Nightmare

Suddenly a scream emerges from room 358 – Tim the schizophrenic must be having a nightmare again.  Duty calls so I quickly move on to his room. ‘Hello Tim’.  His eyes quickly turn on me ‘Natalia he wants to kill me, don’t let him kill me’. ‘Calm down, it’s okay – I will not let him harm you.  Do you trust me?.’ ‘But..’ ‘Tim, do you trust me?’ ‘ Yes.’ I sit on the bed next to him and put my arm around him to calm him down.  ‘You treat me like a person, no one else does they act like I am crazy.’ ‘Don’t worry about them; remember what I told you – be yourself. Tomorrow I want you to paint something in red and black and then explain the meaning to me, agreed?’. ‘Of course, I love painting.’ ‘Good and in trade I will make him go away.’ I start to hum a little until he nods off and like clockwork the nightmare begins again as he becomes listless, I guess it is chemistry.  I take a finger nail and make a small incision on his arm and as I taste the blood I am able to penetrate his mind.  Oh yes, I can see the darkness there; the demons compelling me to do unspeakable things again.  Instead I control myself taking in his demons as his listlessness ceases and my excitement grows.  I leave the room and enter a small relatively unused storage room; I sometimes hide out here when needed.  I sit a moment, the images of a dark stranger in a hospital ward stalking me with a knife. He speaks to me ‘You are useless’. ‘ You cannot do anything right, what is wrong with you.’ ‘One day I am going to murder you and no one will care.’ His father possibly.  He takes the knife and slices it across my face as blood starts to spatter all over, red and beautiful almost glowing. Then he says she is first and you cannot do anything to help her pointing to a small girl shrouded in darkness.  Is she part of the nightmare or possibly one of my own memories? No matter, my fingernails extend and the crimson glowing like copper ore among the gray iris of my eyes.  As he approaches the little girl I grab his throat and plunge my teeth deep inside of his neck ripping and tearing a large hole as blood goes everywhere. Taking my hands I plunge one into his chest breaking multiple ribs and pushing his heart through his back. Oh yes, bathing in blood I feast on his intentions and show him the price of admission.  This nightmare will never plague Tim again but there are many others.  It is mine now and one day I know all of these thoughts I have taken in will manifest again.