Viribus

Chapter 11: Rolling fields pt. 1

I can't believe I'm on my way to a psych ward. Just a few weeks ago I was semi normal just trying to live my life. I turn around and see Dimitri and Viribus following close behind.            
Sometimes I think about the day I adopted Viribus several weeks ago and how weird it was. I was shopping one day and came out of a store and there was an adopt a pet event further down the sidewalk. I remember thinking it was odd because I never noticed it when I went in the store only 20 minutes earlier. There was no way it was set up in such a short amount of time because it was huge. There was a large banner draped across the top and tied to two light poles that said "Adopt a best friend today!" I thought maybe it actually was there before and I just didn't notice. I have been known to be a bit scatter brained in the past. I didn't think too much about it because the last thing I needed was a dog. I could barely take care of myself. I stayed in that shopping center for quite a while just browsing. It was a Saturday and I had nothing to do.
The more I thought about it, the more and more I wanted to go look. There had just started to be some odd things happening in the house and I could use some company. Just a peek couldn't hurt right? There's nothing much better for the soul than looking at cute dogs. So I walk over and I'm immediately greeted by an oddly energetic girl, who's shirt read "Find your furever pal."
"Hi! My name is Kenzie and I'm a furrrrrever pal specialist! Could I help you find yours?"
"I can't believe they make them say that.", I thought to myself.
"No thank you, Kenzie. I'm just going to take a look around and browse if that's okay." 
Little did I know, that was the day my life changed. All of the dogs were tiny little mutts that would probably yap at a parked car for an hour. I didn't have time for all that, but that's when I saw him. He was in a large kennel that was still too small. I could see his wet nose and two beautiful golden eyes looking back at me.
He didn't take his eyes off of me even back  then. I walked over and stretched my hand out and he immediately licked it. I start to laugh and pat him on the head.
"You're a good boy, aren't you? I can tell."
His collar was a brown leather material and his name was engraved on a gold disc attached to it, "Viribus".Once I took the time to see how massive this dog was, I thought it was a fitting name for him.
I didn't come there to get a dog but I couldn't leave without him. There was something special about him. I couldn't believe no one had beat me to it. So, I go over to Kenzie and ask her, "How much is the adoption fee for that black German Sheppard?"
Immediately Kenzie's face went from excited to rather confused. She asked if I could show her which dog I was talking about so I led her over to Viribus's kennel. I figured with all of these dogs, it's probably hard to keep track of which ones you had. Once we got there, she took a look at Viribus and seemed even more confused.
"Ma'am, do you mind if I ask my manager to come look?"
"Sure."
I really thought nothing of it at this point.
She tells the manager that she had no recollection of a black German Sheppard. The manager seems to not remember him either but they stepped to the side and I heard bits and pieces of the manager scolding the girl.
"Just give her the dog.", I can hear in between whispers.
That's pretty much how I ended up with Viribus, but I always thought it was odd that no one at the shop seemed to know he was there.
It's like he just appeared. I feel like he was there for me in that moment and that we were meant to find each other.
I'm snatched back into reality when the car makes an abrupt stop.
"Alright, we're here young lady. Let me take you to the check in lobby", the officer says as he gets out of the car and signals me to come towards the front door of the building.
"Wait, could I say goodbye to my boyfriend and dog first?"
He hesitates for a second, he nods yes and walks to the front door to wait.
Dimitri and Viribus pull up soon after and Viribus jumps into my arms like he doesn't know he weighs a ton. He almost knocks me down and I give him a big hug.
"I'll only be gone over night, don't worry. Take care of Dimitri please."
" Yep, cause I have a feeling I'm gonna need it.", Dimitri gives me a hug and kisses me on the forehead.
"You sure you want to do this? We can still fight this."
"It's fine. I just need you to protect that letter and protect yourself. Lillie is dead for writing the letter so something doesn't want this out in the open. You have Viribus and I know he'll protect you but I need you still be careful."
"I know, I'm going to do the best I can to make sure this letter remains untouched until you can open it, yourself. We are going to be right here tomorrow at three to pick you up. I don't want you to worry about me."
I don't want to tell Dimitri this, but I'm actually very worried about him. I slowly walk towards the officer standing next to the door.
"You can come right this way, ma'am. I hope you understand why I had to do this. I know the youth are very fragile these days, hell, I have a 17 year old son and a daughter about your age and I worry about them a lot."
The officer seems sincere and I'm not angry with him. Honestly, this whole haunting has put things into perspective for me. I'm taking this time to think out what I'm going to do next. I know that I'm more protected here and I'm going to use that to my advantage.
I check in with the lady at the front who asks me a lot questions like, "Have you ever wanted to harm yourself? Have you ever wished you would go to sleep and not wake up? Have you ever wanted to harm or kill others?"
I've never felt like that ever, even with all of this happening. My mom always said I had a fighting spirit.
The place is kind of nice on the inside. There's a big crystal waterfall in the middle and the floors are marble. A lady in scrubs that's chomping gum loudly leads me to my room and it's pretty basic. There's a tv and a twin sized bed, a dresser and a mirror.
The lady has me change into a scrub-like outfit and takes my bag of clothes I wore there and my phone away.
"Alright hun, if ya need anything, press the button. Breakfast is at 7:30 and group starts right after that. If you're not already up, we will come and wake you up. Trust me, you want to already be up."
The gum chomping lady walks out and I'm just left here with my thoughts.
I turn the tv on just to drown out the sound of silence and then I hear someone speak to me.
"It's a new girl!" "Does she think all we do is sit in our rooms all night?"
"Hello? Who's talking?"
I'm starting to think I really am going crazy and then I realize the sound is coming from the air vent.
"Hello? Who are you and why are you talking to me through the vent?"
"It's your neighbor, my name is Beauregard, but my friends call me Beau. I've been here for a few days now and this is how we all communicate so we don't go crazy. There's even a way out after lock down if you're interested.
I think about it for a second. I really just wanted to do my time unnoticed and get out of here but a part of me can't stand it in this room with nothing to do, worrying about my boyfriend and dog constantly. I take a deep breath and make my decision.
"Hey, Beau. I'm Viviana. Get me outta here."
To be continued....