Rancor: Unrestrained, Book 2 (Haunted)

ELEVEN

"Everybody up, everybody down, it's snack time," the guard said over the loudspeaker.

It was Sunday and the patients were allowed to be in their rooms in the early evening, and that was exactly where Maggie was. Lying on her bed as her heart raced. She could feel something was wrong, the pressure, the weight upon her. She did not want to get up, let alone a snack consisting of a peanut butter sandwich and an orange.

She lay motionless, feeling pinned to the bed. It was as if she were in a sleep paralysis where she could hear the usual sounds of the evening—a patient reading the Bible aloud while others walked around.

Her neck ached, she wanted to die. If she had a gun, she would take her own life, just like Cory. She could not shake the feeling of impending doom. Not only for herself, but also for her best friend Jess—well, former best friend. And for Ethel, especially Ethel. The feeling was overwhelming and unbearable. She could not open her eyes, speak or move, but she could hear everything that was going on around her.

Then there was a screech at her door. Chloe began screaming so loudly it was as though someone was about to behead her with a machete.

"Get off of her," Chloe shouted from the doorway with a loud piercing cry.

Moments later guards were in the room.

"What's going on?" one guard said to Chloe, who now stood mute with her hands over her mouth.

"I'm talking to you, Ms. Ackerman," the guard said, sternly.

"I . . . I see something on Maggie," she said, pointing toward Maggie's motionless body.

"There's nothing on her," the guard said, walking up to Maggie.

One guard began shaking Maggie's shoulder. "Ms. McGee, get up. It's almost time for the med pass."

Chloe ran down the hall shouting, "Don't go down there or the devil will get you."

Maggie opened her eyes and began yelling so loudly her voice began to crack. She began swinging her arms, trying to push away what she thought was the black robed entity, but instead she was pushing away the guards. She was fighting, screaming, and in a panic. One guard radioed for help while they tried to subdue her, she wanted to run down the hall just as Chloe did, but the guards restrained her.

"Get it away from me," Maggie shouted, struggling against the guards.

Soon another guard arrived with a straightjacket. "Ms. McGee, if you don't calm down you'll need to go to the quiet room." He held up the straightjacket for her to see.

Maggie could not help herself. How could she? The entity fed on her agony every chance it could. She could not escape it, and no one, except Chloe, could see it. Maggie was out of her mind as she kicked at the guards' legs. She wanted to run away, but they would not let her.

Soon, the three guards had her in the straightjacket as they pulled her down the hallway, down the staircase, and through the dayroom to the quiet room, screaming the whole way.

"The demon keeps biting me, it's like a vampire," Maggie yelled. "Somebody has to stop it or I'll die. It's getting stronger."

"There's no demon, Ms. McGee," the guard said, tightening his grip on Maggie's restrained arm.

With the guards still holding her, the nurse gave her an injection of lorazepam to quiet and calm her down. It worked. Soon she was lying on her side on the floor mat.

Maggie heard the door to the room close. Her rapid breaths became quiet as she lay there under the influence of the tranquilizing effects of the benzodiazepine.