Chapter Text
One: Two Months earlier
I bolted up in my bed one hand clutching my amulet and other tangled in my sheets; my heart was beating rapidly as I struggled to forget my nightmare but the images still fluttered in my mind. Hundreds of souls were being slammed back into their rotting corpse and were forced to do my biding.
I knew zombies weren’t real but it still left a bad taste my mouth. I rubbed my face and looked over at my roommate blue hair practically glowing in the dim moonlight; her soft snores and the hum of the air conditioning were the only sounds in the room. It was oddly comforting despite the circumstance.
After a few shaky breaths I was finally able to calm my nerves but falling back to sleep was a different matter. Tomorrow was the day I meet with my doctors to determine whether or not I was no longer a “thereat” to society.
I closed my eyes and thought about other things slowly drifting off to sleep but a timid “Chloe” woke me back up, this couldn’t be happening I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep ignoring the persistent whispering.
The next time I woke up it was morning, light filled the room casting shadows of trees on the bare walls. I got my clothes and huddled in the corner to get ready, you weren’t allowed to close the doors all the way at the hospital and I didn’t want anyone to see me “why do you always hide in the corner? It’s not like you have anything to show.” Jessica said prancing around the room in her underwear.
Unlike me Jessica actually looked her age, she was tall, slender, and had curves that showed without needing tight shirts. I was five foot nothing, had long little girl hair and my curves only showed when I wore tight jeans and an even tighter t-shirt.
“P-p-please leave m-me alone.”
“God you’re such a baby,” She roughly tousled my hair “but it goes with your look.”
The rest of the day went by slow; medication, breakfast, and group therapy.
Then it was my appointment with my doctor where he’d evaluate my progress. I sat in his musty office my stomach doing flips the entire time as his gaze pierced through me. He asked me questions and I told him what he wanted to hear, he nodded his head writing down everything I said. Once the interview was done he shut his note book closed and folded his hands on the desk.
“You’ve made huge improvements since your arrival here but I’m going to run some tests to determine the correct dosage for your hallucinations. We don’t want another incident like the one that brought you here do we?”
In other words he knows or at least suspects that I’m lying.
I nodded my head “o-o-okay.” Doctor Todd smiled, anyone who knew me well, knew that stuttering was a tell-tale sign I was stressed. He handed me a container and led me to a bathroom where tape was on the sink and toilet.
I felt an overwhelming feeling of dread as I handed Dr. Todd the container, he offered a tight smile and said “once I get the lab results back tomorrow you’re free to go.” I nodded my head and walked back to my room. Jessica was there smiling “oh I guess the little schzio isn’t getting out of here after all.” I ignored her and crawled into bed, tears streaming down my face.
Two days passed before Dr. Todd finally let me go home. I packed up my things as quickly as I could; the sooner I was ready to leave the better. I looked through my dresser, closet and under my bed to make sure nothing was left behind,
“Don’t forget Ozzie” a sing song voice mocked.
I turned around to see Jessica holding my stuffed Kola bear, I wordless grabbed it from her placing it in my backpack.
“If you want people to stop treating you like a baby you should stop acting like one” she left our room in a huff, her blue hair swaying.
Aunt Lauren came to pick me up in the afternoon without dad; she said he was on a business trip in Maine so he didn’t come along. I was disappointed but I didn’t expect him to show up to get me.
I watched as the large red bricked building disappeared in the review mirror relief washing over me. Lauren grabbed my hand and squeezed offering a reassuring smile, she stopped at the gate and a guard got out; he looked at her I.D and took a long look at me before the barbed wire fence opened.
A green sign with white letters that read Genesis Psychiatric Hospital passed by on my right; I let out my breath that I didn’t know I was holding in. I was finely free of this place.
Instead of going home like I wanted Lauren dragged me to her work but it wasn’t the women’s health clinic, it was some place that looked more like a factor building than a medical lab.
I got creepy vibes from the place and it wasn’t the surveillance cameras in every hallway or the nurses that kept giving me strange looks or even the armed guards. Something about this place seemed oddly familiar but I couldn’t figure out why.
Lauren left me in her office while she took care of a “serious issue” with a patient. I looked around; reading through Lauren’s medical books then a shout in the hallway drew my attention. I peeked out to see a dark haired boy with the looks and build of a quarter back, causing a scene. He was shouting about talking to someone name Davidoff, Lauren said something to him and lead him into a room.
“Hello sweet child. Didn’t your mommy tell you it was rude to eavesdrop?” I looked around the room but couldn’t see anything, just my luck. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the hot breath on my neck.
The woman chuckled “I think you should be covering your ears and not your eyes, darling.”
I ignored her and went back to my seat.
“I haven’t seen you since you were a tyke,” her lips barely grazing my ear “but I can see you’re the same as ever,” the melodic voice whispered. I tried to wave her off but she laughed “except your glow. It’s even brighter than before.” I opened my eyes “Glow?”
The woman whoever she was made a sound of discontent “still don’t know a thing do you?” it was a statement not a question. I closed my eyes taking a few deep breaths “go away.” there was just a few more hours before Lauren would take me home and I was not risking that because of this woman’s ridiculous way of talking, “I could tell you so many wonderful things-”
A murmur outside the door cut the woman off then footsteps retreated
I knew I would regret asking “like what?”
“Your marvelous gift, secretes about this place or your dear aunt Lauren.” Her hot breath tickled my ear and I saw the faint image of a woman appear.
“Which would you like to hear first?”
“What did you mean by glow?”
“Its how ghosts can tell which people can see them” she said casually
Great I had a neon sign that attracted ghosts.
“Davidoff report to room D12” a voice on the intercom called out
The woman chuckled “You know your aunt has quiet the temper on her. She’s still trying to get rid of that sweet pup,” the woman’s image appeared.
“Pup? My aunt wants to kill a dog?” that couldn’t be right; Lauren wouldn’t kill anyone let alone an animal.
A pregnant pause
“Not a dog a werewolf.”
The woman was oddly cheerful about it “werewolves are real?!” oh god maybe I was crazy. The woman signed in annoyance “Oh yes but this one won’t be alive much longer if your lovely aunt gets her way,” she laughed “she’s even trying to get to get the Expisco boy to lie for her.” I closed my eyes and wished the woman would disappear.
This woman was a liar and she just manipulating me. I concentrated on sending the woman away from here; I knew it wouldn’t do anything but it made dealing with her lies a little better.
A “tsk-tsk” made me stop what I was doing “I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear. As much as I’d love to leave this place, I wouldn’t want your lovely gift lost forever,” the woman’s image disappeared “what are you talking about?” I asked.
Silence then footsteps running outside the door.
I called for the woman, silence, finally “it’s such a shame that a gift as wonderful as yours is being wasted on ignorance.” I looked around the room, nothing; no hot breath on my neck or faint images of a woman.
I heard Lauren’s voice in the hall, she was shouting angrily about something and I got up to see what was wrong.
I peeked out to see Lauren and a man resembling a vulture talking “that boys a menace!” Lauren looked livid, I’ve never seen her, this angry before. The man pinched the bridge of his nose “we’ve gone over this, the boy stays. I can’t lose the only one of his kind I have left.”
Lauren huffed “it was a mistake to include his type in the experiment.” She crossed her arms, experiment?
The other doctor looked annoyed “Shove off Lauren,” She balked at that “I made a mistake with the others but he’s different. Your niece is the only one you should concerned yourself with-”
“The pup’s safe for now. Can’t say the same for the Expisco boy, such a shame he was quite charming.”
I jumped in the air, attracting Lauren’s attention but not the other doctor. I walked to my seat and looked through a magazine. The door opened and a tall man with only a thin circle of gray hair, a large sharp nose and beady eyes appeared. He smiled and he looked eerily similar to the vultures from Snow White.
“Hello, you must be little Chloe Saunders. I’m doctor Davidoff.” The man held his hand out to me and I gingerly shook it looking for my aunt, thankfully she was standing behind him but she didn’t look too pleased.
Doctor Davidoff, followed by Lauren stepped into the tiny office closing the door behind them. I shifted uncomfortably; this situation was all too familiar. Davidoff noticed and asked “is there something wrong?” I shook my head “I’m just tired.”
The conversation with doctor Davidoff started simply enough like asking me things about my thoughts about my illness and I told him what he and Lauren wanted to hear; thankfully without stuttering.
Then he started asking about dreams, “I-I had a couple of nightmares about ghosts last week and I had a nightmare last night,” I noticed that Lauren stiffened at that but Davidoff looked oddly bothered by my comment “about what?” he asked “I c-can’t remember but it really freaked me out. I c-c-couldn’t go back to sleep after.”
Lauren patted my hand and told me everything was alright that the nightmares were normal; Davidoff muttered something under his breath and wrote on a sheet of paper both were oblivious to the lie.
After a few more questions Davidoff said I was allowed to leave as if I wasn’t permitted to go earlier and gave my aunt new medication for my schizophrenia saying it should work this time.
As Lauren and I were leaving the facility the woman’s sing song voice returned saying good bye with a disembodied hand waving. Lauren and I and had just reached her car when a figured loomed over us.
Lauren let out a shriek and I turned to see my father, his arms were crossed and he was livid.
After shouting at each other longer than necessary, dad and Lauren took me to get lunch but we didn’t even get to order before they started bickering again. They left the restaurant and continued their argument leaving me behind.
I watched dad and Lauren from the window whatever dad was telling Lauren she seemed disinterested and annoyed; snickering erupted behind me drawing my attention away from the window. I turned behind me to see three girls; one with long dark hair neatly braided another with blonde sleek hair and the third with mousy brown hair.
I groaned and turned back to my table playing with the lemon in my water, humiliation creeping over me. I tried to block out their voices but they seemed to be getting louder with each word “I wonder what the schzio is doing here. I thought they locked her up” Miranda whispered “I know, right” Beth mock whispered followed by laughter. The three of them kept talking calling me names, I felt tears building up in my eyes and I wanted to leave but if I got up they would know I was on the verge of crying.
Dad and Lauren returned and the snickering stopped.
Lunch went by at a snail’s pace and I could feel Miranda, Kari, and Beth’s eyes on me the entire time. It made me feel like a freak, like they were waiting for me to start talking in tongues or attack someone.
My mood didn’t improve when I got home; everything was gone save for a few boxes scattered about the house. I felt guilty and humiliated every box and bare wall a reminder of how stupid I was. I mumbled a goodnight to dad and locked myself in my room, only to find it was also packed up the only things remaining were my bed, a desk, a few posters and a box labeled clothes.
I threw myself down on my bed inhaling the familiar scent of home but it didn’t comfort me the way it normally did. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep but Annette banged on my door reminding me to set my alarm for tomorrow.
I got up and rooted through my bag looking for my cell phone; the pills the hospital and Davidoff gave me fell out and made a thud as the containers collided with the ground. I picked them up making my way to the bathroom trying to ignore the uneasiness I felt.
I opened the toilet seat, ignoring the voice telling me to stop as I dumped all the pills down into the cold water. I flushed the toilet and went to bed, ignoring Annette as she banged on my door.
I wasn’t a schizophrenic I knew that now.
I see dead people, yes like in the movies but the only difference is getting caught speaking to ghosts gets you a stay at the mental institution. That’s what happened to me and it wasn’t going to happen again.