Chapter 8: Erika vs. Alex pt 1.

"Aaaggghhhh!" I groaned in pain.

My eyes fucking burned like hell and my balls hurt so fucking much. Even though I had my glasses on, Erika got close enough to burn the living hell out of my eyes. Fucking shit man! I thought. I hope I don't go blind.

Due to the burning in my eyes, I could not open my eyes. Whenever I tried opening my eyes, it would sting more. The worse thing I did was take off my glasses and rubbed my eyes. You're not supposed to do that because it will irritate your eye and possibly damage it. Oh well…

After a few seconds of rubbing my eyes, I finally got them to open. Yes they stung like a bitch but they're open. Everything in the room looked watery and blurry. Luckily there was a sink inside by the cabinets. I did not hesitate to run over to the sink and turn the faucet on.

I started to rinse my eyes out. Whenever bad toxins like air fresheners get into your eyes, you're supposed to rinse your eyes out for at least ten minutes. Me on the other hand, I rinsed them after a couple of minutes.

I wiped my face with a paper towel and looked in the mirror. My eyes still sting, they're red and my sight is still a little blurry but it'll do for now.

As I was making my way out of the visitor's room, I grabbed my glasses and my bag. I just remembered that I left some of Erika's papers on the table but I am not really worried about it. I can get them later. Right now, I have to find that crazy child.

If I was Erika, where would I run to? I thought. But what if she got caught and got sent to her room? At the end of the hall, I noticed a bright red haired nurse walking my way, pushing a medicine cart. Maybe she saw Erika.

"Excuse me!" I called out as I ran towards the nurse. "Nurse! Nurse!"

"Can I help-?" asked the lady as she stopped. "Whoa, whoa, are you alright? Your eyes are red."

"Yea yea," I said. "I'm fine but that is not important right now. Have you seen Erika?"

As soon as I mentioned my sister's name, the nurse cringed a little bit. Hey, I'd cringe too if someone asked me about my sister, I thought. She's pretty crazy.

"She ran down the hall not too long ago," replied the red haired nurse.

"Do you have any idea where she could have gone?" I asked.

"I am not sure kid," replied the red haired nurse. "I'm sorry."

"Ooh," I said. "Well, thanks."

I left the nurse and made my way to the elevator. The elevator door opened and I noticed Dr. Copen standing in there. Fuck! I thought. That was the last person that I wanted to see.

"Hello Mr. Shepherd," greeted Dr. Copen as he looked up from his papers. "I see you're finished visiting Erika."

Before the blonde haired doctor could leave the elevator, I pushed him back in and quickly pressed a random button.

"Wha-?" questioned Dr. Copen.

"Look," I sighed.

"Wait," said the blonde haired doctor as he crossed his arms. "Before you say anything, did you provoke her?"

"Not really," I replied. "Kind of, but no. It's her fault. I tried saying 'hello' but she almost tore my head off."

Dr. Copen sighed.

"I figured you'd provoke her because of her Febreeze method," informed the blonde haired doctor. "First thing I said was don't provoke her but you did it anyways."

"Umm thanks for noticing my throbbing red eyes that your patient caused," I said sarcastically.

"My apologies," sighed Dr. Copen.

"Well, whatever," I said. "I've asked a nurse if she had seen her, she said yeah but she said she didn't know where she went."

Dr. Copen crossed his arms and went quiet for a moment.

"Ah!" he finally said. "There is a possible chance that she's in the courtyard. She always runs down there when she is upset or angry."

"Any reason why?" I asked.

"She says it's her happy place," replied the blonde doctor.

"I see," I said.

"Do you still have the needle I gave you?" asked Dr. Copen.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

I checked my hoodie pocket for it and took it out.

"Just wondering," replied the blonde haired doctor. "Do you mind distracting Erika while I call her nurses and Kaufman?"

"Yea," I said. "That is if I find her first."

The elevator door opened and Dr. Copen and I stepped out.

"I'll meet up with you in a bit," informed the blonde haired doctor. "Good luck."

I nodded.

I pushed the glass door open and entered the court yard. The courtyard was huge and Erika could be anywhere. The good thing was, there was not that many people. One thing I did notice was that the weather got colder and the clouds got cloudier.

I finally spotted my crazy ass sister sitting at a bench by a water fountain.

"Hey Erika!" I called out running towards her.

She stood up and quickly booked it towards the fence. I sprinted after her.

"Erika!" I yelled. "Stop this right now!"

The brunette jumped on the fence and climbed like a monkey. I stopped and looked through the fence. She was entering the pool area. If she jumps in, she's done for.

I didn't give up yet. Instead of climbing the fence like Erika, I kicked the gate open and entered. Erika stood at the edge of the pool and had her back towards me.

"HEY!" I yelled at Erika. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

The brunette said nothing but slowly turned around. In her hand she held what seemed to be a rusty kitchen knife. The hell?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said nervously as I put my hands up. "Where did you get that?"

"Don't worry about it," snapped Erika as she pointed the knife at me.

For fuck sakes, I thought. Of course she'd give me attitude.

"Well whatever," I said. "Please put the knife down and let's talk. Okay?"

"On my way down here, I've been thinking," Erika said as she ignored me. "When I kill you, I might forgive you."

I gave my sister the, 'are you fucking kidding me look.' This bitch is so ridiculous, it's actually quite funny. I doubt the crazy psycho would kill me but I have to find a way to get that knife away from her before she attempts to kill me. Speaking of the knife, I noticed her hand was shaking when I looked at it. Hmm, I thought.

"You're bluffing," I said.

"I'm serious," Erika said with a deadly look. "I'm not scared to kill you. I'll stab you and I'll make you drown."

"Oooh!" I moaned. "I'm so scared."

First thing Dr. Copen said was to not provoke Erika and right now, I am agitating her. Good! Honestly, I do not care anymore. She is rude and she sucks. Hopefully by the end of this, she fucking changes her fucking attitude!

Erika gripped the knife handle harder which caused her hand to turn white. She's pissed...Well she's been pissed.

"Alex," she said annoyed.

"Erika," I said right back.

"I hate you so much," Erika said with hate.

My left eye twitched in annoyance.

"You know what," I finally said. "Go ahead and fucking kill me. You'll stay here longer, possibly jail. No no, I doubt you'll fucking do it in the first place. If you can't get over your fear of the Boogeyman, then what makes you think you have the balls to murder your own brother."

Erika said nothing but screamed and chucked the knife at me. I jumped back dodging the sharp weapon. If I didn't move quick enough, the knife could have impaled me in the shoulder.

As I bent down to pick up the knife (to throw it away), I noticed that Erika ran towards me, jumping on me which caused the both of us to fall into the water. We fell into the deep end. Well fuck, I thought.

. . .

The water was cold, cold enough to get me sick. The temperature of the water wasn't the problem but swimming was the problem. I can't swim and neither does Erika. Well, Erika has been here for a while and she should have gotten over her fear of swimming. I take that back because this crazy brat was digging her nails into my right forearm, trying to hold on to me for life. I pulled my arm away and pushed Erika's face away. I did not want her to grab on me because she will make things worse for the both of us and it was her fault for pushing us into the pool.

Erika tried to swim back up but she failed and I did an asshole move on her by grabbing her leg and pulling her down with me. She tried to kick me but I held onto her leg like it was my job. The only reason why I am bringing her down with me is, she should die too. I mean, she is a bitch and wants me dead. So why can't I be a bitch back and have her dead? I know I did not want her to grab on me but I am grabbing on her so I could make her suffer.

Erika and I finally reached the bottom, I finally let go, and I was starting to feel light headed. I don't know about Erika but I don't care. Well…that dumb bitch did the worst thing possible but scream and panic which caused her to lose her breath and form bubbles. She tried to swim up but she couldn't. It looked like something was weighing her down. She was struggling big time and I couldn't help but feel a little pity for her.

As that brown haired psycho was panicking, I looked up for the nearest step latter. My vision was starting to get blurry,(again), which was not good. Since I couldn't find a step latter, I kicked the ground and attempted to swim and save myself. I managed to get a good start but I felt something grab my leg and bite my ankle.

"Ahh!" I yelled.

I turned around and saw Erika biting into my ankle. Stupid bitch, I thought. With my other leg, I kicked Erika in the head. I had to kick her a few times and by the fourth kick, I managed to get her off me. As she fell, I went back to attempting to swim back up.

My head was pounding but I was almost at the top. I knew that I hated swimming but I had to do it to save my life. I didn't want to die with that poor excuse of a human. She's horrible for christ's sake!

I finally made it back up to land. I threw myself on the concrete floor and breathed for air like a maniac.

*gasp* *gasp* *gasp*

"ALEX!" I heard a soft/loud voice before passing out.

. . .

11:09 p.m.

*beep* *beep* *beep*

"Oooh," I moaned.

I opened my eyes and everything was blurry. I rubbed my eyes to make everything better and once my vision restored, I found myself staring at a cream colored ceiling. I also noticed and felt a mask on my face and other hospital utensils all over my body. I turned to my right and saw all the machines that were connected to my body. Damn machines woke me up! I thought.

"Mmmm!" I moaned as I turned towards my left.

In shock, I saw Lisa sitting in a chair, reading a fashion magazine. I noticed that her hair was in a bun and her clothes were wrinkled.

"Lisa!" I said with joy as I sat up.

I noticed when I sat up, I wasn't wearing my normal clothes but a patients robe.

"Good morning starshine," she greeted as she put the magazine down. "The Earth says hello."

"Oh my god! Lisa!" I said. "How- Why- What happened?"

"While Copen and the others were looking for you, I heard what had happened and I knew I had to go out and help you," informed Lisa. "Eventually I met up with Copen and we noticed that the pool gate was destroyed and we went into the pool area and we noticed you were passed out on the side of the pool and Erika was nowhere to be found."

"Did you eventually get her?" I asked. "Is she dead?"

"Yes we did and we were lucky to save her in time or else she would have been dead," stated the blonde haired nurse. "I was nice enough to dive in there and save her."

Too bad Erika isn't dead, I thought. Lisa didn't have to save her.

"You know you didn't have to save her," I stated. "You're not her nurse."

"I know but it was your sister and she used to be my friend," informed the blonde haired nurse.

"I see," I said. "Well, thanks for saving Erika. She better be grateful when she sees you."

"Yea," Lisa said softly.

"Speaking of her, where is she now?" I asked.

"She's in her room," replied Lisa. "She's in the same thing you are in at the moment and she should be asleep."

"Oh," I said. "Oh and umm, what time is it?"

"Eleven eleven," replied the blonde haired nurse.

"Night?"

Lisa nodded.

I sighed.

"I should get going then," I said as I tried climbing out of bed.

"No no no," said Lisa as she stood up and softly pushed me back in bed. "You need to rest up before you leave. You're breathing condition isn't that great at the moment."

"I have to go home," I informed. "My mom doesn't even know I'm out here. She probably thinks I'm at work or hanging around with Jeff."

"I don't care," said Lisa. "I'm not letting you go until you are fine."

"Fine then," I sighed. "I'll just stay the night I suppose."

"Thank you," Lisa said with satisfaction. "I'll be here all night with you."

"I appreciate it," I said.

It went quiet for a moment. I wish I can go home but Lisa won't let me. I don't want to be here anymore. I am done. I don't want to fucking be here anymore! Just being here bothers me a lot because I don't belong here! I need to go home!

"Lisa," I finally spoke up.

"Yea?" she looked into my eyes.

"I don't want to be here anymore," I said. "Can you please let me go?"

"I don't really want you to go but if you insist…" said Lisa.

"Please?" I asked nicely.

"Maybe," replied the green eyed nurse. "But can you do one favor for me?"

"Depends," I replied. "What is this favor?"

"Before you leave, I need you to talk to your sister again," informed the green eyed nurse.

"Hell no!" I quickly said. "Forget about that!"

"Please?!" begged Lisa.

"Why should I?" I asked angrily.

"Because you really like me?" Lisa tried to play cute.

"I'm serious," I said angrily.

Lisa sighed.

"Erika has no one," she stated. "She has no friends and you're the only one who can at least help her."

"She hates me," I informed.

"I know she does but please," begged Lisa. "If you talk to her, then maybe she'll change. You never know until you try."

"Her changing?" I questioned. "Pfft!"

I rolled my eyes. I know for a fact that Erika will not change. Once you become a bitch, you will forever be a bitch.

"You two are so much alike," informed the green eyed nurse. "Especially the attitude."

"Thanks?" I said unsure of.

"But can you please do it?" Lisa quickly begged.

I sighed.

"I don't really want to," I confessed. "But if it will make you happy, I'll do it."

"Thank you so much," Lisa said as she jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you! Thank you!"

I hugged Lisa back. She is so soft and warm.

"No problem," I said softly.

"Here," said Lisa as she broke the hug. "Let me help you get out of bed."

Lisa stepped back and pushed the side rack down. Before I got off the bed, Lisa helped take off the little shockers off my body but kept the oxygen mask on.

"I'm leaving the mask on just in case," informed Lisa.

I nodded.

I jumped off the bed and suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle. I almost fell but I was quick enough to grab onto the bed.

"Jesus!" I yelled.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked worriedly.

"My ankle," I replied. "It hurts. I must have twisted it."

"Oh that!" she said like it was no problem. "When we took your clothes off, we noticed you had a big ugly bruise on your right ankle so we put medicine on it and taped it."

"Ahh," I said. "Well thank you."

"Does it hurt to stand?" asked Lisa. "It's obvious it hurts to jump hehe."

I smirked. I stood on my right foot and it killed me…

"Nope," I said.

"I'll be back then," said Lisa.

"Where you going?" I asked.

The cheeky nurse said nothing but left the room.

. . .

Lisa had came back with a wheel chair and she offered to push me in it. I took it with no hesitation. Since Lisa would be pushing me, I had to hold onto the oxygen tank.

Anyways, we were making our way to the elevator. Honestly, I don't really want to see this demon child but Lisa kept begging and I couldn't say no to her. Even though I've known her for a day or two, it feels like I've known Lisa all my life and I just can't say know to this cheeky babe.

"So where is Erika's room?" I asked.

"Fourth floor," replied Lisa.

"Huh?" I said confused. "But her papers said 210."

"It used to be but since she is so crazy, they had to move her to the fourth floor," informed the blonde haired nurse. "Your dad has requested it."

"Ahh," I said.

If I was a doctor and I had to deal with Erika, of course I would move her away!

The green eyed nurse and I entered the elevator. She pressed the fourth floor button.

"So what exactly happened?" asked Lisa. "I tried talking to Copen about it but he didn't really explain well. He just said you two went at it. I asked why and he ignored me."

"Long story short," I said. "Erika had reached that breaking point and sprayed my face with some Febreeze and ran away."

"Oh," Lisa said softly. "Her famous Febreeze attack method..."

"Whoa whoa," I quickly said. "You know about it?"

"Everyone does," replied the green eyed nurse. "Everyone has experienced once in their lifetime, if not, then they are very lucky. Not only does she use it as an attack but she uses it as a safety weapon too. Sometimes whenever she's angered, she'll go and attack people for no reason."

What a bitch, I thought.

"Why though? How did this happen?" I curiously asked.

"At that time," stated Lisa softly. "I was her nurse, and let's just say things didn't go too well…"

FLASHBACK…

Lisa's POV…

"Erika come here!" I yelled as I chased her down the hall.

"No!" yelled the bratty brunette. "Get away from me!"

"Get back here!" I yelled again. "You need to do those tests!"

"Fuck those tests!" yelled Erika.

Erika was getting on my nerves, as usual. I wish she would listen…

The brown haired brat ran into a room and I finally caught up to her. She was cornered in that room, holding a can of Febreeze and I have no clue why.

"Please calm down," I said. "Erika…"

I was out of breath and I am tired.

"Get away from me and maybe I'll calm down," Erika said stubbornly.

"You need to do your tests," I informed.

Erika rolled her eyes.

"Please?" I asked nicely.

Erika shook her head.

I had it with her, I thought. She's wasting my time and I have better things to do. So what I did was run towards her but bad mistake…

"AHHH!" I screamed in pain. "MY EYES!"

That brat sprayed that air freshener shit in my eyes!

"AHH!" I screamed again.

"Smell ya later!" giggled Erika.

I rolled around the floor, crying in pain and agony.

END OF FLASHBACK…

"I'm so sorry she did that you," I said. "You didn't deserve that."

"It's fine," the green eyed nurse said softly. "It happened a long time ago. No need to worry."

The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened. Lisa stepped out first and I followed. Unlike any of the other floors on the hospital, it felt strange being up here. It was quiet, dark, had a very warm feeling like the heater is on, and not that many doctors and nurses were up here. I only saw a couple of doctors and a nurse. I have this feeling that a lot of bad shit has happened up here.

"This place…" I softly said,

"What about it?" asked Lisa.

"I have this weird feeling about it," I replied. "Like worse vibes than the one on the bottom floors."

"Oh yeah?" questioned the green eyed nurse. "I honestly don't blame you because this floor has had bad vibes before. It burned down one time and a suicide happened here at the same time."

"And Erika stays up here?" I questioned.

Lisa nodded.

"Actually, she's the only patient that's up here," she said. "This is her floor. Since she's crazy and all of that, Kaufman moved her up here, request from your father, because it would have been best for her and so far, it is… I guess."

Well damn, I thought. No wonder why she is alone because she's been isolated.

"Wanna know something even crazy?" asked Lisa.

"Tell me," I replied.

"This floor doesn't have a heater system and only a cooler," informed Lisa. "So far, the cooler doesn't beat the heat."

"So it's just naturally hot?" I asked.

"We can say that," replied the green eyed nurse.

Lisa stopped in front of a glass door. Inside the room, it was very dark. On the glass door were big red numbers.

405

I stared at the number. Lisa slowly opened the glass door and stepped inside the room. I heard a light switch flicker and the dark room suddenly filled itself with bright lights.

"Damn…" I softly said.

For being an insane patient, Erika's bedroom was really nice. It doesn't look like a bedroom but more of a loft. Her room was doubled and there were little steps that lead into the other room. The room that Lisa and I were in has white tiles, the walls were painted baby blue, against the wall on my left were two dressers. One was a big dresser with a mirror and the other was a small dresser with a plant.

On the other side of the wall was a school desk and chair. On that wall, there was a lot of pinned artwork. Erika was not lying when she draws. Her drawings were amazing. One drawing did catch my attention and it was this guy on steroids wearing a bloody robe around his waist and a rusty pyramid helmet. In one hand, there is a large knife and the other was a dead body. The Boogeyman, I thought. The same boogeyman from my childhood. There was one problem though. This drawing looks so real, it can come out of the paper at any time...

Anyways, in the other room there was a big black bed, in which Erika was asleep in. On one of the walls, there were a bunch of graffiti posters, music posters and a Hello Kitty poster. Hmm, I thought. Very interesting.

"Damn, I know," Lisa said quietly. "Before moving Erika up here, Kaufman ordered to renovate the room so Erika can have more room and feel less claustrophobic. And it was also the request of your father. He would send about like five hundred to seven hundred dollars just for Erika. We told her it was the money from the government and she fell for it."

"This is pretty nice," I commented. "But guess what?"

"What?" asked the cheeky nurse.

"Erika found out about mom and dad," I replied. "She came to the conclusion that mom and dad didn't want her."

"I see," said Lisa. "That is a subject that should be avoided for now on."

It went quiet for a moment and I stared at the sleeping Erika. She was in an oxygen mask herself and she was covered in blankets. I wonder what she is dreaming. Is it the boogeyman? Dreams of killing me?

"Well it looks like she's asleep," I stated. "I should go."

"No!" Lisa yelled quietly. "Please stay. I'll wake her up."

Ok ok, I thought. Since Erika is a major bitch when she is awake, I can assume she turns into a fucking grudge or whatever when she's woken up. I don't want Lisa to take the chance and have Erika beat the shit out of her.

"She'll be mad!" I commented.

"She won't," stated the green eyed nurse quietly. "She took her medication with some herbal tea."

Not that duotine shit, I thought. Oh! And the herbal tea ;) I wish I had that herbal tea hehe.

"Erika," said Lisa. "Someone is here to see you."

"Who?" Erika asked all drugged up. "Is it Christopher?"

"It's a surprise, wake up!" said Lisa out loud.

Who the hell is Christopher? I thought. I know for a fact that we do not have a relative named Christopher. Meh! It doesn't matter anyways. Erika is just crazy.

The green eyed nurse walked up the steps and faced me.

"She's all yours," she said. "I'll be in here just in case something bad happens."

"Thanks," I said.

I looked at Erika. She was sitting up and she stretched her body, which I heard bones pop. After that, she looked towards me and she gasped in surprise.

"Brother!" she yelled with joy.