Tandem

Raechel Harchey

"Holt." Raechel ran to her friend and threw her arms around him as soon as she spotted him at the other side of the room.

"Hi Raechel."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been in a separate room, listening to what was going on with Bertie. They're so proud of what we've achieved. We did it."

"We did," Raechel smiled. "What happened to Jack and I in the old cafe, you did that didn't you."

"I didn't have a choice. I'm really sorry for doing that to you. I was under strict orders to get both you and Jack back to the Gauze."

"By Zadicus?" Raechel asked.

"By me actually, on behalf of Zadicus," A young woman stepped out from a shadow in the corner of the room. Her hair was tightly pulled back into an immaculate ponytail and her eyes glinted under the harsh clinical lighting. "The tea was my idea. Clever wasn't it?"

"I know you."

"Well, that is a surprise! If I recall correctly, the last time we met you were sprawled across the floor in one of the cupboards. You were quite stubborn too. I think you refused to go back to your ward multiple times." The woman clapped her hands twice and suddenly the lights in the room dimmed a little.

"I remember," Raechel mumbled. "I guess now you know why I wasn't so eager to cooperate."

"It must have been really hard for you. I'm sorry for that." "You guys know each other?" Holt appeared visibly shocked. "We do." They said in unison.

"What's it to you, little brother?" The woman chuckled. "Brother?"

"I was going to tell you," Holt muttered sheepishly. For somebody so tall, he'd suddenly receded into himself, resembling a child caught doing something they shouldn't.

"Tell me what?"

"My sister, Viala, works at the Gauze." He gestured to the woman stood beside him. They couldn't have looked more unrelated, with Viala's straight, blonde hair a stark contrast to Holt's wavy and dark hair. If it weren't for the identical piercing blue eyes Raechel would have been tempted to challenge them.

"But you hate this place."

"I still do, it tore my family apart Raechel." "He isn't lying." Viala interjected.

"Just when I was beginning to make sense of things, something new was thrown into the mix. So all this time you've been lying to me?"

"No, not lying. I just haven't told you everything." "So tell me."

"I will but you have to promise you'll listen."

Raechel nodded, steadying herself against one of the pillars in the corridor.

"Our brother came here seeking treatment shortly before Viala began working here. He was mugged violently on the way home from work one night and everything was stolen. The only thing they left him with was seventeen stab wounds and his blood-soaked clothes, and even those had been ripped from his body," Raechel couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Viala looked. Her eyes were focused on the floor beneath her, and her hands were clasped tightly together. "He survived physically but mentally he was a broken soul. My mum wasn't keen for Lennon to get the treatment but Zadicus promised to take good care of him and that when he returned home, it'd be like nothing had ever happened. What mother wouldn't want that for her child? It was a chance to have the horrendous event that had made her son a shell of his former self, erased forever. Anyway, the day arrived, he had the procedure and as all had gone smoothly he was allowed to come home and that was when the nightmare started, for him and for us. It happened sporadically at first, the visions is what he called them. He'd start screaming and pulling his hair out. Nothing we said or did ever calmed him down. To cut a long story short, he took his own life when he decided he couldn't cope with the visions anymore."