Excerpt: The Bloodletting Hours

Ellie's heart pounded in her ears as she cautiously descended the steps. A single ultraviolet globe that blinked incessantly emitted a strobe-like effect over the stairwell. Nervously she brushed her long hair back from her neck, noticing the light made her black hair seem purple. She picked her way down through the debris, trying not to imagine what the soft squish beneath her flats might contain and hoping that it hadn't soiled her favorite jean bottoms. The walls felt clammy to her touch and the hallway beyond the stairs seemed to breathe foreboding. She hit the last step and jumped as something skittered past her. She focused on the light at the end of the hall, and stepped forward hesitantly. Just as she stepped into the dark hallway, the stairwell light blinked, exploded, glass shattering down, propelling her into mouth of the hall to avoid getting hit by shards of glass.

Taking a deep breath, she muttered under her breath, “I think I can...I think I can.”

She surveyed the length of the hallway, which seemed ridiculously long to her and didn't have a clue which door to pick. The first few doors on the right were closed, dark glass on the top halves gave no indication of what might lie inside. With a trembling hand, she reached out and tried the knob of the first door. Finding that it was locked, she moved onward to the second door. Just as she reached it, she heard a thud against the door.

Startled, she called out, “Hello, who's there?” feeling foolish at how childish her voice sounded.

When no one responded, she peered into the inky glass. A snarling growl and the whites of eyes greeted her in return. She screamed and ran across the hall, stopping just short of the open doorway in front of her. The growling continued behind her, along with, scraping and clawing at the door. With no flashlight, she couldn't take the chance at going into a darkened room, uncertain of who or what might be inside; however, she also couldn't risk the fact that she might not find her mother. Screwing up all the courage she could muster, she felt along the inside of the wall for a light switch. After several long minutes, she found one and flipped it up hopefully.

The glare of hospital lights blinded her at first, but when it dawned on her what she was seeing, she covered her mouth in horror and whimpered.

The room was filled with hospital beds. The beds faced away from her, but she knew there were people in them, because the collective moaning in the room seemed to amplify to match the pounding of her heart. Why she should be so afraid, she wasn't certain, but she couldn't bring herself to move from where her feet had planted themselves. After a severe self-berating at her cowardice, she walked slowly forward on leaden legs until she came to the first bed. Her terror riddled mind could not comprehend what she was witnessing,as she watched a dark thick liquid drip over the side of the bed. It formed a dark puddle around the wheels of the bed.

Ever so slowly, she approached the back of the bed and worked her way around to the side. Just as she reached the side of the bed, an arm, dark with...what she now realized was blood, reached out and grabbed her jacket. Ellie screamed as she came face to face with a bald man whose sunken eyes seemed lifeless despite the viscious hold he had on her.

“Re-lease me,” he hissed at her.

She fought to free herself, her feet sliding uselessly in the bloody pool. Forcing herself to get control of the hysteria rising through her, she shrugged her arm out of one sleeve of her jean jacket and quickly turned herself out of the other sleeve. The force of her actions threw her off balance and she skated ungracefully through the blood into another bed.

“Re-lease uss” the sound came through the lips a wild haired woman whose arms, thankfully, were restrained in a strait jacket. Blood seeped through her abdominal area, dripping onto the bed and floor.

In fact, she realized, they were all bleeding similarly. Some through the abdomen, others from their arms, mouths, ears...so much blood.

“Mommy?” Ellie cried out.

The only answer in reply was the constant refrain, “Release us”...which seemed to be growing louder by the minute.

As she ran towards the door, intent on searching every room of that floor, a hand clawed at her, dirty nails digging into her flesh, pulling her nearly onto the bed and the bloody body of an emaciated woman with stringy hair, dark eyes that seemed to burn into Ellie. Ellie struggled frantically to free herself, but the woman seemed to have superhuman strength. The woman raised her head, as she pulled Ellie closer and closer, until Ellie was nearly face to face with her.

As the woman opened her mouth, to hiss the same refrain, a spray of blood shot forth covering Ellie......