Power of the Broken
Chapter One: The Beginning of the End
Lydia drew in a shuddering breath, her body trembling as she tried to hold it together. This wasn't real, this wasn't happening. After everything that she had been through in her 17 almost 18 years of life… this was not what she had ever imagined would happen. She had thought her nightmares were over.
She could feel the cold steel of the handcuffs biting into her wrists, she rubbed them hard just to feel the pain lancing through her, trying to snap her out of this nightmare. But it only served to bring her back to reality.
It was real.
This was happening and she was powerless to stop it.
She could feel the hands on her upper arms, pulling her toward a car. One that would take her to a hospital. One that she was never going to be able to walk back out of.
She turned looking at the porch of the house, seeing Delia standing there with a satisfied smirk on her face. Her father nowhere in sight. The bile rose in her throat. This was all her doing. She fought to keep on her own two feet as she was literally drug away from her home.
She could hear the snickering and comments from the attendants standing around waiting for her to be transported.
"Ain't she the crazy one from a couple years back"
"Bitch is finally getting what she deserves"
"Crazy must run in the family, look at what they say her mother did all those years ago."
Lydia's throat was tight as she fought through the tears that were threatening to fall, she couldn't give them the satisfaction to think that they had won. She had long been the butt of people's jokes and harassment.
It felt like an eternity before they arrived at a stark grey building, small windows filling up floor after floor. Her heart was in her throat as she tried to keep from showing how much this was scaring her.
How had it come to this?
First the Maitland's had left, not wanting to spend their afterlife in a house that was becoming more and more hostile, she had felt abandoned all over again.
Her father had started drinking, ignoring her to the point where Lydia had started to feel like a ghost herself in her own home.
Then came Delia… it had started off with small things, not including Lydia in 'family' things, forgetting to tell her that meals were ready, forgetting to tell her that they had made plans and left without telling her. Then Delia had managed to get pregnant and once the baby had been born… things went down hill fast.
She'd never been allowed in the same room as her baby half-sister, let alone having even touched the baby. She'd been told that the baby was… delicate and too sensitive to her horrible aura.
It had hurt at first, but she found that with her father's drinking and Delia's attention being solely on the new baby her new found freedom had left her with a peace she'd never had before.
And then all that came crumbling down
She'd come home to her father having a shouting match with someone in his study. She'd crept through the darkened hallway to listen. What came next had shattered her very being.
"What do you mean she's not mine! "her father had roared. She'd immediately thought that meant that the new baby with Delia wasn't his… had her stepmother cheated?! The next words that she heard changed it all.
"Who is Lydia's father then!" She hadn't been able to hear the reply.
She had frozen there in the hallway, not able to get away when the door flung open and a man in a suit stepped out leaving her face to face with her father… the man she had thought was her father. Her eyes had locked with his and she could see something on his face she'd never seen before.
Disgust.
She did the only thing that she could think to do… she ran.
She didn't come home for three days and when she finally did, her father was no where to be seen and Delia had smiled viciously at her. She knew then that her life would never be the same… she had just never imagined it would have led to this.
Lydia was brought out of her memories when she was yanked up out of the car and led through various locked and guarded doors. It felt like a prison. But she knew it wasn't… it was worse.
It was a psychiatric Hospital.
hr
Time was something he wasn't sure of anymore… had it been days, weeks or fucking years? He wasn't had no way to tell. Not since he'd been sent back to god forsaken grave… again. Betelgeuse figured he should be grateful for that at least. Instead of being exorcised out of existence, which is what the higher ups kept wanting and threatening to do.
But something was strange… with him, with his exile. He still had access to some of his powers and every once in a while, when he stored up enough juice, he could slip out and back into the Netherworld or the mortal world. The strange thing was that when he managed to get out, no one could see him. Not the living and not the dead either. He was truly invisible.
It had been a lot of fun to start off with, he was able to get in and out of places that he'd never been able to. But there wasn't a lot that he could do other than that. It took a lot of effort for him to manipulate anything in either world leaving him exhausted to the point he'd close his eyes and when he'd open them again, he'd be back in his grave.
The one place he couldn't go, the one person that he couldn't get to was Lydia Deetz.
How rude of the powers that be not to let him check in on his darling wife. And his wife she was, regardless of whatever crock of rat shit that old withered bitch Juno had spun up and sold to them about dear old Bab's having stopped the ceremony in time… He could still feel that connection, that bond that had clicked into place between the two of them.
He had had all the time in the world to think back over all the events that had taken place during that time. He wished could have went back and kicked himself for his stupidity. There were so many other ways he would have been able to get what he wanted. But he had to let his impatience win out over rationality.
Now he was paying for it.
For now though, his mind was going over things that he had heard whispers of when he'd been stalking the offices.
Something or Someone was coming.
The Higher ups were restless and trying to stop something from happening. He just wasn't sure what it was.
Whatever it was… felt important. He could feel a tug in his chest, and he knew that somehow it would involve him.
He'd bide his time, he just needed to save his power just for a bit longer then he'd be out to search for more answers.
hr
Lydia had no idea how long she had been in the office, waiting. She still was in handcuffs, the two attendants still on either side of her making sure she stayed in the chair. Her mind was still trying to wrap around what had happened.
What would happen to her now. She could feel the tightness in her throat from the tears threatening to fall. But she refused to give anyone the knowledge that she was scared. That was a lesson she had been hard taught years before.
Hearing the door to the office open she shifted her gaze to the man walking in. He was average height and weight, nothing stood out about him till he caught her eyes. Never in her life had she had an instant reaction to someone like she did right then. Her stomach sank and she felt real fear. Something was so wrong here. His voice instantly set her on edge setting every instinct in her to run and hide.
She watched as he flipped open a file on his desk and then looked directly at her. She shifted slightly in her seat.
"Lydia Enheduanna Deetz, January 11th, 1976… a month shy of your 18th birthday it seems."
Lydia's mouth was dry as she watched this… doctor in front of her. The way that he spoke her middle name had chills going up her spine.
"Enheduanna…. Such an interesting name. "he said. "Sumerian for High Priestess" his eyes glittered in a way that instantly held her paralyzed. "Now let's see here, our reports are indicating that you have repeated hallucinations of people that have died stating that you believe that you can speak to the dead, delusions of events that happened in the past, suicidal thoughts and actions, a history of school issues of you bullying your classmates threatening them in a manner that is disturbing and very graphic according to your records from school."
Every word that slipped from this man's lips had Lydia wishing that she could defend herself., but something stopped her, something in her was screaming to keep quiet. Not to give this man a syllable to use against her.
"It wasn't till your parents Charles and Delia Deetz said they witnessed you trying to smoother your 10 month old sister that they felt that you are a danger to yourself and others around you and instead of turning you over to the police wish for you to get the help you need. "he closed the file and looked at her again. "We will do our best to help you Lydia… to help you work through your issues and get to the root of your mental illness and start a treatment plan." His voice was oily making her skin crawl.
The doctor nodded at the two attendants and she felt the handcuffs finally undone. "We will get you settled in your new room and a nurse will be in to help you get settled. You will have strict routine starting the moment you are in your new accommodations. This is the best way to start treating you." He said his voice placating in a manner that had her wanting to lash out. But she kept quiet trying to process everything that he had said. Any hope that her father would come to his senses and get her out of there died when he had said that her parents, both parents had witnessed her doing something to her sister… her stomach rolled. She'd only ever seen the baby from a distance. Never once being close enough to even see what the baby looked like let alone do what they said she had done. The tears were burning the back of her throat and she desperately wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
She felt herself being lifted from the chair and led out the doors of the office and down a maze of dimly lit gray hallways till they came to a stand in front of a room with the numbers 333 on it. Something shifted in her mind at seeing the numbers, wanting to scream out that, that was important but before she could make that connection someone cleared their throat and she looked up. A nurse stood there her arms holding more gray clothing and Lydia realized that she wasn't going to get to wear her own clothes anymore.
The next half an hour was a blur for Lydia. She was stripped and dressed like a rag doll; every bit of her identity taken away as the nurse in a monotone bored voice started going over the rules for her. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, scheduled strictly. No one was allowed to skip meals; meds were to be given out before each meal and were taken while supervised. Once the doctor had her sessions scheduled, she would be taken to them. She would only be alone in her room. The door would always be locked from the outside until she was being led out for mealtimes or for her therapy sessions.
It wasn't till the loud echo of the door shutting and locking behind her that Lydia slowly started to come out of her numbness. She looked around her breath coming in short gasps. A metal framed bed that was bolted to the floor, one pillow and a sheet. Everything the same color gray. One room. A bed. A sink that was nothing more than a stainless-steel bowl attached to the wall… a mirror and a toilet. She looked down at herself. A baggy set of scrubs, gray shirt, no bra, a pair of elastic waistband pants. At least she could keep her own underwear on. She saw laying on the bed a pair of socks and there were a pair of plastic looking slide on shoes under the end of the bed. There wasn't a window.
She was in a cell.
Slowly Lydia walked her way over to the bed and moved up on it till she was sitting in the corner, her back pressed into the corner of the walls, the cold brick seeping through the thin material of her shirt. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them her head dropped down and the tears finally came.
Lydia never noticed the shadow move away from her door where the doctor had stood watching her.