Divided.

Divided. Part 24

The door creaked open slowly as the tall man in the white coat pushed it. All doors open with a different sound Daisy thought and this one sounded haunting; if a door could possibly sound haunting. It was pitch black the other side of the door and a waft of chemical smell's drifted out of the dark room.

"Daisy Woods?" A male voice asked from behind her. She hadn't stopped trembling since she stood waiting outside the headmaster's office. The journey in the back of the white van had been petrifying and it made it worse that the three men dressed in black suits hadn't spoken to her; not once. They picked her up from the headmaster's office a couple of hours ago and led her out the back entrance of the school. Once on the street they picked her up effortlessness as if they were scooping up a tamed cat and they plonked her on a dusty cushion on the hard floor in the back of the van. One of the men dressed in a black sat on a pull down seat right next to her in the back of the van and the other two left to sit in the two front seats. There was only a small glass partition between the front two seats and the windowless rear of the van but Daisy could see the sunlight blaring in on the driver who wore dark sunglasses and she could see that no words were being spoken between any of them. They were all sitting silently listening to the hum of the van's engine. The journey was bumpy on the floor and although Daisy tried not to cry she couldn't help the breathlessness of holding her tears back and occasionally let out loud sobs. The man sat with her never responded to her distress; intermittently he kept swaying his jaw from side to side as if he were grinding his teeth and Daisy decided it was best to cover her bloodshot eyes with the palms of her hands and she tried to pretend that she was somewhere other than there and that 'this day' had never happened. She sat there blind wishing she'd been caught by evil Mrs Bowen instead and that she was facing a long and drawn out session with 'the whip' instead of facing ... this.

"Daisy woods?" the voice asked again and Daisy slowly and cautiously turned her head around whilst keeping her body as still as she possibly could. Her vision down there was limited; partially because of the light but also because her eyes stung with redness.

As she turned her head she saw another man belonging to the voice standing in a long white coat. She couldn't make out his face but he was even taller than the tall man that had walked with her the along the corridor.

"Leave Daisy with me." The taller man nodded to the tall man.

The tall man didn't argue. In fact he bent his long neck down, let go of Daisy's wrist and disappeared back the way that they came from leaving Daisy looking towards the ground as she listened to his fading and heavy footstep's walk away.

"Daisy Woods?" He asked then the footsteps fell silent.

"Yes," she managed to squeak. The door in front of them leading to the pitch black room had creaked shut now. They were completely alone in the corridor with stone walls and Daisy realised never in her life has she experience such quietness. It were as if they weren't even on earth anymore; they were circling around in a vast space in the universe ... where she didn't know ... just somewhere ... different.

"Follow me Daisy." He said tenderly turning around to walk the other way. He didn't grab hold of her wrist like ht other man, he just started to walk. The thought crossed her mind to run, but where would she run? Instead she sailed behind him, step by step, floating as if she had no control left of her body.

They walked for long time. Doors were visible on either side of the corridor but where they lead too Daisy couldn't begin to imagine. Fear had reached its peak now and she found it difficult to concentrate or to think. Her brain had shut itself off to all fear-provoking possibilities and it took every bit of self control to keep breathing.

They arrived at a door on the right hand side and the tall man knocked hard on it three times with his large fist. He didn't turn around to make sure Daisy was still there. He just stood staring at the wooden door, waiting for it to open. Daisy followed him in robotically and the door slammed shut on its own behind them.

The first thing she saw when she looked up made her skin crawl, her skin was pulsing and it felt like huge cockroach like bugs were scuttling their way from her wrists to her shoulders, from her toes up to her knees. She wanted to vomit. She turned on her heel to run but the fear was too strong and she felt as if gravity was pulling her back and keeping her heavy legs from lifting from the floor. The sickness was overwhelming.

Holes. Holes where their eyes should be. Two men. Two men standing either side of where Daisy stood. She tried not to look at their faces but the holes were staring right through her. They were looking at her without seeing her, noting her presence. They didn't stand long between the eyeless men. The tall man whispered in to the ear of the eyeless man stood to the left and then he continued walking leaving the men standing still like ghostly figures. Daisy ran to catch up with the tall man; her heart was beating so hard her head felt dizzy. She felt sick at the same time as feeling numb and ice cold. A drop of sweat rolled down from her forehead in to her mouth but she couldn't move her arms to wipe it away. Snot was also running out of her nose and in to her mouth and her eyes burnt so hot it was as if they were on fire. She looked back at the two men to make sure they weren't behind her and the one of the right turned his neck to face her directly. That was the last she remembered. She fainted then and there; one unforgettable stare and she was out for the count. Laying on the cold hard floor fast asleep.