The Playground - part 4

Short story based on one of my dreams

'Welcome back, Alice.' An unfamiliar voice woke me up, I could feel hands on my face, and I quickly hit them away.
'Get off me, leave me alone!!'
'Oh now, don't get angry, I'm here to help you.' There was this doctor type of guy standing in front of me. He actually looked friendly, so I calmed down a bit.
'What …. Where …..'
'Don't speak too much, you've been under heavy sedation.'
'Sedation?'
'You must have had a real bad dream, Alice. We found you this morning beneath your bed. You were screaming and hitting yourself, so we sedated you.'
'Bad dream …' It all came back to me. The feet covered in blood, the girl being dragged away, the trail of blood, the scent, the voices …
'It wasn't a bad DREAM! It was REAL!' I shouted and kicked my feet in the air trying to get our of my bed, which resulted in that doctor person giving me another shot.
'I'm sorry Alice, but as long as you aren't calm we can't talk to each other.' 'I'll come back in half an hour.' I felt my eyelids getting heavy; everything went white ….
'Alice.' 'Alice!' 'ALICE!'
I opened my eyes, and Raven was standing in front of me.
'Raven? How did you get … Why are you …?
'Alice you must stop talking about last night!'
'You … You know about last night???'
'Yes I do, but don't talk about it! Let them tell you it was a dream, don't argue, just nod yes!'
'But why? It was real, you saw it too!'
'I've seen it several times, but that doesn't matter.' 'You have to keep your mouth shut, that is the only way to survive them!'
'Survive who?'
'The doctors! I told you before, this is a special sort if institution … they don't care if only 60% comes out cured, the other 40% can die of various reasons … they don't need to explain!'
'But …. What …How …'
'Sh! They're coming … I have to go …' She said and ran out of my room.
I couldn't hear anyone until like five minutes after Raven left my room. I was lying in my bed, pretending to be asleep.
'Alice, have you calmed down yet?'
Pretending to just wake up from a deep sleep, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the doctor.
'Yes doc … I had such a bad dream …'
'Sh Alice, it's ok, it's all over now.' 'You are safe here, we're watching over you.'
' … Ok …' I made this childish impression, because I couldn't stop thinking about what Raven said, and I would do anything to make them think that I bought the whole dream thing. It seemed to please him.
'Atta Girl!' 'Now sleep some more, you can soon go meet your friends in the playground.' He turned his back at me and walked away.

The same routine thing happened not long after the doctor left my room. I fell back asleep but was woken up by the guys at my door, telling me it was time to go to the playground. So I got up, and followed, as a sheep herded by a dog. I sat on the same seat, at the same table, at the same time. My life turned into routine, and I was desperate that I would never get out again. I saw Raven entering the room, and coming my way again.
'What is going on in here?' I asked quite frantically.
'I told you not to speak about it.' 'They can hear us you know.' She whispered, as if she was really convinced that someone could hear us.
'Who is listening?'
'All of them …'
'You sound weird Raven … I can not keep silent about this … I have to know what happened!'
'Some … some of us are marked … you can see it on the doors.'
'How do you mean marked?'
'I can't tell you anymore than I already did… I lived with this for a year now, and I don't plan on you ruining it for me!' She sounded rather angry, so I stopped trying to find an answer. We spent the rest of our 'spare' time staring at each other, without saying a single word.
On our way back to our rooms I kept an eye on the doors, trying to find out what Raven meant with 'marked'. It amazed me that I did indeed see something weird on one of the doors. It looked as an A, scribbled in red paint. The person who stayed in that room seemed to notice it at the same time as me.
'Don't let them take me away … please don't let them!' she whispered in my ear as she walked by me.
'No talking in the hallway!' the guard said slashing his whip.
I don't know who she was, but she left an impression, and although Raven told me not to mingle in, I couldn't help but feeling for that girl. My mind was set, I was going to help her, no matter what.
I got into my room, left the door open, and went to sit on my bed. I waited half an hour, and then started searching. There had to be something I could use to defend myself! I looked at the sink, the toilet … nothing really helpful there. Then I spotted my bed, and had an idea. I crawled beneath it and started pulling the iron bars. I pulled and turned, banged and pulled some more, until eventually one let go. It was only an iron bar, nothing really sharp about it, but it was the best thing I had. I took my blanket from my bed and placed it beneath me. I would stay under the bed, waiting until I saw someone passing by.
I had a hard time staying awake, even though the floor was still ice cold. It seemed to last hours but all of a sudden I heard those noises again. I grabbed my iron bar and kept it close to me. It wasn't long after that I saw those feet again; and the body that followed. The girl was looking at me, barely alive, she had tears in her eyes en just looked and looked at me. I nodded, trying to tell her that I would come to help. When the feet passed the room, and the girl also, I heard the door to the playground open. I silently crawled from beneath the bed, took the bar, and started walking. I tried to avoid the blood trail, afraid to slip, but it was everywhere. My feet got sticky from all the blood and the dirt on the floor, but I kept walking, leaving bloody footprints behind me. I was standing in front of the playground door, took a deep breath, and pushed it open.
The girl was hanging on a pole, in the middle of the room, and that doctor was standing in front of her. He had a knife in his hand, he cut her all over her body, licking the blood as he did so. He seemed to enjoy it, the more she screamed the harder he laughed.
'Alice!' the girl screamed, as I was now standing less than 2 meters away from him.
He turned his head, and I smashed my iron bar. It was my first reaction, I was so angry, so sad and scared, I couldn't think of anything else to do. He was lying on the floor, his head deformed, bleeding … my hands, my whole body was covered in his blood. I could taste it on my lips, I could smell it …
'Thank you Alice!'
I passed out not long after …

'Alice?' that same voice again.
'Alice? Your parents are here to see you…'
I opened my eyes and saw the doctor standing in front of me.
'YOU … I  … I killed you!'
'Alice, your parents …'
'I don't need to see them! They are the reason I'm in here in the first place!' I tried to get up but noticed that I was tied to the bed. Everything hurt, and my bed was covered in blood. I looked at my arms and saw all these cuts .. blood …I started getting dizzy.
'Where is Raven? Where is the girl that sleeps 2 rooms further than me?'
'Who's Raven Alice?'
'Raven! She is here too, she is a patient, just like me!'
'Alice…'
'STOP telling me lies! Let me out!'
'Alice, you haven't left your room since you were brought in by your parents… and that was a month ago.
'Lies! You're lying!'
'There is no Raven Alice.'
'I saw her … I KILLED YOU!'
'You nearly killed yourself, yes …'
'STOP LYING TO ME!' I tried as hard as I could to get those wristbands loose, but they wouldn't move an inch.
The doctor got up and walked out of my room. I could see him standing in front of the door talking to my parents.
'She is completely gone … she doesn't know what is real and what isn't anymore.'
I could see my mom crying, and my dad holding her tight, trying to keep his tears inside.
'Mom, he's lying! He tried to kill her! And now he wants me!'
'Oh Alice ….'
'Give her a shot, they don't need to see this.' He said, and the nurse did as he told her.
My parents got blurry, the doctor disappeared …
'I don't think we can cure her Miss, but we'll try.'
'Please make my baby better! Please!'
'We'll do all we can.'
I saw him look at me, his eyes … red … I tried to keep my eyes open, but they kept closing … I saw his shoes …There was blood on them …  the door closed ...
 
'Alice?'
'hmpf … '
'Alice, you had a bad dream …'