paqman:
it is your inconsistency and your repugnance as made a lot of hardcore fan metal fatigue

LarrySun:
***

"I saw Rikat again last night," Aishat told Doctor Hassan again.

"Oh come on, Aishat! Are the drugs I've been giving not working?"

"I'm telling you! I saw her."

"Ghosts don't exist. They've never been! All you've been seeing are simply illusions. They're not real."

"You see them only when you don't know they are dead," Aishat murmured.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, never mind. I just remember what a woman told me in the market."

"I think you need to return to your room."

Aishat looked sad. "I just want to be believed. I want someone to know that it's not hallucinations. Ghosts really exist."

"I can't believe what's not real."

"I want you to follow me to my room," she said, "If you still don't believe me, I'll agree that I've been hallucinating."

"What's in your room?"

"Just follow me. It'll only take a few seconds."

Aishat led the way. The doctor followed reluctantly. "This better be worth my time."

They walked through the corridor. When they arrived at the door of her room, Aishat asked the doctor to open the door.

"What's behind the door?"

"Just open, Doctor. You'll find out."

Doctor Hassan slowly turned the knob and pushed the door in. He shrank back in horror at what he saw.

Aishat smiled and said, "Do you believe me now?"

"This is impossible!" He was slowly backing away from the room, and also away from Aishat.

He wanted to look away, but he could not. He was staring into the room. Aishat was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, her head was rested on the table. There was blood oozing from her temple where she had shot herself. The gun was lying on the floor and her dead eyes stared at the entrance.

"You - you are a ghost!" Doctor Hassan said in shaky voice.

"Yes, I am, Doctor. Unfortunately, I had to kill myself to make you believe."

"You're a ghost, Aishat! You killed yourself!"

He collapsed to the ground.

"I told you ghosts exist but you didn't believe me. Now that I have convinced you, I need to go and visit my family for the last time, before they hear the news about my death."

"Your family?" Hassan asked, his face registered further surprise.

"Yes, my parents and my two kids. I told you about my husband. I told you he died."

"But your parents are dead, Aishat. They've been dead for long. And you are not married. You have no husband, no kids."

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been in this hospital for two years. We've been taking care of you."

"You're saying nonsense, Doctor. I only came here a couple of weeks ago."

"No, that's the drugs. The drugs made you think you walked in here on your own, but you didn't. You've been here for years. The drugs reshaped your mind, Aishat. You were the first test subject for the drugs. Apparently, they've been putting various ideas in your head."

"I don't believe you! That's a lie!"

"You killed yourself, Aishat! You killed yourself!"

Then suddenly, the main door of the hospital burst open and Aishat saw her mother and father rush in, they were each carrying her kids.

"Mama! Papa!" Aishat called.

Her father walked towards her. "We've been searching around for you for days, Aishat. What are you doing here?"

"He told me you're dead."

Her father frowned. "Dead? Who has been telling you that nonsense?"

"Him, Doctor Hassan," she pointed at the man lying on the floor.

Her father's eyes followed her gaze. "I'm not seeing anyone there."

"There he is - he lying down there!" Aishat pointed again.

"There's no one there, my daughter," Aishat's mother said.

Aishat was confused.

"Who are you talking to, Aishat?" Doctor Hassan asked.

"My parents," she replied him.

"Where are they?"

"They're standing here! Can't you see them?"

The doctor sat erect. "Aishat, there's no one there."

"Here they are! My mom and dad! They're carrying my kids!"

"I told you. Your parents are dead. You never had any kid. You were never married."

"Aishat, who are you talking to?" her father asked.

"The doctor! Doctor Hassan! There he is!" She was weeping now. "Can't you see him?"

"There's no one here. There's no one in this hospital, Aishat! This building is deserted. It has been deserted for three years. Something happened in this hospital three years ago. Someone with a strange virus was brought in. Her virus killed everyone in the hospital. All the doctors, nurses and patients died. This building is haunted, it's haunted by their ghosts."

"That's impossible!"

"It's the truth, my daughter. We have to get out of here now. This place is evil."

"I thought you don't believe in ghosts," Aishat said.

"That's the rumour. If there are really ghosts here, then you must be seeing them. Only you see ghosts."

Aishat turned to the doctor. "You're a ghost, aren't you?"

"Me? Ghost? Who is telling you that? Aishat, don't believe whatever they're telling you! They're the ghosts, your parents. If they're not ghosts, they're not supposed to see you. You're now a ghost, remember? You killed yourself. They are dead, that's why they could see you. They've been dead for long. It's the drugs messing with your head."

She was very confused. She didn't know who to believe.

"Papa, mama! I'm a ghost."

Her parents stared at each other. "Ghost? How come? Is it the doctor that told you that? Don't believe him! He's lying to you! You're not a ghost! You're a living human being!"

"Look at the room," she said.

Her parents peeked into the room.

"What are we supposed to see?" her father asked.

"Are you not seeing who is in the room?"

"There's no one in the room, Aishat," her mother said.

"My daughter, we have to leave now," said her father, "Your husband is waiting."

Aishat frowned. "My husband?"

"Yes, he's waiting for you at home."

"Abdul is alive?"

"He's alive and well," said her mother.

Aishat shook her head. "That's not true. Abdul died in a car accident two years ago."

"Of course not! You were both together living happily until you suddenly left home. You left him and your kids. We'd been searching for you for over two weeks. Oh! Look at how thin you are!" Her mother started weeping. To Aishat, she sounded like the weeping Rikat.

"Whatever they may be telling you is a lie," said Doctor Hassan. "Do not listen to them. You have no parents. No family."

Aishat walked towards the doctor and bent before him. "You may be right. I don't know who to believe anymore. Maybe it's really the drugs messing with my head. Maybe not. I find it hard to believe you just like I'm finding it hard to believe them too. But most importantly, I can't believe myself anymore. To them, I'm a living person. To you, I'm a ghost. To me, I don't know who I am anymore. I remember shooting myself in the head. You can see my corpse. I can see my corpse, but they can't. Maybe they're really not ghosts, but then again, they say Abdul is alive. I know for a fact that my husband is dead. Maybe they're really ghosts. They can't see you, and you can't see them either. They tell me you're dead, you tell me they're dead. A ghost I met in the market sometimes ago told me that living people could only see ghosts if they don't know they are dead. If they do, the living will never see the dead. They know you're dead, that's why they can't see you. You know they're dead, that's why you can't see them. Maybe I never met any ghost at the market. Maybe it's all the drugs. Maybe both of you are ghosts, maybe that's why you can both communicate with me. Maybe Rikat didn't shoot herself. Maybe she really brought a virus into this hospital. Maybe all the nurses, doctors and patients of this hospital are ghosts. There are a lot of maybes. I wish this was just a bad dream. I wish to wake up right now from this nightmare. Unfortunately, it's not a dream. It's my reality. Am I a ghost or not? I can't even tell.

"I must pick a side. I choose to pick my family. Even in death, family is everything. If it's the drug messing with my mind, at least I won't be taking them again. Eventually, their effects will wear off and I'd know the truth. For now, I go with my family."

She stood up and said,"Goodbye, Doctor Hassan."

The doctor watched her as she stepped out of the door. She was walking out alone.

The End

©Larry Sun, September 2020