Experiment in Terror 06.5 And With Madness Comes the Light Read Online Free Page A

cold, cold heart,
because I stopped taking my medication. If the ghosts came after
me, so what? Who cared? It’s not like I needed to better myself
anymore. Besides, it might be fun to associate with the dead. They
were the only ones who were as unfeeling and empty as I was. They’d
be the perfect companions.
    Then there was the whole thing about Declan
O’Shea, which of course was my name until my mother died and I took
her last name, Foray, to remember her by. Or at least remember my
guilt. I finally came to the conclusion that if Perry’s parents
knew who I was, it probably had something to do with the Swedish
Spectre of Clown College. Logic pointed to Pippa being Perry’s
grandmother or relative of some kind. But you know what? Whoop dee
fucking do.
    Yes, the no fucks to give stage was
wonderful. I drank some more and ate tons of crap just because I
could. I was sleepwalking through life, and that was good enough
for me.
    Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough for
everyone. Apparently, I had friends and people who worried about
me. I couldn’t keep them out of my bubble for long.
    It was two nights before Christmas when
Rebecca and her girlfriend Emily showed up at my apartment. It took
that moment for me to, once again, realize how out of control my
life had gotten. I thought I was just fine, sitting on the balcony
in the freezing cold, drinking my bourbon. I’d eaten bag after bag
of Doritos and was feeling a little hot. That might account for why
I was out there in my underwear. I mean, it all made valid sense in
my head at the time. You’re hot? Take off your clothes and sit
outside in near freezing temperatures. Enjoy the view. Enjoy the
darkness.
    I don’t remember all that much, except for
the horror on their faces as I was shoved into the shower. Not a
nice steamy shower to get my cold bones back to a normal state, but
a cold shower that felt like murder on my frozen skin. So much for
not feeling anything. I hollered and yelped as Rebecca practically
assaulted me with cleaning products. Then I was even more helpless
as she dried me off and put jeans and a thick sweater on me.
Meanwhile, her partner in crime was out in the kitchen, pouring out
every bottle of booze I had and throwing every bag of chips into
the garbage.
    Oh no, Hulk alert. Not my chips!
    “Dex,” Rebecca said, leading me toward the
bedroom. “Pack your bags. We’re taking you with us.”
    I glared at her as the waves of anger came
back. Perry’s betrayal, her hand squeezing my heart, it all came
back in an ambush. Everything I was avoiding was still there.
    I was too irate and overwhelmed to speak so
Rebecca passed me off to Em, who kept her tiny hand affixed around
my arm while Rebecca started packing for me.
    “I know you don’t want us to be here,” she
said, cramming my clothes into a small suitcase she dragged out
from the closet. “I know you want to be left alone so you can
continue drinking yourself into a selfish stupor like the arse that
you are. But you don’t have a choice. You’re coming with us. We’ll
take care of you until you’re back on your feet. I’m not saying you
have to change who you are, but Dex, you, right now, this is not
you. You’ve given up. And the Dex Foray that I know, never gives
up, no matter what life throws at him.”
    “Perry,” I whispered, trying to find one leg
to stand on. “She switched my medication and never told me. She
wanted me to see the ghosts. She did that to me.”
    Rebecca paused and gave me a thoughtful
look. “And you have every right to be angry. So be angry, Dex. It’s
better than being nothing at all.”
    I felt like I was choking. My words came out
hoarsely as I gasped for air, as I allowed myself to feel. “It
hurts more than I know what to do with. I can’t handle this. I
can’t.”
    Em squeezed my arm lightly and started
stroking my back. Rebecca sighed and came over to me, placing her
hands on either side of my face. “You’re one of my