The Dead Man

I was driving on a country road on my way to a friend’s house. It was in the middle of the night and I was almost there. When I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw a strange figure in the back seat. I almost jumped out of my skin. I settled down and decided it was just a figment of my imagination so I just kept driving. Two hours later. I looked back once more. I saw the figure again, but more clearly this time. I could see that the figure was a middle-aged man. But that is all I could see of him. After that, I immediately pulled over.

I slowly got out of my car with a flashlight in hand and opened the back door cautiously. Inside was a dead body. I saw blood all over the body and the seats. He had many stab wounds all over his chest, neck, and head. I knew no one would ever be able to survive those injuries.

“But could he still be alive?” I put my hand carefully on his neck to see if he had a pulse. He didn’t. A small blanket of relief fell over me. He had so many wounds on his head and face he was unidentifiable to me.

“Should I call the police? Or find a way to get rid of the body?" I thought about it, pacing on the roadside. I finally decided to call the police. After dialing, A man picked up the phone.

He said, “This is the county police station. What is your emergency?”

“I am on the side of the road with a dead body in the back of my car. I have no idea who or where it came from!” I spat the words out so fast I had no idea what I said. The man continued “What road are you on?”

“Highway 90. Just past the rest stop”

He replied, “Ok we will be there shortly.”

“Fine, but hurry I am starting to panic,” I stated.

When the police finally got there, the sun was slowly rising. I could see that I was drenched in the man’s blood. Now I looked like I was the murderer and not another victim. The police came and took my story and looked at the body. They did a couple of tests on the body, with some mobile devices, so they could figure out who it was. His name was Daniel Humphrey. The name meant nothing to me. It was decided they would take me in for questioning.

When we arrived at the police station, they lead me to a room that had only a table, two chairs, and a mirror on one of the walls. The questioning started once I was seated. “Where were you going?” I hesitated before answering. I finally said, “I was on my way to a friend’s house.” His voice was very monotone and stern. I almost thought he was a machine. “Did you have anyone with you? Any kind of alibi?”

“Well, I didn’t have anyone with me. I was alone in my car or at least I thought. The only one I told was my cousin.” The interrogation went on for about one more hour.

They finished up the questions. Then did some testing on me to see if I was intoxicated. All of the tests were positive. I couldn’t believe I was intoxicated, but I didn’t know. In addition, they searched my car looking for a murder weapon. They locked me in the holding cell while all of this was going on. Worrying that they would find something set me pacing in my cell like a caged lion at the zoo.

They sent Daniel's body to the autopsy room. The doctor was trying to find every little detail, from how many stab wounds to the size of his earlobes. Her results revealed that there were 30 stab wounds. She determined that Daniel bled out from all the wounds.

They came back to question me again. We went through the same questions over again and again. Then, they brought out the evidence. A comb with dried blood all over it. They asked if the comb was mine and of course I said yes.

He asked, “Where was this comb?”

“It was in my duffel bag, in the trunk of my car.”

The questioning went on for about two more hours. Answering the same questions over and over again was exhausting. When they were finally done, they put me back in the cell and left. I was worried that I might have killed that man and didn’t even know it. How was I intoxicated? I was confused. Why was I blanking on things that I should know or at least be aware of?

In the morning a policeman came to the cell. He said, “You're coming with me. Put your hands in the slit of the door.”

So I did. He handcuffed me and took me outside to his cop car. He shoved me in the back seat, and he started the car. He pulled out onto the road. After about three minutes of silence, I had to ask “where are we going?”

“We are going to the hospital to go get you the help that you need.” He answered. When we were got to the hospital. The policeman dragged me out of the car and into the building.

He brought me to the front desk and told the lady there that I needed help. The lady told him, “I wasn’t the only person that needed help. There were other people there that are waiting patiently for their turn.”

“I don’t care. This lady is crazy just help her.”

“I am very sorry, but you will have to wait like the other patients.” Her voice was so calm it was almost like butter. Then it happened I blanked out. After that, I don’t remember anything really. The rest of this is just what I have been told. They said that I all of a sudden looked like I was going to faint so I grabbed the counter to steady myself. Then down I went right smack on the floor.

I was taken to one of the back rooms and was checked out by a nurse. The police had handcuffed me to the bed just in case. I ended up waking up two days later to the sound of beeping machines. All of a sudden I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was being suffocated. The doctor came in and told me not to panic. He said, “you have a machine breathing for you.” I have had a tracheotomy in the last two days. I was alone for about five minutes before the police came in. They came into question me some more. It was hard to answer his question with a trach in my mouth. The blinking technique does not really work in this situation. The questions lasted about one minute this time.

About an hour later, I remembered what happened. I killed someone. The doctor came into take my trach out. I was breathing on my own now. I told him everything that I knew or could think of. He said, “What you said is not the truth. You have a split personality disorder. You had a twin that died at birth. You have taken the personality of your twin. Your other personality killed a man.” He went to the door to get the officers.

The police took me to an asylum. Then put me in a straight jacket. I was left in a room alone. I figured out that when my other personality comes out I blank on what’s happening. I can’t stop myself from doing something terrible. In my experience I would watch your back this might happen to you someday. Just remember you have been warned.