The Halloween Collection by Indie Eclective Read Free Book Online Page A

metallic table
next to the far wall. Although they were facing away from her, Sara
thought they looked like scrub nurses getting things ready prior to
the patient’s arrival. Green surgical sheets were draped across the
OR table. Off to the side stood the anesthesia cart. Even the OR
lights were on. So they still use this damn room, she thought,
somewhat vexed that she’d allowed herself to be disturbed by the
scheduling confusion.
    “Let’s do it,” Sara mumbled. Walking to the
scrub sink, she reached for a mask at the nearby dispenser. After
tying it in place, she began scrubbing—five minutes each hand.
Hearing the OR door open, she looked up just in time to see three
more figures dressed in green enter the room, the last one carrying
an oxygen tank and something orange. Straining her neck, Sara
caught glimpses of them through the window as they moved pieces of
medical equipment in an animated fashion. She looked for some of
the other surgery residents, but the rest of the surgery area was
oddly deserted.
    With her sterile hands held out in front of
her, Sara walked to the OR door. Placing her back against the hard
surface, she pushed her way in so as not to contaminate them. Once
inside, she turned and faced the operating room table.
    At the sight of the empty surgery sheets,
her pulse quickened. Wondering where the patient was, Sara groaned
beneath her mask when the same irritating twitch she’d felt earlier
returned. This time, though, she was helpless to massage it without
dirtying her hands again. The two individuals by the surgical trays
stood motionless, their backs to Sara. The doctors faced each other
by the OR table, as if locked in an emotionless trance. Neither
moved.
    Sara took a deep breath, and then another.
Suddenly the air seemed so stifling. Her temples began to throb,
only making her twitch worse. Breaking out in a cold sweat, she
felt her legs shake. Damn, she wanted to scream, “What’s
happening?” but her voice strangled in her constricted throat. An
instant later, the now familiar decaying odor penetrated her mask.
Gasping, Sara froze in fright. Afraid to look, she slowly turned in
the direction of the anesthesia cart.
    Sara stared in shock at the sight before
her. The same tall emaciated figure she’d encountered in the
basement two floors below now stood by the oxygen tank. His
partially melted pumpkin sat at his feet.
    Only this morning— he wore no mask !
    Sara suddenly felt queasy as she tried in
vain to keep from looking at his face, or what was left of it. The
horrendous hypertrophic burn scars of mounded skin made his
features humanly unrecognizable. Charred teeth jutted grotesquely
from a gaping wound where his mouth should have been. Two irregular
holes piercing an ill-angled scar were all that remained of a nose.
And those eyes! Sara gulped hard. God, those eyes—those mean
unblinking eyes. They had no lids ! Horrified, she stepped back toward
the operating room exit.
    “Who…are…you?” she stammered. The stench
thickened.
    Still the ghastly figure did not move. He
remained silent, wearing only a hideous sneer on his inhuman
face.
    A subtle movement caught Sara’s attention.
Her eyes darted to his hand. Within seconds, she heard a hissing
noise, like the sound of a tea kettle beginning to boil. She stared
in abject terror and disbelief. The hissing was coming from the single tank of
oxygen ! It increased in intensity as the horribly contorted
fingers twisted their grip.
    With sweat stinging her eyes, Sara rushed
for the OR door.
    “Help me… Damn… Help me!” she screamed as
the palms of her hands immediately blistered from the burning
surface of the metal door. Panicking, she tried again. The door
still would not budge. Terrified, Sara spun away, clasping her
seared hands together in a hopeless attempt to lessen the pain. The
putrid odor thickened more, choking the air from her lungs.
    No longer able to hold it back, Sara doubled
up, heaving into her mask. The