Dr. Wicker's Broken Psyche

Level 9: Just A Little Bit Longer

The room that Jeff led me-no practically carried me into was not very big. It was oval shaped, and the ceiling was only about a foot higher from the top of Jeff's head. The floor below us dipped a step before leveling out. It almost looked like it could be an enclosed pool but just without the water. On the wall across from us was a long rectangle screen displaying words and numbers.

Level 9 Begins in 30

After a minute the thirty turned into a twenty-nine. Glancing up at Jeff, I saw that he seemed to be just as confused as I was. It seemed as if the Dr was making us wait for the next level to start, but how could we know for sure that we were not already in the level, and this was just a ploy to get us to do nothing?

I did not want to sit here and wait; the maniac was right behind us after all! The door in the last room made a sound as if it had locked behind us but what if that was just a fake too? We did not really have a choice in the matter after all though. To go back would be to go back into level eight and into the waiting arms of Baghead. Not only that, but as the fear and adrenaline left my system my back started to burn again.

Jeff looked down at me as I let out a small whimper of mor frustration then pain at the moment. I heard his tongue click as he looked around the room before moving us to the left and over to the wall before it dipped down. He gently let me go and I touched my shoulder to the wall, sliding down slowly until I was in a sitting position.

Jeff plopped down next to me and looked around the room a little more carefully. His dark Olive skin was heavily beaded with sweat, causing his long black hair to stick to his cheeks and neck in small strands. His brown eyes darted around, and he lifted a hand to scratch at his beard. His thumb caught his lower lip and slightly pulled down on it as the wheels in his head turned. Eventually he turned to me.

" I guess we will be here for the next." He turned to look back at the clock. " 26 more minutes. We might as well catch our breaths and try to somewhat level our nerves. We will need clear heads moving on to the next level... Here, let me see your back." He said, scooting a little closer and holding his hands out to lift my shirt up. He did not reach out completely for me though, letting me decide to turn my back to him, or deny that entirely.

Turning more to my right, I let him have a full view of my back. I felt his fingers gently hook underneath the rim of my shirt and gently pull the fabric up. He was careful as to not accidently pull the entire thing up and expose my entire torso. Even though he was at my back, I could not be sure there were no hidden camera's that were trying to catch a peek at what they could.

Jeff was quiet as he observed my back. I had no way of knowing what it looked like myself but if I had to guess it would be scary. A single tear slipped out of my left eye and dripped down to the floor with a tiny little splat. Jeff ever so gently touched a finger to the angry skin, and I flinched forward with a gasp.

" Sorry! Sorry!" He quickly apologized. He reached around me to the box, rummaging around in it and pulling out the other bottle that had not been opened. The other one had been opened and was a little more than halfway gone. The lid cracked as plastic scraped against plastic when he twisted the lid off. " This is going to sting really badly but it will help, ok?" He told me.

Lifting a hand to my mouth and covering it, I hesitantly nodded. Since I was facing away from him, I could not see what it was that he was doing, but there was no water touching my skin as of yet. Though I heard a little bit splatter onto the ground below us. Not a lot, just a few droplets. The anticipation of the pain made my breathing deep and ragged. I was about to pull my hand away and ask him what he was doing when I felt it.