( a tape record from an unknown source)
By all accounts, Dr Elina Renes was the perfect woman.
Brilliant. Graceful. The kind of doctor who would cradle your hand and promise everything would be alright and mean it.
The people adored her- a doctor who is never tired, the doctor who never judged.
Mothers named their daughters after her.
The mayor once said, " if heavens ever lost an angel, we know where she landed".
Her son, Andy, worshipped her, adored her with pride.
For thirteen years, Andy had believed that his mother was a miracle dressed in white.
So amazing.
Until he saw the red room.
They lived alone in a white house at the end of town, where no birds ever lingered after sunset.
Andy was ten when he saw it.
He had a nightmare, the kind where his bedroom dissolved and he sank into something thick and chilling.
He woke up gasping and ran downstairs in tears, wanting his mother's arms and lullabies.
But the house was dark.
Except for the flickering red light beneath the basement door.
He never knew the basement had red lights, his mother always told him to stay away from it.
He hesitated for a moment, then tiptoed barefoot towards the door which was open an ich.
He heard a humming.
Not the lullaby- soft.
Not the motherly tune.
It was strange..... low.
It slithered more than sang.
He finally pushed the door open and saw-
Blood. Buckets of it
A metal table. His mother, his sweet mother, wearing gloves stained crimson red.
A scalpel in hand, hunched over a boy's body no older than Andy.
His chest was opened like a ruined book, his eyes were wide and glassy.
Andy stood frozen.
His mother turned slowly.
There was no shock. No horror on her face.
Just a calm, awful smile.
" back to bed, my little stargazer" she whispered, brushing a lock of Andy's hair behind his ear. " you are dreaming again, aren't you?"
Andy ran.
He locked the door and curled beneath his bed and didn't sleep.
His breath was heavy, his eyes were filled with tears.
He sobbed under his blanket until he finally fell asleep.
In the morning, there was no red lights, there was no basement door.
He walked into the kitchen.
Only pancakes, orange juice and a sweet kiss on his forehead.
" did you have another one of your episode?"
" i- i saw the basement, you were-"
Elina crouched down, cupping his face gently, " oh sweetheart, you had one of those dreams again"
" i didn't, i swear-"
" you're very special dear" his mother whispered, " but sometimes, your mind plays tricks, that's why daddy left, remember?"
Andy stiffened. His father had died in an accident when he was just a baby.
That's what his mother always told him.
" daddy couldn't handle it" she said softly,
" but i can. Am still here"
Andy didn't understand.
But he nodded anyway, because his mother was never wrong.
And he desperately needed it to be real.
As Andy grew older, the gaps in his memory widened.
He would wake up with his clothes damp, his hands sticky.
He'd hear dragging sounds in his dreams and humming in the walls.
Once, he found a tooth in his school bag. Another time, he woke up with blood beneath his fingernails.
When his mother saw it, she simply sighed,
" sweetheart..... not again"
" i didn't do anything-"
" you said that last time"
And she always said it with that disappointed, pitying warmth. The kind that made Andy feel like a broken doll in need of repair.
By fourteen, Andy no longer trusted himself.
He believed his mother when she said the blood on his sleeves was from sleepwalking.
That the screams at night were dreams.
That the children who went missing were never his classmates.
" sweetheart" Elina would whisper brushing his hair, " sometimes i worry you're becoming like me"
" what do you mean?"
Elina smiled sadly, " a little too curious, a little too....sharp"
And that night, Andy cried in the bath for reasons he couldn't name.
Then came the second sighting.
Three years later, a new red light.
This time, Andy followed the humming again.
Down the hallway, through the old basement door, which had reappeared as if summoned by memory.
He wasn't ten anymore. He wanted to know.
He need to know.
Inside was the same metal table.
But the body was gone, only bones now.
Bones strung up like wind chimes. Ribs bent like wings.
And his mother..... she was painting symbols on the walls in what Andy hoped was red paint.
Andy stepped back, gasping.
The humming stopped.
His mother didn't turn, " you're remembering again " she said flatly.
Andy trembled, " mom, what's going on?"
Elina turned, her face was still beautiful, but her eyes were old.
Not aged- but ancient. And smiling.
" didn't you see?" Elina cooed, " you're my legacy, you're just like me"
" i- I'm not like you!!"
Elina came close, so close her perfume burned like chemicals.
" you wish you weren't "
For the next three days, Andy was losing himself.
They said he had a psychotic break.
The hospital room was white. The pills were pink.
The doctor told him to rest, and his mother visited every morning with flowers and hot meals.
" i know it's hard" she would say, " but the mind can sometimes be a dangerous thing"
Andy no longer fought it.
He cried, nodded and took the pills.
He accepted the lie.
Because the truth was worse.
That night in their house, Elina sat in the kitchen table.
The lights were off, the air was thick with iron and smoke.
She sat there with her mug of coffee, waiting.
Then there he came.
Brook.
Still smiling. Still not like a cat.
He leapt into the counter, tail twitching, his smile still hung on his face like something borrowed.
" he saw too much?" He asked.
Elina nodded, sipping her coffee, " he always does, it runs in the blood"
" will he remember?"
"Not after next week. The treatment will take care of it"
Brook purred, low and bone-deep, " you've done well, Elina"
She looked at him with eyes that no longer seemed human.
Bright red eyes. Too still.
" hm" she simply said.
" he is the last one, right?" She asked.
Brook blinked slowly, then nodded.
" yes"
Elina sighed, " i want to keep him"
" you still can ", Brook said, " once he forgets the girl in the swing. The boy with the bat. The bridge"
Elina finally smiled.
" I'm a mother" she said, " but, I'm a monster too"
She reached under the table and pulled out the drawing Andy had hidden years ago.
A boy with black eyes, crying blood.
A tall man with no face.
A cat with a man's smile.
A woman with four long arms and three red eyes.
And under the drawing, in red crayon, were three words Andy won't remember writing:
I remember everything
Elina's smile twitched as she watched the paper burn.
Brook leaned in, eyes glowing.
" then we start early"
Elina smiled, teeth sharp beneath her red lips.
" yes"
[Kai returns]
" hmm, what a plot twist"
[@Jaija: the cat is back?!!]
[@Oviesix: no. No no no am not happy with this]
[@642: ohh~the little kitty is back, and a woman playing with her son's mind as he falls apart. We're eating good]
[@Oviesix: i know mothers are good in gas lighting, but this one is on another level]
[@642: i know right? The way she gaslit her son with honey in her voice left me stunned..... she earns my respect ]
[@Jaija: you're really crazy]
" you guys don't have to worry, she is doing it out of love you see. Parenting came in different form, its all about growth. Just sometimes it requires a scalpel..... and a willing parasite in a fur coat"
[@Oviesix: this is parenting?]
[@642: he is being sarcastic ]
[@Enchomay: when Elina said " back to bed, little stargazer" i froze. That's not a line, that's a spell]
[@Oviesix: wow really? The poor boy really suffered a lot ]
[@Jaija: guys, let's focus back to Brook. So he knew Elina and for what i observed....they are like colleagues? Partners?]
[@Oviesix: " you did well Elina " sounds like he is the boss here]
[@Enchomay: his mother said something about his blood, what's in his blood?]
[@642: speaking of bloodline.... what about his dad, did he really had an accident?]
[@Enchomay: well, the wife is not human, and she slaughters humans for a reason we don't know. I highly doubt the father's dead was just an "accident " as she said]
[@Jaija: but guys, what about Andy?]
[@642: the boy never had a chance, he was raised in a house filled with lies wrapped in sugar]
[@Jaija: he kept fighting, even after he saw the red room twice. He wanted to believe he was sick because the truth was too much. Poor boy]
[@Enchomay: i don't pity him. I fear him, because if he ever stops doubting himself... we'll see what the mother was really raising]
[@Oviesix: his mother called him her legacy, i wonder what she really think of him]
[@642: what if he is also a monster like his mother?]
[@Jaija: but Andy feels things, he cried, he resisted and he can feel love. Monsters don't do that ]
[@Enchomay: you're assuming emotion = innocence. Monsters cried too you know, just look at the mother the townsfolk call her an angel ]
[@642: Kai, what are you thoughts?]
".... he is just a young boy, who just wanted to be loved. Wanted to believe his mother was kind.
That his nightmares were just dreams.
And what's worse,
He didn't die. He still lives, with memories buried like landmines in his brain.
He walks around every day thinking he's the broken one.
Because when monsters raise you with kisses, you grow up mistaking the teeth for warmth.
* voice softens*
A boy trying to believe his home real.
* taps the side of his temple*
You don't need to be lock in a cage to be trapped, sometimes..... all it takes is love.
What a poor boy, really.
So remember my readers,
Just because something loves you, doesn't mean it won't eat you.
Bye now.