*DISCLAIMER: All names and all places are purely fictional and any relations to anyone are coincidental.
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Stars dance like tiny ballerinas in the sky and the sky fades to a deep navy blue as the night takes over. The gardens look especially green under the moonlight as she takes a walk in the open space. Dressed in a light green gown that flows like a river on a calm spring afternoon she takes a seat on the stone bench by the flowers and looks up into the sky, dreaming of tomorrow whilst getting over yesterday. She thinks about the dream she had last night, the ‘nightmare’ of a small off-white room, with the single steel framed bed and a creaky wooden chair in the far corner. The door a baby blue colour with a small window placed at head height. There is a singular opening in the door, covered by a metal panel that is opened by sliding it across. Another door at the right of the room leads to a bathroom the size of a cupboard consisting of only a shower, toilet and basin. No reflective surfaces and no windows except for the one at the top of the wall above the bed, even though it is covered in the toughest metal bars known to mankind. She was scared of this dream, not only because of the detail, but because it was the only dream she was having of late. It almost felt too real to be a dream….
She is ripped from her train of thought as a voice in the distance calls her name. “Ella” it calls, “Ella it’s time….it’s time…..it’s time….”. It repeats that phrase until she closes her eyes and a flash of her ‘nightmare’ appears and she snaps her eyes open again. A piercing scream escapes her lips as she tries to drown out the voice calling out to her. Her voice cracks and she takes a deep breath in as the tears begin to fall down her porcelain face. She turns around and is met with a little girl in a black dress and a red ribbon in her blonde wavy hair that cascades down her back. Her bright blue eyes stared right into Ella’s dark green ones and she was saying the same thing over and over, “Don’t believe it……don’t believe…..DON’T BELIEVE IT!”. Ella runs towards the decadent castle and enters through the crystal glass doors, almost tripping on the gown as it flies behind her like a cape. She kicks her shoes off her feet and bounds up the stairs, towards the gold trimmed, oak doors leading right to her bedroom, right to safety. She bursts through the doors and instead, is met with the dreadful room from her ‘nightmare’.
She feels her hands get clammy and her head starts to spin, "How come I always end up here! Every day something happens and when I want to go to bed, I end up here. I just don't understand anymore." She speaks to no one but she has always felt like someone was listening at all times. Listening and watching. Always.
She looks down and realises that her precious gown is now a pair of dirty, grey scrubs and white, stained slip-on shoes. There is a plastic bracelet around her wrist and it has her name, date of birth and medical condition, and says the following:
Full name: Ella Trinity Winters
Date of Birth: 20.08.91
Medical Condition/s: Severe Schizophrenia, Mild Panic Disorder
She took another look around the room, taking it all the detail, touching everything to determine its reality, which unfortunately was all real. A distant mumur from outside caught her attention and she looked out of her open door and down the hall to see a young man in the same clothes as her talking to an older man, who wore a long white coat with name tag clipped onto the front pocket. Ella stepped out and started walking towards them, as quietly as possible so she wouldn't interrupte them.
The older man turned around saw her tiptoeing in his direction. "Miss Winters, I see you've returned from your little fantasy and decided to join us" He smiled at her and put his hand around her back to lead her down the hall further. She flinched at his touch and followed his lead, whilst looking confused and scared at where she had ended up. The younger man looked at her and then walked behind them until they reached what looked like the cafeteria.
"Have something to eat, you haven't eaten since last Saturday and I'm starting to worry" He softly spoke before leaving. 'I thought I ate a few hours ago, in the dining room' Ella thought, but just she did so,her stomach loudly grumbled and she grabbed a tray and served herself meatloaf, bread and a tiny amount of salad. The food here wasn't as good as it was at her elegant manor on the hill. She found her wanting to go back, but was unsure of her whereabouts now and how she can escape from here.
The man who walked behind them grabbed his own tray of food and sat down across from her at her table. "You look like crap... Actually, everyone here looks like crap." He said strenly. Ella looked at him, offended by his comment. "Well you don't look too good yourself asshole" She snapped. "Who are you anyway? And where are we?" She spoke between bites, so her words were slightly muffled. "I can't tell you that yet, I don't trust you with my identity" He whispered closely to her, "But I will tell you that we are currently in Orchard House." Ella put down the bread she was eating, "What's Orchard House?" The young man laughed and continued "It's an institution for the mentally ill, or more generally, the insane" She widened her eyes and went silent.
Her head started spinning with confusion and panic. She felt faint and as she stood up her body went limp and collapsed onto the cold vinyl floor as her mind blacked out.
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A/N: This is the first chapter of my new story, but I'm still not sure if I want to proceed with it. Just have to see where it all goes....
Anyway, I haven't been around for a while but school is very busy and time consuming. I'm in my last weeks of year 11 and by october I'll be in my final year of high school and also because I started a new school this year, I've been just settling in to my new routine as my school is so far away now!
Otherwise, life is good, and don't ever let anyone tell you that you cant be happy with yourself or your life :)
Until next time....
P.S. like, comment, vote. You know how it is.
