The Armiter
Parker looked in the mirror. He felt his scar, a smile that was forcefully stitched in his face. Although the stitches were thankfully taken out, his scar persisted. Parker exhaled; everything had happened so quickly. His sister was insane, his parents had passed away, and now he was by himself.
Parker was lucky to get an apartment with his father’s credit card. However, not only would Parker need to find some way to pay it off, but if the authorities found out, he’d be put in an orphanage. Parker was only 13. Parker stepped out of the bathroom and fixed his gaze on his baseball bat. Parker recalled what the police had stated regarding his sister’s visit to the hospital prior to she went insane. The hospital was suspicious and strange, the cops didn’t trust it. Parker had pretended to have a living grandparent in order to keep himself from being placed in an orphanage. Parker believed that her insanity might be related to the hospital. After grabbing his bat, he left the apartment. He would look into it and discover something, a closure of sorts.
The hospital was located on the outskirts of town. It was convenient for his family, but Parker always thought the hospital was strange. The staff was always carrying bags that smelt like rotten flesh. Parker was repeatedly told that it was only donated organs. Parker noticed the hospital in sight. It had been abandoned for several days, most likely due to the deaths of patients and doctors. Parker pushed the front door opened.
“Hello!? Is anyone there?!” yelled Parker.
He wasn’t sure why he tried. There was no one there, maybe a few squatters, but other than that, no one. Parker sighed and continued moving forward. Parker decided to go to hospital’s administrator’s office. The paint on the walls were peeling off, and Parker had the unmistakable feeling of being watched.
Parker eventually made it to the administrator’s office, where he attempted to unlock the door but found it jammed. Parker pressed his body into the door, which eventually relented and opened. Parker coughed as the dust filled his lungs. Parker examined the administrator’s desk and saw a stack of documents. Parker walked up to the desk and examined the documents. It discussed selling the organs of the “crazy” patients. Parker could not believe it. This hospital attempted to sell the organs of people suffering from mental health issues.
Parker stepped back; was the hospital going to do that to his sister? Parker stared at the clock on the wall, and the minute and hour hands started moving backwards. As Parker looked at the desk, he was tackled by a shadowy figure wearing a white mask with a gaping black smile.
Upon getting up, he saw that he was not in the hospital but rather in a pitch-black emptiness with a rough stone floor. Parker held up his baseball bat and walked forward.
“Hello?!” yelled Parker.
Parker turned around to see Hadley, his friend, lying limp on the floor with a gash across her throat. Parker reached for Hadley, but her body into another of those shadowy things and grabbed Parker’s arm. It got up and threw Parker to the floor. He glanced at the shadowy thing, and more of them appeared.
They reached for Parker, but he stood up and escaped. However, Parker was snatched by a black tendril. Parker noticed hundreds of eyes staring at him. He heard a variety of things, including horrors from his past. How his sister went insane, his house burned down, and he lost everyone.
Parker realized who was doing this. It was HIM, the monster that stitched this smile in Parker, the one who claimed everyone had a breaking point, and the one who killed Hadley. Parker pushed himself free of the black tendril and turned around to run. He had to run; no, he had to take revenge.
Parker spun around to face the mass of eyes. There, he saw a glint of gold, a golden pocket watch. Parker closed his eyes and inhaled before rushing into the mass of eyes. Parker took hold of the pocket watch.
The black void receded, revealing the hospital and the one responsible, the Armiter. The Armiter stood with his arms crossed. It was undoubtedly the Armiter. His dark robe, grey bandages on his arms, and black, expression-changing mask all confirmed it. His usual white smile turned into a somewhat annoyed frown. He then slyly smiled.
“Well, well, you’re smarter than I thought.” said the Armiter.
Parker, angry flung the pocket watch to the ground, smashing it. The Armiter stared at the broken pocket watch and realized what it meant. The Armiter could not create any more illusions. The Armiter used the golden pocket watch to maintain his illusions. If he wanted to make more, he’d have to find another valuable object.
The Armiter took a step back, his expression shifting to a terrified, yet slightly amused smile. The Armiter held his hands up, winked.
“You kill me, you will never know peace.” said the Armiter, “You won’t get her back.”
Parker swung at the Armiter’s face, cracking his mask.
“Oh, I know.” said Parker, “But your time ends here, bitch.”
The Armiter chuckled, “Oh well, I may have not broken you, and I guess my time’s up….. But I’ll be back. You can’t get rid of me.”
The Armiter fell to the floor, clearly pretending to be frightened.
“You won’t escape me.” said the Armiter, “I’ll always be there, that dark whisper, my master will revive me.”
Parker raised his bat, before saying, “Your time here is up.”
Parker swung his bat, shattering the Armiter’s mask completely. The expressions on Armiter’s mask disappeared. The Armiter tumbled to the ground. Parker led out a sigh of relief. Was it over? Parker wasn’t sure.
Parker got up, and left, he knew what he needed to know. Now, he had to figure out what to do next. Parker stared at his hands, what now?
Meanwhile, in the hospital, the Armiter’s limp body lay, with one of his arms reaching for the shattered pocket watch…………………