The Foundation for Kid Mental Illness

Chapter 1: Sarah

Sarah

Triggers: language.  vague scene of murder. Tell me if you see anymore.

I was hearing the screams again. And this time they were down the opposite hallway. Last night they were by Keirsten's door, even though she said she didn't hear anything. I don't know what will happen when they get to my door.

But unfortunately, I didn't know when that would be. The Screaming Woman™—as Rif and I officially called her—was spontaneous. She has gone to all the doors in the my hallway but mine. She even repeats some twice.

I'm beginning to think that my room is the only safe spot. My friends have had sleepovers in my room thanks to Diana, our strange Therpist. Doctor Stevenson has a soft spot for her, so he lets us share space on the nights we hear more strange sounds then usual.

I tried to tell the staff about the woman, but they said I was hallucinating my sisters screams. Which was funny, because she wasn't screaming when I killed her. She was just....asleep. I think.

I think she was. I swore she woke up right before she took her last agonizing, exciting breath. But it wasn't her eyes I was seeing....

Anyway, I wasn't going to fall asleep with those woman's screams, so I did the only thing I knew I could do without getting caught outside my door. The metal door was locked anyway to keep us safe.

I tick some letters in Morse code to Vic on our wall. Having thin walks are good for something. After a few painstakingly slow seconds, where I probably was holding my breath, Vic ticked back. 'You okay?' They asked.

I hesitated. I didn't want to wake up Vic every night because of my bullshit, if they're even asleep. 'I keep hearing the screams.' I answered, deciding on having a friend to talk to instead of waiting for the next scream. I'm selfish like that.

'I keep hearing my noises too.'

It's confusing to outsiders, but my friends and I, maybe even the whole asylum if we asked the kids, have these unique sounds we hear. In my case, there's screaming. A godawful woman's shrill. But in Vic's case, they hear mumbling coming from their bathroom. Willa hears scratching on the walls, and so on.

Anyway, 'I'm getting really annoyed by the woman, I mean, her vocal cords must be at least a little bit sore.

Vic can be anxious about thses sounds, so I try to cheer them up. Maybe that's why I have an urging to talk to them every night. Because I know how it feels.

'They happen every night now, I hate the fourth week of the month.' They replied.

The fourth week of the month is always the time when the sounds are most prominent. We don't know why, but we thank Keirsten for that. She thought we should count the times when they happen, and since we've been in the asylum for almost a year now, we figured it out soon enough.

'Well, it's Saturday tomorrow, so the day after they will slow down again.' Luckily, I'm optimistic tonight.

'Wish they could quiet the fuck up forever.'

'Yeah, I know. That would do wonders. Any coherent words you can get out of the mumblings.'

'Something about the freezing cold water and blood polluting it.'

'Maybe that's how your ghost died.' I joked.

'Last night it was about hiding a body in the hollow of a tree, so I think she murdered somebody.' They said back.

It's strange because all our individual ghosts are shes. Not any men. Which is probably for the best because I would think male ghosts would be so much worse. I mean, I wouldn't mind one who's hot and respects women, but I'm not optimistic about that.

Anyway, Willa maybe thought that they were all the same ghost, but we ruled that out because they all sound different. We tried to find out what they looked like, but all I could get from peaking out of my room Is black hair and a bent neck.

Vic could only get a orange dress when they looked under their bathroom door.

I was pulled out of my reverie when another scream cut across the air. It was probably time to talk about something else.

I thought about a other topic 'So, did you see Nick yesterday, he looked shaken up.'

Nick is part of the asylum staff. He works for Diana. Not sure why a teenager is on the staff, but we heard it had something to do with him being a orphan that wandered to the asylum after he broke out of the orphanage when he was thirteen.

So he helps us through stuff now. He's a good guy. Not to mention hot. Even for a girl who's not into anyone really. Just second to young Leonardo DiCaprio though.

'Can you blame him. He's dealing with you.'

I was not offended. Vic supposedly came out of the womb as a rude person. But they're a bad bitch. And we love them.

'Hmm, last I checked, I was actually his favorite.' I ticked back.

'Nah, Willa is his favorite.'

And that was how our relationship went. We're only alive now because of each other. They helped me, I helped them.

I love them more than my family ever had. Or could.

and so we talked. Through the night. Keeping out demons that threatened to overtake us.

Just us and the ghosts