‘I keep seeing it…. Everywhere now’
Dr. Chakrapali leaned back in his chair and scribbled something on his notebook before looking at the man lying on the couch in front of him. The man’s right arm was over his eyes and he noticed the bulging muscles on his forearms. Neven was a perfect specimen of the male of the human species and Dr. Chakrapali imagined what he would look like naked. His mind drew a picture that was entirely pleasing to him.
“Is it here now?’ Dr. Chakrapali asked.
Neven removed his hand and looked around the well lit and tastefully decorated room.
‘No.’
‘So this thing doesn’t appear everywhere then.’
‘But most of the time the thing is there doctor.’ said Neven putting his hand over his eyes again. ‘Most of the time…’
‘Did you see him yesterday night?’
‘Yes.’ He gulped. ‘Martin and I headed to his home from a party that one of our friends had thrown. We were pretty drunk and we had a fun time. We started kissing and climbed on to his bed. I was taking his shirt off and he was kissing my neck when I saw it again, standing by the closet door.’
‘So what did you do?’ asked Chakrapali. He realized he had an erection and crossed his legs in an effort to hide it. In his mind he was kissing Neven.
‘I was not as frightened as I was before. Like I said this has turned into a regular occurrence. But it did put a damper on the night. I pushed Martin away and he knew almost immediately what it was.’ Neven turned to look at the doctor. ‘He turned on the lights and went to where I said I saw it. Martin was standing right there, right next to it yet he didn’t see or feel it. He tried to reassure me that there was nothing there. But I could still see it doctor… I could still see the Boogeyman.’
‘Hm…’ Dr. Chakrapali shifted in his seat trying to adopt a more comfortable pose to alleviate the throbbing in his pants.
‘What do I do doctor? Please..... I can’t live like this anymore.’ Neven’s voice was choked. He was close to tears.'
‘Like I told you before Neven, you are sick. Your homosexuality is a mental disease. The hallucinations are merely a symtom of this underlying disease. It can be cured.’ He leaned forward taking care to place his pad on his lap to conveniently cover his throbbing erection. ‘Listen to me and check into the Betheslam Institute. You will be fine in no time. I can refer you even; my very close friend works there. In fact I will oversee your treatment personally whenever I am free here. Though it is totally unnecessary, Dr. Szchteck is a brilliant man. He has cured homosexuality cases time and again.’
Neven sits up on the couch with his gaze fixed on the floor.
‘I don’t believe I am sick doctor. I don’t believe it. I’ve always been gay, it can’t be a disease..’
‘That’s what every sick person afflicted with this barbarous disease thinks. Take some time and think about this. I strongly suggest you go Neven.'
Dr. Chakraplai knows that Neven will leave now. He is anxious for him to leave. He is thinking about the porn he has hidden deep down in his computer’s drive. He can see himself sitting in front of it and easily imagining that the two men having sex on the video is him and Neven. It is in fact too easy to imagine.
‘You have got to stop seeing that guy. You aren’t sick. You are just gay.’
The flickering of the TV, the only source of light in the dimly lit room, highlighted his pale face and bloodshot eyes as he sat on the couch with the phone pressed against his ears. Opened and unopened bottles of beer littered the table with a bowl full of popcorn as the headpiece. The random shouting’s of a game show host permeated the room.
‘Still…. Martin, I think I may just check myself in…’
‘Neven! Will you just listen to me! You don’t have a disease! You are not crazy!’
The couch creaked as someone else sat down on it. Neven turned to the side and saw the Boogeyman sitting on the other side. His pale bluish skin seemed bluer under the flickering of the TV. He was dressed as usual in a black coat all buttoned up. On his head sat a black top hat covering his shaggy black shoulder length hair.
He was watching the TV so Neven couldn’t see his face but he knew what he would see if it turned to look at him. A dry cracked face with that bluish skin stretched over where his mouth should be, a red pupil in an eye that was darker than the night. Neven found the absence of the mouth the most disturbing facet. It always sent a shiver down his spine.
He rubbed his eyes and turned back to the TV. The game show was gone and there were only grains where it was.
‘Listen Martin…. I know but… you don’t know what its like’ he hung up without waiting for a reply.
From the corner of his eyes he saw the Boogeyman reach for an unopened bottle of beer. The skin on his index finger had peeled off showing black flesh underneath; decayed and defiled to the point where even the worms avoided it.
He hears a tearing sound and looks to see the Boogeyman’s skin ripping apart where his mouth should be. He can see the jaws opening inside the mouth, the muscles pushing it open wider so the skin can tear itself and reveal that gaping maw. The Boogeyman tips the bottle and drinks for a while, then turns and looks at him.
He sees blood red gums and darkness where his teeth should be. A darkness as rich as the void. The Boogeyman is grinning. The air is suddenly penetrated by the sounds of people moaning. It is coming from the TV and even before he turns he knows that those are moans of pleasure.
The grains are gone. Instead there is a video of two good looking men having sex with each other. Their faces are contorted in pleasure, ecstasy rules over them.
‘Disease.’ the Boogeyman whispers.
‘Disease.’
His lips aren’t even moving.
The scenes in the TV change. Now it’s a man and a woman having sex. She rocks back and forth crying in pleasure.
‘Healthy.’ again that damned whisper. ‘Healthy.’
The scene switches back to the two men but this time the sound that comes from the TV is not their moans of pleasure but the Boogeyman’s whisper.
‘Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease.’
Neven starts to cry holding his head in his hands.
Dr. Chakraplai was wrong about one thing. It wasn’t curable. What he had was chronic and he had to carry it with him for the rest of his life. There was no cure for what he had.
He had cut all contacts with Martin the day he checked himself into the institution. He didn’t know whether Martin had come looking for him and now healthy as he was he didn’t care. He was going out into the world to lead a normal healthy life. Emphasis on healthy.
He had learned to control the urges he felt which were of course brought on by his chronic disease. There were ways to not let it ruin his normal healthy life. The doctors had given him a flash drive full of what they referred to as ‘Video Symptom Alleviators’ to store in the deep dark corners of his personnel computer. They were his medicine to control the urges.
He was free, he would lead a healthy life. His face was somber, his mind was shattered and his mouth was sealed.
He stood at the nearest bus station after being discharged from the institution to take the very next bus back to his home and to his normal healthy life. The bystanders didn’t spare him a second glance.
‘Why should they? But still I can’t believe they can’t see it’ he muses.
In the shiny metallic surface of the shelter under which he stood he can see his distorted reflected image. What he sees isn’t the Neven he is used to seeing. What he is seeing is his pale blue skin, his cracked face and his blacker than night eyes with the red pupils. What he sees is a man in a black coat and top hat.
That was him all right. This was how he looked cured. He was always supposed to look like this.
How wrong he was. Boogeyman? Nope. Neven, good old Neven.
He smiled tearing his skin and showing black teeth.
The bus came and he got in.
-Rohith
Dr. Chakrapali leaned back in his chair and scribbled something on his notebook before looking at the man lying on the couch in front of him. The man’s right arm was over his eyes and he noticed the bulging muscles on his forearms. Neven was a perfect specimen of the male of the human species and Dr. Chakrapali imagined what he would look like naked. His mind drew a picture that was entirely pleasing to him.
“Is it here now?’ Dr. Chakrapali asked.
Neven removed his hand and looked around the well lit and tastefully decorated room.
‘No.’
‘So this thing doesn’t appear everywhere then.’
‘But most of the time the thing is there doctor.’ said Neven putting his hand over his eyes again. ‘Most of the time…’
‘Did you see him yesterday night?’
‘Yes.’ He gulped. ‘Martin and I headed to his home from a party that one of our friends had thrown. We were pretty drunk and we had a fun time. We started kissing and climbed on to his bed. I was taking his shirt off and he was kissing my neck when I saw it again, standing by the closet door.’
‘So what did you do?’ asked Chakrapali. He realized he had an erection and crossed his legs in an effort to hide it. In his mind he was kissing Neven.
‘I was not as frightened as I was before. Like I said this has turned into a regular occurrence. But it did put a damper on the night. I pushed Martin away and he knew almost immediately what it was.’ Neven turned to look at the doctor. ‘He turned on the lights and went to where I said I saw it. Martin was standing right there, right next to it yet he didn’t see or feel it. He tried to reassure me that there was nothing there. But I could still see it doctor… I could still see the Boogeyman.’
‘Hm…’ Dr. Chakrapali shifted in his seat trying to adopt a more comfortable pose to alleviate the throbbing in his pants.
‘What do I do doctor? Please..... I can’t live like this anymore.’ Neven’s voice was choked. He was close to tears.'
‘Like I told you before Neven, you are sick. Your homosexuality is a mental disease. The hallucinations are merely a symtom of this underlying disease. It can be cured.’ He leaned forward taking care to place his pad on his lap to conveniently cover his throbbing erection. ‘Listen to me and check into the Betheslam Institute. You will be fine in no time. I can refer you even; my very close friend works there. In fact I will oversee your treatment personally whenever I am free here. Though it is totally unnecessary, Dr. Szchteck is a brilliant man. He has cured homosexuality cases time and again.’
Neven sits up on the couch with his gaze fixed on the floor.
‘I don’t believe I am sick doctor. I don’t believe it. I’ve always been gay, it can’t be a disease..’
‘That’s what every sick person afflicted with this barbarous disease thinks. Take some time and think about this. I strongly suggest you go Neven.'
Dr. Chakraplai knows that Neven will leave now. He is anxious for him to leave. He is thinking about the porn he has hidden deep down in his computer’s drive. He can see himself sitting in front of it and easily imagining that the two men having sex on the video is him and Neven. It is in fact too easy to imagine.
‘You have got to stop seeing that guy. You aren’t sick. You are just gay.’
The flickering of the TV, the only source of light in the dimly lit room, highlighted his pale face and bloodshot eyes as he sat on the couch with the phone pressed against his ears. Opened and unopened bottles of beer littered the table with a bowl full of popcorn as the headpiece. The random shouting’s of a game show host permeated the room.
‘Still…. Martin, I think I may just check myself in…’
‘Neven! Will you just listen to me! You don’t have a disease! You are not crazy!’
The couch creaked as someone else sat down on it. Neven turned to the side and saw the Boogeyman sitting on the other side. His pale bluish skin seemed bluer under the flickering of the TV. He was dressed as usual in a black coat all buttoned up. On his head sat a black top hat covering his shaggy black shoulder length hair.
He was watching the TV so Neven couldn’t see his face but he knew what he would see if it turned to look at him. A dry cracked face with that bluish skin stretched over where his mouth should be, a red pupil in an eye that was darker than the night. Neven found the absence of the mouth the most disturbing facet. It always sent a shiver down his spine.
He rubbed his eyes and turned back to the TV. The game show was gone and there were only grains where it was.
‘Listen Martin…. I know but… you don’t know what its like’ he hung up without waiting for a reply.
From the corner of his eyes he saw the Boogeyman reach for an unopened bottle of beer. The skin on his index finger had peeled off showing black flesh underneath; decayed and defiled to the point where even the worms avoided it.
He hears a tearing sound and looks to see the Boogeyman’s skin ripping apart where his mouth should be. He can see the jaws opening inside the mouth, the muscles pushing it open wider so the skin can tear itself and reveal that gaping maw. The Boogeyman tips the bottle and drinks for a while, then turns and looks at him.
He sees blood red gums and darkness where his teeth should be. A darkness as rich as the void. The Boogeyman is grinning. The air is suddenly penetrated by the sounds of people moaning. It is coming from the TV and even before he turns he knows that those are moans of pleasure.
The grains are gone. Instead there is a video of two good looking men having sex with each other. Their faces are contorted in pleasure, ecstasy rules over them.
‘Disease.’ the Boogeyman whispers.
‘Disease.’
His lips aren’t even moving.
The scenes in the TV change. Now it’s a man and a woman having sex. She rocks back and forth crying in pleasure.
‘Healthy.’ again that damned whisper. ‘Healthy.’
The scene switches back to the two men but this time the sound that comes from the TV is not their moans of pleasure but the Boogeyman’s whisper.
‘Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease. Disease.’
Neven starts to cry holding his head in his hands.
Dr. Chakraplai was wrong about one thing. It wasn’t curable. What he had was chronic and he had to carry it with him for the rest of his life. There was no cure for what he had.
He had cut all contacts with Martin the day he checked himself into the institution. He didn’t know whether Martin had come looking for him and now healthy as he was he didn’t care. He was going out into the world to lead a normal healthy life. Emphasis on healthy.
He had learned to control the urges he felt which were of course brought on by his chronic disease. There were ways to not let it ruin his normal healthy life. The doctors had given him a flash drive full of what they referred to as ‘Video Symptom Alleviators’ to store in the deep dark corners of his personnel computer. They were his medicine to control the urges.
He was free, he would lead a healthy life. His face was somber, his mind was shattered and his mouth was sealed.
He stood at the nearest bus station after being discharged from the institution to take the very next bus back to his home and to his normal healthy life. The bystanders didn’t spare him a second glance.
‘Why should they? But still I can’t believe they can’t see it’ he muses.
In the shiny metallic surface of the shelter under which he stood he can see his distorted reflected image. What he sees isn’t the Neven he is used to seeing. What he is seeing is his pale blue skin, his cracked face and his blacker than night eyes with the red pupils. What he sees is a man in a black coat and top hat.
That was him all right. This was how he looked cured. He was always supposed to look like this.
How wrong he was. Boogeyman? Nope. Neven, good old Neven.
He smiled tearing his skin and showing black teeth.
The bus came and he got in.
-Rohith
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