TONDER Chapter 7

Light cut through the small slits of my eyelids and burned into my retina. Confused, I took in my surroundings although in great effort to see clearly. An intense light burned through the window making it difficult to see, but I could tell that I was not in my bed at home. An uncomfortable feeling was pulsing in my arm and I struggled to focus, but could begin to identify the IV line leading away from my bed. The white sheets that draped my legs gave even more confirmation as did the flowered gown of blue tied around my neck. 


“Sutter?” 

Trying harder to see I raised my flattened palm into a salute to shield the intense sunshine toying with my vision. I could make out the outline of a long haired person, possibly male with a wiry build. The most outstanding characteristic of the presence there was the sour smell of body odor. My focus sharpened onto the figure, as I knew that I did not recognize the aged, rasping in his voice.

“Sutter? Can ya see me son?” 

“Who the hell are you?” 

The image sharpened as the old man moved within a few feet of the side of my bed. The long white hair and tangled beard framed a haggard face of age and experience set atop the shoulders of a man of at least eighty years old. The weathered face seemed to wrinkle intensely as this caricature displayed several yellowed teeth in his smile.  

“Gave ‘em a scare back thar, you did. I knew right away that things were warmin’ up again after the ole’ she-devil kicked the bucket. I knew it right off! Knew somethin’ had to be happenin’ with ya if ya were still around. Sure enough, here ya be!” 

I felt as though I was dreaming. I recognized the old man and his cartoon features of a prospector, and my mind raced through my memories trying to remember a name. 

“Who are you?” 

“It’s me! ‘Member way back ta tha day that ya got the lektos? I was there! It’s me; Emmett! Bet ya thought I was dead by now didn’t ya?” 

“What? Emmett? Yea, I figured you to be long gone by now, no offense.” 

Emmett kept the over-exaggerated smile upon his face and I feared that the yellowed front teeth may drop out at any time, but wondered if it would even matter to him as he seemed unconcerned for his dental health. He smelled as if he had just returned from rolling in a freshly warmed pile of cow dung, but seemed undaunted by his own aroma. His clothes were as I remembered some fifteen years earlier and I wagered that he had not washed or changed them since that day in the clearing. 

“No ‘fense taken. Look, I gotta make this quick ‘fore them doctors get in here and now that yer good and awake. I ain’t supposed ta be in here; only friends and family and such but you know how it is.” 

“Emmett, what are you doing here?” 

My words weakened and I relaxed back into the cradle of the pillow surrounding my head as my temples throbbed with the racing of my heart. The words formed slowly in my throat and there was an unavoidable rasp as if I had gargled with rocks and barbed wire. My eyes once again closed and now comfortable with the Emmett, I began entertaining the questions of why I was in the hospital and exactly how I came to be in this state. 

“Listen up, Chaser, an listen good. ‘Member that ole demon that you an yer Dad put back in ‘er pen? Well she’s dead an gone now. Dead as can be and she rotted away to the foulest smellin’ ash that you ain’t never smelt. Turnt my stomach sour fer most of tha night, but that ain’t tha issue here. Anyway, I knew that this was pretty strange and I wanted ta tell a Chaser just in case it were somethin’ worth notin an since yer dad passed, well…yer tha only Chaser I know.” 

“Stop calling me a Chaser, I don’t know what you are talking about.” 

“Yer a Chaser jus like yer ole man! Don’t you deny what ya really are! Tonder marked ya long before ya knew it. Yer ole man knew and so did I. Hell you knew it that day up there in the clearing.” 

“Go to hell old man! You don’t know a thing about me!” 

“Oh yea?, I know that lately ya been hearing voices that wake ya up out of a dead sleep! I know that you’ve been talkin’ to somethin’ that ain’t of this wolrd! And I know that it gave ya the gift to see! And that’s why I’m here you ungrateful piss-ant. I know more about you than ya know ‘bout yerself.” 

I sat there amazed at this old man who knew the very things that I was afraid to tell anyone.  I settled back into my bed and tried to regroup my thoughts while my head was spinning wildly as if a grand carousel. Emmett continued to stare into my face, his expression unchanged except for now his smile was replaced by a scowl. I calmed myself and searched for information. 

“What is this gift to see, Emmett?” 

“Sutter, thar’s good an thar’s pure evil out there. In the middle is us. We humans are stuck ‘tween heaven an hell an they’re gettin’ ready ta start a war together. Tonder says that evil preys on people that don’t care, don’t know, or are just marked from birth. Usually if yer marked evil from birth somebody down yer line has done somethin’ bad enough ta damn everyone after em. Don’t see yung-uns marked like that a lot, but it happens. Ya got the gift of site meaning that you can tell who’s marked and who’s not. The ones that are marked don’t know it and never will until the war starts. Now people live and die and after they die they gotta be replaced. It’s gonna take mortals to fight this war and that’s where you Chasers come in. You gotta run down these things that are recruitin’ people and markin’ em and put em in a cage. Jus’ like your Dad did years ago and jus’ like you did.” 

“And just what am I supposed to do when I know that someone is marked?” 

“Nothin’ you can do. Jus gotta keep em from markin’ anybody else. Them poor bastards are doomed to Hell and ya best not meddle. Keep the evil chased down and lock it up.” 

“How am I supposed to know when someone is marked? 

“You’ll know by the eyes, Chaser. Them eyes’ll be all hollowed out an black an you’ll wonder how they see at all. But they’re bein’ lead by evil and they live in that evil every day. They think they are like you and me but they’re damned. Jus’ puttin’ in their time till the day comes.” 

“I don’t know if I want any part of this…..” 

“Ain’t gotta choice. Yer part of it and ya gotta do it. Yer soul’s dependin’ on it. Tonder’s got cha and will give ya the right words and all tha things ta say. Listen to ‘em, Chaser, and yer life will be a whole lot easier. Gotta go; doctor’s gonna wanna check ya out. Be safe Chaser, yer special but yer mortal too.” 

Emmett walked out the hospital room door dragging the shredded and worn out legs of his coveralls beneath his boots with each step. He made no indication of being in a hurry and did not look back to me. The words that he spoke echoed in my ears as again confusion began to take over my thinking. I felt that my sanity was slowly slipping away through the loose grasp of my fingertips. Clearly I had become delusional as this seemed as though a terrible dream from which I could not wake. 

The door to my room swung open and I was greeted by the wide rump of a nurse pulling a tray in front of her. She diligently pulled the tray with great effort trying to evade the already closing door. As she maneuvered strategically through the opening I noticed that she was talking to herself and seemingly cussing under her breath and out of ear-shot. As she backed in closer her rambling became apparent that she was indeed whispering vulgarities to the wobbling cart that carried the tray of bottles and syringes. She turned and faced me in surprise as we subtly made eye contact. 

“Mr. Abel! You’re…you’re back! I mean…you’re awake! I mean…hold on a second!” 

The nurse reached across my bed and hurriedly pushed a button sounding a buzzer in the nurse’s station. Immediately a voice reported from the other end of the intercom and billowing through my hospital room. 

“Yes, Florence?” 

“Janna, send for Doctor Borlan right away. Mr. Abel is conscious!” 

“Right away.” 

Florence placed her open palms onto the sides of my face and stared deeply into my eyes, her nose just inches from mine. The sparkling shades of green surrounding her pupils resembled metal flakes upon a lilied pond. Her stale breathe rebounded from my top lip and settled into my nostrils as she seemed to inspect my face with quick demeanor. While she continued her inspection a second nurse entered into the hospital room and immediately wrapped a corset around my arm as she proceeded to meticulously measure my blood pressure. I felt dizzied by the rush of activity on my behalf.

“Could someone tell me what is going on? Florence, is it? What is going on?” 

“Mr. Abel, I think you should try to relax. The doctor is on his way.” 

Rhythmically the nurses danced around my bed taking blood, shining light into my eyes, and testing my sensitivity. Of all the tests and trials, my patience seemed to be the most volatile. 

“Somebody please tell me what is going on? I am fine, really! Just tell me…” 

“Mr. Abel you have been asleep for a little while and we have been taking care of you. You are in Wilsher Memorial Hospital. O.k., Hun? Now we have called you wife and son and they are on their way to see you. Just bear with us for a little longer and please try to cooperate. We don’t want you getting excited just yet. Let’s save those questions ‘til Dr. Borlan gets here, o.k., Hun?” 

“Listen, you don’t have to talk to me like a three year old, just tell me why I am here! I remember playing ninjas with my son and me and Lynn going to bed Sunday night. I remember getting ready for work…what the hell am I doing here! I wanna know now, dammit!” 

“Mr. Abel! Please cooperate or I will restrain you for your own good! Now do as I say and the Doctor will be here soon. Thank you, Hun.” 

Once again the handle of the door to my room turned slowly as I sat in my bed engulfed by the busy nurses. As the doorway parted to reveal the visitor on the other side, the nurses continued their duties uninterrupted. I leaned forward to see the figure of the man entering dressed in a doctor’s coat and moving quickly. My body froze with fear and my fist clenched into balls of white knuckle and veins. I stared in shock at the vision before me in this hospital room as I fought to tear away from its sight while Florence greeted the hideous abomination casually.

“Dr Borlan! Thank God you made it! Mr. Abel was getting just a little excited!” 

Dr. Borlan quickly made his way into the room invading the space before him as a father rushing to the side of his endangered child. The sight of him was unmistakably human except for the void where his eyes should have rested. Instead there was an eerie blackness of an almost marble quality giving the idea of something optical but still concave and misleading. The creature referred to as Dr. Borlan could not be human. I soaked up its vision of grotesqueness through my own unwilling eyes wishing at this time that I would be struck blind if this is what it is to see. Is this what the creature in my dream gave me as a gift so that I may truly have vision to see? I wanted to reach inside of my mind to the place that dreams await to change anything further from altering my life; to prevent receiving more gifts from those all too willing to give them. 

Frantically, I panicked from the vision of the doctor and began to mount a defense against the onslaught of this hideous beast. Still it persisted, placing its gruesome eyes directly in line with mine as I tried to reach my fist deep inside of the sockets of its face and pluck out the evil within. My arms began flailing haplessly in any direction that I could send them until my fist contacted Florence directly below her left jaw sending her into the air conditioning unit beside my bed. As she landed with a thud she cursed and spit on the ground. I continued my fleeting struggle against the two assailants and the creature as they desperately tried to restrain me. I shouted to the doctor loudly and directly. 

“Beast of Hell, I compel you back from where you came!” 

“Mr. Abel, please try to calm down! You have suffered a traumatic blow to the head and I demand, as your doctor, that you stop this at once!” 

“You are not Tonder! You are evil! Go back to Hell!” 

“Florence, restrain Mr. Abel now!” 

The nurses and the beast manipulated my arms and legs into leather straps and firmly attached them to the railing of my hospital bed. I laid there staring at the empty wondering what my life had become and again pondering my sanity. The leather straps on my wrists and ankles felt heavy against my skin as a dead weight of embarrassment and confusion. 

“Doctor Borlan his family has been notified that he is awake and are on their way. Should we let them see him like this?” 

“Not yet, Florence. We need to keep an eye on him for a while. I will talk to Lynn and let her know what happened. Mr. Abel, please try to relax and I will check back with you in a few to see if you feel a little better.”

The beast’s hideous eyes loomed over me. They seemed to be looking into my soul and seeing the truth that slept dormant inside. A truth that I have not come to terms with nor understood but has waited below the surface, training, waiting, and watching. He turned his head and approached the door whispering with the nurses. From this perspective he appeared human, but I knew the truth behind the lie. I knew that he was marked as Balsavoy said he was. I knew that I could see and I have a gift of sight into the evil of life as we know it. I needed to define my purpose. Lying in the bed with the discolored ceiling tiles staring back at me; with no one to talk to and no words of comfort, I know what I am. I am a Chaser.