Mary Alice Brandon: The Enigma

The world was dark. That is how Mary preferred it though. Dark and deprived of any sensory inputs. The more she saw, the harder it was to reign in the visions.

The visions were one of the many things her family disagreed with her on. They didn't believe she actually had any powers. Some days Mary herself wondered if the doctors were right. Maybe she was just a schizophrenic with delusions of grandeur.

She didn't feel like that was true though. Her mind didn't feel fractured or broken or even hazy. She felt like she was in full control of herself all the time. However, that could be what every patient in here felt like. In control of their mind only in their mind.

Mary looked back at her short life before the hospital and could only come up with bitter fragments.

"Freak!" her mother had yelled at her. Mary has known her mother was about sleep with her boss. She had just asked her mother about it and if it meant she was leaving Daddy.

Her mother slapped her before continuing "Stop poking your little nose where it doesn't belong, you abomination."

It wasn't a new conversation for Mary but it broke her heart just the same. She didn't understand why she couldn't be herself in her own house.

Her parents had sought medical help when the vision started interfering with their comfort. Mary knew before any DNA test that the new baby in her mother's belly wasn't her daddy's, she knew daddy had also started looking elsewhere for affection. They blamed it all on the trauma of Mary finding out about the affairs. The doctors took the bait.

Mary couldn't shake the feeling though that had her circumstances been different, people might have appreciated her powers instead of forcing her to seek medical help.

Her days were all quite the same. They all started with her having a full road map to everything that would happen to her throughout the day. She could dream of every person that she would talk to, every meal that she was about to eat, it was all laid out to her in her dreams.

She often tried to alter the course of events to test if she could. It had never happened. It was as if everything she saw was already set in stone. Even throughout the day, Mary could see brief glimpses of the future of every person that she saw. It wasn't quite as specific as her own dreams but she could usually get an outline.

The blindfold on her eyes protected her from being overstimulated. She only took it off for brief periods during the day, usually when she was alone. Everyone around her had grown accustomed to it, grateful even because outside of her visions Mary didn't have a lot to say.

Mary could sense how uncomfortable her visions made everyone. So, she withdrew into herself over time. The only times she had any human interaction now were the hospital-appointed activity sessions every week. Beyond that, Mary had taken to holding herself hostage in her room. The outer world didn't want anything to do with her and she didn't much care for it either.

Today was different though. Mary had seen someone that she was oddly curious about. It was a man in his late 30s, with a lean build, sandy blonde hair, and a quirky half-tilted smile. It wasn't his physical appearance that made Mary curious about the man though.

Usually, everyone here gave her a wide berth. She didn't blame them. Her behavior in the first few weeks here had been quite violent. She had mellowed out through time though. Even getting to go to group activities like today.

But people around her hadn't forgotten. They were cautious in their approach. This man had come to her with no reservations though. He had sat beside her. They had a conversation.

Mary was oddly looking forward to it. She went about her day on auto-pilot, already knowing what to expect. She was at the door before the attendant came with her food, she said No before being asked if she was feeling any negative emotions today. She let her caution slip a bit, raising suspicions during her therapy sessions.

When it was finally time to get to the rec hall, Mary found her steps getting lighter. She felt like a weight was slowly being lifted off her shoulders. There was no reason behind her intense reaction, just a feeling that life was about to get…better.

She found herself sitting in a chair, singing a few lines that she had written and forgotten about years ago.

"Play me some songs of imperfections,

Broken dolls and disillusions.

Eddie, how do you know what's good when you've only had bad?"

A/N: I realize I refer to Alice as Mary in this chapter. This is intentional and will play a part in the story later. Also, do let me know about your opinions on the story by leaving a review if you like.