Zelda skipped dinner that night. The thought of eating their food turned her stomach, and the voices were getting painfully loud in her head, so all she did was hide in her room. She sat on her bed, rocking slightly, eyes fixated on the piece of paper she had brought back with her for some reason she couldn't fathom.
'I know what you are'
He knows.
Knows what you've done.
Wants you to do it to him.
You will... won't you whore?
You'll fuck him, suck his cock, do whatever he wants.
Disgusting...
You're filth.
DEAD TO US!
She cringed on her bed, squeezing her eyes shut, begging the voices to stop. Who was that man? How did he know who she was? What she was? How could he?
BECAUSE YOU REEK YOU SLUT!
You smell of it.
You smell like their poison.
Idiot.
You deserved it.
Because you WANTED it!
Like you want him...
The one with blue hair...
Tears pricked at her eyes, warm hot tears that felt as though they'd sear her skin to cry.
Cry your acid tears.
Poison in your blood...
They'll do it again.
You can't sleep.
If you fall asleep the man with blue hair will come in here...
You want that though, don't you?
Then you can blame him...
Like you did the others.
All their fault.
Not yours...
IT WAS YOUR FAULT!
A stuttering cry escaped her lips, unheard by anyone else. She was alone. Alone with a dozen voices screaming in her head. "Zelda?" a kind voice made her jump in shock and she looked to the door to see a bright smiling face framed by puffy blonde hair and blue earrings as round as a ball. "Aren't you going to eat dinner?"
"N-no," Zelda shook her head carefully and the woman pulled her pink lips into a pout.
"Sweetums," she said soothingly as she came in, revealing soft pink scrubs. The sudden color almost hurt Zelda's eyes in the white room. She came in with a tray of food and Zelda shook her head. "You need to eat otherwise the medicine will upset your stomach," her voice was kind and soothing. "Since it's time to take your evening dose, you should eat something.
Zelda looked to the tray. Gray looking mush. Colorless. Lifeless. She shook her head and the nurse sighed.
"Well that's fine dear," she said and held out a small plastic cup containing pills.
Poison.
SWALLOW IT!
Like you always do.
LET THE POISON WIN!
Then blame the others for what happens.
ALL YOUR FAULT!
Zelda cringed and reached for the cup. She glanced at the nurse's nametag. Peach. A soft, sweet fruit. She wanted one.
"Need anything else?" Zelda just shook her head. "Okay, I'll be doing my rounds in a little bit, I'll stop in then." With that the pink scrubs were gone, and Zelda was alone.
You're never alone...
XxX
Sleep tugged at Zelda's brain as the facility seemed to darken around her. She wanted to lay down on the stiff sheets, lay her head on the joke of a pillow, close her eyes, and let sleep take her. But she was terrified. Sleep wouldn't come. It knocked on the door, hanging over the precipice, but wouldn't take the plunge.
She sat on her bed, knees to her chest, arms around her legs. She rocked, trying to calm her breathing. A shadow passed by her door that was slightly cracked, darkness blocking the light from the hall. She tensed, ready to bolt if need be. The shadow seemed to crouch, and a moment later the door cracked open a little bit wider. Zelda leapt to her feet, eyes on the sliver of light. Her breath stopped, her heart thundered.
A bright orange bag of chips was slipped into the crack of the door. The shadow stood up, eased the door back to it's original cracked setting, and walked off quickly. Zelda stared in disbelief. A tiny bag of chips. Unopened. Was this a trick? Was it poisoned?
POISONED!
Go ahead, not the first time you've taken things from strangers...
Zelda ignored the voices taunting her, instead listening to the rumble from her stomach. She tiptoed around her bed, wary of the still open door, and slowly made her way to the bag. Who did the shadow belong to? Who would give her chips? She stared at the bag of chips, wanting the powdery cheesy goodness, but terrified to reach. Fearful of the possibility that the shadow was still lurking about. Waiting to grab her.
Panic hurting her chest, she knelt down, reaching pale fingers to the chips slowly. She gripped the bag and pulled it to her, scrambling on her hands and knees back to the safety of the other side of her bed. There, back pressed against the white walls, she examined the bag.
It was sealed. No rips. No holes. Still in date too. Had Peach left it for her? Why didn't she just come on in then? Why be so weird about it? Hesitation slowing her movements, Zelda ripped open the bag. The crinkling sound of the bag made her cringe. Wouldn't someone hear her? The bag open, she looked at the crunchy cheesy bites and gave in.
Now you've done it.
Given in to their poison.
Stupid slut...
XxX
Zelda jolted awake, the humming of a feminine voice soothing once she placed the sound. Sweeping the floor, a tiny woman stood right outside the door. Zelda sat up slowly, trying to place the song. It sounded so familiar...
"Oh hello dearie," she smiled up at her, a kind round face peering up under dark bangs. "Any trash in your room for me to take?" she queried and Zelda sheepishly held up the empty bag of chips. "Now how'd you get those?" she put her hands on her wide hips, a smile on her face that showed she wasn't upset at all.
"Someone... brought them," Zelda said and the woman chuckled.
"Sounds like someone has a secret admirer," she whispered conspiratorally. Zelda shook her head emphatically. "I'm serious! Who else would leave food outside your door?"
"I-I don't know," Zelda admitted and the woman smiled as she stepped forward to take the empty bag. Zelda shied from her hand, not wanting to be touched, and the woman just gave her another warm smile before backing up.
"Well don't worry, your secret is safe with me," she winked and stepped out the door, vanishing down the hallway in a flurry of chemical scents.
"She's an odd cleaning lady," Daisy's voice made Zelda jump, the brunette smiling at her in the doorway. "Come on, time to take your meds and to grab some breakfast." Zelda nodded and stood up, stretching slightly. "After breakfast there's some group meetings you can attend, or you can just hang out in the rec area... there's a garden-"
"C-can I shower?" Zelda asked curiously.
"Of course honey, I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner! Right through here," she moved to the wall, opening a door Zelda had just assumed led to a closet. "Toilet, sink, and shower, all for you. Soap's on a dispenser, it's flowery unless you need a special one." She indicated a dispenser much like the ones by sinks in public bathrooms. "Towels we will bring and Nana will pick up."
"Nana?" Zelda asked and Daisy laughed.
"Yes, the strange little lady, we all call her Nana," she smiled and Zelda felt her lips threaten to twist into a smile. "Now then you have a meeting with both Doctor Mario and Doctor Aran today, we'll get you when it's time okay?" a nod was all Zelda could manage as she eyed the white tile of the shower warily.
Strip down.
Do it.
Want to be naked don't you?
Want them to see you...
Want them to want you...
WHORE!
"How did you sleep last night Zelda?" Daisy asked and Zelda stared at her for a moment as the words sank in.
"Oh... fine," she mumbled, moving forward to the open shower area.
"Would you like to shower?" she asked and Zelda nodded. "Alright, I'll fetch you a towel and some clean clothes okay? You can shower after breakfast. Come now, follow me."
XxX
Careful steps took her into the dining area, her light eyes surveying the scene carefully. Her eyes landed on the man with blue hair and her heart sped up.
Go fuck him.
Like you want.
Slut.
Spread your legs and let him in.
Poison first, then the man... Remember?
OF COURSE YOU DO!
Zelda tensed as the voices raged on, eyes on the blue haired man with his back to her as he sat at a table with another man with blue hair. The other had longer hair that hung in his eyes. His wrists were covered in vicious red scars and his eyes were on the other with adoration. Zelda felt a pang of jealously as she tore her eyes away, moving to the line. Maybe they'd have something sealed she could eat. Like the chips...
She made it to the food servers, and found tiny boxes of cereal at the end of the line. On the top row sat her favorite kind, the dark blue box and cartoony character promising her sugary bliss. Her vision tunneled to that as she moved towards it, thinking of filling her stomach with food more than-
-her hand hit another. She gasped and jumped back, eyes landing on the hand going for her box of cereal. She followed the sleeved arm up to the face, gasping again at the spiky blue-haired man.
"S-sorry," he stumbled over his tongue, hand pulling back as if the contact burned. "Here, you take it," he said softly, eyes not on her but an imaginary spot in between them. He started to move away, Zelda feeling panic in her quickening breath.
FUCK HIM LIKE YOU WANT TO!
WHORE!
SLUT!
He touched your hand, your body is next...
She cringed against the words, a whine escaping her lips and the man whirled, concern in his dark blue eyes that briefly met hers. "You okay?" he asked and she panicked, every inch of her body telling her to do one thing.
She ran.
HE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE!
YOU AREN'T SAFE!
Just kill yourself.
Succeed this time... disappointment...
END IT ALL!
Zelda whimpered as she ran, heart thundering like it wanted to break out of her chest. She needed to hide. Needed to get away.
He's dangerous.
In his eyes...
He's killed before.
Fucked before.
He's killed and fucked and now he has his eyes on you...
XxX
Zelda burst from the double doors to the outside, a pitiful garden that needed weeding a few feet ahead of her in the dry dirt. She sucked down air, falling to her knees as she tried to breathe sweet fresh air. Breathe... In... Out...
"Zelda?" Daisy's voice was full of concern and soft, but still Zelda jumped as if she struck her. "What happened?"
"He...I..." she fumbled over her tongue, unsure what to say.
"Did Ike say something to you?" she asked carefully.
"Ike?" Zelda didn't know a man named Ike.
"The man with the blue spiky hair, his name is Ike. Zelda if he said something to you I'm sorry he's dealing with a severe form of PTSD and-"
"His hand touched mine," Zelda said softly and Daisy's brow furrowed.
"He touched you?"
"It was an accident," Zelda mumbled, "but it scared me." She blushed with the admission, not quite sure what else to say but the truth. Daisy smiled at her, eyes dancing with mirth.
"Well, Ike means you no harm, though he does say strange things from time to time... Now here," she held up a medicine cup and Zelda sighed as she held out a hand. Another colorful pill cocktail for her.
Poison... poison in pink, blue, yellow...
They'll throw you to him, this Ike.
Ike.
Daisy left and Zelda rocked back and forth slightly. "Ike," she breathed the name, willing her heart to calm down.
XxX
Zelda finally calmed down enough to go back to her room. She opened the door, smiling at the sight of one neatly folded bleached white towel, one neatly folded bleached white washcloth, one neatly folded grey set of pants and shirt, and one... her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of the tiny cereal box beside the clothes, a torn piece of paper under it.
'I'm sorry' the paper read in the same scrawl from the day before. She stared at the cereal. How did he know?
He's been in here.
He's the shadow.
He'll come back.
You can't sleep...
You aren't safe...
Not here.
Not anywhere.
NOWHERE IS SAFE!
XXX
So, the second chapter down the rabbit hole... we've got a ways to go! Shout out to my reviewers for the first chapter: concisponci, FireEmblemNerd0909, and the guest 0! Let me know what you think, much love, Leigh
