Reflections

Chapter 4

I quickly darted away from the army of robots, hoping and praying that their creator hadn't given them super speed or incredible agility. I was lucky to find out that guinea pigs run faster than they could.
I soon found out that they had laser guns that shot from their mechanical hands.
I narrowly dodged and tried to avoid their never ending laser beams as I ran through the iron door that they had emerged from moments ago.
From the door I turned a sharp right before a maze of hallways greeted me. Confused and wanting to escape the robots, I darted down the left hallway and hid in the darkness as the robots stopped at the end of the corridor, where I stood just seconds ago.
"Scanning.....scanning....." They repeated in a robotic voice, lasers protruding from their eyes as they scanned down the four hallways. My heart stopped as one robot stared straight at me, it's lasers engulfing my body in light. I held my breath, hoping that the other robots wouldn't spot me.
"Threat not found. Threat not found." They chanted finally, turning around to where they came from.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned around and continued heading towards the dark hallway.
-
What kind of world is just a bunch of mazes and hallways? I asked, pulling out my phone and turning on the flashlight app. I continued walking down the hallway, thinking about what grandma had told me years and years ago, trying to think of anything that could help me.
Their only job is to protect us from the better world, I recalled granny saying. I could still smell the cookies that she had made what had seemed like only moments ago. I could still see the small crinkles around her eyes when she laughed. I could still smell her weird grandma smell that was a mix between laundry detergent and cake batter, which was actually surprisingly comforting and didn't smell all that bad.
Shaking off my memories of granny, I shook my head and continued thinking of what she told me about the better world.
To defeat a seeker, just call out "go away, Thaddeus!" and he'll eventually leave you alone. Well, that didn't tell me anything about how to get OUT of the "Better World". As if a world full of hallways is somehow a better place.
I pressed my index and middle fingers to both of my temples and closed my eyes in concentration.
Think Katie, think! Don't be an idiot!
I sighed in frustration and collapsed against the wall, covering my eyes with my hands.
Suddenly I heard a familiar noise, and I looked around at my surroundings.
What am I doing in grandmas old mental hospital?
I stood up, taking a 360 of the hallway I was in. Just seconds ago I was in a dark hallway with only the flashlight on my phone illuminating the way.
Now I was in my grandmas old mental hospital.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that part.
-
When I had turned 11, my grandmother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, which had taken a big impact on our family. She moved into our house to stay with us for a while. So we could keep her safe.
One day while I was at school, grandma fell and hit her head, leaving her with a terrible case of amnesia. She began to go crazy, and our family reluctantly handed her over to the state, who put her in one of the safest mental hospitals in the state.
I hadn't heard so much as a word of grandma since they took her to the mental hospital. I remember my mom took me once or twice when I was 13, but ever since our last visit, I hadn't heard anything about grandma. I didn't know if she was still in the hospital, if she had passed away, if she was moved to another mental hospital....nothing. Total radio silence.
-
What happened? I thought I was in the better world.
I made my way down the hallway, the lights making the hospital even creepier than usual. Most of them weren't even on; the few that were actually on were either creepily dimmed or flickering in and out.
I passed a wheelchair that had been obviously been angrily tossed across the hallway by a mental patient, dried blood on the handles of the chair and on the wheels. It reminded me vaguely of American Horror Story: the Asylum and the horror game Outlast. I loved watching my favorite YouTubers play it. And yet at the same time I felt that Pepper could pop out and ask "do you wanna play with me?" at any second.
Investigating the asylum farther, I stumbled upon a hallway full of medical rooms on the left and patient rooms on the right. By the looks of it, I would say there was about 12 rooms total. Most of the doors were either abandoned and tossed into the hallway, and the few doors that weren't were hanging onto the doorframe crookedly with half a hinge hanging on.
I took off my shoes and held them in my hands, just in case any monster or delusional serial killer still lurked in the hallways of this mental institution.
I began investigating each of the rooms, just to make sure that I was in fact alone. I mean, I hate being alone, but having a serial killer to keep you company isn't exactly on my bucket list.
"H-hello?" I called out softly, wondering if anyone else was here.
No response.
I slowly walked out of the last medical room, which was full of shots and all kinds of medical torture devices that gave me shivers down to the bone.
I headed back the way I came when I got goosebumps up and down my spine, shaking me to the core. I suddenly got the feeling that someone was watching me.
I turned around and practically jumped out of my skin.
Standing behind me was a little girl, perhaps about 11 years old or so. She stood with her head at an awkward and uncomfortable angle. Her hair was almost all the way down to her hips, and she peered at me from in between her long bangs that tickled the tip of her nose. She breathed through her mouth, which annoyed me deeply, but I didn't dare say a word. She didn't say anything; she just stared at me creepily. I awkwardly stood there, shoes in my hand, wondering what thoughts were going through her mind. Suddenly, she struck an unforgettably creepy smile, all of her teeth badly crooked and yellowing.
"We've been expecting you." She cackled evilly, taking a clumsy step towards me.