Challenging Patients

Bonnie sped along the wooded road leading towards Black Drake Mansion.

The small engine in her Yellow Volkswagen Beetle roared as she pushed it to its limit. Winding around the slithering asphalt as the tall trees flew by like ghostly sentinels.

Bonnie didn’t know what she was thinking. She was terrified, all she could think about was the fear she felt as Charlie slaughtered those men in that alley… but, she also thought of his kindly smile, the look on his face as he collapsed, half dead after saving her life.

She promised him that he could call on her if he ever needed help. And Bonnie Murphy was a woman of her word.

The full beam of her car's lights suddenly caught on a figure standing directly in the road. Screaming she stomped on the brakes making the car slide to a halt as she undid her belt and flew out of the car to see if she’d hit them…

However, when she searched her bumper or the road for any signs of life, she found none.

“God I must be losing my mind!” She thought before, taking a breath and getting back into the driver’s seat.

Charlie’s Mansion was just up ahead, a few minutes drive and she would find out what was-

A chill crept up Bonnie’s spine. Slowly, she turned her head to the passenger seat.

Sat there rather casually, looking at her was a woman in a long leather trench coat with one black and yellow band on her sleeve. On her face was a porcelain white mask with a doll-like girly face. Her long wavy brown hair rested immaculately on her shoulder and… her unblinking eyes glowed with a crimson luminance from the eyeholes.

“Hey!” She said in a friendly tone.

“AHHHHH!” Bonnie went to leap out of the car, but the woman quickly pressed in the lock on the dashboard. Fight or Flight kicked in and she began to pound her fists against the masked woman’s chest, then quickly recoiled as her knuckles ached severely “WHAT THE FUCK, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CAR!”

“Easy, easy… just take a chill pill. Nice and calm… that’s it, just put your fists down and we can talk, I’m not going to hurt you.” The woman said softly.

“Who… the fuck are you?” Bonnie said, trying to calm her nerves.

“My Name’s Belle Harlow, I am the hostess at the Mansion and a friend of Charlies’.”

She said in a very relaxed, oddly enthusiastic tone.

“How the hell did you get in my car? And why the hell are you wearing that creepy fucking mask?”

Belle folded her arms and wagged her finger at Bonnie “Now - Now, trust me when I say, it’s a lot better if you don’t know. Now, I thought I’d drop in before you got to the mansion, just to introduce myself and to prepare you.”

Bonnie didn’t like the sound of this “Too prepare me for what?”

The slightly luminous glow of Isabelle’s eyes was deeply foreboding “How familiar are you with Charlie. Know him well?”

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Bonnie spat back.

Belle nodded thoughtfully “You uh… in the know?”

“About what, stop being so god damn criptic!”

“Well, shit. Sorry, it’s just, I haven’t really had to do anything like this before. I just didn’t want you to get all freaked out on us. How about we just drive towards the mansion gates and you’ll get the gist. I promise, I mean you absolutely no harm, I am fairly well trained.”

She was fairly well trained? She hasn’t had to do something like this before? One: what the fuck was she talking about, two: well trained in fucking what, scaring the shit out of people!?

“If you fucking axe murder me or something, I’ll haunt you, got it!?”

Belle raised her hand, each finger tipped with sharp painted nails “Loud and clear.”

The Beetle rumbled to life as Bonnie drove towards the Mansion gates.

As they went along, Belle sat quietly in the passenger seat. There was something painfully wrong with this… person, if you could even call her that. It was in the way she sat, perfectly still like a statue.

When she noticed Bonnie staring, she began to subtly raise and lower her shoulders, making her chest expand and contract.

The road quickly became… unsteady. The asphalt was cracked and the trees were shredded. “What the hell happened here?”

“Just keep going and you’ll see for yourself.” her strange passenger promised.

The road was split and decimated, to the point where it became difficult to drive… and then, just as Bonnie stopped staring at the segmented road and looked up, she saw it.

A colossal obelisk-like stone towered above them, the sight of it gave Bonnie chills. Its mass consumed the entryway, the crumbled exterior walls and shattered remnants of the mansion’s gates were scattered everywhere, almost as if this huge tombstone looking thing had crashed into it.

“Holy moly. What is that thing?” Bonnie said in awe.

“We only have a vague idea, and I’ll tell you what, it’s just straight up pretty bad. Pull in here, I’ll make sure that your car is secured. We will have to walk the rest of the way. Come on…”

Belle got out of the car but paused when she realised that Bonnie remained sat still. She poked her masked head back in, seeing Bonnie's white hands wrapped tightly on the steering wheel, staring at the huge stone above.

“You okay?” Belle asked.

Bonnie shook her head, clearly afraid.

Belle huffed, throwing herself back in the car and looking up at the giant stone with Bonnie. The silence rolled on for a little longer than it perhaps should have, but it was long enough for Bonnie to pluck up the courage to speak “You’re… you’re all gonna be like him, aren’t ye? Not normal?”

“Like him? No, he’s special. Not normal… yeah, pretty far from normal.” She admitted.

“Are you gonna kill me?” Bonnie asked shakily.

Belle took a long hard look at Bonnie and shook her head “No I’m not going to kill you. Charlie is very important to me, to all of us. If we lost him…” her voice began to shake now “...We just need him. If you can help him, I would owe you everything. Listen, I promise not only will nobody hurt you if you can help him, but nobody will ever hurt you again. All of us will be in your debt forever. It would be totally fabulous….” Belle stopped her tirade, her shoulder dropping “Please help him?”

Bonnie Murphy felt slightly better, despite the cold alien vibe from this woman, it was reassuring hearing her talk like just a normal person. But she had to know for sure. “Take off the mask and we’ve got a deal.”

“I told you, you don’t want that-”

“You know despite what you may think, I’m a lot older and a lot tougher than I look and I have encountered my fair share of weird shit in my life, shit I didn’t even think possible. So if you really want me to trust you, you can at least show me your face.” Bonnie demanded stubbornly.

Belle thought for a moment, before sighing and letting her hands rest on her thighs “Alright, just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Slowly she reached up and pulled away at her pale mask.

Belle Harlow was a beautiful woman, one of the most beautiful that Bonnie had ever seen… she was… beautiful, at least in one half.

While one half of her face had high cheekbones, flawless olive skin and pert red lips… the other half was a mess of torn flesh. Her left eye was half gouged, her left ear was completely gone and half of her forehead had been flayed off. She looked like she’d headbutted a weedwacker.

Bonnie felt her chest drop, but Belle shrugged, making an awkward face as if completely unaffected by this hideous wound. “You think this is bad, trust me, you should see the other guy. I’m… taking a while to regenerate, all of us are. That’s why we need your help. Charlie said he needed you so - and Charlie never asks for something without good reason, that probably means that you can help fix him, right?”

It was eerie hearing her speak so casually.

“Is… Charlie as badly wounded as you are?” Bonnie asked.

Isabelle’s face darkened “Worse. A lot worse.”

Bonnie frowned deeply, suddenly filled with conviction. All her life she had trained to help people, strived to give those who were broken a better life. In every way she had failed, her dreams never truly realised. But despite the anxiety and feelings of wrongness surrounding all of this, she felt like doing this could really make a difference. “Take me straight to him. Let’s go.”

Belle led Bonnie through the darkness of the Estates exterior wall. She had forewarned against getting too close to the huge gravestone and insisted that they go around it.

“We still have no idea what that thing can do, best we keep as far away from it as possible” She had said.

It was a full moon tonight, the brush and clinging vines of ivy were saturated in a quiet silver hue. None the less it was still very dark and Bonnie found herself nearly tripping over a stray root here and there. But this woman… Belle, she strode along like a master hiker, completely unfettered by the darkness or the path ahead.

“Hey so, when you keep saying stuff like ‘We’ this and ‘we’ that…” Bonnie started.

“The mansion staff?” Belle answered, slowing down as she realised Bonnie was lagging behind.

“Yeah, the Mansion Staff. Are they all… you know?”

Belle halted in the darkness. As she turned around to peer at Bonnie she showed only the untarnish portion of her face. Despite her horrible deformities being obscured, there was still a very unnerving preternatural shine in her eyes, like that of a cat wandering in shadow.

“A lot of us were very hesitant to invite you here, Bonnie. We’ve already gotten ourselves in a lot of trouble, broken a lot of rules. If I am honest with you, I’ve only been this way for like six months, it may have been better to send someone older with more experience but… I said to them, I still remember what it’s like to be somewhat… Human, so I’d better bring her in.” She was so strangely captivating in this place.

Half-silhouetted against the silver and shadows, she resembled a painting of something both dangerous and alluring, a nocturnal animal.

“So, you’re not human. Okay, I get that but… then what are you exactly? You’ve, just about, still got your head so you’re no Dullahan. You don’t strike me as some kind of Banshee. A Púca maybe? A Fairie of some kind; one of the hillfolk?” Bonnie asked with genuine curiosity.

A small chuckle escaped Belle’s sundered lips “No, I don’t think so. This -” She pointed at her torn face “...is the furthest thing from a fairy tale. Again I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you but… Let’s just say, it’s a good thing it’s Halloween tomorrow, because we will fit right in.”

On that slightly non-descript note, Belle continued to walk ahead, leaving Bonnie to speculate frustratedly as she followed.

Eventually the two came to a bend in the exterior wall… or a place where a bend should be… instead, there was only a massive breach of shattered dark brick, as if a bulldozer had cleaved right through.

Belle stepped over the scattered chunks of rubble with the elegance of a ballet dancer. Before offering a hand “Careful here. I’ve had far too many painful encounters with this thing today, and I’d prefer you not start bleeding everywhere if you fall.”

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, as Belle’s bit the good side of her lip with a sharp white fang.

She quickly went back on herself “Shit, that was a really weird thing to say wasn’t it? Sorry-”

Bonnie took Belle’s hand and assisted her in hopping over the broken wall. Her hand was as frigid and hard as a glacier. It felt like holding hands with a battle axe in the Antarctic. She quickly let go as they emerged on the other side of the Mansion grounds.

Bonnie felt a chill creep up her spinal column. The long straight of the mansion’s driveway, all the way to the front yard was a desolate ruin. Great chunks had been ripped from the earth, leaving craters and gashes in the upturned soil.

Pale stones littered every inch of the land like rocks hurled from the surface of the moon. Craters, as if punched in by falling meteors dotted around, making it difficult for Bonnie to walk as Belle led her onward.

But perched there, as if protected by a dark spell, was the Mansion itself. Tall, looming and completely unharmed, the massive building had nary a scratch on its surface, and the luminous windows promised warmth and presence from within.

And yet, as Bonnie walked up the steps towards the double-door entryway, she could not help but pause as a cold, dead, and potently threatening sensation pressed against her senses.

Belle stopped at the front doors, and turned to face Bonnie. “Alright then, here we are, moment of truth. Before we go any further I wanted to say… I know that about right now, you’re starting to feel our presence, even if you can see all of us yet. Do not panic, sometimes it can take a moment for some of us to adjust to new visitors. Above all and no matter what; remember this. You are here at our Master’s request, no harm can befall you here. Seriously, as soon as tat urge comes to start panicking as I know it will - Just repeat that mantra in your head: I am protected.

Okay, phew, now I still recall some of the breathing exercises I had to do before pilates, so we’ll go through some of those-”

Bonnie rolled her eyes, waving Belle off and barging through the double doors.

She was no coward, she wouldn’t sit here on the mansion steps bellyaching over a bad feeling. If there was real danger here, then Bonnie would face it head-on, like she always had.

The double doors opened up to a lavish and beautifully decorated modern ante-room. A wall of warmth and splendor embraced her, and almost at once, she felt a small amount of ease.

Sat behind a hickory desk on the opposite side of the room was a woman, perhaps in her mid twenties. Her hair was the colour of dark mahogany, tied up in two expertly divided pigtails.

Her emerald eyes rested on Bonnie as she gave her an easy smile “Ah finally, took your sweet time!” Her voice was relaxed, sweet and oddly gentle.

Bonnie felt not threat from her on her initial approach… but, as she drew closer. The girls skin was ash white, blemishless. Her grin was a little too perfect, the teeth were stark and had a flawlessness to them which made her look a little too much like a cartoon.

The School-Nurse, teetered over, unnerved by the unblinking stare which never broke from Bonnie’s gaze. Whatever affliction Belle Harlow had, this person had too, she was simply a lot better at keeping it hidden.

*Click, click*

Bonnie jolted a little, as the Pale Receptionist clicked her fingers at her. “Huh?”

“There she is. What I said was; "You're Bonnie Murphy, right?” The pretty receptionist said.

“Uhhh… y-yeah, that’s me.”

The Girl rested her arms on the desk, looking Bonnie up and down “You can call me Namina. Such a cute dress, I hope that we didn’t catch you at a bad time Miss Murphy?”

“...” Bonnie played with her fingers, unable to move past the distinct feeling of being a rump stake.

“Feeling a bit nervous. I suppose that’s understandable. Let me level with you, we really - and I mean really, meant to send someone with more impressive credentials in this field than Belle. But boy, let me tell you, she really insisted.”

Bonnie flinced again as Belle suddenly appeared beside her, slamming her clawed hand on the desk-table “Oh god, Namina, Shut up will you? You are barely older than I am. Stop embarrassing me in front of strangers!” Belle protested firmly.

Namina sneered as her fingers typed dexterously on the desktop in front of her “Dude, I’ve got a good 40 years over you, and I’m one of the youngest.”

“If only that showed in your actual level of maturity.” Belle snapped back.

The tension wasn’t palpable, but still present. Perhaps that is why Bonnie said “Belle, has been very helpful…”

Belle turned to Bonnie and gave her a genuinely thankful smile, or at least, half of one. The Half that wasn’t beef jerky.

“Riiiiiiiight. Well, since you’ve seen miss Vanilla Sky, here, and you’re not prostrated on the ground in prayer, I’m guessing she’s given you the basic run down. I’ve just finished getting you onboarded onto our system. You’ll need this to get in and out of the mansion…” Namina slid a hard plastic keycard towards Bonnie… one with her actual photo-ID picture on the front - Her with a very embarrassing perm which she decided was a good idea just out of college.

“Tap your card and head straight through. And hey, Bonnie. Thank you for coming, seriously.” Namina said.

Bonnie tapped the side panel beside the glass security doors with a slightly shaking hand, giving Namina a very uneasy farewell as Belle followed close behind.

It was the sheer grandeur of the Mansion Foyer which put a temporary stopper on Bonnie’s nerves. It has surpassed even her grandiose expectations, all of it, the marble floors, the chandelier, the dark spiraling twin stairways. All painted a picture of antiquity, history and wealth.

“Quite something huh?” Belle said, smiling at the doubtlessly wondrous look on Bonnie's face.

“He… he lives here? Like really lives here?” She was dumbfounded. She’d seen nice houses but this was just insane.

“Yeah of course, we have all live here since the renovations. Charlie tends to bounce between here and his suite on East-Wallace Campus but he opened this place to us. It’s as much a part of him as we are now.”

Now that was a strange thing to say, maybe not the words themselves which could have been quite sweet in a metaphorical sense. It was her tone, how literally she put it, which gave Bonnie weird vibes.

“Good evening”

“FOOKIN HELL!” Bonnie spun violently at the voice which leapt out from behind her. Her fists held up ready to clock whoever snuck up on her, Bonnie paused to see an elegant, calm face.

The woman had silky shoulder length hair, black as night, framing a beautifully sharp face. Her lips were a kiss of dark matte brown, her eyes like dry sap.

Her three piece suit and rigid stance gave her an elderly and refined air, despite her clearly looking no older than her early 30s.

“Apologies, Miss Murphy. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” She said in a cool tone, a clearly mixed accent.

“Oh god, not only are there more mythical creatures, there are English Mythical creatures. The worst of them all!” Bonnie said without really thinking.

The dark woman raised one of her perfect narrow brows. “And if they had warned me that you were an Irishwoman, I would have prepared a welcoming gift… with cheap whiskey and tickets to the nearest bare knuckle boxing match.”

The absolute gall. “Hmmm pale, overly pompous disposition, innate air of superiority. Definitely check out. At least this one is subtle.” Bonnie said, jamming a thump towards Belle.

“I-I can’t tell… was that a compliment or…?” Belle muttered lost in confusion.

The Dark Woman cracked the smallest of smiles. “You can go, Belle. I will take it from here.”

A cold hand rested on Bonnie’s shoulder “You gonna be alright?” Belle asked.

She at first wasn’t sure how to answer. However… “I think so. You’re not gonna be… far off, are you?”

Belle stifled a laugh “You’ll be fine, you’re more than a match for this old goat. But yes, I’m just a shout away if you need me.”

Like a ghost, Belle vanished in the blink of an eye, and Bonnie was left with the Dark Woman who stood like a statue.

“And you are…?” Bonnie asked.

“Cleo will do. If you’d kindly follow me.” Cleo said, gesturing towards the stairway.

This Cleo woman led Bonnie up the curling black stairs, this place was truly a marvel to behold. As Bonnie emerged on the first landing she witnessed the great balcony overlooking the vast Drake estate. Ancient looking portraits hung upon the mahogany walls and while another Stag horned chandelier lit up the vast space, each corridor stretching to the left and the right were illuminated by polished candlelit sconces.

This place felt more like a castle than a mansion, and its seemingly endless hallways with an even more numerous amount of beautifully carved ebony doors seemed to stretch on without end.

Despite her wonder, Bonnie couldn’t shake this feeling of impending dread… as if walking bare foot in the snow, with the wolves watching from the wooded shadows.

“Keep up, Miss Murphy, Charlie is just this way.” Cleo was already some steps away at the mouth of the west wing. Bonnie blinked in confusion, damn she was fast to get all the way over there.

She followed her down the dark hallway… and boy was it dark, in fact… It felt as if the deeper into the west wing that Cleo led her, the deeper the shadows became, until Cleo marching ahead was only a silhouette in the unlit passage.

“Uh… Cleo, it's getting just a little bit pitch black in here, I’m just a normal woman ya know? can we at least turn on a light or something- !?”

Bonnie's voice was cut off as cruel hands, cold as icicles wrapped around her throat. Like a paper aeroplane she was thrown against the wall, pushing the breath out of her chest as she was held in place.

The shadows deepened, so that all light had been snuffed out, all light… safe for the gleaming scarlet orbs which traced over her with a distinct predatory suspicion.

“You have some explaining to do, Ms Murphy” Cleo’s voice was quiet, almost serpentine as her hold constricted around Bonnie’s larynx.

Bonnie grasped the hands but they were as stubborn and u moving as iron. The grip was not strong enough to choke her, just enough to panic her.

The shade which held her sniffed long and hard at her nape “You may look human, but there’s something off about you. Now you listen and you listen well. For hundreds of years I have stalked this shitty plane of existence, and ever since I have found nothing even approaching satisfaction.

But the man that you have idle chats with in your little nurses office, the one who confides in you when bullies harass him or girl jeer at him - he is the only thing in this world that I care about, he is the only reason I even bother to emerge from my coffin at dusk, without him the colour of this cold dead world will be simply wiped away. This is true for all of us and we have already nearly lost him several times today. so I will give you this one gentle warning.

Whatever it is that you actually are under this poorly wrapped facade, if it brings him harm or woe in any shape or form then I will drink the marrow from your bones and leave you in an unmarked grave.

Do we understand each other?”

Bonnie was afraid of course… but then again, by the look in her hellish eyes, so was Cleo.

The Irishwoman nodded and lightly tapped Cleo’s brutally cold hands. She released her and at once the supernatural shadow which dimmed everything slowly drowned back into a warm light.

Bonnie rubbed her throat as Cleo stared at her long and hard, her sternness faltering only for a second. She didn’t look frightening or intense at all in that moment, just a scared, thoroughly exhausted twenty something.

“As much as I want to punch you in the face right now… look just - everything is going to be fine, He…. He’s going to be alright.” Bonnie reassured.

Cleo looked like a deer in headlights. Lost and confused, but she eventually straightened her bolo tie and the lapel of her neat black jacket and stalked off back down the hallway.

Bonnie huffed, clearing her sore throat before turning to the door which she had been thrown against… finding it half ajar.

Slowly, cautiously, Bonnie pushed open the door with two fingers. The room was kept dark, but she could hear the beeping of an EKG Monitor.

Subtle glows hinted at the scene within, and as Bonnie slowly entered she searched along the adjacent wall for a light switch.

When she finally found it, the room flooded with light and Bonnie was filled with true horror.