1906 [h.s.]

sixteen

"I don't think I'm ready to do this all over again" I whispered with a sigh as I changed my position on the floor to be more comfortable.

He nodded, barely seen in the dim light. "If you do as I say, this time won't be half as complicated."

"I hardly believe that" I said, and he shut me up right after, looking down at the floor with a concentrated look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, trying to be as quiet as possible.

He shook his head, leaning in to speak quietly into my ear. "A nurse will walk past the door in a couple minutes. The same one that took you away two days ago. We must stay silent."

"I don't like this" I sighed. "No offence, but people in your century are jerks."

He gave me an obvious look. "Cannot disagree. Silent, now" he simply replied.

He looked down as we heard some faint steps on the ground, taking a deep breath when the sound faded away.

I leant against the door again. "Will you ever tell me what's your deal?"

"What are you talking about?" He said frowning.

"Why were you admitted, I mean."

"I don't see how that's any of your interest."

"I deserve to know if... you know, there's something wrong. Since we're stuck together and you told me you were admitted into a fucking asylum" I hissed moving away from him.

He gave me a harsh look, passing a hand through his dark curls. "Do not worry, if something was wrong with me, it was fixed when I..." he let his voice drift away, realising how crude his sentence would've sounded. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" He added fast to fill the awkward silence that had followed his words.

"You still haven't proven otherwise, have you?" I asked back.

"Didn't think I had to prove my mental sanity." He stood up and started pacing nervously back and forth in the little room.

"Can you stop? You're being loud and I don't want to be discovered" I whispered harshly.

"Nobody's near" he replied before kneeling in front of me. "Do you truly think I'm crazy?" He asked quietly.

"Can you really blame me?"

He sighed. "I angered someone."

I frowned, not understanding. "What?"

"You wanted to know why I was admitted."

"Who did you tick off?"

He gave me a faint smile and stood up. "We need to move. Someone will come in soon."

"Where are we going?"

"Closer to the entrance of the Male Ward. There is a spare room, nobody will bother us in there" he replied.

"Why didn't we go there in the beginning?" I asked, confused.

"Why do you think it's a spare room?" He put his hand on the doorknob, slowly turning it to unlock the door as silently as possible.

"I don't think I understand."

He turned to look at me, the yellowish electric light coming inside from the corridor touching his pale skin. "Sometimes people disappear."

"Like you?" I asked him, and he gave me a little, but long lasting, glance, the pain in his eyes being quickly replaced by a faint smile from a hidden irony, that didn't reach his eyes.