The Resurrection Of Amelia D. Taylor (6) Whispers and small voices started saying things again. Things he couldn’t understand. “Amelia!” No response. William sniffed the air then threw his hand up over his mouth. He could smell smoke. Deep, thick smoke. Chapter 15 Amelia kept her eyes shut, but making sure she didn’t fall asleep. The silence throughout the room haunted her on the inside. Amelia thought to herself, that this was the silence that seemed louder than spoken words. Wich on some cases she supposed was true. When she could hear her own thoughts screaming out into the open air, it was louder than if there were a conversation going on in the room. Yet, Amelia was used to the silence by now. This was a silence she almost couldn’t bear. There was an eerie coolness of the room that shook her to the bone. She didn’t like it one bit. Amelia rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. Every so often the broken shards of the porcelain doll she had destroyed caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Slowly, the feeling of regret submerged from her deep pool of conscious. In the morning she would be wishing she had never done it in the first place. Amelia threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She trembled a bit, then caught her balance and walked over to the bureau. She stood in front of it looking in the mirror. Her scratched reflection was faded with the lack of light. She could faintly see the outlines of tables and wall supports behind her, and she could see the silhouette of hair strands that had been misplaced. Amelia stared hard in the mirror. She couldn’t feel anything at this moment hardly. She didn’t feel cold like she had a moment ago. She wasn’t feeling the regret of destroying the doll at this moment. But she could plainly feel the presence of someone behind her. She wouldn’t turn around. She just kept looking in the mirror, and she would continue looking for someone she couldn’t find. No one was behind her in the mirror, but she knew there was. She could almost feel the breath on her neck. It was so cold. Almost like a breeze. She felt the grasp on her shoulder. The light squeeze of human hands. Yet these hands weren’t human. They were so cold…They made Amelia shiver. She felt the eyes staring at her in the mirror, even though she couldn’t see the eyes. She couldn’t see anything. No one but her. Then there was the whisper. The slightest, faintest whisper than she had to strain her ears to hear. The words were slurred and made the voice sound almost drunk. Yet Amelia was perfectly calm. She didn’t make a sound while the voice whispered to her. She didn’t move. Even her breathing was normal. It scared her. Oh, God. People are supposed to be scared when something like this is happening. Why aren’t you scared, Amelia? Are you that naive? She listened closely to the small whispers. They didn’t say anything important to her. Just bits and pieces of sentences. “I want…home. Need it. Need it. Find…here. There. No. There. Yes. There.” Amelia made a face. Nothing made any sense. There? Here? What was it? What was there to find? The voice broke into a short period of crying. It was quiet. As if hearing someone crying from a distance. Then the voices stopped. The crying stopped, and the silence was back. Amelia turned herself around slowly and held her head in her hand, looking down at the floor. The dim light coming through the cracks in the door from upstairs showed shadows of things that were near the stair case. Amelia noticed that a while ago. She recognized if someone was there, or if it was just something in the way. At this time, she could tell. Oh, how she wished she just couldn’t. The shadow of legs and hands. Standing against the wall. They were perfectly still. Amelia jerked her head upwards quickly and suddenly. No one. She squinted her eyes at the darkness, but she couldn’t see anyone or anything. But the shadows remained. And they stayed unmoving. She knew someone was there. Shadows like that didn’t get on the floor for no reason. Shadows didn’t have hands and legs. Amelia looked around the room, thinking of something to do. All she could do though, was blurt out the first thing she thought of. “Move.” Like a puppet, the shadow moved toward Amelia. She stared at it incredulously. “Come closer.” The shadow obeyed. It was almost amusing how obedient the shadows were. Amelia knew this was something serious though, and her face never twisted into the slight smile she felt inside. I can control this shadow. What else will it do. Amelia shook away the thought. It was instantly replaced with a new one. One she didn’t find at all pleasant. She almost hoped that the previous thought would come back. Carolina is still in the house. She bit her lip and slowly, her hand rose in front of her. Her palm faced the wall in front of her, and her fingers were spread. She felt the lightest touch of skin on hers. She knew for sure. Yes she did. “Carolina.” Amelia heard a little giggle. A little girl’s giggle. She just frowned. Nothing was funny about this. For heaven’s sake…Carolina was supposed to be dead. William killed her. Why was she here? “Why me?” “You broke my doll.” That was the first actual sentence Amelia had heard out of the voice. It was almost as eerie as the silence from earlier. Truthfully, Amelia preferred the silence. She still couldn’t understand though. Why wasn’t she scared? She knew who…what this thing was. This thing was that was talking to her; conversing with her, and she wasn’t scared. Just…curious. She scanned over the floor. The shadow showed that this thing was right in front of her. Carolina was standing right in front of her. She was touching her. She could feel skin, but it was so cold. Like feeling a breeze sweep across your fingers on a cool day. The shadow on the ground now showed arms and shoulders. Above her shoulders any more was covered by the shadow of the ceiling on the floor. Still nothing was visible in front of her. She felt ridiculous when she looked up from the floor and saw her holding her hand out at nothing. As the shadow started to move to the left and past Amelia, she could feel the cold air brushing past her, leaving her fingertips. The full shadow came from beneath it’s cover. She could see the figure of Carolina on the dimly lit floor. She stood in front of the bureau. In the mirror, Amelia could see her face. Her hair covered most of it, but she could make it out. She had been a beautiful young girl. She couldn’t imagine what she looked like now, and quite frankly, she didn’t want to. Carolina touched the mirror. Amelia could see the soft white fingers touch the cool glass. Carolina’s face was twisted in a strange expression, like a frown. She was disappointed. Amelia didn’t know why. Was it because she was dead? Did she even know she was dead? Amelia walked to her and stood beside her. It made her shiver, standing next to a girl that died already. Dead. Dead. Dead. Amelia stared at her and Carolina. They looked similar in a way. Long stringy brown hair. Carolina’s face was rounder than hers, And her skin was paler. But their eyes were both wide and had a certain mystique to them. Amelia wanted to talk to her. She didn’t know why, but she did. She knew she could, she’d already done it once. “We look alike don’t we? And you do really look almost identical to your doll.” Carolina frowned and Amelia looked at her in a strange way. She was thinking maybe she shouldn’t talk about the doll. “Maggie, was it?” She just kept going on. Stop it Amelia, goodness. Carolina shut her eyes. Amelia noticed something then. She looked like she was alive. She didn’t look like she had been tortured in the way she was at all. She looked completely normal, and that just wasn’t normal. You wouldn’t think that the way she would have looked now was burnt and mangled. However, she didn’t. Her skin was smooth and nearly flawless. Her hair was long and lovely. It seemed almost wrong in a sick way. Amelia sighed and looked beside her for Carolina. She didn’t even pay attention to the mourning girl in the mirror. “Where are you…?” she said in a whisper. Apparently, Carolina heard her. Her face shot away from the mirror, looking towards her bed. Amelia could feel cold air rise, almost in an exact way. She looked into the mirror, and saw that Carolina was pointing towards her bed. Amelia was slightly confused. Carolina wasn’t there. She was next to her…Why was she pointing over there? Amelia looked over to where Carolina was pointing. If she walked over there, she wouldn’t be able to see what she was doing, she would only be able to see her shadow. “There?” Amelia heard a long sigh. “Yes,” Carolina whispered. “Go.” She followed the orders and started walking towards the bed. Nothing was unusual. She could feel Carolina following her, trailing right behind her. Cool air flooded over Amelia’s back. Carolina was right there. She’s just so close… Amelia sat on the bed and looked beside her. Carolina’s shadow spread out on the comforter. Her arm was raised, pointing to the head board. Amelia touched it, and looked confused still. She didn’t understand. What on earth was she trying to tell her? “Here?” Amelia heard a loud thump on the wall in front of her behind the head board. Pieces of a difficult puzzle were trying to form inside Amelia’s head. Something about the wall. This wall. What about it? It looked completely normal to Amelia. Just a wall. Yet, Carolina was trying to tell her something, indefinitely. Amelia looked at the shadow, which showed that Carolina had her hand on the wall. She probably had hit it with her hand to get Amelia’s attention. “Behind…” “Behind what?” Amelia beckoned. “Behind…Behind.” “Behind what?” Carolina’s voice began to rise to an almost shriek. “Behind! Behind! Behind! Left behind!” Amelia looked behind the head board. It was so dark, she couldn’t see. Carolina wasn’t behind it though, there was just no way. She couldn’t possibly fit back there. “You’re not back there…I---” Amelia stopped and almost screamed as the bed jerked back away from the wall. Carolina had pushed it away. She was trying to tell Amelia something, and this was something big. She knew it. She stared at the wall, and she noticed something she might never have found. A small, flat doorknob that blended in almost perfectly with the color and texture of the wall. Amelia stood up off the bed, shaking slightly. She walked to the wall and stared for a moment. She could just barely make out the lines of a door in front of her. What she wondered most of all at this moment though, was why she hadn’t seen it before. Why was she just know seeing it? She looked to the floor. Carolina wasn’t there anymore, and to Amelia, that meant just one thing. She found her. Carolina was right in front of her. Just not so literally anymore… My God… Amelia reached for the knob on the wall with furiously shaking hands. She couldn’t feel her fingers, and she realized she was going numb from the fear building up inside of her. Either that, or the quick rush of adrenaline she was getting. She felt like screaming. Or crying. Something to calm her nerves. She was shuddering all over. This was too much, but she couldn’t stop. She twisted the doorknob. So slowly… Slow is the way to go. Easy now, easy. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but this seemed like a huge deal. After everything she’d been through, she deserved to know what happened. She deserved to see it. To see just what someone under the influence can do. The door slowly opened. It looked like opening up the wall in a very neat and tidy fashion. It would have been slightly funny if Amelia weren’t so scared right now. Amelia shut her eyes, but continued opening the door. She could feel her breath becoming more and more unsteady. She felt her heart race. She was scared now, really and truly scared out of her mind. The door was completely open, and Amelia’s eyes were shut so tight she thought they would get stuck that way. In her mind she was screaming at herself. You’re not losing this now. You have the opportunity, take it. Don’t give up because you’re scared. You’ve looked for this, searched, ached, pained. Take it, take it. Take it now. “Shut up…” she whispered to herself. She slowly opened her eyes, her vision somewhat blurred at first. Yet, once her vision was clear, she couldn’t look away. Carolina lay crumpled and broken on the floor. Her eyes were open and her skin was almost black with burns. Dried blood was all over the walls. Small bloody handprints lined the inside of the door. Carolina’s eyes were open and cloudy. This was awful…This…this was worse than anything that could happen. This was what torture looked like. This was hell. Amelia’s vision became blurry again. She thought she felt tears run down her cheeks, but she couldn’t tell. What she did feel however, was her falling hard to her knees, staring unbelievingly at Carolina’s twisted body. Such a beautiful life, turned into this… Amelia reached behind her and closed the door. She had her hand over her mouth, and she was gasping to try and hold back tears. She leaned against the wall, pushing herself against it, actually. She was in shock. “God…God…” Yet, this was more like the devil’s bidding. Just done by someone who resembled an angel. Who thought, of all people, William would do something like this. Why him? Why Amelia? Why me? Chapter 16 Amelia sat on the bed, staring at her hands. She hadn’t bothered pushing back the bed to it’s original position. She didn’t think she had the strength. She could hardly sit up straight and she had a throbbing headache now. So many things were running through her mind. All she wanted to do was go to sleep… That’s what she did. She laid down, closed her eyes, and within moments she was fast asleep. She knew before she had drifted off that she wouldn’t sleep well. She would sleep soundly, but she would wake in a cold sweat that night. * * * A young girl lay strapped down to a cold metal table, pulling her way from her restraints. She knew it wouldn’t do her any good. Already, she had deep cuts and streams of blood running down her arms. She was blindfolded and couldn’t see where she was or who she was with. She thought she was in the hospital in critical condition, but now she was certain she was somewhere else. She heard light footsteps pacing high-speed around the room. She heard no other sounds, other than the occasional clunking of metal on metal. A strong scent filled the air that nearly choked her. It was a foreign smell, one she’d never experienced, but it was awful. She could pick out what smelled like burnt flesh and something else. She knew where the burnt flesh was from. It was from her own body. She knew she had been trapped in a flame. She knew she was probably going to die. She felt warm hands stroke her cheek. She was scared though. She didn’t know who it was, but she figured it wasn’t a doctor or anyone. “Hello, my beautiful girl,” said a deep voice. The girl knew that voice. She knew every sound that voice could make. She smiled “Hi, Daddy.” The man sniffed. He was nearer to tears than he had been retrieving his daughter from the burning house. She was in front of him, burnt, bleeding, dying, and only he could save her. if he could save her. He would follow all directions given to him. Damien had made them specific. “Don’t mess up and we’ll be fine. Use that brilliant mind I gave to you.” The girl fought to get off her blindfold, but the man only tightened her restraints. The girl winced with pain as some of her skin peeled away. She couldn’t barely feel it now, because it was so damaged, but it still hurt her like crazy. The man bent down to whisper to his daughter, gently stroking her hair back and tying it with a string. “Whatever I do to you, Carolina, I’m trying to help you.” She didn’t like the sound of that. She knew then that it would be painful, and it would be cruel. She wanted to cry, but it hurt her too much. “Daddy, don’t. Please,” she pleaded. He didn’t listen. He rubbed her down with a strong smelling liquid. It burned her skin and made it peel when it dried. It hurt her, but she didn’t scream. She didn’t make a noise. She figured she would safe the screaming for when it did hurt, to try and make it hurt just a bit less. As the man peeled the skin away, he dabbed her with a slightly wet cloth. That hurt her even worse, it was like shoving something under her skin. She whimpered, but that was all. More was coming. She would be strong. Blood was pooling on the metal table. It made the man queasy to look at. He didn’t have a problem with blood, really, but it was his daughter who was bleeding like this, and that gave him a sick-to-his-stomach feeling. He reached over to a small stand to his right and picked up what looked like a large pair of pliers. He cut off pieces of skin that were still alright, but he needed it all off. The girl gasped and shrieked quietly in pain. “I know, baby, I know,” the man said comfortingly. But he didn’t know. He couldn’t possibly feel the pain the girl was feeling. The man noticed that the girl was shivering intensely. That worried him. She was losing a lot of blood, but she still had plenty, he thought, that she would remain alive. He set his instrument down and watched her for a moment. For a long while, she just shook savagely. Then, he watched in horror as her eyes rolled back into her head, and she twisted and jerked violently. He couldn’t do anything. Holding her down would cause to much pain since she had hardly any skin. He just watched her writhe with such pain in his eyes. While she was having her episode, he turned away and opened a few clear jars on the counter across the room. The liquid in the jars burned the inside of his nose because it was so strong. He held his breath as he carefully took out strips of skin. He laid the wet skin out on the counter and got a “glue” as Damien called it. It was really just a bunch of chemicals together than would make the skin stick and grow together, if it was used right. It was a foul liquid. The man had spilled some on his leg and it burned his skin like fire. It would have almost a reverse effect on his daughter. Or so he hoped. He turned back to the metal table his daughter was laying on. She was breathing hard and bleeding rapidly. He had to work quick. Without hesitating, he began pouring the glue over the girls neck. She screamed in agonizing pain. It hurt so bad. It was like burning all over again, only worse. She clenched her fists, which only made them bleed more. She was so miserable. She kept thinking ‘end me now, please, just kill me. Don’t make me suffer.’ The man watched the girl as her heart began beating…racing. It was going so fast. He could see it thumping through her chest. That was not supposed to happen. The man started getting scared. He turned away to get a roll of white bandages, then turned back around. He noticed that the girl was bleeding through the chest. The worse case scenario was happening. “No. No. No!” the man screamed. Her heart was literally breaking. He looked around frantically for something to help her. He couldn’t find anything. Damien explained to him that if this happened, there was nothing he could do. He’d already messed it up for good. But the man wouldn’t accept this. It was his daughter lying on the table dying before him. The only thing that was keeping him sane for all these years. But he had to think. This wasn’t sane. Not at all. This was insane. Sanity was beyond his reach at this point. So, he watched her bleed. Watched her turn white. Watched her turn black again. She knew that would happen. It would look like she did when he found her. He preferred it this way. He wouldn’t be able to stand just seeing her with no skin. But he wouldn’t see her at all, anyway. He needed to get rid of the body. Put t somewhere that no one would find. Ever. He dug out the wall, and he put the girl inside. He moved her furniture around so that no one would suspect anything. He blended the door in with the walls. Only he would know where she was, and he would try to forget himself. He would try. * * * Amelia woke up, shaking her head violently. The door to the basement was open. She stared at the open door as if she was hypnotized. She felled like she was, too. She couldn’t tell why. She stood up, shaking all over, and walked to the bureau mirror. She stood for a long time at her sad reflection. She looked worse than ever. She really did. One thing was on her mind at this point. Death. Nothing else seemed to want to even scratch the surface of her thoughts. It was awful. She looked at the oil lamp hanging next to her and an idea instantly shot into her mind. She wanted to shake it, but she couldn’t. She was in trance by the almost premonition like dream she had just had. She reached over and grabbed the lamp, setting it on the top of the bureau. She just stared at it for a while, watching the flame dance around inside of the glass holding. It looked like it wanted to get out. Like it yearned to dance free. Amelia picked up the lamp and held it up so that it was just higher than her shoulder. She looked in the mirror and knew that she was crazy. She didn’t care. She really could care less. She was hesitating though, despite what she was thinking right now. She heard footsteps walking down the steps, and she saw William standing at the foot of the staircase with a bewildered look on his face. He just stared at Amelia in the mirror and swallowed. “Amelia…put it down.” Amelia’s lip quivered and she shook her head. “Amelia,” he called. “Amelia, please.” She shook her head again. She was being stubborn and she knew it. It wouldn’t matter in a minute. She was sure. “Amelia, put it down!” Yes, put it down Amelia. Drop it! “Amelia!” William screamed. He was desperate now. He stumbled forward and tried to get to her. He wasn’t quick enough…He knew he would be just a moment to late. “…wench,” Amelia cursed at her reflection. She dropped the lamp and oil spilled over the floor below her feet. The flame from inside the glass danced across the oil spill and up Amelia’s legs. Amelia was in hysterics by now. This was so stupid. Why the heck did she do that? You did it, fool. Now what? William pushed Amelia down and out of the way. The flames rose up to her neck and swallowed her face. She could feel William throwing blankets and everything he could over her to try and smother the flame. So far he, wasn’t succeeding. “Hang in their, Amelia. For me, please.” William was crying. Amelia wanted to nod, but she couldn’t feel anything. Her vision went blank, and her body went cold on the inside, despite how hot she was on the outside. Her body ached and her skin pained. This wasn’t supposed to happen, she thought. She was dying, wasn’t she? Wasn’t she…? Chapter 17 William stood looking over at Amelia’s crumbled body. No, no, no. He cursed himself in his head. Why? Why is this happening again. Again. This has happened twice. This wasn’t supposed to be happening again. Life doesn’t repeat itself. Does it? He was almost emotionless. He felt a depression stirring deep inside him. So she knew, and she was upset, and now she’s dying. He knew she wasn’t dead. Her chest rose and fell slowly and softly. Her fingers jerked slightly every couple of seconds. Yet, she was completely still. It was scary. She looked peaceful and wretched at the same time. Maybe it was just her face, because she was so expressionless. William swore though, he saw her smiling. He waited as the flames settled and her skin cooled. He knelt by her, practically falling to his knees as he knelt. He touched her arm. It was sickening to see her alive and like this. She looked worse than Carolina had. Her skin was shriveled and burnt everywhere as far as William could see. Her hair was almost completely gone, and what wasn’t was turned into tiny ashes. The floor beneath her was burnt and almost matched her skin. It looked to William as if the world had come crashing down around her. Something then came to William. He wondered why the area around her was the only thing that burned. Everything else was left untouched by the flames. He sat there on the floor beside Amelia and stared in disbelief. He was pondering what he was going to do. He would probably just take her to the hospital. You’re not messing up again, just play it safe. William gently pushed his arms underneath Amelia’s body and lifted her from the floor. Her eyes shut tighter, and he noticed skin drift to the floor. He wanted her to open her eyes. He just wanted to see her eyes. “Amelia,” he began, “Can you look at me?” Amelia shifted in Williams arms. She opened her eyes slightly, and that was enough. William could see her eyes, and that made him feel better. “I’m taking you to get help, ok?” Amelia just shut her eyes again and laid still. William pushed himself up off the floor and stood, holding Amelia gently, yet secure. He began walking quickly toward the stairs, but slowed down as he started to climb up. He needed to be paying attention to wear he was going, but he wanted to keep looking at Amelia. She stirred slightly as he walked up the stairs. She gripped at his shirt, and he held her closer. “It’s okay, I wont drop you,” he whispered. Amelia made slight groaning sounds and gripped harder at his clothing. He noticed that blood was now being rubbed on his shirt from Amelia dripping so hard. Her skin broke away with every move she made. “Amelia, please stop that.” She just groaned and gripped tighter. “Will…William,” she muttered. Her voice was shaky and low. He could hardly hear her. He leaned closer to her so that he could understand a bit better. She opened her eyes a bit more than she first had. It relieved William to know that her eyes remained untouched. “Don’t take me…” “Amelia, I---” “Don’t take me. Please.” William sighed. She needed help, but she didn’t want it. Amelia would end up killing herself before William got to the hospital. He kept walking up the stairs slowly. As he walked through the door, Amelia nearly fell out of his arms from struggling so much. “Amelia, Amelia…It’s alright. I’m not taking you to the hospital.” She was still again. William walked over and set her in a large red seat. Her skin was peeling even worse now, just from moving her from where she was into this room. William sat across the room from her in a small wooden rocking chair. He leaned over himself with his elbows on his legs and his head hung. He scratched the top of his head. So she was sitting there dying in front of him, she didn’t want help, she wouldn’t go near a hospital. What was there left to do? There was nothing… “Amelia, you know I can’t do anything for you.” “I want---” “You need to get some kind of medical help. Medicine. Surgery.” William got up from his seat, not even paying attention to Amelia. He realized he was talking to her, but it sounded as if he was talking to himself about her. “I can’t just leave you here. You’re getting worse and worse.” Amelia groaned and sat up slightly. She winced in pain. “William…” “I mean, I know you don’t want to go, but I cant just let you sit there and do nothing.” Amelia spoke up a bit louder this time. “William…please.” William didn’t appear to hear Amelia. That, or he wasn’t listening. Probably, he was just too caught up in the moment. Amelia couldn’t blame him. “Doctors could help you, but then they would want a reason why your like this.” Amelia cleared her through, and William kept on. “What would I tell them? You tried to commit suicide? Why did you anyway? Why did you---” “William,” Amelia said in a stern voice. It was loud for someone in her condition. Now she had his attention. Her voice was crackly, and she coughed every few words and continually stopped to catch her breath. “If you tried to complete a successful resurrection with Carolina but only failed with one mistake, possibly you could try again with me.” William stared at her wide eyed. “Amelia, I can’t---” “You can.” She smiled slightly. “What have I left to lose, William? My heart is filled with ash and my body is being swallowed with it as well…” She was talking poetically. To her, a sure sign she was going mental. It was more like schizophrenic. She had been hearing voices. The voices made her do this. Amelia shook her head. “Now you know what was wrong in what you were doing. You learn from your mistakes, do you not?” William nodded. “So try again. Please…” William swallowed and looked at her almost furiously. “Amelia…I don’t know. I don’t have any materials or anything.”
Copyright © 2007 Jacqueline P Ervine |