Paradise Among Metal

Chapter 5

"Raphael? Do you want to go first?"

Raphael nodded and looked back towards Lucy, smiling. Lucy smiled back and gave him a thumbs-up. She could see the fear in his colorless eyes, hidden but present.

"Okay, Raphael, please sit down in the machine, right here." The nurse said, patting the chair below the two attachments. Raphael sat down in it, grinning.

"Any last things you want to say in the Perimeter?" The nurse asked him.

"Yep," Raphael said. He smirked at Lucy. "See you on the other side."

The nurse pressed a button on a remote control.

The two attachments lowered, and in one swift rotation, they sliced off Raphael's head and legs. A sticky substance gushed from the wounds, some getting on some children up front. Raphael's severed limbs and head tumbled into the chutes, while his torso remained in the chair.

Lucy stumbled back, gasping. She felt dizzy and light-headed, and she struggled to stay upright. Memories flooded her mind, memories she thought were long-lost.

Blood.

Death.

Sorrow.

Pain.

Murder.

Lucy covered her mouth with her hands, tears bubbling up in her eyes.

"Y-You murdered him!" she cried out. All the children turned to look at her.

"Lucy, dear, don't cry," The nurse said, walking over and patting her shoulder. "That was a normal part of the process of getting him to Paradise."

Lucy shrank back from her touch, hissing. "Don't touch me, murderer!"

The nurse opened her viper-mouth to reply, but the Head Doctor spoke up.

"Leave her alone. Everyone, leave her alone. She isn't quite cured yet."

"But, ma'am! You said we were all cured! Lucy should go to Paradise with us!" Lucy's female friend protested, walking towards Lucy.

"Alexandra, don't take another step. That girl is still sick, and I don't want you getting sick again," The Head Doctor said, pushing Alexandra away from Lucy. "Here, why don't you go to Paradise next, you won't contact Lucy's disease there."

Alexandra nodded and walked towards the killing machine. The nurse put on a pair of gloves and shoved Raphael's torso into a chute.

Alexandra sat in the chair, giving Lucy a confused look.

"Don't do it, Lexi!" Lucy screamed.

Bzzzz.

Splat.

"ALEXANDRA, NOOOOOOO!"

Lucy screamed and lunged towards the nurse. The Head Doctor restrained Lucy and plunged a needle into her arm.

Whatever the Head Doctor injected into Lucy paralyzed her. She couldn't move a single muscle, except for those used to breathe and blink. The Head Doctor positioned her into a standing position and left the room.

One by one, Lucy watched as her friends and ward-mates, the kids she'd spent an eternity with, sat in the machine and had their lives taken from them. They didn't even know they were dying until they were dead. It's like they didn't even know what death was.

Soon, they were all gone. The only evidence that the children have ever existed was a pool of blood on the gray, padded chair. The only people in the room were Lucy and the nurse.

Lucy stared at her, glaring as best as she could. The nurse didn't meet her eyes, too focused on wiping down the machine.

After the substance that used to supply life to Lucy's ward-mates was gone, the nurse left the room, shutting the door with a bang. It echoed across the room, and Lucy felt like she was being sealed into a tomb.

Almost as soon as the nurse was gone, feeling began to come back into Lucy's limbs; the effects of the Head Doctor's drug were wearing off. It happened quick, surprising Lucy. One moment she couldn't move, the next moment, she was mobile.

Lucy ran into the adjoining bathroom, and fell onto her knees in front of the sink. She sobbed louder than she ever had in her blurry life.

She closed her eyes and covered her ears, closing reality off. Nothing felt real anymore.

I witnessed a crime and I couldn't stop it. My friends are dead because of it.

After a while of wailing on the bathroom floor, Lucy decided to get up. She needed to escape this place.

Who knows what the doctors will do to her now.

She opened her eyes and saw blobs of color, to her surprise. Lucy blinked, and an orange tear fell onto her hospital gown.

Lucy stood up, gasping. The walls of the bathroom were navy-blue, and she cried orange.

No, wait, she was crying color. Staring back at Lucy from the mirror was Lucy herself, but her cheeks were covered in a myriad of color, ranging from fiery reds to the color of the bathroom walls.

The colors sparkled, as well. The tears didn't look real; they looked more like a good face paint job.

Lucy ran out of the bathroom.

She needed to get out. Now.

Will Lucy escape the hospital? Stay tuned! Don't forget to comment, vote, and share! Thanks for reading!