Another World
Something wasn't quite right. It felt like nothing she had ever experienced. She looked around, trying to find out what caused this feeling. The sky was dark and cloudy, gusts of wind pulled the young woman's raven black hair. The weather fit her mood exactly. It always did.
She could see nothing wrong in the landscape. The world was like she knew it had to be. She stood on the deserted plains. In front of her was the outline of the city inhabited by the dark and twisted shadows. This feeling had nothing to do with the city. It came from another direction.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the strange feeling. She allowed herself to be dragged towards it. When she stopped, she knew that whatever caused this feeling had to be right in front of her. She opened her eyes and gasped from the surprise. The shock almost made her lose her grip on the world, making the other one shimmer through. It took every bit of willpower to stay were she was. As the world came into focus again, she concentrated on the scene before her.
In the middle of a whirling storm of dust and fog, touched by a ray of sunlight stood a man. She didn't know what surprised her more, the sunlight or the man. Both shouldn't be here. This was her place, her asylum. She worked hard to make it safe. How did he come here?
Slowly and carefully she approached the man, studying him. The man was tall and muscular. His hear short and dark. He was beautiful. He looked like a fallen angel. He was extremely tense, every muscle in his body hard as a rock. His fists were clenched at his sides, arms stretched out, eyes shut tight. She could feel his fear and his fury. He radiated danger. Still, she felt herself drawn to this man. It felt like he belonged there, like he belonged to her.
The woman extended her hand towards the man. At the moment her hand almost made contact with his fist, his eyes opened. She found herself looking in a pair of bewildered blue eyes. Anger, fear, surprise and a glint of recognition all fought for a place.
He tried to speak, but no words could be heard. Suddenly the fear in his eyes increased into panic and he reached towards her. Their hands had barely touched when he disappeared.
The young woman remained alone. Her world again back to how it should be, but it didn't feel safe anymore. Instead it felt empty and dark. He had taken the sunlight away with him. She collapsed on the ground and an intense wave of loneliness washed over her.
It was a depressing room. Spread out on the greasy carpet stood a collection of old and non-matching furniture. It smelt like unwashed bodies and stale cigarette smoke, although smoking had been banned for some time now.
It was obvious someone had tried to decorate the room. A few bright paintings on the wall, cushions on the couches, colored drapes in front of the window. This didn't change the fact that there were locks on every door and window. It did nothing to affect the desperation seeping out the people in the room.
Two women sat on the couch, softly arguing, both of them talking at the same time, not listening to the other. A man stood by the window, hands and forehead pressed against the glass, he had a huge smile on his face. He had been in the exact same position for hours.
In the middle of the room stood a man. This man had just been brought in. He had been heavily sedated due to the extreme aggression he had shown when they had picked him from the street a few days earlier.
The police had been called because the neighbors couldn't stand the noise he made anymore. They had put up with him for some time, feeling sorry for him. But after an entire night of stamping and screaming they had had enough. The policeman who tried to talk to him, found him to be extremely deranged. When they tried to take him to the police office to calm him down and get him the help he needed, he exploded, seriously injuring the policeman and his partner before backup arrived.
The sedation slowly released his grip on him. He felt his thoughts getting clearer. This did not mean he had control over his mind again. He never had. He stood tall, every muscle in his powerful body tensed, fists clenched, eyes shut tightly. For a moment he experienced he was somewhere else, strange surroundings, an alien looking landscape and a beautiful dark angel, then he switched back to a more familiar place, a huge arena, lights bright, music loud. His world, his haven.
In most places this man would have gotten loads of attention, if it wasn't for the fact that he was unfamiliar, it would have been for his extreme beauty, or his extraordinary behavior. In this room nobody seemed to notice him.
Right in front of him, at the other side of the room, a dark haired young woman, hair tied back in a braid, sat on the floor. She hugged her knees and slowly rocked back and forth. The woman was in her own world, her time in reality was getting less and less.
When she was younger, she had panicked about what was happening to her. She experienced no control over her mind and was terrified by both the world inside her as by the real world outside. That time was long gone. Her control over her own world had grown and she felt safe there now.
She mostly ignored the outside world. Or reality as They called it. They told her lots of things, mostly trying to trick her by using fancy words. They tried to tell her that she was sick, that she needed to get better, that she needed to take pills. They told her she was schizophrenic, that she would die if not treated. She just ignored Them. She knew what Schizophrenia was. It meant that you heard and saw things that weren't there. How could she be like that, when her world was obviously real.
She knew what They were doing. They hated her, wanted to hurt her just like anyone else ever had. They wanted to take her world from her. They wanted to take away the only place she had ever felt save. They wanted to steal the place from her that she had discovered, when she was just a little girl who tried to escape the intense fear that made up her daily life. She knew They were jealous, she knew They couldn't stand it that she had her asylum when They had none. They might be smart, but she was smarter.
Now tears were streaming down the woman's face. This was something that hadn't happened in more than a year now. Sadness had been long gone. Fear and hate and anger the only feelings left. Until today; the man invading her world had released this loneliness and sorrow.
A feeling of discomfort in her body caused her to leave her world and enter the outside again. She couldn't wait until she could leave her body behind. It was the only thing that kept her here. She hated it. She tried to hurt it whenever she could, hoping it would just let her go.
The woman opened her green eyes. She blinked a few times to get used to the bright sunlight in the room, than focused on her surroundings. When she looked up, her eyes opened wide. The man was right there. He stood exactly like he had in her world. She stood up, stumbling on her numb legs, and walked towards him, like she had before.
She studied him, as he stood in the sunlight. She could see his eyes moving behind his closed eyelids, intense feelings showing on his face. She recognized him immediately. He was the same as her. He too had his own world, but he was relatively new. His emotions were still raw and hurt him badly. He needed her help.
She stood in front of him, not touching him, patiently waiting until he returned. She ignored the needs of her body. She didn't know how long she waited. Time didn't mean anything to her. She felt his tension lessen and slowly his eyes opened. At first he stared right through her, a moment later, he saw her. They stared in each other eyes for the second time that day. Both felt the connection.
She cocked her head when she heard people approach the room. She reached out to touch his chest, her hand on his heart. "Don't take the pills. They make you lose your world." He slowly nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes.
Two people, a small man and a chubby woman, dressed in hospital uniforms entered the room. They looked out of place here, strangely cheerful and healthy.
"Good afternoon everybody!" The nurse called out happily. "How are we doing today?"
The man was the only one who reacted. He stared at them; she could feel his fear growing into a panic. She whispered to him. "Just ignore Them. They will go soon."
"So Myrra." It took the black haired woman a minute to recognize her name. She slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice, but stared right through the nurse. "I see you have met our new resident. His name is Randall. I'm glad to see you back with us today Myrra. Do you want your pills tonight?"
Myrra ignored the woman. She always did. The only reason she had reacted at all was the familiar ring of her name. The nurse just ignored her too. She was obligated to try, but Myrra had been here for more than a year, so she knew it would be useless and even dangerous to do anything else. Still the interest Myrra had in the new man was promising. It was the first time in months Myrra had shown her interest in anything real.
"Randall, it's time for your medication." The nurse turned to the new resident and couldn't help but to admire the beauty of the man. Would she have met him anywhere else, she would be drooling over him.
Right now she felt intimidated. She had read the report on him. He could be extremely aggressive when treated the wrong way. She could see that the fear and confusion were only a small layer on a boiling pit of fury. That was why he was admitted there. He had to calm down, so he could be treated. He also needed his medication, but there was no way to force him. The instruction was not to put any pressure on him.
A low voice rumbled, cold with anger. "My name is Randy, never call me by that other name again. Keep your pills and leave us be." Then he ignored the nurse, fixing his eyes on Myrra again.
The nurse left the pair. She would report this. The psychiatrist could decide what to do with him. She also worried about Myrra. The woman looked thin and almost translucent. She barely ate and she was getting more and more deranged. It had been a while since her last suicide attempt, but the nurse was afraid Myrra would just let herself waste away.
She was curious to see if the association between Myrra and Randy would help them both to fight their disease, or if they would pull each other in deeper. It wouldn't help to get any medication into Randall, that was certain. She had to remember to report that everyone should call him Randy.
"Myrra?" He spoke her name carefully; exploring how it sounded. "Where am I? Why? Who was that woman? Why does she want me to take pills?" He was working himself into a panic now, the last of the sedation gone.
Myrra laid her hands on Randy's arms. She wasn't afraid of him. Why should she be? She didn't care about her body. He was dangerous, but so was the world. His eyes hadn't left her face.
"Don't be afraid, Randy. It looks like a bad place, but They can't force you to do anything. Just don't listen to anything They say. You are safe here. You can be in your world whenever you want."
It made a strange picture, the tiny woman, next to the big frame of the man. They were both extremely beautiful. They had that kind of beauty that didn't belong in this world. Both of them looked out of place in this room. They looked like angels, but they were trapped by their own minds, locked up in a highly secure psychiatric ward.
Read and Review please! Let me know if you want more of this. i'm not sure yet if it will be more than a one shot.