The Reaper Saga [Book 1-3]

CHAPTER 5 [EDITED]

5132

THREE YEARS AGO

Seventy-four. Seventy-five. Seventy-six.

One more tick of the clock and my finger raised to make another tally. The sharp pain in the corner reminded me of the fact that the nail was chipped and needed to be treated badly. But I didn't dare call out for anyone. Not even when my stomach was screaming for food or my bladder barely contained itself.

I needed to mark my days.

Needed to know where I was. And for that, I had to play their games. If they wanted me in a vegetable state, that's how they'd find me. There was no other way out of this. Not if I wanted my memories back. All I remembered was a blue-eyed phantom coming toward me in desperation, that couldn't be my only memory.

I couldn't be that gone yet.

Though there were other things to inspect. Like the loud noise coming from the room beside me when night descended or how everyone avoided coming into this room as if I was an animal out for blood.

"You need to stop doing that." Startled, I turned around to notice a woman with what looked like a plastic plate in her hands. Unlike the people that day, she wasn't in a uniform and her hair wasn't neatly in a bun. Instead, she looked almost...normal, if I just ignored her fashion choice that matched the 80's.

"W-Who are you?" I asked, trying to hide the tallies on my left wrist. If she noticed them, I'll never be able to get out of this room.

Her eyes widened only for a second. "Shhh. Lower your voice, even the walls here have ears. Do you know what they'll do to you once they hear that you don't remember? The devil comes at night and he doesn't spare those who talk to him. You've been seeking his help through them and this time they might actually throw you to him."

"What?"

"You won't understand until you remember. I see the effect didn't leave yet. Last time it was there only for a day. They are increasing the dose, I see. That's not good."

Last time? "I was here before?"

"Yes. Three weeks ago. I told you not to try anything but you didn't listen. Come to think about it, you never listen."

I nodded hesitantly, watching as she closed the door behind her to come closer. The way she started to eye the room made me feel she was here before. When she was at a close distance, she fished out something from her bag that I failed to notice the first time. A book?

"Do I have to read a book to get out of here?"

For the first time, there was a brief smile on her face. "At least the old you hasn't completely vanished."

"That's not comforting." I agreed, raising my eyebrows when she dropped the book on my lap. "What's this?"

"Your diary. You told me to keep it hidden at any cost. We had a deal, remember?" Shit, what kind of shady deals was I making here?

"I don't-"

"Remember. I get it. You'll remember once you read it. Now, be a good girl and open your mouth. You need to finish the food before they come to watch you. They'll expect you to be still drugged."

She almost sounded like she cared but how could I trust her if I didn't even know her? "I asked you a question. What is this place? Why am I here? Who are you?"

"Shh. One question at a time." She gestured at me to open my mouth again. When I refused to do that, a sigh left from her lips. "Your food is in the trash can, this is my food. Eat. You need strength if you want to go back to normal."

Again, not comforting. But there was something in her eyes that compelled me to open my mouth and she pushed the little bit of bread into it. It's not the best food in the world but right at this moment, I could eat even the plate.

"Slowly, you'll upset your stomach." Only when I started chewing instead of just shoving everything down the throat only then she started talking again. "You're in a sanatorium. The Godfrey Sanatorium."

I spat whatever was left in my mouth, choking. "What?"

"Careful! And don't raise your voice. I told you they listen. You have to be careful about what goes out there. They can't know that you know."

"Ok." I swallowed hard. "Why am I in a sanatorium then? Am I insane?"

"On the contrary, I've never seen that much of sanity here. This place gets patients from all over the world, the ones dangerous enough to cause trouble and shouldn't roam outside these walls. Just like I told you before, I believe you did something that was needed to be hidden by the higher-ups so they send you here." She took a deep breath, touching her chest. "Bless you, child. At least you are not being held in the tunnels. That's where the worst ones go. I haven't seen anyone come out of there in years. If you remember in the meantime, well. But if not, you should know that there are things that happened-"

"What happened?" I goaded, wanting to know more. My life felt like a puzzle that I couldn't exactly piece together.

"You brought a spirit with you." Her face paled for the first time. I thought mine did too. "Ever since you came here, something roams around here. An angry, violent spirit. Only you've seen the face of it. You described it as the blue-eyed phantom. Sometimes you call it your Zach. You asked around if any one of them could bring him back. Only a few agreed. They sacrificed a poor girl from a few cells back. The devil didn't even look back, they failed and you, my dear, you spat on their ritual."

I did what? A cold feeling of someone watching me washed over my back and I had to keep still to not turn around. What would I see if I did? A spirit? Did they even exist out here?

"That's how you got caught in the first place. You've upset a lot of people, especially those who practice dark magic. You gave them hope that they can find a way to practice magic here and then you took it away from them. You were cruel, I won't lie. Though I don't know how you got caught this time, you started to isolate yourself from them." A frown appeared on her face. "I'll have to check the security footage."

If I was remotely sane, I would call her a crazy bitch but she was the first person who was feeding me some answers. Albeit, she wasn't right at everything but it was something. Besides, I attacked my roommate, I hurt someone, and yet here she was.

"Did I overwhelmed you?"

"No, not really. I'm more confused. I was told that I had a roommate," I murmured, eyes on the thing she called a diary. "They said I hurt them."

"Oh, you silly child. You were kept alone. They had to say something to justify giving you drugs. The owner is a busy man, they can't risk letting him know that you tried to escape. God forbid someone angers that man."

Dammit. Why did everything have to be so fuzzy? Why couldn't I just remember?

"Ok, not talking to anyone, reading this diary. Anything else?"

She shook her head, satisfied. "That should be enough for now. When the time will come, you'll just know."

Before I could ask more, suddenly the door started opening from outside. She only had a minute to hide the diary under my pillow and shake me with an urgency. "Read it. I'm counting on you to remember. We all are."