Shame Of Maastricht: The Revelation of Misery - Marie N. Hallen (top rated books of all time .txt) 📗

even when Kate served the dinner. She saw him sitting at the table motionlessly, frozen and focused on something he couldn’t see but could only feel. Something captured his mind and it wasn’t hard to guess what it was. Kate was praying that it doesn’t grow into the creature she saw rising from the bottom of the river in her dreams. This was to be stopped somehow. She sat down next to Luuk and cuddled him. She ran with her fingers through his soft hair and pressed her cheek to his, kissing him softly.

“What are you thinking about, sweetie?” she asked Luuk and looked in his eyes. He smiled, cuddled her and kissed her back.

“Did you sleep well tonight?” He suddenly asked.

“Yes, of course. Why?”

“I didn’t want to tell you, honey, wasn’t sure if this is something you would understand, but I will try to explain.”

“Go ahead. What’s wrong?”

“I did work at night, really, no lies. At least tried to. But I always had a feeling there was someone standing by the window or walking around the house. Or standing at our threshold. Moving around... I couldn’t sleep and had to look away and check everything. They just didn’t let me sleep. I felt their presence.”

“Did you see anyone?”

“I’m not sure. I heard someone move. And at some point it seemed to me there was a shadow, it flickered and when I tried to peer and see something, I didn’t, but it was too dark.”

“You’re scaring me, baby. Where did you see them?”

“I was in the room where I work. Someone was looking at me. But then I also checked our bedroom. I heard someone outside. Haha, now you will think I’m paranoid.”

“No, I don’t think so. Was there a car? I mean could you hear a car pass by? Are you sure it wasn’t a stray animal? This week I have seen a deer over there, but forgot to tell you,” Kate pointed to the green area a few hundred meters ahead which could be seen out of the window.

“Yes there are deers, but I’ve lived here all my life and never saw them get closer to private property. Even when I was a child, my dad built a feeder for them and put it outside, somewhere in the yard. We wanted to attract them with food but it never worked. And they never tried to eat our grass. So with the deers, I would rule out such an option. And not a single car around.”

“Ok, tonight I can go to bed later than usual, will turn off the lights and check if someone shows up. Just for the comfort of sleep,” Kate suggested. “Too bad we don’t have any cameras here. Could be helpful at some point.”

“That’s what I basically do almost every night. It’s not the first time I hear them. Are they crawling there or what? This starts freaking me out, I think I will go paranoid soon.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before? How many times did you hear or see them?”

“The thing is that I haven’t seen anyone. Only some glimpses of shadows. Something dark. It shouldn’t be here. Once I woke up because I felt someone was staring at me through the window. I was drugged so I thought this could be a side effect of you know what. Not even worth mentioning. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone. But in general, it repeated like six times.”

“All during one week? When was the first time you saw something?”

“Like ten days ago I think. This gives me creeps at night.”

“Did you go outside?”

“To check? Only once. Nothing. I know you will say it’s all in my head. Just like doctor Martens.”

“No, no, like I said, I will try to stay up and check everything myself. I have enough work, so I will finish later anyway. And this will be some kind of a break.”

“You know what’s really bad,” Luuk sighed and moved closer to Kate, embracing her. “I can feel them even now. Their presence. It just feels like we are not alone.”

“I will check right now, I mean right after the dinner. Let’s eat out first. You can’t catch a monster when you are hungry, huh?”

“Indeed. And the pork is really nice.”

Kate started her dinner. Once she finished, she looked out of the window and checked on the door. There was no one, but Luuk’s mood didn’t seem to improve. He was sitting in the room, frozen and silent again. He tried to work but always got distracted, peering into nowhere again and again. His face didn’t look healthy in any way and his eyes expressed a high level of anxiety if not fear.

She worked until late but managed to finish everything on her agenda sooner than expected. Luuk didn’t enter her room, not even a single time, although before it did happen from time to time. She missed those times when he brought her a plate of fresh fruit while she was working and he was having a break. But they need to get over it. It was midnight when Kate decided to surprise him with a cup of homemade hot chocolate and brownies assuming he might still be busy and tired. After serving everything with inspiration, she entered his room. It was dark there.

“Luuk,” she called him but there was no answer. “Baby, are you asleep? I brought something for you.”

She put the plate on the table and turned off the light. Then she saw Luuk laying on the bed in a strange position, eventually unconscious. There were white pills spilled all around and an empty box was lying on the floor. When she noticed them, she screamed in horror and realized he did overdose. But was this done intentionally?

“Luuk! Luuk, can you hear me? Wake up! open your eyes!” she shouted, trying to resuscitate him. “Can you even hear me?”

Nothing worked, neither water, nor improvised means, Luuk remained unconscious and pale, like his t-shirt. Kate could barely feel his pulse which was weak and subtle. She called the ambulance and fortunately they arrived within ten minutes. The paramedic confirmed a serious overdose and Luuk was rushed to the intensive care unit.

Kate was sitting in the hall and waiting for the doctor. Despite the late night, the department was crowded and pretty busy, the doctors scurried around and the nurses rushed back and forth at jet speeds, bringing more and more new patients. Kate saw a man severely injured in a car accident and barely alive, as the team of paramedics rushed a gurney with him to the operating room. In an hour a doctor went out and greeted Kate.

“He is alright, his condition is not critical, however looks like he needs therapy as the consequences of drug abuse can be really serious.”

“How long will he stay here? Was it a suicide attempt?”

“From the amount of pills we found in his stomach, it’s hard to define. He could either take the rest of pills after getting drugged with the first few, but could also do it on purpose. We have performed gastric lavage, he will stay overnight and can be discharged tomorrow, but like I said, some kind of psychiatric care wouldn’t hurt,” the doctor concluded.

“Do you mean he is dangerous for himself?” Kate wondered in horror.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He needs serious care and continuous observation. His mental health is significantly impaired.”

This was really bad news for Kate making her worst expectations come true. Luuk will never agree to undergo intensive psychiatric treatment at the mental facility, neither could she keep an eye on him all day and night long. Or maybe she could and this will grant her a role of a watchdog and Luuk will hate her. But this was the only way to save him from himself.

“Does he talk? Is he conscious?” Kate asked the doctor.

“He tried to talk, he was screaming, but we had to tranquilize him. I’m serious, this guy really needs help. Unfortunately it’s not something we could help with. But it’s highly recommended that the treatment begins right after he is discharged.”

“I understand,” she replied in dismay. “I suspected it, to be honest, but didn’t think it could happen all of a sudden. We have visited a psychiatrist today. He goes there on a weekly basis.”

“He needs something more serious and intensive. And don’t let him drive, you can’t guess if he is drugged, but if he is, there will be an accident, we already have two patients who got into a car crash today, just an hour ago. Also drugs.”

After talking to the doctor and handing over all the necessary things for Luuk, Kate went home with the intention to pick him up the next day. She went to bed and set an alarm clock for 7 a.m. planning to get up as early as possible and head to the hospital. Her heart was breaking. She decided to call his mother but the latter never picked up the phone. Kate didn’t feel sorry for calling in the middle of the night as it was about Luuk and not someone else.

His father didn’t reply either and she hung up, realizing she would be the only person, responsible for his life, safety and health from now on. She was sitting on the couch in the empty living room with the lights off and staring meaninglessly at the dark TV-screen. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. Twenty. She remained motionless in the same position, thinking over the incident again and again. It was silent as if the house was cut off from the outside world and this silence felt morbid and heavy. It was almost tangible and suffocating. Without him the whole world felt like this, but now it was especially heavy and sinister. It seemed to Kate that there were dark shadows in the corners of the room, condensing and growing with every minute. The room was getting even darker although all the lights were already out. But we all know there is no edge for darkness.

“Tomorrow you will be here to light up my darkness as I will light up yours,” she thought with affection, sending him all the love in the world in the mind's eye. “I will fight for you.”

At this point something distracted her from these . Her eye caught a glimpse of movement behind the window as if someone was crawling there and trying to peep. She only managed to see a shadow for a second and rushed to the window. She did feel some kind of eery presence around, it’s been a month since they started to feel that the atmosphere in their house started to live on its own and as if there was someone watching them. But now it seemed to materialize and become more obvious.

Kate rushed to the door. “I should have grabbed a knife,” she thought as she ended up at the threshold with the door open, trying to look around. There was no one around, it was just spring night wind rustling in the trees, unshorn bushes and the hedge. She walked around the house and saw a tiny baby kitten in the grass who ran away in a wink once she approached it.

“Oh, those kitties, they always get active by night... You just scared the shit out of me, naughty little thing,” she thought cheerfully and returned to the house, however locking the door by all three locks.

She tried to catch some sleep and it was hard to succeed as anxiety lay hold of her mind and she couldn’t get rid of some alien presence in the room with its dark corners full of gloomy shadows. Her dreams were also sombre but the first morning rays of sunshine scattered them away and she went to pick up Luuk from the hospital.

“I couldn’t wait until you get back, honey,” she told Luuk once they came home. “It was really scary at night for some reason.”

“Told you,” she