Your Worst Fears

Chapter 12: Sanity Lost

As night started to fall, I was startled when the overhead lights in my room, which were apparently automatic, came on. They weren't very bright, but brighter than the faint evening sunlight that had been coming in through my window. When they'd turned on, it had made a sudden popping sound, too, which caused me to jump, sending pain ricocheting from my shoulder down into my bandaged arm, reminding me why I was here.

At this point, if Eleanor had been a real, live person, I'd have killed her, but since she wasn't, I was helpless. Never in my life had I been violent, but the anger that was starting to take over, given birth to by my extreme fear, as well as lack of sleep, was becoming too much. I wondered how far my emotions could be stretched before they'd finally snap.

I slid across my bed to the small table at the end of it and grabbed my supper tray, which I'm sure was cold by now, since they'd brought it in a couple of hours ago. The fact that I still wasn't hungry, and that the food looked like something you'd get out of the pet food aisle, left me picking at it more than eating it. My clothes had already started getting loose on me over the past few weeks, so I guess if I was in here very long, I'd end up having to buy a whole new wardrobe.

"Ugh!" Shoving my tray back to the end of my bed, I laid back down, scrunching my pillow under my head, trying to hold back tears. "I can't stay here." I'd really go crazy if I did.

Suddenly, my lights flickered, making me think they were going to go out, but they didn't. They flickered a few more times before they stopped, and that's when a noise came from under my bed. It was faint, like someone was slowly tapping their nails on the tile floor, but enough to cause chills to pop out on my skin.

Tap, tap, tap, tap... tap, tap, tap, tap....

I waited on her to climb out from under my bed, or for hands to reach up and grab me, pulling me under it with her, but it didn't. Instead, the tapping continued. I got under my blankets, wrapping them around me as tight as I could, while I continued to listen.

Tap, tap, tap, tap... tap, tap, tap, tap....

After about ten minutes of constant tapping, I covered my head with my pillow, but it didn't help; I could still hear it. I even held my ears, but when I did, it was like it was inside my head. It was relentless, and after what felt like forever, I'd have enough.

"Stop! Just stop it!" I yelled, not caring if my nurse heard me. In fact, I kind of hoped she would. Maybe they'd give me some kind of medicine to knock me out if they heard me yelling. They already thought I was crazy, so what would it matter? "Stoooop!" I yelled a little louder. When I heard my door unlatch, I knew I'd been heard.

"What's wrong, Amber?" the same nurse I'd talked to earlier asked. "Why are you yelling?"

"I can't sleep. Can you give me something to sleep?" I was surprised at how desperate my voice sounded.

"I'll have to get it cleared, since you've not yet seen the doctor, but I'll check. And if you need anything before I get back, press the button. We can't have you screaming like that." And then she was gone again, leaving me alone with the unrelenting tapping... until a voice interrupted it.

"I can set you free." I could actually feel her breath, as if she'd hissed her words into my ear, and instead of letting fear grip me, like it usually did, I heard myself laugh. "I can set you freeee...." Her voice trailed off into a whisper, and I found myself actually wondering if she was telling me the truth. Would she ever really set me free?

I felt myself sitting up, and quickly fought against it. "No, you're not going to do that again," I said, fighting against the power that was trying to take over. "I will NOT let you!" I yelled through gritted teeth, holding myself back.