Keep Your Head

CHAPTER 4: The Doors

The three stood in a badly lit hallway, standing in front of six doors lined along the walls. Each door seemed to have words chiseled into them, along with an illustration of random… things? Some of the illustrations in the doors were unrecognizable and incomprehensible, as the chiseling wasn’t very good. “Whoever did the chiseling did a very bad job,” Devon remarked in her thoughts. “But I can’t be talking. I could never do a better job than this.” 

“What are these doors about?” Q broke the silence, scanning and studying every door she set her gaze upon, her hand softly going over the carved wood. “And what do these mean?”

Mrs. Meadow clapped her hands together, her eye closing halfway. “I'm glad you asked!” She turned to look at the first door to the very left, her gaze fixated on it as she studied it before nodding. “These doors lead to different rooms, each of them filled with unique creatures!” She seemed happy, until her “expression” turned into worry in an instant, her pupil becoming smaller, like the expression of a worried mother searching for her lost child. “But… Most of these creatures are dangerous. Whenever you dearies enter their rooms, some of them will come out, lurking for you, stopping at nothing to harm either one of you.” Mrs. Meadows let out a small sigh, turning to look at the teens with scared looks in their eyes. “But the first two rooms should be fine. I've met every single creature in every room, so I know which ones are dangerous or not.” She turned to look at the first door again, her cheerful self coming back.

“I recommend going in order, that means Angelica is first on the list!” 

Angelica? 

“Wait, are some of them like us? Are they stuck here like us-” Devon questioned until she was interrupted.

“I’m afraid not. They've been here ever since. I don’t even think half of them are human.” Mrs. Meadow shook her head. “Even if they look human, even if they say that they are human, trust me, they aren't.” 

Q sighed, turning to study the doors again. “So, they've been here since the very beginning? Ever since this hospital has been here?” 

Mrs. Meadow nodded. “Ever since we built this place.”

“Did you build these doors?” Devon added. 

Mrs. Meadow's eyes closed as she shrugged. “I… I honestly don’t know where they came from. They appeared randomly in the third week once this place was built.” Her eye opened back up. “It's as if… they belong here.” The nurse pondered for a moment, her attention only fixated on the doors as the two teenagers both stood there awkwardly, looking back and forth between each other and Meadow. Finally, Mrs. Meadow shook her “head” violently, and her gaze was now settled on the two kids right beside her. Again. 

“I’m so sorry, my children. I was just… lost in thought.” 

     She turned back to look at the door that contained the creature “Angelica”, and then nodded, her expression seemingly happy. 

“Are you children ready?”

Q stood still, confused. “What do you mean by ‘ready’?”

“These doors,” Mrs. Meadow pointed to the doors. “These doors might be your way out. It's better if you guys set out to find the exit rather than rot away in this hospital, which I know you kids don’t want.” 

Mrs. Meadows sighed, walking closer to the first door and settling her gloved hand over the knob. “I know I said that you kids can stay here as long as you kids want, but I would just like it if you guys can wake up as quickly as possible and enjoy the time you guys still have left.”      

She opened the door, releasing a light yellow mist onto the floor. “Now, I repeat, are you ready?”

The two teenagers gulped, looking at each other again before nodding. Mrs. Meadow stepped out of the way.

Q and Devon both held each other's hands as they walked through the door.