Hyper

Chapter 43 – H.D.H.

[Location: Lodabar-Central – James A. Lovell, Memorial Hospital, Room 1010]

Charlie sat in his hospital bed staring at his handheld. The starched white cotton sheets felt cool against his skin and the conditioned air had a comforting smell. The pain killers had taken effect and he had comfortably settled into his room. He stared at the button that would contact Linda as he tried to sort out the thoughts in his mind.

He loved his wife more than anything in the universe and knew that if Linda had truly been the one who killed Jozef, Roy,and Ruben, there must have been a very good reason for it. He thought back to his battle with McCormick and remembered him disavowing any connection to their murders and realized that he had actually been telling the truth.

Lifting a foam cup filled with water, he positioned the white plastic straw to his mouth to take a drink. He swallowed and then placed it back onto the table, deep in thought.

His angel had never done anything so drastic, so violent, so unconceivable in her life. But something must have pushed her past the breaking point, past the point of moral balance to make her do such unspeakable acts.

Charlie remembered the conversation in the cafeteria where the devil had been the topic of discussion. McCormick surmised the devil had been invented by humans as a way to relieve them of some of the guilt they felt for the heinous acts they performed. He believed the evil things that people did actually came from inside themselves. Charlie winced.

But how could that be? Where would something so black and twisted come from?

If McCormick was correct, at that very moment, at that pin-point in time, something inside of Linda had directed her to commit murder on D.D.315. Her moral compass—her Blender Code as McCormick had called it—pulled her off the path of noble deeds and had forced her into the ditch of demonic acts. Charlie shook his head.

But how? It still makes no sense. She’s an angel.

There was no way Charlie would ever believe that the terrible crimes Linda allegedly committed had actually been borne from some kind of twisted, demonic uterus inside of her. He clenched his jaw and huffed.

Never.

Charlie stewed for a while in thought and considered the possibility that Linda loved him and their life together on D.D.315 too much. His head titled slightly as he followed his inspiration.

Jozef knew I executed his brother at Tuscaloosa. Maybe she bumped into a plot to hurt me… but she loved me too much to let Jozef or any of the others harm me or destroy our life together.

Charlie pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger in thought as he remembered a psychology class he had attended while he was studying to become a military policeman. The instructor had explained how a very small percentage of the human population possess a compulsive disorder that effects their personal relationships with those they hold most dear. Subjects displayed uncontrollable emotions towards their loved ones that fell into the category of cult-like worship. And if a situation presented itself that placed their loved one in danger, they would do whatever was needed to save them—even if it was one hundred and eighty degrees opposite of what was considered the acts of a traditional moral compass.

He tapped his handheld and did a Google search for cult-like worship of loved ones. He browsed through the data that filled the screen and selected one that looked understandable. The title Hyper-Devotional Hysteria filled the top of the page as he began to read.

The condition had been named Hyper-Devotional Hysteria (H.D.H.) by the National Health Organization due to its unusually energetic thoughts of manic devotion. After years of research, scientists had determined that the individuals suffering from this condition displayed highly abnormal brain activity when a loved one was placed into a dangerous situation. Further research determined that the cingulate gyrus and the basal ganglia deep inside their brains had experienced extended periods of manic hyper-activity during this time. These two portions of the brain had also been pin pointed as the source of obsessive compulsive disorder in a little over two percent of the people on planet Earth.

There was no known cure, but the condition could be moderately controlled with high doses of Lithium and Phenobarbital. Left untreated, individuals could experience long periods of a traditionally normal life style. They were able to experience periods of extreme happiness as well as sorrow but overall adhered to the direction of an honorable moral compass. However, sensing a loved one in danger would produce uncontrollable, maniacal personality traits that resulted in a clear disregard for traditional morals and ethics.

Charlie tapped the screen to exit the browser and laid his handheld on his lap. He sighed as his brow wrinkled.

Does she have this…H.D.H. condition? Was McCormick right? Is her Blender Code messed up? Did she do all of this because she wanted to protect me…to protect us…to protect our life together?

He sighed and looked down at his handheld again, still unsure why she had performed the terrible acts and what to do about it. Did he risk exposing what he knew and subject Linda to arrest and years of picking and probing in a mental institution, or should he go back to his secluded life on D.D.315 with his adoring wife?

Three knocks came from the wooden door across the room. “Mr. Kennedy?”

Charlie dispersed his thoughts. “Yes…yes…I’m Mr. Kennedy. Charlie Kennedy.” He cleared his throat.

“I just need to ask you a few questions.” A forty-something man with a receding hairline, wearing a wrinkled brown suit scuffed his feet through the door and walked over to Charlie. “My name is Inspector Miller. Lodabar-Central sent me over. I’m here to take your statement.” He pulled his handheld from a pocket inside of his jacket, tapped the screen, and turned the microphone toward Charlie.

“My statement?” Charlie glanced at his handheld in his lap and swallowed hard as nausea swirled in the pit of his stomach. Flashes of his life with his beautiful and loving wife ran through his mind.

World’s Best Girlfriend.

Lightning bugs.

Lemonade.

Tofu meatloaf.

D.D.315.

Blonde hair.

Black Eyed Susans.

Cottondale.

Green Jello.

Her loving kiss.

My Angel.

After a few seconds, he set his chin firmly and snapped off the words. “Yes…my statement.”

He inhaled and then exhaled a sharp breath. “My statement’ll get right to the point. A transport ship with the mass-murderer Harry Hell-Raiser McCormick docked at my depot. Somehow, he was able to escape from his cell and murder four people and destroy my hydrogen condensing facility…and by doing so killed a fifth person as well.”

“Any idea why he did all of these things?” Inspector Miller tilted his head slightly as he waited for his answer.

“Why?”

Charlie thought for a second. He looked at Inspector Miller and met his eyes with a serious stare. “I think the devil made him do it.”

Thanks for your interest in my book, “HYPER”. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have a second, please give it a star rating and a review at Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. It would be much appreciated. Your feedback is important to me and it also helps other people find books they will enjoy. To see other books I have written, please visit my author page. Thanks and Take Care – John A. Autero

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About the Author

John A. Autero is an indie author of techno-thriller adventure novels. An engineer by education, John employs a technical style of writing that combines existing technologies with those that are yet to be developed. John enjoys anything sci-fi, automotive, heavy metal and ballistic. Always a fan of government conspiracies and black-ops, stories like “The Terminator” and “The X-Files” are always on his list of favorites. John was born in the United States and has spent his entire life there, where he happily lives with his wife and pets.

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