Tourturing Your Sanity.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two.

I awoke with a start, a thick layer of sticky sweat lacing my body. It felt as though I  was being smothered, but I couldn’t do a single thing about it. I did soon realize however, that I was no longer bound to my bed. “My bed,” just the thought sounded repulsive. I didn’t deserve to be here! What have I ever done that was so horrendous that I could end up in a place like this? I don’t know, but it must’ve been something big, or maybe it’s just life being a total bitch.

Slowly, I managed to swing my now aching limbs over the bedside, and after a deep breath, I stood up, making my way to the door wobbling slightly. I rubbed my arms, feeling a bump where the venom was injected into me. I shuddered and closed my eyes, before I finally peeked my head. I was a bit surprised at what I saw. I was expecting things like dungenous and maybe even gargoyles, but the format of the hall was like a hospital, and it would probably look like a welcoming place to a visitor. This place is anything but inviting though, as I have already noticed.

I made my way down the hall, letting my curiosity lead me along. I peered into rooms as I walked along, noticing that every room was vacant. It made my mind wander like crazy. Things seeped in, such as “What if you’re the only one?” “What if there were others just like you, but they’re gone?” and “How long do I have in this place?” The ideas chilled me to the bone, but I kept making my way down the seemingly endless hall. Gradually, I made it to an intersection. The place still remained eerily silent, so I carefully stepped around the corner. That is when I came face to face with another girl. I was about to scream, but she quickly clamped her hand over my mouth. “Shh! Calm down! I’m not one of them!” she whisper-yelled. I nodded, and she reluctantly removed her hand. I took a long, deep breath, trying to steady my racing heartbeat. “I’m Ashlynn by the way,” she stated, extending her hand to me.

As I recovered, I took in her features. Brown haired, green-eyed, and genreally pretty. Her cheeks seemed a bit more hollow than they should be. “Cara,” I answered, shaking her hand. I glanced down her arm and noticed multiple bruises framing her wrist and arms.

“Oh, um, don’t mind them,” she said, tugging awkwardly at her sleeve.

She didn’t really look like she wanted to discuss the origins of her blemishes, but I just had to know. “Are they from being here?” I questioned.

She nodded sadly, “Look Cara, it’s not safe to talk here. We’re almost in their most precious ward. Going in there will cause some major repercussions to fall upon us, so let’s go to the commons and away from the tier ones,” she urged, pulling me quickly along. I went along quickly and quietly, mind buzzing with confusion.

We passed more areas and halls of rooms, before I even heard a single noise. I also took notice to the fact that the rooms we passed all had closed doors, unlike the area, or ward, as Ashlynn called it, I emerged from awhile ago. It took about two more minutes, but finally, I reached the source of the sound. To my amazement, there were several people mulling around a small room that had a food counter, tables and chairs, and even a small entertainment center. “This is the commons,” she told me. “Only entry levels and tier 4’s are allowed here.”

“What do you mean by ‘tier 4’s and entry levels?” I asked.

“Well,” she explained, “They like order, it’s the one thing that they hold onto. They organize their intakes into their levels of, um, sanity.”

“Level of sanity?” I asked. “And who are ‘they?’”

“They are ‘The Purifiers.’ Well that’s what they call themselves anyway. I prefer to call them the wretches though. They’re the nurses, doctors, and about anyone you see here in any type of uniform.”

“Oh,” I stated. There really wasn’t much for me to muster after that.

Ashlynn continued on, explaining the confusing the place to me. “You see, the tiers go by your mental state. Entry level are people like you and I. We get beat everyday until something starts to snap.Once that happens, they move you to tier 4. It’s the real start to their malicious plot. Throughout the four tiers, your mental stability descends. They make your life absolute hell. They twist your memories, make you paranoid, beat you, emotionally scare you, and do everything in their power to make you crack.”

“Why?” I asked desperately.

“Because they want revenge,” she told me.

“Revenge on who? Or what?” I questioned, groping for any way to at all make sense of this.

“They want revenge on us. Humanity. People. Sane people, I should say.”

“What have we done to them?”

“We’ve done the worst thing possible. We put them in a mental institution. This one to be exact. Well, it was one anyway.”

“What happened to it? Why is it like this?” I asked, scared.

“They killed the actual nurses and doctors. They slit their throats, viciously stabbed them, shot them up, and multiple other horrid things. The ones who tried to help them. They were so innocent and, just trying to help these people out of their rut. And now the wretches go out into the night, snatching up whoever they want and putting them through this hell, because they believe it’s right. In their sick twisted, insane mind, they think it’s right!” she stated, starting to raise her voice.

“Shh, quiet down, you don’t want them to hear you right?” I asked, looking her in the eyes.

“No, no I don’t. I-I just want to be one of them,” Ashlynn cried. I pulled her into an awkward hug, feeling as though we were already becoming each other’s rocks. Our anchors, keeping our minds at ease,at least for now anyways.

She started to tell me some helpful things about lying low, avoiding punishment, and staying sane. “I keep a journal to remind me of who I am,” she admitted. Above all, however, she kept telling me how much she hated this place. She’s been here for a month, and she says the beatings get worse everyday as they grow more and more impatient. “I hate it here, and I fear for my mind all the time,” she told me.

“If you don’t want to be here, why not escape?” I inquired. She looked completely shocked, as well as pained.

“We can’t. There’s no way,” she whispered, looking at me like I already was crazy.

“Why not?” I pressed.

Because it’s impossible!” she yelled, jerking out of her seat, before calming down some. “I’m sorry. We can’t escape though. I’ve known people who’ve tried. You can’t. They amp up everything, and drive you off the edge faster than you could ever know. It’s terrifying,” she told me, starting to cry.

“Okay,” I said, put down, but unconvinced. “There has to be a way,” I thought. “There has to be.”

She continued to shoot me down, however, “Please don’t try Cara, you’re the only person I have. My brother tried and he got caught. Now he’s one of their monkeys, and he does everything for them. I can’t even think of talking to him, because he’ll just write me off as another whinning entry. Then he’ll tell his superiors, and it’ll come down on me. So please, don’t try. Don’t become like Trey. It would kill me,” she sobbed.

I agreed, for now anyways, and went on comforting me new, and only friend.

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Hey dere!! So, it's Lindsey here! I hope you liked this chapter, as I tried pretty hard on it. What do you think of Ashlynn? Hysterical weirdo? Strong fighter? Barely hanging on? I'm not really sure yet myself! So, I'm gonna go now, because my friend is bugging me about something else I write that she wants me to send her. Alrighty, so before I go, I have to say, I have now decided to call my readers (and everyone else on Instagram, Twitter, etc.) my baby guppies.

So... GOOD BYE BABY GUPPIES! I LOVE YOU *kissy face* ~LinzieRae xxx