The Whispers in the Walls

Chapter 4

Night had slowly encroached and Serena was weary of what to expect. They'd given her an Ambien for sleep but so far nothing. She'd basically stayed within her room after Dinner and didn't really feel the need to talk all that much. Her Fanfiction had just taken off with her need to read something within these bare walls. 

Samantha had been in and out of the room as she was very active in comparison to her. When they had called for Art Time, Serena merely rejected the offer to go. Not tonight. Tonight, she would hole up and get her anxieties under control. 

A sound to her left, made her eyes shift to the corner. Nothing was there. It sounded as though someone had shifted. 

Serena looked at the brown block on the wall and grew concerned. What were those even used for? It reminded her of trap doors and hidden tunnels. A noise of shifting sounded again. This time however, it looked as though the shadows had moved. She pushed back from the desk she was sitting at and backed towards her bed as she stared at the wall. It had moved! 

*click*

"You should've gone to art with us," Samantha said as she came back into the room.

Serena dragged her eyes away from the wall and looked at Samantha. Apparently the other girl saw the look of apprehension. 

"What's wrong, Serena?"

"Is there something moving in that corner," she asked before pointing towards the corner that was giving her the creeps. 

Samantha spun around to look and then heaved a sigh. "No. Nothing there."

Serena looked closer at the wall and realized that whatever had been there was gone now. She hadn't lost her mind! There truly had been something lurking in that damn corner. 

She turned on her side to face Samantha's bed, where she had sat down. Samantha was currently wearing a hospital gown and sweats. 

"Weren't you on Unit Restriction," Serena asked. 

"Was. They let me go to Art for good behavior."

"Oh, that's nice. Do you mind me asking why you were on restriction?"

"I'm suicidal."

So that was what she meant about the sheets. Wouldn't that be counter-productive though? It would probably just cause sheet burn instead of offing yourself. If you stop giving the brain oxygen and your hands loosen then the sheet wouldn't be 'killing' you anymore. At least that was how Serena looked at it. Perhaps she had tied the sheet to something and fallen in the opposite direction?

"Why are you here?"

"Well a lot of things, I guess. I'm suicidal as well but I'm too scared to die so I don't harm myself. I'm too afraid of leaving my house and have panic attacks because of it. So, this place is really freaking me out," Serena answered. 

"I can imagine. These people aren't the most 'safe' to be around."

"A few seemed okay," Serena defended. 

"Oh, you thought I meant the patients?"

Serena was confused as she stared at the other girl. 

"Wha-"

"Goodnight, Serena."

Serena watched as Samantha turned her back to her and pulled a blanket over herself. They were both given one pillow and one blanket. A thin blanket within the freezing hell that they were thrown into. 

She shut her eyes and fell into a restless sleep. It had been a nightmare of fire and being trapped. When she slowly came awake with her heart racing, she was staring straight at her roommate. She froze in fear. 

Something black had crept up from the corner and pushed Samantha onto the bed. In her sleep, she mumbled and begged from the thing to stop. Serena could do nothing and she held her tongue in fear of drawing the shadow towards herself. She forcefully shut her eyes and pretended not to hear her roommates pleading for it to stop. 

It seemed to last hours but could've been minutes. Serena was unsure but her heart stopped racing once the rustling and whimpering stopped. She snuggled further into the hard matt made to be her bed. Something ghosted over her hair and she clenched her toes to stop from moving away. 

Then it was gone. 

She opened her eyes slightly to make sure the room was clear. Samantha was still laying on her back whispering 'no' repeatedly. 

"Samantha," she whispered, "Are you okay? Wake up. It's just a nightmare."

She knew that Samantha hadn't seen the shadow people from earlier so surely it must be her nightmare causing the mumblings. 

Her new friend didn't wake up so she climbed out of bed and grabbed hold of the blanket covering Samantha. She was scared to touch her friend in case it made the nightmare worse. The blanket was used as a way to give Samantha a cool draft. 

Samantha's eyes snapped open and stared at Serena. "Are you okay? It was just a nightmare. Sorry I didn't shake you awake."

Samantha didn't say anything but continued staring at Serena's hazel eyes. Serena felt uncomfortable. 

"Do you want me to ask the nurses for an ativan?"

"No. I don't want their meds."

Serena felt that an ativan would've calmed her friend down but decided to heed her wishes in this regard. 

"Okay. Do you think you can get back to sleep okay?"

"The voices tell me to hurt myself," she whispered. 

"What?"

"I have to hurt myself."

Samantha said it with such conviction that if Serena was even a bit more crazy she'd have believed it and allowed her friend to harm herself.

"No you don't. You're perfectly fine the way you are."

"This skin is filthy and my insides are disgusting. The flesh must be the same visibly."

Serena had a chill run down her back. She understood all too well why Samantha had said that. Those were thoughts she herself held all the time. The only difference is that Samantha would go through with harming herself and Serena was too much of a chicken to.

"You're beautiful inside and out. Don't allow yourself or anyone else to say otherwise," she said with conviction. This was something she didn't even believe of herself and yet she spouted these nonsensical words to another. 

Samantha stared at her as though searching for a lie. Serena held those brown eyes with her own and conveyed the truth to halt those bad thoughts. The other female let out a deep sigh and rolled to her side before shutting her eyes. 

Serena followed suit. Staring towards that corner where it looked as though bodies were crawling up the wall. Something was moving there. She shut her eyes tight and hoped to fall asleep again. 

Darkness took over.