Voices In My Head

Chapter Two

"WHAT NOW!?"
Clara was getting SO annoyed with these two people chipping away, their voices nagging at her constantly, interrupting whatever she was doing. But when she turned around, no one was there. This had been going on for quite some time now, ever since she was a baby, actually. Shes spoken to the school counsellor about it, and her guardians at the adoption centre, but they said it "was her imagination, you shouldn't worry so much, pumpkin." The nickname pumpkin was getting aggravating now. Clara had red hair, and that's where the nickname came from. But anyways, that's beside the point. She wasn't imagining it. The voices were quite real. And every night, just as Clara is falling asleep, she hears screaming, a woman's voice, and a deep, bellowing male voice.
"YOU'RE WHAT!?"
"I'M PREGNANT, FERGUS, WITH YOUR BABY! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU KNOW! YOU IRRESPONSIBLE MAN!"
"MY FAULT!? BEATRICE CLARK, THIS IS YOUR FAULT! GETTING YOURSELF PREGNANT, YOU WHORE!"
"EXCUSE ME!? YOU SON OF A--"
"STOP! I'M GOING! I DON'T WANT A STUPID BABY!"
"FINE! GO, I'VE ALREADY PACKED YOUR BAG!"
"BRILLIANT."
Clara rose with a jump. Fergus? Was that her father? She knew Beatrice Clark was her mother, but no one had mentioned her father, so knew nothing of him. Fergus? What was his last name? What was he like? From the sound of it, not very nice. The cheek of it! Calling her mother a whore! I'm glad that son of a bitch cleared off, the ungrateful cow! thought Clara to herself, while the other girls whom she shared a room with slept, peacefully. Her father sounded horrid. How could he? Getting her mother pregnant and then leaving at the mention of a fetid swimming around in the womb.
•
Clara arrived at school the next day, and instead of going to registration, she headed straight down to Counselling. She needed to speak to someone, and quickly, too. Miss Brown was the counsellor on Fridays, and Miss Brown is very understanding. She's also really beautiful. Short brown hair, posh glasses, red lipstick, large hoop earrings, black clothing and a vibrant scarf around her neck. Clara rushed into the office to find Miss Brown sitting at the Counselling Desk.
"Ah, Miss Clark. How are you? Take a seat, but not literally, these chairs are quite heavy."
Clara sat down in a large leather armchair in front of Miss Brown. There was something about Miss Brown that Clara liked. A lot. But she couldn't tell what it was.
"More voices in your head? What are they saying this time, Clara? Were they distracting, annoying, agitating?"
Clara explained about the dream that woke her, and how she remembered hearing it before, when she was a few months old. Miss Brown took notes and after a good 5 minutes of silence, emailed Clara's tutor to say she was in Counselling, and then said, "Clara, this is all very serious. Even the voices that put you off work. Do you have any idea what's causing these voices?"
"No... Is there something wrong with me? I'm not normal am I? It's okay, you can tell me if I'm abnormal. It's okay. Is there anything wrong with me? Oh, Miss Brown, I'm scared."
"Don't be scared, poppet. Everything's going to be just fine."