Within the Sane

Chapter 1

     The little rubber ball bounced against the concrete, and returned back to the palm of my hand, only you to be thrown again. I shifted uncomfortably against the thick bars of my cell door. Glancing up with a frown, I look at the small window supplying the only light. The slightly-visible sky had transformed from a clear blue to a soft orange and pink. The guards on duty outside the row of eight cells stirred nervously. I gulp and stand up, backing away from the cell door. As the sun began to disappear from the sky, the residents of the surrounding seven cells began to move. 
    First, quiet giggles came from the cell in front of me. Quickly, it grew to be uncontrollable, hysteric laughter. To the left of me, sniffs and whimpering began. "How are you doing? I'm doing great! Really?" another voice said, to my right, talking to no one. Hushed incoherent mumbling was bearly heard over the other sounds. The crying on my left became sobs, while the singing began. The same lullaby, slow and soft. 
                 "Stars    so    high    up    in    the    sky,
                 Wipe    your    tears    and    no    longer    cry.
                 Big    dark    shadows    not    so    scary    when    you    know,
                 Just    how    much    I    love    you    so."
    Loud, ear-piercing screams of terror and the desperate shaking of bars echoed from the edge of the cell block. Yet the cell in sharp contrast was the most hair-raising. No noise came from the cell. Only if I came to the edge of the door and craned my head could I see the occupant inside. A teenager, like the rest of us, sat her back to the door, holding her knees, rocking back and forth. 
    I stood beneath the window watching the dark figures walk back in forth in their cells. I shook in fear as I slowly made my way to the metal bed. Ducking under the scratchy, thin blanket, I attempted to block out the sounds. I curled into a ball and drifted into the darkness.
    Memories flashed in front of me, each of a blurry face I could barely remember. My mother with her auburn brown hair and my father's darker brown, their kind eyes. The desperate look in my mother's eyes as she reached for my hand, only to have a door slammed in her face. The scared but kind smile of the other seven nine year old's as we were escorted to our cells for the first time. "I'm Damien," whispered on boy with a wide smile and bright blue eyes. "I'm Paisley," I answered back. The first few days of being in our cells consisted of giggles and note passing. "Rose, pass this to Jacob," I slid the little folded paper to the left and heard it pass over to him. "Clair! Can you sing me that song you made up?" Miles would ask. Clair would smile and sing a random tune. Ruby, the smallest out of us, would complain about almost anything. "Paisley won't stop sending notes to Damien!" she would whine, "I can't reach James from here!" 
    Then, the bad memories came. Watching each one of them become insane. "Paisley, do you see him? The scary monster?" whispered Damien to my cell. "There is no monster," I would answer puzzled. Then Ruby began to cry everyday, Miles began to talk to his imaginary friend, James began to say things under his breath, Rose stopped talking, Clair would only sing one thing, Jacob began to beg for help but would not listen, and Damien started laughing constantly. 
    I awoke with a shudder and covered my eyes from the sunlight. The noises from the night below had disappeared along with the moon. "Breakfast!" yelled a guard as a plastic tray slid under my door. I hurried to it and stuffed it in my mouth. No one else moved for it, like usual. Rarely, did they eat and not once did the others sleep.