The Playroom was bigger with more patients than Alister anticipated. There were several circular tables scattered around the room with a stack of board games each and a few windows that showed him a glimpse of the outside world. He waited patiently for the nurse to undo his straitjacket before taking a seat at the far corner of the room near a window.
He heard soft weeps coming from under the table and he froze. Cautiously, he looked under to find a little boy no older than eight huddled on the floor. The boy was delicate looking with short caramel locks and big brown eyes that were filled with salty tears. He wore the same white uniform Alister was wearing. The boy's cheeks were flushed and his body shook ever so slightly.
He looked up and met Alister's gaze. His bottom lip trembled and the little boy hiccuped for air.
"Please sir," he whispered, "tell them to leave me alone."
Alister frowned. He looked up and scanned the room but saw no one near the little boy.
"Who?" Alister asked.
"The voices, tell them to stop." The boy cried desperately, more tears forming in his eyes. "Tell them to leave me alone!"
Suddenly the table cloth was lifted and the nurse from earlier appeared. With a tight smile she said "Timothy darling would you please come out from under the table?"
The boy shook his head vigorously and began to cry harder.
The nurse sighed before calling one of the guards over who scooped up the little boy and left the room. Later, Alister heard her telling a male nurse that it was the fourth time this week.
Alister bit his lip and began flexing his fingers. He would be lying if he said that the little boy's outburst had not affected him. It was obvious that the boy was schizophrenic, but he felt a pang in his chest as he realised that while these voices would remain non-existent to the rest of the world, to the little boy, they were as real as ever.
Time went by painfully slow for Alister after that as he tried fruitlessly to keep himself entertained with his thoughts.
Use your imagination, Came a voice in his head. It was soft and feminine. Could it possibly be his mother? Sister? He wouldn't know. Or rather, wouldn't remember.
"We wiped your memories to help you get better," One of the doctors explained when Alister had asked why he couldn't remember anything. "It's so you don't remember what caused you to fall ill in the first place and move on with your recovery."
He could feel the memory fade away the more he tried to recover it. After a while, Alister couldn't remember what he was thinking about in the first place. When the nurse came to escort him back to his cell, he couldn't help but feel a bit glad.
"You space out a lot don't you?" The nurse murmured more to herself than Alister as she tightened the straps on the back of his straitjacket.
I wonder why! He thought sarcastically. Because suddenly finding yourself in an asylum because you've fallen 'ill' is no reason to go quiet all of a sudden.
As they walked, Alister couldn't help but notice the deafening silence that reigned over the empty hallways. The only sound audible was the clicks of the nurse's heels.
Another thing Alister noticed, was that they were going the wrong way. They had passed the cells ages ago but the nurse kept on walking as if she was meant to pass the cells.
They stopped In front of a pair of doors that had a sign above them that read "Sleeping Units".
The nurse led him inside and removed his straitjacket before ordering him to lie in the large human sized capsule. Alister did as he was told as the nurse began flipping some switches and pressing buttons. A man in a lab coat appeared beside her with a clipboard and began jotting down a few things, looking back at Alister every few seconds. When he was done he smiled down at him.
"Don't worry," he advised as the nurse began attaching thin white tubes into his arm. " first times are always the worst. It'll get better after a while."
When the man left, the nurse continued to work on him for a few minutes longer. When she was done she smiled down at Alister.
"I promise this won't hurt a bit."
She closed the capsule and left Alister in the dark.
Within an instant, Alister felt his eyes droop and his mind enter a state of calm. When he woke up again, however, he was no longer in the capsule. A girl loomed over him inches from his face. It took him a while to place where he had seen those eyes.
"Welcome," the green-eyed girl greeted. "Fresh meat."
----
A/N
I left you on a cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry \_(•=•)_/
Anyways, hope you like the chapter!
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- Claudia
YOU ARE READING
The Wonderland Effect
Fantasy"Curiouser and curiouser!" He murmured as he stared at the little fairy children that ran about on the grass. Where was he? ------------- A boy wakes up in a mental asylum with no memory except his name, Alister St Claire. But this is no ordinary as...
