CHAOS THEORY: a mathematical branch which states that even a small tweak can make the system behave completely differently. very small adjustments in the starting position of a chaotic system make a big difference after a while.
OR, one teenage girl...
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ONE.
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THE WALLS are as bleak as ever, even with the crayon covering bits and pieces of it until the chipping white paint is barely visible. Why is Illa staring at them as if they're the most stunning thing she's ever seen? That's what the doctors are trying to figure out as they stand in the doorway, attempting to snap her out of her daze.
An ordeal like this is not uncommon. Illa has to be one of their strangest cases yet, and they deal with an endless amount of demons in the lowest levels of Eichen House. Her brown eyes are glazed over as she gazes at the wall before her without blinking. The female doctor, Nurse Cross, shares an exasperated glance with the male named Schrader before rolling her eyes.
"Illa, snap out of it," she commands harshly to the teenage girl sitting completely still on her mattress. "Get up or I'll force you to move."
"Jesus, she's almost as bad as Martin," Schrader comments snidely. At the mention of one of their newer patients, his coworker groans.
"That reminds me– I have to take her to the showers, too," Cross sighs, ruffling her curly red hair. "It'll be a joy having the two crazies around. Stay here and try to get her to function while I grab Lydia."
She leaves, sliding the door behind her with a harsh grating sound and a click of the lock. Schrader is alone in a dimly-lit cell with a possibly dangerous girl. He doesn't know what exactly caused her to be locked up, and frankly, he doesn't want to find out. All he knows is that she has intense screaming fits and slips into trances like these at least once a week.
Illa Wen appears at least somewhat normal. Her straggly, messy dark hair ends just above her shoulders and her heart-shaped face is completely still. She wears a gray t-shirt that's two sizes too big and baggy sweatpants– that's all they have for her to wear.
"Illa," Schrader says slowly, taking a single step closer to the seemingly catatonic girl. "Are you alright? Can you look at me?"
She stays utterly still, glassy eyes focused on a picture of the sun she had drawn on her wall in mustard-yellow crayon. Schrader steps closer again and hesitantly reaches out to prod her arm.
"Illa?"
Just as his fingers are about to touch her sleeve, Illa slaps his hand away with incredible speed and force. Her now-clear eyes meet his and quickly fill with unrelenting terror. A scream bursts from her lips, loud enough to cause the doctor to flinch in surprise. She scrambles back on her bed with her bare feet ruffling up the sheets until she's clinging onto the metal frame with all her might. Her eyes squeeze shut so tightly it seems to hurt her.
"Illa!" Schrader exclaims, alarmed and confused at her sudden outburst. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"You won't hurt me," she manages to whisper through shaking breaths. She's trembling all over, the bones of her knuckles showing through her skin from gripping the bed frame so tightly. "You'll hurt someone else."
