Nightmare on Third Street - Chapter Nine

I watched from my seat at the kitchen table as Elrick paced around next to it, seemingly thinking things through. Dominic had wanted to stay in the room and talk with us and be part of the conversation, but I figured it best if he wasn't involved anymore than he already was. So, I sent him to his room. Whether he would sneak out and eavesdrop or not was completely up to him. I wasn't so good at picking up on someone spying on me, apparently. The clock on the wall struck six thirty; my concert was coming up. Whatever this guy had to say, he had better be saying it.

"So?" I asked, urging him to speak. "What about this voice? What do you know?"

He stopped his pacing and gazed at me for a long moment. I shifted uneasily in my seat, the wooden chair creaking as I did so. It was the only sound in the room, other than the ticking of the clock as the seconds and minutes passed. "I know a lot," he said. "But so little."

I blinked, confused. "Eh...what?"

"Though I have been dealing with this for years, it does not make me an expert. There's still so much that I don't know, and that can be dangerous."

"...So what can you tell me?" I asked.

Elrick shook his head. "I cannot tell you, for you are not ready to listen."

I frowned. "What do you mean? You're not making any sense," I pointed out. That earned me a small glare. His gaze was steely for a moment, before he sighed and softened it.

"You aren't ready to listen, Bryan. I can't tell you anything worth value unless you're willing to listen."

"I still don't understand," I said. "I'm listening."

"No," he said, "you're hearing, not listening."

"What?" I grumbled, confused. "Now you're just giving me a headache.Isn't hearing listening? Don't I have to listen to hear? Don't I have to hear to listen?"

He smirked slowly. "Ah, now that's the question, isn't it?"

This guy was starting to freak me out. I got to my feet and took two angry steps toward the counter, where I placed my hands on it and took in a deep breath. I looked up at the faded yellow wall, trying to calm my nerves. It was better now that I didn't have to look at him. "Explain to me what you're talking about," I snapped. I wasn't really trying to sound angry or irate, but I couldn't help it. I was pissed and confused, and I was sick of hiding it. Elrick wasn't making it any better.

"I will talk," he said, "but you cannot truly understand until you are ready to listen."

I shook my head, perplexed. "You don't-"

"Ask me what you wish to know," he said quietly. I moved my head a little and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He wasn't looking at me; his gaze was focused on the ground. I followed his gaze, slowly, but found nothing of interest.

"Well," I said slowly, "can you tell me what's going on?"

He chuckled. "That's the question, isn't it? That's what everyone wants to know. I'll tell you what I've gathered.

"It began when I was young. I didn't know what was going on, and this guy seemed to be everywhere. If I went to school, he was in my head. If I went to my grandparents' he was there too. There was no escaping him. And the pain..." he licked his lips. "The first time I felt the pain, I was home alone.

"I was in the living room at first, watching cartoons. I got thirsty and went to the kitchen to grab something to drink. I never even made it to the fridge." He gave a dry laugh. "He caught me half-way there, and I couldn't move. I was frozen in pain. I started crying; I was just a kid, I wasn't used to the kind of pain I was experiencing. It was unbearable.

"He thrives off of our pain. He's always in our heads, no matter what. He tells us what to do, and if we don't submit to him and do as we're told, we're hurt. We're tortured, and no one, no matter how much they want to...no one can help us. The doctor, if you go, can't find anything wrong. No one will be able to find him in your head, nor will there be scars from the pain, except in your head, where he resides.

"He picks a room of the house of which he is somehow connected with. For me, it was my bedroom. I don't know why, but he chose that room to do most of his torture. For you, I'm guessting it's the kitchen. I can tell by your unease in this room. You haven't stopped shifting since you sat down, and even now, standing there, your shoulders are oddly stiff. Relax a little.

"I cannot tell you much, my friend, for I don't know that much myself. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can, but to truly understand what I am saying, you have to be ready to listen."

I frowned at him. "What?" He was making my head spin. "You're so confusing..."

He smirked. "I try."

It took a moment for his joke to register in my mind. I turned and smiled at him. It was the first sign of his sense of humor since I had met him not long before. "Why us?" I asked.

He shrugged. "That one I can't answer. I'm still working on it."

I sighed heavily. When I opened my mouth to ask another question, he looked at me and shook his head.

"He's here."

It was all he said.

I frowned greatly, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I can feel him. I guess it's just something you learn to do when you have years of practice."

"I guess," I murmured.

"You're mine," a voice said in my head. It was that same, raspy voice that I had grown to loathe with such a passion that I saw red.

Elrick looked at me. "Easy," he said. "I heard him too."

I gazed at him. "You...what?" I asked.

"When he talks to you, I can hear it in my head, too. That's how I knew what your name was. That's how I knew about you."

I frowned. "But...I can't hear him when he talks to you," I said quietly, still greatly confused about all of this.

He shrugged. "Maybe you'll learn."

His eyes suddenly clouded over. I frowned at him for a moment, before I waved my hand in front of his face. "Elrick?" I questioned, prodding his shoulder. "El? Hey, c'mon, this isn't funny. Snap out of it." I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes. "El!"

He blinked a few times and his eyes lost their glazed look. "Huh?" he asked. "What?"

My frown deepened. "What happened?"

"Huh? Oh. He was talking to me."

I looked at him for a moment. "I didn't hear anything."

He shrugged. "Don't look at me, I don't have all the answers."

I shivered suddenly. "How do we beat him?"

He sighed. "He can tell our every move, Bryan. He's in our heads."

"So...what do we do?" I asked, starting to panic. "How do we get rid of him?" How do we beat him? C'mon, Elrick, you have to know."

He sighed again and looked away. "The only way to beat him...is to let him win."

I gaped at him for a long moment, before I shouted, "What? Are you crazy? Have you gone bonkers? How can you say that?" I grew a bit angry with him. "How can you give up? For years you've been dealing with this, and you're quitting!" I moved away from him and turned, gazing at the walls, my back to him. I crossed my arms and huffed out a breath.

"No," he said slowly, his voice a mere whisper. "That's not what I meant."

I snorted. "Then what did you mean?"

"We can only beat him when he has won."

"That makes no sense," I complained, turning to face him. "If he wins, we're dead!"

"No," he said again, shaking his head. "You still don't understand."

"Then explain it to me," I said, clenching my teeth. I had been angry and pissed and upset for a while; just because Elrick was here he had turned into my outlet. I couldn't yell at him for no reason, just because I didn't understand something. I had to keep my anger in check.

"The only way to win," he said, "is a complex structure. We can beat him..."

I breathed a sigh. "Thank God."

"We can beat him," he continued, "but only when he thinks he's won."

And the train of understanding left the station. "WHAT!" I shouted.