Blair Tannen

Unlikely Friends....

"I'm Missy! You must be Blair!" Missy holds her hand out for me. I take it wearily and shake it, and as I do so, I notice long dark scars going down the length of her arm. "So you see them, is that why you where gloves? So no one can see yours?" She interrogates. "N-no, I-" I start. "No need to lie, but anyway," she cuts me off, "it's nearly dinner time anyway. The cafeteria is this way." She continues to hold onto my hand and pulls me with her.

"Hey, Missy! You got any new butcher marks?" A tall boy yells at her. She rolls her eyes and flips him off, then leads me the rest of the way to the cafeteria. She trails along each table, skimming the words on the reciepts. "Hey! You're next to me!" She seats me, then sits down herself. "Ah! Tasty grub!" She claps her hands together, rubs them, then picks up her silverware and begins to eat.

I sit staring at my plate, examining it. "If you don't eat, the techs and nurses will take away your clothes and make you wear a cloth gown." She informs me. I quickly grab my fork and plunge it into the salad on my tray, take forkfulls into my mouth at one time. I didn't realize how hungry I was, so I chew fast and swallow. Then I move on to the burger on my plate, and the first bite is amazing. I never thought that psych ward food would be so good.

"Woah! Slow down there!" Missy says chuckling. She nudges my arm with her elbow, and I put my burger down. "The food is really good." I say. "Yeah, I was surprised too. When I first came here, I refused to eat for a week straight. Eventually I gave in because the food smelled heavenly." She explains to me. "So you had to wear a cloth gown for a week?" I smile softly. She nods her head slowly, then giggles.

I finish laughing with Missy, then turn my head towards a corner. There I see a girl with dark hair and pale skin, and she sits staring forward. She is wearing a cloth gown and a paper bracelette, the same kind that was put on me during my physical. As I look at her, she slowly glances my way, looks away, then quickly looks back at me. Her face lights up with what I assume to be, hope?

"What are you staring at, Newbie? What, is Lil Dicky over there and I can't see him?" Missy teases me. "There's a girl over there." I say slowly. The girl stands, goes to say something, then disappears. "There's no one over there, so what meds are you on?" She nudges me. We finish our meal, then head back to our room. Missy closes the door, walks over to her side, and plops on her bed.

"Well I'm beat! I think I'm going to call it a night!"She puts her hands behind her head, then closes her eyes. "Okay, I um, I'll go to sleep too." I lay down and close my eyes, seeing that same symbol on my eyelids, as if it's a burning ember from a dying fire. I sit up quickly. "On second thought, I think I'll take a shower." I state. "Alright, just make sure you don't bump the faucet, it falls off." Missy tells me.

I walk over to the bathroom, open the door, walk in, then close the door behind me. I get undressed, turn on the water in the shower, then step inside. I start to hum to myself and rinse my hair. I notice a bottle of shampoo in the corner of the shower, so I pick it up and use it to wash my hair. I rinse my hair again, and then use the conditioner that is next to the shampoo. I grab a rag from the outside of the shower, and use the bar of soap to lather on to the rag. I scrub myself from head to toe, then continue rinsing.

I'm about to turn the shower off, when what I see makes my words get caught in my throat. The water pouring from the shower isn't water at all, it's thick, red blood. I scramble to get out of the shower, and in the process, I trip and take the curtain with me.

Once I'm on the floor, I quickly look back to the shower and see that it's completely fine. No trace of blood anywhere, well, besides on my freshly scraped knees. I stand, replace the shower cutain, and then wrap a towel around myself. I take a moment to compose myself, letting out a deep breath before opening the door to find some clothes.

Missy is already asleep on the bed, and I find it strange that she didn't wake up to the noise I made. I open my closet, grab some pajamas, slip them on, then lay down in my own bed. I pull the covers up to my chin, and then relax a little bit. Maybe if I try to get some more sleep, this will stop happeneing? I think to myself.

Just as I'm about to close my eyes, I see something crawling on Missy. Is that a freaking spider!?! My thoughts scream at me. The spider crawls up Missy's face, and up her nose. I get instant chills from seeing this. I watch more closely as a dark spot appears on Missy's forehead. The sopt grows until millions of tiny spiders burst out of the wound.

I scream, then rush over to Missy. "Missy!! Missy wake up!" I shake her hard. She sits up fast, then looks at me as though I'm crazy. The spiders are gone, and she swats away my hand. "What's wrong? Why did you wake me up?" She half yells. I sit there dumbly with my mouth hanging open, at a loss for words. "Great, you probably scared half of the staff to death." She shoots me a dirty look, then lays back down.

"What's going on ladies?" A male in blue scrubs opens the door. He looks at me because I'm the one on the floor. "I, uh, I had a nightmare." I lie. He rolls his eyes. "Do you need medication to sleep all the way through the night?" He asks boredly. I'm about to refuse when he hands me a small paper cup with two pills inside, and a small plastic cup with water in it. I don't disobey when he tells me to take it. I open my mouth and lift my tongue to show him I swallowed the pills.

"You'll be getting these every night from now on." He says, then he closes the door. I quietly lay back down, and replace my blanket. My thoughts are racing about the incidents that had occured earlier. I notice that my thoughts and even breathing become slower within a matter of minutes, then I slowly drift off to sleep.