Tethered

Chapter Six

1

Sarah sat up in the hospital bed, a guttural scream erupting from her throat. Her eyes glanced around, not really focusing on anything. She wiped away the tears that wanted to blur her vision. What was going on? Why such nightmares? She'd had nightmares before, but it was about things she knew, things she'd done but this one was different. What was happening?

A scream reached her ears, breaking her line of thoughts. She jolted, her hand automatically seizing the bedsheet, fisting it into her hand as if that could save her from anything. Another scream, and another followed.

A bitter taste rose at the back of her mouth. She could feel the familiar ramming of her heart.

"Sarah, get back here!" A woman's voice, shrilled. "Where is that wretched thing!" Sarah froze. Am I still dreaming? She thought. "I say, get back here!"

As though out of her own mind, Sarah unfroze herself, and reached for the door, and opened it. As soon as she stepped into the dimly lit hallway, she froze again, her eyes turning into wide circles.

"Yea, here she is!" A woman shrilled again, storming toward Sarah with her hands outstretched. She seized Sarah's neck, and squeezed.

"Whose fault is all this?" She asked, threateningly. Sarah choked, her eyes drawing tears. She could feel her face turning purple. She could feel the desperate need for air. The woman's face was very familiar. Not only very familiar, it was her mother. The woman with the sweet smile and lovely eyes. The woman who had showered her with love and care.

2

It's all in your head, Sarah thought. It's not real. You're not dreaming.

"Oh yeah", the woman chuckled nervously, reading her thoughts. "Tell me this!"

She pushed the door next to them open with a kick. Inside, there was another Sarah trapped to a bed. Her eyes were black, and she was crying black stuff for tears. Sarah's eyes zoomed in.

"Sarah, please, save me", the other her cried. "Please, don't let me die."

Fear became a tangible, living force that crept over her like some hungry beast, immobilizing her and her brain, holding her captive. The woman behind her held a handful of Sarah's hair, and shoved her face forward, forcing her to look. Not like Sarah knew how to take her eyes off the other her anyways. It was impossible not to look.

"This is what happen to little stubborn brats like you", the woman hissed in her ear. "You thought you were in control, right? I dare you, now. Make it stop."

"I..." Sarah swallowed whatever she wanted to say as the large man with the blurry face appeared from behind the door and walked toward the one strapped to the bed.

"Please, Sarah", the other her yelled. "Please, get me out of here. You can do it. Untie me!"

Sarah blinked, her eyes growing blurrier with tears. The man stopped beside the strapped Sarah. He pulled out a small black bottle from his back pocket, then forced Sarah's mouth open. She screamed, kicked and thrashed. The man placed the bottle on Sarah's mouth and emptied whatever was inside into her mouth. Then, he pulled out a kitchen knife, and stabbed Sarah in the chest, multiple times.

3

Sarah gasped, unable to produce a scream. She couldn't watch. Not anymore. She pushed the woman aside, and dashed out of the room.

"Sarah!" The woman screamed. "It's your fault. Everything is. You're to be blamed. You killed them. It's on you—all on you."

"No", Sarah cried, speeding down the hallway. "Please, don't say that. Please."

She turned into another corridor, and started hearing the banging behind the closed door, along with it, were piercing shrieks. It was loud, and frightening, and growing in intensity.

"Sarah, you can!" Some of the voices spoke.

"I can't", Sarah cried, hardly breathing now. She stopped running, and looked around, the banging and screaming only increasing. "I can't. Please." She began to whimper, and her legs collapsed underneath her.

4

Before she knew what was happening, the doors flew open. She gasped, watching in terror as hands upon hands grabbed her, leading her to some unknown destination. She shrieked, trying to fight her way out. She couldn't, and that only made her fight harder.

"Stop it", A voice shouted. "You'll hurt yourself."

"Strap her down, quickly!" A female voice screamed. "Now."

"Let me go!" Sarah yelled. "Let me go! I can't save her! She's gone! I saw her die! Please, let me go!"

She was slammed on the bed, and felt as hands started attending to her wrists and ankles. She kicked and thrashed.

"Please, let me go." She screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Let me go."

"Put her to sleep!" The female voice commanded.

"Please, don't", Sarah begged, blinking instantly and realizing where she was. It struck her again, like a bolt of lightning. She was in the hospital. In the room she'd left before. She was being stranded by four men in blue uniforms. A woman in a blue uniform, and a white coat stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at her with concerned eyes.

"Please, don't put me to sleep", she begged. "I don't want to go to sleep."

"That's right", the woman said. "And I don't want to see you roaming the hallway like that."

One of the nurses approached with a syringe filled with light yellowish stuff.

"I'm calm", Sarah snapped, a chill covering the skin of her arms and neck. She didn't want to go to sleep. "I promise; I won't cause any trouble. I-I was sleeping walking. Please."

"That wasn't sleeping walking, young woman", the doctor said. "You looked like you were far worse than that."

The nurse approached and held Sarah's hand, ready to sting.

"Stop", another woman rushed into the room. It was the pretty woman in the red dress and black heels. "What are you doing?"

"The needful", the doctor answered with a raise of an eyebrow.

"You can't", the woman said. "Unstrap her."

"You didn't see what I saw in there, ma'am", the doctor said, her voice carrying sarcasm. "This young woman is sick—sick in here." She pointing to her head, tapping at her skull with her index finger.

"She's my patient and I have every right", the woman said, a tang of authority in her voice. "Do it now."

"And I'm the doctor", the doctor shouted, snatching the needle from the nurse. "Who are you? The parent?"

"If you put that liquid in her, I swear to God, I'll peel off your skin and make a carpet out of it", she clenched her jaws, her words heavy, filled with venom. "Get back."

"You're doing a very big mistake and I hope you live to regret it", the doctor spat.

What kind of a doctor is she? Sarah thought. Who talks like that?

"It's your mother who will live to regret her creation", the woman spat back, and the nurses choked back a laugh.

"She's sick, and a mental home is appropriate for persons like her", she spat again.

The pretty woman's eyes darkened, forming a stormy green that seemed to roil with her burgeoning anger. She looked like she was only one disagreement short of smashing the doctor's head on the wall.

The doctor threw the woman a dangerous glare, and left the room.

"Do it now", she said. "Undo her."