Chapter 4 Dead Inside

"Jason, wake up! Tara shakes me and I can barely open my eyes. "You were having a bad nightmare and I have to go home to get the kids ready for school. Are you feeling better?" She asks as she puts her purse on the table and grabs her jacket.

Sitting up, I lie to her, "Yes, now go home and get them to school before I start feeling bad that you stayed the night." Just as she starts to open the door I comment, "Tara, you are the best. I mean it, I don't know what I would have done without you all these years."

She turns back to me and walks over to give me a hug, putting her arms around my neck. Hugging me tight, she kisses my cheek and I smell her favorite perfume when she straightens up. "Little brother, for the longest time I thought you would turn out to be a complete asshole, but then there are times like this that make me think there is hope for you." She laughs and walks to the door.

Watching as she shuts the door behind her, I finally relax and take a deep breath. What exactly is the matter with me? Normally, drugs wear off by now, don't they? So, who or what was that woman with the red hair? It makes me wonder fully if the whole time I have been hallucinating from good drugs or if something else is in play here.

Feeling a shiver suddenly run down my spine, I decide to not think about her anymore for the moment. Instead, I lay back down. I must have been screaming in my sleep, because right when I wake up, I could swear I heard myself. I'm not going to lie, it scared me a little.

Not knowing or caring what kind of dream I had that made me scream, I get up and go pee. It's a bit odd, but I can't feel anything. Like I took a heavy narcotic pain medicine that dulled my nerves.

Testing this theory, after I pull my jeans up, I go to the medicine cabinet and take out the fingernail clippers. Deciding to clip off a hangnail that I have had for over a week, I flinch when I snip it. Nothing again. Hmm.

With the damn thing still hanging on by a thread, I just full on pull it once I have a firm grasp on it. Nothing. I look down and there is a mild amount of blood, but really nothing to worry about.

Putting the nail clippers back, I scratch the back of my head while puzzled and head into the kitchen for breakfast. Opening the fridge, all I find is a jar of applesauce, a single muffin with mold on it and a jar of strawberry jam with barely any in it. While bending down to inspect the back of the fridge for anything I can scrape together I hear a strange noise from behind me.

I don't turn around when the sound gets louder. It's a sort of hissing sound and a screech at the same time, but not so loud that everyone in the house could hear if there were anyone else. Figuring my best option is to just go for it, I take a deep breath and turn around on my heels quickly.

When I do, I am face to face with the red-haired woman or whatever it is. The hissing noise stops, and I watch as she opens her mouth, because if I stare at those wide black eyes, I feel like I will get lost in them and never come back. Admittedly, she is strikingly beautiful with her really pale rather greyish skin and her red hair that is such a vibrant color that it just can't be natural.

Noticing that her mouth is opening wider than it should be allowed to for a normal humans' anatomy, I step back and prepare to defend myself. I have been in a lot of fights before, because frankly as my sister pointed out, I am an asshole. Although, regardless of who you are, when I see its face open like it does, I turn on my heels and run away scared shitless.

I don't care who you are, there are just some things in this world that will scare anyone and what I just saw took the award. Her mouth opened bigger than two of my fists and where her smile was, jagged teeth remained. It reminded me of something out of one of my bad dreams growing up, when I used to pee my bed. Proud that I grew out of that, at 32 years old I am ashamed to say that I just peed myself a little when I saw that.

Running like a world class sprinter, I find myself in the back yard in no time flat and am thankful that I still had my keys in my jeans pocket. Sure, it's the middle of spring and it is in the morning before the sun can properly warm up anything, but to tell you the truth, I don't feel a damn bit cold. Matter of fact, I don't feel anything now except for the fact that I am upset that I had to run out of my own home in pee covered jeans. Other than that, it's amazing but I don't feel shit.

Not really knowing what to do or where to go besides my sister's house, I drive to the police station. Outside, there are numerous police cruisers and officers standing around drinking coffee and yes, remarkably eating donuts. If I wasn't in a state of shock or something akin to it, I would be laughing right now.

However, I am so I stop my car and get out, demanding that I get some help. Walking up to the nearest officer, I say, "There were two detectives that stopped by the hospital last night to talk to me, they said when I was ready to come in for more questions. Well, I am here. Can you tell me where to go?"

The officer asks, "Which detectives may I ask?"

"Detective Larson and Miller" I hear a familiar voice from behind me state.

Turning around, he sees that I don't have a shirt or a jacket on and ushers me inside right away. When I sit down Detective Larson asks, "It's a little too chilly out for no jacket or shirt isn't it?"

I stare at the desk trying to figure out what to say that won't sound completely insane and then just go for it. "I was just at my house and the red-haired woman showed up in my kitchen. I honestly don't know if I am still suffering from some kind of weird drug withdrawal or going insane, but she stood in front of me hissing and then opened her mouth so inhumanly wide that I saw several rows of jagged teeth."

The officer stands back up and sits on the front of the desk, looking down at me. "Are you on drugs now?"

I scratch my head and he moves to grab his hand cuffs. When he sees that I am not threatening him, he relaxes and says, "I guess we are going to have to take you back to the hospital for further testing, because obviously this isn't normal at all."

Shaking my head, I reply, "Perhaps you are right, but I can't stress enough that there was some kind of creature in my kitchen."

He stands up and motions for me to get up. "Come on, let's go. I am taking you back over to the hospital for more testing. I'm pretty sure they need to keep you for an overnight evaluation and get down to the bottom of this."

After getting in the back of the cruiser, I glance around at the other cars, and I could swear I saw a glimpse of red.