[This is a story I started writing a while back and never really finished. Do you think I should keep going?]
1: The first interview
Rick and his associate Jermaine pulled their Chevy Nova up into the driveway of the nice suburban home of one 'Bernard Holidae' whom had agreed to an interview several weeks prior. Rick was a middle aged, slightly overweight raccoon standing at about six feet tall. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and brought his arm up to read his watch. "It's 2:30, we're about fifteen minutes early, Jermaine. You think we should just knock anyways?" Jermaine, a muscular doberman pinscher who was much younger and in-shape than Rick, stepped out of the car and replied. "Yeah, go ahead. This heat's killing me man..." Jermaine,too, wiped the sweat from his forehead and adjusted the reading glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. "I don't think that Mr. Holidae would mind, would he?"
Rick shrugged. "Maybe he won't mind, but maybe he will. He's a bit off, you know? I mean, I can't blame him after what he's been through, but still..." He trailed off as Jermaine carried his briefcase from the car to stand next to Rick at the walkway up to the house. The doberman glanced over at his partner and pulled a small notepad from his inner jacket pocket. Rick groaned. "Come on, Jermaine, not another damn checklist! I've got everything right here, see? Pens, paper, clipboard, don't worry!" The raccoon smiled and started walking towards the large house at a brisk pace.
Jermaine sighed. He'd only agreed to interview this old geezer to finish his journalism course, he wasn't too interested in what the guy had to say. Rick had promised Jermaine that it would be worth it and he would certainly pass that stupid class. Jermaine honestly hated his coursework, but it was better than living with his grandparents at least. "Rick, man, what if this isn't all you thought it would be? Maybe you've got it wrong? What if he's just nuts like everybody said?"
But Rick wasn't listening, he pressed the doorbell and waited for an answer.
"Rick, you're not listening again."
"Oh, you've noticed?" Rick chuckled. "Trust me on this, pup."
Both of their attention was brought back to the door as the sounds of several locks being opened came from the other side. "Make sure to be polite, Jermaine. Don't want to lose this opportunity, do you?" Rick said as the door swung open, revealing an older rat, looking at least sixty years old, but moving like he was much younger. He smiled, revealing that one of his incisors was chipped and several other teeth were missing. "Hello, young ones! What can this old rat do for you?"
Rick cleared his throat and spoke. "Mr. Bernard Holidae? I'm Rick, you remember we spoke over the phone last week?" He held out his paw and Bernard shook it vigorously. "Yes, of course I remember! Come in! Do you mind taking your shoes off? I've just finished cleaning the carpet." Rick removed his sneakers before setting foot in the house, and Jermaine followed his actions before shutting the door behind them.
"Please, excuse the mess. I've been trying to pack everything up but I find things that... "He paused, causing the two reporters to turn towards him. "Things that distract me." Jermaine glanced at Rick, who was just as lost. Bernard spoke again, making them jump. "You boys want some lemonade? I've also got some grape soda if you'd like some." Rick smiled and shook his head. "No thank you, Mr. Holidae, we're fine." The old rat smiled his toothless grin once more. "Well, then, Let's get to why you're here. You're going to ask about the box, aren't you? Ask about that dark, disgusting room they threw us in?"
Jermaine noticed a changed in Bernard's demeanor just then. He'd gone from a cheerful old fellow with a smiling face to something much darker. He was not happy to be discussing such things.
"That was only the start... After they had told us why we were there, they started doing things to us, horrible experiments. The others told me that before I was tossed in, there were fifteen of them. When I got there, they were the only four." He swallowed. "I didn't know it then, but those prisoners would help me survive any way they could. You see, they weren't guilty of any crimes. Not one of them was any criminal, and not one of them deserved what they got."
Rick took out his pen and paper, along with a small tape recorder. "You don't mind if I record what you're saying? I can't write very fast."
Bernard nodded and motioned for him to hurry up. As soon as he knew it was recording, Rick asked the first question.
"Exactly what year were you imprisoned in Merrickson Sanatorium?" He asked, and Bernard snorted. "We weren't in the sanatorium, we were fifty feet beneath it. They brought us down there, told us we were unfit to live with the nutjobs upstairs, and we had to earn it." He laughed. "Only one of us left that place alive, you know. I know what happened to the ones who 'earned' their freedom."
Rick asked again. "What year were you imprisoned beneath the sanatorium?" Bernard replied quickly. "It was 1955. I was eight years old at the time. I remained a prisoner until I was nearly sixteen years old, actually..." He trailed off, and Rick asked another question. "What were the names of the prisoners you were stuck there with?"
Bernard sighed. "There was Ruy, he was a, er... what do you call those cats? With the fur on the ends of their ears?" He pointed at the tips of his ears. Jermaine spoke up. "That's a bobcat, sir." Bernard scoffed. "Well, aren't we a smart-ass? Anyways, there was Ruy, the bobcat." Jermaine looked a little upset with Bernard's remark. "There was Natalya, she was like a mother to me while she was around. She was a wolf, if I remember correctly. She'd been imprisoned for crimes against her country, then handed over to the Nazis." Bernard cleared his throat. "Then there was William. Now he was the only American in that place, and I'll tell you why. Shortly after my 'arrival' I learned that he and Ruy were lovers."
Rick looked a bit surprised. Jermaine was somewhat indifferent to it. Where Rick grew up, homosexuality was taboo but not unheard of. However, in Jermaine's hometown it was viewed as something disgusting by most of the town's population, though Jermain never thought so. Bernard continued, obviously amused by his guests' reactions.
"Yeah, I remember when I found out. I had no problem with it, to be honest, but our fifth cellmate made sure that everyone knew he did." Rick was writing as fast as he could, getting every word that Bernard said on paper. "Go on." He said before looking up at the old rat. Bernard nodded and continued. "That guy was a former SS officer, his name was something like... Oh **censor**, I think it was something like Peter. Anyways, a real nasty fellow to begin with. He made sure that everyone knew how much he hated spending time in a cell with Ruy and William. Wouldn't mind otherwise, he always told us." He paused and coughed before taking a swallow of his water. "Pig was full of shit."
"None of them made it out alive, as far as I know. I'm the only survivor." Those words somehow had different effect on both Jermaine and Rick. Neither were sure what it was, but those words somehow made everything even darker than it already was. "Okay," Rick started again. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"
*******
I woke up, unsure of where I was. I couldn't remember getting here, but there were a few images in my head suggesting that I was in serious trouble. The walls around me were dark gray and stained with something dark, not the light blue of my bedroom. As I tried to stand up, I realized that I must be really tired because my legs could barely hold my weight. I call out for my adoptive parents, but nobody returns the call. "Mother?" My voice echoes through the darkness. I could here shuffling, like somebody was walking around but I couldn't see them. I wasn't scared, but it was a bit unnerving knowing that somebody was right there but I couldn't see them.
"Mother? Father?" I call out again, still unanswered. I was just a boy, you have to understand, so I began to cry. Mother and father were gone and I wasn't sure where I was. This was all I could think to do at the time. I curled up on the floor and bawled like a baby. I don't know how long it took me to get ahold of myself but eventually I tried to explore where I was. I didn't get too far, despite looking really large in the dark, it was only about thirty feet long. I reached the other wall and my eyes started adjusting. It's kind of strange, you know? I'm a rat, so my eyes should be adjusted to the dark anyways. Guess I played outside too often. However it would be very dark for a long time. As you remember, I wouldn't see the sun for nearly eight more years. I didn't know it then...
It was about that time that I started hearing the sounds of others walking around me. They came from every direction and it wouldn't stop. I was more scared at that moment than I had ever been. I couldn't see them, but they could most likely see me. I felt somebody grab my shoulder and I didn't think twice about hitting as hard as I could before running the other way. My eyes had adjusted well enough to see that these furs that weren't walking properly. They were hunched over, moving about on all fours and making strange noises. One of them got close enough for me to see his face. No, not his face exactly, but his eyes. The face looked like it was once some kind of canine, but now it was all wrong. The eyes were the worst, you see normally you can look into somebody's eyes and tell what they're feeling, to an extent. These were empty. Nothing.
The beast (for lack of a better word) tried to grab me again and almost grabbed my wrist. My eyes were very well adjusted by now, and I could see that there were at least ten of these monsters. Some cats, dogs... even a bear. They were moving in a very pack-like way towards me, and to be honest, I pissed in my pants. That didn't stop me from running as fast as I could to the other side of this... cage... that I was somehow trapped in. I turned to face them, wide eyed and hyperventilating. They were reduced to nothing but wild animals! I stood against the wall to catch my breath until one of them had come closer to the wall to relieve himself.
They were moving very slowly but surely towards my position, now in corner with my eyes covered. When I couldn't take anymore, when I could feel their breath in the air... The lights flashed on, causing them to scatter and cover their eyes. I believe it was about then that I passed out, actually.
*******
Bernard was shaking as recalled the details of his first encounter with the sanatorium's inhabitants. Jermaine and Rick exchanged worried looks before speaking. "Mr. Holidae, you don't have to tell us all of this if you don't want to." Rick said, trying to comfort the old rat. "Don't think i'm forcing you to..." But Bernard cut him off. "Forcing me? Boy, you couldn't force me to do anything.I need to tell people. They have to hear." He panted and finished his glass of water.
"Well, Mr. Holidae, we've got to be going. Same time next week?"
"Sure... Sounds great."
Topic: First chapter of a series I may continue... (Read 1086 times)