Be Holden

Chapter 12: Pain?

You miss the meeting with Dr.Jivecks because you just woke up. It is late in the afternoon. It is almost time to go to work at your job and you are not out of the house yet. You rush to put on your uniform and groom yourself. You run downstairs and hop into your beat up, gasoline reeking, and water leaking car. It coughs on the cheap gas you put in it until the signature smoky exhaust runs out of your exhaust pipe. You leave the parking lot with speed and determination. When you get to the job, you arrive three minutes early. You park your car and try to make the wrinkled janitor shirt look less wrinkled with no avail. You clip the name tag on your shirt and march into the school.Oops, I almost forgot to lock the door.You press a button on your car remote to automatically lock all the doors.

You start your janitor duties on time. Your phone sounds off in your pocket. Darn, I forgot to put it on vibrate.You pull your cell phone out without looking at it, send the call to voicemail, and put it on vibrate. A teacher walks by and you hurriedly put it in your pocket. Your phone vibrates in your pocket again. So, they left a message. Great! Probably some telemarketer trying advertise some silliness I cannot afford and or do not want.You finish mopping the hallway's floor. Now, you must clean the bathrooms. You flick the light on in the women's bathroom. It flickers then steadies. You walk by the stalls and yell. "Hey, is anyone in here?" No answer. You ask again and gently nudge each door to see if anyone is inside. The handicap stall's door is locked. You knock on it and ask the question again. No one replies. The light flickers. You look back at the door with your cart pressed against it and keeping it ajar. No one was there. The switch was still up. The light is going to go soon. I guess I should go to the station and get some bulbs. . You wedge yourself between the cart and door frame. You hear a sound behind you. It is as if something heavy dropped. You hear heavy breaths and turn around. The light is flickering uncontrollably and then it goes out. You hear a stall lock move and a door creak open. The heavy breaths continue. You move out of the wedge and to the outside of the bathroom.

You peer into the darkness as the heavy breaths come closer. You are outside of the bathroom. Your cart slowly moves out and away from the door. Your cracked lips quiver and all words are stuck in your throat. You back into a wall outside of the bathroom and a grey hand reaches out from the darkness and closes the door. Click! It locked it too! You grab the side of your cart and wheel it back to your station. You convince yourself that you did not see the previous events and walk back to the site. The bathroom door is still locked. You have the key to open it again from the outside but decide not to. You go into the men's bathroom. It has a few stalls and several urinals. You check if anyone is there and everything seems alright. You put your gloves on and somewhat brush over the insides of the toilets and urinals with a toilet wand brush. Industrial chemical smell fill the air from the cheap products you use to clean the once putrid, urine smelling bathroom. You are walking out of the bathroom when you hear a heavy thump on the wall. You hear a woman scream and another thump. You go back outside and stand near the wall adjoining the women's bathroom. You hear whimpers and cries with inaudible whispers shadowing every sound. You are frozen.What should I do? Call the police? What if it is just ghosts messing with my head? Your phone vibrates again. You ignore the buzzing in your pocket and pull out your janitor keys. You push the cart out of the way and the men's bathroom door shuts. You run to the women's bathroom door with shaking hands. After a few tries the key enters the lock and you unlock the door. You pull at the door and it creaks open. A musty smell greets you.It is probably mold. You look into the darkness and push yourself to walk forward. The door slowly, creaks closed behind you. You reach for the light and flick it on. It flickers on. You nudge the first stall's door. "Is anyone in here?" You ask. It slams open and the toilet flushes. You move to the next stall and repeat the question before nudging the door. It slams open revealing diarrhea all over the toilet seat and floor. The toilet water bubbles but does not flush. The horrible smell pushes you back. . I am not cleaning that shit up! What the fuck? The next stall's door opens slowly without your nudge. The lighting is dimmer here. The stall has blood on its walls and all over the seat. Clots of blood sit on a heavy-duty menstrual pad in the toilet. The lever is pulled by nothing. It tries to flush but only overflows the bloody mess into the stall you step back until your back hits the bathroom wall. You look at the last door. It's huge, dark blue stall door makes a sound. Click! The door creaks open to reveal a stall that will not allow the dim light to invade it. The darkness crawls out of the open stall until it chokes the light out. You blink in the darkness and your heart races. Your breaths are quick but a heavy breath slowly blows on to you. The roots of your hair slightly dance every time it passes by them. You decide to briskly walk to the bathroom door to find that it is locked. The light flickers on and it is dimmer than it was before. You reach for the lock and graze a cold, stiff; smooth hand in the process. The heavy breaths greet your neck. You squeeze your eyes shut and hug the door with flat palms. "Miss Johnson, why are you shivering so much? You are not afraid of me, right?" A masculine voice asks you. You turn around and open your eyes. "Mr. Jivecks what are you doing in the women's bathroom?" A dainty voice with a slight southern drawl escapes your mouth. Your eyes widen.

"Miss Johnson, I don't know what is wrong with me. It is like once I am attracted to someone, I go crazy until I get a taste of what I crave. I have to quell my hunger or the monster inside me does bad things. You understand Miss Johnson, right?"

"No, not at all."

"I'll show you then just let me handle you. Don't resist just let it all happen and soon it will be over."

You stand still and the black haired ghost runs away from him. She dodges his lunge and locks herself in the handicap stall. He shakes the door and decides to crawl in underneath the door. "Miss Johnson, I won't hurt you! The pain is in your mind! Relax and feel my curiosity." He says. The handicap stall's door opens and slams the wall outside of it. The brown eyed woman shakes near the toilet seat. She crawls and stops in a corner with her knees in her arms. He walks up to her and wipes the tears from her face with his left hand. His right hand grabs her leg and pulls her to the center of the stall. He pops the buttons off of her knitted jacket as he rips it open. She screams and the pressure in the room drops. All sounds are silenced as a tall, dark shadow invades the stall. She does not look at it. Instead she keeps screaming and crying. He continues his charge but your eyes are trained on the shadow. It pushes him aside and reaches its blue hand out to her. She still does not see him. She runs to the bathroom wall between the sink and the toilet. The predator rises and tries to continue his assault. The shadow throws him on the ground near the toilet. She stays in the corner shaking. The shadow walks out and you follow it. "Hey, what are you doing here? Why did you try to save her?" You ask. Her screams fill the bathroom and the assailant whispers. "See, it's not pain it's pleasure." Those are his words. The shadow stands still. He is unusually still until he turns to you. "You should answer your phone!" The shadow whispers loudly to you. You pull your phone out of your pocket. It is Helen your other roommate. You answer the phone. "There is a wild party happening at our place, I don't think it is your fault but I need help shutting it down before the police show up." She says. Damn it, Chelsea. You look up and you are already outside the women's bathroom. You pull the bathroom door's handle. The door is locked again.