The Path No One Sees

Chapter 1

       "The flames will stop screaming once the barrier is lift to unleash the ocean streaming underneath." The words ring in my ears as I flump on the cold,hard chair. My eyes swing left and right at the clock, as the legs walk over to show 10:58. Outside, the cold wind pounds the windows with heavy whooshes. 

        "Ms.Warren, number 84," The nurse calls out as her hands shivers while clutching a bunch of papers full of names. I give a smile at her which apparently is not returned, and follows her through a dark and empty hallway. The lights above us flicker as we approach a rusty metal door ahead of us while her heels click loudly against the tiled-floor. Soon enough, the nurse opens the door slowly for me to walk in.

    The room has no windows, but the sound of the cold wind outside is present apart from the eerie silence that accommodates us inside. "Ms. Warren," A woman with a tight bun and a lab coat leans in while clasping her shaky hands together on the table, "Have a seat," The chair is exactly the same as the ones in the waiting room. It's funny how the doctor looks dead just like the rest of the building.

   Dark, purple circles surround her eyes and her mouth stays in a thin line. She examines a paper while adjusting her glasses to the bridge of her nose. "So, a head ache? Does not seems to me like a very big problem. Panadol will be good enough for you."

   Before that, I have decided to write down 'head ache' under the sickness section; because it seemed like the only reasonable thing I could write apart from my actual problem. 'No, I kept on hearing voices in my damn head!' I can feel my eyeballs bulging out of my eye sockets as I scream the words inside my head. My palms are sweating despite the coldness and the woman's stern stare sends shivers down my neck,"Voices," I gulp while looking at the gray tiled-floor below me.

   "Pardon me?" The doctor asks with an exaggerated frown that comes with thick and thin lines on her forehead.

   "Voices. I can hear voices everywhere I go, and- I think I need more than just Panadol. I would like to- have a proper medication," My voice echoes inside the room, and for just a while, I feel like being stuck in a psychiatrist office waiting for a report which will decide whether I am mentally unstable or not.

"It is stated here on your paper that you are 19 years old. Are you in college?" She purses her lips and glances at me warily.

"Yes, I am."

    "Maybe you are just tired," Her eyebrows furrow and she sighs loud enough for me to hear. I have known it even before coming here, no one would understand what I am going through.

     "I need help, and if you cannot provide me with that, I will leave," I rise from the chair and make my way towards the door.

    "Wait!" She calls out, and stands weakly while supporting her fragile body with her hands on the table. Closing her eyes, she partly opens her mouth to say something before her eyes land exactly on mine.

   Her breathing rises and falls as the look of fear climbs onto her visage, and her head shakes left and right repeatedly like a jammed cartoon. In an instance, she screams on top of her lungs for a good 10 seconds before her body makes its way to the floor making me stagger backwards. My hand touches the metal doorknob as I blink at her body on the floor in confusion.

   The previous nurse who escorted me to the room rushes in and calls some people from the other rooms in the clinic. "What happened here?!" She asks as her eyes searches for the answer on my face.

"I am sorry. I really do not know what happened. She just screamed and- fell to the floor." Men dressed in lab coats stride out of the room while speaking incoherently in Japanese. The nurse earlier makes hand gestures appearing to calm them down. After a few while talking, her eyes widen before she stares at the floor angrily, as though the floor is guilty of some crime.