The Four Horseman

“It’s a very interesting case.”
Claire nodded absently, eyeing the size of the folder that the lead psychiatrist was holding. She had been in America a year to study for her doctorate and this would be her first case that she would lead on. It was exciting and intimidating at the same time and not helped by the imposing Victorian building in Huntingdon Beach that held the secure psychiatric unit. Their feet echoed on the stone tile floors as they headed along the corridor. Splashes of light only came in stages, the stained glass of the windows adding a rainbow of colour.
“Mr Seward isn’t violent, don’t worry. He was transferred here because he started self-harming.”
“How badly?”
Dr Mason smiled and waved the folder before pointing Claire to an interview room. He liked that she was taking on this case, the young woman with violet hair had great potential and he hoped that Johnny would respond better to a shrink that didn’t look like a shrink. After shutting the door they took a seat in the bolted down plastic chairs. The furniture consisted of two on either side of a similarly bolted chair, there was nothing in the room that could be used as a weapon.
“Johnny Seward, aged….24 now. He is a former bassist for a rock band that was involved in a tragic accident a couple of years ago. Three of his friends died, killed outright and that was only a year after they had lost their drummer. Quite tragic and it seemed at first that Johnny would die too but physically he recovered quite well.”
Claire looked at the photos. The band seemed to have been heavy metal and she wondered what they had sounded like. A short man with an impressive Mohican had been ringed in red pen so she presumed that was Johnny. Scanning the other faces was a little sad, all of them were young and very handsome in a way that she had always found attractive. Inked and muscled arms, cute guyliner and a lot of pouting. The other photos were less attractive, the mangled remains of what had once been a bus and several pictures of Johnny in plaster and traction.
“He was in a coma for three weeks and in rehab when the first signs of psychosis occurred.”
She picked up the band photo and looked at Mason.
“Psychosis after severe head injury isn’t uncommon.”
“True, at first he was treated in the community as he got stronger physically and all looked good. Then about eighteen months ago he was found on top of a bridge threatening to jump and has steadily descended into a deep state of paranoia which we can’t seem to stop.”
The young woman read the notes, a list of medications and referrals that got increasingly detailed. She had wanted a case to get her teeth into and this was definitely it. A shiver of excitement rippled up her back and she tried to keep it out of her voice.
“Schizophrenia was ruled out?”
Dr Mason nodded, he wanted to see where she would take this once she met Johnny.
“Yes. Johnny hears voices but they are not distinct personalities to him and are not present all the time.”
Claire turned over the next set of photos and stopped, a gasp in her voice.
“Oh….well now.”
There before her lay drawings done in crayon, quite well executed of four horses. Each had a single word scrawled above them and more worryingly, below were pictures of a man’s stomach with the words bloodily inscribed into his stomach.
WHITE
RED
BLACK
PALE
“The mounts of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.”
Dr Mason smiled, Claire had been the first to immediately pick up the reference.
“Yes. Johnny believes his dead band mates are about to return….as the four horsemen.”
Claire looked up at him.
“Interesting idea.”
“He started displaying this quite early on. Said that Michael told him that his friends had been chosen and would herald the end times. Said that Johnny had to prepare the way.”
“Michael?”
“The Archangel Michael.”
Claire rearranged the pictures, seeing more names inscribed on his hip and several biblical references. While it wasn’t unusual to see psychosis present in the form of biblical visions, from what she could see this was an extreme case.
“So he thinks the second coming is nigh as well?”
Mason tented his fingers and leant forward. There had been another reason for bringing the girl in. The orderlies had become scared of Johnny, the boy was never violent but several had reported being grabbed by unseen hands and showed the scratches to prove it. That upset Johnny greatly and he had been begging for release so he could do as Michael asked him.
“Johnny is appalled by all of it. He says Matt knew a lot about religion and wasn’t a fan while he knew nothing until the accident. Even now he has never held a bible and yet can quote it with absolute accuracy and with some interesting differences from common doctrine. What do you know of Revelations and the horsemen?”
Claire thought for a moment, trying hard to remember long ago religious studies lessons. The little room seemed to have grown colder and she wondered why a shiver of fear was going up her back. She had been in the same room of some very dangerous lunatics during her training without worry and yet there was something about the sweet faced boy that put her on edge. Shrugging off the feeling Claire listed them on her fingers.
“Ummm…..Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. I think that’s it.”
“Yes although Johnny and some scholars interpret it a little differently.”
Now Mason reached into his jacket and produced four more pictures. He lay the first down and Claire looked at a handsome young man with pretty cheekbones. He oozed sexuality and she found a smile on her face.
“Brian Haner Jnr or as Johnny calls him, Syn. He believes that this man will be the first rider. Johhny interprets like some scholars and calls him Conquest rather than Pestilence.”
Another photo came across of a broad shouldered young man with a dimpled smile.
“Matt Sanders. The second rider according to Johnny. War.”
Claire found her heart was hammering as she took in a third picture. This young man was beautiful with full lips and piercings.
“Zacky Baker….Famine traditionally but Johnny sees him as holding the scales of justice.”
There was a pause. Mason was also feeling the same atmosphere in the room and it seemed to build right before he looked at the last picture. It had happened before in his office and even with Johnny, the small man terrified and yet yearning to see his friend again.
“The former drummer. Jimmy Sullivan also known as The Rev which is apt. The rider on the pale horse is death.”
Claire stared, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. The man in the picture wore a broad smile and had bright blue eyes. There was nothing threatening in any of the pictures but suddenly she was scared again and couldn’t understand why. She forced her gaze up to look at the doctor in front of her. He was in his fifties and everything people thought of when they thought of a shrink with perfect grey hair and friendly eyes.
“You said he has on biblical knowledge?”
“If he does its more than three years old and yet he remembers it all.”
Claire gathered up all the papers and photos and returned them to the folder.
“Medications?”
Mason smiled, seeing that she was fighting off the unease.
“Clozapine and Seroquel. Not that it helps. He continues to self harm with anything he can get his hands on and is becoming increasingly agitated as the 25th of this month approaches.”
“Why is that?”
Again Claire felt herself shiver, the certain tone in her colleagues voice made it worse.
“Michael told him that’s when the first seal will be broken and the first rider will arrive.”

Notes

I'm baaaaack! Hopefully writers block is banished :)