Rupert Hilden is haunted by the image of a bald man he saw through his bedroom window as a child. 24 years later he sees the same man in a distant apartment window and each time he sees the man he is closer. But Rupert is unable to convince anyone...
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Please be advised the following novel contains some frightening scenarios.
ROMANIA 2013 (Mental Health Institution)
There were no more dreams or even nightmares anymore. Rupert was somewhere deeper than that. And he had no idea how long he had been unconscious when his eyes slowly opened. How long had he even been awake?
He tried to look around him but his head was unable to move. He could only move his eyes. He was strapped down on a table. A leather fastening belt was wrapped tightly across his forehead. There were three more belts tied across his chest and arms, and yet another three across his legs. His groin was in horrendous pain, and it seemed as if he could feel several bandages around his upper legs. He could move his fingers and toes freely but that was about it.
There were several tubes coming out of his arm attached to intravenous bags. He looked up at the liquid drips and he wondered what was in them. He could see he was in some sort of isolated, white padded room. No one else was in the room with him. He could hear the beeping of his monitor. His heart was beating slowly.
In front of him, in between his legs, he could see the only door to the room. There was one small square window looking in. It was just large enough for a human head to observe a patient.
He looked over to his left at the heart monitor, which displayed the time. It was 3:30 AM. He had no idea what day it was anymore. He had lost track of time.
Rupert lay there staring at the ceiling trying to piece together what had happened. There was a faint sound outside the door. He tried to listen. It seemed like some sort of squeaking. There were plenty of mice and rats in this facility. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere far down the hall outside his cell.
Rupert tried to take a deep breath and relax.
The squeaking sound was getting louder. It sounded like someone was pushing a cart with a wheel that needed oil.
squeak....
Squeak....
SQUEAK....
In between the squeaks he could hear a man coughing.
Rupert remembered the disturbing dreams he had had in the hospital in Toronto. Had he not dreamed this before? He tried to remember....
The cart was coming closer to the room. He could hear it down the hallway. Rupert could hear his heart rate was beginning to increase.
The squeaking of the cart was unbearable, and it was reflecting off of the walls of the hallway.
squeak....
Squeak...
A deep, troublesome cough again...
SQUEAK...
And then it had stopped. It sounded like it was right next to the door. Rupert looked up at the small square window. His heart rate was still increasing.
Then, in the small square window, Rupert saw a man's face look in. It was the bald man with the circular glasses. The strange man's face, that had been cold and emotionless every time he had seen it, was now slowly transforming into a demented grin.
