Another Day

Chapter.1 // Awakened

It was cold. As soon as he awoke, he could feel the icy air wash over him. After taking a moment to absorb that, the other thing he noticed was just how bright the lights were. They were fluorescent, the kind you were likely to find in any public or state-owned building. Not the most welcoming atmosphere, he thought. As he sat up, someone walked over to him, though it took his eyes a moment to adjust so he could see who they were.  It appeared to be a woman who looked not a day over twenty-three. She donned a long, white, sleeveless dress, and had a black shirt underneath it. On top of her head, she had a white hat of some sort, covering the top of her hair. He looked at her for a moment as she looked at him, seeming to be sizing him up. She opened a large cabinet that was beside his bed and grabbed out a set of white robes and a pair of slippers, tossing them to him. "These should fit quite nicely. You may change here, be ready within five minutes." She pulled a curtain across the bed area, shielding him from the rest of the room. He stood there for a moment, unsure of exactly what to do, but changed into the robes and exited the curtained sector. Glancing around the rest of the room, he could see that it clearly wasn't somewhere he was familiar with. There seemed to be a lot of medical equipment around, along with a few other beds. Some charts on the wall depicted what symptoms of different mental and physical illnesses may look like and how to treat them. The cupboard he had gotten his robes out of was there, with a few chairs as well. The walls were white, except for a few places where it seemed to be stained with something that had turned it a worn-out grey colour. There was rarely any warmth or homely feeling to the room, as the combination of the white walls, cool air, and hard linoleum floors gave it a somewhat cold and unfriendly feeling. He stood there for a moment longer before a small "ahem" interrupted his thoughts. The nurse was back, and she nodded to him and turned away, a silent gesture for him to follow her. He did as she wanted, his slippers shuffling slightly against the floors as he walked. She lead him through the halls which felt like they should be big and grand, from how high the ceilings were and the large chandelier that hung up there, far out of reach from anyone without a cherry picker. But something about it just seemed off, and instead of being fancy it just felt... weird and hollow. She continued walking through the halls, passing by many rooms. He noticed how some of them had doors made of a thicker metal, like it was protecting everyone else from what might be hiding behind it. He almost opened his mouth to ask about the place but promptly closed it, as the nurse didn't seem much in the mood for conversation. Eventually, she stopped in front of a room that had a small sign with a plastic cover over it, reading "Minimum security." She took out a ring of keys from her pocket, flipping through them, giving a soft hum when she found the correct one. She took out a long brass key, twisting it in the lock and opening the door. She stepped inside and beckoned for the boy to enter as well. He stepped in and looked around. It was small, maybe no bigger than a powder room. There were two beds, each with a thin blanket, a pillow, and a mattress. The frames of the beds looked to be iron, and one was already being occupied by a teenager, a boy who seemed to be around fourteen or fifteen. He had black hair that was just above his shoulders, and glanced at the two of them with a bored expression. He waved with a flick of his fingers then went back to staring out the barred window. The nurse looked at him with a look akin to disdain, then sighed. "This is where you'll be staying, and this is your roommate, Adrian. Your schedule is on the table." The teenager at the window turns his gaze ever so slightly to focus on the boy. The nurse opens the door and exits, likely having other things to do. The boy watches her go for a moment, then goes over to the bed. Since Adrian has already claimed the other one, he doesn't exactly have much to pick from. He sits on it, feeling just how uncomfortable the bed really is. It's not even pleasant to sit on, let alone sleep. He sighs, sitting against the wall. Looking around, he notices that the room seems favour dull edges and overall "safer" materials. The table in between his and Adrian's bed is shaped as a circle, displaying no pointed edges, along with any parts of the bed frame that may have been sharp at some point had either been sanded down or never existed in the first place. He crossed his legs, leaning his head against the wall. He watched the other boy, Adrian from what the nurse had said. Adrian continued staring out the window like he had before, not really doing much. The boy looked out as well, into what seemed to be the buildings courtyard. It was a large field, fenced in with the typical galvanized wire fence. The fencing was tall and curled forward at the top, preventing anyone from climbing out. Again, he is tempted to ask about the place, just to know where he might be. But Adrian practically screams "do not talk to me", so he turns over on the bed. His back presses against the wall as he lays there, trying to get comfortable. He closes his eyes for a while, slowly drifting off. Once he gets into a deeper sleep, he starts to dream. His dreams are different from the usual, though. He dreams about his mother, which is a common occurrence for him. He's back to his eight year old self, running down the street to get to their home. He sees his mother on the ground and runs over to her excitedly. He reaches her but feels something on his shoes. He looks down and sees the blood, surrounding his mother and coating his shoes. He watches as the whole ground melts to blood, coating him and pulling him in. The blood is thick, suffocating him as he squirms and struggles to get out, desperately reaching for anything that he could grab until he fully sinks in. He reopens his eyes, this time at the school. He sees himself and the child he had beat up a day ago. Or... was it a day ago? He didn't know how long he had been out for. He watched the fight go down between him and the child, if you could even call it that. The kid had barely been able to defend himself, shouting as students and teachers began to rush into the hallway. Suddenly, they all disappear as a darkness swallows the image, surrounding him as well. The amount of space gets smaller and smaller, shrinking as he tries to run from it. He rushes away but the darkness has the same empty feeling as he had felt since the day his mother died. He ran, feet pounding against what seemed to be the floor, running away from something that surrounded him until he tripped, falling into the darkness. He bolted up, chest rising and falling at a quick pace, the front of his shirt slightly damp from sweat. He saw Adrian had already woken up and was getting ready for whatever the day entailed. He kicked the blankets off of him, gathering his remaining courage and quickly asking  Adrian. "Hey, uh... Adrian, right?" He blows out a breath. "Where... are we?" Adrian turns around, looking him up and down for a moment and giving a small smirk. "You don't know?" The boy shakes his head. Adrian sighs, giving him another glance. "Well then. Welcome to the BIA. Blackwood Insane Asylum."