NUMBERS
Saturday
Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Gwen Evens convinced herself that she could slow things down, postpone the baby’s arrival through the night, at least until a gut-wrenching contraction made her grip the door handle with the same white knuckles that Tom had on the steering wheel.
When they arrived at Mercy, Tom snapped at one of the orderlies dressed in teddy bear scrubs, “Has anyone…?” But he knew by the way they avoided his panicked gaze. In the maternity ward, Gwen was examined and hooked up to IVs and monitors. Dr. Paulino arrived within the hour. Disappointment fleetingly graced his features, replaced quickly by a mask of hope. He squeezed Gwen’s hand and looked at his watch. “It may take time. We’ll go slow.”
But baby Joshua had other ideas. Two hours later, he came into the world and sucked enough air into his lungs for one great howl. The unfathomable silence that followed was quickly broken by another wail, a harrowing moan that filled the entire ward the way that only a grieving mother’s voice could.
The night breeze through the car windows blew Becca’s hair across her shoulders. She nestled into the backseat and wondered if Dave noticed. He leaned forward, telling Christian and Abby the three-legged cat joke that he had told her twice already, but she smiled when his hand slid between her knees. Abby rolled her eyes at the punchline and reached toward the radio knob as they began to lose the station.
“Where the hell are we? I have to pee.” The smoke Abby blew out her window came right back through Becca’s behind her. Becca coughed under her breath at the sweet, pungent cloud. She didn’t smoke that stuff, but she didn’t know Abby well enough to say anything. Dave’s best friend Christian had only been dating Abby for two weeks. He was the one who had planned the road trip.
As if on cue, they drove past a large white sign. Dave waved his bottle at Christian.
“Dude! Back up. What’d that say?” Christian hit the brakes and they all bounced forward. He revved the car backward and stopped at the sign. It was old fashioned, made of wood, painted white with black lettering.
Welcome to Balance, Nevada. Population 2,653. A nice place to live.
“Hope I don’t have to take a balance test,” Christian snickered.
“A nice place to live?” Abby snorted. “A sucky place to drive through.”
Dave smirked and squeezed Becca’s leg. “I don’t know. Plenty of open space, nice long grass, lots of privacy…” He leaned over and kissed her.
“What’s that one say?” Becca glared at the back of Abby’s seat in front of her, willing her to shut up. Christian stopped the car again, next to another wooden sign. He squinted and read it out loud.
“The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.
Numbers 26:53”
“Aww, man,” snorted Dave, “It’s one of those towns. Hide the children, Jackie Sue, them there e-vil kids’ got al-kee-hol!” All four of them laughed and Christian gunned the engine and roared up the road.
“Teenage heathens!” Dave gasped, “Batten down th-“ But no one battened down anything before the radio Abby was tuning emitted an ear-splitting screech and the gold clunker driven by Tom Evens plowed directly into her door.
Gwen’s eyes narrowed as ambulance lights reflected on her hospital room window. Not now. Not a mere three hours later. She tore the IV from her arm, but the alarm it set off beckoned a nurse before she even got out of bed.
“No, you don’t. You need to rest.” The nurse’s grip was strong and before Gwen could protest, a needle was thrust into her arm and the room began to swim.
____________________________________________
Sunday
It was an itch that brought Becca back to consciousness. An incessant itch on her right foot. She needed to scratch it. She willed her tired eyes to open, but her eyelids felt like lead. After a few moments, she made them part slightly, looking through her sticky lashes like an insect in a Venus flytrap. Something was wrong. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t move, but she could see the woman standing in the doorway. She tried to speak, but her lips were concrete. Exhausted, her eyes rolled back and she gave in to sweet darkness.
Gwen sat in the chair next to the girl. The girl who had survived the car accident that had killed her husband and two other teenagers. The girl’s eyes fluttered open again and she pulled confusedly at the restraints on her wrists. Gwen smoothed the girl’s hair and sighed at the pained moan stifled by the tape on Becca’s mouth.
“It’s Sunday, dear. There are no doctors. We don’t work on Sundays here. It’s a day of rest, of course.” The girl’s eyes widened and Gwen smiled, nodding toward the curtain that split the room.
“Don’t worry, though. The car accident was last night. Saturday. So there was time to balance before Sunday. I’ll have to try to keep that one alive through the day. Might not be easy, but I don’t know where we’ll get anyone else, and you know what happens if we’re out of balance.”
She got up and drew back the curtain. Becca could barely make out Dave’s mangled body. Was he missing an arm? Machines clicked beside him but he couldn’t possibly be alive. Could he?
“You’ll get used to it here,” Gwen’s wistful voice pierced the fog in Becca’s mind. “I’ll raise you like my own. He can be my Joshua. I doubt he’ll tell me any different. And you, my dear, let’s call you…” but Becca couldn’t focus any longer. As her eyes closed once more, an image flashed behind her eyelids.
“The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.
Numbers 26:53”
Welcome to Balance, Nevada. Population 2,653. A nice place to live.
Saturday
Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Gwen Evens convinced herself that she could slow things down, postpone the baby’s arrival through the night, at least until a gut-wrenching contraction made her grip the door handle with the same white knuckles that Tom had on the steering wheel.
When they arrived at Mercy, Tom snapped at one of the orderlies dressed in teddy bear scrubs, “Has anyone…?” But he knew by the way they avoided his panicked gaze. In the maternity ward, Gwen was examined and hooked up to IVs and monitors. Dr. Paulino arrived within the hour. Disappointment fleetingly graced his features, replaced quickly by a mask of hope. He squeezed Gwen’s hand and looked at his watch. “It may take time. We’ll go slow.”
But baby Joshua had other ideas. Two hours later, he came into the world and sucked enough air into his lungs for one great howl. The unfathomable silence that followed was quickly broken by another wail, a harrowing moan that filled the entire ward the way that only a grieving mother’s voice could.
The night breeze through the car windows blew Becca’s hair across her shoulders. She nestled into the backseat and wondered if Dave noticed. He leaned forward, telling Christian and Abby the three-legged cat joke that he had told her twice already, but she smiled when his hand slid between her knees. Abby rolled her eyes at the punchline and reached toward the radio knob as they began to lose the station.
“Where the hell are we? I have to pee.” The smoke Abby blew out her window came right back through Becca’s behind her. Becca coughed under her breath at the sweet, pungent cloud. She didn’t smoke that stuff, but she didn’t know Abby well enough to say anything. Dave’s best friend Christian had only been dating Abby for two weeks. He was the one who had planned the road trip.
As if on cue, they drove past a large white sign. Dave waved his bottle at Christian.
“Dude! Back up. What’d that say?” Christian hit the brakes and they all bounced forward. He revved the car backward and stopped at the sign. It was old fashioned, made of wood, painted white with black lettering.
Welcome to Balance, Nevada. Population 2,653. A nice place to live.
“Hope I don’t have to take a balance test,” Christian snickered.
“A nice place to live?” Abby snorted. “A sucky place to drive through.”
Dave smirked and squeezed Becca’s leg. “I don’t know. Plenty of open space, nice long grass, lots of privacy…” He leaned over and kissed her.
“What’s that one say?” Becca glared at the back of Abby’s seat in front of her, willing her to shut up. Christian stopped the car again, next to another wooden sign. He squinted and read it out loud.
“The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.
Numbers 26:53”
“Aww, man,” snorted Dave, “It’s one of those towns. Hide the children, Jackie Sue, them there e-vil kids’ got al-kee-hol!” All four of them laughed and Christian gunned the engine and roared up the road.
“Teenage heathens!” Dave gasped, “Batten down th-“ But no one battened down anything before the radio Abby was tuning emitted an ear-splitting screech and the gold clunker driven by Tom Evens plowed directly into her door.
Gwen’s eyes narrowed as ambulance lights reflected on her hospital room window. Not now. Not a mere three hours later. She tore the IV from her arm, but the alarm it set off beckoned a nurse before she even got out of bed.
“No, you don’t. You need to rest.” The nurse’s grip was strong and before Gwen could protest, a needle was thrust into her arm and the room began to swim.
____________________________________________
Sunday
It was an itch that brought Becca back to consciousness. An incessant itch on her right foot. She needed to scratch it. She willed her tired eyes to open, but her eyelids felt like lead. After a few moments, she made them part slightly, looking through her sticky lashes like an insect in a Venus flytrap. Something was wrong. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t move, but she could see the woman standing in the doorway. She tried to speak, but her lips were concrete. Exhausted, her eyes rolled back and she gave in to sweet darkness.
Gwen sat in the chair next to the girl. The girl who had survived the car accident that had killed her husband and two other teenagers. The girl’s eyes fluttered open again and she pulled confusedly at the restraints on her wrists. Gwen smoothed the girl’s hair and sighed at the pained moan stifled by the tape on Becca’s mouth.
“It’s Sunday, dear. There are no doctors. We don’t work on Sundays here. It’s a day of rest, of course.” The girl’s eyes widened and Gwen smiled, nodding toward the curtain that split the room.
“Don’t worry, though. The car accident was last night. Saturday. So there was time to balance before Sunday. I’ll have to try to keep that one alive through the day. Might not be easy, but I don’t know where we’ll get anyone else, and you know what happens if we’re out of balance.”
She got up and drew back the curtain. Becca could barely make out Dave’s mangled body. Was he missing an arm? Machines clicked beside him but he couldn’t possibly be alive. Could he?
“You’ll get used to it here,” Gwen’s wistful voice pierced the fog in Becca’s mind. “I’ll raise you like my own. He can be my Joshua. I doubt he’ll tell me any different. And you, my dear, let’s call you…” but Becca couldn’t focus any longer. As her eyes closed once more, an image flashed behind her eyelids.
“The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.
Numbers 26:53”
Welcome to Balance, Nevada. Population 2,653. A nice place to live.
eeks! danger!
ReplyDeletesuper creepy concept! <3
took me a bit to 'get' this, but then i had an epiphany about it in the shower. which i guess means you left me thinking about it long after i was done reading it
ReplyDeleteThanks guys :) It looks like the formatting went a little wacky, as Blogger often does. Originally, the different pieces of the story were separated more (Gwen's parts and the teenagers' parts) so it kind of looked like two separate stories going along until the end.
ReplyDeleteBut I also kept wondering if people would be really confused, lol! It was my first crack at horror. Really fun!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for that Lindsey. Blogger doesn't copy/paste very well! It's sucked for most everyone's stories. I lurved your story! It was a great first crack at horror.
ReplyDeleteOh, Hannah! I am not at all blaming you, I think it was super sweet of you to take the time to post all these entries. (After reading all of them, holy moly!).
ReplyDeleteI think the error is mine anyway - a story shouldn't need major formatting to avoid major confusion, LOL. ;) Ahh, well... my career in horror is a work in progress! Hehe. This was really fun, I completely loved trying something new!
Weird. I liked the Numbers aspect.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad start into horror.
......dhole
You can feel the scream building!
ReplyDeleteVery well imagined, and the slowly clearing fog is very effective. I agree with Anne, this is one that will worm away at the back of the mind for ages!
Well done!
:Dom
Oh nice. Very creepy. In a good way. I quite enjoyed this :)
ReplyDelete