Читать книгу Hanky and the Thousandsleeper - Marvin Roth - Страница 12

Doctor Ness sat at his desk and studied Hank’s medical records. He had been the Bergson family’s physician for many years and Hanky had been his patient since he was twelve. Hanky came into the practice about six to eight times a year. Usually, all Doctor Ness had to do was dress a few minor wounds Hanky sustained because of carelessness and also because his mind was too weak to warn him if he was risking an injury. Hanky liked the doctor, although he always had a slightly queasy feeling when he saw the doctor in his clean white coat. However, doctor Ness always managed to overcome Hanky’s fear and treated him rather kindly.

The doctor just shook his head in disbelief and closed the file. In all the years he had treated Hanky, the young man had never been hysterical. On occasion he had whined a little because he was afraid and once he’d shed some big tears, but that was all.

He got up from his seat to check on Hanky once again. The sedative should have put him into a deep slumber and its effects were supposed to linger for a quite a while. Nonetheless, given Hanky’s strange behavior, doctor Ness wanted to make absolutely certain that his patient was doing well. As he exited his office and stepped into the hallway, he overheard a thumping noise right away. Ness hurried down the hallway and arrived in the treatment room seconds later. This was the place where Hanky was supposed to be - asleep. He flung the door open and saw the absurd chaos instantly.

Held in place by only a single leather strap, Hanky was lying on the very edge of the gurney and halfway on the ground. His eyes were wide open and his legs were peddling like those of a mad man. Intelligible babbling sounds came from his distorted mouth and saliva kept dripping from his chin.

The doctor yelled for the nurse and threw his own body over Hanky’s to calm him down and tie him down on the bed again. He knew that he could not give a patient who was in a raving made state another sedative. The doctor’s additional weight and Hanky’s ongoing pedaling finally caused the last leather strap to come open and the two men dropped from the bed to the floor. The doctor was the first to go down and Hanky dropped on top of him. The air was forced from the doctor’s lungs as if they were old bellows. For an instant, all Ness could see was blackness. Hanky rolled off of him, slowly got up and stormed out of the room. As doctor Ness tried to get up, the nurse stepped into the treatment room and looked at her boss, who was still sitting on the floor in shock and wonderment.

Today, Ben Johansson and his wife Julie left for their little weekly trip to New Bismarck later than they normally did. Obviously, Ben had been compelled to first tell his wife about the morning’s events. He’d told the story in so much detail and Julie had constantly interrupted him with her own questions that they almost had forgotten what time it was. It was not until Julie accidentally checked the kitchen clock that she realized in horror that it was almost two in the afternoon. She rushed her husband around, telling him to freshen up a bit. While he was doing that, Julie dressed up for a day on the town, as she liked to call it when she wore a nice dress and her shiny black high-heeled pumps.

A few minutes past two, the two walked across the yard and climbed into their red Ford F250 pickup truck. Ben had loved this ride ever since he’d first seen it in a TV commercial. It had taken well over a quarter of a year and numerous conversations with Julie until she was convinced that this car was the perfect small farm truck. Finally, Julie gave up her resistance and just a few days later, Ben brought home his new pride and joy. Ever since that day, Ben’s chest seemed to be filled with pride as he drove the pickup. Despite the fact that they were in a hurry, Ben let the truck roll down the dirt road slowly. Julie stared at her husband who could sense her annoyance, but at least she kept her mouth shut. Every night before they went into town, Ben would wash his truck. That’s why he was so careful riding along the dirt road until he made it to the paved road. He didn’t want a speck of dust on the paint job. Once they were on the country road, Ben picked up the speed a little. A few minutes later they arrived in Prisco.

Just as they passed the doctor’s house, the front door flew open violently and Hank stumbled down the steps; his hair in wild disarray and his face all red. Ben hit the brakes, stopped the car and jumped out. Julie flung her door open to and ran after her husband in Hanky’s direction. Almost at the same instant, the front door of the practice was pushed open a second time and Doctor Ness rushed out of the house - his coat trailing behind him like the sails of a ship, his hair in complete disarray. He stopped briefly, watched Hanky run away and spotted the Johansson rushing in Hanky’s direction.

“Grab him,” the doctor pleaded although they were clearly already in the process of making every attempt to do just that. He was now also in pursuit of the fleeing young man. Next, the nurse appeared on the steps holding a syringe in her hand, ready to spring to action. In the interim, the Johansson had caught up with Hanky and tried to block the way. They tried to calm him with kind words. Doctor Ness snuck up on Hanky from the back and the nurse followed right behind him. Once the doctor was close enough to grab Hanky, he jumped him from the back, swung his arms around the young man’s neck and pulled him to the ground. At least, that had been his plan, but Hanky had enough strength to pick him up like a puppet and carry him on his back. In fact, Hanky did not even seem to realize he was there. Now Ben grabbed Hanky head-on and the two older men tried to force the younger one to the ground. At this very moment, an old Honda pickup pulled into Main Street out of one of the cross streets.

The thing that had once been Walt Kessler was joyriding in Walt’s truck to its heart’s content. After all, he had to get his sense of sense of direction back. Not a lot seemed to have changed since he had last been awake, but the thing wanted to make sure. It had no trouble driving the car because it had complete and unrestricted access to all required information - it could be gleaned from the memories of its victim. It did not take long for it to arrive in the vicinity of the small community of Prisco.

The creature became restless. It once again sense this peculiar presence it had felt confronted with in the forest shortly after it had been aroused from its sleep. The fury returned. The thing steered the truck in the direction of the spiritual vibrancy. It allowed the car to roll around slowly and looked around in search of the source.

As the thing merged into Main Street, it saw a usual scene unravel right before its eyes. A man was carrying two other guys - one in the back and one in the front while two women were talking to the threesome incessantly. The man in the center was the one radiating the presence. The thing would have loved to attack the man immediately, but it knew that too many witnesses were around. It had to proceed with caution.

At the very instant the creature started to watch the struggle and its pickup almost came to a complete stop, the tall man in the middle suddenly stopped moving. It turned to him, although an adult male was hanging from his neck. The young man looked the creature right in the eye. It was a cold and forceful glare that made the creature shudder. The thing had never exposed to a stare quite like this one. It was a look that conveyed an inherent threat, which caused the creature to fear for its life. This had never happened to the creature before. It had never been scared, but it now felt an immense fear just because of this one look. This thing put its foot against the gas pedal and disappeared around the next curve, tires squealing.