The night sky flashed as the lightening and thunder cracked the sky, shaking the creme painted, four bedroom home. A dark, brown skin family of three was inside of the house all huddled up on their black, sectional couch while watching the television as a horror film played. The young, seven-year-old, brown-skinned girl was completely sandwiched in between her parents while snuggling under a thick comforter.
Her mother rubbed her swollen belly while the girl watched the screen intently. She was frightened of the current weather, as well as, the movie and that was why she had no problem snuggling with her parents. Her dark brown---almost black--- eyes glanced towards the clock---on the wall behind the television---and it read eight forty-two. Her bedtime was normally at nine or nine thirty, if her behavior was good.
She looked back down to the television where a serial killer was slowly walking towards a female in the shower before stabbing her, violently. She flinched slightly at the scene. She thought she could handle it. She did a lot of convincing so her parents could allow her to watch the iconic horror film, Psycho, which was one of their favorites. As the movie continued on, the young girl could feel her eyes getting heavy as she slowly drifted off. Her head falling onto her father's shoulder.
BOOM! The thunder cracked loudly, shaking the house. The girl's body jerked awake at the noise. Looking over both of her shoulders, she noticed that her parents weren't next to her anymore. The television continued to play but the movies must've ended because the news seemed to be playing. The headline wrote, "Apocalypse of 2050." The male's voice was heard, ".... The end is near." Then, it repeated over and over like a broken record before the screen turned to static.
The white noise filled the quiet room as she stared at the television in confusion. What is an Apocalypse? She was only seven and never heard that word before. "Mom?" She called out. "Dad?" No response.
Suddenly, she heard an uproarious noise from upstairs. Standing to her feet, she let the blanket fall to the floor as she cautiously and slowly walked towards the stairs. She slowed to a stop at the first step, looking down at it before glancing back up to the top of the stairs. For some reason, it seemed darker than usual. And, it frightened her. She's never been afraid to go up her own stairs before; but, she was now. At a young age, she had developed the fear of the dark and of the unknown.
Releasing a shaky breath, she lifted her leg up and placed it on the first step as she held onto the rail. Every step after that were slow and tedious. For some reason every step closer to the top made chills shoot up her body and the hairs on her arm stand up. That feeling of not knowing what she was walking into scared her.
After placing her foot on the last step, she paused. Straight ahead was pitch black except one room---far off into the distance: her room. She could hear the noises coming from her room from where she stood. The light coming peaking through the cracks of the door was close to blinding, even from where she stood.
Forcing her legs to work, she followed the light. Still, her pace was measured and guarded. The door seemed far in the short hallway. Glancing behind her, she could barely see anything there as she kept walking.
Standing in front of door, she waited to hear another sound or...anything for that matter. Her eyes squinted from the light as she held in her breath. Lifting her shaking hand, she placed it on the knob and turned it slowly before pulling it open. Instantly, she used her arm as a shield to block the blinding light from her as she pulled the door opened and stepped in.
The light began to dim and she carefully removed her arm before her eyes widened. To her surprise, she was definitely not standing in the bedroom she was so familiar with or any bedroom for that matter.
There she stood outside, the sun lighting up the sky of the city. New York City. But, it was hardly recognizable. Everything was nearly destroyed. Buildings were falling, cars flipped over and things caught on fire.
She was confused as to what she was seeing. This was not the city she remembered. The city had just renovated with the new technology that was created months before. Homes that were once turned into smart homes and were said to be indestructible were nearly floored and trashed.
She started walking around the suburbs of Jericho---where she lived. Everything was falling apart. She turned the corner of her street, Key Place, before freezing at the sight in front of her. Her home, the place she spent her seven years of life in. Dismantled and demolished, just as the rest of the homes that she has seen. She forced herself to walk away. She couldn't bring herself to even look inside and she knew that the home could collapsed at any minute.
She was walking around Jericho for what seemed like forever but it really was around fifteen minutes. Suddenly everything felt like slow motion. On the side of her, she saw a tilting, analog clock tower---that she had never seen before in Jericho---sounding off, slow and loud. The little hand was on fifth black line and the big hand was in the middle of sixth and seventh line. She could somehow hear the second hand ticking away loudly. She was only seven; so she could barely tell the time. It definitely wasn't the time and numbers she remembered the last time she looked at a clock. This was beginning to overwhelm her.
Then, she started hearing voices behind her. First it was a male's voice. He had asked a question...a confusing question. "Is the 'Destroyer' coming or not? Jericho's already a wreck."
The girl turned around to see Jericho's huge Public Library and five people standing out in front of it---in the parking lot---facing her way. The man had on dark grey suit pants, a white button up shirt tucked into his pants with a belt on. His creamy skin was nearly drenched from the sun and sweat.
The man in the middle of the group didn't quite look like any man she'd ever seen before. He appeared to look unnatural like an alien unnatural. His skin was a solid, pale pastel violet color with white and gold markings on his face. His eyes were completely white and so was his long hair---that nearly reached his behind. The man or alien was reaching seven foot, from the looks of it. He had on some weird-looking garbs and armor with an unearthly weapon in his hand. He stood in the middle almost like the leader of the five.
To the left of the strange man, was a woman. She was skinny with an olive skin tone to her with black hair. Her lips were thin with perfectly proportioned nose and thick, dark eyebrows. She was standing close to five foot eight with her black combat boots on, bullet-proof vest---that read LAPD--- with a black, long-sleeve shirt underneath and dark blue jeans. She had her licensed guns in both hands as her dark eyes stayed on high alert.
On her right stood a young man. He looked handsome with his brown, almond eyes and black hair color. Standing at only five foot seven, he stood with his body turned sideways but still faced the front.
He was looking towards a dark-skinned woman and for some reason the young girl felt so connected with the woman. She took a step closer as she examined the woman. Her dark skin was smooth and beautiful with thick lips, a slim nose and almond shaped---dark brown---eyes. Under her eyes, she had sleepless bags. Her curly hair was pulled into a low, loose ponytail that hung down her back. Although, she was short compared to the four with her, her eyes held an intensity that sent a chill feeling in her body. It was a look that you can tell has seen a lot of their life.
She stepped forward herself while the others watched her. She glanced around making sure everything was in placed as she seen it before glancing at the falling clock tower. She balled her lips together as her eyes suddenly made contact with the little girl. Her lip quivered as she took a breath before nodding her head slowly. "It's time."
As soon as she said that, flashes of people screaming, getting killed, before everyone laying dead on the ground with dark veins covering their faces and bodies. The five were spread out, dead with dark veins covering their bodies, as well. She heard something behind her and turned around as her eyes got wide. She gasped as she felt like something is sucking her heart out. Her body lifted from the ground before dropping in slow motion.
Once she hit the ground, she gasped sitting up in her bed---in a dark room with a small window near the ceiling. The same dark-skinned woman--- who said that it was time---sat in the bed, drenched in sweat while trying to catch her breath. Years had passed and she was now twenty-two years old. And, she had been having the same dream and flashback of when she was seven years old back to back. Every time Kelly Wright even closed her eyes, she saw herself and everyone else dead.
Scooting back, she pressed her back against the hard, cold wall behind her as she started hugging her knees. She hated not being able to sleep a full night. She couldn't even sleep from the medicine the nurses give her. She hasn't been able to sleep for fifteen years. Bags formed underneath her eyes and her hair was always a mess, tangled up because she never had the strength to fix it.
She was losing her mind. Seeing her death and everyone else's around every time she closes her eyes and waking up to the same four, white walls everyday caused her to have psychotic breakdowns. It frustrated her that nobody believed her. They called her a "crazy, black girl" on the news across the world. Her story was trending for almost a year. Everyone laughed at the seven year old who claimed to see the future and the worse part was that her own parents allowed them to take her without believing her, their child, their daughter. She would never forgive them for allowing it.
Her case ended up as a cold case and everyone forgotten about it outside of Manhattan Psychiatric Center. She had been transferred there when she turned eighteen years old and the four years she had been there, she hated every bit of it. She was the laughing stock of the center. Nurses, guards, patients joked about her situation. They didn't understand how it tormented her every second of the day.
She heard the familiar lock on the door unlock as she watched the door fling open. The nurses walked in, pushing the medicine cart inside with them. "Medicine time." She rolled her eyes while they picked up the small, thin cup---she knew was halfway filled with water---and another paper cup with her "pill" in it. She never took the morning pill because it made the vision feel even more realistic and the night pill made her sleep through her vision and that was the worst for her.
The female nurse handed her the paper cup with the pill and she took it with no energy in her body. She placed the pill on her tongue and waited for them to hand her the water. When they did, she slid the pill to the bottom of her tongue and swallowed the water in one gulp. "Open up." The nurse ordered. Kelly opened her mouth showing the roof of her mouth while the nurse looked in. Not seeing the pill, Kelly closed her mouth and discreetly moved the pill to the top of her mouth. "Below." She opened her mouth again with her tongue shielding the pill on the roof of her mouth. When she didn't see the pill, Kelly shut her mouth again as she glared at the nurses. "Shower time in ten." The nurse said before walking out, taking the cart with the rest of them.
As soon as they walked out, she spit the pill out in her hand before lifting her pillow up, revealing a pile of pills then dropped it on top. They tried to drug her to stop her from telling the truth, to stop her from warning them that the end is upon them.
She grabbed the bag---that she had stole a day prior from one of the nurses---and quickly put the pills in the small bag then closed it up. She stuffed it in her pillow before waiting for the nurses to come back to take her to the showers. For some reason, she was considered a danger to herself and others; so she couldn't shower with the others. She could rarely eat with them or even hang out with them during free time, which she hardly minded since they always joked about her situation.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, the nurses finally came back and walked her to the showers which was on the other side of the facility---since she was separated from the rest of patients---and it was almost a five minute walk. She walked with a robe and plastic flip-flops on with a folded towel and wash cloth on her arm. When they arrived at the large, deserted shower, the nurses chuckled to each other. "We'll be back in five minutes."
Kelly turned back to them. "But-but I normally have fifteen minutes."
"Yeah, well, its almost ten o'clock and breakfast is about to be served." The one male nurse told her. "You can either take the---now four minute--- shower or don't take one today. Maybe you should've gotten up early today."
"I didn't even go sleep."
"Three minutes."
She huffed before turning around and walking inside of the shower. She glanced back as the shower water turned on at the two male nurses, who watched her intently. Looking away, she took a deep breath before slowly removing her robe and kicked her flip-flops off then dropped the towel on top before walking over to one of the open showerheads.
The cold water splashed against her body which caused her to shiver as she started to quickly wash herself with the wash cloth. She put her matted head underneath the water while closing her eyes so the water wouldn't get it them. But, as soon as she closed her eyes the familiar flashes covered her brain, putting a heavy strain on it.
Her hands were quickly pressed against her temple as she released a painful groan. The flashes started getting louder and repetitive. "Ah!" She screamed out before falling to the ground, cradling her head as the pain intensified.
Her body curled into ball, shivering while the nurses ran in there and noticed her on the ground. "What happened?" The same female nurse--- that was in her room earlier that day--- asked.
One of the male nurses shrugged their shoulders in panic. "I don't know. She went in there and a minute later started screaming." He explained.
The female nurse rolled her eyes as she exhaled in annoyance. She quickly walked over to Kelly as the shower water turned off and squatted over her before pressing a needle to her neck and pushing the medicine inside. Snatching it out, she stood to her feet. Kelly released a shaky breath as she slowly stopped moving. "She's having another episode." She explained to them then turned to a man that stood beside her. He wore a smooth, navy blue suit on. "This is the fifth one this week. We'll need to up her dosage." She turned to the other nurses. "Take her to the infirmary." They nodded their heads when the other male nurse walked in pushing a stretcher. "Strap her down just in case she wakes up belligerent."
After wrapping her up in a robe, they picked her up and placed her on the stretcher then quickly walked away. The man in the suit glanced over to the female nurse. "How long has this patient been here?"
The pair walked side by side out of the shower room and down the hallway. "She was transferred here on her eighteenth birthday. Been here for four years."
He nodded his head, taking in his surroundings and the information. "Do you have any knowledge of how she was at the previous facility?"
The nurse shrugged her shoulders. "The same, most likely. If she had changed any bit, she would be home and not here, traumatizing my other patients and co-workers."
"Traumatizing? What do you mean by that?"
The nurse stopped walking and turned to the young psychologist. He had brown, curly hair at the top of his head. His eyes were soft and brown. His nose was slim with big, circle glasses perched on them and heart shaped, pink lips. His creme colored skin was blemish-free and young. Just by looking at him, you could guess that he was in his twenties, preferably early and mid twenties. "Doctor..." She had forgotten the man's name as soon as he had told her when he first stepped into her office.
"Doctor Asher Davison."
"Doctor Davison, do you fully understand the severity and the arduousness of this particular case?"
He had been taken off guard by her blunt question. "Y-yes, ma'am, Nurse Walker. Believe me when I say that I do." He reassured her. "I was the only one who actually volunteered for this distinctive case."
Seeming satisfied with his answer, she continued walking. "Good." He followed after her, having to jog to keep up with her pace.