The Calling | The House of Voices #1

Two - Newcomers

Newcomers

“October?”

I looked away from the rich, brown eyes that were appraising me inquisitively and peered behind their owner to find Patty staring at me in shock.  “What are you doing out of bed?”

I stood up nimbly and rubbed my aching tailbone. “I just needed to use the bathroom, Patty.” I explained.

“I thought I heard you screaming…?” Her words sounded like a question, as if she was not sure if she had really heard it. I decided to use that uncertainty to my advantage.

“I didn’t scream.” I said, putting on a confused face. “You must have been hearing things.”

Patty frowned.

“I could have sworn I heard you…” She turned to the boy I had collided into. “Didn’t you hear her scream?”

He gave me an amused look. I thanked the heavens that he had his back to Patty; otherwise, she’d have instantly seen it. After a moment, the boy shook his head slowly.

“Nope.” He replied in a husky voice, sounding like he very much wanted to laugh. “I didn’t hear a thing.”

“Oh. Then it must have just been my imagination.” She smiled apologetically at me. “Sorry, dear. My mistake”

She let out a heavy sigh. “Come along, Mr. Feltman. Let’s get you to your room.”

The boy turned to follow her down the hall; but not before giving me one last smirk. I stood my ground, watching the back of his almost-blond head disappear down the corridor. So this was the new guy, I thought. Maybe Kara was right about him being the reason why they’d brought in a new doctor. There was definitely a dangerous air about him. I could almost touch it when he was standing in front of me.

I watched them until they disappeared into Sid’s room and then turned back the way I came. The chances of the voices coming back were pretty low, and I didn’t want to risk Patty overhearing me scream again.

I shut the door quietly and collapsed on my bed.

A million questions tumbled through my head, each one overlapping the other. Was I really a schizophrenic? Did my parents really hate me? Was I ever going to leave this place or was Kara’s dream actually a premonition? Was I going to be locked here forever…?

The only thing my questions seemed to do was only give me a splitting headache. I groaned in frustration and slapped my pillow over my head, covering my face. I felt bad about it, but I couldn’t help but hope that the new doctor was coming in because of the new guy I had crashed into in the hallway. I didn’t want to be the reason that Dr. Larkson had to recruit an extra pair of soul-prying eyes; that would mean that I really had to worry about my condition.

My condition. The words made me want to laugh. Was I already accepting the possibility that there might be something wrong with me? No, I thought, shaking my head. There was no way I would ever even consider believing Dr. Larkson. I knew what I had seen that night. That fire definitely hadn’t been an accident. There hadn’t been a leak in a gas pipe like the firemen believed – the voices had set the mansion on fire to punish me for not listening to them.

Now, four years after the tragic accident that took the lives of two of the people I loved the most in the world, I was still serving my sentence. The voices wanted to leave a permanent scar on my heart and mind to teach me a lesson for what I did that day and, well, they had succeeded. Nothing I could do would ever erase the trauma I endured after that night. They won. I was still being penalized.