Faylake(not a final title) - [Original Story] / Pt. 2

It was a cold late November evening and the sun set just a few minutes before he walked out of Dr. Winston's office. The streets were almost empty and the freezing cold, dry air was hurting Hamond's ears, but he paid no attention to it. His mind was preoccupied, hist thoughts swirling in his head like a giant whirlpool of misery and sorrow. "Perhaps the doctor is right after all", Hamond thought to himself, "there have been just too many thing on my plate this last week. Work has been stressing me out, I can barely get any sleep and even my relations with my dear Susie are awful lately. All we do is fight. Poor girl, she did nothing wrong and I've been taking out all of my frustration on her. I'm a really shitty husband.."

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Hamond felt even worse now, upon realizing how he treated his princess, so he decided to stop by the florist and at least get her a rose, tell her he's sorry and make up. Susie has been Hamond's biggest support for the past ten years and he adored her for it. They were just that perfect couple that can always come to an agreement and make the best of what life gives them. They dated for less than 6 months and Hamond didn't hesitate for a second to propose, he knew he had found the love of his life and so Susie Baker very quickly became Susie Miles.
"I'll take that one. And could you please decorate it a little bit, put a bow on it or something, I want it to look special."
Satisfied with the rose he was given, he paid the florist and picked up the pace so he could get home in time for dinner, Susie doesn't like when he's late and when she has to eat alone, it makes her sad and Hamond doesn't like when the love of his life is sad, not one bit.
A few minutes later he was finally at his doorstep, unlocking the door of his little but cozy apartment. Just in time as well, as his wife has just finished setting the table. Of course she adored the flower he got her and they had a long dinner followed by a meaningful conversation, followed by, well, adult things. Hamond's head was clear, after a long while he finally felt good, so good actually he didn't even take the pills his psychiatrist prescribed. Tonight he could sleep without them.

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The sound of his alarm clock going off woke him, and he knew that it was time to get up for work. First time in weeks Hamond felt well rested since he didn't have any nightmares and he didn't wake up screaming in the middle of the night, not even once. He felt amazing, like he finally got his youth back and everything made sense to him at the moment, all he needed to do was to relax, get relieved from the stress and all the bad things would go away.
"Susie! Where are my blue shoes, I need to get dressed or else I'm gonna be late for work."
Susie came out of the bathroom visibly happy and jumped into her husband's hands to give him a big hug.
"I'm almost done with cleaning them they'll be ready in a minute. For the first time this month you didn't wake up during the night. Does it mean the nightmares are gone?"
Seeing his wife's smile light up the room filled Hamond with joy.
"It seems so, I really hope it stays that way. I got to go now, but let's have dinner out tonight, be ready at eight, I'm taking you somewhere special."
"Can't wait!"
Susie gave him a kiss on the cheek and escorted him out the door.

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Outside of his workplace things were unusually noisy. Apparently there was a minor car crash just a couple of meters from the building he works in and there was a small bunch of people yelling at each other, but that didn't interest Hamond. He went straight inside the building, greeted Mark, the doorman, and pressed the number 10 in the elevator. He worked in a huge building for some travel agency and his work was almost entirely paperwork. He hated it, but he needed the money and the pay was good. Feeling better than most days, today he decided to try his best and catch up on the work he's been late with. Hours went by and he was completely focused on his work. The first thing that took his attention away from his files was the urge to go to the bathroom. He stretched for a couple of seconds and eventually made his way through the cubicles to the male bathroom at the end of the narrow hallway. After doing his business he started washing his hands and as he bent down to splash some water on his face the bathroom lights flickered and went out, all ten of them. He felt uneasy as the familiar scent of scorched flesh filled up the bathroom and he knew what awaits. He raised his head slowly and glanced at the mirror and in pure darkness he could see a ghastly figure, creeping on him from the corner. Hamond turned around and screamed with all of his might "What do you want from me?! Why can't you just leave me alone?!". A moment of silence followed and just when Hamond was getting ready to rush out of the bathroom and into the light, for the first time ever, the grossly disfigured entity that resembled his father tried to talk to him. At first the figure just let out a low pitch scream like it hurt to talk and that was enough to send chills down Hamond's spine. He couldn't fin the strenght to move, all that he could do is just stand there and look at his father in disbelief. The low pitch noise slowly turned into letters and "F A Y L A K E" was all that his father managed to say, before the lights came back on and Hamond found himself alone again, staring at the orange bathroom tiles, unable to move a single muscle.

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Link to Pt.1