I'm sorry for the long wait. A lot got in the way of my writing, and when I finally did get the chance to work on this, the chapter did not want to be written. Hopefully it turned out good.
In a matter of seconds I was off the bed and shoved face-down on the floor. A heavy hand wrenched my arms behind my back and zip-tied my hands. The plastic pinched my skin as the restraints were pulled tighter. Someone pressed their foot in the space between my shoulder blades, holding my writhing body in place. I turned my head to the left and watched as Gary struggled underneath two men, trying to buck them off like an angry bull.
I recognized them immediately. They were the same men standing at the front gate earlier, watching me as I headed to the dorm. Were they waiting for me? For us?
My heart hammered against my chest. These men weren't Bullworth's prefects, they definitely did not look like cops, nor the white scrubs clad orderlies at Happy Volts. They looked like thugs. Psychopaths that had been given a little too much freedom by their superiors. I wondered if Crabblesnitch had sent them after us.
He always warned of the consequences of not behaving; was this it? Being brutalized by these hired goons?
"Who the hell are you?" I shouted.
The boot ground into my back. "Animal control," the man restraining me said. "You two have been giving old Crabblesnitch a bit of trouble. He don't like that. Neither does our boss."
"Your boss can suck my balls—"
"Got a mouth on you, huh, bitch?" His steel-toe connected with my chin.
"Erin!"
My head whipped around. The pain radiated across my skull and down my neck. I groaned in pain, blinking through the tears that had begun welling up. Gary was staring back at me, and the sight of him was more of a shock than my kick to the head.
Gary's eyes had turned a brilliant silver, the whites an inky black. His features had sharpened as his bones strained against his skin. He looked monstrous. Gary curled his lips back, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth and all I could think of was that fucking fairy tale.
What was it? I thought, dazed after the impact. Little Red Riding Hood.
I only hoped those bastards would collectively play the part of Red.
"Gary, don't; you've gotta try and stay calm," I said, wondering how the hell I could get through to him. They were violent enough already. I couldn't imagine what they'd do to us if Gary hurt one of them.
"Yeah, Gary, stay calm," one of them jeered. "Everything's gonna be just fine."
Laughter spread around the room and I waited for the silence, for the moment when they realized what he was. But they hadn't—they were utterly oblivious, and I wished I could join them in their ignorance.
Through the snarling, my deafening heartbeat, and the throaty chuckles I heard the rustling of plastic. I thrashed underneath the heavy weight of his foot, firmly planted on my spine. I hated feeling helpless, blind to whatever was going on around me.
All I could see was Gary's slowly softening face and the blood that pooled around my mouth. Their hands were near his neck, holding something small. I squinted—it was a needle I quickly realized. They injected him with something strong enough to usher the monster that had surfaced back into the darkness within him. Gary looked human again. It was the first time I had seen him without his ever-present scowl.
"Your turn now," he said and pushed the needle through my skin. The fluid burned as it flowed through my veins.
Within seconds I could feel myself beginning to fade. Everything around me had grown hazy and muffled, and I tried to fight it, but there was no way I could. I looked around; Gary was gone. I tried to call out for him, but the syllables spilled out in an incoherent slur. As I succumbed to sleep, I felt hands hook underneath my armpits and lift me off the floor.
Rattling metal and groaning leather jarred me from the most peaceful sleep I'd had in weeks. I opened my eyes and tried to shield them from the bright fluorescent light, but my hands only rose a few inches. Handcuffs kept my hands bound to the chair, and while I wasn't happy about still being restrained, they felt better than the zip ties.
Better of two evils, I thought and looked around the room. White tile lined the walls from the floor to the ceiling, covered in yellow streaks from water damage. The room smelled of mold and cigarettes, and faintly like hand sanitizer.
My head spun as I peered around the room for the one I'd been delivered here with. There was nothing and no one in the room. My only company a tray of tools, a puddle in the corner, and my thoughts.
The door swung open behind me. "You're awake? Good, Miss Kastner," a man said. He walked across the room and paused at my side, smiling cheerily at me. "Remember me?"
"Should I remember you?" I asked.
"I think so. We met recently, albeit briefly," he said.
I searched my memory for his face, for this man that looked like he just walked off the set of a game show. I watched him while he removed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of my chair and choked on the unpleasant smell of his after shave.
My eyes widened. "You're the guy that was in Crabblesnitch's office."
He was the one that had approached Gary and me before our meeting with the head. He had the same plastic smile and menacing look in his eyes.
"Correct," he smiled, giving me a thumbs up. "Your friend was a little slower to catch on, but I'll admit, we used more of the sedative on him than we did you. I suppose I should introduce myself since we'll be seeing a bit more of each other from now on."
"Oh, lucky me." I rolled my eyes.
"My name is Jonathon Mendel. I'm one of the doctors here at Happy Volts," he said and pulled a file off of the table beside me. "Doctor Crabblesnitch told me that you've been refusing to take your medication."
"I'm not on any medication. I never have been," I said. "I don't know why the hell you guys have been pushing medication on me."
"No one's pushing anything on you, Erin. We just want to make sure you stay healthy, and aren't a danger to yourself or anyone else," Mendel said. "Your file says you have Intermittent Explosive Disorder and may suffer from Schizotypal Personality disorder. Treatment is necessary."
I scowled and turned away from the doctor. "There's nothing wrong with me. That file is filled with lies. Why am I here?"
"To get help. You were supposed to take Ziprasidone but never showed up at the nurse's office. You'll feel far worse taking your medication on and off than if you simply took it as prescribed." He set the file down. "Why are you so insistent that you're of a healthy state of mind, Miss Kastner? Your mother spoke with Crabblesnitch personally about your troubles."
"She hates me. She always has," I said. "I know I'm okay."
There was only so much arguing I could do before I was admitted. I wasn't sure just how my mother did it, but she had managed to make me look like an absolute lunatic.
Sure, maybe I was a little unhinged—but who wasn't? I called them quirks, not disorders.
The doctors had never shared the same sentiment. My mother had always hopped from doctor to doctor when I was younger, draining my father's money to get me the help he never thought I needed. When they divorced, he cut her off, and my treatment was put to an end.
I was fourteen when I was taken off of my medication. My mother had begun dating another man then, and a few months later, he and his children had moved into the house. She found the perfect little family that she wanted, and when I refused to blend in, I was relocated to the pool house at the far edge of our property. My step-brother had been given my bedroom, along with most of things in it.
If what Gary had said about me was right, and I was anything like him, it made sense why I was treated that way. That didn't mean I would ever forgive her for it.
"I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She wouldn't have pushed for your treatment otherwise," he said. "And since you're not yet eighteen, you haven't got much of a choice. So you can either take your medication like you were told to, or stay here permanently."
The medication wouldn't help what I was destined to become because of Gary. There were horrors that couldn't be controlled, and I was one of them. Had I ever changed like he had?
I couldn't imagine any other reason a parent would fear and abhor their child. There was no way I would bring myself to talk to my mother. I needed to call home when they released me. Maybe my father would know something.
I swallowed hard. "I'll take it then…I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."
He laughed. "Who would? This place is a little depressing. Thankfully we're relocating soon."
"Such a shame that we won't see each other anymore," I muttered.
"Don't feel disappointed; we'll be closer than ever after the renovations are finished," Mendel beamed. "Doctor Crabblesnitch has allowed us to turn the observatory into an infirmary."
A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach as I realized there would be no way of getting out of my unwanted treatment. I hated the way the medicine made me feel. Every day I had taken that pill I had been reduced to a sluggish, nauseated waste of skin. Instead of helping me with what ailments I supposedly had, it numbed me to the point of being catatonic. I didn't want that again.
I wanted to function, not be in a drug induced haze for the rest of my life.
I wanted chaos, not normality.
I wanted to be alive.