Cotter Woods

Part 12

Dallas had a kind mom, she made us all beds in the living room and fixed us dinner. We ate in almost complete silence. The only time we talked was when we thanked her for the meal and she asked us how the park was. We lied and said it was fun, of course. I didn't want a second more of the silence, it made me feel like I was still on my knees, alone, in the cold asylum. But, I was speechless. Everyone else was too, though I had been through the absolute worst.

"Do you guys want to go to bed now?" Dallas asked quietly. Everyone nodded.

We all settled down, dressed in some of the old clothes Dallas gave us, and laid down. A few 'goodnights' were shared, then I dozed off. Thankful I didn't have to stand a second more of the awkwardness in the room.

-

I woke up in a bed. Not my own, not the one in Dallas's living room. The sheets were white and I could only see my feet, peeping out under the blanket at the edge of this bed. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, immediately taking in my surroundings. I was in a solid white, tile room. It was spotless except for a pile of clothes in the corner. I was wearing a gown, all white, like everything around me. Then, a knock at the door. 

"Hey! Can I come in?" I heard a voice say. I slowly got out of the bed I was in and opened the large metal door in front of me. A woman, wearing a white dress and a matching nurse hat stood outside. She smiled at me and scurried her way in. "Time for your pills," she said handing me a glass of water and three blue pills, each one the size of my fingernail. "How we feeling today?" She asked me.

"Fine. I'm fine, where are we?" I asked her.

"Oh don't worry, take one walk around and you'll remember. This happens to you every morning, sweet-cheeks," I took the pills and handed her back the glass. "Well come on, everyone's in the living room, let's go say hi!" She grabbed my hand and led me out of the room. I walked down a bright hallway with her. Every once in awhile, we would pass an open door and someone who was wearing exactly what I was would be sitting on their bed, or their floor, or talking to someone who looked just like the woman walking beside me.

"Who are these people?" I asked another question.

"They're your friends, dear." The woman told me. I now saw the name tag hung on her left shoulder, Brooke was her name.

"Hey Emily!" A girl yelled from across the hallway to me. "I'll race you to the living room!" She said jumping up and down.

"Well, go on!" Brooke laughed, tapping my shoulder. I started jogging towards the girl and until she began sprinting, I ran fast. The last corner we turned led into a beautiful giant room. There were sofas, tables, chairs and more, all the same perfect shade of white. 

"Emily! Let's go play with Tod and Fletcher!" The same girl said. Closer up I could see she had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Her skin was freckled and she had a gap between her front teeth. The more I looked at her the more I saw the excitement in her blue eyes. They were wide open, and maybe I didn't look long enough, but she never blinked... not once. "Hey guys!" We approached one of the sets of tables with metal chairs around them. Sitting in two of the chairs were two boys, among everyone else in the room, looking very excited about something. I sat down next to the dark-haired girl and sat across from the boy with red, curly hair. He had a shaved eyebrow and brown eyes. The guy next to him had dark skin and a bruise on his right cheek.

"Aren't you guys excited?" The redhead asked.

"Yes!" Replied the dark-haired girl.

"For what?" I said confused.

"Jacob and Drew and Carly are gonna kill the supervisors." The boy laughed and wiped the drool that dripped down his lip. "Look! There they are  now!" He pointed in the direction behind me. I turned and looked around the room. Four "supervisors" stood in each corner. They were wearing black clothing and look like they had guns harnessed on their waists. Suddenly, four people, wearing the white gowns, surrounded the smallest supervisor. The short woman immediately yelled, "Get back!" but the kids kept getting closer.  I saw the three other supervisors run to her, almost instantly. But suddenly, a loud noise filled the air. It was the girl, Carly I assume, screeching at the supervisors. The rooms explosive laughter and chatter silenced. She tightened her fists and spun in a circle, still screeching. Then, the two boys pounced, trying to punch the small supervisor. It wasn't long before the other guards tackled them and ripped them off. One guard held each of the kids down, except for the victim who was trying to stand up, slipping on the blood oozing from her nose. When she did get up, she nodded at the other supervisors, who nodded back. She positioned herself, reached in her pocket, pulled out a gun, cocked it, and shot the kids. One by one.