Dr. NoSleep

Niko still lay there, but his face had been smashed in, pulverized, leaving nothing but a mess of bloody bone and torn flesh.

Blood spattered the wall above the couch.

Something dark and cavernous flickered in my mind at the sight.

A glimpse of some part of myself, or part of the universe, that I had never considered before.

A mixture of terror and wonder came with the jumbled flash, but it was soon replaced by a part of myself I knew too well.

What the fuck?

I thought, my inner voice high and whiny, brimming with childish frustration.

With it came a swell of panic, rising up in my mind like a tsunami wave.

Before it could crash into me, something else did.

The man hit me in the low back with his baseball bat.

Instead of panic, pain occupied my whole being, blotting out every other thought.

I fell to my chest, covered the back of my head with my hands, sure he would bash my skull in next.

I said lie down, motherfucker, the man yelled.

Another man called from the second floor.

As someone came down the stairs, my pain dulled, allowing me to think again.

I wondered how long it would take for the police to show up.

The old house was somewhat isolated, a good 10 miles out of town.

I glanced up to see a large bald man in his mid-twenties with bulging, heavy-lidded eyes.

His skin, a shade lighter than my toasted brown, was littered with acne scars on his face and various other scars on his arms.

Slapdash tattoos dotted his forearms here and there.