She awoke, breathless and hazy. Her head swam in a dark, painful fog. She had no clue where or even when she was. She opened her eyes bit by bit, squinting past the bright lights.
White.
Everything was white. Walls, ceilings, floors, sheets. She stared down at her body. Her arms lay at her side, on top of the starched sheets that covered the rest of her. Tubes flowed out her arms, pumping her full of god knows what. Her hand came up to feel her face- a feeding tube was underneath her nose, pumping liquid nutrients into her. She opened her mouth and attempted to speak. All that came out was a series of coughs. Her throat was scratchy and dry from neglect. She looked to her right, where a table and a vase of flowers sat. Beside that was a small cup of water. She reached out, and her hand felt surprisingly heavy. Clumsily, she grasped the glass and drank down the water. Again, she called out.
"Where am I?" No answer came. She swept aside the sheets and sat up with difficulty. Her IV drip bags were hanging beside her, right next to the table. She grabbed it and used it to pull herself up and maneuver across the room to a sheeted barrier. She pushed that aside and was greeted with her own reflection. She stepped back, confused. It took her a while to realize it was actually a two way mirror. She frowned at herself, observing her haggard appearance and lack of clothes save for a hospital gown.
"Where am I?" she asked her reflection. "This is not my school, and I am not supposed to be here- where ever here is. This has got to be a mistake."
No. No mistake.
She whirled around, looking for the origin of the voice.
"Hello?!"
Don't bother October. I'm not in the room with you, and I'm not on the other side of that mirror either.
"Then how the are you talking to me?!" she yelled, gripping the IV stand with both hands.
It's not important right now. What is important is that you lie down. Your anesthesia hasn't worn off yet and you might hurt yourself.
"Tell me how to get out of here. Please." Her voice sounded small and scared compared to the one in her head- strong, analytical and composed.
I can't. Not until we're sure you're okay.
"But I am okay!" she insisted.
You were hurt during an earlier...episode. We want to make sure that doesn't happen again and figure out what caused it.
"Episode?"
All will be explained soon. Someone will come in and bring you some food. You can talk with them about all of this. For now, just sit.
October wanted to protest further, to ask more questions, but as the effects of the drugs worsened she realized the voice knew best. She walked back to the hospital bed and sat down, her hands nervously combing through her hair.
Sometime later (she didn't know how long for there were no clocks or windows), October was still sitting on her bed, knees drawn to her chest and her hand idly playing with the wooden cross hanging from around her neck. She wasn't sure whether to trust the voice or not. She worried if the voice was ever there to begin with, or that perhaps she was possessed like the poor people she'd read about in her religious studies.
"Are you alright?" October jumped, her head whipping around to see if this voice was really there or not. It was; a short pale woman with strange, lopsided black hair peeked in past the door. She was donned in leather pants and a jacket. A gun was holstered in a sturdy belt slung around her hips. At this, October cowered into the sheets.
"I've been better." she squeaked. The woman walked farther in.
"I hope you don't mind," She turned and wheeled in a food tray, carrying a sandwich, fruit, and a glass of juice. "but I brought you some food." October recalled what the voice told her. A gleam of hope lit within her. Maybe she'd get the answers she was looking for.
"The voice said you'd come." Immediately October cringed- she must've sounded crazy.
"Voice?" the woman asked. "Oh, you must mean Abe. Has he been talking to you?"
"If this Abe can talk to people without having to be in the room with them, then I suppose he has."
"Yes, he can." The lady took a chair and pulled it to October's bedside, then sat down with a smile. "It's one of his...gifts. If you could call them that."
"I'm not sure I understand." October replied.
"It's complicated." She handed October the plate and motioned for her to eat.
"So, I'm guessing you know who I am. But I have yet to learn your name." October took a bite of the sandwich and suddenly realized how ravenous she was. She hadn't had anything to eat for at least a day. Tearing into the sandwich, she looked up at the woman for her answer.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Liz." she said, extending a hand, which was warmly accepted.
"Mish fu eet ooh." October mumbled through a mouthful of BLT. Oddly enough, when she was around this woman, she was calmer. She had such a laid-back air about her, like she was at home in this place- where ever this place was. "The voice- Abe, as you called him- told me you'd explain why I'm here. I was hoping you could tell me." Liz dropped her gaze and bit her lip.
"This isn't going to be easy to believe." she finally said, hesitation in her voice. "Trust me, I didn't want to believe it when I was first brought here either." October nodded, prodding her on. "This place, outside of this room, is called the BPRD. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. It's purpose is to find and keep at bay creatures most of the world doesn't believe exist. All the things that hide under the bed, the stuff of faerie tales, monsters- this is our area of expertise. We protect the world from everything that goes bump in the night."
"Monsters-?" Liz held up a hand.
"I know, it's confusing. But please, let me finish. When we got a call from your boarding school, we sent down two of our agents to take care of it. What we found, however, wasn't your run-of-the-mill gnome or werewolf. We found you. You were being possessed by some form of powerful spirit- good or evil, we couldn't tell." October grasped the cross at her chest.
"Mother Mary.... possessed?" Liz nodded.
"Our leading agent tried to expel the spirit from your body, but it refused to come out, and it refused to identify itself. Unfortunately, it's still inside you, dormant for the time being." The blood rushed from October's face and she had to grab the sides of the bed to keep from fainting.
"I-I'm possessed...But why?! I'm not evil! I'm a devout follower!" She held up the cross frantically. "I do my prayers, I swear!" Liz grabbed October's shoulders.
"It's not a question of faith, October!" she shouted. "Possession can happen to anyone, at anytime. Some people are more susceptible to it then others. You happen to be one of those people."
"But why?" She choked on a sob and hung her head, refusing to cry. Possession? This couldn't be true.
"We've taken you here to observe your health and behavior, in hopes to find out what's possessing you and how to get it out."
"Do I have to stay in this room until you get it out of me?"
"No, this is only temporary. In fact, we're clearing out a room closest to the library, which is where you will be going everyday to work with Abe."
"The mind speaker?" Liz nodded. "He'll be working with you on delving into your subconscious."
"He can go inside my mind as well?!" October cried.
"October, in the BPRD, we have a few people who are like Abe. Different. People with gifts." Liz stood up and stepped back from the bed, lifting her hand. Curious, October watched. "As I said before, I was brought here too. In fact, I was much younger then you, only a child, when I stayed here. I am one of those 'different' people. Because of my gift, and my inability to control it, I killed many people close to me."
She held her palm out, and a bright gleam of light appeared in the middle of it. The gleam quickly turned into a spark, which birthed several tongues of blue flame, consuming Liz's hand. October screamed, scrambling to help her, but Liz was perfectly calm as her entire hand was engulfed in writhing flames. Yet, even as the fire lived, her skin was unscathed. Liz wiggled her fingers, manipulating the fire to her will. "But I learned to contain it, to tame the fire. ...This is our home. A home for different people. And as of now, you're different."
No more then a couple minutes later, October was given her school uniform back to wear instead of the threadbare hospital gown. As she slipped the jacket on, Liz poked her head into the room and smiled.
"If your well enough, the Professor would like me to take you to see him." October snorted sarcastically.
"I'm not exactly what one would call 'well'. But okay, I'd be happy to see this man." October followed Liz as she stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway. It still had the feel of a hospital to it. Everything was white. October had started to hate that color over the past few hours.
"We have a pretty large hospital wing. Our agents get hurt alot on the line of duty, including me."
"I could imagine." she said, staring as they passed a man that seemed to have an enormous bite mark on his bandaged torso. "Who is this Professor anyway? Is he like you?"
"Oh, no." Liz laughed. "The Professor is the founder of the BPRD. He's like a father to everyone here. It's hard to imagine the Bureau without him."
The two came to the end of the hallway, to a set of double doors. Passing through those, they entered a giant foyer that split off into several different wings. The walls were thick concrete, and the floor was solid black marble. Pipes and tubes lined the ceilings, and skylights were intermittently scattered about, letting in bright rays of midday sun. Several platform elevators installed right into the walls carried bustling agents in suits up and down to higher and lower floors. A giant golden insignia of a fist clenching a sword was set into the marble in the very center of the foyer.
Everything was very busy. Agents were walking around, carrying all sorts of things from files to artifacts. October even saw one man holding what she refused to believe was a faerie. Liz turned to her and smiled.
"October, welcome to the BPRD."
So, that's all for this part! Next chapter, she'll meet Big Red, Blue, and Prof. Broom to learn what her stay at the BPRD will entail. Review, please?