Cherry Wood

Chapter six

My favorite time of the day (other than hanging out with Rain) is taking a nice, relaxing, bath. Claudette does an excellent job of setting everything up and making me look amazing and refreshed. Even with my limited mobility, I could tell something was wrong, I saw fluids dripping down my nose and mouth. The substance could be saliva, although it was a different color and texture, more solid than liquid. I saw that Claudette was uncountable, but cleaned up the goop and finished washing and drying my body. It wasn't night yet, it was nearly dinner from what I could tell. I knew that there was much work to be done. I was put in a different outfit and wheeled back out into the hallway. I saw Claude standing idly and leaning on the wall, practically waiting for something to happen.
"There you two are," they said in such a way that made them sound bored and tired.
"Claude, what are you doing?"
"My dear sweet Claudette, I'm here to steal that person. I'm bored and I don't like being bored. So I came up with an idea, because I'm very smart as you know. The movie theater is open right now and I want to bring them with me. I've been dying to watch a movie but I don't like being alone."
"Why can't Petunia or Nexus go with you, I'm sure that they would enjoy a movie. Now excuse us, we have other important things to do." As we were about to leave we were stopped by Claude.
"I won't take no for an answer," he took the wheelchair and started going as fast as he could down the hallway, having a little joyride while they were at it. Almost running into someone, Claude quickly put on the brakes. A man with fair blonde hair and brown eyes stood there at a height of 6'6". Claude had wide eyes but caught themselves and adjusted their posture.
"Hey Nexus, fancy seeing you here," Claude announced. They were blowing it.
"Hey Claude, I thought you were cleaning the west side of the church?"
"Nah, I'm partly finished so I decided to take a break." There was an uncomfortable silence.
"You know, I'm heading over to the movie theater, you know, catching up on some old films, things like that. I was wondering if you wanted to join me and hang out," Claude commented.
"I would like that," Nexus said. He looked pretty cheerful, I sort of suspect that he likes Claude as well. We walked in the hallways, and the only thing that could be heard was the clicking of Claude's heels. Eventually, things came to a stop as we were left at the theater door. There was a double door and the walls surrounding it had posters of movies that looked old. A woman with blonde hair and a slim physique was the main focus of the posters, she looked identical to old Hollywood stars from the 1970s, but I couldn't place a name on her. Although the theater was small, it was still quite beautiful.
Leather chairs and a huge TV screen were the immediate eye-catcher, looking closer there was a snack bar with a popcorn machine built into it. I was put in the very first row, directly in front of the screen. Claude looked through a bin of old VHS tapes and found one that they approved of. Popping in the tape, he grabbed some snacks and headed over to sit next to Nexus in the third row. The movie started.

The year established was nineteen fifty-five, although the movie itself looked to be made around the late seventies. A huge city is shown, with glowing lights illuminating the dark atmosphere. People were walking down the streets and no person made a sound. Old jazz music could be heard lingering in the background, making it appear like this was, in fact, taking place in the fifties. The camera pans over to a man in his late forties, walking along with his son. The son is shown to be bored and tired, looking to get away from his father and do something more exciting. That's when he catches the eye of a beautiful woman. She has a slim, pear-shaped figure, with her blonde hair tightly styled into a bun. She wore an eye-catching red dress and a bold makeup look that would make any man turn his head. Although he didn't know it at first, he was intrigued by the woman and her strange fashion style. As his father went and headed in another direction, the woman came over to him. She handed him an invite to a secret party she was holding. More than thrilled, he accepted. The movie played out like a romantic outing, the man talks to a woman, and she is enamored. Captured in her overwhelming presence, he doesn't bat an eye to her advances as he admires the neatly made envelope and traces it with his hand. At his home he is getting ready, choosing a nice and clean suit. He opens his letter and reads the directions to where the party is being held.
After some time, he arrives at the location. It's a huge condominium with intricate vintage details carved in wood. People of many different backgrounds were seen going into the house, all dressed up and decorated in their wealth. The man stood out like a sore thumb, people gazing at him as he entered. The reason why they were staring though, was a mystery. A woman, dressed head to toe in sparkling blue jewels, sauntered down a long staircase and announced her presence. She wore expensive jewelry and the dress draped down to her feet. Her hair was neatly combed into a tame bouffant style. Her eyes shined like stars and her gaze could put men in a daydream-like state. It seemed like the attention was grabbed away from the man as people applauded her arrival, the man was in awe and went to be with her. The same woman as before, yet more alluring than before.
A change in scenery ensues as the woman directs all people into another room, a library of sorts. With all the people gathered she opened a secret door which the man questioned, but he didn't bat an eye. She went down the path of the secret door, leading to a spiraling stairwell that looked like it didn't have an end. Torches lit the way and the man grew more cautious, more open to his surroundings. Nausea and the growing pain of his heartbeat racing made him unsure of his decisions. His mind was telling him, yes, but his heart was saying no. Things came to a halt as light illuminated the end of the stairs, to one last room. By far the most breathtaking sight besides the house, with torches revealing a room made out of marble. There were many detailed statues and pillars that really stood out, but the most beautiful sight was a painting resembling Michelangelo's work in the Sistine chapel. The room was capacious and was made to fit a vast amount of people in it. The people trickled into the room, standing near the walls to make space for the center. The woman took in the familiar space of the room before gesturing to the man to come and stand with her.
The people are silent. The heartbeat of the man can be heard, it rings in the ears of the people. The woman calmly grabs his hand and kisses it, letting it wrap around her shoulders as she waltzes a bit. Reassured, the man lets his guard down and closes his eyes while embracing the mysterious woman. Suddenly, he feels a sharp piercing pain hit his back. A cold flame burns his nerves as he slowly falls down, feeling each bone being jabbed by an object in contact with his torso. The stinging never stopped. The suffering and howls of the man stopped, and things lay quiet. He became cold. The woman was satisfied with what she had done, and so were the others. Cheers erupted from the people and the world continued to thrive.
Once the movie was finished I was filled with fear and trepidation. A movie so simple, yet it felt real. I was there, that situation. I stood lifeless on the floor as a strange person decided it was my time to fall victim to another tragedy. That night at the sidewalk was coming back to me, who brought me here? Who did this to me? It had been a while since I was here because of the same incident, why couldn't I remember everything before that day, or just that day in general?
"Pearl just added that movie to the theater room. I helped go through her old tapes when she was an actress in the seventies. Apparently, this movie was more of a dream project for herself than anything else. This is the only copy, pretty interesting," Claude commented before stretching and getting out of the theater chair.
"If anything, I think it should have been longer," Nexus interjected. It should have been thrown away. The tape stopped and the screen went dark. Claude went over to wheel me back up to the door. Amongst Claude and Nexus, they decided to leave me at Claudettes room. If anything, I wished to see her again. Claude placed me outside her room and then proceeded to ding-dong ditch her. They ran away, holding Nexus's hand while they were at it. The angered look that Claudette exhibited on her face quickly altered to a petrified look. She panicked and slammed her door, retreating to cry and to breathe in and out. I could hear her trying to calm down through sobs. Heavy breathing ceased after a while, and she steadily opened the door to face my wheelchair. She hesitated to go near me, her hand quivering before grabbing onto my wheelchair handles, bringing me into her room. I didn't pay much attention to Claudette's looks before, but she had heavy dark bags under her eyes, she was pale and malnourished. She looked at me for a second before mumbling something and leaving the room.

I panicked. Although I know what I want, it's a repeating cycle of feeling that something bad will happen if I go through with calling the police. If nothing is done then more people will die. The click of the numbers on a touch-tone telephone was the sound of freedom.