Story [Issue 34] Hallucinations

[The.Skilled.Legend 1,459]

Hallucinations

 

It was a sunny Wednesday. So sunny that it was hard to see anything. Birds whistled their songs from the branches of the late autumn trees, black and barren against the vibrant, rural countryside. The crisp air held the promise of rain, but at that moment, not even a white wisp of a cloud could be seen, much less the menacing dark grey ones of a storm.

Lucy Rowland and her brother, Mark, had just left the house, determined to find the perfect pumpkin to make her famous pumpkin pie. The field was littered with black figures, people looking for the pumpkin that would grace their front porch during the night.

In the small farmer’s town of Fells Church, population 1500, everyone knew everyone. You couldn’t walk down the street without saying ‘Hi’ to at least twenty people. That was the case at the local pumpkin patch on that Wednesday. Parents taking their children after school and work to pick out the Jack’O’Lantern they wanted, kind old ladies buying pumpkins to make pumpkin pies, cookies, cakes and more, and anyone else in a holiday mood.

“Oh, Lucy!” A voice called from behind her. Turning around, she saw a tall girl with white-blonde hair and grey eyes, waving at her.

“Stay here, Mark,” she said to her brother. Rolling his eyes, Mark nodded none the less. Lucy ran over to the girl calling her, taking her eyes off her brother for only a moment, but when she returned, Mark was nowhere in sight. As much as she called out, praying for a response, none could be heard over the rumbling sound of thunder approaching on the horizon. 

Even though only a minute ago it was sunny and clear, black clouds had rolled in, filling Lucy with an ominous feeling about her brother. She ran up and down the rows of pumpkins, hoping to see even a hint of his dirty blonde hair. After searching for half an hour, Lucy decided that he had just left and gone home. Lucy picked out a round pumpkin, one with a long stem and vines and ran the mile home. 

It had just began raining when she rounded the corner onto her street. All of the sun was wiped out by the dark storm clouds. Lucy rushed into the house, determined to get out of the rain.

“Mark?” she yelled, pulling off her muddy converse. No answer. Brushing it off, Lucy made her way to the kitchen, preparing to make her pie. Lucy’s pie had always been Mark's favourite. Once she had everything ready, Lucy picked up the carving knife. 

In the walls of her own house, she still had this lingering feeling that something was wrong. Nevertheless, she lowered the knife, close enough to the pumpkin that an ominous glow appeared. Lucy jerked the knife away, and the glow faded. "That’s weird," Lucy thought. "Probably just a reflection," Once again, Lucy lowered her carving knife, and once again the glow lit up the sharp edge of the lethal utensil.

Suddenly, lightning lit up the small kitchen, causing her to drop the knife. As it disappeared for the sky, so did all of the power within the house. "Just great," Lucy thought sarcastically. "This is exactly what I need," She picked up her knife once again and lowered it down to the pumpkin’s skin. The light had progressed from a slight glow to a full out shine, casting shadows over the entire room. 

Lucy pulled the knife back from the pumpkin, and the bright light faded to a glow, the kind that’s just barely there. As she brought it closer, the light grew. As did the ringing in her ears. It was almost as though someone was calling out to her, telling her to stop.

“Pull yourself together Lucy,” she whispered to herself. “It’s all in your head. You’re going to make your pie and Mark is going to come home from where ever he went and everything is going to be okay.” Although she was saying it, she wasn’t sure if she even believed it herself. Mustering up all the strength she had, Lucy plunged the knife into the top of the pumpkin. 

Just as quickly as it all had started, the glow faded out and the burning tension in Lucy’s ears dissipated. With a sigh of relief, Lucy proceeded to scoop out the seeds and innards of the pumpkin. Her hands felt slimier than the last time she made her pie. She wrote it off in her head has her mind playing tricks on her. There were considerably less seeds than last time as well, and the ones that were there, were abnormally larger than any she had ever seen before. 

Lucy took the parts that she needed for her pie and mixed it in with the other ingredients; cinnamon, nutmeg and everything else. Once it was evenly mixed, she poured the mix into her crust and stepped back. She was covered, head to toe, in pumpkin guts, the pumpkin filling looked unusually dark, almost red colored. It must be the lighting in here, she thought to herself.

The oven’s timer went off with a ding, telling her that it was time to put her pie in the oven. As she shut the door, the hollow feeling of dread crept back into her chest, sitting on her like the weight of an elephant. She had no idea why, but Lucy felt as though she had made a terrible mistake. 

She turned to look at her dirty kitchen. It was a pig sty. There were pumpkin guts everywhere, although they looked darker than normal. She thought about how she still hadn’t found her brother, and frankly she was as worried as an overprotective mom. It had only just dawned on her that maybe she had left him at the pumpkin patch. 

But she still couldn’t convince herself that this was the case. She felt like something bad had happened to her little, innocent, blonde-haired, blue-eyed brother. He was a streak of joy, the light in room. Pacing around her kitchen, she finally noticed something, sitting beside her carving knife. It was sparking in the flashes of lightning and caught her eye.

Cautiously, Lucy approached the object, fearing the worst. When she was close enough, she recognized it; it was the necklace her brother constantly wore, he never took it off, it was his lifeline. Dread filled Lucy’s chest. Mark never would’ve taken it off, he wore it when he showered for crying out loud. She knew something had happened to her little brother. 

“Marcus Rowland!” Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, the oven’s timer dinged, giving Lucy a splitting headache. She pressed her hands to her face, covering her eyes. When she took them away, she noticed something else; the stuff on her hands wasn’t orange, but a dark crimson. Lucy feared the worst. She walked into the hall and looked at herself in the mirror. Covered in mud, flour and the red substance, the girl looking back at Lucy looked feral, animal almost. Red streaks were splashed on her skin, her white varsity shirt had the red liquid splattered on it. 

Thousands of thoughts filled her mind. How did she get covered in this? What is it? Did she do this? Realization hit her like a ton of bricks, a sinking feeling of where her 7 year old, full of life brother could be. Barely opening her eyes, Lucy tiptoed into the red covered kitchen. Her breath caught in her throat.

The large pumpkin seeds looked oddly like teeth in this light and the pumpkin remains looked vaguely human, as if the eyes had been cut out. With her final shred of confidence, Lucy opened the oven.

A small squeak escaped her lips. The normally warm orange colored pie was a dark red, with flesh colored bits sticking up here and there. And in the light of the oven, Lucy finally found her brother. On the counter, where the pumpkin had just been only moments ago, was the severed head of her 7 year old brother Mark, hollowed out with the eyes had been taken out. That’s when she snapped. Lucy curled up on the floor, refusing to move, disgusted with what she had done.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the door. Lucy was unfazed by it, she couldn’t hear at all. It wasn’t until figures dressed in blue with bulletproof vests rushed into her house, grabbing her arms and pulling her outside.

“It was the sun,” an EMT said to an onlooking neighbour. “It causes massive headaches and in certain cases, like this one, even hallucinations. It’s a good thing you called when you heard little Mark yelling at Lucy, who knows what was going on in her head then”. The neighbour smiled, letting the rays of the sun dapple her aging face.

Lucy looked around her from the back of the ambulance. All of the clouds had disappeared, there wasn’t even any puddles from the rain. Had she imagined all of it? Had she really killed her own brother? By the look on the EMT’s face, she knew the answer to both of those questions.

 

[deadtoyou 2,502]

Great piece, although I was a little surprised by the dark moments in this article. :mellow:

[samuelmanasseh 35]

Non-sense.

[The.Skilled.Legend 1,459]

I just want to say I agree, it's dark, way too dark in one's opinion. Some may like it and some won't.

[Phoenix-Warbird 1,329]

I can't see - it's too dark

 

and... speaking of 7-year-olds... there could easily be some reading this .-.

 

Good writing but not my kind of story :c

Edited May 1, 2015 by Phoenix-Warbird

[Vikingsrallentando 3,058]

But I liked it... Yeah, if I read this when I was 7, I probably would have flipped.

[liverpoolaum 811]

nice

[jazz20 1,181]

hmmmmm Ima try and study this piece....

[S.C.Y.T.H.E 1,072]

I have a feeling that not everything is as it seems in this story...

[r_priyangshu0 270]

I have a feeling that the stories in the press are going too dark..

[Firenze_PRO 80]

:O nice! Dark, dark story....

 

I wonder what inspired this?

 

Maybe I don't want to know.....

[r_Knight3500 4]

Jesus Christ! Damn, i nearly wet myself. Wht exactly inspired this?... I might not want to know.

[Matchstick117 149]

This was...DARK. :ph34r:  :ph34r:

[the_blue 25]

Well. Truely depressing, and Dark.

If i could make a suggestion please space out the paragraphs a little more, anyways, Wonderful job writing it out

[donut70 97]

SPOILER ALERT: Not to be read by the faint of heart.

[killen0 397]

A really nice tittle. Helps out a bit 

[Magenta 5,165]

Chilly