• Creature Cesar Enriquez 06/14/2010

    My name is Nathan and I was there when I found them. I was only fourteen when I witnessed my parent’s deaths. I still remember the way their butchered bodies were laying still in the bathtub of my bathroom, bathing in their own wet blood, bodies laying on top of each other with their eyes still open. I was asleep when it happened. The night before I drank alcohol for the first time and got drunk at a friend’s party late at night. I had told my parents that I was going to arrive late and they agreed. When I arrived home I carefully and silently stumbled to my room and slid into bed, trying to forget about my alcohol breath and inhaling fresh air. I lost consciousness when my head touched my pillow.

    I woke up the next morning with my shoulder hurting. Sunlight illuminated my room and caressed my bed sheets. I sat up and massaged my shoulder remembering that I fell asleep with my arm under my back. Standing up with an aching back, I looked at myself in my mirror next to the bathroom. My shoes, that I didn’t remove when I fell asleep, were still clean, long sleeve shirt and jeans were wrinkled, my face looked like it had aged ten years due to the awkward position sleeping and late partying, and my hair was messy. I walked to the window and saw the Space Needle in the gray distance, elevators going up and down smoothly. It was a sunny Sunday morning and people were just arriving to work from their homes in the suburbs or city. I lived in an old but remodeled two story house up in the hills overlooking the main part of Seattle. The Starbucks in the corner was receiving their customers as usual. Yawning, I walked to the bathroom door, reached for the cold handle and opened it slowly. I froze the moment I laid eyes upon the cold carcasses in my bathtub. I stared at the bodies unable to process what I was looking at. I didn’t know what to do. I was in shock. I felt numb and began to shake. Warm tears began to collect at the edges of my eyes and quickly began to roll down my distorted face. My legs began to move automatically and with the image still in my head, walked to the front door. I opened the door and walked down the street, the chilly wind cooling my wet cheeks. When I reached the empty street I fell on my knees and began sobbing like I never had in my life.

    The next thing I see are bright lights above my head and then the image of my parents horrified faces. Jolting up I start screaming at the top of my lungs. I’m pushed down by a young lady dressed in white. She tells me to calm down and says to me I am in a hospital. Staring her straight in the eyes I begin crying. She holds me tight and says everything will be okay. I notice that I am sitting down in a hospital bed, holding nobody but myself in a dimly lit hospital room. I look around the room without seeing the nurse. Looking at my hands I notice I’m trembling. I look up and notice a nude figure shaking in the corner of the dim room. Its features are dark and hidden but clear that it is not human. It begins to shake violently while scratching the wall with its long bony fingers while whispering very softly. Slowly it begins to turn its head toward me while it increases the sound of its whispering. Its sounds dig deep into my head like screwdrivers being forced into my ears. Holding my ears I close my eyes and pray for it to stop. The creature begins to walk toward the bed while still shaking violently, its bones cracking and grinding every time it takes a step. The harsh whispers begin to get louder as it closes in. The creature’s mouth is slowly dripping blood as its lips move, eyes without pupils and skinny body bending and crunching with every step. Unwillingly, my eyes are forced to look straight into its big eyes, long wet hair dripping wet. When it reaches the foot of my bed, my arms drop to my sides, statue-like. My body is frozen. The figure puts its bony arms on the bed and starts to slowly crawl toward me. The whispers become unbearable and I feel my ears beginning to drip blood. The creature stops right in front of my horrified face. It stops shaking and whispers in a hurt voice. “Don’t do it…”

    I wake up screaming and pushing off my blankets. I scramble vigorously out of bed and run to the door. I realize that I am looking down a hallway with people staring at me and a doctor walking toward me. “Hey are you feeling okay?” he asks. “Where am I?” I ask frantically looking around. “You’re in the Swedish Hospital, here, lets go into your room-” “NO! Please don’t take me in there!” I shout and run as he walks toward me. “ Th-ther’es something in there! Its not human!” He grabs my arm. “ Its alright! We won’t go in!” He tells a nearby nurse to take me to another room while he checked the room. I’m led to another room with more windows and a bathroom. I calm down when the doctor told me that it was just a dream and that there was nothing there. Later that day, more doctors come to visit me and tell me that my parents were murdered while I was asleep and that no traces were left of the murderer or murderers. I began crying just listening to them talk about my parents. A Child Protective Services representative came in to talk to me about my future. She said that since my parents were both single children, I didn’t have any family I could stay with permanently. I was an orphan. And I would live in a foster home forever.

    I was going to meet my foster parents that same day. All my belongings were going to be sent to their house. My foster parents’ names were Susan and William King and they were in their forties. Susan was calm and liked to dress fashionably and make herself look younger. She would mostly always wear knee skirts with a modern sweater. William was balding and was a bit chunky, he would mostly wear jeans with a tucked in plaid shirt. The first time I met them they looked like a troubled couple but when they saw me, they straightened up and acted sorry and understanding. That day it was August 1, 2010. Two weeks before my birthday. The Kings lived in a lonely house on the edge of Greenlake, 20 minutes from Seattle. I didn’t feel like talking on the drive back to their house and so the Kings kept quite on the ride back to let me absorb everything. When we arrived, I noticed that the house looked old and unoccupied. The lake behind it was still, reflecting the gray clouds coming to smother Seattle once again. My steps on the dirt road seemed unfamiliar to me. The gray view of the two story house looked sad and depressing. Susan put her hand on my shoulder and told me to come in. When we reached the front door I felt uneasy. The sound of William’s old rusty key being inserted was shrill and made the hairs on my neck stand up. This was going to be the first night of the rest of my life.

    Inside, the house was lit brightly. The chandelier above cast queer reflections in every direction on the walls. Inside was a large staircase leading up to the second floor. A wide black piano near the staircase, and two openings on the sides leading to the kitchen and living room, and in the end, the dining room. “Nathan, follow me, I’ll show you your room.” William said while walking up the stairs. I followed him up the stairs and led me to my room near the end of the hallway. “This is you room,” he said opening the door. The nude figure was in the corner staring at me. I froze. “and the bathroom is right here.” William said walking toward the figure. As soon as he passed it, it disappeared as if it were never there. “What’s wrong Nathan?” he asked staring at me. “N-nothing, I, I just though I saw something. “Like what?” He asked. “I don’t know, I think I’m just tired, its been a long day for me.” I said rubbing my eyes. “Alright son, well, I’ll just let you settle down. Is this all your belongings?” he asked pointing at boxes leaning against the wall. “I’ll look through them later.” I said. “You don’t want to eat before you go to bed?” “No, thanks I’m gonna go to bed now.” “Alright, well, I’ll be downstairs if you need anything., and my room is next door alright?” he said smiling. “Yeah, thanks for your hospitality.” I said looking at the ground. “Its alright son.” he said shutting the door.

    The next morning, I woke up with my face moist and stiff from crying and sweating most of the night. I sat up, massaged my shoulder and stood up. I looked at myself in the mirror across the room and stood up. I was a mess. I looked like I hadn’t slept for days and was run over by a tractor. I looked at the bathroom door and froze, remembering what happened last time I opened one. I went to the bedroom door and opened it all the way. The smell of French toast and eggs invaded my head. I had to wash up if I wanted to claim my prize. Slowly, I crept up to the bathroom door and opened up he door quickly. Nothing. A regular bathroom. I crept inside and felt better. I took a shower, and brushed my teeth. Feeling like I just won against a powerful enemy, I went downstairs and claimed my prize.

    The next few days, I got to know Susan and William better. They had been married twenty-two years. Susan worked as a teacher and William as a bartender. I never thought I would get along with two adults I just met. It was when I was away from them that I always felt unsafe. When Susan and William weren’t home or at work, is when I would feel unsafe. Like if something or someone was watching me. To forget about this, I would usually watch TV, walk to Seattle and roam around the Space Needle Park, or play my electric guitar. When Susan or William came home, it was like seeing old friends again. It came to a level that I couldn’t stand being alone or else feel hopeless and depressed. I began to notice that I was changing in a way.

    The day was August 15, 2010. My birthday. I was now sixteen. William and Susan planned a small party to celebrate this special day for me and to cheer me up and leave the dark past behind. This day they told me they had a surprise for me and that I should go wait in my room for them to prepare. I walk into my room feeling excited with butterflies in my stomach. I sit onto my bed and rub my hands together thinking of what the surprise could be. I lay down looking up at the ceiling and unwillingly close my eyes and fall asleep. The next thing I know, its dark outside. There is a faint stench of cookies downstairs. “My surprise! I fell asleep!” I whisper. “Damn it!” I exclaim running downstairs. I reach the kitchen and I cant believe what I’m seeing. William and Susan’s cut up bodies on top of the dining room table. Birthday rafters and balloons all around the kitchen and dining room. Blood and chunks of human flesh on the walls, ceiling, and floor. A bloody butcher knife in my hand. A smirk on my face. The creature eating pieces of the Kings.
    “Happy Birthday...” I say to it.