My Darkest Rose

Chapter 7

In the Light

He dove for the floor, losing his towel in the process. He cowered behind the bar, the only barrier in the apartment between the creature and himself.

There was no sound of movement but that didn't change the fact that he knew, was absolutely certain, that it was now inside the apartment. It was moving, soundless, toward him. And if it got to him, it would do what it did to Rose.

Across the kitchen, on the counter, was a butcher block with knives.

Could he get to the knife? He wasn't sure. He didn't even know if he could kill the thing, but he had to do something.

Naked, he lunged to his feet and grabbed for the knife. Three leaping steps across the kitchen floor and he had it. He closed his hand around the base of a butcher knife and pulled it free and spun around, holding the knife out in front of him.

The creature was inside, but across the room in a corner. It was staying in the shadows, he realized.

"What the fuck do you want?" he shouted. "What do you want!"

He stepped forward, the knife shaking in his hand, waiting for the creature to spring at him any moment.

He could see its face now. It's mouth, or what functioned as a mouth, was really just torn flesh over rotting teeth. And the whole thing was wet, as if it had just crawled out of the lake. The smell of bracken water hit him then, making him gag as he stumbled backward into the wall.

He ran his free hand along the wall looking for the light switch. If he could turn on the overhead light, maybe it would leave, or disappear all together.

Its eyes followed him as he crept along the wall. He knew the light switch was close, but he couldn't take his eyes off the creature even for a second.

Just as he reached the switch, someone knocked on the door.

He froze and the creature moved further back into the shadows.

The knock came again. "Jack?" It was his neighbor, Sadik, from across the hall.

Jack flipped on the light. Bright light flooded the room, filling every corner, chasing every shadow. The creature was gone.

"Jack, you alright?"

He looked around, certain it must be right beside him. But it wasn't there.

Sadik banged on the door again.

"Yeah," Jack said, his voice strained.

"You alright, Dude? I thought I heard you yell."

"Fine," he said, swallowing. "Just busted my ass in the kitchen."

He heard Sadik laugh. "Alright, man. I'll catch you later."

"Yeah, later."

He stepped away from the wall, naked and shaking as the adrenaline continued to rush through his body. He could see his reflection in the sliding glass door. He looked crazed, naked with a knife.

He sat the knife on the counter and picked up his towel from the floor and wrapped it around his waist.

Slowly, he walked across the room to the sliding door. He didn't think it was out there, but to be sure, he would have to go outside.

He unlocked the door and slid it open. Warm air and the smell of the lake greeted him. But there was another smell there as well, something decaying, like a pile of rotting leaves.

He stepped out onto the balcony. There was nothing there. No sign the creature had ever been there at all.

He went back inside, and closed and locked the door again. He didn't know what to think. The creature had been there, he was certain of it.

It had found him. Or he had found it. And if it was back, if it had somehow come from the painting, where was Rose?

He didn't have the answers but there was one thing he knew for sure. He couldn't stay there. There was no way he could lay down in his bed and close his eyes.

He went to the dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of jeans and an old Stone Temple Pilots tshirt. He dressed, calling for Theodore who was still hiding under the bed. He took out a duffel bag from the bottom drawer.

"We're going to take a little trip, Theodore," he said.

He picked up his phone and called Fauna. She answered on the third ring.

"Hey, can you come pick me and Theodore up? I need to stay at your place for a little while."

"OK, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just..." What could he tell her that wouldn't scare her? He couldn't handle her treating him like a lunatic, not again. "It's the apartment. A pipe burst on the roof and is leaking into the apartment." He wasn't even sure that was possible, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Um, I guess. Gwennie's asleep but I can wake her up."

The last person in the world he wanted to see right then was Gwennie, but what choice did he have? "I wouldn't call if I didn't need you, Fauna. I can't take Theodore in an Uber."

He could hear Gwennie talking in the background, but not what she was saying. Fauna said, "OK. Give me an hour or so."

"Thanks," he said, and hung up.

He packed everything else he would need including his drawing supplies and sat the bags by the door. He got down on the floor and looked under the bed.

Theodore was all the way at the back near the headboard.

"I know you're scared," he said, "But it's gone now. We're going to go see Fauna."

It all seemed too much in that moment, staring at his cat under the bed, the one living thing in this world he was responsible for and couldn't protect. He felt like crying, like laying there forever and letting whatever was going to happen next, happen. Maybe the creature would come back and kill him. It might be a relief.

Maybe Fauna would come and break the door down and take him to a hospital. Maybe nothing would happen at all and he would lay there forever on the ground beside his bed and the world would go on without him.

Did it even matter? Him laying on the floor versus him not laying on the floor. What did anything he did matter, really, when it came down to it?

But then Theodore stirred from his place against the wall and walked tentatively toward his outreached hand. He touched his nose to the tip of Jack's finger, pulled back, and then moved forward again until he was out from under the bed.

"It's gone," Jack said, reassuring him.

Jack sat up and let his cat curl into his lap. They stayed like that until Theodore calmed and began to purr.