We're All a Little Insane

Chapter 3: Understanding

"Asylum.." I repeated, my voice barely audible although I'm sure they heard me. I downcast my eyes and stared at the floor. So I really am ill, huh? I so desperately wanted them to be joking.

"We're not joking." Tari's voice interrupted my thoughts, "And we're all considered ill so don't take it to heart okay?" She spoke gently with sincerity laced into her tone.

"Hey, cheer up! You're not alone at least, you've got us now! No need to be upset!" I raised my head with my still expressionless face to see that it was Tom that had spoken. He was smiling widely at me, his personality making me feel uncomfortable.

I force away my emotions to appear calm, these people are scaring me and I don't want to stay in here with them. But what other choice do I have? Stay in my room and be constantly bugged by Genevive? No thanks.

"Haha, yeah Genevive certainly is a character. We've all had her at some point but she left us all after the first day saying the same thing-" Tari got cut off as Pippa's voice sounded throughout the room. "Not good enough, never good enough." Pippa spoke in her impression of Genevive. It was pretty much perfect and I almost wanted to laugh.

Almost.

I looked around once again to see them all staring at me. I panicked slightly as all their eyes battled to be the one to bore into mine. Kate suddenly spoke up, "So I guess you know all the rules." She speaks with a sort of authoritative tone. I guessed she was the responsible one on the group. I shook my head and waited for them to continue. "Well okay. One: Never miss a test or revolt against them. Two: Always do what your nurse tells you. Three: Don't use your powers to cause harm to others, if it can be helped. Four, and probably the most important: Do not, under any circumstances open Patient one's door."

"Patient one?" I thought out loud.

"Patient one is like us, but his powers are a lot stronger, and because of that they overwhelmed his body and he became mentally unstable." Adam spoke up.

Kate butted in "The scientists here are sure they can use his powers to their advantage so they insist on keeping him alive, whatever the costs."

"What are the costs?" I asked, I wanted to know more about this Patient.

"He has to drink human blood to survive," Adam filled in for me, he seemed so calm about it as he looked at me. "Kind of like a vampire, except worse, he doesn't sparkle and bite into their necks, he rips out their throats with his bare hands and-"

"Adam! Keep it to yourself, you're scaring her." Tari hissed. Sure enough he was and I found myself feeling faint. I was biting my cheek to stop the tears from streaming out my eyes. God this was so weird, I just want to go home. Kate seemed to appear at my side in the blink of an eye, stopping me from falling forward. God this was embarrasing, but I couldn't stand the site of blood nor the thought of it. I brushed Kates arm away after regaining my balance. "I'm fine." I insist.

"The only exception for Patient one's door is if he's trying to get out and you happen to be nearby, you have to hold the door to stop him from getting out," Kate continues. "He'll give up after a while. Even if the door looks like its about to snap off its hinges."

That's unsettling. "I-I... I'm going to go find Genevive." I state quickly, trying to find an excuse to get out of here and calm myself down. "Nonsense!" Tom started, "She said you were staying here didn't she? That's your bed over there." He pointed to the bed at the back of the room with a cheery smile on his lips.

"O-okay" I stuttered, still recovering from the fear of Patient one. I walk towards the unoccupied bed stiffly and sit cross legged on the mattress. "So, what powers do the rest of you have?" I questioned, my confidence returning.

"I can move at very high speeds." Kate answered, she had already demonstrated her power when she caught me earlier. "And I have the power to heal myself." Adam spoke, his face still calm and unfazed. "And I have the force!" Tom exclaimed, his smile widening.

"The force?" I stifled my laugh but a smile still escaped onto my lips, "What? Like Star Wars?" I giggled this time and so did everyone else. "That's what we all said when he told us." Pippa said with a smile.

"Well, I have no idea what it's actually called and it acts like the force so I called it the force!" He explained with a smile. That guy is just full of smiles, huh?

"I need to go find Genevive.." I repeat slowly, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, you weren't lying when you said that? Oops." Tom says, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. I gave everyone a small, hesitant smile before I made my way towards the door and left.

I look left and right down the hallway seeing no sign of Genevive anywhere. I release a sigh but I find my attention being drawn towards the door to Patient ones room. Curiosity overwhelms me and I find myself in front of his door. There's a single pane of glass in the centre of his door and I use it to peer inside.

I wasn't able to fully examine the room as my eyes were fixed onto the back of a teenage boy, around my age or possibly older. He was looking out the window of his room, almost intensely. As I was about to investigate his surroundings I felt myself being yanked roughly to the right.

I look to see that that Genevive was dragging me away by my arm. She looked walked frantically down the hallway, taking me to god knows where. She must be scared of him.. I'll keep that noted. I couldn't seem to focus on what was happening because all I cared about at the moment was who is that boy?

I couldn't help but want to know more about him... And I don't know why.