Amnesia

Chapter 3

It has been 2 days since I woke up here. All I have done is sit in this stupid room. And I am getting bored. I am supposed to be getting my medicine soon, but I can hardly wait to get out of here.

They didn't leave the guard with me this time. So I am assuming I am locked in. I could understand how people go crazy in here; these four white walls are all the same. My head is actually beginning to feel a little funny. 

I am lying on my bed staring at the ceiling. But I decide to get up. Obviously too quickly, because I get dizzy and feel lightheaded straight away. I sit back down and let my head return to earth.

After a few seconds I feel okay. 

I begin to doubt myself as to whether the door is actually locked. 

So I try, and to my surprise, it's unlocked. I slowly slide it open, and peer my head out. Nobody around as far as I can see. I leave and close the door behind me. 

I decide to go left along the corridor, since I had gone right to get to the testing room.

The corridor is quite long, with a few other hall ways branching off. I decide to stick to my left, and I end up at what looks like a communal area. There are 3 people in it; A woman sitting at a table doing a puzzle; a man asleep on a sofa; and another guy sitting on a windowsill looking out the window.

I approach the woman at the table. Her focus is centered on her puzzle. I clear my throat, and her gaze shoots up at me. I see her eye twitch, she says nothing.

"Hello." I say.

A wide smile appears on her face, it almost looks creepily wild.

"Hello, I am Vanessa." A grin remains on her face,

"I'm Thalia." Those words feel unfamiliar, as if I've never said them before.

She lets out a cackle of a laugh. "Nice to meet you!" She says loudly.

I am slightly uneasy, she is clearly very unstable. I keep forgetting where I am.

Her focus returns to her puzzle as though she has forgotten I am here. 

"Don't let her frighten you. That is how she is with everyone." A sudden voice sounds from the window sill. He still sits with his back to me though; staring out the window.

"Does she not hear you?" I ask.

"No. She only responds to those who talk to her directly."

I gaze at the boy. He seems almost normal. He sounds that way anyway.

I walk over to the window sill and sit beside him on it. Only then does he look at me.

And in that moment I recognize him; the crazy boy from the day I got here.

His face fills with sadness as soon as he looks at me. But then he smiles. 

"You're down the hall from me, aren't you?" He asks.

"I think so. How long have you been here?" I try and learn a bit about him. He is acting very differently than he did the other day.

"A few weeks." He pauses, but I can tell he is going to talk again, "We came here on the same day, you know." 

I am puzzled, how is that possible? 

"I can tell you're confused; you were unconscious for 3 weeks. You only woke up 2 days ago so it makes sense that you think you just got here."

I mean, that makes sense. Why would he lie about that?

"What did you say your name was?" He prods, he must have heard me say it to the girl earlier.

"Thalia."

I hear him slightly scoff to himself, "so they're telling you that are they?" He mumbles quietly.

"Pardon me? What do you mean by that?" I ask.

He turns to face me, his legs crossed.

"I mean you can't honestly believe everything they tell you. Can you?" 

"But, who else do I have to believe? Nobody else knows anything about me." 

He groans a little and puts his head in his, what I now notice as, shaky hands. He is slightly muttering to himself.

Soon, he abruptly returns to an upright position with a serious expression. 

"Listen, don't trust them. Okay? You may have even less of a reason to trust me. But please do. I'm begging you." His eyes are pleading, and hope lies behind them, "can we at least be..." he struggles for the word, "friends?"

I nod slowly. He smiles in relief.

I suddenly wonder, "What's your name?"

He chuckles slightly, as though he thinks I should know it, "Ahren."

Ahren? That name...it was on the door near mine:

'difficulty 8, insanity patient'

I am all of a sudden on edge. If he is insane, what could he do to me?

I notice he is still smiling at me. He reaches out slowly and tucks a hair behind my ear.

"A gorgeous rose, among thorns." He says randomly. 

I am breathing more heavily. He is starting to get more creepy. I am beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable, when a Dr and 2 security guards walk in the room. 

The Dr sees me and Ahren, and becomes infuriated. He points to us, and the guards run over and each of them grab us. 

"What are you doing out of your bedroom? You have not been given clearance to do so!" The Dr says to me.

"I'm sorry." I say quietly. 

I could feel he was about to scold me again, but Ahren gives a shove to the security guard, drawing the attention of the Doctor.

"Well now. What do you think you are doing?" The Dr stands in Ahren's personal space, clearly in an attempt to intimidate. But Ahren is quite a bit taller than the small doctor so it seems pointless.

"What do you mean? I can do what I want, you gave me clearance over a week ago." He chuckles.

"That was as long as you didn't cause trouble, my boy." The doctor gestures to Ahren's hands, and the security guard puts some weird handcuffs on him.

"And what trouble have I caused?"

The doctor contemplates slightly, "Fraternizing. That is enough to convict you to your bedroom I think." He grins widely.

Ahren's jaw clenches, I can see him poke his tongue into his cheek, "and what could you possibly mean by that?" He speaks through his teeth, forcing his politeness. 

"Well we wouldn't want this young lady knowing about your 'obsessive behavior' now, would we?"

Ahren lunges forward but is stopped by the guard.

I hadn't expected Ahren to be the angry type. He doesn't seem insane, just...misunderstood?

"Take him to his room. It's almost medicine time." The Dr's wide smile looks somewhat like a shark. 

As Ahren is being dragged away, sudden fear shows on his face and he shouts back at me, "Don't let them do it! Don't let them give it to you!"

I am so conflicted. Who can I trust?