Chapter 9

The second her eyes opened that morning she knew something wasn't right. She wasn't sure exactly what it was that was amiss, just that something or someone was making her feel… She wasn't sure exactly, she just knew things weren't right. Sighing heavily she sat herself up in her hospital issue bed and stared around the bleak room. It was exactly as she remembered it from the night before; tight and airless. She felt almost suffocated and at the same time…

Wearily she ran her fingers back through her hair, before bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She was starting to find her confinement more than a little lonely, but unfortunately for her there wasn't exactly much she could do about it. Getting up she made her way towards the little sink in the far corner of the room. The sink was white porcelain and so tiny you could barely wash one hand in it. Catilin guessed it was probably some kind of safety thing, in case an inmate took to the idea of drowning themselves or… whatever.

Sighing again, she picked up the small plastic cup squeezed in between the taps and filled it with a small amount of water. It wasn't that she was thirsty exactly, just bored. And since she couldn't feed her boredom she had to manage with the next best alternative; drowning it. Slowly she turned round, allowing her eyes to examine the room for the millionth time since she'd been shown it. It hadn't changed. It hadn't suddenly grown a secret exit. It was still exactly the same as it had been when she'd first been led to it. Exactly the same as it had been during the course of her more than eventful night. And exactly the same as it would be the next time she returned to it.

Downing the whole cup of water in one painful gulp she squeezed the cup back between the taps and made her way towards the door. She didn't know if she was supposed to wait for someone to tell her it was okay to leave or not. She hadn't exactly been interested in finding out hospital etiquette when she was being dragged in kicking and screaming. Carefully she pulled the door open a crack and glanced out into the corridor. What she saw, however, made her instantly stumble back in horror.

Swallowing hard, she took a few deep, calming breaths in, before tentatively reaching towards the door again. This time she pulled it fully open confronting the unbelievable sight head on. Staring into her eyes, Catilin couldn't help but wonder if she was still dreaming or if this was just another trick by the Teen. She reached her hand towards the other. The other mirrored her exactly. For a few moments Catilin couldn't resist playing, trying to catch the other out as a fake or determine whether or not it was actually a mirror.

'Who are you,' as she spoke the other mirrored her perfectly. 'What are you?'

Trying to stay calm, Catilin reached another hand out towards the other, this time hoping to touch it. Before she could place a hand on the apparition, however, it vanished, leaving Catilin to reel away in shock.

'Are youse alright lassie?' Nurse Guillyham's voice sounded from nearby.

Glancing into the corridor, Catilin spotted the Nurse coming out of the room diagonally opposite to hers. For a few moments Catilin just stared at her, unable to think of anything to say; not totally sure there was anything to say. Then she forced a tight smile onto her lips and met Nurse Guillyham's gaze with a strange kind of politeness.

'I was just wondering if it's alright for me to get my breakfast now or do I have to wait for some specific time?'

'Breakfast is served at eight, lassie,' she smiled back at her, 'you've got a few minutes to wait yet, but youse can go along now if y'like. It's first come, first served I'm afraid.'

'Right,' Catilin could feel her smile becoming tighter, as though her skin were trying to pull itself into some kind of mask, 'I'll head along there now then.'

'Alright then.'

There was an awkward pause, as neither one of them moved. Instead they exchanged unreadable glances.

'Shouldn't you be running along there lassie,' Nurse Guillyham broke the tension. 'Surely youse don't want to be dinning on leftovers on ye first mornin.'

'I know,' she pressed her lips together, 'it's just…'

'Just what lassie?'

Catilin hesitated. She knew Nurse Guillyham was nice enough to humour her, but she doubted it went beyond that. After all, Catilin was a patient and supposedly mentally unstable. All the humouring in the world wouldn't make Nurse Guillyham any use to her if they couldn't get past that.

'Nothing,' she shook her head, 'I just thought I heard a noise out here before, but I guess it was nothing.'

'What kind of noise,' the Nurse frowned.

'I… I'm not sure exactly. Music maybe, it sounded like music, but it was so faint…'

'Aye,' Nurse Guillyham's features seemed to become tighter, 'I know what youse mean lassie, but y'were probably imagining it.'

'That's what I thought. I mean, no one on this ward is allowed a radio, are they?'

'Most of the people on this ward would be too afraid of the radio signals to want one.'

'Does that mean that a lot of the people on this ward are…?' Catilin strained to remember the phrase Nurse Guillyham had used to describe her.

'Fairy lot,' she shook her head, 'not exactly no. The fairy lot have little fear of the unknown. These are of a different sort.'

'Why wasn't I put with the fairy lot?'

'Because we tend to spread youse out a little, so y'don't conspire your stories together. Only the fairy lot conspire their stories together see, because youse lack paranoia.'

'I wouldn't know about that,' Catilin laughed lightly.

'Wouldn't y'now?'

'Nu-uh, I don't need to conspire stories, what I know is the truth.'

'If you say so lassie, now why don't y'run along t breakfast.'

'Okay, I'll speak to you later.'

Catilin pulled herself out of her room and turned in the direction of the dinning area.

'Arenon Jenna.'

'What,' Catilin froze, before turning her gaze towards the Nurse.

'I said goodbye Jenna,' there was a strange smile on her face.

'You said arenon.'

'No,' she shook her head, 'I didn't, youse just heard that.'