Essential Shelter

03

"LISTEN HERE YOU PIECE OF SHIT-"

Rolling over in bed, you covered your ears. Muffling the sounds of arguing with a pillow.

What a lovely way to wake up.

It's probably Jeff too.

As the screaming moved even closer to your room, you gave up on trying to sleep in. Deciding to just go ahead and get ready for the day and check in with one of the doctors.

You had gotten a reminder message from Miss Ann about getting your shoulder looked at again before you had gotten ready. She had probably told you yesterday while you were in her office.

But did you really pay attention?

No.

After making the mental mark to go get your shoulder checked by repeating said thing to do ten times in your head, you moved on to getting ready.

Settling for a pair of loved jeans and a plain T-shirt that was a size too big, you popped a couple of painkillers to dull the ache you could already feel after just getting dressed.

The screaming was gone by the time you opened your door, thankfully.

Ignoring the small droplets of blood here and there on the carpet, you pull out your phone.

You see another message from Miss Ann that was sent just a few minutes after you had last checked. The message informed you that she would not be available, (for whatever reason) and that you would have to get your shoulder checked by either Smiley or Jack.

Which neither is... favorable.

Dr. Smiley is great and all, he means well- most of the time, but he goes on random monologues. And while you enjoy the new knowledge, you'd rather not learn that the finger is the same density as a carrot while he's taking your temperature.

He probably fights intrusive thoughts on a daily basis.

Then again, who here doesn't?

Mr. Jack is... too quiet. He's tall and intimidating. Everyone else tells you, "You have nothing to worry about," but the fact that Jeff offhandedly mentioned that Jack could eat you for breakfast during your first week of being at the mansion? It kinda stuck.

Then again, no one should listen to a thing Jeff says.

...

You had arrived at Dr. Smiley's office.

As much as you don't want to believe Jeff, (he wasn't lying you now know through unfortunate events) you find it easier to have check-ins with Dr. Smiley over Mr. Jack

You remember reading somewhere that when an entity that appears almost human will risk provoking eerie feelings in viewers. And that sums up how you feel about Jack as a whole. He's human enough? But still not at the same time...

He just throws you off.

It's when you go to raise your hand to knock that the door opens in front of you and Dr. Smiley is before you in all his glory. Lab coat, mask, and all.

How long had you been standing in front of this door?

"Hello there Mx. Y/n. Can I assume that you've come here for me to check out that shoulder of yours?" He held the door open, stepping to the side. His voice was always rather neutral, and soft-spoken too.

"I am, if you're not busy." You stepped inside, taking your seat on the examination table. His office didn't differ from Miss Ann's very much. It was very... white and smelled of chemicals.

"Not at all." He walked back over to a nearby counter once he shut the door. Pulling on a pair of gloves, he made his way over to your left shoulder.

...

The check-in went fine. Dr. Smiley simply looked at the stitches to make sure they hadn't come loose at all and gave you another bottle of painkillers to add to your collection if you needed them.

Thankfully he didn't seem too out of it during your short stay in his office. You were probably the first person of the day. His nerves were yet to be frazzled by any of the other more rowdy residents.

You found yourself wandering the halls, thinking about whether it not to eat breakfast at 10 AM and if it was really worth it.

I could probably just wait until lunch anyway.

Besides, you took pain meds less than an hour ago when you were getting ready. The last thing you want to do is throw up. Maybe you could tail someone for the day, or at least until lunch.

There were some who didn't mind your company or actually welcomed it. Jane and Sally were prime examples. You might be able to catch Cody if he's not in his room. He probably wouldn't mind...

...

As you were walking, you passed by someone you hadn't seen in a hot minute. Doing a U-turn, you quickly caught up to him. Brown hair, stitches across the face, usually wearing a scarf.

Liu or Mr. Sully.

It usually wasn't hard to tell who was fronting. Liu and Mr. Sully have two very different walks. But right now, it was hard to tell who was the one doing the walking.

Liu usually didn't mind your company if you stuck to him like a leech for a few hours, but he never sought you out to ask how your day was. He is the one who would play a game of cards with you if you'd ask. He's very good at shuffling.

Mr. Sully is more... avoidant. He avoids everybody but still, he'd rather not converse with anyone if he could avoid it. It's actually rather unusual to see him in the mansion, from what you've heard.

"Hello." You were testing the waters.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped over to you and he stopped walking. It was as if you just snuck up on him, while in reality, you did no such thing.

Okay- maybe you did.

"Hey, kid." His voice was gruff, tired sounding, and now that you could see his face, he looked unusually deadpanned.

That's Sully.

But he doesn't seem... too mad- that's not the right word... annoyed? Yeah, annoyed. He doesn't seem too annoyed by your presence.

From what you've heard about Mr. Sully, he's the "protector" of the body. DID can be really complicated but to break it down, Mr. Sully makes sure no harm comes to him and Liu.

"Where are you going?" You ask. He lets out a huff of air through his nose, looking around the hallway before back at you.

"Not really sure..." He pauses, eyes landing on your shoulder. "What happened to you?"

Sometimes it's easy to forget that word spreads as fast as a tornado through a trailer park in this mansion. Especially when you're on the receiving end of the information most of the time.

"It just happened."

He looked unconvinced but didn't push it.

"You ain't allowed to do anything with that are you?" It sounded more like a statement rather than a question coming from his mouth.

"Yeah." Your name was definitely wiped off the chore chart yesterday after you left Miss Ann's office with stitches. RIP to whoever got put on dishes duty for the next week.

"Don't do anything stupid enough to tear them, it hurts like hell."

"I won't."

...

Sometimes you forget that the stitches on his face are actual stitches.