Hell's Love

Chapter 4

     I didn't return to the hospital for the rest of the week. I was too afraid of something happening again. Even though I didn't return to the hospital, the events stuck with me. My sleeping was affected because of that day. I laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, not letting my eyes close. When I did, a dark pair stared back. There were times I did sleep, but nightmares replaced my dreams.  I would wake up covered in sweat, but I felt frozen on the inside.  Friday night,  I crawled into bed and tried to sleep. Tomorrow was the movie night with my friends. I wanted to appear as normal as possible, so everyone could have a good time. Finally, my body relaxed and sleep found me, so did the nightmares.
     I walked down the halls of the hospital, but this time they were empty. All the nurses and patients were gone. The now familiar breeze traveled across my skin. It was pitch black in the hall and the normal smell of sanitizer was replaced with the smell of something rancid. It smelled like a dead animal that had been sitting for a week or more. A loud creak echoed through the hall and sent a rumble along the walls. I found myself moving towards the source, despite a small voice in the back of my mind urging me to turn around. I lightly stepped down the hall and approached a room of one the patients. My gut was screaming at me to turn around. I knew who's room it was and my heart sank in my chest. I pushed open the wooden door and entered the small room. The bed was empty with the blankets were flung across the floor as if someone had to leave in a hurry. The bathroom door was wide open and the mirror had been shattered. I felt my heart stop and my blood ran cold. Get out of here! A voice shouted from inside me. I bolted for the door, but a voice stopped me.
  "You cannot run." The woman called to me. "He's already in you."
  "Who?" I demanded. "Who is he?"
  "He has chosen you like he chose me." She whispered.
  "Who? Please tell me!" I shouted. I grabbed the woman's arm.
  "Zorohm." She hissed. I sprang up in my bed with my hands clutching my blanket.
   "It was just a dream," I told myself. I quietly got out of bed and walked into the hall. I felt a breeze from the window in the bathroom. The moonlight peeked in the window and sent a small light through the bathroom. I was about to close the latch, but the door of the guest room slammed shut. Startled, I flung myself towards my room. As I stepped towards my door, I willed myself to be brave and sucked in a breath. I opened the door of the guest room, slowly.  As crept into the room, I felt the temperature drop. The bed was perfectly made and the whole room left no mark of a recent visitor. My shoulders sank and my heartbeat returned to normal. With a sigh, I turned around.  Suddenly, the door slammed again, but this time it locked itself. I ran to it and pulled on the knob as hard as I could.
  "Someone please, let me out!" I called out. There was no response. Where my parents even home? "Please!"
  "You can't escape." A voice erupted from behind me.
  "Leave me alone!" I yelled back. The voice didn't respond, but I felt its presence. "Who are you?" The door opened and crashed against the wall. Instantly, the room was warm again. I tiptoed into the hall and glanced into the bathroom. Everything was the same, but the mirror. In black ink, a single word was written.  Zorohm. The second I blinked, the name was gone. He wasn't gone, though. Whatever he was, he was somehow attached to me. There were many questions that I had, but one terrified me worse than any nightmare. What was he going to do next?