Exactly 7 days after the first letter had arrived there was another knock at the door. This time there was no hesitation in opening the door and inviting the man inside, he smiled and handed her another envelope, this one wasn’t as thick as the previous one. Teddy sat down and opened the envelope to read the letter.

Theodora,

I am thrilled to hear that you’ve decided to continue reading, the more I write the better I feel. Mostly. I know I don’t have much time left, so I’ll get to the meat and potatoes of this sordid tale. After the death of my parents Soren laid off and let me be for the most part, he seemed to be satisfied with my suffering. While he was still constantly there he was mostly silent throughout my high school years. I managed to make my teachers believe that my behavioral issues were things of the past and I graduated with pretty decent grades. I got into my first choice of colleges and started my freshmen year with a relatively stable (as stable as I could be) frame of mind. I had blocked off all thoughts of my parents and what had happened on the beach that day and convinced everyone, including myself, that I was a normal, well adjusted young adult.

I met my wife my junior year of college, Janice. Soren liked her enough, I mean he never tried to coerce me to do anything adverse towards her. We got married straight out of college and not long after that my son was born. I wanted to name him Isaiah but Janice wanted to steer clear of biblical names. I was adamant about the name and finally my wife and I came to an agreement his first name would be Oliver and his middle name, Isaiah. While I wasn’t entirely happy with the suggestion, marriage is all about compromise so I went with it.

I could tell as soon a Oliver was born that Soren didn’t like him, at all. He stood outside the hospital nursery with a scowl on his face. The frown only grew in the passing months until Soren would let out a disapproving noise anytime Oliver entered the room. When Oliver turned two, Soren spoke up.

“Get rid of him. I’m tired of looking at him.”

Soren stood over my wife who was seated with Oliver in the overstuffed rocking chair by the fire. The flames offered minimal lighting in the room but I could make out the grimace Soren had on his face. I was mid-sentence but I stopped to stare at Soren who was now looking at my son with a thoughtful expression. I inclined my head, almost opening my mouth to ask him to explain but thinking better of it.

“He can see me.” Soren shifted uncomfortably as Oliver turned his gaze towards him. Now it all made sense, I had just assumed that he had a short attention span but Oliver’s ever roving gaze was due to him following Soren’s movements with his eyes. He never seemed to be able to focus, getting distracted easily, especially when looking and interacting with me. When my wife had mentioned it to me I shrugged and played it off, the doctor wrote it off as ‘fascination with the world around him’. But now I knew, Oliver could see Soren and it irritated him. I chose to ignore Soren. Thinking back on it I should have just left them, gone as far away as possible. But alas, hindsight is 20/20.

A few weeks after my son’s 8th birthday he asked me about the ‘tall man in the corner’. I was taken off guard so I played dumb, insisting that there was no man and that he had made it all up. Satisfied with the response my son never brought it up again, but Soren had enough. His insistence that I get rid of him intensified. Though things all came to a boil when my wife asked about him.

“Do you...you know...hear voices?”

The question came at dinner and I guffawed loudly. My shock must have been written all over my face because she took my hand and knitted her eyebrows.

“It’s okay if you do. Just tell me so we can get you help. There is treatment that can make the voices go away.”

My eyes snapped to Soren, gauging his response to what Janice was saying. He said nothing though he radiated hate and resentment, it washed over me in waves. I was bombarded with angry ranting and harsh demands for weeks, I hardly slept and when I did Soren filled my dreams with images of me killing Janice and Oliver.

I’m sure you can guess by now what happened. I gave in. I caved to Soren yet again. Though this time I wasn’t able to lie to the police, the neighbors heard my wife’s screams and I was mid swing when the authorities busted through my front door. I frantically tried to explain to them that I didn’t want to kill them, that I had to, that Soren wouldn’t let me rest until I did. All I wanted was some peace. Just a moment of peace. Of course to a sane person this just sounded like the delusions of a sick man. I wasn’t content to let people think I was a cold blooded killer. I was just a weak willed man.

I’ve come to the end of my allotted share of paper. I will ask once again that despite what I have confessed to you in this letter that you continue with this program.

Sincerely,
Levi

As she escorted the man out of her house once again he gave her a small wave before walking down the steps and back down the street. This time around Teddy was feeling extremely uneasy, she eyed the letter and wondered what would happen if she just didn’t read them. I mean there was no way for Levi to know if she had actually read them or not, and even if the quiet man relayed that fact to him what was he going to do? Break out of prison and hunt her down? The thought actually made Teddy shiver, though she knew the possibilities were basically nill, she couldn’t help the small spike of fear that raced down her spine.

The words in the letters stayed with Teddy throughout the week, she had trouble sleeping as her dreams turned to nightmares of Levi killing his family. Clyde asked her on several occasions about what was in the other letter that was sent but she couldn’t bring herself to repeat it and she refused to let him read it. By the time the third letter arrived Teddy had managed to compose herself, she decided she would read the letter, and if she began to feel uneasy she would just stop reading.

She opened the door once again and waved the silent man inside. He took up residence in his usual spot, his arms crossed and expression relaxed. Teddy noticed that this envelope wasn’t as thick as the others, her curiosity spiked and she quickly opened it.

Dear Theodora,

Teddy paused to consider the less formal greeting before reading on.

It doesn’t take a genius to know when your number is up. This time around the warden said I could have as much paper as I wanted for this letter. The guards are also acting a bit kinder towards me, although it would be hard to notice for most. It’s hard to say if I’m relieved or devastated to know that soon this will come to an end. As you can imagine Soren’s become quite restless here, there’s not much trouble to cause and eventually they just stick you in solitary confinement. Soren really didn’t care for that. These days he mostly screeches and rants, just a constant white noise in my head.

While I might not have much time left I would like to live it out in peace. So now we get to why I asked to join this program, other than taking some of the weight off my conscience. About a month ago Soren became quite unbarable. His yelled was at an all time high, and I had a nearly incapacitating headache. A simple solution became obvious to me and as I hung from the light fixture I stared at Soren, my bliss turned into horror. My vision was blurring and my surrounds were fading but Soren stood steadfast. He had a sinister look in his eye as he watched me gasp for air. I was losing my vision but I could still see Soren clear as day. I would not be able to escape him even in death.

The paramedics revived me and I was stuck in psych at my wits end. I didn’t want to imagine an eternity with Soren. The vile thing had been with me for most of my life and the only thing that kept me going was the thought that once I passed onto the next world I would be free of Soren. I guess he could tell I had given up and bossing around a willing subordinate is not enjoyable for him so he told me of a way to free myself from his presence.

It was then that Teddy stopped once again, her heart rate picking up slightly. She couldn’t help but feel a little elated for Levi, she had read about all the pain Soren had caused him and the thought of him being free put a small smile on Teddy’s face. She glanced at the man in the corner and saw that he too had a small smile on. He must’ve read this letter before delivering it to Teddy, her smile widened slightly and looked down to continue reading.

When he told me I was reluctant to go through with it, but I am simply at my wits end. This was the one thing that Soren didn’t force on me, he let me agonize over the decision myself. It took me weeks to choose and the processed proved to be a bit tricky, though once the opportunity presented itself I took the leap. It is with I heavy heart that I write this last letter, and once again I want to thank you, Theodora, for reading these.

Teddy noticed that Levi’s handwriting became quite shaky. She had to slow down a bit to decipher some of the words but she forged on.

The only way to get rid of Soren is to lead him to someone else. Pass the torch, so to speak. As you could imagine this fact gave me pause, but I thought back to that day on the beach when Soren showed me who he really was. That was enough for me to go through with this. My sorrow makes this difficult to write, and I’m afraid that this will be the last letter you receive from me. I haven’t been completely honest with you Theodora, but if I had been open with you from the beginning I wouldn’t have been able to get rid of Soren. For you see, in order for me to relinquish the hold Soren has on me someone has to willingly accept him. By inviting him into their home three times.

The last sentence was the hardest to read, and not because of the poor penmanship and tear stains. Teddy’s mind raced a mile a minute and she looked up from the letter at the man sitting across from her at the table. The man she had invited into her house three times.

“Burn the letters.” Soren’s smile was sinister, and mischief surfaced in his eyes. He stood up and towered over Theodora.

“Burn. Them.” His voice echoed in her head and she brought her hands up to her temples in an attempt to satiate the pounding in her head. She could only scream in horror as she realized the grave mistake she had made.




Fin