Chasing Mary - Chapter Four
The final chapter. Is it the end of Rob and Alison's ordeal? Will normality and sanity finally return...?
Rigid with fear and numbed by exhaustion, Rob lay in a helpless heap on the hall floor. Driven by raging desperation, he hoisted himself to his feet. With unsteady and stiff steps he stumbled across the floor towards the mirror hanging on the opposite wall.
For a moment the dread of what gruesome image may await his inspection, Rob stared towards his reflection, prepared for the sight of a gaping, bloody wound on his neck.
"What the ....!" He gasped in amazement. Despite the pain, and feeling the trickle of warm sticky blood, he saw no wound. Not even a redness or blemish. "I imagined the whole damn thing," he hissed.
If he had imagined his injury, just how much more of the horrific incident had been a product of his own mind. The thought of opening the lounge door and investigating inside, still lay beyond the bounds of his courage.
His mind was a blur of irrational thoughts. How much was real and how much was insane fantasy.
"Am I trapped inside some crazy nightmare," he tried to convince himself, sinking to the floor when his legs succumbed to an overwhelming weakness. "All I have to do is wake up and it will all be gone. Locked away in the craziness of my chaotic subconscious.
For no more than a few seconds a glimmer of hope shone in the darkness, like a shinning beacon, guiding him slowly to merciful release. Alas, this forlorn hope was short-lived and soon vanished into the devastating chaos that had engulfed him.
The sound of a woman's scream emerged from the living room. It was shrill, loud, hellish.
Rob sank his head to his knees, clamping it there, with his trembling hands pushing and clawing at his ears, vainly trying to save his eardrums from the relentless shrieking.
No human breath could last so long. From whatever devilish source this sonic onslaught came, it's origins were far from mortal, and certainly such a god-awful sound could never emit from the lips of his beloved Alison.
"Stop...!" Rob screamed, "For God's sake stop!" His pathetic pleas were swallowed and vanished. Consumed in the swirling madness all around him.
In that desperate instant a flash of blinding panic exploded in his brain, sending searing neurons through every signed fiber of his tormented body.
Spiraling downwards, into an abyss of unearthly chaos, Rob relinquished his flimsy hold on the last remnants of sacred reality. Renouncing any hope of escape from his seemingly descent to the fiery bowls of hell.
After consigning himself to an unimaginable fate, and consoling himself that whatever horrors lay ahead, could be no worse than those he had endured, a strange, yet numbing calmness began wash over him. The raging storm of angry color that pulled him ever down, slowed and eventually eased to a soothing spectrum of pastel shades. The sound of soft voices, singing harmoniously, akin to a well-practiced choir, increased in volume, suggesting their approach.
"It is not yet your time!" said a voice, though from which direction, Rob couldn't guess. It came from nowhere, yet echoed from every where. "Have faith ... and you will, be saved."
Gradually, all sense of falling eased. He seemed to hover, overcome by merciful calmness. Suddenly, he was suspended from a gleaming silver thread, of precarious dimensions.
"Trust in the thread, as you trust in your faith," urged the voice from a diminishing distance. "Rise to the light. Feel the warmth of its radiance. Embrace the warmth, as you embrace your faith."
Everything that he saw, felt and sensed was alien to the reality he knew, yet, calmness prevailed, and banished the fear and confusion that had racked his every thought, only seconds before. He was at perfect ease with his bizarre surroundings, and welcomed the soothing tones of the divine choir.
His ascent towards the light was smooth and effortless. Its brilliance engulfed him, the closer he got to it, until, finally, there was nothing but impenetrable luminance all around him, so dense that it seemed to block out everything else. The pastel shades, and sounds of harmonious choirs were gradually swallowed, leaving Rob suspended in state of inanimate and silent bliss.
Never before had Rob felt so at ease. All panic vanished, along with all the pain and anguish that had tortured him previously. Just perfect peace and calmness remained as the brilliant light bathed him in its soothing radiance.
Only now, filled with this state of complete relaxed confidence could Rob glance around and explore his wondrous surroundings. To the side and above was nothing but the dense whiteness, issued from the divine light. However, he saw a scene of bizarre reality, yet it caused him not even the slightest concern.
In that instant he realized what he saw below was the final stage of his crazy journey, and strangest of all; he felt no resistance to accepting it as such. Whatever had plucked him from the reality he had once known and placed him at the mercy of a chaotic world where logic and rationale had no place, was returning him with no inclination of an explanation.
The light around him began to fade as he descended. The scene below became every clearer as the distance diminished; He could see a figure laying in a bed, surrounded by flashing and beeping electronic equipment. Around the bed stood a doctor, a nurse and a young woman, her face buried into her hands preventing him from realizing her identity.
When the light had almost faded to oblivion and Rob gradually began to feel a part of the scene, instead of a silent and elevated witness, and a familiar sense of painful normality hit him.
The figure on the bed was himself and the distraught young woman by the bedside was Alison, tearfully looking on at his unconscious form.
"My God!" Rob heard the doctor exclaim. "He's coming round."
Once again Rob was racked by intense pain, confusion and sudden nausea when the doctor began to ease the respiratory tube from his throat. Normality had returned, accompanied by all the painful reminders of mortal life.
"Oh Rob!" Alison cried hysterically. "I thought I'd lost you!"
Rob struggled to focus his eyes in her direction, trying to dismiss the faint image of the wizen old grotesque face that had masked his young wife previously.
"Is it really you, Alison?" he whispered hoarsely. "Is it really you? Has she gone?"
"Has who gone?" Alison replied incredulously.
"Mary! ... The old hag from the Lion's Head. She possessed you, we brought her back with us, when we left the hotel!"
"Your confused, darling." Alison replied, sympathetically. "Its only natural to be confused. God only knows what dreams you've had while you were in the coma."
"What coma!" Rob exclaimed in horror. "What are you talking about?"
"You never made it to the Lion's Head, darling. Witnesses said you swerved to miss an old lady walking in the road and you crashed the car into a tree. You've been in a coma ever since.
"But it was so real!"
"That's not unusual, Mr. Hobson. Coma victims often report vivid, terrifying images when they regain consciousness." The doctor began to explain. "Don't worry! The images will fade in time, and very soon you won't remember any of them."
Rob laid back in silence; the doctor's explanation had done little to reassure him. At that moment the realization hit him; whether the images were real or imagined, he knew he could never look his wife in the eye again, without the agonizing suspicion that the evil features of Mary lurked within, just waiting to rip him back into her sad, chaotic world. Maybe next time, there would be no escape!
For a moment the dread of what gruesome image may await his inspection, Rob stared towards his reflection, prepared for the sight of a gaping, bloody wound on his neck.
"What the ....!" He gasped in amazement. Despite the pain, and feeling the trickle of warm sticky blood, he saw no wound. Not even a redness or blemish. "I imagined the whole damn thing," he hissed.
If he had imagined his injury, just how much more of the horrific incident had been a product of his own mind. The thought of opening the lounge door and investigating inside, still lay beyond the bounds of his courage.
His mind was a blur of irrational thoughts. How much was real and how much was insane fantasy.
"Am I trapped inside some crazy nightmare," he tried to convince himself, sinking to the floor when his legs succumbed to an overwhelming weakness. "All I have to do is wake up and it will all be gone. Locked away in the craziness of my chaotic subconscious.
For no more than a few seconds a glimmer of hope shone in the darkness, like a shinning beacon, guiding him slowly to merciful release. Alas, this forlorn hope was short-lived and soon vanished into the devastating chaos that had engulfed him.
The sound of a woman's scream emerged from the living room. It was shrill, loud, hellish.
Rob sank his head to his knees, clamping it there, with his trembling hands pushing and clawing at his ears, vainly trying to save his eardrums from the relentless shrieking.
No human breath could last so long. From whatever devilish source this sonic onslaught came, it's origins were far from mortal, and certainly such a god-awful sound could never emit from the lips of his beloved Alison.
"Stop...!" Rob screamed, "For God's sake stop!" His pathetic pleas were swallowed and vanished. Consumed in the swirling madness all around him.
In that desperate instant a flash of blinding panic exploded in his brain, sending searing neurons through every signed fiber of his tormented body.
Spiraling downwards, into an abyss of unearthly chaos, Rob relinquished his flimsy hold on the last remnants of sacred reality. Renouncing any hope of escape from his seemingly descent to the fiery bowls of hell.
After consigning himself to an unimaginable fate, and consoling himself that whatever horrors lay ahead, could be no worse than those he had endured, a strange, yet numbing calmness began wash over him. The raging storm of angry color that pulled him ever down, slowed and eventually eased to a soothing spectrum of pastel shades. The sound of soft voices, singing harmoniously, akin to a well-practiced choir, increased in volume, suggesting their approach.
"It is not yet your time!" said a voice, though from which direction, Rob couldn't guess. It came from nowhere, yet echoed from every where. "Have faith ... and you will, be saved."
Gradually, all sense of falling eased. He seemed to hover, overcome by merciful calmness. Suddenly, he was suspended from a gleaming silver thread, of precarious dimensions.
"Trust in the thread, as you trust in your faith," urged the voice from a diminishing distance. "Rise to the light. Feel the warmth of its radiance. Embrace the warmth, as you embrace your faith."
Everything that he saw, felt and sensed was alien to the reality he knew, yet, calmness prevailed, and banished the fear and confusion that had racked his every thought, only seconds before. He was at perfect ease with his bizarre surroundings, and welcomed the soothing tones of the divine choir.
His ascent towards the light was smooth and effortless. Its brilliance engulfed him, the closer he got to it, until, finally, there was nothing but impenetrable luminance all around him, so dense that it seemed to block out everything else. The pastel shades, and sounds of harmonious choirs were gradually swallowed, leaving Rob suspended in state of inanimate and silent bliss.
Never before had Rob felt so at ease. All panic vanished, along with all the pain and anguish that had tortured him previously. Just perfect peace and calmness remained as the brilliant light bathed him in its soothing radiance.
Only now, filled with this state of complete relaxed confidence could Rob glance around and explore his wondrous surroundings. To the side and above was nothing but the dense whiteness, issued from the divine light. However, he saw a scene of bizarre reality, yet it caused him not even the slightest concern.
In that instant he realized what he saw below was the final stage of his crazy journey, and strangest of all; he felt no resistance to accepting it as such. Whatever had plucked him from the reality he had once known and placed him at the mercy of a chaotic world where logic and rationale had no place, was returning him with no inclination of an explanation.
The light around him began to fade as he descended. The scene below became every clearer as the distance diminished; He could see a figure laying in a bed, surrounded by flashing and beeping electronic equipment. Around the bed stood a doctor, a nurse and a young woman, her face buried into her hands preventing him from realizing her identity.
When the light had almost faded to oblivion and Rob gradually began to feel a part of the scene, instead of a silent and elevated witness, and a familiar sense of painful normality hit him.
The figure on the bed was himself and the distraught young woman by the bedside was Alison, tearfully looking on at his unconscious form.
"My God!" Rob heard the doctor exclaim. "He's coming round."
Once again Rob was racked by intense pain, confusion and sudden nausea when the doctor began to ease the respiratory tube from his throat. Normality had returned, accompanied by all the painful reminders of mortal life.
"Oh Rob!" Alison cried hysterically. "I thought I'd lost you!"
Rob struggled to focus his eyes in her direction, trying to dismiss the faint image of the wizen old grotesque face that had masked his young wife previously.
"Is it really you, Alison?" he whispered hoarsely. "Is it really you? Has she gone?"
"Has who gone?" Alison replied incredulously.
"Mary! ... The old hag from the Lion's Head. She possessed you, we brought her back with us, when we left the hotel!"
"Your confused, darling." Alison replied, sympathetically. "Its only natural to be confused. God only knows what dreams you've had while you were in the coma."
"What coma!" Rob exclaimed in horror. "What are you talking about?"
"You never made it to the Lion's Head, darling. Witnesses said you swerved to miss an old lady walking in the road and you crashed the car into a tree. You've been in a coma ever since.
"But it was so real!"
"That's not unusual, Mr. Hobson. Coma victims often report vivid, terrifying images when they regain consciousness." The doctor began to explain. "Don't worry! The images will fade in time, and very soon you won't remember any of them."
Rob laid back in silence; the doctor's explanation had done little to reassure him. At that moment the realization hit him; whether the images were real or imagined, he knew he could never look his wife in the eye again, without the agonizing suspicion that the evil features of Mary lurked within, just waiting to rip him back into her sad, chaotic world. Maybe next time, there would be no escape!
Post Comment | View Comments
