The Dark Thing: A Tale Of Terror Chapter I

As Daniel Hastings, guided his car down the lonely tree lined country road a cold chill shot through his body like a bolt of lightning. It was the kind of sensation that made him feel as if he had just walked over a freshly dug grave that would soon receive it’s dead occupant for an eternity of peaceful sleep. For ten years Daniel had been employeed as the overnight staff at the Northern Illinois Institute For The Criminally insane and for those ten years he had oftentimes felt this elusive sense of forboding the closer he came to large imposing building. It’s not that Daniel was blessed or cursed with psychic ability at least he didn’t think he was, but he had been on a much needed vacation for the last week and was unaware whether or not the esteemed institute had received any new and potentially dangerous clients. He did his best to try and shake off this feeling as he pulled into his parking spot but no matter how hard he tried, Daniel just knew that something was not right.

As Daniel pushed through the large wodden doors he was greeted by the grinning face of Harrison, the evening security guard.
“Hey Harrison, what’s shaking?” Daniel asked as he draped his identification card around his neck.
“Not to much buddy.” Harrison replied, “As soon as you sign in, Doctor Samuels wants to see you. We got a newbie today and this one, well, he is a live one.” Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed and knew that his fear was about to be confirmed.

After signing in at the nurses station and noticing that things were far to quiet in a building where at any moment the shit could really hit the fan, Daniel knocked on the office door of the administrator of the facility, Doctor Arthur Samuels.
“Daniel, my boy please come in.” Upon hearing the invitation, Daniel entered to see the smiling face of the world famous psychiatrist from behind a paper littered desk.
“Please Daniel, have a seat we have much to discuss.” Daniel quickly sat down in the old rickety wooden chair and before he could say anything, Doctor Samuels presented him with a large manila folder that was bursting with papers and what looked like a journal of some kind.
“Daniel” Doctor Samuels said with a grave look in his eyes. “In your hands you hold the file, police report and personal journal of a latest client, Doctor Derrick Latrell.”
“Doctor” Daniel blurted out “This guy kill a bunch of his patients with…” Before Daniel could finish his witty remark Doctor Samuels looked at the young man and asked, “Tell me Daniel, are you a religious man?”
Daniel was shocked by such an odd question that seemed to come from way out of left field. “Well yeah, I guess, I was raised Irish Catholic. Why?” Doctor Samuels cleared his throat again as he walked out from behind his desk to stand in front of the incredulous Daniel. “How Shall I put this?” Doctor Samuels said as he grabbed the file from Daniel’s grasp. “Derrick Latrell, is by no means a medical doctor but rather a doctor of psychology or to be more precise a doctor of parapsychology.”
“Parapsychology, what like one of those guys who study reports of hauntings and psychic phenomena. A ghosthunter.”
“Yes, a ghosthunter to use the parlance of our time, and a very well respected one at that. Two days ago the Lake County Sheriff’s police discovered Doctor Latrell wandering through some woods wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans soaked in blood. Upon closer inspection they determined the blood was not his own.” Doctor Samuels paused for a moment to see the look of terror mounting in his employee’s eyes. “When the police took him into custody the only thing they could find on him was his journal detailing an investigation of a haunting at Maysfield House with two of his associates. As a native of the area am I to assume you are familiar with this particular house and it’s reports of alleged spirit activity?” Daniel shook his head yes as he remembered the chilling tales from his childhood of the dark old mansion.
“Very good, then. When they brought him to the lock up in Waukegan, they attempted to question the traumatized man. The only words he could mutter was, the dark thing.” Samuels handed the file back to Daniel. “We Have Latrell, confined to the isolation chamber due to him having a strange effect on the other patients it only just now queited down. I suggest you read this file tonight as well as the journal, it is strangely illuminating.”
“Um, yeah doc, no problem.” With that Daniel walked out of his bosses office and slowly made his way down the hall to his post.

When Daniel sat behind the staff desk he laid the file of Doctor Derrick Latrell in front of him. Daniel still wondered at the odd question whether or not he was a religious man. What the hell could that mean? As Daniel opened the journal to the front page he noticed that damn chill was with him except now it seemed more physical. Daniel Looked down at the page and began to read.

More to come.

Rick E. Hale
t_seeker@hotmail.com