Mistaken Identity.

Note: This story contains themes of mental health and demonic possession.

Mistaken Identity."

"That defense is not going to get us anywhere."

The guy in the suit started to pack his briefcase, defeat written all over his face after spending the next minute staring at the top of my head, desperately looking for my eyes, well, actually he was looking for a response that would make his life easier. Much of a lawyer you are. He let out a sight of disappointment, and look, now he's rolling his eyes at us, the poor dear. I feel sorry for him.

Sorry...

I am, I'm... very, sorry... but not in the way they are, no, they are sorry for me, they pity me, and so does he, I can see it in his eyes every time. It angers me but he laughs at me... He loves it when I'm angry out of spite, but even more, he enjoys it when I snap out of it, because nobody believes me... And they have to deal with me... They have to believe that what happened sickens me and that he, he is the one that loves it... He just... loves... it.

I look up at the nurses, ready as they are to take me back at my room, I felt her tugging on my sleeve, how long has she been trying to make me stop- crying. I quickly wipe some tears away with my jacket, my dirty, stinky jacket, and my eyes flash up to scan the room. I can't have been crying for long, the lawyer is still here, and what did I tell you, he pities us- right, me... And she, flinched, she is no longer holding my shoulder, she, backed away. She is scared of me, us! me...

They sat me down on my bed, it's cold in here, but it's alright, and did I tell you, I used to love horror movies when I was young! I'm sure you did, but now I can't watch any. No, it's alright, I don't want to watch one, besides, I do a lot of movie nights on my own. You see, I got this, this one movie in my head, that I remember, yes! and I- I know I'm smiling, I like what you said... I like smiling... So, I got this movie inside my head, and I, I play it before I go to sleep every night, it's not really my favorite movie, but I don't have a choice, it's the only thing I remember. The other memories hurt, and he loves it when it hurts... I don't!

Hm? You want to know what's it about? Oh goody, finally, someone wants!

It takes place on October- in? Oh, well then, I don't remember a lot of stuff, after all, ha ha. It is a chilly night, it's not winter yet, but you could see your breath in the air if you tried hard enough! And there's this main character, hm? oh, she's a girl, but, what's her name... I don't remember. Anyway, she is waiting for her boyfriend, and she is dressed... beautifully... polished from head to toe, she's wearing blue jeans, low rise, but not too tight, sitting perfectly around her waist, almost hugging it in the most gentle manner, and embracing her hips and all her legs up until her knees, where they widen and start going down wider and wider, falling on her ankles, not shabby and heavy, but elegant, as though, they don't dare touch them, just, conceal them. What do you call these, flared? Oh, they are just lovely, lovely! And around these little loops that pants have, she is wearing the most discreet, brown belt, just to go with the jeans, and, on her feet, she has one of those amazing black boots, that go up your ankle, but they are tight, hugging your ankles, and they also have little black laces, they're her favorites! I know, right, fascinating! I like smiling... On top, she's wearing a white shirt, no, not a hoodie, it has long sleeves, but it's tight, you know? It's flared jeans, you can't style those with hoodies, duh... ha ha... But I digressed, so she's walking around the park, waiting for her boyfriend, and the park is beautiful in October, just, majestic, the trees standing tall, not yet completely naked, but you know, leaves dropping here and there, in this shade of orange, yellow, red... colors... but they're not sad, you know, no, they're actually happy, because, they're dying now, but, a new season is coming... you know? Anyway, and as she's walking around, waiting, somebody calls at her.

"Hey, girl! You're awfully pretty tonight...", it's a man, but it's not him, no, it's more like the average stoned highschooler. She ignores him, it's not like it's a first experience. She rolls her eyes at him and turns around, a little preserved though, because you know, boys…

  A whole of a sudden, though, something changes. It's not the kind of thing that I can describe, people have a sense for these things, they, feel it, when it happens, the knot in their stomach suddenly and the sweat dripping from their forehead. The clouds hang lower in the sky, and the light in the park starts to flicker. The silence is eerie, the kind that happens when the air stops breathing, when the clock stops ticking, when... when there's somebody there, that makes the world stop turning and hold its breath, don't you think he could make your blood freeze before you know it? He's there, walking with them too, hiding in plain sight, right in front of them, and by the time she notices him, it's already too late. He'll be there, shoving his face against hers, with a grin spread from ear to ear, but she can't see it, because it makes him happy. She stands on the tip of her toes, he has grabbed her by the collar with one arm and they’re dancing… an unteachable dance, that has never been seen by anyone, it doesn’t even require you to move your feet. It’s all in your head, it’s the mist, the ever so gently invading fog that enters the mind and you can’t see the world anymore, and you don’t feel like a human, but a camera with arms and legs and, not even a good lens! He saw her and she was afraid, and that’s what it’s all about… That’s about all he needs.

"Hey girl!", he calls back in his smug, self - centered manner, but alas! she'll entertain him just for now... Besides, there is no better feeling that seeing them feel it too. Apparently, it shows, in a weird, twisted manner, it has its way. No one can ever pinpoint it, they all say, "it's something in their eyes" or “it’s in their smile” or “they look human but not, it’s like seeing a perfect imitation with something very off about it.” Ha! Amateurs. It’s never about us, really. It’s about them and the little signs their body gives them or whatever other crap they call it. But they always ignore them, I honestly can’t tell if they’re being stupid on purpose or what. Anyway, she turns around, only to find him standing just inches from her face, looking up and down from her eyes to her lips, and after two or three times it starts, all that shit again, stomach, neck hair, cold sweat, it’s not fun anymore. She just wants to get to it. She stares at him not moving a bit, the kind that makes you uncomfortable enough to turn around in the middle of the night when it’s looking from a distance, but that burns a hole at the top of your head when you’re close enough that it can see your breath, so you have no choice but to turn around, just to ease the pain. And then, she’s looking at him eye to eye, having him take a half step backward almost forgetting how to walk, as though someone had told him the most horrifying tale. And she’s grinning from ear to ear, because now she’s happy.

“Did- d…” he clears his throat. Aw. Cat got your tongue?

“Did you hear me?” Oh, look he’s got some balls. Goody.

“Oh, I heard you alright…” even the lights flicker on her command now, the air is chocking on itself.

He got his smug back on and now he’s trying to raise his hand towards her, “Wanna now a secret?”

Oh, he’s definitely got some chops, but he doesn’t feel like making a show tonight. In the blink of an eye, she has his hand at breaking point and him pleading on his knees from the pain. Usually, he likes a good little show with everything, but this one is getting on his nerves.

“Bold of you to assume that I don’t already no one, son. As a matter of fact, I know all your dirty little secrets, but don’t you dare worry about it… No one is ever going to know anything up here, but I wouldn’t exactly count on the kindness of the people downstairs…” her eyes point to the ground but when the sympathetic grimace glances back in his eyes it turns to an even more sinister grin that before. Her eyebrows are risen in excitement and her eyes are flaming with the sweet happiness she gets by feeling every vibration in his trembling body, like a fish just taken out of the tank. They can’t believe how much they reek of that fear.

He’s six feet under the dirt now. God rest his soul.

  I know, it’s not the longest movie, but somehow when I play it back, it seems long enough to make it to the big screen- where did she go? And why are there scissors on the floor?

  They didn’t immediately send me here after the incident. No, some men came, with uniforms, they were wearing hats, too. They tied my hands with sharp, metal circles and after that they never let me use anything with a sharp edge, no fair. And then, they put me in a car, the white ones with the bright lights. I like colors, but those were to bright, pretty sure my eyes hurt. I didn’t talk to the police. They ask me a lot of things, I don’t remember, they said something about a wheatness, wetness, I don’t know, it was a man in a car, and he called them. He didn’t dial 911 immediately, they said he was in shock, but I could feel his eyes glued on me the whole time…

People are a lot like me, after all… Ugly. And the best damn liars.

  Every day they ask me questions, how long have you been here? I don’t know, I’m not good with numbers, I… I don’t do a lot of stuff, you know, my room is just a mattress and four walls, they said they couldn’t leave me with anything else because he always makes me do terrible things, I, don’t do them, he… they would initially put me with a roommate, but nobody wanted me. It’s dark in here, they say it’s not, I guess I’m not seeing very clearly… and the floor, it’s cold, it hurts, like I’m sitting on ice. They give me a lot of medicine here, I should keep a list, but I can’t, but I don’t have to, my mouth tastes like it all the time and they won’t let me forget it… Sometimes they say I’m a nice girl, they haven’t called me girl in a while, the people with the uniform and the coffee called me Miss, and he calls me a bitch. I don’t know what that means, is it like the summer, where we go with the swimsuit?

  You know how they say that when he gets inside you, you don’t remember what he made you do? Well, I do, now I don’t remember much after all the drugs, but if you ask me, I’ll know. But I don’t speak, my lawyer says it’s best if I don’t. And he laughs either way, because he, hides in plain sight and I, have to make them see, and have to hear his voice calling me a beach and hear him laugh, and scream and cry, and she left… They said I snuck in a pair of scissors and stabbed her, no, I was just telling her about the movie, and, and how he makes me watch it every night, and I have no family or friends to come and see me… I’m sorry…

  Sometimes I feel lonely. Mostly I feel sleepy, they give me all this medication because when I feel, it’s all bad and sad and I cry… I don’t usually feel when he’s not around, but when I sneak out for a couple minutes it’s negative and guilt and bad… Guilt… I didn’t mean to… When he’s not here, I’m mostly sitting and staring at the wall, it’s like when he left, he took something from me, that I can’t quite put my finger on… and he giggles here and there, and I’m empty… and lonely… But he doesn’t let me feel lonely for long. He comes around and nestles in the empty crawlspace and then it’s this tickling sensation, like when a cat is making itself comfortable. And he sits there. And I’m not lonely.

“Mistaken Identity.”

I did it.

But it wasn’t me.