eventually pushed to his limit and yelled back at his supervisor who then smacked William hard against the mouth for speaking out of line. William fled in terror and reported the abuse, but the company didn't believe him and fired William instead. This incident didn't result in a senseless beating, but the injustice of it was beyond upsetting. For several years, William carried this hate he had for these despicable people who had insulted him physically. He had moments where he forgot, then other days, especially at work, where he'd remember this abuse. It wouldn't be until he lost everything, that William would finally snap and lash out at the world. He and his wife were out drinking one night, a very friendly business man approached them casually, hiding his true intentions. They were so drunk, William and Romana didn't think to suspect this smiling man, who even bought them a few drinks from his own pocket. This so-called business man was actually more of a con artist, who ran his own independent company which "diversified" peoples money into multiple stocks, which often sank below the initial value. The customer could always withdraw, but the stocks would typically cost less than they first invested. Yet it was the high service charges, that the con-artist charged his customers for, which is where he got rich. He would write up these convoluted contracts that meant his customers couldn't withdraw too often, so that he could keep most of the money for himself. Giving back the short change through a legal loop hole. Most wouldn't fall for this, neither would a drunken William or Romana if they were sober. Yet the con-artist preyed on these two like a lion and that night, got them to sign over half their life savings. This one single stupid decision cost them their house, Romana blamed William for the mishap and they soon got divorced. When they finally managed to withdraw their money it was a faction of the original value, and the con-artist took a heavy cut too. William soon discovered that this con-artist was also named Mack, just like the other two men who had betrayed him before. Now William was alone, poorer than he'd ever been and absolutely full of wrath with nothing else to lose. So he vowed revenge on all of them, one by one, William planned on murdering all three of them. First there was the nightclub owner in Runcorn, the incident happened so many years ago, the owner didn't even remember him. This was the perfect opportunity to "apply for a job" there, as the owner had no idea who William was. The plan worked out perfectly, he was invited to the job interview and William snuck in some rat poison on his jacket. He hoped the owner would be drinking a coffee or tea, but the opportunity did not present itself, so William did his best to make a good impression and get the job, which he succeeded at. He asked his new boss if he wanted a coffee one afternoon before they opened for the night, Mack was beyond pleased and accepted William's generosity. He thanked his killer before taking a long gulp of the tainted coffee, that was poisoned with ricin (as William discovered it was untraceable). A few days later, that nightclub owner died of "natural causes" and William got away with the murder. So then there was the second Mack, this kill was a lot easier. All William had to do was wait for his target to leave from work, early in the morning when nobody was around except for him and Mack. William confronted Mack down a dark alleyway and screamed "fired am I?!" then shot his old work bully to bloody pieces, fleeing the scene immediately after. Soon a murder investigation was opened and the news was on TV, even the nightclub owner's death was suddenly questioned too, as both targets were named Mack and that they both had many enemies (because of all the poor people they had bullied). William knew his time was running out and his nemesis was still out there, Mack the con-artist. This final Mack lived in a huge mansion within the countryside of Chester, no doubt paid for by the many people he had scammed over the years. If anyone deserved death more than the others, it was this guy for sure! The original plan was to just kill this Mack like the others, but after seeing the luxurious home he had, William wanted to see that building on fire. So he did just that, waited until three in the morning, outside the impressive mansion until everyone was asleep. Then William poured petrol around the mansion's outer walls, all the way around the building so there was no escape. He poured extra around the doors, all so the exits would be especially harder to access. Then he lit a match over the petrol he had poured, and a small fire began form, which soon ballooned into a much larger one that soon swallowed the mansion up whole. William smiled to himself, as Mack's voice screamed in agony, alongside his children and wife. The sound filled William with the utmost glee, as he danced along to their screams of terror like it was disco music. Finally, William had gotten his revenge. The killer fled the country soon after his final kill, taking the last of his money abroad to Spain. He hasn't been spotted since.
By Joseph Roy Wright8 days ago in Horror
The Depths of Darkness
In the vast expanse of the ocean, a team of marine biologists led by Dr. Sarah Williams embarked on a groundbreaking expedition to explore the deepest parts of the ocean floor. Their vessel, the research submarine "The Abyss Explorer II," was equipped with advanced sonar, robotic arms, and a reinforced hull capable of withstanding the immense pressure of the deep sea. On board were Dr. David Nguyen, Dr. Emma Reynolds, and Captain James Anderson.
By Kamran Alama day ago in Horror
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