The Quiet (Pt 1)

Hello, I have a multi-part body horror/cosmic horror story that I would like input on. I only have the first part right now, but any feedback and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

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It was a cool summer night in the desert and the skitters of the native wildlife could be heard in the distance. I sat panting, heart palpitating so heavy in my chest that I could feel the arrhythmia in my throat. I shot my eyes around my room and saw the gentle flow of the sheer curtains, caught in a blissful dance with the breeze. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

I looked over to my phone that was plugged in and laying on top of my side table. I flipped it over to peer at the time. 2:38.

“Dammit.” I muttered to myself. This was the fourth day in a row that my nightmares had woken me up.

I could feel the damp clothing laying uncomfortably on my skin and I quickly pulled at the fabric. I flung the blanket off my body and swung my legs over to the edge of the bed. There wasn’t much I could do other than wait for the tightness gripping my chest to fade away. I decided to get up and get a glass of water from downstairs.

As I walked to the bedroom door, I shuttered as the breeze collided with my damp clothing and caused a field of goosebumps to grow on my body. I always hated this feeling but couldn’t seem to get away from the nightly terrors of being trapped in the repeating trauma that caused it.

I opened the door and peered to the right, into the hallway. People tell me all the time that I allow my own trauma and paranoia to take over my mind far too much, but they don’t understand like I do that the world is full of terrors; they are simply lucky enough not to have experienced them yet. Can’t be too careful.

Stepping into the darkness of the hallway, I heard the wooden boards creaking under my weight with each step. I seriously gotta fix these damn boards. The stairs went down six steps before bending with the walls of the home, turning to the second flight of stairs and leading into the living room. I continued stepping quietly down the stairs and turning to face the dark living room. It was silent and the air was warm and stuffy. My cat, Rabbit, blinked her glowing yellow-green eyes at me, watching for my next move.

I continued to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet above my stove. As I filled the glass with water from the filtered dispenser on the counter, I looked through the window above the sink into my front yard. The street was empty and the only lights were off in the distance where downtown Boise, Idaho lit up the night sky. I could see the stars dancing and putting off the beautiful, radiating glow as clouds crept through the sky. If there was anything keeping me sane, it was this place.

As I finished my water, I turned to walk back to the stairs and up into my bedroom. Rabbit chirped excitedly as she jumped off her kitty castle to follow me.

 

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The alarm on my phone sang out into the peaceful silence of my room and made me want to throw the damn thing out of the window. As I rubbed the thick sleep from my eyes and blinked them open, I sat up in bed and pushed my back against the headboard. I saw the sun was starting to rise and the flicks of pink and purple shot out from behind the foothills like an enchanting wildfire. The distant whir of cars and buses, probably picking up kids from the end of the block, hummed through the air. Monday.

I sat on the edge of my bed for a couple minutes before pushing myself to stand. Walking to the left side of my room, I pushed the sliding closet door to expose the vast combination of colors and fabric within the closet. I pushed shirt after shirt to one side before finding a black, short-sleeved blouse. Whatever. I snatched it off the hanger and threw the hanger behind me onto the floor. As I started to push the closet door closed, my eyes caught the faded olive drab fabric poking out from behind the rest of the garments. “WALKER” was plastered on a name tape sewn into the chest. I looked away and slid the door closed.

After getting dressed and ready for the day, I sat down with a mug of hot coffee to kick my ass into gear. I was just about to take my first satisfying sip when my phone began to ring. I rolled my eyes and adjusted my body so that I could remove the phone from my pocket. I read the caller ID and answered.

“Yo.” I said nonchalantly as I resumed sipping my coffee in my kitchen. I heard the all-too-familiar voice blare through the small speaker of my phone.

“You get your ass up yet Jozie?” the voice asked playfully.

“Obviously. You interrupted my date with the coffee pot, douche. What’s up?” I replied in a monotonous manner. If there is one thing to know about me, it is that I hate it when people call me when it could most likely be a text.

“Jeez. Someone is grumpy before their coffee. Anyway, I am outside. Let’s go.” Right after, there was a clicking sound and the beeping that signaled the end of the call. I sighed and slid the phone back into my pocket. I walked over to the sink and started to pour the coffee that remained in the pot into my work thermos. Coffee to-go, again.

As I opened the front door, I winced at the brightness of the sun that was now in full bloom over the foothills. Once my eyes adjusted to the flashbang of light, I saw a car sitting in front of my house. The obnoxious color of ripe bananas burned into my eyes, and I walked begrudgingly toward the running vehicle.

“Wassaaa,” Rob was shaking his head and letting his tongue dead-hang out of his mouth. Sometimes I couldn’t believe that this idiot was my partner. I pushed out an exaggerated sigh and grabbed the handle to the banana-mobile.

“You are way too happy for a Monday morning. Chill.” I said while sitting in the car seat and giving him the side-eye. He just chuckled and shifted into drive.

We drove with the radio playing random indie music that I didn’t recognize. There was no further exchange of words during the drive, which gave me a moment to relax a little longer before starting the workday. As we pulled into a parking lot, I read the sign posted on the chain-link fence.

“PRIVATE PROPERTY VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED”

“You ready to get back into it?” Rob asked me while nudging my arm with his elbow. He was always the optimist of the situation, and I admired the way he never gave up on his friends. Even more admirable that he never gave up on me even after the hell I had subjected my inner circle to over the past year.

I shrugged and looked at Rob who was still looking curiously at me, waiting for my response. “I guess.” I opened the door of the car and brushed away a tiny piece of grey lint that was on my blouse. Closing the door, I looked at the entrance of the building. “Let’s get it over with.”

Walking into the dull, grey-colored building brought on the feeling of exhaustion. The floors were tiled with a matte, beige color that ran edge to edge into the walls that had the color of a smoker’s home after ten years. I never understood who had the bright idea to pair these two colors together, but I didn’t exactly get paid enough to care about specifics. There were mahogany wood support beams that situated themselves along the walls and in the corners of the lobby. At least they weren’t yellow.

Rob followed behind me as I walked to the elevators that were positioned on the left side of the lobby. As we walked past the reception desk opposite of the elevators, Rob greeted the receptionist and I could hear her giggle and reply with a “Good morning, Robbie.” I grimaced at the sound of them flirting and stopped in front of the elevators. I pushed my index finger into the up arrow. As it lit up a neon blue, I turned to give Rob a raised eyebrow and he swatted the air with his hand, as if shooing me away.

We both stepped into the elevator and as soon as the doors closed, I looked at him. “Robbie?”

“Oh, fuck off.” He rolled his eyes, but I could see his cheeks flush with embarrassment. There will never be a day when I don’t take the opportunity to tease Rob or make jokes about his flirtatious nature with the new girls that would come and go. He made it entirely too easy.

As the elevator pinged to the fifth floor, we both caught ourselves in a sigh. The doors opened and I started walking through a parted sea of desks, clutter, and people chattering amongst themselves. The constant ringing of telephones and clacking of computer keys rang in my ears like tinnitus. We were making our way to the opposite side of the pool of madness, inching closer to the cluster of private offices. I could feel my heart starting to beat faster by the second and I could feel a tightness in my chest growing once more.                                                                                    

“Walker!” I snapped out of my daze and looked toward the voice and saw my boss. He was a stocky, bald man who filled out the doorway with just his shoulders. He wore the same thing every day; a white button-up shirt, plaid dress pants, and black suspenders. I think the fascination with plaid came from some sort of Scottish heritage, but I’d prefer to not be quoted on that tidbit.

Rob and I hurried into his office and stood in front of his desk, waiting for whatever was about to hit us. While he closed his door, I looked down at his desk. A very organized clutter was strewn about his desk and a bronze cast name plate sat on his desk’s edge.

CONAN MCBRIDE

“I got a job for you guys.” He huffed out as he walked over to his desk chair and sat down. As he rolled his chair into a favorable position, he picked up a pale-yellow folder with some scribbling on it. I glared my eyes to see if I could make out the words. “Either of you ever heard of Aetheria Tech?”

As soon as I heard those words come out of his mouth, I shot my eyes in surprise at McBride, who was still rolling around and bouncing in his chair with irritation.

“I haven’t, sir.” Rob responded before I had time to fully process my own emotions surrounding the question. Rob then looked at me inquisitively. I could feel his foot nudging me slightly, as if it would somehow trigger a response.

“I know of it.” I nearly choked on my words as they leapt out of my mouth. The air around me started to feel thick and heavy and I grasped at my blouse’s hems. Clearing my throat, I said, “Yes, sir. I’ve heard about Aetheria.”

“Good. At least one of you has. I need you guys to go over there and get some more information about a new program they’ve started.” McBride followed up, giving us each a folder with “Aetheria” scribbled on the tabs. There was a pause and his face morphed into a look of concern before he started again. “There is something off about this company. They originally started working with PTSD patients, mostly combat veterans, and now they are getting into inmate incapacitation and rehabilitation.”

I held my breath as McBride opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a proposal. He tossed it onto the desk for Rob and I to see and closed the drawer. The feeling of discomfort and heat writhed through my body as I felt a bead of sweat form on my brow. Rob grabbed the proposal and began reading quietly to himself.

“Jesus.” He murmured to himself as he handed me the proposal. I took it from his hand and skimmed across the page.

THE QUIET

SUBJECT 1//JULIAN RAMIREZ//5 YEAR SENTENCE//NON-VIOLENT

I looked up from the paper and between McBride and Rob to analyze their reactions. Rob’s body looked rigid as he ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. Before either of us could say anything, McBride interrupted the silence.

 “I am going to send you to different departments within the company, and you will both have to cover ground and report back to me. I’ll leave it up to you two to decide who goes where. This could either be a groundbreaking story, or a huge disappointment. Either way, we have to be the first newspaper to cover it. Clear?”

“Crystal.” I answered reluctantly while staring at the wall behind McBride.

Rob cleared his throat and replied, “Yes, sir.”

“Alright. Get on it. See you soon.”