7 page short story with a supernatural effect - Research Paper Example

and Number Me and Ms. Bathory Dr. Harold Cooper had a problem. He knew just what it was and had known for some time that it was coming. The trouble was that he had no idea how to fix it and, unlike most people’s problems, his problem was right in front of his face day in and day out. With a lukewarm cup of overpriced coffee clutched in his hand, he rode the three floors up to his office. The elevator doors slid open, and he exited onto his floor. As he did every morning, he stared at the large letters so professionally placed on the chestnut colored walls. Dr. Cooper Let Us Create A Better You He slunk toward the front desk where his curly haired receptionist, Sherry, sat. She hummed some sort of annoying ditty as she filed her nails. Harold rolled his eyes. She could at least pretend to work. He thought. He set his briefcase on the top of the desk and cleared his throat. “Morning Sherry.” He said calmly. Sherry smiled, “Morning boss.” “Anything on the books today?” Sherry sighed and pulled the leather bound appointment book from its place behind the shiny black telephone. She frowned and daintily blew the dust off the front cover. “Oh!” She gasped, “We do have something here. A Mrs. Hadal at 11:00 for some lipo. She’s always on our books around the holiday season.” Harold felt relieved. Relieved that for the first time in six months, he wouldn’t have to sit in his dreary office playing solitaire all day. “Good. Call Mike and Jenny. See if they can come in today for the surgery.” “Sure thing.” Sherry picked up the phone, “How do you plan on paying them by the way?” By the time, Harold returned home, he was in lower spirits than ever before. Ms. Hadal had pulled her business from his practice as well. Now, he was officially out of work. The blinking light on his answering machine caught his eye. “Harold, it’s Gina…” Harold frowned at the sound of his ex wife’s voice. “Haven’t heard from you in about a month. It wouldn’t hurt you to pick up the phone and call your daughter ever now and then you know!” A pang of guilt struck him hard and fast. Had it really been a month? “You’ll be making it up to her of course. I hope you haven’t forgotten about that slumber party, you promised Kara. I’ll be bringing them up tonight at 7:00pm.” “Damn!” Harold hissed. He’d completely forgotten about that. He glanced at the clock: 6:30. He had a half hour to get himself together. At 7:31 pm Gina’s beat up station wagon pulled into the driveway. Several small figures emerged and the giggles of little girls broke the night’s silence. Harold bought pizza for Kara and her friends and ordered a movie to keep everyone occupied. .By 10:30pm, Kara led her three friends to the basement, and Harold found himself alone once more. Not long after, a particularly loud round of giggles drew Harold’s attention. He crept toward the stairs and peered into the darkness below. Harold took the stairs two at a time then. He’d been a kid once and the generation of today was about ten times worse than his had been. “Alright, alright!” He heard Kara say. He slowed his pace. His left foot sinking into the soft carpet on the last stair. He peered around the corner and saw the girls seated in a circle, a flashlight placed precariously on its end, so that a golden orb of light illuminated a spot on the ceiling. “Okay!” Kara snatched up the flashlight and held it underneath her chin, creating a ghoulish glow on her face. “Her name was Elizabeth Bathory.” Kara began dramatically, “She was known as the Blood Countess.” “Why was she called the Blood Countess?” One of her friends asked, “Do you want to hear the story or not?” Kara snapped. “Anyway” Kara continued, “Elizabeth Bathory was of noble blood, born into a wealthy family. She seemed like a normal person at first, but what nobody else knew was that Elizabeth was obsessed.” Kara paused, “Obsessed with being young and beautiful.” Harold sat down on the stairs, listening intently. Nowadays, who wasn’t obsessed with youth and beauty? “One day, one of Elizabeth’s servants cut herself, and a drop of her blood got onto Elizabeth’s skin. The countess believed that the girl’s blood made her skin look younger. She believed then that she had found the key to staying young and beautiful forever: virgin blood. For years afterward, she tortured and killed virgin, peasant girls, bathing in their blood.” The other girl’s gasped. “Gross!” One exclaimed. She wouldn’t have had to do that if Botox existed back then. Harold thought to himself. “So she was caught?” “Eventually…” Kara said, “She never went to trial though, because she of who she was, but apparently she was locked away in a castle. Never to be heard from again, and she never stopped wanting to find the youth she had lost.” “And they say that if you say her name 8 times in a mirror, she will appear. Her spirit will become bound to Earth where she will kill again.” “No way! That’s Bloody Mary, Kara. You’re getting them mixed up.” “Wanna bet?” Kara asked. A few seconds later, Harold heard the girls chanting Elizabeth Bathory’s name. The next morning, Gina arrived to shuttle them all back home. The girls were still chattering about Elizabeth Bathory as they piled out the door. “Elizabeth Bathory” Harold whispered, “Too bad, you aren’t around today.” Did Harold really just say that? Wish that a monstrous killer like Elizabeth was hanging around the modern world? Harold shook his head: “Of course not. Terrible idea.” But the marketing ideas kept flying around in his mind. He sat back and amused himself for awhile. It would certainly set him apart. Of course, she had been dead for hundreds of years, but there were ways to cheat death… Harold jumped up from the couch and flew into his bedroom. In an instant, he was back on the Internet, and this time, he knew just what to do. Two and a half hours later, Harold found himself face to face with Elizabeth Bathory. He couldn’t help but pat himself on the back for his genius idea. Anyone could have their very own famous person with an impersonator, and there was someone for everyone. Although, it was a bit strange how quickly he found the ad on Craig’s List. It was as if it had been placed there just for him. In front of him, sat Elizabeth Bathory. Her ad said her name was actually Margaret Calisle. She was diminutive in size with dark hair and pale, dainty features. Harold wasn’t quite so sure where to begin. He had called Margaret under the general pretense of a business proposal. “So what on Earth made a woman like you impersonate the infamous Elizabeth Bathory?” He asked. Margaret smiled. Her teeth were small and pointy. “I’ve been fascinated by the Countess since I was a little girl.” “What fascinated you about her? I mean she was a monster.” “And our society has never been obsessed with monsters?” She said with a laugh, “Go to any bookstore in the country and there are shelves packed with books about serial killers and criminals. Face it, Mr. Cooper, we are a utterly obsessed with violence.” “That’s true, I suppose. But not many impersonate those people. In fact, you are the only person I found online that impersonates Elizabeth Bathory.” “I prefer to think of myself as an active historian. The impersonating came as a result of needing some extra income. People love to have a figure like Elizabeth at their Halloween parties. It’s convenient for the most part. Sometimes I think I am her. Reincarnated, perhaps .” “What drew you to Ms. Bathory, if I can ask that?” Margaret took a long sip of her coffee, her dark eyes bored into Harold’s. “She was misunderstood, Elizabeth. People see her as a monster, a cold blooded killer, but mostly I think she was just trying to hold onto something. Something so many women hold dear.” “Beauty, youth.” Harold ventured, feeling that he had reached the perfect segway. “Precisely.” Margaret said quietly. “I think she was just lost in all of that.” “Which leads me to why I called you Ms. Calisle…” By the end of their meeting Margaret had all but agreed to Harold’s proposal. Harold felt as though he were walking on air. A renewed hope filled his chest. Margaret arrived at his home every day and the two worked tirelessly on the campaign. Harold found that he quite liked Margaret. There was something creepy about her certainly, but that was to be expected. She had a certain quiet about her that Harold found comforting. The plan was to film a commercial that would be uploaded to Youtube. He ran up his credit card hiring a professional website creator and A/V crew. Margaret had graciously agreed to hold off on being paid until the commercial had proven to be effective for his business. By Christmas Eve, everything was ready to go. Margaret arrived well before the commercial crew was ready to arrive. She arrived as Margaret Carlisle, but by lunchtime, the woman had transformed into the Blood Countess. When she spoke, she was someone with authority, someone with power. She had reluctantly agree to speak in English, although she said it would be far more authentic to speak in Romanian. When Harold saw her that morning, he gasped. “You really are her.” She nodded and smiled shrewdly, “ I really am.” The setup for the commercial and the ensuing campaign would be simple. Elizabeth would be bathing in a bath full of blood when Harold enters and tells her that he knows a better way for her to stay young forever. The two then arrive at his private practice where Harold gives Elizabeth a consultation. The end would result in Elizabeth giving up her murderous ways and turning to Dr. Cooper for her fountain of youth. The camera crew, Margaret, and Harold took the long drive back to his mountain home to film the bathtub scene. When they pulled into his driveway, Harold noticed Gina’s old station wagon parked in front of his garage. His heart sank. What were they doing here? How would he explain all of this? He ushered everyone inside his home and found Kara lounging on the couch and his ex sitting at his dining table tapping her fingers. Kara practically jumped out of her skin when she took in Margaret aka Elizabeth Bathory. “I’m going to prepare the bath. “ Margaret told him. It’ll have to be just as Elizabeth would want it.” “Can I help her Daddy?” Kara pleaded. “Yeah, sure.” Harold said distractedly. The two disappeared into the back where the master bathroom was. “What the hell is going on here Harold!” Gina demanded as the camera crew lugged their equipment into the house. “Just incorporating some advertising for the business.” “So, you can afford a fancy camera crew, but you can’t afford to send some child support now and then? You really are a piece of work.” Harold ran a hand through his thinning hair. He would have to tell her. “Look Gina. I haven’t been honest with you, okay! The practice is failing. It’s belly up and bankrupt. I’m doing this whole thing to try and save it.” Gina eyed him, her hands planted firmly on her hips. “I told you to be more careful with all of that didn’t I? I told you it was too big of a risk.” Just then, Terry, the director interrupted, “Hey Harold, do you think you could get Margaret out of the bathroom? We’ve been knocking and knocking, trying to setup our equipment, but she won’t let us in.” “Well, Margaret’s a bit eccentric, so just tell Kara to open the door. She’s in there too.” “I saw her go in there, but she didn’t answer either when I knocked.”Terry said. Harold laughed, “Probably too busy setting things up. Margaret said she liked things to be authentic.” He strode to the closed bathroom door inside his bedroom. He tapped on the wood lightly. “Margaret? Kara? We need to start filming now. I’m gonna need you to open the door.” There was only silence. “Margaret? Kara?” He said again. The door remained locked. Then a terrible thought entered Harolds’s mind. Something Margaret had said when they first met: “Sometimes I think I am her. Reincarnated.” Harold pounded on the door harder and harder. When nothing happened still, he stepped back and slammed his whole body into it. Again and again he did this with the film crew watching on in confusion. Gina ran into the room, “Harold, what is it!” She cried. “Harold, what’s wrong.” Once more, Harold pushed and finally the door gave. Right away, Harold knew his fear had just been confirmed. Margaret lay in the bathtub, several candles were strewn around it. It was filled to the top, only Margaret’s head could be seen. And the water had a reddish glow. On the ledge of the tub, a jagged knife lay. “What happened here Margaret!” Harold demanded, “Where is my daughter?” Margaret smiled, the same small smile with her pointy teeth. She lifted one of her small hands from the tub and pointed to the opposite wall. Harold’s eyes flickered to the wall, and , to his horror, he saw the small figure of his daughter slumped over. “I told you before, Harold. I am the Blood Countess.” Elizabeth Bathory said. And then she laughed. Read More