Set in a Loop

(1) The Beginning

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          I woke up with the worst headache ever. I felt like I had just had the top of my head sawed off and put back on backwards. Which I would not put past this hospital. I tried to pick my hands up to check if I actually had real clothes on, but they wouldn't lift. It felt as if they were made of lead. The door was opened slightly and light creaked in with it. When the light got far enough that it hit my bare skin, it hurt like I had just been tossed into a crucible. Great! Now I'm a vampire! I managed to loll my head back and forth. I saw sleeves on my shoulders. SCORE! I lulled my head to the other side and saw Nurse Ash at the door. She came over to me and held out her balled up hand.
She whispered to me, "I'm actually not supposed to be here, but I saw an opening. Here's some Advil. I'll try to bring more later. I also brought this," she held out her other hand. It held a tiny, wooden pocket knife. Perfect for escaping. "Use it to try and get out of here if you can," she placed it in my hand and closed my fist around it, "I feel awful for what you just went through. I honestly don't even know what he was trying to accomplish with that. If you ask me, Crawford just did more harm than good. I will try to help you escape all I can. There's this new kid here, though. His name is Ricky Desmond. He and Kay met yesterday. They're already friends. Kay can't wait for you to meet him. He is just here for his homosexuality. He doesn't belong in here either. No one belongs in here. Anyway, I need to go before someone catches me. I hope you feel better and heal soon." She placed the Advil on my lips and pushed down until they fell into my throat. I tried very hard to swallow. When they finally went down, she got up, put a card on the windowsill, left, and closed the door behind her.

~~~

About three days later, I could actually get out of bed, but sunlight still hurt like no one's business. I stood up and went to the window. I grabbed the card and read what it said:

Praying for you. Have fun without me. I finally met someone who can help me get that job done.

Underneath that was some sort of hidden language or code. I couldn't tell what it said. I leaned my head in towards the green crayon and noticed something. I turned it upside down and notice it was all normal letters with one line above each one, one line under each letter, and one line through each letter. I read it:

Have fun means escape. There should be a key behind this card. That will unlock the window. Good luck. I will see you on the outside.
-Kay and Jay

Jay was Jocelyn. Jocelyn was Nurse Ash. I looked behind where the card was and saw the key along with three $100 bills. I stuffed the money and pocket knife into my hair. It was so thick and ratty at this point, it hid things better than a big purse. I pushed myself up onto the window sill at worked at pulling out the bars. I had been working busily and nonstop on the ends with the pocket knife for days on end now. They stopped being much difficulty. I was so skinny from not being fed that I only had to pull out two bars to help my slip through. I punched the window and broke it. I, then, reached out to the plastic window stuck to it and worked on unlocking it. When I got that undone, I pushed it up and stuffed my head through. I was at least three stories up but I could make it if I claimed like I was Spider-Man. I wiggled my torso through and heard a noise. I looked behind me and saw the door opening. Oh. Crap. The warden and three nurses ran through all at once and tried to pul me back. I was insistent. I continued to try and pull myself through as they pulled me back from my ankles. I was almost through when a big, rough hand grabbed my shin with one hand and my thigh with his other. He was stronger than the nurses. He pulled harder and stabbed my leg with something I only assumed and guessed was a syringe filled with Ativan. Dam. It. I crashed to the floor, slipping like a worm flipped almost halfway over a pencil.

I woke up in a chair. This is... unusual. I looked around me, remembering nothing from the day previously. I noticed that I was in Warden Crawford's office. Oh. Crap. This doesn't ever mean anything good. I looked to my left and saw a woman. She was dressed head to toe in black. This ensemble included lace gloves and a high collared blouse fastened tightly at her throat. Her hair was pinned in a perfectly beautiful knot on top of her head. Her outfit would look very expensive if it hadn't the random bird feathers scattered randomly throughout her entirety. She was talking to the warden. I couldn't tell what they were talking about. My ears refused to allow me into the conversation. I saw the lady turn her head to me and mouth/say something. Then she leaned down to me and I felt my ears POP. All of a sudden I could hear perfectly again.
"Hello. Sorry about that. What?" I said.
"Hello, Harley! You're finally up! Good morning! My name is Alma Peregrine. You can call me Miss Peregrine. I'm taking you out of here!" She responded.
I immediately shot up. "What? Really? Thank you! You may have just literally saved my life." My jaw hurt when I talked. I whispered, "this guy's nuts!" Pointing at Crawford. She gave me a silent thumbs up under the desk and looked back to Daniel.
"Is there anything else I should know? May we leave now?" She said.
"No. Nothing." He answered. "Are you sure you want to go, Harley? You are nowhere near fully cured. And you just had surgery done. It probably would be best for you to stay at least a year more."
"Nope! Let's blow this popsicle stand. See ya suckers! I'm outa here!" I half yelled. I turned my back and marched to the door ready to give my life to Miss Peregrine for what she has done for me. She followed me, put a hand on my shoulder and we walked out of the asylum together. We walked on for about an hour and met up with a boy. He had hair so dark it was almost blue. His face was pale and extraordinarily freckly. Miss Peregrine introduced him as Jacob Portman. She said that he's like me. She told me one more thing that didn't really make much sense. She said I'm not crazy. She told me I'm peculiar.

Liv here! So most of the stuff needed to be said was said in the A/N previously. I hope you enjoy. This is the first book on the joint account for MPHFPC. You may give CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Key word: constructive. No hate. Thank you very much. Enjoy, vote, and comment. See ya, Spelletons.

Word count: 2903

Updated: 4/21/17