Somewhere Between Psychotic and Iconic

C H A P T E R_O N E

"You're never going to get out of here," I looked down at the old lady who was standing on her tippy toes to reach my ear, "No one ever does." She let out a menacing laugh before sitting back down in her wheelchair rolling away, looking back ever so often to snicker at me. I couldn't take my eyes off of her until she wheeled around a corner and was out of sight.

"Mom, can we.." I stopped mid sentence, turning to where my mom was standing next to me just a second ago, but the spot was now empty. "Mom?" I called out looking around. I heard the roar of what I could only assume was a generator before most of the lights went out. I shrieked in terror running over to the wall. I looked down the long and narrow hallway in front of me, only one of the fluorescent lights on. It was flickering deciding whether it wanted to go out or not, taunting me with the looming darkness.

"Goodnight, sleep tight." An eerie voice called over the loudspeaker followed by the sound of an unsoothing, slightly terrifying, lullaby. There were no words to the song, just the chilling sound of an old rickety piano.

I turned back to look down the hallway, and if I looked close enough, and listened hard enough, I could see the dim blue light of a computer screen and the sound of typing keys. 'The receptionist!' My mind called out and I began to rush down the dark hallway, covering my fears with the hope real human interaction, and hopefully someone who hasn't lost their mind yet.

As I got closer to the front desk I broke into a sprint, a weird sensation coming over me that I was being followed. "Excuse me!" I yelled out as I got to the desk, but it was empty. "Ma'am?" I called at a little quieter this time. The loneliness of this all beginning to sink in. I could still hear the faint echo of the keyboard, even though the computer was untouched. "I'm just going to leave.... I'm sure mom already has," I said out loud, purely to break the deafening silence. I stood staring at the desk for a moment longer before actually turning around to walk out the doors.

I grabbed the handle of the big metal doors to pull them open, but it didn't budge. I pulled harder, yet still nothing happened. "Don't panic Ava, I'm sure they are locked for the safety of the patients." I assured myself. "They have to have a key somewhere." I turned back to the still empty desk. The key has to be back there. I undid the lock on the small gate and walked behind the desk and started to search for anything resembling a key. There wasn't much on the desk, just a small gray laptop with a boring blue screen save that read, 'Mercy Grace Mental Institution' and an empty manilla file. I reached down to open the first drawer on the desk when I heard the generator kick in once again,and the last of the lights went out, leaving me in complete darkness besides the dim computer light. I hadn't noticed the lullaby had stopped until that moment, standing there in the dark silence.

I took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves. I reached down towards the drawer once

again, but to my surprise it was locked. I tried the next two, but just like the first they were locked. 'Of course they are locked! They don't want any of the patients getting in there, who knows what damage they could do with a pen, or a safety pin, or even a simple paper clip!'

"Hello?! Can anyone help me?" I called at the top of my lungs, I was getting desperate. "Please! I had an appointment with Mr. Glenview today, but I got lost and now I can't find my mom!" I walked through a door that read 'nurses only' while continuing to yell for someone. "My name is Ava Easton! Please can anyone hear me?"

"Miss Easton!" I heard a voice hiss at me. I turned around to see the receptionist from this morning standing with an oil lamp held in front of her. "What are you doing here?" She said sternly.

"I'm so sorry, I know I should have left earlier with mom, but at some point I lost her and the doors are locked and I can't get out." I explained in a much quieter voice than before, realizing how rude it must have been seeing the patients are sleeping. I felt quite embarrassed for how freaked out I was, all my fears seemed irrational now.