Wretched

Chapter Three

The car smells like sugar and fire. Maybe this used to be a cupcake truck and it burned down. Or possibly, some candy canes were smoking cigarettes. Or maybe a fireman traveled to Candy Crush.

Thinking of the stupidest, most random things always eases my mind about the trip to come. I try to block the fact that I, Juno Starling, am being sent to a mental institute simply because I had an itchy back and some bad dreams. In order to calm my rapidly- beating heart, I unzip my bag and fish around for my most prized possesion (maybe excluding the bracelet), my iPod. Otherwise known as the home of my escape, music. 

The beginning of Wretched and Divine by Black Veil Brides is interrupted by a swear word leaking from Doctor Parks's mouth. It's the first thing she's said, and probably the first time she has opened her mouth the entire ride. 

"Aye, shit," she mutters. It's a suprise to me, Doctor Parks seemed so uptight, with her insanely tight bun and suit, and that horribly proffesional and uncomfortable tweed pencil skirt. She continues talking after we get past the highway. "You should talk to me. I am the only kind of hint you have at this point."

"It's probably not protocol for an asylum worker to be spitting out curse words at the 'insane', " I reply sharply. "And if you want me to ask questions, maybe you should answer me flat out?" I'm beginning to dislike Doctor Parks. "I mean, there's nothing crazy about having your back itch, and then, well, taking a nap and getting a bad dream! It happens to everyone!"

Doctor Parks's dark eyes dart to the back seat. Saying nothing, she pulls up on the edge of the road.

Oh shit, now I'm gonna get yelled at, I think. I hope she's not brutal... I hope she's not the type to slap people. Eh, this is the end... Thoughts of fear race through my mind with no direction. Doctor Parks is a psycologist for a mental institute, and yet I feel like she holds the apocalypse is inside of her. Maybe she will be kind? Or maybe she'll just tell me to shut the fuck up and move on...?

"Juno, calm down," she says kindly. What a relief. She hasn't slapped me. Yet.

"How can you expect me to calm down when I'm being taken to an insane asylum, against my will, when I'm just a completely normal, regular fourteen-year-old, and I don't do crazy shit like some people... and I don't do drugs, or drink, or smoke, I just.... you know? Doctor Parks, I really shouldn't be in this car!" I shout, my voice shaking uncontrollably. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes, but in my heart as well...

"Hon," says Doctor Parks indifferently. How can she be so calm and neutral at a time like this, when she has the audacity to drag an innocent teen off to an asylum?

"What?!" I scream at her. "How can you explain this? Can you please just give me an explanation to why you're hauling me off to this.... mental..... asylum? And how you think I'll sit quietly while you just label me as 'insane'? When I'm clearly not?!" I am literally hyperventilating now. My thoughts fly freely and without direction, like a headless chicken. I try to grasp onto loose ends, but all clues escape me. I have to cry.

"Juno," whispers Doctor Parks. "Calm yourself. For one thing, I haven't told you yet because there's certainly no way you would believe it. I know what it feels like to be completely serious and straightforward with someone, and have them simply not believe me. But it's very important for you to believe me, Juno. Very important." Her words play over and over in my head.

Believe her? 

I marvel at how, while I cry, scream, and shake, Parks is completely calm and composed. I suppose that's what it takes to be a psycologist, I tell myself. You've got to be totally calm and collected, even when someone thrashes out at you, maybe she is a good psycologist. But that belief completely leaves my brain when Parks simply gets out of her seat and leaves the car.

"What the?!" I shout. How can she leave me like this?

Was this her plan all along? And she expected me to trust her? What could be her purpose for ditching me in the middle of nowhere? What is going to happen to me?

My rapid thinking is back, and I've been told that I jump to conclusions quickly. I need to stop, to use this time to think and calm myself. Yes. Calm and collected, just like Doctor Aiyanna Parks...

The door next to me opens, and Doctor Parks slides in. 

"You really do jump to conclusions quickly," says Doctor Parks slowly. She's right. That makes the 800th time someone has told me that. "If you're going to follow what I tell you, you'll be just fine if you think things through. Remember that. Remember not to cry out, but think instead." She squeezes my hand.

"Yeah, but, what is it?!" I ask harshly, almost screaming. "Maybe I'll learn more quickly if you tell me why I'm really being sent to this insane asylum. Because I'm simply not insane."

"You've got that right."

"Huh?" I ask. My head spins in confusion. How am I going to an insane asylum if I'm not insane??

"You're far from it. But you aren't normal," she mutters flatly.

"But-" I attempt to ask for more information, but she cuts me off.

"No, shh. Don't speak, you will only confuse yourself more. Listen closely. This will be tough for you to hear, and you'll have plenty of questions. But, that band you like, well, there is simply more meaning to that song."

Silence. She only looks into my eyes.

"You are the Wretched. The Wretched and Divine."