madhouse • fivesauce

sixteen ;

[please comment saying if you liked the book or not, and if you want an epilogue even though i've asked once already]

"Michael, would you like to speak about how you're feeling with myself and Alice?" A tall, welcoming woman asked, taking a seat in front of the pair.

"Sure" he mumbled, clearing his throat.

"Well, um... I feel terrible, in all honesty; mentally and physically. Mentally, I'm a train wreck. I'm broken, I feel like I'll never be able to be fixed, because I've lost important parts of me. I've lost six parts of me, and I'll never get those six parts back, ever again. Mentally, I cant even tell where I am anymore. I'm stressed, anxious, wary, alert. I feel like the killer is following me. I feel delusional. I keep seeing her everywhere, and it's killing me. Physically, I'm tired, fatigued and weak. My legs are barely able to keep me up, my arms hurt whenever pressure is put on them, probably because of the stitches. It hurts, it all sucks, and is just wish that none of this happened, ever" he sighed, looking down to his feet.

"Good. Very good, thank you for sharing. Did that help you feel any better?" She asked, jotting dot points down into a small, leather covered diary.

"Kind of" he admitted, licking his lips.

"Do you have anything else you want to add?" She asked.

"Well" he began, hands clasped together.

"I feel like a failure. It's all my fault they are gone. It was my idea to go into the forest, and it just happened to be me who got out alive. Why couldn't it have been one of the others? I'm the reason they're dead. I lead them into the forest, I decided to head into the house. I wasn't thinking. Because of that, I've lost six of my best friends. My sunshines. My world. I am an idiot, a fool, a pathetic, useless, stupid asshole. If I could go back in time, I would do anything to make sure it was me who died, not them" he spoke in between pauses, eyes glassy.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, you didn't know any better" she replied, voice filled with sympathy.

"Why are you so understanding about this?" Michael questioned.

The woman sighed, biting her lip slightly, leaving the pair confused.

"The reason I decided to work in this industry was because... Well, the same thing happened to me, too. I lost five of my best friends. I was the only one who made it out. I eventually recovered, but it took me over four years. It was traumatising. I want to help people. When I heard about your situation, I was completely on board with trying to help you two sort your emotions out" she admitted, fidgeting with the notebook which was now placed on her lap.

"I'm really sorry" Alice spoke, which Michael nodded to.

"No, it's fine. I don't really want to talk about it" she shrugged, eyes glassy.

"Anyway" she sniffled, rubbing an evident tear away.

"Alice. Your turn" she spoke, smiling slightly.

"I wish I could go back in time. I wish we never entered the forest. I could've saved my friends. We could've ran, we could've made it out alive, together. I wish we never listened to Michael" she spoke, guilty for bringing Michael's mistakes up.

"I wish none of this ever happened. I wish the forest wasn't haunted by that... That awful, disgusting, despicable creature. I wish that it never happened. I'm traumatised, broken, hurt, anxious, wary. I have trust issues, I have issues in general. I cant sleep at night. I can't spent anymore time locked in this asylum. I just want to get buried deep beneath the earth and die alone. I cant handle this, I'm not strong enough for it. Sometimes I think I will eventually die from the pressure of all this. I play scenarios over and over in my mind, thinking that I could've saved my best friends. But I didn't and I couldn't" she sighed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"It's okay not to be okay. Therapy will help you both, as it did to me. Not much at first, but in a few months, you will be seeing improvements" the woman spoke, smiling at the pair.

They nodded, shrugging their shoulders in unison.

"That was a good session. I'll see you both next week, okay?" She spoke, putting the notebook down, after finishing writing down notes.

"Yes. Thanks for that, it helped me let some stream out" Alice mumbled.

"Me too" Michael chimed in, smiling slightly.

The pair walked out, sighing simultaneously. They just wished none of this ever happened.

The slightly worse part was, they both began falling for each other, eventually.

Would Sydney be disappointed in me? Michael thought.

Would Calum hate me for developing feelings for Michael? Alice thought.

As days went by, they found themselves falling for the other further and further. They always shrugged the feeling away, or tried to persuade themselves the to it was just a friendly love, but it was hard to deny it.

+

okay i know i said the previous chapter was last but i wanted to add in a couple more chapters before the epilogue and im not sure if i want to do one more chapter after this but who knows

im rlly sad this story is ending which is probably why im dragging it on oops ¿

so, if you liked this, make sure you vote, add the book to your reading list, and comment feedback

love you guys lots, feel free to pm me bc i love talking to each of you and some of your messages make me smile so bad like i just wow

mwah, xo