Genius Minds

Chapter One - Lunch?

Before I begin this exciting new story, there are a few things I would like to point out.

1) I know nothing about how actual mental hospitals run, nor insane asylums (as some of you know them). Therefore, please do not feel angry, offended, or quote these typed pages. They are purely fiction based off of your horror movies and video games.

2) I do not know biology like the back of my hand. Nor engineering, nor philosophy. If you want to correct me or add any ideas, please do so politely within the comments section.

3) This is my FIRST horror/science fiction story! Therefore, it is ÜBER helpful if you comment or message me with ideas, notes or otherwise. Who knows? If the idea fits along, I might add (or update) it to the story with a dedication!

Thanks you guys! You are completely, and highly the best. I look forward to pleasing your darker interests with this one!

~The Sidhe Seer
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Light burst into my tiny prison-like cell, that wasn't a prison cell. Not really, though it felt like one. My cot was pushed into the farthest corner from the door, pushed against the dirty, white-tiled, and cracked right wall. It had no headrest, or footboard. A thin, gray blanket was supposed to be spread over top, though I never made the bed myself. I kept the blanket crumpled in a ball, thrown somewhere random in the room every time I awoke. I enjoyed the thought of the nurses coming into my room when I was away, forced to pick up my messes. I did the best I could. A simple, wooden desk sat in the corner opposite my cot, a simple metal chair to match. Covered with messy books and papers, pencils as well, there was not a tad bit of the surface showing. To have a desk, paper, pencils, journals and a chair was a luxury here. Like living in a mansion.

The heavy, iron door that locked me from the rest of the world had swung open with a loud bang! The sudden light was blinding, and I threw my now-pale hands up to cover my eyes. Through my thin, bony fingers I saw two men rush into my room. Their heads were bowed as they made their way to where I sat at the head of my bed, cowering against the wall. Rough, gloved hands grabbed my wrists, yanking them behind me. The oh-so-familiar leather strap wound around my wrists and over my thumbs. It wrapped tightly around my fingers, strapping my hands together. They never used cuffs here, ever. It was too "cruel" and "inhumane."

My head was shoved downwards, a similar leather strap bound over my eyes, blinding me. The strap was tied tightly behind my head before I was jerked to my feet. The cold floor on my bare feet shocked me and I yelped, jumping slightly. One of the guards gripped my left elbow tightly with their gloved hands.

This was the typical procedure, though it never failed to catch me off guard and alarm me. The hospital believed that this procedure made them safe. As long as I couldn't see them, or make eye contact, they were safe. As long as I couldn't use my hands, they were safe. I nearly laughed at the idea. That was wrong. Oh, so wrong. What did they think I was? A witch? Still, I continued to behave. I didn't need more problems. Bigger ones that I couldn't get out of.

I was jerked towards what I supposed was the doorway. The air got cooler, and a bit fresher. The kind of feeling you get when you stand before the window on a bright, sunny winter's day. I couldn't tell, however. The leather strap was tight and forced my eyes closed. My bare foot stepped on the metal bar marking the doorway, the other entering the hall. Perhaps they were taking me to lunch? Only a few steps into the hall and the nightmares returned.

I heard the fires, roaring around me. The screams of tortured souls, calling for my blood. I began to panic, stopping where I stood. Even against my sheer will the guards could not push me forward. My mouth fell open in horror as I felt fires lick my feet, my legs. The green scrubs I wore felt as if they were on fire. I smelt smoke and sulfur. A hand wrapped around the tricep of my left arm and I began to scream. I couldn't see, and I feared that they had finally grabbed me. The monsters. An arm wrapped around my shoulders, a familiar voice whispering.. My name?

"Marie, it's alright. It's not real, Marie. Overcome this, Marie. You're alright," Dr. Joseph's voice whispered what was not my name. They try so hard, but my name wasn't Marie. It is Lily. They're trying to make me forget my past, the truth. It will never work. I'm mentally stronger than all of them, everyone.

Eventually, everything stopped. The fire, the sulfur, the monsters trying to get me. The sound of screaming souls and whooshing fires all stopped. Exhausted and shaking with fear, I leaned against who I could only guess, Dr. Joseph. I hated being blinded and bound. I felt as if the nightmares came more often when I wasn't aware of my surroundings.

After patting me on the back, murmuring more assurances, Dr. Joseph moved away from me and a gloved hand of one of the guars gripped my elbow. I was shuffled down the hall, where few other patients roamed with nurses. I heard their voices, their breathing, every time we past one. I heard murmurs and cries, as well as the screams at some far-off point. Patients always screamed here, at least one. The sound of wheels over the cracked, tiled floor alerted me to a nurse pushing a wheelchair.

I reached out with my mind, searching to see if there was a patient in the wheelchair. There was the dull mind of the nurse, like a lightbulb about to go out. Then there was the darkened mind of the patient, moving farther closer with the wheelchair. It was so blank, so empty. That's why it was easy to insert the thought of screaming into the patient's mind. As the wheelchair passed me, the patient began to scream. It was a tortured sound, like that of a man being burned alive. I was familiar with the sound, almost too familiar.

I heard the nurse begin to panic as I was nudged forward. "Please, settle down! Settle, settle down!" The nurse pleaded from behind me as the patient continued to scream and I continued to trudge forward. I sent an order to the patient to stop immediately, which is what occurred. At the sudden cease of screaming, I heard Dr. Joseph curse under his breath beside me. I smirked, knowing they could not do anything to stop me now.

"Where we are taking you, you need to behave yourself. The person there will not tolerate your childish antics," Dr. Joseph said from my left, his voice full of warning. I grinned, turning my head to him.

"There is a child within each of us. Especially those aged by not years, but by force," I said. My voice was eerily calm, though my mind spun. They weren't taking me to lunch? Maybe it was to meet yet another doctor who they thought could figure me out. All of them said the same 'She's unlocked a certain part of her mind that we have not.'

Dr. Joseph did not respond and we walked in silence for a minute more. I had counted my steps to the point when we stopped: 304. I was jerked to a stop, where I stood patiently as the sound of a key in the lock reached my ears. So they're taking me to see another patient, I thought to myself as the typical sound of a creaking door followed the keys. I was jerked forward once again, through the doorway. I purposely fumbled to feel the change of the floor, separated by a familiar metal bar.

The room was warmer, and I liked it. It wasn't an uncomfortable warm, but a kind of warm that was perfect. Compared to the uncomfortably cool hallway, I could get used to this. The green hospital scrubs they forced us patients to wear weren't warm enough for the cool hallways of the hospital in December. After the last incident where I had bashed a nurse over the head repeatedly with the pair of white Crocs they had given me, I was not permitted to wear shoes.

The heavy metal door slammed shut and I jumped, startled. I never enjoyed sudden, loud noises. The guard's hand had moved from my elbow to begin untying the binds on my hands. I reached out with my mind, almost frantically. If there was another patient in this room, I wanted to know before they set me loose. There was. It was a rather bright mind, a male's. He seemed preoccupied, until the shuffling of feet farther into the room signaled he had finally taken notice.

"What is this doing here?" The male spoke, his voice deep and attractive.