The Mysterious Case of the Blackbird Rorschach » Zaylena

12: Fire

{Fire-noun; a state, process, or instance of combustion in which fuel or other material is ignited and combined with oxygen, giving off light, heat, and flame.}

I knew that when I woke up today, it was going to be a difficult one to get through. For some reason, I was extremely agitated and snippy. That's the only way I could describe it. Everything was rubbing me the wrong way this morning. I just hoped that people left me alone. I didn't feel like dealing with anyone.

I decided to forgo breakfast and stayed in bed, sulking.

Maybe it was the horrible weather outside because there were no physical or emotional issues wrong with me at the moment. Around lunch, I got up and played the guitar near my window as I watched the buckets of rain pour down outside. I thought September was supposed to be a dry month? Yeah, right. It had been raining for the past four days straight and didn't show any signs of stopping.

It only made me more irritable.

Sometime around one in the afternoon, there was a knock on my door.

"Hello, Zayn. Are you there?" Anna's soft voice asked.

I didn't say anything as a welcome so the footsteps retreated in the opposite direction.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Therapy was going well, and Desmond said that we were making progress. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I followed his treatments dutifully. Louis also said that I needed to continue working hard so that I could get better. Truthfully, I was over this place. Windemere was getting on my last nerve, and I was starting to get highly annoyed.

The only good thing about being here was Selena. She had quickly become the highlight of my stay, and I was trying not to be so agitated with everyone, but only Selena was pulling me out of my stupor these days. Currently, though, she was being poked and prodded by the medical board, who were here to check her progress. She had been in a room with them for the past two days, and I hadn't seen her this week. That was probably the reason for my attitude. I knew that I shouldn't be so secluded, but I just didn't care.

As the day progressed, I continued to play my guitar and keep to myself. I wasn't even hungry, so I didn't care enough to eat something.

As the sun started to move across the sky, I realized that I hadn't done anything productive and since I didn't have therapy today, I had no reason to leave my room. There was another knock on my door sometime later, but I still wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone. I didn't even turn away from the window.

I felt small arms wrap around my torso and soft lips place themselves on my neck.

"Are you sick?" Selena whispered to me.

I melted right there and even though my tension wasn't gone, I felt somewhat less edgy. I had realized over the past couple of days that I relied on Selena more than I should. I needed her.

"I haven't seen you in forever." I turned around and smiled.

She looked exactly the same, but her hair was fading. She would probably re-dye it tonight. I expected her to look completely different, and I was pleasantly surprised that she had a small smile on her face as well.

"Anna said you haven't been out of here in a while." She stood in front of me and moved some hair out of my face. Even her touch was soothing.

"I don't feel like it." I shrugged.

"Seclusion isn't healthy." Selena said, "You're supposed to be socializing."

"There hasn't been any reason to leave lately. Are you done with the experiment thing?"