Flicker (2017)

    The bright white hallway seemed endless and the gray tiles stretched to no end. The cool breeze scraped along the tiles, leaving an eerie mood in the hospital. The trees’ branches slammed against the window, as if to give warning to run and hide. The lights buzzing was the only normal factor to the hallway. Until one by one they shut off and left the feeling of the unknown and dread sink into the hallway. The trees stopped slamming into the window, leaving the hallway in utter silence.
    A child’s laughter erupted within the hallway, deafening the woman’s ears. The laughter died as quickly as it came, it sounded as if the child seemed to be smothered with a pillow. A single light flashed in the middle of the hallway. It looked like a stage light, beckoning an audience to come and see a marvelous show. The woman took a tedious step towards the light, but she stopped mid step when she saw a mysterious figure in the light. The figure looked to be a woman, dressed in an old nurse’s outfit from the 1950’s, her head stared down at the floor as if she saw a bug crawling along the gray tiles. As the woman looked at the nurse; her breath quickened, her heart pumped faster, and her forehead began to sweat.
    “H-h-hello?” asked the trembling woman. The nurse didn't respond. “Are you okay Miss?” asked the woman as she took a step forward to try and help the nurse.
    “Don’t come any closer!” a child shrieked. The woman looked for the child, but the rest of the hallway was too dark to find anyone. The nurse’s head shot up with such force it would have broken a normal person’s neck.
    “Nickie, don't be stubborn, it's time to take your medicine!” stated the nurse. The nurse’s face was breathtakingly beautiful; an oval shaped head, cupid’s bow lips with a shade of light pink, her lashes full, and her skin porcelain white.
    Her eyes were what made the woman run, solid black orbs as dark as the hallway. The woman ran in the other direction of the nurse, slipping on the tiles during her escape. She ran and ran, but the hallway seemed endless. She stopped to catch her breath; lungs heaving, limbs trembling, and a racing heart beat. She started to breathe normally as she walked along the hallway, trailing her fingers against the wall. She walked and walked until she felt a sticky substance along the wall. Her nostrils flared as she began to smell the horrible stench of blood.
    “W-w-what is going on here?” the woman shrieked. The hallway lights suddenly flickered back on, leaving the woman blinded for a couple of seconds. When her vision cleared she turned towards the wall and screamed. Written in blood were the words “Save Me!” Above the words was a child hanging from the ceiling. The child resembled Nickie; tan skin, long black hair, freckles on her face, dimples on her cheeks, and wore a sun yellow dress. The only thing that didn't resemble her at all were the black orbs of her eyes like the nurse’s eyes.
    “Save me Nickie”, the child whimpered.
    “H-how?” cried Nickie. Then the child vanished. Nickie scrambled around the hall to find the child, but the child didn't appear anywhere in sight. The lights flickered off again, except for one. Nickie stayed put and waited for the nurse to appear again. In the spotlight the child appeared, staring at Nickie with the soulless black orbs. Behind her stood the nurse, this time her face appeared forward and she held a bloody bone saw in her delicate hands.
    “Nickie you didn't save me, so you must be punished”, the small child whispered, “Your punishment is death.” With this order the nurse ran after Nickie, faster than a normal human, she was two-thirds the way there before Nickie started to run across the hall. Pain seared Nickie’s left shoulder from the bone saw, leaving her to stagger her pace and scream in pain. The nurse said nothing for she killed her victims in silence. Nickie felt something crawling on her injured shoulder. Before she could run faster, she fell backward due to being pulled roughly to the ground. Her head impacted the gray with such force that it cracked her skull open.
The nurse crouched on top of her in an instant, beginning to saw off Nickie’s left arm. Nickie’s screams killed the silence of the hallway as the nurse shredded her skin with the bone saw. The cracking and crunching of Nickie’s bone and cartilage soon joined into the chorus of Nickie’s screams. A pool of Nickie’s blood began to surround them, the stench of her blood hung in the air as if it were a living entity watching her final moments of life. The nurse finally sawed off her left arm, the bone saw’s blade dulls quickly, and threw it over her head. It slammed against the gray tiles with a sickening slap, leaving Nickie to look over at the gruesome handiwork of the nurse’s bone saw. Her shoulder gushed large amounts of her blood on the gray tiles, making the pool of blood larger. Her flesh was shredded to bits and pieces, and her bones were shattered into small chunks. The pain and horror consumed her, leaving her to scream even louder than before.
“Well isn’t this disarming”, chuckled the little girl, “you may proceed with her punishment.” With this order the nurse did what she was told. She began to saw off Nickie’s right arm, then her left leg, and finally her right leg. During this brutal process Nickie screamed to her lungs content, but due to the large amount of blood loss Nickie’s screams didn't last forever. Eventually the nurse stopped sawing on Nickie's mutilated body and peered at her ghost white face.
    “This is what’s best for you child”, whispered the nurse in a sweet lullaby voice. Then finally the nurse sucked Nickie’s last mortal breath and slashed her throat in silence. Nickie felt no more pain and flew high above her body. She soon drifted into darkness and was left in silence. Her soul was finally at peace.
    Nickie’s eyes fluttered open and blinded her with a white room. Her room was covered in padded white foam, the only thing unpadded were the window placed in the door. Nickie tried to move, but found she seemed to be tightly bound by a straight jacket. She tried to scream for help, but also found her mouth full of cotton balls. A gentle knock tapped against the door. Nickie looked at the glass and screamed to her lungs content, for whom behind the glass was the nurse. She still looked breathtakingly beautiful, but instead of black orbs for eyes she had dark hazel and light blue eyes. She calmly opened the door and gently walked into the padded cell.
    “Nickie it's time for your medication”, the nurse said calmly in her sweet lullaby tone while smiling at her.