Medico Della Peste

Chapter 4: Winter

           Emanuel was done. Night after night, he always saw the plague doctor in the dreams. Even if they were small glimpses, the plague doctor was always there. The dreams were tiring. Every morning, Emanuel would wake up feeling like someone was holding his eyelids open. The weather was getting colder. Everything was miserable. That was going to change. Emanuel had a plan. He may not be able to get rid of the dreams, but maybe he could get rid of the plague doctor. Or at least alert his friends about them. It was very late in the morning and the sun was blazing onto the floor of Emanuel's bedroom. To any normal person this would be no time to sleep, but Emanuel couldn't wait until night like a coward. He had to go there now. With rage and desperation, Emanuel grabbed his mother's sleep mask to block the light out of his eyes, snuggled up in his disappointing sheets, and tried to block out the animal noises from outside as he slowly drifted away to the other world.

Emanuel could hear chattering and music. His vision was completely dark. Emanuel was worried that this was another dark room like the one in October. His fears went away when he saw white lights flashing from above casting some light onto the floor. It was a disco ball.  Characters scattered around the room. It looked like an insane cosplay dance party.
"Emanuel!" A familiar voice called. It was Bianca. Emanuel quickly walked his way over to the voice until he saw Bianca and Scott in the back of the room drinking what looked like Coke in a red plastic cup. The fizzy drink looked like ink because of the lighting.
"It's great to see you guys!" Emanuel said. "Who is this party for?"
"Shouldn't you know? You got the invitation right?" Bianca asked suspiciously.
"I... got stopped by these... punk looking dudes who... asked me to join the party, and I said yes." Emanuel lied.
"It's actually my party." Scott blushed. "I've been a character for around 60 years now."
"You didn't throw it yourself?" Emanuel asked.
"Of course not!" Scott answered. "A friend threw it for me. I think she's upstairs right no-
"Emanuel's here!" Another familiar voice called. Emanuel looked over to see Annabelle carrying one of her arms and a sewing kit. She was wearing a purple coat that made her look like a blooming iris.
"Annabelle! It's nice to see you!" Scott exclaimed, "Do you need help sewing that... back on?"
"I think I'm fine," Annabelle said, "This party is amazing!"
"Thanks!" Scott shouted over the music,"I'm glad you got the invitation. There wasn't a mailbox by your house, so I just stuck it under your doormat."
"Yeah. I have to fix that..." Annabelle sighed as she was sewing her arm back onto her body. "Where's Lorelei? I want to thank her for throwing this! The decorations are amazing!"
"She's upstairs right now getting more soda." Scott explained. Emanuel's attention drifted in and out of their conversion as he searched for the plague doctor. The house was actually quite nice if you removed the large groups of people scattered about. The living room was fairly large, and it smelled like something amazing was cooking up in the oven. Probably a cake. It almost reminded Emanuel of Lele's house.
It's just a coincidence. Emanuel thought. Ok, toughen up. The plague doctor has to be here somewhere. He looked at the bustling crowd of chaos. Someone within the crowd threw a roll of toilet paper that almost hit Emanuel in the face. To him, it was like someone launched a poisonous snake as an offense. Immediately after the toilet paper attack, someone else threw their cup of soda in the air. Emanuel didn't get wet, but about half of the guests did. They all started screaming like hyenas at the person who threw the cup. Emanuel felt a thud on his shoe. He looked down to find a clue to his mystery. A swiss army knife. Emanuel grabbed the insane amalgamation of knives out of the front of his shoe. It looked like a dead bird with blades for feathers. He slowly pushed everything back into the knife so it would look a bit more normal when carrying it around. Emanuel slowly fished his way out of his friends' conversation. He felt a bit bad leaving them with no context, but this was his problem and he needed to solve it. The party itself was like a generator of energy to Emanuel. He silently sneaked his way through the throng of characters, trying to not cause any problems. His plan was to go upstairs and see if anyone was there. When Emanuel found the staircase, it was darker than a stormy night sky. Nervously, he tapped his foot against the first step. It made a horrible creaking sound that no one heard but Emanuel. Stair after stair, he slowly made his way up the heightened hallway feeling less scared after each step. After what seemed like hours of walking, he finally made it to the room the stairwell led up to. It was pitch black when Emanuel walked in. It reminded him of the dark place he was brought to in October. Suddenly Emanuel was greeted by bright, blistering lights. As he adjusted his vision, Emanuel was met with a chorus of ten faces nailed to the wall. They were masks. Lele's masks.
"Hey there, Emanuel." Someone said from behind him. Trying to find where the voice was coming from, he turned around and saw the plague doctor's shabby black robes, but when he confronted the face, no mask was to be seen. Emanuel could clearly see who was stalking him from the start. He was in awe, he was furious, he felt betrayed.
"Lele?!" Emanuel said, dumbfounded.
"That's Lorelei to you my friend." Lele smiled. She snatched the knife out of Emanuel's hand.
"Why?" Emanuel asked, "Why do you have to do this to me?"
"Emanuel, you don't understand. There's no choice. I can't let you live through the torture I rot in." Lele explained. "The only way to get you out of these sleepless nights of pain is to kill you. There is no other way to escape this world. Trust me, I've tried."
"Why am I here? Why are you here? What is this place? Did you bring me here? Are you even real? Are you even my friend? Why are you trying to kill me?" Emanuel asked.
"Em, I've been here for four years. It's not going to be butterflies and gumdrops forever." Lele explained. "Why not just end it? I'm trying to help. It's not the best way, but it works."
"No!" Emanuel yelled. "I'm not sacrificing my life just for a good night's sleep! We can go through this together!"
"Em, happiness is never truly complete." A tear trickled down Lele's cheek like a raindrop. She slowly pushed a blade out from the swiss army knife, and held it ready to puncture Emanuel's life. She lunged for him as Emanuel started to run for the stairs. As he clawed onto the railing, Lele grabbed his shoulder and held up her blade. 
"I'm... Sorry..." Lele cried. Suddenly, Emanuel slipped and toppled down the staircase with Lele.

Emanuel shot up out of his bed drenched in sweat. His heart was pounding, his body was in pain, and his hands were shaking. He noticed it was nightime outside and a lovely coat of snow hugged the outside of his window. He sat up to realize his sheets were wet with blood. Emanuel looked down at his legs, which were covered in fresh scratches. He slowly got up to go and check his face in his bathroom mirror. His nose was bleeding harder than a gutter spilling out water, and he had a small cut on his cheek. His arms and legs were covered in minor scratches and slices. Emanuel wiped blood off of his nose with a tissue when he noticed something. The cries of an ambulance siren not far away. He walked out of the bathroom, and opened his window to get hit with a cold breeze. The chorus of sirens echoed from the small house on the small hill where Lele lived. Emanuel was too tired to deal with the chaos that was Lele. He slowly closed his window, climbed back into his bloody bed, and disappeared into his sleep.
It was empty.
Emanuel did not experience the insanity of the dream realm that he loved to hate.
It was quiet.
No one was watching.
Finally he was at peace.