July 14, 1967 (4:00 PM).
It has been a day so far. Today is now the 14th of July. It is Wednesday and I am currently locked in a solid, windowless white room that has two doors. One door was locked and the other led to a small bathroom that contained a toilet, sink and shower all in white. I had apparently woken up early, had a seizure (I have never had one before so this surprised me) and screamed in pain. All I recall was shaking horribly, eyes shut and was rushed from my room to this room. They hooked me to a monitor and had sedated me. I woke up like an hour ago and I tried to call out to get someone's attention, but I earned no response.
I knew someone must have been watching me because of the glass window that showed only my reflection. I read about that those windows were one sided and people on the other side could watch anyone in the opposite room, in this case the room I occupied. Was someone watching me?
I reached up to rip the cords from my arm but was halted by a static noise that circled the cool air around me before a low voice spoke. "I wouldn't touch those." I couldn't figure out who said that. "They're keeping the seizures away for the time being."
I gulped and the pain laid sharply in my mind. It had been like.. like someone was burning me alive, all of my nerves aching. Like an earthquake, a major one, was happening inside my body.
"What's happening to me?" The words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them, but they made me consider something I dreaded. Had I gotten sick somehow?
"You're alright. Your immune system is not used to the air of the area. You caught a bug."
The words caused my stomach to turn and do a flip.
"When will it pass?" I questioned, eager to know.
"Hopefully soon. Sorry, but you have to stay in this room until it passes."
I sighed, nodding my head. The voice sounded kind of like my uncle Drake, but when I asked who it was I received no answer.
So I waited and waited. A week passed in a blur of sedated sleep and bored awake hours. I felt no better. The pain was gone, no seizures occurred but I still felt something happening inside of me.
It's hard to explain.. think of it like this. You have this feeling of anxiety. Amplify it all over your body. Now imagine that anxiety to be more like internal scratching, like someone is noticeably clawing away at your insides but only enough to make you aware of it.
That's kind of how it felt. Kind of. Like I said it's hard to explain accurately.
The door opened each day, twice a day for food and drink. Whenever I needed to pee I used the attached bathroom. When I showered they brought me clothes when they brought my meals. Which reminds me. I had apparently been changed after I was brought here and so now I had a stupid hospital gown that thankfully covered all sides and went down to my knees.
I strolled around in a circle around the monitor, tapping at the side of it as I did so. This must have annoyed the person beyond the glass because after only the tenth time I heard the static and a growled: "Stop."
I laughed, shrugged my shoulders and sat down.
It was now the seventh (or eight if you want to get technical if you count the first day I was here) of this caged misery I was forced into. Wednesday, July the 21th.
I had no company, no means of entertainment, the same boring scenery, silence, a lack of clothes and tons of questions I wanted answers to.
I requested my Narnia book to read but I only got silence.
So I waited and waited yet again. The next day, after a fitful sleep, I awoke to the sound of the locked door being opened. In stepped my dad and I jumped up, rushing forward to hug him happily.
"Dad!" He squeezed me tight and ran a hand over my messy bed hair.
"I'm so glad you're ok, sweetie!" He said, equally as happy as I was. "I was so worried!"
Behind dad stood Spencer who was eyeing me with approval. Did I do something to earn the look from him?
I brushed this aside as I stepped back from dad and asked with a frown, "Am I ok? Can I leave this room now?"
He nodded and I smiled. He took my hand and led me from the room and to my own, which was exactly the way I had left it. My bag was on the floor beside my bed, the Narnia and language book sat on the desk beyond it and clothes littered the floor at the base of my made bed.
Mark ushered me to change and so I did quickly, putting on a clean outfit. I picked out something casual to wear. Blue jeans, a light blue shirt and tennis shoes. All of my jewelry I left in the box on my desk aside from my silver bracelet.
I paused, brushing my fingers against the box though my eyes were fixed on the bump. The area around it was red from my mindless scratching, but the bump itself was slowly fading.
I studied it before I heard a cough behind me. I turned to see Selby and Mark staring at me. I blinked, tilting my head to the side, a habit of mine.
Selby brushed her nose with her left thumb and scowled, eyes flickering to my father. "Are ya comin' or not, missy?"
"Yeah." We three left and dad led me on a small tour.
Months have passed since that day and I have learned much. Father found it amusing to show me the mansion's secrets. I learned that George is from New York. I met many more people during this time. A man named Alexander Ashford, the father of Edward. I met him briefly and only once. I met Lisa Trevor, who at this time is 17.
I had spent a lot of my time learning how things operate at the mansion, drawing, reading and other activities. In September I celebrated my 16th birthday with a few of dad's friends. I received like a hundred dollars because it was such short notice; I had forgotten how close my birthday had been.
A few times a month I'd visit Raccoon City. Early October I had came across a young boy and girl in town, playing around. Out of simple curiosity I observed the teenagers 'playing'. It was more like the girl was running around with a stick waving madly about in her hand while the boy chased after her.
I laughed when he finally caught up to her. She turned to tap him gently with the stick, erupting into fits of giggling while the boy shook his head.
When they looked my way both froze and the boy got defensive. A stare down took place for several seconds before he proceeded to pull his 'sister' away. I guess she's his sister, I don't know.
Days passed.
It is now November the 4th. Today I wanted to head back to town. A perfect day, right? It was sunny with just a few clouds.
Dad took me to the park and dropped me off, saying he needed to pick stuff up at the store. I strolled about, searching for those teenagers. I had seen them here, in the afternoon. They were at the swings, the boy pushing the girl, who swung high while laughing.
I approached slowly, head tilting. They looked to be around my age. The boy turned his head at the sound of my advance and blinked, frowning slightly. The girl noticed his reaction and kept laughing.
"Come swing with us!" She chanted and I noticed the boy's frown deepening.
"Sure." I smiled and sat on the swing beside the girl, who swung back and forth while mirroring my happy expression.
The girl looked young and carefree with strange light blue eyes. It was odd how they matched mine during the spring. Her straight hair was reddish gold and flowed over her shoulders. She wore a loose fitting pink t-shirt with a white stripe going down over the left side of her front. She wore baggy red shorts with brown sandals. She didn't match at all.
The boy, though, wore black jeans and a matching jacket that was open. He had no shirt underneath and so I could plainly see his youthful abs. I found this funny as he looked young, but he was tall, probably around 5'7. He had short and spiky hair that was like the girl's, with rich ocean blue orbs.
"Do you live here? I haven't seen you before." The girl asked.
I shook my head. "I live a few cities over." I answered almost shyly under the sharp gaze of the boy. "What about you two?" I asked, gesturing to them both before starting a slow swing.
The girl gazed to the sky and her smile was now sad. "Yeah. We lived in another state, Virginia, for most of our lives, but we'd come up here for the summer to dad's parent's house.." She sighed. "When mom died of cancer.. dad wanted to move here, to be closer to our grandparents. So here we are!" She tried to sound cheerful but it sounded empty of cheer.
"I'm sorry about your mom.." I said sympathetically.
She glanced to me, nodding. "It's ok."
"I'm Saria Wesker." I said, introducing myself to them.
"I'm Skyler Winters." She laughed, swinging higher.
The boy remained silent and I arched a brow at him. "And you?" He didn't answer, just kept pushing the girl.
The girl sighed. "He's.. uhh.. anti-social." I nodded my understanding. "His name is Shiloh. He's my older brother."
What a pretty name. I liked how it sounded. Shiloh. Wait. Something caused me to laugh before I realized it. Saria, Selby, Spencer, Shiloh, Skyler, Speyer.. A lot of names that started with s.
"What's funny?" Skyler inquired, furrowing her brows.
"Just a thought." I mused softly. "So how old are you two? You don't look that old."
"I'm 15 and Shiloh's 17." 17? Really? He looked so young. "You?"
"I'm 16." I said, thinking of my recent birthday.
It had been alright, but I missed my shower of hugs from Adela and the warm smile of Dimitri. The thought of them made me sad. I hoped Adela was doing ok in fall school. I wondered what Dimitri was doing.
"You seem.. sad." The girl muttered, drawing my attention.
I shrugged. "I miss my friends. I haven't seen them in months."
"Oh. Well, the longer the time away the sweeter the reunion I always say." Skyler swung higher. The boy kept pushing her and once she waved a hand at him he moved away to watch with his arms folded.
Shiloh turned his head away, staring off into the slide area. Skyler frowned and drug her feet until she came to a stop before standing. I slowed too and she moved before me when I had stopped, sticking out her hand to me.
"Let's swing again sometime, alright?" She beamed a smile and I returned the gesture, shaking her hand.
"Yeah, that'd be fun." I stood, moving over to the boy. He noticed my approach but kept his head turned away. I stuck out my hand to him, silently asking him to shake it.
He turned after a few seconds and glanced to my hand, his folded arms not moving. Right when I was about to lower my hand he unfolded his and shook mine. His hand felt warm.
"Let's hang out again, ok Shiloh?" I asked when we let go of the other's hand. He watched me with a stony expression before turning to walk away. Skyler waved and I watched the pair's retreating backs as they departed.
At the edge of the park Shiloh paused to look back at me and I saw even from here how he nodded his head before turning to follow his sister. I walked away from the swings, fingers linked behind my back as I whistled.
It was time to head back to the mansion.