The Cure To A Broken Mind

Chapter 19 ~ Out of this Hell Hole

        Sighing, I drew the cabinet beneath the sink open for the fifth time that day. For some reason, I thought maybe the contents would change- maybe I would find what I was looking for- though it never happened.

        Dish soap, aerosol, trash bags, batteries- the essential cleaning goods and miscellaneous items you'd typically find under a kitchen sink, really. No key.

        I'd been searching for a solid three days at this point. Three days I'd gone without eating any of the meat in the fridge- three absolutely insufferable days.

        I couldn't find the damned thing anywhere- but of course, there was one place I hadn't checked yet..

        The doctor's room.

        Only one complication- I had to get in there either when he was out, or sleeping. Which, at this point, I'm not even sure he does sleep. That, and the only time he's ever out of that room of his, he's right up on me. Cooking, eating, or unnecessarily studying and snuggling me down to my very core- it honestly made me rather anxious.

        Slowly, I put all of the items back into space beneath the sink, restocking everything into its place before closing the door. Afterward, however, I slinked back up onto my feet, carefully brushing myself off as I turned to glance through the living area.

        I was already devising a plan in my head to get the doctor out of the way, surely I could get him out of that room and out of sight, out of mind. One step after another, I strode back out of the kitchen and passed the couch- over to the doctor's door. Each step I took was another plan to the plotline.

        Eventually, I had trudged my way all the way over to the foot of his bedroom, lifting my hand now to knock twice against the frame. Per usual, it took him a moment, but once he drew the door open I had already readied the words on my tongue.

        "Yes, my beautiful starling?" he hushed, another crooked smile tainting his lips.

        "Hey- I'm hungry, Damian..." I hushed, lowering my head as submissively as I could manage, "you're such a good cook- would you mind fixing us lunch while I take my morning shower?" I hummed a little bit now- clearly being a suck-up, I was just hoping he was dumb enough to fall for it.

        He listened to me talk, watching me with what could have almost be considered suspicion- I thought surely, after a moment of silence, he had caught on to what I was doing- in fact, I was already opening my mouth to explain.

        But, just when things were looking grim, he simply smiled and nodded.

        "Of course, doll," he purred through his daggers, "Do you need me to get a-"

        "I already have a towel, it's alright," I quickly responded, unintentionally cutting him off, though he didn't seem all too averse to it. He simply nodded once more and passed off into the kitchen.

        Of course, he had closed the door behind him- but that wasn't a problem since he hadn't locked it or anything. I would just have to be quiet, opening it back up. As he started back through the living room, I pivoted the direction of the bathroom, opening the door before sending him a sideways glance over my shoulder.

        I halfly expected to see his back turned to me- watch him pass into the kitchen peacefully- but instead, I met his eyes. He was watching me. I smiled a little bit, albeit wobbly, and waved to him half-witted before stepping into the bathroom.

        Despite this, I kept the door open, clearing my throat as I walked to the shower. Once more, I sent a glance out the doorframe, watching him finally turn and pass into the kitchen to cook.

        I sighed quietly, now, turning the shower water on and slowly closing the curtain. After all, I wanted it to look as convincing as possible. Not that I wasn't going to shut the door in order to shower though- once the water was running, keeping the heat low as not to waste hot water, I slipped back out of the bathroom silently.

        I closed the door firmly, then inched my way across the living room as light-footed as I possibly could have been- heading to the doctor's room.

        I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, and honestly feared I might have been caught because of just how loud it had been.

        All at once, I opened the door, slipped in, and shut it closed behind myself. Honestly, I had been more focused on trying to get from the bathroom to his room- so by the time I had shut the door and leaned back into the frame, it took a considerable amount of time to adjust to the room around me.

        I didn't really know what I had been expecting.

        It was fairly dark, mainly considering he had left the lights off- but the sunlight had strewn through the window and past the blue curtains that lined the framework, tinting the room a gentle oceanic blue.

        It would have been relaxing if it hadn't been both wrecked and bloody- he'd moved the bed parallel against the wall and stripped the sheets to make way for whatever he had laid on top of it. It honestly could have been a number of things- all I knew was that it was gruesome, and vaguely resembled a deer. Though, to be quite fair, the bloodied mass was truly too far past mangled and decayed to tell.

        I decided I had seen worse, however, and quickly dismissed the scene to get to searching.

        First up, I wondered to the bedside table, opening each one as quick as quietly as I could, admittedly, though, even with a bit of digging, there was nothing interesting or of value inside. Certainly no keys, that was for sure.

        When I had finally decided to give up- I glanced up once more to the cerulean blue curtains. It was calming, almost, ambient like the teasing, gentle waves of the sea. I stared in thought for longer than I had likely intended- the sound of waves encapsulating my thoughts and easing in my memory. Inky black abyss after inky black abyss- drowning in the deep blue sea. I could hear it vividly- a voice, almost, whispering to me through the shoreline. An urge in my chest pushed me forward- and my hands came up to the curtains.

        I ripped them apart, pushed them to the side with such force I likely could have pried them from the pole holding them in place. Suddenly, I was met with the sunlight, a familiar sight, to say the least- only now the frame of the window wasn't obstructed by nails, bolting it into place. I could practically feel the outside breeze- the warmth of the sun on my skin- dirt beneath my feet-

        I reached now, unclasping the hooks to the window, and pushed it open all at once.

        Slowly, I climbed onto the desk, down on all fours as I peered my head out.

        Finally, I was out of this hell hole..

(A/n): Spoiler, it's not over yet.