Son of Lazarus

Chapter 10: True Insanity

October 3rd, 2040
11:35 p.m.

   I thought about father again; about his promise to visit and how it had been broken. I told myself that he was simply busy. I began to rock back and forth on my bed, listening as the springs creaked with each movement.
   Then a pair of footsteps came walking up the corridor. "Lily," I whispered, my voice foreign to my ears. I just knew she was back in her room after they took her hours before. My eyes flitted across my room; it hadn't changed.
   It was still the plain white it had always been. The only difference was that it was warm. It must be cold outside for them to have turned the heat on. My eyes rested on the corners of the room. The shadows warped and twisted again.
   Whatever shape they were taking now terrified me, especially since it was looking at me. Then the whispers started again, calling out my name and it only heightened my fear.
   "Stay away," I cried, pushing myself against the corner of the wall, the bed squeaking violently in protest. "Stay the fuck away!"

   I quickly brought my hands to my face to hide from whatever creature was staring at me through the shadows. Sweat was dripping down my bangs onto my legs while my body shook from the fear that had gripped my chest.
   I didn't know how much more of this I could stand. I was already on the cusp of insanity. Outside of my room in the corridor rose the sound of footsteps. They stopped and I heard my door spiraling open.
   I brought my head up to see a Whitecoat standing in the doorway with one of those clipboards in hand. He stared at it for a while before lifting his circular face to stare at me with hazel eyes. When he spoke, his voice was hard and commanding.
   "Come with me, Seven. The Doctor's waiting."
   "Why?" I asked, my voice scratching against my throat while bits of insanity dripped down into it. I couldn't control myself anymore; my body was moving on its own accord and sent me scooting across the bed until I was sitting on the edge.
   "Why would he be waiting for me? What more could he do to me that you fuckers haven't already?"

   An eerie smile was beginning to form on my face, I could feel it. Then a dark chuckle erupted from my throat. I was losing myself, and this fight, rather fast. The man's eyes returned to the clipboard for a moment before he looked at me again.
   "There's more testing that they have to do."
   My face hardened in disbelief. I knew he was lying to me, just like I knew that they were all lying. The only one who had ever been truthful with me was Lily. She had been the one to warn me about these people and she had been right.
   I should never have put my trust in these damned doctors. "If you come with me willingly," the Whitecoat said. I looked up at him, though all I could see was the shadows swimming around behind him.
   "Then everything will blow over smoothly. You have my word."
   Liar.
   A scoff rose out of my throat. This man was speaking as though I was going to fight back. I might as well, right? My sanity was already gone and it wasn't coming back, not after the hell I had been through.

   "Come on!" The man's voice had grown more forceful now. I swallowed against my dry throat while he turned to open up a space wide enough for me to step through between him and the door. "The doctor won't wait forever."
   I simply looked at him like he was the stupidest piece of shit around this place. Then another dark grin crossed my face and words played against my tongue. I bit them back. Instead, I slid from the bed and crossed the floor.
   I would go with this man, but I would fight this so-called doctor with everything I had left, no matter what the consequence would be. So I followed him out of the room and down the corridor that led away from the main entrance.
   We passed through two sets of double doors and turned down several corridors until I lost all sense of direction. Where we were now felt familiar. I had traveled this path before in my nightmares.
   We came to a set of stairs that spiraled down into darkness. Curiosity gripped my dimming mind and while the Whitecoat descended the stairs, I stopped on the top step, staring down at the shadows whose voices were caressing my ears.