Tales from The Lake 3 by Tales from The Lake

Author:Tales from The Lake [Lake, Tales from The]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epub, QuarkXPress, ebook
ISBN: 9781945175879
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Published: 2016-08-25T22:00:00+00:00

CHEMICAL OASIS

Tommy B. Smith

The glowing speck on Michael’s tongue made everything right in the delicious beauty of paradise. He swallowed it down.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome, Michael.” Lucille’s dazzling smile was as white as her uniform.

Michael smiled back. He was so happy.

It was strange then that the ultimate pinnacle of bliss hovered out of reach. Even while a tiny point of brilliance outshone everything else, a quiet shadow held its breath in the back of his mind as if waiting for a punchline.

Michael was happy. Wasn’t that enough?

The face. That was it. It was an ugly face that emerged from amid the trees of the dead forest. It still bothered him.

Lucille had placed cool fingers against his cheek, had gently turned his head from the high window to face her milky features framed by dark brown hair. Her round brown eyes probed him.

“Come on now, Michael. Don’t look out the window.”

Michael nodded. She smiled. He returned the smile as he always did, but for the first time since he could remember, it was forced.

From the third-floor window his gaze had drifted to the shimmering river and beyond to the forest, where he had seen the face. The vision clung to his thoughts like a leech. The joy was seeping away, leaving a troubling chill in its stead.

His imagination wouldn’t rest. Despite Lucille’s warning, he had to look one more time. He hoped he wouldn’t see the face again.

He stood at the window and stared down to the forest, gray and dead. He could envision the face against it.

A hand touched his shoulder. He jolted around with a startled cry. His hand struck Lucille’s and the pill flew.

“Michael!” she exclaimed. “What did I tell you?”

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I—thought I saw something.”

“I told you not to look out the window,” Lucille said under her breath. She was on the floor now, searching for the pill.

“There’s something out there,” Michael said.

Lucille raised her head. Her hair was mussed, and her lips were flat, unsmiling. She stared through Michael.

“I told you not to look out the window,” she said. “Why did you disobey me?”

She stood and held out her hand, opening it to reveal the pill in her palm. “Here. Take this.”

The hallway had dimmed. Michael considered Lucille’s tone, which had changed as well. He studied her face. His eyes trailed downward, where he noticed a faint yellow smudge on her uniform’s collar.

“Take the pill, Michael,” Lucille spoke.

Michael stared at her. Strange thoughts converged in his mind.

“No,” he said.

“No?” Lucille turned her head. “I need some help with this one!”

Footsteps answered her.

Michael tensed, seeing several white-uniformed figures running up the corridor toward them.

“I’m sorry, Michael, but we’re going to have to do this by force,” Lucille said.

The others rustled past her toward Michael.

Michael was confronted by a tall, powerfully-built man with a shaven head, and a dark-haired man who was shorter, but equally fit.

The bald man seized Michael’s arm. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” he said. The thick, powerful fingers squeezed Michael’s arm just above the elbow.

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