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I open my eyes to the sound of someone screaming outside. I lazily sit up from my bed furrowing my eyebrows. The screaming continues. I slipped on my white slippers, and then stand up aiming for the door.
Another scream.
I wonder what is that about in the middle of the night. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I walk right up to the door to try to peek a little at the mini glass of the door. I tiptoe on my feet and got support from the door handle when it suddenly burst open the moment I did so. Whoa. Why is it unlocked?
I look around my room and I take a peek outside the door. There aren't any nurses out in the halls, even the guards aren't lurking around. And then there is another ear-piercing scream.
"Stoopp touching me you dumbasses!" someone shouts from outside. Once I set my vision clear, I carefully open the door even wider with my heart pounding fast. There are screams floating around the halls, probably from the other patients too screamng along once they heard the screaming and shouting.
"Let me go!" another one shouts and then scream seconds later. I figured that voice belongs to Annika. But why?
The halls are now filled with annoying noises that I had to cover my ears with my hands, and then a shadow of a figure, probably a nurse came into view that I had to close my door abruptly fearing I might get caught.
I lean my back against the door and breathe heavily. What are all those shouting are for? What's happening in the middle of the night seriously?
I turn around to peek at the mini glass of my door to see if the nurse is still out there. Turns out there isn't any nurse anymore. I open the door once again, this time a little wider. I am tempted to go outside, to find out what's happening but there's a hundred percent chance that I might get caught so I didn't bother with the idea.
I can't really see because of the darkness in the halls. The light seemed to burn out and there is just a teeny bit of light on the ceiling. And then a few moments later, I hear footsteps echoing. I closed the door but not fully closed, trying to peek in a little.
The screaming and shouting are filling the rooms again. Seriously what is happening? And not like I want to have any nurse instantly appear in here but weren't they, along with the guards supposed to be checking on the patients?
A figure came into view and I suddenly felt my blood run cold. What if a nurse walks in and thought I was trying to escape?
I wouldn't have any possible defense answer if they ever thought of that seeing my door unlocked and me peeking through the door. I slowly lifted my head to see who is there and to face my punishment.
It's just Thayer.
I breathe out a sigh of relief. I thought I was going to get caught and accused of escaping. But what is Thayer doing in here? Isn't he supposed to be in his room? But if my door is unlocked, maybe his is too along with the other patients. Did he cause all this and was trying to escape now?
"What's happening?" I ask confusion evident in my tone. He puts his forefinger near his mouth signalling for me to keep quiet, and then he ushers me inside the room.
"Seriously? you're trying to escape now? what if they catch you? and how'd you do that? How'd you managed to unlock the doors? what if the other patients gets out of their rooms? including those really dangerous one? and what the heck are you doing in here? I didn't even agre--"
"Shhh." Thayer shushes me out, "Oh geez you're so talkative."
He laughs so hard but still trying to keep quiet. He sits at the edge of my bed and continue laughing. I find it ridiculous too, so I laughed along. How stupid am I?
"Can you just please calm down," he says in between laughs, "I am not trying to escape okay? And I didn't know what happened with the room door locks, now stop bombarding me with questions."
I held my hand out in defeat, "Okay sorry but what really happened?"
"Someone's been trying to escape, a girl patient I guess," he answers now done with the laughter.
"Did you see who it was?" I ask again. Who might be possibly trying to escape? But then again, no one wants to be here in the first place. So maybe everyone in this sanitarium.
"When I went out of my room I saw them escorting a patient with ash brown hair, I didn't see much though. But she's wearing a straight jacket and at first she was laughing so eerily it creeps me out."
"Wait.. is it Annika?" maybe that's the reason for her screaming and shouting. She's really potentially harmful, that says a lot with her trying to escape now.
"Who?" Thayer asks with confusion and it dawned on me that he wasn't here when Annika lashed out on me the other week.
"Long story," I sigh, "but aren't you supposed to get back in your room now? I mean, they might catch you. Who knows what they would do once they see you sneaking out of your room you idiot."
We sit there in silence. Filling our ears with the piercing screams and shout from different patients. It is still dark but I don't feel sleepy anymore.
Confusion circles all over my mind and with all the noise from the patients, I now then realized how lonely this place is. For everyone.
I can't believe I've been living in here for almost a decade now. Without any visitors. Some patients do have someone who visits them, and when someone does, I would just sit there in the corner, watching a patient obviously not knowing what's going on being hugged a little bit by the ones visiting them.
When I was around eleven, I kept waiting and waiting for a nurse to knock on my door and then tell me I have a visitor. But that didn't happen. And so I waited and waited some more til I'm fourteen. But there's none. And so I stopped.
How lonely is that?
Thayer chuckles and starts standing up, "I'm still not giving up on my plan of escaping y'know."
"Obviously," I say in a duh tone. He was about to get outside when the door suddenly flies open revealing a nurse. And not just one nurse, but two of them. And one of them is Aubrey.
Oh fuck.
✂------------------------------------------
Thank you for reading xx
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