The Devolution of Reality

Part 8 (The End)

"They [the voices] may make ongoing criticisms of what the patient is thinking or doing, or make cruel comments about the patient's real or imagined thoughts"

The blinds were closed and a single lamp light was all that lit the office of Dr. Timbs. Michael had walked Sam home and right as he got to her doorstep, his brother Mark pulled up in his pickup truck and told Michael that the school called his Mom and she told him to pick Michael up to take him to F.C.O.T.Y. Sam tried to make him stay, but he knew that it was best to comply with his family. She hugged him and told him to be back at the oak tree at 10:00 PM.

DT: "So tell me Michael, why did you go on this rampage at school?"

M: "Well, the Voices told me to do it....."

DT: "Did you ever stop to think that the Voices might have been wrong in this situation?"

M: "They only want what's best for me."

DT: "It doesn't seem like it Michael."

M: "You are wrong Dr. Timbs! They are my friends, they care about me!" Michael stood up out of the brown leather chair and started to appear hostile. All of a sudden Jack and Lucy appeared on either side of him.

J: "He thinks you're a monster!"

L: "He only wants to hurt you!"

J: "Run!"

L: "Get out!"

Michael burst out the office doors and started to run for the exit, but being on the fifth floor didn't help with his attempt to escape. Dr. Timbs called for security to guard the doors and to not let Michael leave under any circumstance. Michael barreled down the winding stair case, passing each flight of white paint chipped steps and walls. The lights flickered in the old building. All he could think about was getting back to Sam, so he could have someone to hold in his arms. Someone who wasn't afraid, someone who thought Michael was normal, and that someone was waiting for him at this exact moment. He reached the bottom floor and just as he saw the sign that read "EXIT" in big red lights, he was tackled to the ground by two men in white clothes. Michael wasn't going down without a fight, he couldn't leave Sam. He screamed as loud as he could for her.

M: "Get off me! I need to get back to Sam! Sam! I'm sorry Sam! Please! Get the fuck off me! Sam!!!" Michael screamed as if Sam could hear him, but the fact was that she was five miles away, and no matter how loud he screamed she wouldn't be able to hear him. The two men finally pinned his legs and arms down. Dr. Timbs walked over with a syringe in hand. Michael screamed louder and louder for his favorite person in the world.

DT: "I'm sorry that it had to come to this Michael." Just then Dr. Timbs stuck the syringe into Michael's neck, and Michael felt his body start to numb. He broke free from the two men and in a final act of desperation bolted out the entrance. He made it about 10 feet when his legs stopped working and his face slammed against the concrete parking lot. Michael's eyes started to flutter, and he laid on the ground with his body tranquilized but his heart still aching to get back to Sam.

Darkness enclosed Michael and his mind. He sat in complete darkness, there was nobody there, no life, no sounds, no light, no Sam. He was hit with such a powerful tranquilizer that he escaped reality and now resided in the furthest, deepest, darkest corner of his mind. Two familiar Voices spoke and appeared in the black hole of Michael's mind. But this time something was different about the two familiar friends. Jack was missing his favorite mask and sat with his knees pulled to cover his face. Lucy sat adjacent to him, but her platinum hair was mangled and the "Fallen Angel" words were scratched off her wrists, and now appeared as open wounds with blood slowly dripping down her arms. Her beauty somehow was replaced with horror, and black mascara ran down her face. Jack lifted his face and the scars were clear as day, he was ashamed and afraid.