𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 ➃ - The Safe Haven, Newt

Chapter 27 - Hallucinations

I decided to visit Thomas throughout the day. We didn't talk much, though he was a great friend of mine and I liked him. He was working in the gardens on his own.

"Wanna go get some fertilizer with me?" Thomas grinned.

"Oh, I was looking for mint actually." I chuckled lightly and leaned against a pole. "What's up?"

"Planting stuff." Thomas shrugged. "And what brings you here?"

"I don't have to work yet so thought to visit you," I explained, forcing a small smile. Thomas nodded and kept working as I watched, though I couldn't focus on what he was actually doing. My body and mind were too tired.

After at least five minutes, my eyes automatically closed, but once I saw the Crank, they shot open. Thomas looked up from his work. "Woah, are you okay?" He worried.

"Yeah." I cleared my throat once I got out of the trance, but then my eye caught something. A man with black eyes stared at me from a corner. "Do you see him, Thomas?" I wondered out loud, walking closer to the corner.

"See what? Where?" Thomas asked, turning around.

"That man over there." I pointed at the man, who most likely was a Crank, around the corner.

"Nora," Thomas started. "There is no man."

Confused I stared at Thomas. "What do you mean? Of course there is a man. Don't you see him? He's looking around the corner of the wall, Thomas." I almost snapped.

Again, Thomas looked at the exact corner I pointed at. "No one is there, Nora. Trust me."

My breathing hitched in my throat. Was Thomas joking? Or was I turning crazy? "No, no, Thomas. You're not looking." Once the man started walking towards us, I panicked. "He's coming closer." I took a few steps back.

"Nora, no one is there," Thomas repeated again, his whole face full of confusion. Thomas' eyebrows deeply furrowed as he tried to see the man, but then he turned to me again. "Are you okay, Nor?"

"Thomas." I kept taking steps back, but the Crank was very close to us. "Thomas, we have to go right now."

"Why? I don't see anyone." Thomas simply responded.

I bit my lip when the Crank was only a few feet away from me. "We gotta leave. He's coming." I panicked, with heavy breaths.

Thomas watched me walk backward until my back hit the wall of a hut. With wide eyes, I stared at the Crank, who stopped walking too. He looked me in the eyes with his black ones. I couldn't take my eyes off him. It was like I was in a shock. Slowly the Crank revealed his hands and moved them up to his eyes. My heart started beating faster and it felt like I could break down any minute, but I couldn't move.

When the Crank suddenly stabbed himself in the eye with his nails, I let out a yelp. The Crank made weird gagging and screaming noises as he scratched out his own eyes.

I let out some screams myself before breaking down on the floor, tears streaming down my face. I buried my head in my hands and moved my knees up to my chest, trying to keep the vision of the Crank away. When someone or something touched me, I got frightened and screamed again, pushing it off of me.

"Nora!" Thomas yelled, shaking my shoulders. "What's going on?"

"Thomas," I cried. "His eyes."

"No one is there, Nora. You're alright." Thomas tried to calm me down, but he didn't seem to know what he was doing. Carefully I looked up, just to see the Crank disappear. Panicked I stared at Thomas, who looked at me in confusion.

"I-it was there, Thomas. You have to believe me." I said through my cries.

For a few seconds, Thomas seemed taken back. "No one was there." He repeated, pulling me off the ground. "I'll get you to the Med Hut."

~

At first, I resisted and didn't want Thomas to bring me to the doctor. I would have sworn I saw the Crank. It was there.

"What happened?" A woman asked Thomas as we got into a separate room from the main room. She motioned for me to sit down on the bed. Thomas explained how I said I saw a man, but he didn't see it at all. The woman slowly nodded once Thomas finished. Probably with bloodshot eyes, I waited for the woman to respond.

"How much sleep have you been getting? Eight hours?" The woman grabbed a notebook.

"Yeah, I think eight hours." I lied.

"Have you experienced anything traumatic events?"

My breathing hitched and I looked at the ground. "I think so."

"What you just saw, did that have anything to do with the event?" The woman wrote down some more things.

I hesitated. The Crank did have something to do with four days ago. "Yes."

"Then I suspect it was a hallucination. If this happens more often, you have to reach out to me again, okay? Just make sure you get enough sleep and reduce stress."

Slowly I nodded, shocked about the fact I had a hallucination. "Okay."

"You can go for now. Take it easy." The woman gave me a small smile and opened the door for Thomas and me to leave. Thomas took me with him but didn't say anything.

"Please don't tell anyone about this, Thomas. Especially not Newt and Logan." I ordered.

"I can't hide this kind of stuff from Newt, Nora." Thomas sighed and kept walking. A bit disappointed I followed him. "But if they don't ask about it, then I won't tell them. But don't expect me to hide it from them the whole time."

I nodded. "Thanks, Thomas."