The Cure To A Broken Mind

Chapter 6 ~ I'm So Sorry

         7...

        Cold. Lonely. Afraid.

        That's how it felt in the haunting ambiance of the empty building. Empty, as in, lacking any other forms of life. It wouldn't have been nearly as unnerving if the room had seemed as though it had meant to be empty. It wouldn't be startling if it looked more abandon. But it wasn't, the lights had been left flickering and the isles were occupied with half-filled shopping carts positioned alongside the products. It was almost as if some sort of monster had disrupted the peace and sent everyone running from their placement.

        The ambiance left me with an eerie irking of a feeling in my chest, fancying that of disturbance and suspicion.

        It truly felt like there should have been someone here. There should have been something watching.

        As I cautiously rounded corners, traveling the lone corridors in anxious silence, I tried to pick up items the doctor would be more likely to approve of. I thought about the goods that he had discarded, and what he had kept, trying to follow it like a template in guidance.

        I tried grabbing more non-refrigerated products and canned items as a result of. In the end, though, I found myself long passed distracted from the time.

        I had probably been in there at least thirty minutes before it struck me that I needed to return to the doctor.

        I shifted the grocery items in my arms, quickly piling them into easy to carry bags before racing back through the door.

        I rushed out into the frigid night's air. Quickly turning, I rounded the corner, only to bump right into a looming figure. The impact had me back on the ground, losing hold of the plastic bags in my hands.

        "O-Ouch!" I yelped a bit, sniffling as I scrambled to grab my things, "Sorry, doctor! I totally forgot about- the-..." slowly now, my voice trailed off, looking from the items on the ground to the person before me. Our eyes met, and though his eyes were a similar blue to the doctor's, I realized I didn't recognize this man in the slightest.

        A rock formed in my throat and my blood ran completely cold. A mind-numbing silence fogged my thoughts, and at that moment it seemed the only noise was the horrid pounding of my heart. I felt I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't even begin to speak or scream for some sort of help from the doctor. I just stared in complete terror toward the other man.

        His mouth moved, but not a single word tumbled out. He extended his hand toward me, but I had already jolted up and away from him.

         Quickly I had shot up, leaving the bags behind as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, heading for the meeting place between me and the doctor.

        Footsteps, I could hear footsteps. He was following me.

        I fled right into the doctor's arms by the time I got to our meeting spot. I hugged tightly around his torso, hiding my face as I breathed out frantically.

        He looked at me quietly, stroking a hand through my hair, "Hey, what's wrong-? Are you okay? Where's your things.." he questioned softly, looking me over as I loosened and backed from him.

        "D-Doctor! There's someone- I ran into someone a-and-" I stuttered out unintelligibly, glancing to the side for a moment before looking back to him wide-eyed, "We need to go."

        "Slow down, darling..." he murmured, but his words were quickly cut off with that of another's.

        "Hey! Wait!" the lone voice called, moving closer, "I'm not going to hurt you- who are you?" the man spoke, redirecting my view to face him and watch him.

        He drew closer, out of breath from chasing after me. His brown hair fell in locks in front of his eyes. There was something about him; a sense of belonging I couldn't quite find in the doctor...

        As I stared, though, 049 brushed right passed, raising his hand toward the unsuspecting person. My eyed widened once more.

        "D-Doctor, no- w-wait-" I spoke unsteadily, reaching to pull around his arm and draw him back, but to absolutely no avail.

        As the boy came closer, the doctor's hand came into contact with his chest, grazing his collarbone. Just as quickly as it happened, he dropped dead against the concrete.

        The world around me froze, and the atmosphere was thickened with a silence that grew incomprehensibly loud. The body hit the ground with such an abrupt thud, only to be followed by a stillness so horrible to bear, it was almost like the eye of a storm.

        My hands drew to my mouth, taking a small step back as I stared to the doctor. His back faced me, looking down on the corpse laying limp against the cold ground.

        It was one thing to kill one of those scientists; having held him captive against his will for so long, that came as no surprise. But to kill an innocent man who seemed to only have the best intent was another thing altogether.

        "Doctor...he-...he only wanted to help..." I whispered. He turned and looked at me with a cold stare that I'd never seen his ragged face wear. That, and I sure as hell had never hoped to.

        A new fear ran over me now, and I couldn't make out any words. Not a single one.

        He returned to his place alongside me after a moment, coiling his cold, bony knuckles around my wrist. With his touch, I was met with what almost seemed like a burning sensation, causing me to flinch slightly in response to the feeling. He dragged me around, turning in another direction as he walked fast paced to another street.

        "Doctor where are we going? Please, slow down..." I reasoned with him, feeling my gut drop to the ground and drag with my feet.

        "There's no time. We need to get out of the city limits," he uttered through clenched teeth. I turned my head, glancing back at the heap of a body we'd left in the street. The towering streetlamp besides it flickered, then went out completely. The scene was shrouded in darkness, and just like that, there was nothing left to stare upon. I simply cleared my throat and looked forward.

        "A-alright, doctor..." I whispered, lowering my head.

        I'm so sorry.