My Inner Banshee

The English mid-term was in five minutes at Cunning More High School and Ella was under prepared. Recklessly skimming her notes while the clouds thundered, making her feel uneasy. Her classmates were carelessly pacing the library, curiously waiting for Mrs Smith to come in. The fear spread across the room; Ella felt it wash over her, the screaming voices in her head alerting her that someone's life was on the line.

"Ok everyone, are you ready?" announced Mrs Smith as she walked in.

The faces of her classmates turned blank white as they all started walking to the door and wished good luck by the teacher. Ella wasn't ready. Nobody was ready.

Going to the exam felt like going to hell. Voices taking over her mind. Ella wanted to turn back. No one knew about her death predictions except her family. Her Mum thought about home school but her Dad went against it. As she sat down at her seat, everyone had started. The flipping of pages and the scraping of pencils in the quiet atmosphere whispered to her, making the threat of anxiety filling her bloodstream stronger. The lights above her flickered, taunting her, like they knew something she didn't. The hall felt like Antarctica and the pen in her hand would not stop shaking from what was about to come out, the paper wasn't even legible to her blurry eyes. Gripping the table, Ella put her head down, ready to unleash her horror. She couldn't hold it in.

YOU CAN'T HOLD ME BACK!

The scream was painful. Everyone hit the deck, holding their ears. Windows were smashed and the ground trembled slightly. Someone had died. But who? The room fell silent, faces looked up in her direction; teachers were whispering as the Mexican wave of people lowered and took their seats. Ella stood. Watching. Waiting. Who had died? The voices vanished, she let go.

***

She opened her eyes. Dr Angus was taking notes. The smell of hand sanitiser wafted through the air as she regained consciousness, her sight being blinded by the light. When she sat up, the room was filled with people. Enormous but unappealing. White roof tiles and dull grey walls. The doctor looked up from his clipboard.

"Ah, I see you're awake."

Ella had never been so confused in her life. "How did I get here?"

But before Dr Angus could give an answer, a young woman walked in.

"This is Lorraine, she is going to be looking after you when you're admitted to Ashwood Hills Mental Health Facility." The woman looked at her and nodded. Ashwood Hills was a nuthouse. She heard that people were experimented on and they used electric shocks as punishment. Ashwood Hills was just waiting to gobble her up. But the Doc wasn't finished. "You'll only be staying there for a week." At least it wasn't permanent.

The look of Ashwood sent a shiver down her spine. An abandoned-looking building from the outside with vines covering the walls but the windows lit her path. A pathway to the underworld. Surprisingly, the inside was not what she expected; no experiment rooms, no electric shockers, nothing like that. In fact, it looked like a care home.

Lorraine gave Ella a small tour of the building while introducing her to the rest of the nurses, none of which she could remember the names of then showed Ella to her room.

"If you need me for anything, I'll be about," Lorraine said before walking out the door.

The room bare, small with a bunk bed, two separate wardrobes and an extension to the bathroom. Despite the cracks in the wall, the room was pretty average. Unpacking done, time for dinner.

The patients around the table looked like devils in disguise. All of them wearing pure white garments. All of them different ages. The intimidating looks around the table from the younger boys and girls were unsettling as they ate. One of the younger girls looked like she had just had a mud bath due to her dirty clothes and the scar on the cheek looked fresh. The children around her age looked possessed, staring off into space. They looked like they were about to crawl across the table and kill her in a blink of an eye.

It was coming back.

Not again.

In a frenzy, she made her way back to her room to find her roommate punching a wall. She stopped punching and looked at Ella.

"I see you're my new roommate."

Ella nodded.

"I'm Kara, Kara Hudson. Don't mind me," she huffed as she continued her fight. Ella stared. "This is the part where you tell me your name." She froze.

"E-Ella Miller." Kara nodded.

Ella couldn't hold it in. It was stronger. It took over.

I WILL KILL HER!!!

Louder than before; Kara was holding her ears as it happened. Who died this time? Nurses came flooding in once she was done. Staring at the nurses, she let go.

During the week, the nurses paid close attention to Ella. Behaviour being monitored constantly. One of the days, Ella heard whispers coming from a bookshelf in the waiting room. An old-fashioned book on mythical beings with a marked page. This was it. The answer to her problem.

Book in hand, she ran to Lorraine's room where she had her sessions. She was in the middle of sorting the facility's files.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Out of breath, she handed Lorraine the book. "This is what I am." Lorraine looked at the page, then looked at Ella and after a moment of realisation, she left her office, book in hand.

***

Monday morning. Clouds were white, the sky a bright shade of blue and the sun was glistening outside as Ella went back to school. This time, with the knowledge of what she was. It was time. The drive to school was nerve racking, adrenaline through the roof. What if people laughed? What if they were scared? Worst-case scenario: everyone's parents complaining.

Cunning More High School was in sight as the car pulled up into the car park. "Good luck, Ella!" shouted Lorraine. She was going to need it.

TELL THEM ALL! TELL THEM ALL!

After stepping through the abandoned halls, the echoes of The Head Teacher, Mr Rogers filled her ears. The assembly hall was jam packed with pupils and teachers; her entrance took the crowd by surprise. She headed to the stage, watching her world whisper in her ear. Shaky hands, sweat dripping down her face, a room so eerily quiet, Ella took a deep breath and said, "I have a banshee living inside me." The voices in her head lay still amongst the shocked expressions of her peers and teachers.

Don't push me away. I am who I am because of you.

In a trance, she walked off the stage, her head held high, the room in utter silence.

"You're right," she said. "You're here because of me. Because I let you in. But here's the thing..."

What?

"You do not control me. I'm not your puppet."

As she walked outside, the sky was a more vibrant blue. Pure white clouds. The sun brighter than before.