We're Broken People

Chapter Eight

Weeks went by, and every few nights Xavier and I would quietly return to the roof. Every time, he told me he wanted to fly away with me, escape the asylum. However, every time I said no.

The only reason was simple. Leaving would mean going back to reality. Once Xavier finds out about the Shadows, he will surely leave me. My only friend would abandon me for a less psychotic person, who wouldn't? Then the Shadows will engulf me, break me, destroy me until I'm nothing but a pile of insanity. I have better luck in the asylum than I do in the real world.

....

Scarlet had returned in a foul mood. She was no doubt about to be fired, these were her last attempts to leave a mark on me.

"Gwen," she began in an exasperated voice,"I really want to help."

I stared at her weakened state. Her hair was no longer put up in elegant ways, but hung limply at her shoulders. The dress she was wearing was wrinkled and looked as if it hadn't been washed in an extensive amount of time. She was beginning to fall apart.

"I am getting help." I stated confidently. "I have a new friend who is encouraging me to move on."

Scarlet looked at me, curious. "And, who is this 'friend' you speak of?" She almost laughed before the sentence was completed. A smile crept on her face.

"Oh," I started, looking around, "Just a boy I met a month ago."

She stared at me, mouth gaping at the words I had uttered. "I'm glad you have made a friend. However, we need to get back to the task at hand. Let me ask you, are you able to perceive reality? Or do you confuse it with hallucinations?" Her hands drummed on the clipboard, tapping idly while waiting for my reply.

"Why is that relevant?"

"Isn't is obvious?" She didn't wait for my answer, so she continued, "A person in a mental state such as yours can experience events that are fragments of your imagination. For example, you see these, um," she glanced at her clipboard, "'Shadows' as you call them."

Anger flushed through my system. "They are real. They have attacked me, they are hurting me. I can't make that pain up."

"Of course you can't. That's why you are such a peculiar subject. Your imagination never seizes to astonish me."

"What do you mean?"

"It's obvious to me that your only problem is your wild mind. You know it's a terrible thing."

"Having a mind of my own?"

"No, being crushed by your own thoughts." Her eyes bore into me, melting with sympathy.

I scratched at my bedsheets. "Scarlet, do you see these marks?" I gestured to my chalk-filled walls. "These are all the nightmares I have had these past two years, when the DNA and the intense treatments began. There are three hundred marks I have put there." My voice started shaking. "Three hundred nightmares have filled my head since the testing has commenced. Three hundred horror-filled memories have torn me apart, piece by piece. Every night I drown in a sea of sadness and fear and tears and I'm getting tired of it. I've kept myself afloat for this long, but I think I want to drown." The words escaped my lips as water streamed down my face.

Scarlet's face had not changed, and it seemed to be carved of stone. She sat, watching me break down and fall apart without saying a word. Her hands just danced on her clipboard, writing down all the information I had given her.

My breath was labored as I tried to calm myself down. Scarlet was doing nothing to help, she just needed the details I was spilling out. "Excellent, just what I need," I heard her mutter.

I had just backed away to the wall when she looked up at me. "Don't worry, Gwen. Lucky for you, I am a therapist and I will be helping you cope with your symptoms." She attempted a smile, ultimately failing when she saw the expression on my face.

"Do you honestly think you can help me?" My voice whispered, barely audible above the sound of footsteps outside my door. "I am already broken, Scarlet. There is no way to mend me."

She didn't even react to my words. Her chair scrapped on the floor as she stood up and walked to the door. It opened momentarily when she neared it.

"What is it?" She asked the man behind the door.

"She needs to do another test, ma'am. Oliver wants to get more info." The man behind the door spoke rapidly, as if it was urgent.

"Can I get two more minutes Marshall?" Scarlet said indefinitely.

"He said he wants to see her now."

Scarlet let out a sigh, her hands massaging her forehead. "Fine, I'll... I'll get her in an hour. I'm only giving him an hour. He needs to realize I'm also a scientist in need of data."

She left the door open, leaving Marshall standing absentmindedly waiting for her return.

"Sweetie, the doctor needs more tests. You'll be back with me in an hour. Go to Marshall please." Scarlet stepped aside, allowing me to pass.

I walked swiftly away from her, almost skipping to the door. Marshall greeted me in his usual way, grunting and ignoring me with a passion. We moved silently down the hallway, and it seemed like he wanted to get rid of me quickly.

The lab came into view, and there was yet another man awaiting at the door. I immediately recognized him as the scrawny doctor from the 'interrogation' room. His lab coat hung loosely on his shoulders, making him look like a weak or fragile man. He stood straight up when he saw us approaching.

"Hello Marshall. Thank you for delivering her." Again, a strong voice boomed from the small body. "I will see to her now. No need for you."

"You're welcome Doctor. I'm glad I could be of help." With that, he turned away and trudged back down the hallway, no doubt back to his post at my door.

The doctor looked at me, eyebrows raised. "I'm sure you remember me. I'm your doctor, or head scientist. Doctor Jones." He opened the door and gestured me inside.

"Jones what am I-" He stopped me with a wave of his hand.

"No need for talking from you yet. Sit down, please." He began rubbing his temples out of annoyance. The most peculiar thing perhaps was that I hadn't done anything yet. However, he was already annoyed of me.

"Now Gwen," he pulled out folders, "I am going to tell you a series of words and you tell me the first thing that pops into you head, okay?"

I nodded bleakly.

"Let's begin: Doctors."

"Idiots." I smiled grimly.

"Alright, insane."

"Me."

"Shadows."

"Death."

"Help."

"Impossible."

"Family."

I didn't break eye contact, I just blurted, "Abandonment."

"Friend."

"Xavier."

"Scarlet."

"Jerk."

He wrote my words down. "Nightmares."

"Awake."

"Dreams."

"Not real."

"Final one. Death."

"Here."

"Yes, that sounds about right," he scribbled in the folder. "Now, let's get back to the task at hand."

"Which is what?"

His words ringed in my ears. "Your escape, Miss Parker. I'm getting you out of here."