Dinah
gave up struggling, stopped straining against the thick straps that
bound her wrists to the cot, and quietly dropped back onto the
pillow. She saw her aunt's white face beside her, felt her hand
clutching Dinah's, and felt the sharp prick of the needle as the
paramedic injected her with a tranquilizer. Haldol, how unnecessary,
Dinah thought as she quickly got woozy and slipped into a chemically
induced sleep. The doors to the ambulance slammed shut, and, sirens
off, they pulled out of the driveway of the manor and headed out of
Bizenghast.
When Dinah came to, she was in a strange waiting room,
alone, though she could see her aunt behind a glass window, filling
out forms. I wish Vincent were here, Dinah thought, her blue eyes
filling with tears as she remembered. Remembered why she was there,
how she'd screamed until she couldn't hear the cacophony anymore,
until nothing mattered. Edrear had taken her home, helped her in
through the window as it was so late at night. Dinah had mindlessly
gotten into bed, laid down and closed her eyes. Behind her eyelids
though, she could see every second of what had happened that night;
the screw that had found its way into her friend's chest, piercing
his heart and killing him almost instantaneously. She opened her eyes
and saw him standing there like all the others, the spectres and
spirits that haunted the young schizophrenic, and she gasped. Placing
a finger to his ghostly pale lips, he moved slowly towards Dinah, the
large maritime screw protruding from his chest, as it had both in her
nightmare and the last time she saw him. What to do? Her mind
frantically spun. She was used to solving the problems of spirits,
but she knew him, he was Vincent, and where were Edrear and
Edaniel now? Vincent's ghost had crossed the floor and seated itself
on Dinah's bed. Out of habit, she moved her feet to give him room to
sit, but he pointed out by floating lightly over the bed when he sat
that this was necessary. He didn't say a word, merely sat with her,
looked at her, and Dinah looked back. Those eyes, those grey
eyes that she had last seen so dead and cold, were again shining and
full of life. The silence hung around them for a moment before Dinah
broke it.
"Why are you here?" She breathed, her voice
barely more than a whisper.
Vincent's ghost shook its spectral
head.
"Is this some trick of Bali-Lali?" Dinah tried
again, her voice stronger this time.
Vincent's head again
shook.
"What? What did she do to you--make you do?!"
Dinah shrieked, her voice hitting full power. Vincent reached out an
arm and gently lay a finger across Dinah's lips. He willed her, be
silent, be calm, and she was. Vincent waited for Dinah's heart to
stop pounding, for the blood that he no longer had to stop rushing
and fueling her emotions. He leaned in quietly and placed his icy
lips against hers for a mere second or two, and then faded away; his
earthly business was finished.
This was when Dinah had started
screaming and when her aunt came running down the stairs, she found
that she would not stop. An ambulance had been called, Dinah now
wondered if she'd woken the paramedics who transported her in the
ambulance, after all, Bizenghast had only two.
Her aunt and a
nurse came back into the waiting room, where Dinah sat, along, but
for a man who looked like he'd seen better days. The nurse stepped
forward and said:
"Alright, Dinah. Welcome to
Providence."
Dinah was numb as she listened to the nurse
telling her that her aunt could not go any further and that it was
time to say goodbye. She was numb while her aunt tearfully hugged her
goodbye, and she was numb as she was loaded into a van that, she was
told, would take her to the hospital where she'd be receiving
treatment. The van arrived, Dinah got out, and looked at where she'd
be staying. She held in hand the small suitcase her aunt had quickly
packed for her in the time while they waited for the paramedics.
The
building looked like every old convent she'd ever seen, and she knew
that's exactly what it was. The walls inside were institutional
green, and the floors were an unattractive tile. When they arrived on
her floor, Dinah stood meekly as they shuffled through the contents
of her suitcase, flipping through pages of her books, journals, and
sketchbooks, and rifling through her clothes.
"You can't wear
that." the woman, Deb, said with an unpleasant look of disdain
on her face. Dinah's nightgown consisted of a sleeveless white shift,
and she could not see the problem with it.
"Wear this."
Deb said, handing her a sweater from inside the suitcase.
"You're
in that room." Deb pointed to a three person room at the end of
the hallway.
Dinah looked out a window coated with Plexi-Glass to
see the sun beginning to rise.
What the point was in going to bed,
Dinah did not know, as she curled up under the covers and tried to
sleep.
