Of Nightmares and Spirits, Fiona Estelle Hamilton [the reading strategies book .TXT] 📗

moment. With not a word, Aaron took his belongings and left the office. Deciding there was nothing else to do, but to go home, Aaron did just that.

Later, Aaron figured he would go for a walk. Maybe this would clear his head. He did his best to get home before sunset. Aaron did not wish to see anymore clowns. Surely, the effects from the gas had to be over by now?

He felt hopeless. He felt utterly alone. Mary probably didn't even believe him when he told her what had been happening, so why should he bother calling her? Aaron wished he could have gone back to the night of the circus and prevented the whole thing from happening.

Aaron felt the climb up the stairs to his apartment building was longer than usual. Some of the lights were flickering down the hallway. Maybe he was hallucinating again. He tried to rub his eyes, but the lights continued to flicker.

 

Figuring he had no choice but to go down that hallway, he did. It was the only route to his room. As long as he didn’t see any clowns, he’d be fine. As he rounded the corner to get to his room, Aaron heard a voice call his name. It was a hoarse whisper that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. Turning towards the direction he heard the call, Aaron could see a figure walking in his direction. His senses were telling him he was in danger, but his sudden fear was stopping him from moving.

The figure came closer and Aaron could make out the person’s features. White face make-up, a bulbous red nose, a seemingly permanent evil grin. A clown.

Something within Aaron burst and he no longer felt paralyzed by fear. He broke into a sprint, running straight down the hallway, in hopes to get away from his tormenter. Aaron turned around to see the clown was chasing after him. Just as the clown from his nightmare from a few nights ago. Aaron prayed that this clown wasn’t carrying a butcher knife.

Why were the clowns he saw after him? What did they want? Did they want to kill him? Did they just find it amusing to drive him insane? Aaron knew they were just hallucinations, but could such hallucinations be the death of him? He didn’t want to find out.

 

I myself don’t even know why these ‘hallucinations’ were after Mr. Richards. It is very puzzling, isn’t it fear hounds? To be frightfully honest, I’m not sure if what happened to him was just part of his imagination or something worse. I suppose I should tell you, it was shock he eventually died from. I tell you, fear does things to you! It can be a thrill, or it can cause your demise. Let’s see what next happens to Mr. Richards, shall we?

 

The clown had been chasing him for two mniutes. Aaron was thinking desperately about where he could possibly hide. Things just seemed to be getting worse the more the clown gave chase. Now, he was in the midst of panic attack while trying to get away from the one that had triggered it.

Aaron saw an emergency exit door, but knew if he used it, he would be in a lot of trouble. This meant the clown had him cornered. Aaron pressed his back against the door, and then sank to the floor. He curled in a fetal position and braced himself for what was to come.

The clown approached him, still wearing that God awful grin. He had something hidden behind his back. Aaron figured it was a knife. When the clown finally revealed what he was hiding behind his back, he had Aaron wishing it was a knife.

From behind his back, the clown produced a severed head. This wasn’t just anyone’s severed head either. The head belonged to the childhood friend he had witnessed being kidnapped. Aaron didn’t know when he started screaming, but when he realized it was his own voice he was hearing, Aaron fainted.

When Aaron regained consciousness, he found he was in a hospital room. He began to suspect that perhaps the clowns he had been seeing were not just hallucinations. The boy’s head Aaron had seen in the clown’s hand…it just appeared to be too real. Aaron was never going to forget that image. The absolute look of horror on the boy’s face was something that was going to stick with him.

A nurse entered the room, causing Aaron’s train of thought to disappear.

“Are you doing alright?” she asked.

Truthfully, Aaron knew he wasn’t. Seeing clowns was normal on some occasions. Seeing clowns that wanted to harm him for whatever reason was not, however.

“Why am I here?” Aaron blurted out suddenly. “How did I get here? Who brought me here?”

The nurse proceeded to explain. “According to witnesses, they heard you screaming. When they found you, you were screaming at nothing. Nothing was there and you were screaming at air. The person who called nine-one-one said you passed out after yelling something about a clown. An ambulance took you here and we’re going to keep you here for a while. Just to see if you’re alright.”

So it was a hallucination. Aaron thought bitterly.

“Sir, were you drinking or doing drugs before you began to scream? I need to know.” The nurse spoke once more, a clipboard in hand writing down Aaron’s vitals.

Aaron swallowed nervously but decided enough was enough. He would tell her about the night at the circus.

The nurse wrote down everything he told her, carefully getting every little detail. Aaron could see the look of worry and concern on the nurse’s face. He wondered why he even bothered tell her what had been happening.

When he was finished, the nurse came to two conclusions: Aaron was either drugged or he was mentally unstable. She thought it best to go with the drugged route.

“Mr. Richards, I believe whatever was in that gas has caused you to become drugged for a lengthy amount of time,” the nurse spoke carefully and cautiously. She did not wish to anger him.

A sense of relief washed over Aaron but, what she said next made the temporary relief fade. “However, I do think talking to a therapist would be helpful.”

Aaron became confused. If he was drugged, why did he need a psychiatrist? Deciding it would not help to question her, Aaron agreed to his nurse’s suggestion. An idea suddenly popped into his head. There was a slim a possibility that he could sleep without any dreams. No dreams meant no nightmares. No nightmares meant a good night’s sleep.

It was a risky move, but Aaron took the chance. “Nurse?” He called, “Do you think you could give a sedative? So I could sleep? I have not slept very well in a while. A sedative could help me.”

The nurse figured there was no harm in doing so, so she prepared a mild sedative and then gave it to the tired man. Aaron was asleep in minutes.

The nurse was relieved for her patient. He was sleeping well and there wasn’t any more talk of clowns. Maybe now he will get the help he needs. She thought. Aaron had no dreams for the duration he slept.

Things seem to be going well for Mr. Richards as of now, but don’t be fooled fear seekers; not everything is as it seems. There’s a reason why Mr. Richards is lying cold in a coffin, rather than enjoying the full moon right now. What’s the reason you ask? Well, I’m not going to spoil the ending for you! Keep reading and find out. He doesn’t exactly go peacefully!

Aaron awoke sometime later that night. Not because of a nightmare, but because the sedative wore off. He debated calling for a nurse to give him some more, but stopped himself. The last thing he needed was to develop a dependency on sedatives in order to sleep. He rolled over on his side and closed his eyes, begging his subconscious not to give him any nightmares.

Aaron spent five minutes trying to go back to sleep, when he felt a presence in the room with him. “Nurse, if it’s possible, could you please give me another small sedative?” He received no response. “Ma’am, did you hear me?” Aaron asked.

Finally a voice responded, but it was not his nurse. “I’m sorry to inform you, we don’t give sedatives at this time of night or morning I should say It is four o’ clock in the morning, after all.”

“But I don’t want to have any nightmares!” Aaron argued back, still not turning to face the person behind him. “They’re not so bad,” the person countered.

Aaron swallowed nervously. He didn’t like where this was going. He mustered his courage anyway and decided to try to outwit his psyche. “Answer me a few questions, would you?” Aaron inquired. The person agreed to do so. Aaron began to ask the questions.

“Do you work here?”

“I do.”

“How long have you worked here?”

“Hmm…About fifteen years.”

“Are you a nurse or doctor?”

“A nurse.”

“Why are you here right now?”

“Checking on you of course! I need to make sure you’re alright!”

Aaron hesitated. “Why?”

“It’s my job to do so!”

Aaron came to a conclusion and came up with a plan. “I am going to turn around. If I see you are, in fact, telling the truth, I will go back to sleep. If you are not who you claim to be, I am going to run out of this room, alerting people of your presence and you will be removed.”

He could hear the grin in the person’s voice when she responded. “Sounds good to me.”

Aaron turned to the other side, facing the person before him. A female clown, holding a needle. Aaron’s breath caught in his throat, and once again, fear seemed to paralyze him.

The clown began to taunt him. “What’s the matter? I thought you were going to leave! No? I’ll have to take immediate action!” The clown came at Aaron with the needle, laughing all the while.

Aaron darted off of the hospital bed and into the hallways. He didn’t know where he was going, but he had to escape his psyche before it killed him.

As he passed other patients rooms, he could see his psyche was turning them into clowns as well. Aaron was desperately trying to convince his subconscious to stop creating these visions. It wasn’t working. Aaron kept running and didn’t look back. He found a stairwell and ran down the stairs as quickly and carefully as he possibly could. From the sound of it, there was a horde of clowns after him, not just one.

This, as expected, triggered a massive anxiety attack. Aaron was trying his best to control his breathing as he continued down the stairs, but nothing seemed to work. He felt as though his heart was going to burst from his chest. It didn’t help that there were no lights in the area he was in. Aaron was in complete darkness, unable to see anything in front of him.

A few seconds later, Aaron’s legs became tangled between one another, causing him to fall forward. Aaron didn’t land for at least five seconds. When he did, he landed face first onto the hard floor below. He felt warm blood streaming out of his nose; he also noted his jaw felt odd. Aaron supposed it was broken. Aaron heard the clowns voices coming from above him. They knew he was there. He was in so much pain however, it was hard for him to move.

The voices drew closer. Wasn’t there a light switch somewhere? He felt for walls, desperately looking for anything that would provide a source of light. If he could see, he could look for any weapons that could be used to defend himself.

Aaron felt nothing along the wall. He thought it was too late anyway. The clowns were coming. Their voices were filled with fiendish glee as they called out his name. Aaron warned them to stay back, but to no avail. He could feel them surrounding