Fan Fiction ❯ Poe ❯ One-Shot

The red pill was for her headaches, the blue one for her uneasy stomach, and the white one… Damn, what was the white one for again?

Poe shook her head; black and red tresses fell in front of pale green eyes as she tried to clear her fuzzed brain. She sat before her dresser, pills scattered over its beaten top, an assortment of hues mingling in a sick quilt of drugs. Poe pushed back her hair with both hands, and then continued the sorting of the pills she had mixed in her brief fit of rage. The rage that had started with the rain that was constently beating on dingy widows, drumming insistently, giving her one of her migraines. The migraine that was still pounding in her temples with the beating of her heart.

It had been raining on and off for the entire week, and the forecast called for more rain over the next week as well. To Poe, it always seemed like it was raining for she couldn't remember a time when it wasn't. Always wet, always cold. She could never get a decent breeze of warm summer air, could never go to the park to write or draw. Stuck in a roach infested, dank, old apartment building; in her apartment with its water stained ceiling and cigarette burned floor. Stuck with a strange disagreeable odor that Poe could never place, that she couldn't get rid of. One of the brackers had gone out, so half her apartment was in darkness, leaving Poe stuck in her uncomforting room. She couldn't stand the dark. Things lurked there, always waiting for her.

Poe looked at one of the pills then at her alarm clock. Had it been six hours from her last pink pill? She popped it in. Either way she didn't need to go into one of her serious depression fits. Those morbid moods that had made her friend Charlotte hide every sharp object. Charlotte… Poe ran a pale hand through her hair again. She needed to call the girl sometime, but not today. She still had to clean her mess. Rubbing her temples, Poe once more looked at the rainbow of colors. How long ago did she take the green one?

The pain in her temples increased slightly as she continued her sorting, picking one up and popping it in, logic always whispering, "You'll need it anyway." Charlotte had once suggested making a chart to help plan when to take what and how often, but Poe hadn't the patience for it. Charlotte… There was something she had to tell her? What was it?

Something clicked somewhere in her dark living room, a soft sound that was barely audible, but the empty, silent house enhanced it like an amplifier ten fold. Poe stilled, straining her ears, however the drumming of the rain was her only answer. She turned back to the pill laden wood. Yellow… Yellow was for… She looked at the alarm clock once again which read in bright red one AM. She probably needed to take it.

Poe was half way through the colorful mess when a deep resounding thud filled the apartment. She stopped and looked into the inky blackness that waited outside her bedroom door. A slow blink was her only response as she thought through the noise. Cracked lips mumbled, " must be the power," before once more cold fingers pressed in a teal capsule. Teal was for sleeping, though it didn't work. Poe wouldn't allow sleep to come, because of the dark things that waited in her mind. The dreams of a past she didn't think was hers, and the evil creatures that tormented her. Bright but dangerous creatures that whispered about blood and death and promised sweet things that they thought pleased her but didn't. However, she liked the teal ones taste. So she kept it, and got more… For the taste.

As she turned her head back, another noise greeted her ears, one different from a click and a thud. A hiss of a cat, a cold release of air of something's displeasure, then laughter- raspy, harsh, cruel. Poe froze, head looking at the swimming, bright strings of color. Her flesh crawled, and fear tinged her migraine, making it pound fiercer. She knew that sound. That sound was why she couldn't sleep.

Another thump came, echoing dully through the dank air, and something scrapped and dragged across the ground. Poe shook, her hands gripping the battered dresser scratching the wood were her fingernails dug. Pale green eyes were wide, staring at the blurring colors. She wasn't asleep. She wasn't! This wasn't happening; there was someone out there. Yes! A burglar was in her apartment. Did she lock the door? That was it then.

Poe, still shaking looked up into the mirror attached to the dresser, staring at the girl she barely recognized. Frail, weak, sick. Letting out a shaky breath Poe gripped the dresser tighter for a second then stood. She would let the person know she was there, and would make them leave. Poe staggered to her closet and pulled out a metal bat, then went back to her dresser and got a flashlight. She turned it on, and shown the dim light into the breathing darkness of the hall. The rushing of the rain filled her ears as dismal silence seemed to descend in an overpowering shroud. Shaking, Poe walked, not bothering with the closed bathroom and hall closet doors, entering in to the cold living room.

The dim light of the flashlight reflected off the cracked TV screen first, for she wanted to make sure the darkest corners where empty. The sad electronic helped light the shabby couch and broken recliner as well as the three-legged coffee table. Nothing lived in those spaces, and nothing could hide under the mess of papers that littered the stained brown carpet. Poe let out a broken sigh, looking at the TV once more and briefly wondering how it cracked. And as she stared, the reflecting surface showed a streak of blackness as something moved behind her.

She whirled and faced the kitchen, gripping the metal bat tight enough to make her already pale knuckles turn whiter, and the flash light shook violently in her hands, making the light bounce spastically. Frantic movements back and forth over the bar showed nothing, so Poe stepped timidly forward only to freeze again as another raspy, cruel, hateful laugh came quietly again.

" I-I'm not asleep… Its… You're… A robber…" She whispered. The bat held so tight her knuckles threatened to crack and bleed, and the flashlight did a crazy dance. Poe stepped forward and the light dimmed slightly as she entered the kitchen. Dirty counters, sleeping appliances, and an empty grungy sink were her only reward. Poe wrinkled her nose, for that smell which she could never get rid of seemed stronger here. Overpowering. A dark stain caught her attention on the peeling linoleum floor, and went all the way to her pantry. A sickening laugh came again and a whisper, " Did she dare?"

Poe stared at the door, an inner turmoil rising high within her. By the pantry was an escape into the hall and to her room. She could just walk past it. She could also go back the way she came. Either way she passed the door. Cold sweat matted her already greasy hair to her forehead, and the hair on her body stood rigid. He mouth was dry, and as she panted in fear her breath floated in a puff of misty white. Perhaps this was a nightmare after all…

Poe ran to the pantry door, opened it and stepped aside bat held high and ready. A body fell, dirty blonde hair matted and rotting limbs falling onto the filthy linoleum floor. Poe stared, terror wracking her body as dead brown eyes stared at her mouth agape in silent screams. Charlotte. The night surged forward, and a hissing laugh met her ears, causing her to drop the flashlight, which shattered, and the bat that clanked hollowly. She fled to her room the laughing and hissing following her to the pale glow that resided there and once in she slammed the door and locked it with a resounding click. Stepping away she could hear scratching, snarling, and whispered words of " She dared, she dared!"

Poe backed up to her bed, and stared at the inanimate barrier that seemed to creak with the stain of something on the other side. Charlotte… No… This was a dream! The night terrors that stalked her sleeping visions! Charlotte could not be dead! And Poe looked at the mirror then.

The frail creature had changed and was a monster staring back with red eyes. A monster that smiled wickedly, hiding knowledge and secrets in the dark, twisted refuge of the mind. Poe's horror found its voice and she screamed falling back on the bed. The monster in the mirror howled as well, and the darkness and banging on the door seemed to echo its call. Poe grabbed the alarm clock and it's brightly flashing numbers and threw it at the mirror, breaking it to pieces and causing the pills to fall like multi hued rain. Then as the door seemed to splitter as well, darkness claimed Poe into oblivion.

There was a beeping sound to her right. Poe opened her eyes, feeling as if she hadn't opened them in years, and looked up into a clean white ceiling. The sun flittered through the window blinds, and as her sleeping brain registered she was awake, she began to realize she wasn't at home. It looked to be a hospital. How had she gotten here?

" Aw, miss, you're finally awake. That good, we were beginning to worry about you."

Poe's pale green eyes landed on the nurse with curiosity. Chapped lips and a parched throat asked, " How did I get here?"

The nurse smiled most benignly, " One of your neighbors called. The police got there just in time or else you wouldn't be here with us."

" Why? What happened?" Poe blinked.

" You over dosed sweetheart. But not to worry, we'll be taking care of you for a while. A counseler might be coming by later to see you."

" Oh… Then it was all a dream…" Poe whispered, and smiled for the first time in a long time. She began to close her eyes, laying a slender wrist over her forehead, when a soft cough brought her back. She looked at the nurse who was giving her this sort of strange pitying look. " Yes?"

" The police will also be by to question you."

" Why?" Poe blinked half sitting up.

The nurse patted her arm gently, " I'm sorry for your loss, but the police need to question you on the murder."

Poe's skin grew cold, " M-murder?"

" Yes. Charlotte Brooks was found in your kitchen with her head bashed in and throat torn out… There were several other lesions and cuts all over her body… I'm sorry… I shouldn't be telling you this." The nurse stopped as she noticed Poe's wide, frightened eyes, " Dear? Oh, I'm so sorry…"

Poe trembled like a frightened rabbit, hands in tight fists in front of her mouth. Somewhere, a dark, malicious laugh echoed in her head.