Title:
The Mind is a Dangerous Place
Chapter 7: The Oliver's
Thirteen years ago…
On the coast side of Main, a house stands connected to an old light house. The beacon hadn't been working for ages. But the family who lived here thought nothing of this.
They loved their home. A white mail box with a painting of a yellow cat was seen next to the house. On the mail, the last name of the family living in this house was written in blue letters.
The Oliver's
A while, Chevy Cavalier pulls up the road and parks next the house.
A nice whistling tune is heard as the driver of the car opens his door and get out.
He appeared to be a young man, probably in his late thirties. He had jet black hair that was shoulder length. His eyes were the brightest of blue. He had a sweet smile and one could tell that he was a good man.
He was wearing a black suit and from a distance one would think that he was a serious business man. But on closer inspection, his tie showed children holding hands and encircling the globe.
This man was a teacher, a second grade teacher.
He locked his car and walked towards the house, whistling as he walked.
He opened the door and was welcomed by the smell of mint pie.
"Jane, I'm home." The man called out as he closed the door behind him.
From the kitchen; a young woman (in her late twenties) with blond shoulder length hair peaks from inside towards the man.
Hazel eyes sparkle as she sees her husband walk in.
She smiles with love and walks to greet her husband.
"What took you so long?" She slyly asked as she approached.
He replied by pulling her into an embrace and soon after pressing his lips down upon hers.
After the kiss he pulls away, but his arms are still rapped around her waist.
"Why am I teaching smarty pants children, when I could be here with my wife and girl?" He asked solemnly.
Jane smiles and small smile and gently pushes away the hair from her husbands' eye.
"Because Gabriel, someone has to work outside of the house. I stay here to home school April." Jane said.
At the mention of their daughter, Gabriel looks over his wife shoulders and looks around for any sign on April.
"Where is April?" Gabriel asked.
A sparkle within Jane's eyes showed like she remembered a secret.
"Oh Gabriel, forgot to tell you! April spoke today!" Jane excitedly stated.
Gabriel gripped Jane's arms in unbelief. He searched her hazel eyes that were turning a shade of green from the dark green summer dress she was wearing, for any sign that she was joking.
But she was not.
She took his hands within her own and with excitement led him towards the living room.
The closer Gabriel got, he could hear that the TV was on. But he could hear static.
"Sweetie, she is not watching static again is she?" Gabriel asked.
Jane did not answer because they had reached the living room. There in the middle of the room was six year old girl sitting on the floor, and watching static on the TV.
The girl had long black hair that went down to her waist. She was wearing a blue dress with a white apron on.
She was sitting Indian style in front of the TV. Her head suddenly tilted to the side as her parents came in.
Gabriel quickly turned towards his wife. This was the first time that there daughter had every shown any hint of noticing people. Their daughter, April, was autistic.
The reason for their babies' condition was of a traumatizing event that happened when she was three.
She was in preschool, a happy child that never stopped talking. She wanted to know everything.
Her eyes were like her mothers, hazel that brightened whenever she got excited. And she got excited a lot!
Out of simple things, like on how things worked, or defining things. She never asked question like why was the sky blue. Instead she asked question on what things meant or how they worked.
She was an excellent reader as well. That had to be thanked by her mother, who read to her even when April was within her.
But there was something else that made April a special child. She would occasionally get headaches.
Now of course this would not be catalogued as something special. But what happened during those headaches was extraordinary.
Whenever she got headaches, no matter what the Oliver's did to stop them, they came on their own. And when that happened, April would blank out and began to speak.
A three year old would not speak the way April would speak after she passed out from the headaches.
She would speak like someone telling a code. She would speak out in numbers, words that made no sense; but all sounding like secret security stuff.
At first the Oliver's immediately took her to get a brain scan. Thinking that maybe their child had something seriously wrong with her, they took her to a special doctor who dealt with strong headaches and other things.
This mans name was Dr. Grey.
He recommended using new machinery that could possibly give some answers on to what was causing Aprils headaches.
Dr. Grey suggested that it may be possible that the child may have a tumor. But he said they will make sure by using the 'Gamma Knife'.
At first Dr. Grey saw nothing wrong with the child, until she had a headache during the procedure.
This one was a strong one. It rocked the childs small body like she was being electrocuted.
Suddenly all the machines began to go up in sparks. Gabriel and Jane tried to get to their daughter but were stopped by Dr. Grey.
He held up a hand towards them, telling them to stop. He then turned his attention towards the mayhem that was happening.
It was then that he heard her. Speaking fast, but with no emotion she began to speak like a recording.
The view screen of Aprils brain was flashing in one spot. Dr. Grey leaned closer and with excitement watched as a part of Aprils brain began to pulse in and out.
He began tapping various buttons, and in doing so caused April too suddenly go limp.
But her brain was still extremely active in a manner that was beyond normal.
After that, Dr. Grey requested that April stay in the hospital for a few days. For monitoring he had said.
If only the Oliver's knew what Dr. Grey was really doing with their baby.
Dr. Grey knew what was happening to April, he had known her right from the start. He had been watching April in school when her headaches started.
He had just waited for the right moment. And now it had.
Several months later, The Oliver's were called into the hospital. They were shocked to find out that Dr. Grey had disappeared.
They quickly went towards their daughter, and stopped when the saw her.
She was in a wheel chair. A blue hospital grown with pink ribbons decorated it. Her hair was a mess; black circles were under her eyes.
And there was a white cloth covering most of her head from view. There was small amount of blood steins on that cloth.
The Oliver's sued the hospital, because they had not a clue what had happened to their girl.
They always visited her, and she was always happy and smiling. But this girl, this girl that appeared to be broken. This girl was not the little girl that only two months ago was so full of life.
After that, things were never like they were before. April would shrink away from her own parents and find solitude within her mind.
Sometimes, when she was not so deep with her mind, April would draw pictures.
Jane one day found a drawing that was most strange. It was a different view drawing.
It was so explicit that it made chills run up and down Jane's spine.
In the drawing, it was like you were looking up at the ceiling, but you were lying down.
But it was not the ceiling you were looking up at. There was three lights hanging from the ceiling, and by the way April drew it, they were very bright.
Shadows of people were all around the picture. Almost like they were looking down at you.
Everything was fuzzy, but as Jane peered closer, her blood froze as saw something that was all too clear.
One of the shadows was holding something over the top of the page. Jane could only guess that would mean your forehead.
He was holding what looked like to be a knife. A surgical knife!
As Jane's swept across the page with her eyes, she read one sentence that looked like to be written in a hurry. Like someone who was trying to write something that would soon be forgotten.
"Awake. Always Awake."
After that, Jane decided to stay with her child. She could not take her for treatments at the hospital at all. She would teach her from now on and with any luck, maybe even help her daughter to break free of her mind captivity.
So as Gabriel watched his daughter, sitting in front of the TV, with her head titled to the side; hope surged through him that maybe, just maybe April was finally breaking through.
He slowly went down to his knees and crawled towards his daughter. The closer he got, the more he noticed that something was definitely wrong.
When he was next to his daughter he sat down beside her and looked down at his daughter.
"April?" He hesitantly asked.
A moment later, Gabriel figured that his daughter was not going to talk. So he began to get up in sadness when he suddenly stopped at the sound of his daughters voice.
"They are coming." She said.
Gabriel slowly crouched down on his knees and looked towards his daughter with sudden fear.
"Who's coming?" He asked, fearing how she was going to answer.
She then slowly turned her head to face her father. Gabriel cried out in horror as his daughter faced him.
"The one's that did this to me." This was her reply as she pointed towards her eyes.
Her eyes, oh her eyes! They were static filled. Not one spot of her eyes were normal. It was like a mirror of the static filled TV.
"Who did this to you?" Gabriel asked, his voice choking in sobs.
"They did…they did…they did…they did…They…They…They." April repeated this over and over again.
Jane screamed for her daughter to stop, but she didn't. It was like a recording. It never stopped.
A week later, the Oliver's filed a missing child report.
They had taken her out to the fair. Something that could get the Oliver's minds out of everything that had been happening.
Jane and Gabriel had placed her on the Merry-Go-Round. April was seated on a unicorn, while her parents sat on sleigh that was in front of April.
After the ride was over, they turned to look at their daughter, and instantly screamed out in horror as they saw that April was not there.
They searched all day that day, and all night. But there was no clue as to where their daughter could have gone.
Till this day, the Oliver's do not know what happened to their daughter. They still have hope that she is alive and well.
That one day they will reunite with their daughter. Their special daughter, April Oliver…
Yeah, I know this chapter was supposed to be on the island. But I wanted to show you a bit of the past. What do you think?
A Special thank you to Reviewers:
Imzadi – Thank you for reviewing. Jack? Yeah, I think that could work. Thanks for the idea! Yes, Locke will be her protector/father; he seems like the fatherly type. Ok, I'll put in Jin and Sun with some interactions with April. BTW: What brought that up with April and Jin together? Never in a million years will I do that! I so believe in you! Jin and Sun belong together. I hope they get back together in the show. If not, they I will in my fic! MUAHAH! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
artistgirl727 – A new reviewer! (hugs) Thank you very much for the compliment! It made me get a big head. LOL! As for knowing a little more about April, I hope this chapter quenched your thirst…at least for a while. Thanks again!
Moon's Tear – I like your name. For some reason, it reminds me of Remus. (goes off into space) Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing! I'm so glad you are enjoying it!
ATTENTION!
If any of you want to see April in the flesh….Check out my bio. At the bottom of the page under Cast of: The Mind is a Dangerous Place, there you will find some links to a picture of an actress I chose to be April.
ENJOY!
