Chapter Two
He remembers. It's the first thought that comes to him; he remembers. He remembers Maria and Clyde. He remembers 13 Bannerman Road and the picket fence at the park, he remembers Sarah Jane and the Bane, and most importantly; he remembers the aliens.
His eyes flicker open, and he glances around the room. It's the same room he was previously in the other day, and all he can think is; this isn't right. It can't be. He isn't delusional. There has to be something going on, and he isn't insane. He's not.
There's a little cup on his bedside table, with three multicolored pills resting beside it. He stares at them for a moment, wondering if he should take them, and then he decides. No, he won't take them. If something is going on, then maybe he's been caught by an alien or something. Maybe Doctor Tanizaki is an alien, and he's gotten Sarah Jane and Maria and Clyde somehow.
It's the only valid explanation he has for it.
He glances around the room, looking for security cameras. Strangely, there are none, just the walls and the toys and the vase with the rose in it. And the pills, and the cup of water.
But he won't take them. Who knows what kind of drugs they might be? He can barely remember yesterday as it is, and yesterday did feel strange and bizarre- like playing a video game for the first time and messing up.
No matter what, he has to talk to Maria and Clyde. If the alien's tricked Sarah Jane into thinking she's some sort of a doctor, since she is an adult, she'll be the hardest to convince. He has to prove to Maria and Clyde he's a-
Belly button.
Luke doesn't have a belly button!
How could he have forgotten? He wasn't born, after all, he was created by the Bane. Strange as it might be to go up to them and say, "hey, I haven't got a belly button, so aliens are real and I'm not insane." Wouldn't help him at all. It would probably just put him into deeper treatment.
Pulling his shirt up slightly, he rubs his thumb over his stomach.
And he freezes.
He has a belly button.
Panic surges through him and he nearly falls over, teetering dangerously from side to side- but, no. No, no, no. If this alien was able to trick Sarah Jane into thinking that she's a doctor, and aliens aren't real, then it's surely able to toy with him. He could be hallucinating right now; he recalls the pills from yesterday.
Well, he won't take them anymore, then. Even if Maria and Clyde are on hallucinative pills, he just needs to convince himself that he's right in order to get out of here.
Most importantly, he can not forget Clyde and Maria again. Like he did yesterday; strange, almost like he has two personalities, two people living inside him.
Still, he pegs finding Maria and Clyde as his number one goal at the moment. He needs as much information as he can get. And right now, they might be the only ones who can help him.
"Are there cameras?" he whispers, bringing a piece of toast up to his mouth to hide what he's saying.
"Sorry?" Maria pauses in her eating - well, more like picking at her food - to stare at him. All she has is a few spoonfuls of scrambled eggs.
"Are there security cameras?"
Maria snorts. "Of course there are."
"Shh, don't talk so loud,"he reprimands her. "Maria... what do you remember before coming here?"
The brunette's brow furrows. "Don't be silly. I've told you this hundreds of times before."
"Tell me again."
"I hate it when you relapse,"she whines, returning to poking her eggs. m getting better, I'm eating now. Maybe I can go back to school in a while. But if you keep on relapsing, you'll be stuck here forever."
"I won't be stuck here. I just need you to tell me what you remember," Luke says.
Maria sighs. "I have anorexic. That's why I'm here. It's only short-term treatment. You were me and Clyde's friend for a while, but then you lost it and started telling everyone your mum was an alien. You've been here for three years."
"That's what everyone's been telling me." Luke insists, "but I can't help but notice that you aren't telling me anything about you. You're just talking about me. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
Maria freezes, but turns back to her eggs. "Not really. I don't like talking about myself or my past. I just want to get better."
Where's Clyde?" Luke sighs, because maybe he'll listen to him.
Maria shrugs. "Dunno. Nobody's seen him this morning."
Maria tells Luke that Clyde is meeting with Doctor Tanizaki. She stands up, picking up her tray, and heads over to the conveyor belt. She comes back and sits across from him, eyes studying him. He frowns a bit, squirming slightly under her gaze. Finally, she speaks.
"Monday, that's when you came here, three years ago."She continues speaking, but he has stopped listening, because he's- well, he isn't sure if it's really remembering, he isn't sure the memories are real.
*three years ago*
It was raining, the gloomy skies turning the three story brick building into a grey dreary prison. (Which it basically is.) It's just a prettier prison, and instead of inmates who have committed crimes, kids and teenagers with mental health issues are sent here.
Luke doesn't want to be here, but apparently he's delusional. He heard his foster mother talking on the phone.
She's looking at him, mouth pressed in a thin line, impatiently waiting. He's dragging his feet going as slow as he can. He doesn't care if she's getting impatient, he hates her. He has gone through several foster families, but he's lived with Ms. Wormwood the longest, two years.
She's getting tired of waiting and grabs his wrist, practically dragging him along. He has to half run to keep up.
They enter the building. It's like a hotel lobby- plush seats, luscious plants. A woman in a nurse's uniform comes out, she has kind eyes, and Luke wishes she was his mother.
"I'm Sarah Jane Smith, you must be Mrs. Wormwood, and you must be Luke"
"Do I just leave him here, then?" asks Mrs. Wormwood. She doesn't even wait for an answer, just walks off without a backward glance.
Sarah Jane frowns, then turns to the child next to her. He seems small for ten. He looks up at her- he's a good-looking child, the kind of child she would have liked to have if circumstances were different. She holds out her hand and slips his hand into hers.
He has a visitor. Sarah Jane comes and gets him, leading him into the common room. He isn't sure who he expects.
His social worker stands up. She smiles nervously.
"She doesn't want me anymore." It wasn't a question, he's been waiting for this day. Or has he? He isn't sure, but he feels nothing .
"I'm so sorry."She shakes her head.
He doesn't care. "May I be excused?" he asks, before backing out of the room.
He doesn't like when it's time for bed. He hates lying in the dark- he's scared of the dark, because in the dark he can see the creatures everyone says don't exist and he is never sure if he's dreaming or remembering.
So he doesn't close his eyes and he doesn't sleep.
The door opens and Sarah Jane comes in. She hasnoticed he never sleeps - hasn't for several months - and when he does, it's sporadic.
Normally, when patients have trouble sleeping, they'd be prescribed a sleeping pill, but she doesn't feel right giving him more pills. She sits at the edge of his bed. And she starts gently stroking his forehead, smoothing his hair back. He's been here three years and she doesn't know why she is drawn to him. Sarah Jane shakes her head, she can't get too close to the patients, they will be cured (or medicated) and go home. St. Joseph Hospital is mostly short-term care, a few months to a year at the most, but Luke is different. He's special. He has no home, no family.