Gabriel's Crayon Drawing {Inkwell Fiction Prompt #144}

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I met Gabriel’s mother, Agnes, in the ICU’s waiting room. Both of our children suffered from lung infections because of the Corona Virus. Their beds were beside each other in the ICU room.

“I’m moving Josef to a better hospital. I think you should do that as well,” I suggested to Agnes. I saw how worried she was about Gabriel.

"I don’t have money to pay for hospital expenses,” Agnes replied with a lump in her throat.

“It’s okay; I can give you money. As a loan, of course. If you want,” I said, holding her hand even though I shouldn't. “I’m sure Gabriel will be fine in no time; don’t worry.”

“You would do that for me? We just met! You don’t know me. How can you be so generous and kind??"Agnes said, and a tear streamed down her cheek. Her mask got wet.

Agnes looked at Gabriel from the ICU window and said, “I can’t lose Gabriel; he is the only person in my life that keeps me going.”

Suddenly, Gabriel’s vitals showed a decrease in heartbeat. Doctors came late and tried to stabilize him and help him breathe. It was a critical moment. As I was watching doctors do their job, I saw a shadowy figure standing by Gabriel’s bed. He stared at Gabriel, and his focus was on him. He looked back and noticed me. Then, he vanished.

Gabriel’s vitals were normalized, and he could breathe.

Agnes was crying and worrying about Gabriel. I asked, “Did you see that man standing by Gabriel’s bed?”

“No! I didn’t see anyone!” Agnes replied, and then looked at me suspiciously.

“We have to move Josef and Gabriel from this hospital tonight! I don’t like this old hospital, and the staff don’t seem to care much about the patients."

“I agree. What hospital do you have in mind?” Agnes asked me while her gaze was on Gabriel.

“I heard the Creak hospital is a better option for us. It is not far, just a two-hour drive.” I said and took my bag, which was on the blue chair there, “I go talk to doctor Stevenson now. If anything happens, please call me! Just calm down; we will get through this."

“Okay. Don’t worry. I’ll wait here,” Agnes said, wiping her tears.

The doctor’s office was on the 4th floor. I took the elevator. I was so nervous that instead of the 4th floor, I landed on the 5th floor. When I wanted to go back to the 4th floor, the elevator didn’t seem to work. I decided to go down through the stairs. I didn’t see any staff on that floor, and there were no light bulbs.

They were renovating the 5th floor. There were paint buckets everywhere. The rooms were empty. I saw a shadowy figure that looked like what I saw in the ICU room beside Gabriel’s bed. I panicked. I saw a light at the end of the hallway, and then I turned left. I was relieved that I found the stairs. I quickly ran downstairs to the 4th floor.

“Where is Dr. Stevenson’s office?” I asked the first nurse I saw, panting. Her name tag read Bella.

“You just missed him. He is in the operating room. He is having surgery. You can wait for him in room 404!” Bella said, pointing to his office room.

It was 10 p.m. After waiting for one hour, Doctor Stevenson arrived and told me to sit down.

“I and Agnes want to move Gabriel and Josef from this hospital. We want your permission and hopefully your help to move them safely,” I said, a little anxious. It was obvious that this request was a bit demanding.

“It is unfortunate what happened to Gabriel and Josef. But I can’t allow such a thing. They are in a critical condition. Moving them will jeopardize their safety. Let us do our job!” Dr. Stevenson said this and looked at the clock.

“But!...” I tried to convince him.

“There is no one but Mrs. Larson. We can’t move Josef and Gabriel. We will take care of them. Don’t worry!” Dr. Stevenson said and got up, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another surgery.”

I talked to him more and tried my best to make him agree. But, it was useless.

I exited his office and I went downstairs to tell Agnes what happened and what the doctor said. When I arrived downstairs on the first floor, I saw Agnes watching a clip of Gabriel. It was his 8th birthday. She paused the clip, and I told her what Dr. Stevenson said.

“What are we going to do now? Do you have any ideas?” Agnes asked.

“I have no idea!” I said, and then I changed the subject and asked, “What were you watching?”

"Nothing. It’s just Gabriel’s 8th birthday. We had a little party! I got him a crayon box because it almost ran out. Do you want to see?” Agnes played the clip for me and then gave me her phone.

I saw a woman kissing Gabriel on the cheek, but her eyes didn’t look normal, and at one point she looked at the camera and smiled as if she knew someone would be watching those clips soon. A stranger.

“Who is that woman smiling?” I asked, pausing the clip.

“That’s Amanda, my sister,” Agnes replied.

“She has a chilling smile!” I said innocently.

"Sometime after his birthday, Gabriel started to have panic attacks, and then he was infected with the Corona Virus,” Agnes said, ignoring what I said about Amanda.

“Do you have any other clips of Amanda? She seems like a cool person. I want to know more about her,” I said, curious.

“She has an adventurous spirit. She always goes to exotic places. I’m nothing like her. I like the safety of my own home. I can’t be like her. She is so brave. Just last month, she visited an abandoned building and told me all about that. She encourages me to be more spontaneous. I love my sister!” Agnes said, and she scrolled down her photo gallery and showed me some more pictures of Amanda. As she was scrolling, I saw a picture of a drawing done with crayons.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Oh. That’s one of Gabriel’s drawings done with the crayon box I got him for his birthday,” Agnes said, showing the photo to me. A shadowy figure with white eyes was beside a woman whose head was open. She looked frightened.

“This is disturbing. This is concerning!” I said, and I continued scrolling to see if I found more disturbing photos or drawings.

“Yes! After Gabriel drew that, his panic attacks started. I showed the drawing to some doctors, but they couldn’t help me. Soon, he got Corona, and here I am,” Agnes said.

As I was scrolling through her photos and video clips, I noticed a change in Amanda’s eyes in the birthday photos. When I zoomed in, I saw a shadowy figure coming out of her head. The figure moved, and Amanda smiled at the camera. It was almost like Gabriel's drawing.

“Did you notice something strange about Amanda after she came back from that abandoned building?" I asked.

“No! I didn’t notice anything! What are you suggesting here?” Agnes asked, a little annoyed.

“Nothing! Sorry, I said that!” I said that and gave back her phone.

After I saw those clips and photos, my brain ran wild with strange ideas about Amanda. I was always skeptical about these things. But I was nearly sure a dark entity followed Amanda and caused Gabriel to have panic attacks, and later he got Corona. This was an outrageous claim, and I had nothing to back it up. That entity was here in the hospital. And Josef was in danger. I had to do something!

“Do you believe in the supernatural, Agnes?” I asked, knowing damn well she didn’t because she already told me she was a PhD student in pure physics.

“I’m a woman of science; I don’t believe in such things. Lucy, what is up with you? What’s with all these questions? If you have something to say, say it!” Agnes said. She was annoyed because it is a habit of mine to beat around the bush and get to my point late.

“Look at those clips again! Don’t you see something strange in Amanda’s eyes after she got back from that abandoned building? I think she brought something with her, and that thing is now following Gabriel. The drawing is proof that something twisted is going on,” I said. I didnt beleive this was happening to me.

“What? What are you saying?" Agnes said, confused. “I thought you were a rational woman! There is no "thing." It is all stories to instill fear in us, blaming real-life problems on something that is “other". That crayon drawing is concersning. There must be some logical explanation for it! I refuse to believe such things."

“I know you want to be rational and logical, but my intuition tells me there is something wrong here and some entity is involved,” I said.

Suddenly, we both jumped out of our seats because we heard Gabriel shouting "MOM." We saw Gabriel’s bed shaking to the left and right as if possessed by some unnatural energy. Agnes looked terrified and surprised. Doctors and nurses came again. They didn’t know what was wrong. Gabriel stood up and started chanting words in a strange language.

“Gabriel!” Agnes shouted, and she raced to the ICU room.

I tried to stop her because that room was full of Corona patients, but she was already inside the room. I had no choice but to follow her.

Some energy made Gabriel stand up, floating in midair.

“Well! Well! Look who is here! Our very own Agnes! The hero of the dream world! I’m Belthra, a demon whom you wronged,” Gabriel said in an old man’s voice. "It was fortunate that Amanda went to that abandoned building. And here I am. I found a way to you eventually!”

“I wronged you? I don't beleive in deomons!"Agnes asked, terrified.

“Yes. Maybe you don’t realize it. You have a power inside you that few have. You are an important soul in the dream realm. You have a lot of light. You are a lightworker in your dreams! With the knowledge you have acquired of physics, you can heal anyone suffering from dark magic. You build safe havens for injured and damaged souls in your dreams. You are what they call the “Healer of Souls. When I try to corrupt a soul, you appear and destroy my plans. You help people heal from bad guys like me! You should have expected one of us to attack you! If you want me to come out of his body, you must allow me to possess you," Belthra said, laughing.

Doctors and nurses ran from the room.

“Please, don’t hurt Gabriel!” I cried, knowing damn well he was about to do something sinister.

“Whatever I did in my dreams to upset you this much, I think I did a great job! I won’t allow you to hurt my son! Now get out of him! Now! You can’t possess my son or me!” Agnes shouted, looking straight at Belthra’s black eyes.

"But I can possess your little friend?! She looks like she’ll be a great host for me!” Belthra shouted with anger.

Belthra exited Gabriel’s body, but he found another host: Me!. I felt him inside my body, moving like a snake. I didn’t have the will to move my body parts. He was in full control. The next thing I knew, I was floating in the air. He closed my way of breathing. I could hear Agnes asking me to “breathe”.

I saw a purple light coming out of Agnes’ chest. She held it in her hands and then threw it towards me. The demon made some sounds, showing his agony. He hated the purple light. He shouted through me, “You can’t do this to me! Oh! it burns!” and left my body. I fell on the hospital floor.

As I was coughing, I said, “Now, you believe me!”

“Yes! I believe you! I suspected something was wrong with Gabriel’s drawing, but I ignored it because I didn’t want to believe it. I wasn’t aware that I was a light worker in my dreams. I only used my power in my dreams! Now, I know how to use it when I’m awake," Agnes said, smiling and helping me stand up.

“You’ve been living a double life. But now you know the truth about yourself!” I said.

“You are a good friend, Lucy!” Agnes said. “The universe brought us together for a reason! I think I can’t do this without you. I have my fears and doubts. Will you help me on this journey?”

“Yes! I will help you. I know someone who might be of help to you in honing your powers. It’s my uncle, Johnny. The universe works in mysterious and sometimes dangerous ways," I said, smiling. “I told you everything would be fine!”

“Yes, I need a mentor,” Agnes said, and we both looked at Josef and Gabriel sleeping.

The doctors came and checked their vitals. We couldn’t explain to Dr. Stevenson and the nurses what happened. They didn’t question anything, as if they had witnessed more strange stuff in that hospital.

After a few days, Josef and Gabriel were transferred from the ICU to the ward.