Chapter Five
"Annie?" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a nurse running towards me. "You have a phone call," she said, a little breathless. I walked leisurely to the phone both, unknowing and uncaring as to who could possibly be calling me.
"Hello?"
"Hello," came a breathy female voice.
"Who is this?" I asked, although I already had an idea. I leaned outside the doorway to look at the adjoining booth, and Fi grinned at me.
"So what did she say?" Fi asked, "she" referring to Dr. Bell.
"She didn't say anything really. I don't think she knows." Another reason why I wasn't crazy to add to my list.
"Listen, Annie," Fi began. "Tonight, I want you to go to the art room after all the orderlies are asleep, and the door will be open…"
I hurried down the hallways in the darkness, recalling Fi's instructions from nearly ten hours before. I finally found my way to the art room and threw open the doors. Everyone was there: Ned, Clu, Carey, another boy I later learned is named Jack, and leading the troop, of course, was Fi. She led us through a series of dark pathways until coming to a halt before a large wooden doorway. She opened the door dramatically and Carey let out a little squeal.
"It's a video arcade," I breathed in awe.
Fi grinned. "Pretty cool, huh? I call Q*bert!" she yelled, running off.
I walked over to the first game I saw and was about to sit down before Jack leaped out of nowhere and covered the seat protectively.
"That's my game, asshole," he sneered.
"Uh… sorry, I didn't know!" I said quickly. Fi grabbed my arm as I was walking away and pulled me over to her game.
"Come on, you can play if you want to be Q*dirk," she said. I agreed and sat down in the chair next to her.
"What's wrong with Jack?" I asked.
"Many things," Fi replied, her eyes glued to the screen as she almost mechanically hit the buttons. "They're letting him out soon."
I looked back at Jack, who sat at his seat with a huge grin on his face, bopping around. "But… he's crazy!" I exclaimed.
Fi shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Confess all your secrets to Dr. Bell, and boom, you're free! It's your turn."
I took the gears in my hand and tried as best as I could to control Q*dirk. All I had to do was confess my secrets! And then a minor problem occurred to me. "What if I don't have any secrets?"
"Then you're a lifer, like me."
I sighed. There had to be an easier way out of here. Look, now I'm losing the game too. After I had died my total allowance of 3 times, Fi decided to call it quits. When she was done, that meant everybody was done, I soon learned. We were back in the art room when Fi suddenly sat down at the large desk and everyone else sat down in the chairs around it. I followed, although I had no idea what we were doing.
"Carey Bell," Fi said in a low, dull voice. Carey stood up to retrieve the folder in the hand of her outstretched arm. "Cluet Bell… Ned Bell…" Clu and Ned did the same.
"Are the three of you related?" I asked.
"No," they all replied quickly in unison.
"Annie Thelen…" I stood up and took the manila folder from her hands. I opened it up and stared at the white papers inside.
"And me," Fi said, after handing Jack his folder. She read the words before her intently. "Same old, same old. What's your diag-nonsense?" she asked, directing the question at me.
"Um…" I began nervously, staring in shock at what followed the word "diagnosis" on my paper.
"Let me see that," Jack snapped, grabbing the folder from my hands. "Annie Thelen. Age… blah blah blah… here it is! Diagnosis." Then he stopped.
"What, what is it?" Ned prompted.
"Nothing…" Jack said slowly. "There's just a question mark."
"Really?" Fi grinned, snatching my folder away from him. She looked at my paper and her grin grew wider. "Wow, he's right," she confirmed. "That's mad cool, Annie! I never saw a person with a question mark for their diag-nonsense before."
I'm doomed.