CHAPTER 16: THE MARK OF THE BEAST

Suzanne stepped into the brightly lit lobby of the nursing home. The white LED downlights from the ceiling bounced off the cream painted walls of the lobby, giving the place a cheery feel, contrary to what Suzanne was feeling at the moment. Behind her, the automatic glass door gently slid to a close as a mistletoe above her head swayed gently. Her arrival startled the nurse who quickly stood up from her desk at the reception to greet Suzanne. She had been knitting a sweater for her child.



“Ms Summers! I wasn’t expecting you tonight. You know that visiting hours are over. Your grandma’s probably getting ready for bed too,” the nurse stood up, confused to find Suzanne here so late at night. Suzanne usually called before coming over, and she rarely came near her grandmother’s bedtime.



Suzanne rubbed at her palm again. There was a throbbing pain now and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.



“Family emergency. She’s not asleep yet is she?”



The nurse smiled, she was fond of Suzanne. She bent down over her computer and checked the security screen. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she scanned for camera no. 12. In an instant, her face lit up and she smiled.



“You’re in luck, Ms Summers. Your grandmother’s still awake. In fact, she’s playing with a …. cat? Now where’d that come from?” she scratched her head. She started to step out from her desk when Suzanne stopped her.



“It’s alright, I can head over to grandmother’s unit myself. No worries. I won't be long,” Suzanne assured her. The nurse was only too happy to sit back down at her desk to resume her knitting.



Suzanne turned and headed towards the left-wing. The nurse smiled again and looked at the computer screen. For a moment, there was static and the screen went into a snowflake mode. The nurse lightly smacked the computer screen and it went back to normal, but not before two figures in black were seen entering the compound.



***



The left-wing of the nursing home housed six units, with three units on each side separated by a carpeted corridor of artificial grass. There were lampposts in front of each unit, all emitting a dim yellow glow, while above, the fibre optic ceiling which had blue skies and clouds painted on it had been dimmed to mimic the night sky. Over the sound system, an instrumental version of the song, Immanuel could be heard playing. Grandmother particularly liked the music, she once told Suzanne that it was her lullaby.



Suzanne was about to turn to her grandmother’s unit when she spotted a neighbour. It was the spirit of the neighbour to be exact. The old man had passed away just yesterday morning but his spirit was still lounging at a rocking chair at the porch in front of his unit. Suzanne waved at him and he waved back.



“Come to me when you’re ready Mr Firash.”



The spirit of Mr Firash nodded and resumed his rocking.



Suzanne stepped up to grandmother's porch and opened the front door. The management never kept the door locked for the sake of their tenants. Many who lived here suffered from dementia, just like Suzanne’s grandmother.



Suzanne pulled at the door and out sauntered a black cat.



*Strange*, thought Suzanne. *I’ve seen this cat before.*



She knelt to pet the cat, but not before the cat looked up. Their eyes locked and Suzanne found herself staring into the cat’s haunting gold eyes. She reached out to stroke the cat and it purred.



“Do I know you, little one?”



More stroking. The cat inched closer and started to lick Suzanne’s hand but it immediately froze when it spotted the black mark on Suzanne’s palm. It recoiled, arching it back and hissed at Suzanne before sprinting away.



Suzanne stood back up, looking at her palm. It’s an ominous sign, she thought just as the phone in her back pocket began to ring. The ringtone was a BTS ‘Not Today’ ringtone.



It was old man Hendricks. Suzanne blinked, wonder of wonders, Hendricks almost never called. She pressed the answer button and stepped into her grandmother’s unit. Grandmother was sitting on her bed sipping a can of beer. How grandmother had managed to smuggle in such rarity was beyond Suzanne’s understanding.



“Hendricks? To what pleasure do I owe you?” Suzanne smiled as she waved to her grandmother. Grandmother glared at her. Her dementia had kicked in and she could not recognize Suzanne.



There was a brief silence on the other side of the line, as if Hendricks was struggling to find the right words.



“Is there mark still there?”



Suzanne’s smile turned to a frown and she stopped in her steps, “What do you mean?”



Grandmother took a big chug of the beer and threw it out the window, gave Suzanne the middle finger and fell back onto her pillow before pulling the blanket over her head.



“Is the mark still there?” Hendricks pressed on.



“Yes,” Suzanne whispered. She did not like where this was leading to. “It’s spreading.”



Hendricks sighed. Suzanne could imagine him scratching his balding head furiously. “Hendricks, you told me there was nothing to worry about.”



More silence from Hendricks, but Suzanne could hear thunder in the background. Odd, she hadn’t noticed any blizzards on the way here.



“Hendricks, tell me what it is.”



She could hear him coughing. Another crack of thunder. It reminded her of the thunderstorm from two months ago when the black mist had appeared.



“Hendricks….” Suzanne was exasperated now.



“Suzanne, I’m sorry. Go find Hans. I’ve told him everything, He’ll know what to do. But you must hurry. We don’t have much time.”



*What the?* “Hendricks? What do you mean?”



The line went dead. She tried calling him again but the call went straight to his voice mail. Grandmother peeked out from underneath the blanket. “Was that Hendricks?” she asked innocently.



Suzanne hurried over to her grandmother’s bed. She held her grandmother’s frail hands and placed them on her right cheek. For some reason, her heart felt heavy. This felt like a parting visit, Suzanne had a feeling she was never going to see her grandmother again.



“Yes, grandmama. I was going to stay a bit longer but I think I need t go see Hendricks. He might be in danger.”



“Don’t go. Do as he says,” grandmother said. Suzanne blinked and looked into her grandmother’s face.



“Grandmama?”



Grandmother’s eyes were no longer glazed, and she had spoken with such clarity when usually, her speech was slurred. At that very moment, Suzanne had no doubt that her grandmother’s mind was crystal clear.



Grandmother held onto Suzanne’s hand and gently pried open her palm, revealing the black mark. Grandmother’s eyes narrowed as she traced her bony finger on Suzanne’s palm before staring back at Suzanne.



“This,” she pointed at Suzanne’s palm, “This is the mark of the beast.”