Three Truths and Other Unsettling Tales Read online

  As he approached the first set of night watch soldiers, he paused and took a deep breath. Their torches burned brightly in the darkness, but they didn’t seem to notice him. As he closed in, they stopped moving entirely, as if they were frozen in place. Walking past them, he turned around and continued to eye them. As the distance between Danel and the soldiers increased, the soldiers slowly started moving again, oblivious to the fact that an enemy had just walked by them.

  Relieved, his mind began to wander again. He hadn’t seen his wife in ages, it seemed. He wondered if she would look different. He thought about how happy she would be to see him, and he smiled at the thought.

  He finally reached the main gate of the city. The guards on duty looked down on him from high on the wall with vacant stares on their faces. They opened the gate for him without saying a word. Even though the gate was completely open, none of the invaders seemed to notice. Danel walked into the city, and the gate closed behind him.

  His heart beat faster. He broke into a run, trying to get to his small wooden hovel as fast as possible. The people of the city looked worried. They were crying and arguing. Soldiers were busy fortifying their positions along the wall. Nobody gave any attention to Danel as he ran through the alleys. Out of breath, he burst through the door of his home.

  Donatiya was awake in bed when he entered. A single lantern illuminated the room. “Danel!” She screamed out his name in joy as he ran toward her. She looked exactly as he remembered her.

  They embraced and kissed. He held her close for several moments. He couldn’t begin to explain to her how he managed to get there, and she didn’t ask, she just accepted his presence happily.

  Danel looked into her eyes, “I came back here to save you. We must leave now.”

  “That makes me so happy,” she said, “But wait, there’s something wonderful I must show you!” She moved over to the bed and picked up a small bundle of blankets that he hadn’t noticed earlier. She approached him with a smile as he heard a small cry emanate from within the bundle.

  Inside, he saw a baby, perhaps three months old.

  “Meet your son,” Donatiya beamed.

  Danel looked at the baby, and his heart filled with love and pride. The small child, conceived in the days before he left, and birthed in his absence, had the same color eyes as him. Donatiya handed the bundle to him, and he held his first and only son closely. However, his smile faded, and his pride quickly turned into horror as he realized the true extent of Baal’s evilness. Looking at Donatiya and the baby, he remembered what Baal had told him, “Remember, you can choose only one!”

  He knew the choice would be impossible.

  Bzzz

  Calvin felt something vibrate deep within his skull. It was the most unnatural feeling he could imagine, almost like he had some sort of buzzer buried between the lobes of his brain. He shot up in bed, and after a moment of confusion, he decided he’d dreamed it, as it was nearly two in the morning. He rolled up next to Tabitha and allowed himself to relax.

  They were two-hundred miles beyond nowhere. Tabitha had dragged Calvin far into the wilderness to meet her father, a recluse who spent his summers in a remote Alaskan cabin. Their trek in had been long, flying over the trees in what was probably the world’s oldest bushmaster. Hooper Jacobs, a man whose proudest achievements were being both a former minor league ballplayer and Tabitha’s father, had wanted to meet Calvin. More importantly, he wanted to see just how far Calvin would be willing to go to please his daughter. Would he really travel all the way to the wild outreaches of Alaska? He had. Calvin passed the test, at least the first part of it.

  Exhausted from their long journey, the two travelers had eaten a quick meal and then went right to bed, hoping to take advantage of the three hours of darkness they could expect. Calvin slept well, right up to the point when the buzzing in his head woke him up.

  Back in the confines of Tabitha’s embrace, sleep found him once more. An hour later, as the morning sun rose, the two woke up still tired from their journey. They managed to get dressed and exit the cabin’s sole bedroom, which had kindly been loaned to them by Hooper.

  Over breakfast, Hooper started in with the inevitable get-to-know-you banter. “So Tabitha tells me you’re an engineer,” the older man said.

  “Yes,” Calvin replied. He tried to elaborate further, wanting to describe the latest ten-lane overpass he’d worked on, yet he suddenly realized that he couldn’t remember any specifics. It was as if they’d been wiped from his brain. He trailed off as he mentally grasped for a fact, any fact, that might make his job seem interesting.

  “How long have you been doing that?” Hooper asked, without seeming to notice the fact that Calvin was still trying to add to his previous answer.

  “Uh,” Calvin’s brow furrowed as he went into deep thought, “I don’t really know.” He gave a nervous laugh at his sudden inability to come up with an answer to such a simple question.

  Tabitha butted in. “Stop being silly!” She playfully hit Calvin’s arm, then looked at her father. “He’s been working there for five years. They hired him right out of college,” she said proudly.

  Calvin chuckled along with Tabitha as he scratched an itchy spot on the back of his neck. “Yep,” he agreed, “five years.” Calvin relaxed, and there were no other memory hiccups for him that morning. Soon, Hooper began warming to Calvin.

  It wasn’t until that evening that Calvin felt the buzzing again, this time while the three sat on the outdoor deck eating dinner. Lasting for several seconds, the violent vibration emanated deep from within his skull and tickled the back of his eyeballs. This came just as Hooper was telling him about the homerun he once hit over the wall in Skeldon Stadium. “The furthest ball ever hit there,” he bragged.

  Calvin jerked up. “What was that?” he exclaimed.

  Tabitha and Hooper both gave him an odd look.

  “The buzzing,” he clarified. “Did anyone else feel that?”

  “You must be hearing things,” Tabitha said with a laugh. “Probably just a fly.”

  Calvin swatted the empty space in front of him, attempting to ward off a pest he wasn’t so sure existed.

  “Yeah, the flies up here are monsters,” Hooper stated with authority.

  Calvin tuned the others out, waiting for the buzzing again, but after a few moments it seemed that the affliction had passed. A general feeling of unease settled over him. That was two times now that he felt the mysterious vibration. It was distracting to say the least, but becoming worrisome the more he thought about it. He put it out of his mind and carried on for the rest of the night, convincing himself that everything was okay.

  The next day Hooper took them fishing, which proved to be fruitful. The sun was still bright in the sky as they ate their catch outside the cabin. Tabitha was explaining how, when she was young, Hooper had always tried to teach her about baseball. “And I swear to God that I had no interest in learning any of that...”

  Calvin’s ears vibrated. “Damn it!” he interrupted as he jumped up from the table. “I think I have a bug in my ear!” He felt around the outside of his ear, then jammed his pinky inside, hoping that he’d find the culprit.

  Tabitha had a piece of fish sticking out of her mouth. “Do you feel anything?” she asked.

  “No. I don’t think so.” He wiggled his finger back and forth in his ear, still agitated.

  Tabitha laughed at the absurdity of Calvin trying to fish a bug out of his ear, while Hooper resumed the conversation they’d been having. “Calvin, you were telling me about California,” he said in his booming voice.

  Calvin pulled his finger from his ear and looked at him, puzzled. “California?”

  “Yeah, you were telling me you grew up there.”

  “Grew up...” Calvin faded off.

  Tabitha’s smile lowered. “Calvin, you look like you’re lost at sea.”

  Calvin scratched the back of his neck in a daze. “What’s this?” he asked as his finger passed over a bump
that his longish brown hair just barely covered. His fugue seemed to clear.

  Hooper put his fork down as he leaned in closer to look at the spot where Calvin was lifting up his hair. “Looks infected maybe.”

  Tabitha also leaned in closer. “Oh gross, Calvin! It looks like some sort of bug bite, but it’s huge. Look Dad, it’s got some pus coming out of it.” She reached her hand over to the back of Calvin’s neck and pushed the bump with her pinky. “Gross,” she said again as she wiped her finger on a napkin.

  “Maybe we should have someone look at that,” Hooper said as he shot a concerned look at his daughter. “There’s a retired doctor who lives about five miles from here. Name’s Hecht. He might have something to say about it.”

  Calvin protested. “No I think it’s fine. It’s probably just a mosquito bite.”

  “Calvin,” Hooper stated, “up around here people call mosquitoes the Alaskan state bird. I’ve seen a million mosquito bites, and that wasn’t done by a mosquito.”

  Calvin reached around for a second time and poked the bump on his neck. Tabitha grimaced as more pus oozed from the reddened area. “You should really go, babe,” she said.

  “I’ll radio him,” Hooper said, “let him know we’re coming.” Hooper glanced at the sky. “We’re not going to get too much in the way of darkness tonight. We shouldn’t waste it. Get some sleep and we’ll head over there in the morning.”

  That night, Tabitha was woken by the sound of Calvin’s palm slapping against the back of his own head. “Something’s in there!” he screamed.

  “What? What is it?” Tabitha shot up.

  “It’s inside my head.” Calvin said, “Whatever’s doing that buzzing, it’s inside of me.”

  Tabitha sat up and comforted Calvin, slowly massaging his shoulders. “Maybe we should just get you to a hospital as soon as possible.”

  “I think I’ll be okay.”

  “No, we need to get you some help.”

  “I’ll see Dr. Hecht later today. He’ll help me.”

  Tabitha continued with her argument. “I don’t think that’ll be good enough.”

  “If Dr. Hecht tells me I need to go to a hospital, then I’ll go.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t have even come up here. What was I thinking? Dragging you away from civilization like this. Next time my dad wants to see me, he needs to come visit us, just like your mom did.”

  Calvin paused for a moment, as if he was deep in thought. “My mom?” he asked. “Who is my mom?”

  “Are you serious?” She sat stone-faced as she waited for his response.

  “I can’t remember.”

  Tabitha smiled in desperation, waiting for it to all be a joke, but the furrow on Calvin’s brow didn’t waver. She got out of the bed and retrieved her bra from the floor. “Okay, that’s it. We’re getting you to a hospital, now. I’ll have Dad drive us back to the airstrip.” She maneuvered her arms and shoulders through the bra-straps, then found her shorts on the floor and put them on. She grabbed her crumpled t-shirt off the nightstand as she left the bedroom to wake her father.

  Hooper listened as Tabitha asked him to return them to the airstrip. “He’s got to go, Dad. It’s an emergency. First it was the buzzing, and now he’s having trouble remembering things,” she said.

  “It’ll take a while to get a pilot out here. Let’s see Hecht first and see what he says.” Hooper looked out the dark window. “We’ll leave at first light. Start getting ready.”

  The ride over the bumpy dirt road jolted the three occupants of the four-seat ATV, and even though they only travelled five miles, the journey seemed to take far too long. As they arrived, Tabitha saw a man who appeared to be in his mid-sixties step out of the cabin. He ushered them right in, not being one for pleasantries.

  Dr. Hecht directed Calvin to sit down on a chair and then asked him to describe the buzzing that he was feeling. With gloved hands, he examined the bump on the back of Calvin’s neck. It was Tabitha who told him about the memory lapses Calvin had been suffering.

  Dr. Hecht questioned him. “What’s your full name?”

  “Calvin Evan Roberts.”

  “What’s the date today?”

  Calvin answered quickly and correctly.

  “Where are you at?”

  “Alaska.”

  “Where did you meet Tabitha?”

  Calvin remained silent as his eyes shifted upward in an attempt to recall the information.

  “Calvin?” Tabitha’s sweet voice cooed. “Don’t you remember?” It was an excruciating half minute for Tabitha as she watched the man she loved struggle to recall how they met.

  “Economics class,” he finally said. “I think.”

  “Tell me about your family,” Dr. Hecht said. “What are their names?”

  Calvin looked downward. “I know my mother loves me. I remember being happy.”

  “But do you remember her name?” the doctor asked as he looked into Calvin’s eyes.

  Calvin shook his head. “I can’t even remember what she looks like.”

  The same held true for the rest of Calvin’s family. Tabitha’s stomach dropped every time Calvin failed to recall what should’ve come easily to him.

  Dr. Hecht ended his line of questioning with a shake of his head. “I don’t know what I can do for you out here, Calvin.”

  “What do you think is wrong with him?” Tabitha asked.

  “Well his short term memory is fine, it’s his long term memories that seem to be missing. Then there’s that wound on his neck, and the buzzing that he’s feeling. I’m at a loss. There’s really nothing I know of that would cause all of these symptoms…”

  Tabitha noticed a hesitancy in the doctor’s voice, and guessed that he was withholding something. “Except for...” she led.

  Dr. Hecht gave a smirk of acknowledgement. “This daughter of yours is quick on the uptake, Hooper.” He looked back at Tabitha. “Except for an insane hypothesis that probably isn’t true.”

  “Tell us, Hecht,” Hooper insisted.

  “Just keep in mind that what I’m about to tell you is probably batshit crazy. It’s just something that a couple of the old-timers told me when I first moved up here, and I didn’t put too much stock into it until now.”

  Tabitha sat down.

  “I don’t even know where to start with this, but it’s a bug, a particularly nasty one that nests in the human brain.”

  “You mean like a bacteria?” Calvin asked.

  “No, I mean an insect. A big one, something like a hornet.”

  Tabitha shook her head. “There are no hornets that nest in the human brain.”

  “I didn’t say it was a hornet, I said it was similar to one, or at least I’ve been told that’s what it looks like. The adult plants an egg at the stem of the brain, then the larva works its way inside, where it grows.” He looked directly at Calvin. “If this is what’s afflicting you, you probably got bit right after your plane landed.”

  “How come I’ve never heard of anything like this before?” Tabitha demanded.

  Dr. Hecht threw his hands up in resignation. “Like I said, I’m not even sure I believe it myself. The old guys, they say it’s on a thirty-year cycle. These things show up maybe twice in a lifetime and stick around only for a few months. And even then, there’s probably only a handful of them.”

  “So these things, where do they go when they disappear?” Calvin asked as he rubbed the side of his head.

  “I don’t know, son.” Dr. Hecht said. “Maybe they hibernate, or maybe they go underground like the cicadas do.”

  Calvin felt the bug buzz again, the strongest one yet. Tabitha, who was the closest to Calvin, yelled in surprise. “I heard it!” she shouted as she pointed at the side of Calvin’s head.

  Calvin hit the side of his head with his palm. “Get it out!” he screamed as he rocked back and forth.

  Tabitha dropped her arm and embraced Calvin. “Oh God, babe. It’s true.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She held onto Calvin
as Dr. Hecht ushered her father outside to speak privately.

  Tabitha held him close until Dr. Hecht and her father finally returned. Hooper looked solemn. “There’s a clinic over in Banshee that I’ve gone to before,” he began. “It’s the closest medical facility, but Dr. Hecht thinks you should go straight to Anchorage.”

  Dr. Hecht chimed in, “It’s further, but you’ll get far better care there.” The doctor nodded toward his satellite phone. “I’ll arrange for a pilot to pick you up at the airstrip.”

  Calvin nodded his agreement. Tabitha’s stomach fell as she noticed the grimness with which he did so.

  Leaving Dr. Hecht’s place, the three climbed into Hooper’s ATV and drove off. “Calvin,” Hooper said, “I believe in telling the absolute truth, always. So I’m going to tell you what the doc told me about this bug that might be in your brain.”

  “Uh, dad. Don’t scare us.”

  “No,” said Calvin, “I want to know what I can expect.”

  “This thing is feeding on your brain,” he said bluntly.

  “Is that why he can’t seem to remember anything?” Tabitha asked.

  “Yeah, that’s what the doc thinks. It seems like this thing is lodged in the area responsible for some of his long term memories.”

  “It’s eating my memories. My whole life.” Calvin looked forlorn.

  “Eventually,” Hooper continued, “it will have to make its way out of your head.”

  Tabitha shuddered at the thought. She looked at Calvin, the man she loved, and gently caressed his cheek.

  The ride over the unpaved road was difficult, but they arrived at the airstrip in two hours. They were the only ones there. “It might still be awhile, maybe even up to a day,” Hooper said. He looked at Calvin, who was getting paler by the minute. “You know, there’s a cabin about a mile further down. I know the guy who owns it, he’s gone a lot and he won’t mind if you two wait there. You’ll be far more comfortable than if you wait here.” Hooper pulled his ATV back onto the dirt road. “I’ll drop you off and then come back here to make sure we don’t miss anything.”