1:08pm
March 4, 2007
Charlemagne Chamberlain
Blackthorne Sanitarium: Visit with Rebecca Summers
The hall way to the women's ward was long and depressing, in Charlemagne's opinion. Dull gray light flowed through the windows, throwing all that the light touched into a solemn state, and gave the illusion that the building itself was in mourning. The shadow seemed to ebb in and out of view. Great deal of help it does the patient,. Char thought as she walked down the hall. She turned left at the last corridor and entered the sunroom.
The irony was almost sad. The light that flittered in from the stain glass windows was weak and dreary. In fact it seemed like the dim light was draining the occupants of all energy leaving a lifeless husk in their form. Perfect conditions for a sunroom.
Most of the patients sat still in ridged postures; they were still enough to be mistake for statues if it wasn't for the slight movement with every intake of breath. None seemed too interested in who was there and who wasn't. One woman in the corner lifted her head from a book for a brief second to eye Charlemagne.
The deaden atmosphere of the sunroom gave Char the slightest sensation of fear. It was odd to see so many people with monotonous stares. Their blank and expressionless faces gave her the creeps. She stood in the doorframe for a moment, trying to decide the best course of action. She didn't see the girl from the film anywhere in the gloomy room.
Shit… This is great… dumbass didn't tell me where she would be… I should have asked… Great first day and I'm already fucking up…
Char turn and walked out the room, following the long hall, past Dr. Sadler's office and straight to the nurse's station. She drew a sharp breath in and straightened her posture, Have to look professional. She thought. Damn if she was a fool already, taking a job she had never done, with only the most minimal experience to guide her. But she wasn't going to let that stop her.
"Excuse me, I'm Charlemagne Chamberlain, I'm the clinical psychologist." Char smile politely at the black woman behind the counter. According to the name tag, the pretty young woman with her hair braded tightly was Sarah. She looked slightly out of place, like an actor working as a bank teller or a model as a janitor, or at least that's what char thought to herself. Her dark, almond eyes gave Char a once over, before she smiled and reach out a hand.
"Oh you're the new girl; we've been waitin for the new help to arrive. I'm Sarah by the way." Sarah gave an enthusiastic hand shake. Her sight rested on the four stems of daffodils in Charlemagne's left hand.
"You got that Summers girl as your first case?" It was more of an observation than a question.
"Yeah, Dr. Sadler seems to think a she'll be more responsive to a new face"
"Yeah? That's some bull shit he's pulling. I wouldn't go near that girl if I had a choice. In my opinion, there's crazy, bat shit crazy, and then there are those poor souls like Rebecca." There was a slight hint of a sneer as she said the last bit
"I guess I'll just have to see what I can do. I mean that's why I took this job in the first place." A small piece of her confidence was returning. After all that what she wanted to do, help those who couldn't help themselves.
"Well, I should be going. Where exactly is she right now?"
"She ain't in the sunroom then she's most likely in the lounge on the second floor. Stairways right behind you to the right, once you get to the second floor just head straight down. Big double door, hard to miss."
"Ok. Well thanks Sarah. I'll see you later."
"Most likely, just cause Dr. Sadler assigned her to you doesn't mean we ain't gonna need help with the others." A slight smile played at Sarah's lips. She shook Char's hands again and turned back to the charts.
Char turned and headed towards the stair well. To say the least, the stairs was a huge spiral that seemed to evaporate into the ceiling, and the lights were even dimmer here. The doors were oddly heavy at the top, like they were made of steel or at least reinforced. The hall was also peculiarly dark; stains covered the carpet and walls. There had either been a fire recently or soot from the furnace was making its way to the second floor and settling like dust.
I see health standards aren't every high here. Nice dump they got here, a couple of crazies, substandard living conditions, depressing decor… Its one nice shit house.
Char heard something playing softly at the end of the hall. It was a sad melody coming from the lounge, a simple and rhythmic tune echoed through the hall. It sounded vaguely familiar yet it was not likely to found playing on the radio. More along the lines of something she heard from a music box.
There was only one person in the dome lime room, a young woman, no more than sixteen sat at the piano singing in a hushed voice to the tune. There were little of the lyrics that Char could make out.
Her pale face was nearly covered in a curtain of auburn hair, messy and unkempt. She wore a ragged blue dress that seemed a century outdated. Her long fingers slowly drifted over the key of the piano. At some point and time, she was really pretty. Char thought. But that beauty has long since vanished. Her eyes were sunken and dark rings lined her eye lids. Her skin seemed to be stretched tightly over her skeletal limbs.
Char slowly made her way over to the piano and placed the flowers down. Rebecca ignored her and continued to play. Slowly the song drew to a close and Rebecca lifter her head and made eye contact with Char. Char moved around the piano and took a seat next to Rebecca on the bench.
"Hello, Rebecca. My name is-"
"I know who you are." The sudden out burst put Char off. Rebecca continued to stare into her eyes, making her feel uncomfortable. Rebecca's voice was harsh and raspy; it reminded Char of a smoker who had smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day. She swiped away a stand of matted hair out of her face and smiled. While some might have interpreted this as a friendly gesture, it made Char thinks of a slasher killer from all the horror movies she had seen. It was more of a smirk than a smile.
"You're Miss Chamberlain; you're here to replace that idiot Jensen aren't you?" A small trace of pride was in her voice.
"Another nonbeliever…"
Curiosity got the better of Char, she should have redirected the conversation else where for the time being.
"And you are a believer?"
"Yes… I am her priestess, her saint, her knight… and you're just another blaspheming pig to the slaughter. A stain on the world, you're not worthy of her grace." A small trace of spit hit Char right in the face. Rebecca's eyes slowly drifted to the daffodils on the piano.
"I see you brought an offering to her, on her behalf, I'll accept… don't think that you are in her favor though! She'll never show favor to a disgusting infidel like you!" A manic smile spread across her face as she spoke. Something roes up behind her eyes, filling them with an eerie darkness.
"And who is this goddess, the one that you mentioned?" There it was again, the curiosity that compelled her to dig deeper. Rebecca's temper was already rising, but she pressed on. What good would it do to know this goddess? But she asked anyway.
"Rebecca, who is this goddess?"
A low whisper escaped Rebecca's mouth, so low that Char had to lean in to hear.
"She is… YOU'RE DEATH!!"
Before Char could react, both of Rebecca's hands found her throat. She felt a sharp pain begin to spread form the airways and around her voice box. Char struggled to remove the vice grip, gasping for breath. She tried to scream once or twice but nothing escaped her except for a low murmur and the sharp intake of constricted air. As Char bucked and twisted, her hand found it way to something around Rebecca's neck. A dull pain now filled her hand and something warm and wet began to leak from her hands.
Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Please, someone!! Help me!!! Char thought to her self wildly. There wasn't much Char could do at the moment. The lack of oxygen began to take effect. Her vision began to fade, and as it did the face of Rebecca seemed to melt and singe away; leaving only a corpse of burnt and rotten flesh and a putrid smell filling the air. Black dot began to swim in and out of sight. Dark halos surrounded her entire field of vision. A strange whining sound penetrated the air, like a thousand screaming souls in her ears. The last thought Charlemagne had before the darkness and maddening sounds engulfed her was, please God, don't let me die here…