STAY WOKE ✔︎ || A. Grande

ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

"I hope Briar was alright for you, Ariana.she can get a little rowdy and protective over her things at times." Courtney said, picking at her salad. Ariana smiled at the mention of her new patient, "she was great. Yes, protective, but great. I can tell you miss her." Ariana said and Courtney nodded.

"Yeah, the two had a very close relationship. Kinda like a mother and daughter relationship. Courtney knew everything about Briar and treated her like a daughter." Matt explained. Ariana nodded and ate some of her salad.

"So what did Dr. Benjamin need you for?" Courtney asked, shifting her attention from her salad to Ariana. "Just warning me to stay away from Briar, but to not stay away from her, y'know?" Courtney nodded, "yeah, he told me that as well."

"Is she really as dangerous as he said she was?" Ariana asked, her eyebrows furrowed in slight concern.

"All I have to say is stay woke when you're with her." Courtney whispered and continued to eat her salad. Ariana was confused by what Courtney had said. What does she mean by "stay woke"?

——𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸——

Elsie slowly opened her eyes when she felt a presence standing in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw Briar standing there, looking straight into her soul with a knife in her hand. Elsie sighed and gently took the knife out of Briar's hand before picking her up and sitting her down on her lap.

"You can't do that." Elsie scolded tiredly. "You must go to sleep." Elsie said with a yawn. Briar didn't say anything, she continued to stare at her mother without blinking. Elsie ran her hand over Briar's face, closing her eyelids as well. She laid Briar down and was about to go back to sleep when she felt a nail scratching her back.

She opened her eyes and turned around to see Briar over her with nothing but black eyes. Her back arched as the nail hit the bottom of her back and black veins covered her body. Her eyes turned to the back of her head as her mouth gaped open and a loud scream left her mouth. The lights were turning on and off at a quick pace and the house was shaking.

Then it all stopped.

Everything went back to normal and Elsie was no longer on the uncomfortable position. She looked over to her side to see her daughter sleeping peacefully. She got up and went to the bathroom where she lifted up her shirt and looked to see what happened to her back.

Blood trailed down her back as her back looked like it had been carved by a knife. Elsie sighed and turned back around. She faced herself in the mirror and let out a deep sigh before starting to cry.

———

"Briar, please eat. You need your daily nutrition." A nurse said through the voice box as they watched Briar stare at the food that was placed in front of her. Briar continued to stare at it as if it was going to poison her. The nurse sighed and shook her head before turning around and leaving.

Ariana watched as the nurse left before going to see Briar. She opened the door with the key and quietly walked in the cell, closing the door behind her. She then took a seat on the floor in front of Briar.

"Would you like me to eat some of it for you?" Ariana offered making Briar nod her head. Ariana smiled and ate some of the food. To her surprise, it was actually kind of good. She put the plate down in front of Briar. Briar hesitantly picked up the fork and seemed as if she was about to eat the food, but instead, she threw the fork towards Ariana.

Lucky for Ariana, she had good reflexes, so the fork didn't hit her. Instead, it hit the wall behind her.

"You can't do that." Ariana scolded as she took the fork out of the wall. "That's bad."

"Chocolate." Was Briar's response. Growing up, Briar had always loved chocolate. She never liked food, it was just chocolate for her.

"No chocolate until you finish eating your dinner." Ariana said which was a bad idea because Briar began to get mad. Her eyes went black and she looked like she was hard in thought. Suddenly, forks came flying Ariana's way. Ariana dodged all of them as if they were just dodgeballs.

"Eat, Briar." Ariana stated, not fazed by Briar's silent outburst. "But- how did you-"

"Let's say I have a little bit more knowledge than the other doctors in the hospital." Ariana answered with a smirk.