Forgotten

Chapter 4: Taking Over

That afternoon, when Kara was feeling calm for the first time in a month, she showed interest in spending some time in the common room. Upon her arrival, she instantly sensed the obvious chill in the air thanks to the broken boiler that had deprived the entire facility of any warmth in the middle of one of the coldest winters she remembered. As a result, patients were either pacing, or shuddering with arms wrapped around themselves. Or both, despite the extra layer of the identical institute regulated grey cardigans.

As she reached the center of the room, seeking a safe and quiet corner, she noticed Mike and Eve waving at her from the far side, sitting at their usual table with Winn. Gulping down, Kara contemplated her options and in the end, chose to join them despite her hesitation.

The closer she got to their table, the clearer she saw the smiles - tight albeit genuine - fixed on their faces while watching her approach.

"Kara, I'm so glad to see you here today." Winn was the first to greet her, standing up.

Kara offered her friend an appreciative simple nod.

"We all are," Eve seconded, gesturing for her to take the only empty chair at the table.

"We were counting on it," Mike added as he tilted his head to look at the table next to them, where Brainy was seen deep in thought with elbows resting on the table, hands interlaced in front of his face, staring at a chessboard without an opponent. Only a few of Brainy's black pieces were left, while the imaginary white appeared to dominate the game with all the pieces intact.

The sight was nothing bizarre to Kara as the genius thinker often preferred to play chess on his own, claiming no one was good enough to measure up to his level. Except for Winn, of course. Yet what she didn't expect was the man vocalizing one of his moves, which he rarely ever did.

"Black Knight takes White Queen. Black Queen back to E-One," He said as he moved a black Knight and pushed the mentioned white piece off the board. He then put the discarded Black Queen back on the board, in its original place next to the Black King. Kara was pretty sure that was not a legal move.

Kara ignored the irrelevant interjections and sat on her chair nervously, fidgeting with a loose thread of her sleeve while avoiding Mike, who was once again sitting across from her and watchful of her every expression.

"We heard about the new treatment," Winn claimed in a somber tone. "I'm so sorry, Kara."

"This new doctor is torturing a few others too," Eve said, causing Kara to finally look up at her. Eve nodded at another patient in a wheelchair close to one of the barred windows. Kara shuddered to herself, looking at Leslie Willis, so quiet and detached. So unlike her usual cocky self. The woman had been rude and unapproachable since the moment the two had met and decided to hate each other. It was said Leslie had tried to set fire to her boss's house in revenge for getting fired, and now she was staring ahead blankly with her wild hair turned unusually white and sparse.

As if reading the question on her mind, Eve continued. "Gayle told me the crazy doctor went to town with electric shocks on her."

Kara gasped, feeling anger surging into her veins at such crude and abusive treatments forced on others besides herself, no matter the crime they had committed. The table fell quiet momentarily following Eve's words and Kara couldn't avert her eyes from the forlorn sight of Leslie. Just then, Kara spotted Gayle Marsh, offering her friend an apple she had clearly smuggled from lunch. They were an odd pair, to say the least, argued a lot, had absolutely nothing in common, and still, they cared about each other.

A strong gust of wind suddenly rattled the grated windows, startling them. Some orderlies and patients, including Mike, rushed to watch the view outside. A powerful snowstorm was hitting and had the entire building in its clutch.