"I miss you. And you don't realize I will love you forever even if you don't love me back."
~Harley Quinn ~
🦋
It's been a week since Kim Hahn slipped into a coma due to the fall.
The police have been questioning everyone who was present and everyone had said the same thing.
Kim had fallen on her own due to excessive drugs and alcohol.
The case was closed until Kim somehow miraculously woke up.
But from my perspective she wasn't ever going to wake up.
I'd personally make sure.
Right now I'm at Lake Shore watching the occupants of the room as we delve into our last session with Mrs. Chesterfield.
She smiles at us, eyes gleaming as she watches us like were a bunch of success stories she can't wait to tell her next batch of mentally deficient misfits all about.
My gaze settles on Alexander and I almost laugh out loud.
She couldn't be more wrong.
But then I feel a light nudge by my shoulder and turn to Viti, her eyes gleaming with what I could only call excitement and I almost smile back.
Almost.
Although Alexander and I can never escape the monsters we are, maybe not all of us would be condemned to the same fate.
Maybe some of us would actually get better.
Viti squeezes my hand again and this time I squeeze hers back.
Maybe the monsters don't always win after all.
"We have come to the end of the program and words cannot express how proud I am of all of you" Mrs. Chesterfield speaks up, smile proud as she takes in all of us.
"A lot of you came in here totally lost, with feelings of dejection and self-loathing as we had pegged ourselves lost causes"
"And now when I look at you all, I don't see lost causes, in fact all I see are people who fought and will keep fighting to overcome all their demons no matter how hard it may be."
"I see young adults who have fought so hard to get better and have made sure their shortcomings do not affect who they are as individuals because believe it or not your illness does not define you" she gives each of us pointed looks, "this is only the beginning but trust me all I see is the end is greatness, and trust me when I say I see a great future ahead for all of you"
She smiles again.
"Does anyone want to say anything, or any have a goal they want to achieve in the future?"
"Umm, I do" Peter speaks up, his hands in the air to get Mrs. Chesterfield's attention.
"Oh of course Peter, you have the stage."
Nodding Peter looks up and smiles his eyes taking in everyone.
"I just wanted to say that having multiple personalities has been one of the hardest things I've had to live with and as time went on I found it hard to tell who I really was" he shook his head, "The country I grew up in, Nigeria, well in that country you get to learn to be strong, to work hard for everything and to be proud of who you are no matter where you find yourself."
"But when it comes to mental health, it really isn't taken all that seriously because as a country we have been programmed to always be strong to the point that mental health awareness is almost never considered something to be taken seriously."
"It's why when I first got admitted after leaving Nigeria my parents unknowingly sent me to be abused in the mental institution I left before coming to Lakeshore"
"When I get better, or at least get a better hold of myself I want to change that" He lets out a heavy sigh, "When I finish college here I want to go back to my country and open up facilities that will help spread awareness and shed more light on the importance of mental health and how it doesn't make any less strong if you have to battle with any mental issue."
Peter then pauses again and looks straight into space, his voice sounding faraway.
"And as for the people who hurt me at the mental institution that made my condition worse when I first got here, I wanna hurt them so they never hurt anyone else in their miserable lives"
"Peter, you do not let your mind entertain negative thoughts towards others, we must move on from the past to enjoy our futures remember that", Mrs. Chesterfield reprimands then turns to the rest of us "anyone else with a dream to share?"
"I do" Viti speaks up.
"Viti, go ahead"
She nods and stands eyes bright as she takes us all in.
"It's not a secret I have suffered some very traumatic experiences when I lived with my uncle who took me in when my family died back in India, I mean as a kid I had always looked up to him, my uncle who lived abroad and always sent me gifts whenever he could."
"So when my parents died from a home robbery gone wrong I thought living with him was going to be the best way to heal" she shook her head at the memory, "If only I wasn't so naive"
"So my dream is to make sure every pedophile out there, who thinks it's alright to touch little innocent kids will wish they were never born" Mrs. Chesterfield goes to speak but Viti holds up her hand to shut her up.
"I know you taught us so many good things and I would forever be grateful but no matter what I will seek justice for those who are wronged on a daily basis just because they're too weak to protect themselves."
Viti turns to look at me and I see the darkness in her eyes, the hate she feels monster that hurt her and only got to spend time in jail for his crimes.
"You told us not to let our past experiences affect us but you need you understand that we wouldn't be who we are without those experiences and sometimes you need to take matters into your hands and hurt the monsters so bad they shiver in fear when they see what you have become."
"And what is that?"
Alexander asks his lips upturned in a smile that I knew all too well.
"A living nightmare" Viti smiles back, "a reality they can never escape"
"Okay that's enough" Mrs. Chesterfield frowns getting Viti to sit down her gaze is solemn when she takes us all in, monstrous flaws and all then with a shake of her head she lets out a tired sigh.
"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe society is wrong too"
"Maybe you guys aren't the crazy ones, but the actual sane ones who try to live their lives but get beaten down at every turn"
She folds her arms, tucking away her name tag with the inscription "psychiatric" on it.
"No you guys aren't the insane ones, society is and someday I hope you can prove to them just how crazy they are when you rid the world of the monsters that made you this way"
With those words she stands and leaves the room, silence taking over.
I take a moment then to take a look at all of us, at all our faces that reflect the illnesses society pegged us with and come to my own conclusion.
Maybe we aren't so lost after all.
~•~
The next day I head into my next class and spot Rose at the back, her head on the desk.
I frown at how out of character it is for her and head to her seat, taking the empty desk right on her left that used to belong to Sarah who hasn't been in school since the incident with Rose.
"Hey" I tap her desk and when I don't get a response I tap harder and frown when she lifts her head slightly and looks at me.
Her eyes are red and she has mascara smeared all over her eyes.
"Are you okay?" I feign concern and watch her lips tremble at my question.
On autopilot I grab her bag and mine then pull her out of the class and head to the girl's toilet where two juniors have taken a spot on the counter giggling and putting on makeup.
"Out" I growl and watch them scurry outside.
Leaving Rose at the counter I check the stalls to make sure were alone and lock the main door once satisfied were alone.
"Okay now spill, why the hell are you crying?"
"Oh Zuri" Rose whispers brokenly, eyes red and tortured looking.
"Talk to me" I urge, "I'm your friend remember" I hold onto her hands and note the tremble in them.
"It's just I think someone is out to get me" she speaks up, eyes scanning the bathroom with fear, "I mean I thought Jonathan's death was just a coincidence but with everything else I just know there's a psycho out there that wants to kill me and with all my friends gone I swear I've never felt more alone."
"And why would someone wanna kill you?" I ask my voice neutral, "I mean that's a bit much don't you think."
"Well trust me when I tell you it's true and you wanna know what's more weird?"
I frown and indicate for her to go on.
"All this madness started when Alexander came into this school"
She lets out a shaky breath.
"Collins says Alex has never been normal you know" she continues twiddling her hands, "he even went as far as to say he killed his own mum"
"I don't believe that, Alex mother is still alive."
"But have you met her?" Rose asks her eyes shining in honesty, "think about it, how is it that once Alex set foot in Barkley members of the royals have been winding up dead or get strangely sabotaged, I mean it's like he's finally snapped and has decided to harm anyone who is in any way connected to Collins"
She moves forward gripping my face.
"Think about it Zuri, Alexander disappears after an incident in Barkley then he reappears and weird shit begins to happen."
"So what, you're saying he's the killer?"
Rose shakes her head and digs into her bag, pulling out her phone and all but shoves it in my face.
"Kim died this morning Zuri and the security camera's placed in front of Kim's hospital shows Alexander going I and out all within the time period that Kim had finally woken up from her coma."
I feel my heart freeze as I stare at the unmistakable picture of Beelzebub entering and leaving the hospital and shut my eyes as in disbelief.
Alexander lied to me.
I open my eyes once more and let out a shaky breath my brain repeating the single statement over and over in my head.
Beelzebub has been the killer all along.
WORD COUNT: 1731 ✨
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Don't forget to vote and leave a comment loves🤗🌈