captive 》h.s au

chapter two

All I hear is screaming. It echoes throughout the halls and fills my ears. Screeches and shrieks, yelling, moaning, crying; every call for help you could imagine. The hallway is lined with caged cells, some containing patients, others being empty. It reminds me of a prison, each person is trapped behind bars. Arms shoot out into the walkway, reaching for anything to save them. I try not to make contact with these people, they frighten me.

I'm being taken to a room at the end of the long dreadful hall. The door reads "showers" and quickly swings opens. I see a girl, followed by a boy. They're about my age, and they look like they are freshly bathed. Following the two, is 3 security guards, similar in size to the ones latched onto my arms.

One of the men holding my arm let go and opened the door for me. The other man shoved me inside and unlocked my handcuffs. I was lead to a bench in the corner of the large shower room, where a tall shelf was standing.

"You need to shower." He said, tossing a dark grey jumpsuit at me. "And when you're finished, put this on."

I nodded and turned to the showers. The room was white, but fairly dirty. 12 shower heads lined the walls, none having any sort of privacy. I turn my head back to see them both keeping their eyes on me, suddenly realizing that they weren't going to leave. I'm supposed to shower in front of these people?

"You have 5 minutes, might not want to waste any more time." One spoke.

Without words, I slipped off my shoes and sweater, followed by my jeans and my socks. I'm left standing in my undergarments, in front of two strange men. "Could you please not watch me undress?" I said a bit to harshly to the guards.

Neither of them moved, not even phased by my remark. I sighed in defeat and slipped my bra straps over my shoulders. It soon fell to the floor when I unhooked the back, and my hands instantly came up to cover my bare chest. I shimmied down my underwear and stepped out of it, onto the cold, wet tile. The nozzle for hot water was rusted and sticky, making it impossible for me to turn it on. "shit." I mumbled to myself. I glanced around to the other shower heads, but I soon saw that all of the other ones were either dirtier than mine, or in worse shape. I'm stuck with having to take a cold shower.

-

I'm escorted out of the shower room. This grey jumpsuit is itchy and baggy, making me scrape my fingernails across my skin to relieve the tingling sensation. Rick and Paul, the guards, who's names I had just recently learned, yet again have handcuffed me and are holding both of my arms. They are taking me to my cell, and I'm hoping it's quiet, unlike the hallway where the shower room was.

The men both stop in front of a barred room, turning to the lock. Paul slides the cage open and I take in my new "home." To the left is a small bed. A window the size of a piece of paper sits at the top of the back wall, and to my right is a small toilet and sink. I can smell the rotting tile and dirt, of the un-cleaned space. My new room is practically a jail cell.

"Here you are." Rick said while unlocking my handcuffs. "Lights will go out at 10pm sharp, wake up call is at 6am, and lunch is for 30 minutes at noon. You are to stay quiet unless directly spoken to, and to make no interaction with any other patients. Clear?"

"Yes." I said turning into my cell.

They both nodded and slid my cell door shut, locking it as they left. I could not see into the patients cells next to me, but my vision was clear to the rooms across the hall from me. To the left, an older woman sat in the middle of her cell on the floor, quietly humming to herself. In the cell to the right, there was nobody in sight. The sheets were jumbled up at the foot of the bed, leading me to understand that there was in fact a patient occupying the cell, they were just not in it at the moment. Directly across the hall from me, was a young girl probably just a few years younger than myself. She sat on the edge of her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees, blankly staring at the wall.

I turned back to face my cell. I seem to be the only sane person here; I don't belong here. At least I don't think I do.

I feel my head start throbbing and my mind swirls. I've suffered from panic attacks since the first grade, due to the abuse my father caused upon me. Two panic attacks in one day are not good for me, at all. I have to calm myself down and stop this. The urge to scream overcomes my body, and I cover my mouth to prevent my sudden outburst.

I'm not crazy. There is nothing wrong with me. My father is the one who should be locked up, not me. Nothing I have ever done is reason enough to put me in here, accept killing my mother in a house fire, but I'm not mentally ill. Just troubled maybe. Hopefully the doctors here realize that I'm not like the other patients, and soon let me out.

I'm shaken from my thoughts when a voice begins to fill the hallway. "I don't understand you Styles." It was Mrs. Gordon.

"That's what they all say. Now unlock my cell, I'm tired as fuck and you people are wasting my time." Said the other voice.

I hear Mrs. Gordon scoff at the rude mans comment while her keys jingle against the cell bars, and with a click, I can hear the door sliding open. Rushed foot steps and a loud slam of the door soon follow. She quickly closed his cell door and locked it once again. "Don't try to pull anything else, or I'll send you to the electric chair. This was your last chance. Don't push it." She spoke strongly. They both seemed quite annoyed. The clicking of her small heels soon echoes down the hall until nothing is heard but complete silence. Not a good kind of silence, the kind where you know something bad could happen at any second, and you try your best to stay unnoticed. Once I know Mrs. Gordon is nowhere in sight, I quietly lean forward on my bed and peer between the bars over to the room that was empty just a few moments ago. A dark figure now sits on the bed with it's back to me.

When I struggle to sit up even more so I can get a better look at him, my bed spring creaks beneath me and his head snaps back to my view. In my panicked state, I'm greeted by an emotionless face and a pair of fluorescent green eyes.