Chapter Seven
Christian was gone. After Lewis' last encounter with the man it had been decided to immediately lock Christian back up in the isolation ward. That decision had made it impossible for Lewis to see him again, to talk to him again, to try another vain effort to get anything useful from him. Being out of the realm of possibility now made the madman distant to the doctor; effectively gone.
Sitting there in thought Lewis figured he should be counted as lucky. Lucky in the fact that Randy had decided not to tell anyone else about his sudden outburst towards Christian, an outburst that nearly ended the man's life. His friend could have easily reported the occurrence to any number of administrators. That report would have cost Lewis his license, his reputation, and probably the last iota of sanity that he still had left in his being. Knowing of this cost Randy had withheld the fact that Lewis had attacked a patient, something Lewis never imagined he would find himself doing.
To Randy, Lewis was a lost friend who needed to be led back home. He knew his friend to be suffering untold amounts of stress, and attributed his irrational behavior to that stress. Lewis just needed another chance, a new and fresh chance, to put this whole matter behind him. In his heart Randy knew that this was all his friend needed.
That practical belief though fell from truth once Lewis took it into consideration. He wanted to simply put the whole matter behind him, desperately so, but somehow that didn't seem to be attainable. Something was enjoying watching him suffer as his mind slowly went insane. This Lewis now felt to be the truth. Who or what that something was he had no way to be sure. It could have been Cassie's ghost, or Christian, or hell even the Red Demon that both had so terrifyingly talked about. Either way it didn't matter. It didn't matter who was doing this to him, nor did it really matter why, all that did matter was that they were doing it; and that he couldn't stop them.
Tired. That was the thought that made its way into his mind. He was tired of dealing with the whole situation that had been thrust upon him by Cassie's death. Everything since had been so draining to him, and painful. Mentally, emotionally, and thanks to Christian, physically painful. He had hoped that by talking to Christian he would be able to find an end to his pain. That end had been denied to him though, and in fact only more pain had come to him as a result of his encounter with the madman. If he could not end the pain then there was only one thing to do in his mind. He had to dull the pain, make himself numb to it in some way. That was why he had his friend here next to him. His long lost friend that had helped get him through the rough times during his first, brief marriage.
Just out of college and obsessed with trying to make a name for himself, he and his young bride had moved to the big city. For months his life was consumed by work in the hopes that it would lead to his dream job of psychologist. As happens in life though, nothing turned out as he had planned. Instead of moving up on the psychiatric ladder he had been forced to remain content on the bottom rung. Unable to find the satisfying career he longed for in the big city he decided to scale his plans back some, to let his career grow in a smaller and less competitive environment. This had led him to this quiet little town; Silent Hill. Here at Brookhaven he had been given the chance he had always wanted, the chance to make a difference. Unfortunately Felecia hadn't felt the same way.
Thoughts of his ruined and long passed marriage pushed his hand to embrace that faithful friend. The friend that had stuck by him through all of the horrible moments of his life before, and remained even now in the face of his new despair. Yes, this was his true friend. The friend that didn't judge him, always comforted him, and would be there for as long as he needed it. On that note Lewis took another gulp of the stuff.
Leaning back into his chair he stared out the window and simply relaxed as his friend worked its way through his system. Outside the world was as dreary as Lewis felt inside. A faint wisp of fog was moving its way through the town air and a bitter chill was settling in with the promise of winter. There were no trees within view, nor any sign of the colorful changes they were undergoing. This fact brought a touch of sadness to Lewis, but that sadness was very brief and quickly washed over him. A few bright colors may have been enough to make him feel more at ease, but he knew that after everything he had seen and been through lately that ease would be fleeting; and ultimately worthless.
Bringing the glass to his lips once again he held it there for a moment in anticipation of more of the burning liquid, but none came. Glancing at it he saw it to be empty. Without giving it a second thought he reached back to his desk and brought the liquid's container out to refill his glass. Something stopped him though.
Sitting there and staring at the glass he saw his reflection in the crystal surface. What he saw though was not the same person that he pictured inside his mind. His mind tended to lean on the well rounded and dependable individual he had grown into. Upon the glass' surface though a very different man was shown. The man that shown back was a man on the edge of sanity, on the edge of caring, and surely on the edge of life itself. To Lewis that man was his true demon, a demon he had thought was long gone. Giving way to an exhale of breath and a rise of emotions Lewis knew that he could not allow himself to become that worthless man that was born from Felecia's abandonment of him.
"You have to fight back though. You have to prove that you are better than that, because I know you are." replayed his friend's words in his mind.
Those words were right, and Lewis knew it. He had fallen to the bottom once before and survived, and it was something that he knew he couldn't allow to happen again. Placing the bottle back in the desk drawer Lewis stood from his chair. After he gave his white doctor's coat a tug and ran his fingers through his graying strands of hair Lewis felt ready, or at least as ready as he could be. With this firm new sense to him he felt that he would actually be able to put everything behind him and move forward in his life, and back to his career. Making his way through the doors and out of the room he paused for only a moment, hoping that he would be right.
Out in the hallway Lewis took in a breath as he felt his burden being left behind him. Normally leaving his office would instill a sort of panic, a sort of fear into him. To Lewis his office had become his sanctuary. It was the last place in the darkening world where he felt truly safe from the recent horrors of life. That might not have been the case, but to his mind it had been. And as a result he had left that realm of safety as little as possible.
Now, out in the hallway and out of his office, something different came over him. His frame of mind hadn't changed completely, but it did seem to be less bothersome. It truly felt as though a weight had been lifted off him, though in reality he had just buried it further back into his mind. Back there it wouldn't bother him, and if it didn't bother him then why should he care whether it was still there or not?
Making his way down the hall he passed by two nurses. As of recent he would keep his eyes low to the ground and would rush passed anyone without so much as a word. Feeling now though to be slipping back out of the frightening chaos he had been trapped in he felt the need to acknowledge the pair of women that approached. Giving a nod and even braving a slight smile he passed the pair, and in return was rewarded with smiles from both of them. Sensing not only that he was happy, but also that his presence could make those around him happy, left Lewis with a truly wonderful feeling and as he stepped into the elevator he couldn't help but to flash another slight grin.
Once the elevator slowed and reached its final destination on the first floor Lewis stepped out with that slight joy still noticeable within himself. Keeping his mind away from Christian and solely on his work he made his way down the gray hallway and through the double doors that led to the hospital's main lobby. Passed those doors a rush of sterile air hit Lewis' nose, yet he didn't seem to mind it at all. For some reason he welcomed that stale yet familiar scent as it wafted towards him. His enjoyment of the scent undoubtedly came from the same enjoyment he had felt in the hallways before his last encounter with Christian; familiarity. To him familiarity meant comfort, and Lewis needed all the comfort he could get his hands on.
Passing by the hospital's janitor as the man was busy wiping down the floor Lewis gave a slight nod to show the man his appreciation before entering the reception office.
Inside the first thing that caught his eye was the blonde hair of the assistant as she busied herself typing something up on a computer. Walking over to her desk Lewis tried make himself feel as calm and look as normal as one could be in a mental hospital. "Hello Leslie," he said to the young woman in a pleasant tone that seemed out of place coming from him. "Do you have my work order for today?"
"Dr. Lewis," she suddenly responded as her attention was torn from the computer screen and placed onto the doctor. "Yeah I think it's right over…" Pausing for a moment and extending her last word she turned her chair around and sifted through a pile of papers before finding the one that Lewis needed. "Here it is doctor," she said with a smile as she handed it to him.
Taking the paper in his hands he heard Leslie further say "You only have two visitations today. One with Dana Stenson and the other with Gary Bertram."
When Lewis heard the second name come from Leslie he nearly dropped the paper. "Gary Bertram?" he repeated the name with a questioning tone. After a nod came from Leslie and confirmed to the doctor that he had heard right he couldn't help but to blurt out, "But I thought Keith was taking care of him."
"Dr. Brennerd has been filling in for you on Gary's case, he never took it over. It was just a temporary thing until the administrators thought you had recovered enough from Cassie's death to handle dealing with an S level patient."
"And they think I've recovered now?"
"Well, your behavior lately has seemed to be more on the bright side. Plus, if you are well enough to help Dr. Sampson with a patient then the administrators figure you to be well enough to handle Gary again."
At hearing this Lewis' heart sank. When he had convinced his friend to setup the meeting between himself and Christian he never expected it to come back and manifest such a result. Like everyone else on the third floor Gary was completely insane to a truly frightening point. Since Cassie's death Lewis had wanted to deal solely with the more docile of his patients. To achieve that wish he had used his emotions after Cassie's death to convince everyone that he couldn't handle dealing with someone on that deep of a level of insanity. In appearing to go out of his way to help a fellow doctor it seemed to everyone else though that Lewis had finally recovered.
Recovered. What a laughable concept. Outwardly he might seem back to his usual old self, but deep down he knew that he was far from recovered. His last experience with Christian had proven that. The last experience in which he had let his emotions and his insanity push him into attacking the man and nearly killing him. No, he had not recovered from Cassie's death at all. Still though, he knew if he were to ever recover then it would come only out of considerable effort.
"Is that all?" Lewis asked with hesitation as he drew himself back to reality.
"That's it doctor." Leslie replied with a smile before turning back to her work.
Muttering a thank you and letting out a sigh Lewis trudged his way out of the small office and back out into the quiet hallway.
As he made his way back to the elevator a chill ran down his spine. Brookhaven's third floor was home to the most violent, most chaotic, and most disturbed people that Silent Hill offered. Anyone with a sane mind would be overcome with terror moments after stepping onto the floor, yet the hospital's staff was expected to carry on as though nothing was different. Going through years of classes and training was supposed to prepare one for that kind of situation. Even with all of that training behind them many still felt that they lacked what it took to deal with such insanity.
At one point Lewis had felt confident in himself to take this challenge without fear; without noticeable fear at least. That confidence had allowed him to take on cases that many other doctors were wary of, like Gary and Cassie, and as such his respect and position here had quickly risen. A strong sense of pride had come from that accomplishment. It was that pride, Lewis believed, that had allowed him to regain his firm grip on life and ease the demons which he once harbored.
With Cassie's death however that confidence had been shattered. That confidence had acted as a barrier. One that had reinforced his mind and his own sanity so that it would not fall prey to the raving patients he treated. Since the scene of Cassie's murdered corpse graced his eyes Lewis had felt unable to come before any of his S patients and walk away with his sanity intact. Recent events had shown him that he didn't need any of these patients for him to fall from sanity's fragile graces. He had fallen anyway.
Both with his ears and his sense he could tell the elevator to be slowing down as it approached the third floor. An ache came to his knees and for a moment he thought they might give out under him. Instead though the pain lessened as Lewis chided himself. He was a man in his late forties and one with extensive training and preparation in dealing with the mentally ill. To let them terrify him so easily was nothing but childish stupidity. It didn't matter that a series of mysterious and terrifying events had rested into his life as of late, he was still a trained psychologist. A psychologist with a job to do, and one he intended on doing.
The moment the doors opened was a moment that almost caused Lewis to go back on every thought he had just had. Giving way to the hospital's third floor the elevator doors had invited a series of strange and unfocused yells. Some were made of words and could at least to their owners make sense. Others were little more than senseless shouts and other indiscernible noises. Despite his courage Lewis couldn't help but to swallow hard on a few drops of saliva before stepping off of the elevator.
Quickly passing the floor's guard Lewis made his way down the long and eerily dark hallway. Gary had been placed in room S14, the last room at the hallway's end. Having to pass by each room and having to hear the ravings of nearly every patient on the floor did nothing to ease Lewis' tension about once more being on the hospital's worst floor. 'The last time I was here on this floor was when Cassie was murdered.' ran through his mind. That thought did nothing to help him either. Still though, he managed to some how ignore the sounds around him and hold together his fragile sanity just long enough to reach the hallway's end.
In the moments that he actually entered the tiny room Lewis found himself to truly be in doubt whether he could face such insanity again. Knowing that it was far too late for misgivings and that nothing held him back from the threshold he stepped forward, took in the sight of Gary and the surrounding room, and simply drew in a deep breath as he closed the door behind him.
Gary sat there on the bed and just stared at Lewis. Being one of the more violent patients at Brookhaven had forced the hospital's staff to bring a harsher existence onto the man. Unlike many of the other patients Gary was not bound by metal shackles, but was instead placed in a fully binding straight jacket. In addition to the jacket a metal chain had been fastened around the bed frame and to the jacket's back. The idea was to give him as little mobility as possible, and therefore as little chance to harm anyone as possible. It was a pitiful existence, one that Lewis did not envy this man for having, yet some how he knew it was necessary.
"Doctor Lewis?" Gary asked with wide eyes as he stared at Lewis
"Hello Gary," Lewis calmly greeted as he sat down in the room's chair.
"Where's Doctor Brennerd?" he excitedly asked.
"Doctor Brennerd is done filling in for me here Gary. It looks like you and I get to be spending some more time together."
"Oh okay then." With that statement hanging in the air Gary's eyes darted back and forth and his pink tongue flicked out every now and then to glisten his lips with saliva.
"So, how have you been Gary? It's been a while since you and I talked." Lewis said as he tried his best to make the conversation appear as normal as possible. Normally a doctor would use this approach to make the patient feel comfortable, but in this case it was the doctor that needed the comforting.
"Didn't Dr. Brennerd tell you how I was? Don't you doctors go over everything like that? Shouldn't you have already known?" Gary's words were spit out so quickly that they blurred together and anyone who wasn't paying close attention would have thought they made no sense at all.
"No Gary," Lewis said calmly and slowly, "he didn't tell me. Why don't you tell me though?"
"Hmm that seems mighty odd. Yep, mighty odd indeed. I thought all the doctors told each other everything. I thought you enjoyed getting together in your quite little rooms. Laughing at the poor misfortunes of the people you've locked away." Suddenly Gary's eyes narrowed and something new showed across his face before he suddenly yelled out "You do don't you! You and your holier than thou attitudes! You're the ones that are sick! Not us!"
Ignoring Gary's words and his attitude Lewis calmly tried again. "How have you been Gary?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"That's why I asked Gary."
"Well I won't tell! I'll never tell!" As Gary's words continued his agitation grew and he began to squirm and pull at the white straight jacket in an obvious attempt to break free. "You are all in it together! You all want to take her away from me! Take her away! My poor Louise!"
With a sigh Lewis was sucked down into Gary's world and once more became familiar with this man's delusions. "We've been over this a hundred times before Gary," he said as his calm demeanor began to crumble against quickly mounting frustration. "Louise died in that car wreck seven years ago. She's gone Gary."
"NO!" the mental patient screamed as he dove towards the doctor. The slack metal chain suddenly tightened and held the man away from his would be victim. Struggling to break free of the chain he leaned forward as far as he could, coming uncomfortably close to Lewis' face. "You're lying! You want to take her away from me and keep her for yourself! She's not a thing that you can just have your way with! She's mine! She's mine to take care of! You can't have her! I have to take care of her forever! I have to! It's my destiny!"
Inching back and looking forward towards the insane man as he seethed made Lewis fully remember what it was like to deal with Brookhaven's worst. These patients were so delusional, so far gone and lost to the sane world that it was amazing that some people actually believed they could be cured. Little progress had been achieved between him and Gary before, and he imagined that Dr. Brennerd had had no better luck. It truly was a sad thing that people got this way; fell so far away from the edge. Lewis didn't even think for a moment about how he must have appeared much the same way when he had attacked Christian. Instead he just gave his doctor's coat and tug and resigned to the fact that nothing further could be done with the man today.
"I'm going Gary." Lewis said firmly as he edged his way from the chair to the door. "I'll come back in a little while and check on you. Maybe then we can chat about a few things."
"Liar! You horrible, filthy liar!" Gary continued to shout as Lewis slipped his way out of the room. "Your soul is damned Dr. Lewis, not mine!" The door clicked shut after that.
Even though Lewis' attention had been focused outward he had still managed to hear Gary's final words. Standing there in the third floor hallway his mind drifted away and suddenly Christian's voice was heard inside his skull.
Your sin is a most despicable one that you shall undoubtedly be forever damned for.
With a shiver he tried to put the words of both men out of his mind and out of his being. He could not let himself fall victim to their insane ranting. No matter what happened he knew he needed to hold firmly to his loose grasp on sanity. He would not let himself fall again; no matter what.
Letting his mind return to his body and finding himself still outside of Gary's room and still on the hospital's third floor a sense of panic found its way into him. He had to get off this floor. It was something he felt suddenly compelled to do, fearing that if he didn't then he would soon be locked away into a cramped room of his own.
Rushing passed the guard again Lewis tapped on the elevator call button. Its doors did not open however, and its response to his press came in the form of a blinking '2' right above the door's entrance. Frantically he tapped the button several more times with his index finger, as though this action mattered.
"Something wrong Dr. Lewis?" the nearby guard asked as he took notice of Lewis' button smashing.
"Just in a bit of a rush to get work out of the way," Lewis replied with a weak smile. He was in a rush alright, but it wasn't to finish his work. His rush was simply to get off of the floor and as far away from its disturbed residents as possible.
The guard took Lewis' excuse as sincere and shrugged off any feelings to the contrary. Thankfully before any more terrors found their way to Lewis the small elevator's doors opened and he stepped inside. Once the doors closed he let out a sigh of relief and let a newfound sense of safety wrap itself around him.
Slowly the elevator began its descent to the first floor where Lewis' other patient was kept. The thought of seeing Dana again came with a strange calming effect that Lewis could not immediately identify. For some reason he enjoyed visiting her over most of his other patients. That reason he assumed was due to the fact that she was one of the more mild patients locked away at Brookhaven. It made sense, yet for some reason he didn't feel that to be the whole of it.
When he reached Dana's room of C2 he placed on himself a strange thing; a smile. He knew that because of her condition Dana was very sensitive to the emotions of others, and would often reflect the same as whatever she saw in people. Dana was a happy woman by nature, but everyone can become sad or angry within the blink of an eye. Especially in a place like Brookhaven. Letting his muscles relax and his tension ease he opened the door and stepped inside.
Everywhere inside the room Lewis took in the sight of sheets of paper as they fluttered in response to an open window. The breeze that danced its way into the drab room was that of a cool autumn's day. A breeze that one enjoyed despite the chill it often caused when over exposed to it. In the center of the sea of papers laid Dana, who had her attention focused onto a fresh sheet as a number of crayons were strewn about her.
Lewis stood there for a moment and took the sight in. Here was a woman in her late twenties that enjoyed nothing more than drawing pictures with a box of crayons. In a sane world she would have her own children to do that while she was off in the depressing and monotonous realm of adulthood. Instead though by some cruel twist she had more or less been given what some people wished for all of their life; to remain forever young. Forever young in that perfect innocent sense that one truly missed in adulthood. Looking at Dana and the sweet child-like way of her made Lewis smile, and he almost hated to interrupt her. Still though he cleared his throat and tore the young woman's attention from her latest masterpiece.
Moving her gaze from the drawing to the doctor a wide grin suddenly appeared on the woman's face. "Dr. Lewis!" she shouted as she clambered up from her laying position. Once she was on her feet she rushed across the room and threw her arms around the doctor in a big hug.
"Hello Dana." Lewis replied as he nervously patted Dana's back. It felt odd to him to have the young woman be in his arms like that. Still though, to her she was no more than six years old, and in that respect her behavior was perfectly normal. For that reason he indulged her, hoping that by doing so would calm any ill feelings she had and keep her in this happy state.
"I missed you Dr. Lewis," she said as she pulled away and looked into his eyes. The body may have been that of an adult, but looking back at the woman Lewis clearly saw her eyes to be that of a child. "Where have you been all this time doctor?"
During his short period of dealing with Christian and the note Lewis had made several excuses not to visit any of his patients. This had left him able to be holed up inside his office with only stacks of file work to demand his attention. He had never thought this action to be a problem to any of his patients. All of them he believed would hold a reaction similar to that of Gary's and simply not care. When it came to Dana though he should have known better. She was special.
"I was sick Dana," was the only reply he could come up with. How else could he explain what had recently occurred in his life to someone that saw the world in such a big and beautiful light?
"Oh," she quietly said. "But you're better now?"
"Yes I am," Lewis said with a smile. There was a pause for a moment as the woman looked him over, making sure that he was indeed all right. Trying to decide where to go from there Lewis gestured towards some of the drawings. "Have you been busy drawing again?"
"Yes! Oh yes I have!" Dana said as her worry over him quickly dissolved away to the newfound joy at his mention of her work. "Come and look!" she added as she pulled him towards where several were strewn about.
Staring down at the pieces of artwork Lewis found himself draw in a silent breath of air as he took each of them in. While Dana might have had the mind of a child she clearly had the talent of an adult. Her artwork was stunning to Lewis' eyes, and seeing each piece as it carelessly lay upon the dirtied hospital floor did nothing but make the situation that much more sad to him.
The talent of an adult shown in each of these, but Dana's child mind also came through in the subject matter. There were drawings of flowers, of butterflies, of various other sorts of wildlife and aspects of nature. In a few of them there was even a little blonde haired girl that Lewis knew to be Dana's sister. Seeing those once again made him feel sad towards the situation she was in. Several times Dana had mentioned games that her and her sister played, and always she did so with a touch of sadness that reflected how much she missed those chances to just enjoy her sister's company. Lewis grew even more depressed about it whenever he reminded himself that Dana's sister was now across the country with her own children to raise and her own life to live. A life without her childish sister that so desperately missed her.
"Here you go doctor," Dana suddenly said as she bent over and picked a drawing off the ground.
In the drawing there was a gray ball of fur with two points on top and a friendly looking face. "That's a really nice drawing," Lewis said with a smile.
"You really think so doctor? It's a cat. I named him Oscar."
"Oh?" he asked with interest. "And what does Oscar like to do, chase butterflies?"
"No," Dana replied with a giggle. "He's a lazy cat. He just likes to lay around all day."
"Oh I see."
"Do you really like it though?" The look in the woman's eyes as she looked back at the doctor was one of those innocent ones that children often wore. It didn't quite seem to fit on her adult face.
"Yes I do Dana. I think it's one of your best."
"Thanks doctor," she replied with a blush. Smiling back at the woman Lewis began to hand the drawing to her. Pushing his hand away she said "No doctor, I want you to have it."
Not quite sure what to say he just looked down at the picture once more before returning his gaze to Dana. "Thanks," he said with the first genuine smile and the first stirrings of happiness that he had had in awhile.
Returning Lewis' smile with one of her own she left the man to stand there as she bound her way back to where Lewis had found her. Laying back down on her stomach she picked up a stray crayon and went back to work on her latest masterpiece.
Sitting down in a chair in front of her and carefully laying the drawing on his lap he watched her for a moment, enjoying the carefree way about her. Wetting his lips he decided to get on with his job. "How have you been, Dana?" came the standard question.
"I'm good," she casually said, leaving most of her attention to rest on her work. "My momma came and gave me a new box of crayons."
"Oh, and did that make you happy?"
"Very much. I love my momma; I just wish I could go home with her," she said with a slight bit of sadness.
"I know you do, but you're still sick."
"Yeah, that's what momma says too."
Feeling a little sorry for Dana and for her being in this situation, Dr. Lewis decided to try and push her into seeing what was really going on. "Dana, what do you remember doing before coming to Brookhaven."
"Playing with my sister Sherri," Dana absentmindedly said as she kept on drawing.
"What else?" he furthered. From her file Lewis knew that her condition had set in somewhere around the age of fifteen. With that in mind he hoped to tap into a teenage memory that surely lay buried somewhere deep within her mind. If he could bring that memory to the surface then maybe there was a chance he could make Dana see what truly was going on with her.
"Meadows. Meadows and lots of pretty flowers."
"And how old were you when you went to the meadows?"
"I was five years old. It was last year, right before I got sick."
"Dana, you've been here for five years now. It couldn't have been last year."
"No…" Her word trailed off and so with it the last bits of her attention, leaving Lewis in his own world to try and think of some other way to approach the problem.
Sitting there and looking at the carefree Dana and at how happy she was there almost didn't seem to be a point to all of this therapy. If she was happy then why not just leave her that way? That might have been a valid question, but deep down Lewis knew the world didn't work like that. Everyone had to be a useful and productive member of society; that was the unspoken rule. If anyone ever showed the slightest bit of difference in any way then they were always labeled and tossed away until proper treatment could be given to them. It was a sad concept in a sad world, but sitting there Lewis tried not to let it overwhelm him as he thought about what to do next.
As the time passed neither Lewis nor Dana moved from where they were or what they were doing. On the ground Dana still laid as she drew picture after picture while Lewis just sat there and stared at her. There was a calming silence in there air and a cool breeze that still wafted in through the room's window. These elements mixed with the fatigue that Lewis was feeling after having to spend so many recent nights without sound sleep. Slowly his mind began to drift off and his head nodded in response.
"No! Please don't!" a voice suddenly screamed.
Jolting up in his seat Lewis looked around the room for a few moments before turning to Dana, who still peacefully was drawing. A few beads of sweat found themselves on Lewis' forehead and his heart slowly began to calm back down. "Dana, did you say something?" he asked, hoping that for some reason the chilling scream had suddenly come from her.
"Nope," her child voice responded without pausing for even a moment in her drawing.
Shrugging off the moment as a delusion of his tired mind he decided to focus back on Dana and his job. There had to be something more here, he felt it, yet he had no clue as to what that something might be.
"Please, stop!" the voice screamed again, this time with noticeable tears.
When he heard the scream again Lewis abruptly stood up from his chair, knocking it over in the process. With a loud crash the chair tumbled to the ground, but Lewis was completely oblivious to the noise. Shaken by the scream's sudden reappearance he just stood there, not quite sure what was going on.
"Dr. Lewis?" Dana asked with a trembling voice, obviously scared herself by the crash of Lewis' chair.
Pulling himself back into the sane world for a moment he looked at Dana with sorrow. "I have to go," he said with only a part of himself behind those words. "I'll come back in a little bit to check on you," he added before turning and making his way out of the room.
In the dark hallway outside Lewis leaned against the wall and ran his free hand through his hair with a sigh. It appeared that with the scream coming to his ears a second time, a fully conscious time that it was something he had not simply imagined. With that thought in mind he couldn't help but to ask himself the terrifying question that was becoming all too familiar; What the hell is going on?