Schizophrenia. Is it common? Not extremely. About 1% of the U.S. population suffers from it. Am I scared of it? Absolutely. Schizophrenia, which translates roughly as "splitting of the mind", comes from the Greek roots schizein ("to split") and phrēn ("mind").
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which your mind breaks down the relationships between your emotions, behavior, and thoughts. It basically causes your brain to go haywire. Someone with Schizophrenia might experience voices in their heads, extreme highs, extreme lows, random crying or crazed, manic laughter (I could go on and on with more symptoms). Sometimes all of these things occur on the same day, or maybe even just within the span of a few hours. One second the patient could be trying to jump off of a bridge because of an extreme high; they'll think they can fly. The next second they could be jumping off the bridge simply to stop the voices.
Now, did I have all of these symptoms? No. So why should I think I have Schizophrenia?
"You hear one voice and your first assumption is that you have one of the most uncommon disorders in the United States? I didn't know we were going to have to deal with another drama queen on the team. Great." The voice was feminine, but deep. It freaked me out, honestly. Here I was minding my own business in my cheap hospital gown, and suddenly there's someone talking to me. At least, I think someone is talking to me. The voice sounds real, but as I looked around the room filled with heart monitors and IV bags, there's obviously no one here.
"Are... Are you narrating your own life? Because no offense, but it sounds ridiculous." Well, not only is there a voice in my head, but it's a rude one. Fantastic. "Hey, hey, hey," the voice- she, I believe- started defensively. "It's not like I'm trying to be rude. Just saying that most people don't tend to think like this. You act like you're in a story or something."
"Who are- Er... How are you?
"I'm fantastic, thanks for asking."
"Okay, not what I meant. I mean... How am I hearing you?"
"Telepathy, my friend. Get used to it. You're gonna be hearing my beautiful voice a lot." Okay, no. Not real. Definitely not real. I'm just delusional from whatever the hell hit me in the head. Maybe it caused brain damage or something, but I know that this can't be happening. "Oh, it's happening, kid. Listen up, cause I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. I'm with a group of nerds with superpowers. We've been tracking down this one douche that's coming after you, and now we're sending over someone to come and pick you up so we can bring you to our base and help you "unleash your power" or however my boss said it blah blah blah-"
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down," I started, standing up. I glanced out the window. "What's this about superpowers and someone coming after me?"
"Look, I don't have time for a lengthy explanation. A guy is going to be there any minute to come and get you. He'll be wearing a brown fedora. If he claims he's there to get you and he's not wearing a brown fedora, run."
"Run from wha-"
"Someone will explain everything later. For now, either go with the guy, or run."
"How can I trust you?"
"Turn around."
Turning my back towards the window, I found myself face to face with a man- boy- teenager? From the looks of it, he was about 5'6". Not incredibly tall for a guy, but still seven inches taller than me; just enough for me to have to tilt my head upwards a bit. His hair was a dirty blonde color, and his eyes were cerulean blue. He was fairly attractive for what I can only assume a high school student, but definitely not my type. One look at his outfit told me everything I needed to know about him. Jeans, an Imagine Dragons t-shirt, and a black and white flannel. Yep, he was a nerd. I glanced up. Brown fedora? Check. So I'm supposed to trust this guy? He seems nice enough, but-
"I assume you were told I was coming?" WHOA, OKAY. Not the voice I was expecting. It was pretty low. Most guys his age tend to still have fairly high pitched voices that crack with every other word they say; his was solid. He couldn't have been older than a freshman or sophomore.
"I... Well, yeah, but what is this all abou-"
"We'll have Callie- she's our boss- explain when we get there. The name's Peter Oswick. I know this is all probably a bit overwhelming, but I promise that this whole situation will clear up in a little while. For now, we need to get you to a safe place." He reached into a bag he had over his shoulder and pulled out some clothes. Black skinny jeans, a Sherlock t-shirt, and dark red converse. I immediately recognized them as my clothes.
"Where did you get these?!"
"Your closet."
"You were in my house?!"
"No. Piper was in your house. I don't want to go through a girl's closet."
"Oh, what a gentleman," I retorted sarcastically. "How do you know where I live? How do you even know who I am? Who's Piper?"
"I told you, we all- well, Callie- did some research. We'll explain later. Just get changed and let's go." Letting out an exasperated sigh, I trudged into the bathroom and changed my clothes. Once I was out of that dreadful hospital gown, I came back out in my nerdy attire. This guy- Peter- seemed like he was on high alert. He kept looking out the window and checking the hallway.
I announced my presence by clearing my throat. This caught his attention, and he walked over to me and held out his hand. I hesitated before taking it. He pressed a few buttons on a watch I hadn't noticed before. "Close your eyes. Try not to hurt yourself on the landing, would you?" Before I could question his words, everything within my field of vision blurred and went black. I felt nauseous and my bones ached. Pain shot through my tailbone and my back as I hit the floor with a hard thud. My head was spinning, and it took me a minute to regain my sight and to take in my surroundings. Peter noticed this and sighed. "I gave you one simple instruction, and what did you do? You botched it." I looked around, slack-jawed in awe; we were in a completely different location than before. The hospital was gone, and what took its place was a room resembling a standard office, but something was... off.
"New girl isn't too good at teleporting yet, eh?" A familiar voice caught my attention, and I looked up.
My heart skipped a beat.
