Ghost Town Chapter One

Chapter One


         Kevin Stine could hear the screams from a mile away. The moon was bright and the sky was cloudless. Placing a cigarette in his mouth, he lit it and took a drag before heading off into the night towards the screams. West Haven was a town that was seldom boring. The screams seemed to be occurring much more frequently. This was the third one this month. Up until then, he would hear the screams maybe once a month if not once every two months.
         This one was a bit of a trek. The last scream he had went to investigate led just around the corner. This time, he had to walk past the bakery, across the street and into the park before he found the woman who had been screaming. He found her sitting next to a large oak tree with her knees pulled up under her chin, sobbing like a little child. He took another drag from his cigarette and moved over to her before placing a hand on her shoulder.
         "Are you okay?" he asked.
         "There was a man. He was chasing me," she told him.
         "Come on, we need to get you off the streets and to safety," he said.
         "Thank you," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
         "Glad to help," he told her.
         He, of course, wasn't going to take her where he had come from. She wasn't ready for that just yet. Instead, he was going to take her where he took all of people that he helped. Andrea McCloud was one of the best, a shrink with an outstanding reputation. He had seen her in action and her record spoke volumes. There was seldom a person that she failed to help. He considered her a very close friend.
         A block away from the park, on Carver Street, they arrived at an alley. As was to be expected of someone who had just been attacked by a raving lunatic, the woman stopped dead in her tracks and the look on her face told him that she had no intention of going down that alley with him. This also happened a lot, mostly with females but once in a while there were some timid males that were afraid as well.
         "Look at it this way. Whoever was chasing you would not think to look down a dark alley, right?" he asked her.
         "I guess not," she answered with a nod.
         "Here, I'll even sweeten the deal for you," he told her.
         "Oh yeah? How is that?" she asked.
         Reaching behind him, he removed a shimmering nickel plated pistol from his waistline and held it out to her. Her eyes widened as she stared at the pistol for a moment before reaching out with a quivering hand to pick it up. He took her hand in his free hand and placed it on the grip of the pistol firmly. She closed her hand around it tightly and he let go. Her hand started to drop until she was able to catch herself and she held the pistol in the air.
         "Right, come on." he said with a wave.
         "Where are we going?" she asked, taking a first step into the alley.
         "Right down to the end. See the big red door?"
         "Yeah, I see it. Okay."
         "Don't worry, you are safe in this alley."
         True to his word, they both made it to the end of the alley safely. Before the woman could grip the handle, the door opened wide and Andrea appeared in the doorway. Andrea's appearance made the woman stumble backwards and a high pitched scream shot out from her lungs. Andrea's appearance often did that. Andrea was a major fan of cos play and often wore costumes resembling movie or video game characters. This one was of an alien. Her skin was painted green and she had a skin cap on that was sporting several long tentacles.
         "Easy there." Andrea said. "It's a costume."
         "It's a what?" the woman demanded.
         "It's a costume. I cos play"
         "What the hell is cos play?"
         "Costume play. I dress up as characters."
         The woman picked herself up and Andrea motioned for them to follow her into the building. As soon as they were in, Andrea shut the door behind them and brought them into a small room right off the main entrance. It was the session room and he had been there plenty of times before but only once as a patient. Andrea had been amazed at how quickly he made progress with her and told him so. He had always been able to adapt so it was really no trouble for him.
         The room was quite professional despite Andrea's eccentric personality. Very few of her patients had ever seen her real appearance which the room was clearly designed for. There was a large desk to one side of the room near a water cooler and to the other side was a leather sofa and a few feet away from it was a chair that matched. Andrea took the chair and motioned for the woman to sit down on the sofa which she did reluctantly.
         "Your name is Susan, is it not?" Andrea asked the woman.
         "Do I know you?" the woman asked. "How did you know my name?"
         "We will get to that. Kevin, would you mind staying this time?"
         "You want me to stay? I mean, sure, I could."
         "I am afraid that Susan here is going to have a little trouble."
         He caught her eyes and she nodded her head slightly. Oh joy, this was going to be one hell of a night. When one of Andrea's patients had trouble, it was a real headache. Yet, he felt honored, not to be apart of the session but that Andrea had requested him to stay. That was a testament to how far the two of them had come since they met. It started out as an act of mercy on her part and then their friendship blossomed into what it was today. He took another drag of his cigarette and nodded his head. Game on.
         It had been during hectic circumstances that they met and now for the first time, he was able to give Susan a once over. He imagined that when her blonde hair wasn't so unkempt and her face wasn't marred with dirt and sweat that she was actually quite attractive. She had a fairly nice figure as well ; nice and shapely. At any other point in history, he knew that he would attempt to start some kind of a romantic relationship with her. Any other time.
         Not that he was in much better shape than she was. Sure, he didn't have dirt caked on his face but his hair was medium length and wild and he had a mustache and goatee combination that resembled folklore of the devil himself. He considered himself to be good looking but only one woman in the entire world would ever consider him acceptable enough to date but death had separated them years ago. He missed her and how she always used to tell him how handsome she thought he was.
         "Okay, Susan, tell me what you remember," Andrea started.
         "About the man who was chasing me?"
         "Oh, you were being chased? Do tell."
         "He was wearing a dress but it didn't look like any dress I had ever seen before."
         "Can you describe it?"
         Kevin could feel a chill running up and down his spine. He had considered the fact that the poor woman had been chased by a purse snatcher or even a mugger but the sad fact was he knew exactly who had attacked her. Even as he listened to her very vivid details of the "dress" as she put it, he could see the figure in his mind. The clothing, the face, the eyes. It was not an image for the weak of heart. It was the image that nightmares were based on and now he knew why Andrea had asked him to stay and why it was going to be a difficult night.
         "Very good," Andrea said after the description. "Susan, where were you when you were being chased?"
         "I was.. I was.. at a funeral," Susan answered in a voice of confusion.
         "At the cemetery?"
         "Yes."
         "Think carefully. Whose funeral were you attending?"
         Kevin took another drag from his cigarette and watched Susan intently. At first, she just stared at Andrea but a moment later she closed her eyes and seemed to be recalling the funeral. Every now and then, her face twitched and he glanced over at Andrea who looked about as uncomfortable as he felt. Suddenly, Susan's face contorted as a look of anguish fell upon her. A moment later, she leapt from the sofa and backed up towards the wall. Here we go.
         "No!" she screamed.
         "Susan, calm down," Andrea told her.
         "No!"
         "Susan, please, you have to calm down,"
         "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God,"
         "Screw this," Kevin said before grabbing Susan and throwing her back into the couch. "Do it, Andrea!"
         "No, she isn't ready," Andrea told him.
         "Andrea, do it, now! If you don't we will lose her."
         "You don't know that!"
         "Andrea!"
         He watched as Andrea walked over to her desk and picked up a glass. She walked over to the water cooler and filled the glass half full of water. Hesitantly, she carried the glass over to Susan and offered it to her. Susan was still freaking out pretty bad but the sight of the glass of water seemed to calm her at least for the moment. Susan wrapped her hand around the glass of water and Andrea informed her that she was going to let go. The moment she did, the glass of water fell right through Susan's hand and shattered on the ground.
         Susan jumped up again and ran to the corner of the room this time. She grabbed her hair tightly and dropped down so that she was sitting in the corner and brought her knees up to her chin. She began sobbing and repeating the word "no" over and over. Kevin glanced over at Andrea and held up a finger. He then moved over to the sobbing Susan and knelt down next to her, placing a hand on her knee. She looked up at him and their eyes met.
         "This is real, isn't it?" she asked.
         "This is real," he said with a nod.
         "I'm dead, aren't I?"