The Maple Murders

Chapter 10 - No Longer Human.

The trees rustled with a static sound, battling against the rough wind that pushed through their branches. Raindrops raced down the window as a result of the harsh stormy weather outside. Ash was sitting on the baby-blue leather chair, positioned across from her daughter, Ellie Evelyn's – A young girl's hospital bed. The girl had light, brown hair, pale skin, but her face was... Blurred.

A cacophony of beeps pierced Ash's skull like a relentless assault on her senses. Figures materialized from the shadows, their faces twisted and blurred. Within those figures was Emma and Quinn.

Quinn's form materialized, her movements jerky and disjointed, as if controlled by unseen forces. She pressed down on the bed with a violence that shook the room as she performed chest compressions.

In the corner of the room, Charlie stood, his presence casting a shadow that seemed to devour the light. Beside him, a blonde woman in a white wedding dress, her face constantly shifting from someone Ash recognized to a blur.

In Charlie's arms lay a lifeless infant, its features twisted and displaced. The greyish, deceased infant cried loudly, adding another layer of horror to the already stressful situation. Somehow, Ash knew the newborn was Arthur, despite seeing his face.

The young girl on the bed screamed, her voice aberrant amalgamation of past and present. "Mommy, don't leave me! I don't want to go, make it stop!" she wailed, her words a desperate plea that clawed at Ash's soul.

Ash cried across the racket, "I know, baby... I'm trying to save you! Please don't leave me... I need you..."

Charlie's voice cut through the screams like a blade, his accusations ringing the weight of centuries. "You killed them," he spat, his words a venomous accusation that searched Ash's very soul. "You killed my children, you're a heartless murderer!"

The young girl's screams reached a fever pitch, her voice a symphony of pain and terror. Ash reached out to comfort her, but her hands grasped only empty air. Suddenly, Quinn's appearance underwent a sudden transformation. Her crisp, clean doctor's uniform abruptly transformed into a blood-soaked, blue and white shirt – the very clothing she wore on the day Ash brutally murdered her. With a flick of her wrist, she raised a bloodied hammer, it swung suddenly, then...

Ash startled awake, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest, her breaths shallow and rapid. It was yet another nightmare, a recurring torment that haunted her nights. Each one had the same eerie familiarity, a twisted tapestry of blurred faces and overwhelming dread that left her shaken upon waking. Despite their nonsensical nature, they felt chillingly real. Sometimes, Ash would struggle to tell the nightmares and real-life apart.

Carefully, Ash sat up, her head throbbing as if it really were struck with a hammer. She rubbed her eyes, searching for her phone to check the time, only to find it elusively out of reach in the dimly lit room. The remnants of broken whiskey bottles littered the floor, a reminder of the chaos that had unfolded.

Surveying the destruction around her, Ash couldn't help but feel a surge of disbelief. "What the hell happened...?" she muttered to herself; her voice tinged with exhaustion. For a fleeing moment, the boundaries between dream and wakefulness blurred, leaving her disoriented and uncertain.

Ash finally retrieved her phone to find the early hour glaring back at her: 4:58 AM. With a weary sigh, she faced a choice: succumb to the pull of sleep or confront the darkness that lurked within her own mind.

Opting for the latter, Ash reached for her notebook, concealed beneath the sofa, its pages filled with the gruesome details of her secret plans. With a determined flick of her pen, she began to sketch out a new strategy, her plan to save Evelyn from the hospital. To keep her alive and safe.