Chapter Six

The police officers took me to the front gate of the hospital and the driver spoke into an intercom. I felt like I was a prisoner being taken to spend his last days behind bars.

The white gates creaked open and we went up the long drive way slowly. Just as we pulled up to the front of the large brick building it started to rain. No warning, it just started to pour. Someone opened the door beside me and grabbed my arm. I was pulled out of the car quickly and then I was under an awning before any rain could touch me.

I looked up at the person. It was a very tall man with black hair. His eyes were tiny and they sunk into his head. I looked into them but had to look away before I was pulled into the black nothingness that was his soul.

"The doctor's called to tell us about you," he said smirking, "You are an evil little one aren't you?" he picked up the one suit case that the police officer had put on the cement beside us and we went into the building.

"I'm not evil," I said quietly.

The man stopped and grabbed my arm roughly, "Don't talk to me unless I ask you a question," he growled.

I didn't say another word after that. It was no use telling anyone that I was not evil. Maybe I was, and I just didn't want to admit it. The evil woman always called us devil's issue. If so many people thought I was bad then maybe I was. Maybe I shouldn't fight it any longer.

The man took me up to a room on the second floor. All the other doors only had one window at the top. I saw a couple faces looking out at me. One girl looked young. She had a wistful look on her face as she watched me pass. Another old man glared at me through the glass and I was thankful that the doors were locked.

"This will be your room for the first week, you are an extreme case right now, but if you behave you will be taken to the third floor where you will get a roommate nad more privileges," the man told me. He opened one of the doors and threw my suitcase inside.

"Supper will be brought to you, there is a toilet over there, breakfast will also be brought to you, tomorrow will be your first session with the doctor," the man said and he closed the door behind him. I looked around the room sadly. The walls were pale blue and the bed was a tiny cot in the middle of the room with blue blankets and a white pillow. There was a old desk in the corner with a chair that looked like it would collapse if you put a feather on it.

I sat down on the bed and put my head in my hands.

"What did I do to deserve this?" I asked out loud.

"You hurt that man," a voice said. I looked up to find the evil woman standing at the door. She was wearing the same gray dress and the same brooch that she wore at Dr. Collins' house.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and shrank back against the wall.

"I always knew you were bad," she sneered, "No one good would have hurt a person like that,"

I didn't answer her. I wished Cathy were here to protect me. I couldn't get away from the Grandmother when the door was locked. I was trapped with her all alone in here.

"Please don't hurt me," I whispered.

"Hurt you?" she cackled, "Devil's issue hurt themselves," she laughed.

I pressed my hands against my ears and lay down on the bed. She continued to laugh and laugh until I fell into a restless sleep.

I woke up with a start.

The light was still on in my room but when I looked out the window it was dark. I heard a scream from outside my room. I jumped off the bed and went to the door. But the window was too high for me to see out. I pulled the chair from the desk over to the door and stood on it. I peered out in the hallway. Across form me a boy stared out his window. He looked just as frightened as I felt. He shifted his gaze and met my eyes. We stared at eachother for a minute before I looked away. He seemed so lost. He didn't want to be here. That was exactly how I felt.

I strained to look further down the hall. I caught a glimpse of a white night gown. I pushed my face up against the glass so I could see better. There was another shriek and I jumped. I almost fell backwards off the chair. It cracked under me and I thought for a minute that it was going to break. But it didn't.

Suddenly the young girl I had seen looking at me earlier came down the hall right outside my door. She was crying frantically and she screamed when the man with black hair came closer to her. She stumbled on the carpet and fell to the ground. The man took that chance to pounce on her. He had a needle in his hand which he stuck in her arm. She struggled a moment longer and then calmed down enough for the man to drag her to her feet and pull her down the hall back to her room.

I looked back across the hall to the boy but he was gone. His room was black through the little window in the door.

I climbed down off the chair and put in back under the desk. I switched the light off and went back to lie in bed. I stared up at the ceiling for a long while. I tried to close my eyes and sleep but the tall man's black eyes were always staring back at me.

I got off the bed and walked over to the tiny window that led outside. There was a thick screen covering the window. I looked out at the dark sky. I couldn't see any stars because of the clouds. I wondered if Carrie was looking up at these same clouds somewhere wondering where I was. I couldn't remember very well my life before but I knew that Cathy, Carrie and the other boy were a huge part of it.

I lay back down on the bed and eventually fell into a light sleep.

A loud banging woke me up the next morning. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the door. The man with black hair was standing there scowling in at me. He opened the door. He was carrying a tray of food.

"I brought you supper last night but you didn't wake up so I took it to someone else," he said. He set the tray on the desk.

"I'll be back to get the tray and take you to the doctor's office," he said and he left me alone again. If he knew that I had seen him last night with the girl then he didn't acknowledge it.

I sat down at the desk and looked down at the food. There was a bowl of porridge and a glass of milk. There was a small apple beside the bowl. It looked like it had been dropped on the floor a few times it had so many bruises.

I ate the bland porridge quickly. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now. I hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. I drank the milk quickly, pushing away the memories of milk that we kept cold in the winter by putting it in the attic.

The man came back a little while later.

"Follow me," he said. He carried the tray and I followed him down the hallways. Some rooms had nameless faces staring out of the windows. Some were dark and empty. The girl's room was silent as I passed it. The man took me to the floor where the doctor's officers were. This floor had red paint on the walls and white carpet. It looked so much more inviting then the beige walls and carpet on the other floors I had seen.

We went into a room that had blue wallpaper with white flowers on it. There was a large cherry wood desk and a leather chair where I assumed the doctor would sit. There were two white leather chairs on the other side of the desk. I saw a nameplate on the desk that read: DR. ADRIENNE CHAMBERS.

I sat in one of the chairs and waited.

A minute later the doctor came into the room. She was a small woman with white hair. She had nice blue eyes and a soft looking mouth. She didn't look as old as her hair suggested she was.

"Cory?" she asked before sitting down in her leather chair.

I nodded.

"Thank you Rufus," she said to the tall man that had been standing near the door the whole time.

"You know what he did to the last doctor," Rufus said.

"Yes," she said and raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," Rufus said, "Call me if you need me to teach him a lesson," he said. I heard him laugh under his breath as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"So, Cory, are you ready to talk?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Let me tell you how everything will work while you are here," she said. She folded her hands on the desk and sat back.

"You will have a session with me three times a week, we will talk about your family, what happened with your previous doctor, anything you want," she said, "I will give you medication as I see fit. If you are good you will be moved down to a room with a roommate, if you are not, you will stay in isolation on the second floor,"

I looked down at my hands.

"We are going to get to the bottom of everything that has happened okay?" she said, her tone getting softer.

"Okay," I said quietly.

"Okay, lets get started," she said.