Room 17 and the Mysteries of Jacob Rei Donner

Room 17

Jacob Rei Donner sat quietly on the brown leather couch in Room 17. The air was warm, smelling of cut grass, though, much to his dismay, there were no windows to be seen. He loved the natural light of the sun and looking at the tree's colors. He liked to watch the birds busy themselves pecking at the ground in search of worms.

"Name." She sat in a black, comfortable looking wheely chair, her narrow glasses sitting at the edge of her pointed nose.

"Jacob." He looked around at the room, taking in every detail from the withered rose plants in the corner, to the crack in the ceiling just above his head. He had seen this room countless times before, but he never got tired of its details. Jacob liked the small room, and it seemed to like him back.

The room danced with a golden light, bouncing off the dark blue walls. It was the darkest blue Jacob had ever seen. The contrast of the colors gave him an odd feeling. A feeling so strange yet so beautiful, that whenever he thought about it warmth stretched from his nose down to his feet, flowing into his fingertips. He shivered, despite the warmth he was feeling, and sighed quietly.

"Age." It was strange, Jacob thought, that a room with such dark colors could hold a feeling so light and comfortable. He could, of course, just ask the room, but the woman at the desk would probably think him to be insane. Just as everyone else does, a voice whispered in his ear. He ignored it, thinking instead about the room. He couldn't help but to smile the slightest bit.

"14." Jacob looked at her desk, papers stacked in neat piles and a computer turned at just the right angle. He then thought of his own desk: papers cluttered everywhere and crumpled notes stuck in between the cracks of books. He looked at her desk, picture frames and small knick-knack decorations. He saw her name plate, a black pallet polished with shiny gold lettering pushed onto a block of dark, veiny wood. It read the familiar words in all capital letters: JANE M. TEARY. Jacob felt as if it were screaming at him through its invisible, unforgiving jaws. He knew the woman behind the desk in Room 17 wasn't as unforgiving as her name. He could feel it. That's not Jane, he heard the roses from across the room call to him. "I know."

"Pardon?" She looked up from her desk at him through her shiny glasses.

"I wasn't talking to you." He told her quietly.

"Who were you talking to, then?"

"Myself." He glared at the roses. She thinks you're a loon, they teased. He rolled his eyes and focused on the crack in the ceiling that was just above his head. It was always there, saving him from the horrible taunting of the roses. He imagined the crack caused by something that lived in the ceiling, and came with a new story of how it happened every time he looked at it.

"Mr. Donner," her voice carried him back to Room 17. "Is there anything in particular you would like to start with?" He looked at his feet.

"Where is Jane?" He asked the woman.

"Doctor Teary had an emergency, so she couldn't make it today." He looked at her eyes. They were brown, dark brown, almost matching her pupils. They were pretty, but they weren't Jane's. "She called for me to take over." Jacob blinked at her. Jane's gone. How can I talk to this woman? He thought. How could she possibly understand? Of all the things familiar about Room 17, this was not. "Do you want to start with anything before I do?" She asked again. Jacob shrugged, his thoughts beginning to cloud his brain. "Alright then." She took up a file and pointed to something on it, tilting her head slightly. "Let's start with this uh..Jaylin." Her voice was terse as she said that name. "You know her, right?" Jacob nodded. "You know her well, correct?" He nodded again, and she peered over her glasses at him, folding her hands in front of her. "Let's begin." She took her glasses off and they hung by a beaded chain around her neck. She leaned forward, staring, to what Jacob felt, right through him. "How did you meet her?" He took a deep breath.

"Can we start with something else?" He didn't look at her, but he could feel her eyes burning holes in his head.

"When was the first time you saw her?" Jacob didn't answer her. The roses were chanting in his head. "Did you talk to her recently?" The roses grew louder. "Do you like her?" They grew even louder until he couldn't bare it any longer. "Does she like you?"

"That's enough!" He yelled, covering his ears. "Shut up! Tell them to shut up!" The roses chanted and laughed inside his head louder and louder. "Shut up! Shut up!!" Louder and louder they laughed. Jacob squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, his fingers digging into the side of his head. Shut up! I can't take it anymore!