Phantom

Chapter 1

Fiona walks through the thick, dark trunks, the wind softly whispering through the dark green leaves surrounding her. She hears a soft chirp and looks up, seeing a beautiful bluejay sitting serenely on a knobbly branch, its beady, watchful eyes darting from side to side. Another soft chirp echoes the first one, the two forming a strange lilting melody between them. The soft coat of leaves and grass beneath her feet crackles softly as she walks between the trees, small shafts of yellow and green light illuminating the breathing forest around her. Suddenly, it begins to rain, the soft droplets making a pitter patter sound as they hit the canopy of leaves far above, dripping down to form small rivulets and pools of dirt and mud on the ground. The rain gradually increases as the pitter patter sounds turn into a dull roar, the rain cascading down through the trees, sending small streaks of water down her hair and on her face. A small droplet of water stands teetering on the top of her nose, she softly breathed out, watching it fall, a single ray of silvery light illuminating its escape.

And then she hears the screams. They rip through the tranquil silence like a knife, tearing at her ears until she can't hear anything else except the same haunting wail, over and over, and then she's running, running, faster and faster because she can't stand the noise--and she suddenly sees a girl, the same girl who has been haunting her ever since she arrived at the Building. She screams, the sound blending with the invisible screeches, tears cascading down her face as she turns around and whispers "Go away!" because she cannot breathe anymore. The girl turns to face her, and Fiona turns away and stumbles into a large lot filled with sharp gravel and prickly grass, the skies pouring rain around her, the water drenching her dirty white gown. The sun is long gone, vanished behind the layer of the dark clouds obscuring the sky, as she once again notices the girl standing at the edge of the woods, and as she turns to face Fiona a flash of white and then...nothing...

They always told her that there was nothing to be afraid of. They were wrong.

Fiona was never more afraid in her life.

Sistine Asylum of Newberry Hill sits on a barren hill, true to its name, with unkempt grass and weeds reaching up to your shoulders, and faded and cracked white paint coating its crumbling walls. People say that if you walk up the worn, muddy, twisting path to the looming monstrosity, you can hear the screams of the insane people living there. They say that if you get too close, a girl with red eyes and scraggly white hair will come out and hang you on the lone oak by the front doors, with its gnarled trunk and empty branches, like skeletal fingers reaching upward to tear at the downcast sky. It is always drizzling or cloudy there--as it is located at the very fringes of a small town by the name of Aberdeen, Washington. And when you walk through those gray, metal, dented double doors, you finally realize that it's not a place for anyone to live.

Much less children.

But that's all you find there. Children of all ages, all different types of disorders, all stuck in the same horror-filled nightmare that is their life. And you wonder--why? Why does the world beat these kids down, suck every ounce of normality out of their lives, and stick them in a never ending race of death? What is the purpose of life for them?

Do you know the answer?