Thought You Knew (based on A Gorey Demise)

"M is for Marie who was burnt to a crisp..."

       They tried to act gentle and calm. They tried to act reassuring and kind. They tried to bait me with their sly tactics. But at the same time, I tried to act smart. I tried to act like I knew more than them. I tried to act strong and brave. I defended myself. I wasn't going to let them take me away without putting up a fight. The people in black uniforms with the intimidating utility belts use their personas to lure us, to trick us. They pretend they're on your side and wishing to deal justice to where justice is called for, but then they stab you in the back when you least expect it. Why would I fall for their weak mind games? How does anyone fall into their traps? My oh my, people are so stupid. You're all stupid if you let them get away with their evil doings. Wake up! Why don't any of you see what they're... I'm stalling. I'm stalling because I hate this. I can't stop doing this or they'll put me back into the room. I don't like the room, but I don't like this either. Why are they so mean to me? Please help me. Please get me out of this. I want to go home. I'm so sorry for what I did. I was forced, just as I'm forced to do this now. Okay, okay, I will continue telling the painful details of my past. Sorry.

        A female officer with ginger hair and blue eyes approached me as I stared on in fear. I remember her name, Officer Juniper, vividly. She kneeled down to my height, as she was quite lengthy, and softly introduced herself. I was 13, why was she acting like I was a lost 7 year old who got separated from his mother? I don't understand why they were taking special care of me. Did they find out about what I did and were afraid of upsetting me? I never found out. She used that fake soothing voice to ask and confirm that I was the child her and her patrol were looking for. I don't know how she confirmed it, because I never admitted that Curtis was my name. When she pleaded for me to answer, I refused. When she questioned why, I simply said it was because I couldn't trust her. She spent the next few minutes convincing me that I could trust her because she was there to help me. Oh what a cliché way of pulling the strings of the scene.

        "You aren't helping me," I growled.

        "I can if you let me, sweetie," she replied calmly.

        "I don't want help!" I snapped at her defensively. "Get away from me!" As I attempted to turn tail and flee, she grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

        "Don't worry, Curtis. You'll feel better if you let us help you." I didn't know how I could trust that voice. It sounded so sinister and so menacing. I turned back to her to come face to face with a terrifying grin and wide eyes that tore deep into my soul. Feeling more outraged than frightened at that point, I lunged forward and-... I can't remember. Oh god no, why? Why can't I remember? They're going to punish me if I don't tell them what happened! Help me! Okay, I'm panicking, give me a second. You guys can wait a few minutes, right? You won't get mad? Alright, good, thank you for being more understanding than them.

        Skipping ahead to a time I can remember, I believe I was in a hospital room being asked questions about why I ran away, questions about the voices, and other related things. I didn't tell them anything. I couldn't. They only wanted to know what I knew so that they could be smarter than me and have power over me. I couldn't let that happen. Then why am I giving them power through knowledge now? Well that's easy, they're forcing me. They weren't forcing me before. I just started laughing, but I don't know what's funny. Why do I keep getting distracted? Uh, right... They gave me pills. Or rather, they gave my mom pills for me. I was surprised that my mother didn't hurt me, by the way. I thought she was angry at me for running away. She seemed more concerned. Probably another fake act just to toy around with me. Pricks.

        Anyway, my mom was instructed to give me one pill every morning, and one every night. They were meant to make me feel better, I guess. I will admit, though, that they did for a short while. After the first night and following morning when my father pinned me to the ground and force fed me the pills, I began to feel less... uncomfortable in public, less like hidden entities were watching me from the dark corners of alleys. I failed to see the logic in why I labelled some people as untrustworthy. Do you know what those pills did? They dulled my senses to the original state they were in. They took away my special abilities to predict the minds of my peers. But I felt better. My life seemed to revert back to normal as the weeks passed. The voices stopped a few days in, allowing me to catch up on some much needed rest. Twenty Four and the Misfits went away, too. Maybe they didn't need me anymore. I was really excited about that. I didn't really want to help them anymore, so I was relieved that they stopped harassing me. I was always willing to swallow the small capsules whenever routine called for it, eager to live out the rest of my life happy. Months passed, and not a single thing bothered me. Erik never went away, though. No, he stayed around and we talked a lot in private. We became very good friends and chatted whenever we could. Everything seemed okay. My parents and I went to the doctor's regularly to make sure there wasn't any evil in my head, and I was overjoyed every time I got a good report back from Dr. Vincent.