The Phantom

Chapter 10

I wasn't exactly sure how long I had stood staring at the wall. Days had passed since I had saved the four police officers, and no one had come to bother the asylum since then. It felt like days at least but, in truth, I had no way of telling time at all. It could have been weeks, months, or only hours. At first I walked around the place, stalking the halls and haunting the rooms, but as time went on, I began to move less and less. There was no reason to go anywhere. There was no where to go. I didn't have to save anyone from the darkness, and the voice hadn't told me to do anything. In fact, the voice hadn't spoken at all since I had saved the last man.

Eventually, I had found myself staring at the wall next to the exit, wanting to keep the door in sight, but not wanting to actually stare at it. I was the end of a hallway, trying to be as far away as possible from the sign above the doors, but also keeping it in my vision. Both the fact that I could not leave, but also the fact that I couldn't run away from the exit hurt me deeply, occasionally at the same time. I couldn't tell which wish was my own, and which was the voice's. I found myself having that issue with all of my thoughts actually. Ideas would float through my mind, and I turned them over like rocks on a beach, but the tide of time had smoothed each one so well that, while I knew some of the rocks should be sharp, jagged, and alien to me, and others were meant to be naturally smooth and pleasant to me because they were my own, I could no longer tell the difference. All the rocks, the ideas, were the same as I held them in turn. There were no distinguishing marks to let me know which ones had been planted by the voice. It made me want to leave them all, and walk away from the beach, but of course, it wasn't a beach. It was my mind. It seemed rather paradoxical to actively not think about my thoughts. So instead, I took them in. I let each thought come and go, taking hold of me as it saw fit, and letting myself float along with it as it went. I was sure that the David I was a week ago would have been devastated if he had known what he would become. If I had known how easily I would give in.

I liked to think that I was still sane, of course. I could still think logically, feel emotions, and remember my life. I was still David, though, I knew that I had changed. It hurt me to even begin to admit it, but I had to. There had been a point where I hated the voice, and I had ignored that it spoke at all. Now, I had to rely on it. The voice was my only means of survival. It had killed me, and then it raised me from the grave to serve it, and serve I had, and serve I would. That was the part that hurt me the most. Knowing that even if I absolutely despised the voice with every fiber of my ghastly being, I would ultimately still listen to it. How could I not? It was inside my head. Even if I had known what it had in store me, I would not have been able to resist.

"Stand up."

I wasn't sure when I had sat down, but as I found myself rising from the floor, and coming to my feet. I didn't even think about standing. I was too overwhelmed by the fact that the voice had spoken again. I knew that it would eventually, and I wasn't sure how I had known that, but I never knew when. It was so sudden and abrupt, after such a long period of silence and waiting, that I wasn't sure what to do. It felt as if my heart was racing, and a small smile played about my lips. How could I hate the voice when it continued to come back to me?

"Walk forward."

I did so, also gladly, letting the two words spin through my head over and over. Forward. Where? Where was there to go? Had someone else shown up? If they had, I wondered why I didn't know. I had noticed instantly when the police had arrived.

"Forward."

More forward? Further? My eyes flicked up to the exit sign that was now above my head. I couldn't go very much further without coming into contact with the large double doors. I knew that wasn't what the voice wanted. Why would I leave this place? Why hadn't I left already? I bit into my lip as the conflicting thoughts collided together.