Monique

She's Losing her Mind

She hasn't taken her pills in two days.

She breaks out in sweat.

Her hands shake.

Her words mix and blend together. Her nightmares come back in full force.

A little boy haunts her dreams every night. He has blue eyes like John. He cries for his mummy. He begs her to let him go.

Monique can't get him out of her head.

No one hears her scream. She howls in her head. It's a beautiful delirium. She's slowly going mad. Mental. She's turning into an animal. No one notices. That's what the doctor's pills are for. They are there to make her sane. It's too late now. They are no more. She emptied the bottles and flushed the pills down the toilet.

Suddenly the sleeping pills her mother gave her are no longer lovely. They're deadly.

She doesn't sleep at night. She sits on her bed staring endlessly at the moon. She's almost halfway through the first week of holidays. Her maths investigation booklet lies in shreds on the floor. Her science textbook has been ripped in half. Her stationary has been snapped into two. Her bedside lamp is on the floor. Smashed. Broken into pieces. The glass shards litter the floor. And she has no memory of doing it. She's possessed. Something has a hold on her just like her mum used to say, "Never go down to the basement. Evil things lay there. They'll follow you and devour your soul."

That's what happens to her father when he gets drunk. The evil ones take a piece of his soul each and every time.

But she hasn't been down to the basement. She's never entered it.

Morning comes. She can still hear the boy's screams. She can't push him away. She can't get him out of her head. She stands up and opens the door. She begins climbing down the stairs. She walks to the kitchen and takes a knife from the drawer. It's large and sharp. If wielded properly, it could take down a grown man. Monique doesn't think. Her mind is detached from her body. She's lost in limbo. She's floating in space.

Her feet mechanically make their way to the door near the garage. All she has to do is reach out, open the door and walk down the stairs. Then she's in the basement.

Her hand reaches out to open the door when a scream shatters her brain. She turns around to find her mum behind her, hurling out questions. She says, "What are you doing? You know you shouldn't try to go down to the basement." Monique cocks her head to the side. She's not letting go of the knife. Her hand is shaking. Her head is spinning.

Where's John?

Where's John?

She needs him.

Where is he?

She needs her pills.

Where are they?

Her skin prickles. Her blood boils. Her mother took John away. Her mother has him locked up in the basement. Her mother is trying to kill John. She has to protect him. She has to get John out of the basement.

"Where is he?" Monique's voice doesn't sound like hers. She sounds like a monster. She's an animal out for revenge.

"I don't know what you're talking about Monique. Drop the knife."

Lies lies lies. Her mother is telling lies. She has John tied up in the basement. She can hear the voices coming from the ground.

"What are you doing to him?"

Her mother pales as Monique edges closer towards her, "I don't know what you're talking about." Monique edges even closer. Her mum becomes white like a sheet of paper. Her pupils dilate. Small beads of sweat form around her temples. She cowers back. Monique edges forward. Her eyes are black. Predatory

Monique roars and lunges at her. She waves the knife around like madwoman. Her mum hits her across the face. Monique stabs her with the knife. She howls in agony. She hits Monique again. Once. Twice. Three times.

Monique refuses to drop the knife. She staggers backwards. She tries to reach for the door handle but her mother throws her to the side. Monique stands up. She laughs. She's demented.

She holds the knife with both hands.

"Don't do this," Her mother pleads. "Please don't do this." Monique tries to scream. She attempts to claw her way out but is held down by bony hands. She's falling. She's crying for John. She begs the monsters to let her go.

Do it.

Kill her.

Kill the bitch.

She has John.

Kill her.

Monique takes in a sharp intake of breath before the knife is plunged into her abdomen.

The monsters are eating her soul. John is trapped in the basement. She can still hear the little boy crying for his mummy.

She blacks out as her blood sips through the gaps in the tiles.