Keep Your Head

CHAPTER 1: Awake

“My child, are you okay?”

Devon groaned when the unfamiliar voice invaded her ears, her hand reaching up to scratch her head. The raven-haired teenager didn't have the strength to open her eyes just yet, but she attempted to anyway. She slowly parted her eyes, the bright light seeping through the blinds burned, too bright for her to handle. The thought of sleep completely left her brain as she tried to recount what happened the day before and where she was.
When the teenager finally opened her eyes, she looked around, quickly noticing a disturbing-looking thing beside her.
It was a nurse, but not a normal one. She had a big brown eyeball in the place her head should be. The teenager tried to ask at least one of the thousands of questions in her head, but whenever she tried to say something, even just one word, nothing came out.
“Sorry if I startled you, but I'm afraid something happened.”
Devon blinked. Something happened? Shouldn't be surprising. Weird things are always happening to Devon. Besides, this felt like a dream, an oddly realistic one. So whatever came out of this weird nurse's “mouth” shouldn't be true, right? “Alright. Surprise me.”

The nurse nodded, holding up a clipboard to her face. Or, eye? “My child, you've gotten in a car crash in the real world. I'm afraid you've fallen into a coma.”
“Not true,” The teenager muttered, averting her gaze from the nurse. “this is a dream. You're not real. Whatever you say is false.” The eye nurse blinked, eventually shaking her head. Or, eye? God, this is getting confusing.
    “Everything I'm saying is the truth. Why would I lie to you about a coma? That's not really funny, is it?” Devon frowned, her words getting caught up in her throat.
“Look here, you're in a dream that you can't wake up from. It's more like a… lucid dream. Just different.” The nurse settled the clipboard on a nearby desk, holding her hands together. “People are… unlucky… to come here. There's actually another patient who's experiencing the same thing like you in the lobby. You can talk to her once you get up.” Devon stayed quiet. She didn't want to say anything, as she was too deep in thought. She was trying to remember what happened before she “fell asleep”, but nothing came to mind. Finally, she allowed herself to talk again. “What is this place then? What can I do to wake up?”
“Well-” The nurse started, but quickly paused, gasping afterward. “Oh, child! I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself.” The nurse sighed, holding her hand out to Devon. “I’m Mrs. Meadow, nice to meet you, Devon Isley!”
Devon looked at Meadow’s hand, then back at her, frowning. “How…how do you know my name?”
Mrs. Meadow paused, then groaned, looking down at the floor with some sort of disappointed look. “Oh, I'm screwing up today. So sorry about that.” The nurse went over to grab the clipboard off the desk, flipping a paper over. Her one eye blinked, staring down at the page before looking up at Devon. “We know everyone's name once they come here. Like, once you enter this place, poof! I automatically know your name.” She angled the clipboard to where Devon could see the contents of the paper. “It also says your name on here, too.”

“Oh. Okay, well-” Devon held her hand out. “-Hi, Mrs. Meadow.” Mrs. Meadow reached out to shake her hand, her eye closing. It didn't seem like it, but she was happy.
Devon pulled her hand away after a few seconds, seeming uncomfortable to be shaking a living eyeball’s hand. “So, why am I here? And if I really got in a car crash, why can't I remember it?” It took a moment for Mrs. Meadow to come up with answers, hesitantly stammering out words until she found the correct ones to say. “Well… you were just simply unlucky. Some coma patients rarely come here, and they just stay unconscious and motionless until they actually wake up. But some, like I said, are unlucky, and end up here anyway.” Meadow paused for a second, then continued. “Ah, that happens sometimes. Children can't seem to remember the events that lead them here, but…” Mrs. Meadow turned her head to look at a mirror in the corner of the room, making her way toward it.
It was a full-length mirror, those mirrors that you could see your entire body in. 
The nurse grabbed the mirror by both of its sides and carefully carried it to Devon, who was still laying on the hospital bed that she woke up on. “My child, your appearance may have changed greatly, and it may scare you at first. But trust me, this mirror will make you remember everything.”
Devon furrowed her brow, her confusion visible. A mirror making her remember what happened to her? Pretty absurd. “Alright, what do I have to do?”
“Just look into it, my child.”
Mrs. Meadow flipped the mirror over so that Devon could see herself in the glass.
Her appearance had completely changed. Her skin was pure white, her outfit was ragged and dirty, and her long, black hair was a huge mess. She knew she didn't look like that when she was… awake. She was always organized and well-dressed. That's how she saw herself, anyway.
  “What the-”
“Just look a little closer, you'll remember everything in no time.”
“I-” Devon started, then stopped, scowling. There was no use in protesting, she knew that. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so before opening them back up again to stare into the eyes of her reflection. She stared into her own eyes until after what seemed to be hours, a sharp, unexplainable pain had smacked her in the head, causing her to turn away from the mirror and cover her eyes with her hands. She winced. “I-I… should I be feeling any…pain… right now?”
Mrs. Meadow blinked. “What kind of pain?”
“A…headache? I-I don’t know, all I can say is… that my head hurts.”
“That's normal, my child. Just try to calm down and try to think about the car crash. Everything will flash back to you in a second.”
Devon nodded, her hands moving away from her face. The pain was still there, but she had to tolerate it, for now.

Seconds passed, then minutes.
Until finally, an image popped up in her head.