The solid slamming of the car door echoed through the whole carpark. The young man sprinted. He was too late. Not a good start to a new job. The man hoped it would not cause any problems.
Slightly out of breath he reached the desk and lined up in the queue. He had to wait for quite a long time, until a woman behind the counter recognized the young man and her face brightened.
" Mr. Schmidt! There you are, I thought you would not show up today.'', The woman said, causing the young man to blushe.
"Sorry for my delay, but there were a few problems with my car and it was really as fast as I could come.'', he said somewhat embarrassed, but she just waved it off.
" Forget it, Mr. Schmidt.'' , the employee said, leading him to a new staff room.
"Please Mrs. Klein, call me Max'', the young man called Max said with a slight smile.
'' Of course", the woman nodded. Max looked around with interest at a corner and discovered the logo of his job. Santa Maria Department of Psychiatry. The two arrived at the room, and Mrs. Klein handed the boy his work clothes.
" We do not want to spend a long time here, right? Let's get started.'', the middle-aged woman said with an encouraging smile.
" As you know Max, at the moment we have a lack of staff at the hospital, as many seem to have been wrong with the career direction, if you know what I mean. Nursing mentally unstable people is not easy. Therefore, your request for a job came just right. You will supervise three people who I will introduce to you right away.'' The nurse said and Max just listened attentively.
"Let us go then.'' She announced, and led him to the rooms in the right wing of the hospital.
Fast the door was closed by Mrs. Klein. Max stared at the firmly closed door, still shocked.
"He is not an easy patient, but he's not always like that. You have met him at the wrong time.'', the woman said soothing and Max swallowed hard.
"Come with me. The next you will need to supervise is still very young. She recently turned 18 and is called Marie Brennen. The girl's parents got killed in a car accident. Marie and her two brothers were sent to a castle, where their uncle lived. There, the girl has suffered depression and had a collapse. She constantly talks about some monster, murmuring the name of her uncle. The funny thing, however, is that the girl apart from her hallucinations seems very normal. In our other cases, this is not the case. Please note that the poor girl is terrified of the dark. The light should not go out under any circumstances.'', the woman explained.
They reached a door at the very end of the corridor. Mrs Klein opened it and entered.
Indeed a young woman sat on a chair by the window and looked down into the blooming garden. The clinic was really nice and reassuring, apart from the really severe cases.
"Good morning Marie. Did you sleep good?'' , Mrs. Klein asked and folded the unmade bed sheet. The girl appeared to be ignored her words.
"Why is the wardrobe so torn up and why are your clothes on the floor?'', she asked puzzled.
" So I can hide when they come.'', the girl replied in a low brittle voice.
" When who comes?'', she asked uncertainly. Max looked around a little worried.
"His vile servants.'', The girl spat out. The nurse glanced at Max, as if to say, see I told you so. "How about you greet Mr. Schmidt Marie? He will keep you company from now on.'', the nurse said. The girl slowly turned to Max and stared him straight in the eye. Her intense gaze gave him a uncomfortable feeling. After what felt like eternity, she turned away and stared into the setting sun.
"Hello Mr. Schmidt.'' She suddenly said, and a small smile spread across his face.
,, But please, call me Max'', he said, the young man left the room.
Max was on his way to his third patient. The others he had already supplied, the only one missing now was Marie. His first week at the clinic had run fairly smoothly and slowly he got used to the strenuous work.
He quietly knocked on Marie's door and entered. As always, she was sitting by the window and waited, for what he didn't know. With a few quick movements, he made her bed and grabbed a chair. With a slight squeak, he pushed the chair next to Marie and sat down beside her.
"He will come get me.'', she whispered, looking into the distance with her leaf green eyes.
"Who will get you Marie?'', Max asked softly and Marie slowly turned to him. Their eyes met, and he could see it in her eyes, Marie trusted him.
"Alexander.'',she hissed with hatred.
"What did he do?'' He asked. What could have made her uncle called Alexander so bad?
"Shall I tell you a story?'' She asked Max to his astonishment.
"Yes.'' He answered hesitantly. Why did she change the subject now?
"All right. But listen carefully. There was a girl once...''