Chapter 16: Get. Out.

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"It is. Melanie was like... a mother to me." Amanda finally turns around, and you snap your head away to avoid her ice cold gaze. She takes slow steps towards Melanie's desk, running her fingers on the desktop as she slips behind it and sits in the large, comfortable chair. "She taught me everything I know." Amanda holds out a hand, motioning for you to take a seat. You would normally decline, but a furrow of the girls brows tell you that this is a demand. You scramble for a seat, your hands clasped together in your lap, and your gaze glued to the desk.

"It... hurts." Amanda's words are simple, and prompt you to look up momentarily. "To be the one to replace her as Head Nurse, I mean." her clarification clears up everything; Amanda will no longer simply be responsible for the patients transfer to and from the cafeteria; she was promoted to one of the highest positions this Asylum provided. "It wasn't her time yet, I don't think. She was so healthy and full of energy and good intentions."

"I'm so sorry for your loss. She was a wonderful woman." your voice is still soft and rather scared, Amanda chuckling at your words.

"She was more than wonderful." a silence hangs over the room. You swallow nervously once more, eyes falling back to the desk as you take in a trembling breath of air. "So much has gone wrong recently. I just thought it was bad luck, but I think I've figured everything out now. I think I know why there's been so much death recently." A part of you wants to ask 'why's that?' or 'care to elaborate?' but you fear that you already know the answer, and if your guess is right, it's not a good one. Another long pause follows Amanda's words, and you want her to continue, to deny your suspicions. She does continue- but what she says next doesn't answer her previous words. "Did you know we hadn't had a lockdown in years? Not once did anything bad happen! And then..." Here comes your answer. Your entire body tenses up, and your eyes glass over. "And then you came along, and that all... changed. Just like that. I don't know whether you're just bad luck, or if you're manipulating the patients in some way, or if it's just... coincidence." your eyes snap upwards, and you open your mouth to speak, to defend yourself, but no words come out and Amanda takes the floor again. "The patients are so attached to you in one way or another that they'll actually kill for you. It's ridiculous!"

"Freddy didn't kill because of me!" you finally blurt out, and Amanda's cold gaze grows somehow icier.

"You're right- he would have attacked no matter what. But you got Melanie killed. In a way, you were like an accomplice." Amanda's words are met with a gasp from you, and a furious shake of your head.

"I didn't... I didn't kill her!" your words sound false even to your own ears, the weakness in your voice absolutely pathetic. "I didn't..." you shake your head. Once more, your gaze falls.

"(Y/N), something about you is making our once-obedient patients hostile and violent. I'm afraid that being in an environment with you isn't healthy for them, and you seem to be reversing their growth and healing." horror spreads through you as you realize what this is leading to, and you force your head to lift so your eyes meet Amanda's.

"No, no you can't-"

"I'm afraid you can't work here anymore." Amanda cuts you off, and a hand ghosts over your mouth.

"No, Amanda, this is the best job I've ever had! You can't fire me, you can't-"

"I'm the Head Nurse now, (L/N). I can fire you, and I will. You have 2 hours to pack up your things and say your goodbyes, and then you will be escorted from the building." Now, you finally piece together the emotion in Amanda Bolton's eyes- it's a grief so powerful it makes your heart squeeze, and a look of accusation that makes you believe she might just leap up and attack you for what she honestly believes you'd done.

          

There's no doubt about it; Amanda honestly thinks you're making the patients violent, bribing them, seducing them- Something to make them kill for you. You let out a choked sound that was supposed to be a sentence, and Amanda rockets from her seat.

"Get. Out." she demands, and after another moment of staring at her withering glare, you spin on your heels and hurry to the door. You can't stop the tears from coming as you stumble out into the hallway, ignoring the looks doctors and guards gave you as you raced back towards your room. You could hear Bubba letting out a distressed whine, and both Thomas and Bo had said something you didn't quite catch, but you ignored them both and forced your legs to continue onwards. Just as you're about to turn the corner, a voice stops you in your tracks for a moment.

"Dear (L/N)? What seems to be the matter?" It's Hannibal, and no matter how badly you want to continue onwards, to pack up your things and leave without a word, a certain softness to his voice makes you stop and turn to his cell. He's stood directly in front of the glass, a hand pressed to the surface and a curious and worried tilt to his head. "You look exhausted, my dear. Has something happened?" You scream at your limbs as they move on their own, turning you to face him and taking small steps forwards. You don't want the other patients to find out about you being fired. You didn't want to be the cause for more death and pain.

"I- I- I..." you can't get your throat to open up enough for words to form, and take more than a minute sucking in air. Hannibal waits patiently as you do so, not saying a word until you gain your composure. "I... I got... f-fired." you whisper out, eyes cast downwards. As if he knew that you wanted to keep this quiet, he says, in a loud voice,

"Fired?" That brings faces to every window in an instant. Hannibal never raises his voice. You tense up as yet another voice joins the conversation,

"What?? You got fired, Sweetheart?" no no no, this wasn't supposed to happen. You stare at Hannibal with a betrayed expression, and see the guilt and apology in every feature of his face.

"Fired? You have to leave?" Brahms is here now too, and you aren't surprised when every patient has heard the news, the phrase working it's way down the hallway as if you were playing some cheap game of telephone that would most likely end in a death or two.

"(Y/N)? What is going on?" Norman's voice is completely smooth, not a single stutter. You know it isn't him talking- it's a much more dangerous, protective being he calls his mother.

"No way. No way." Thomas says, the rage in his voice evident despite the glass muffling his voice. Chatter erupts from every cell, all your patients shouting for your attention, and explanation, and suddenly the noise is too much. You have to leave.

You slam your hands over your ears, tears running freely down your cheeks. You spin on your heel and race towards your room, ripping out your keys with shaking hands as the chatter fails to cease. You test a key, realize it's the wrong one, and move onto the next. One after the other, you jam key after key into your lock until the correct one slips into place. You basically collapse into your room, slamming the door shut and muffling a wail with your hand. Squeezing your eyes shut, your knees buckle and you fall to the floor. You don't want to leave them, god, you can't leave them! They've changed you entirely! You haven't known them for long, definitely not as long as some other doctors have known them, but the bond each and every one of them had formed with you was strong, so strong. She had never known anyone like them. You force yourself to your feet as sobs steal the air from your body. You stumble towards your dresser, leaning heavily against it as two warring ideas rage against one another in your head. You aren't crazy, no, you aren't. But then why... Why were these ideas fighting for dominance? One half of your brain screamed,

Leave! Run away while you still can!

And the other, the side that convinced you you were going insane, shouted and screeched with a growing ferocity,

DO NOT LET THEM GO. FIGHT FOR THEM.

You were seriously considering a crime. You were seriously considering something with consequences more dire than death itself. You had no idea what to do, fighting back the urge to give into the darker side of your brain with every fiber of your being. You can't do that. Not a chance. Suddenly, in a flash, sirens split the air. Red lights blare from underneath your door. You hear shouting, and banging, and screaming. You know exactly what's happening. You make up your mind. 


(A/N): WOW WOW WOW OKAY SO THINGS ARE HEATING UP. This book will only have about 4 more chapters left- maybe 5, including a prologue. It's going to be craaaazy in the next few chapters and I'm SO ready to write some blood, gore, angst, intensity, terror- It's gonna be GREAT

Get ready you guys- unlike my last book, Unexpected Roommates, this will have a remotely happy ending! Well, happy for you; not happy for the- OOP SPOILERS. I can't say that yet, or you might learn the crazy stuff that's soon to come.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for the next ones. 

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