Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

 

I left the pool room and went to go freshen up before dinner. I’m walking down the stairs as I spot, out the corner of my eye, that black guy. He’s talking to another resident. I slowly creep over to overhear their conversation, just because I’m nosy or shall I say curious. I hide behind the stairs. They’re talking about normal stuff, just letting him know about the examination and to explore the area. Well, to me it’s not normal; it’s suspicious. I mean, anybody would find all of this suspicious. Being in here"no memory" a mocking staff. It’s suspicious from the start.

The resident starts to walk into the cafeteria and the black guy starts to walk off. I run in front of him.

“You know"you never really told me your name.” I smile.

He raises his eyebrow. “What’s it to you?”

Uh"what is it to me? I really never thought this far. I guess this is where I just assumed I’d get the name and then we could start our conversation from there. There isn’t really a reason for me to have his name. It’s not like I want to get to know him, he was mean to me. On the other hand, he did give me a clue that can potentially lead to my escape. So, I guess the reason I want to"more like need to"know his name is because I need him. Honestly, he’s my only hope, our only hope, mine and Lucas’s.

I shrug and bite my lip. “Can we talk in private, please?”

He pulls my arm and walks me to an empty room. He turns around and locks the door. Should I be scared?

“Jayden, my name is Jayden.” He says, looking nervous.

I laugh, “Jayden? You don’t look like a Jayden.”

He doesn’t respond.

“That note, what did you mean by it?”

“I didn’t write you a note.”

I put my hand up on my hip. “Oh, don’t play dumb with me! What? You didn’t think I’d figure out what a watcher was?”

“Not really.”

“Yea, so what does it mean? The note, I mean.”

“This place,” He swings his hands in the air.

“I’m not wrong about what? What about this place?”

“You don’t belong here in this unit, trust me. You’re honestly lucky. Where you should’ve gone"” He gazes off, as if his mind is somewhere else.

“Where should I have gone?”

He shakes his head. “Just"just trust me. Be thankful you were placed in here. Just don’t take any meds they give you. At least you still have a chance. I can see it.” He unlocks the door and runs out faster than you can say run.

I stand there, stunned for the most part. Is he talking about Unit 99? That’s where he said I should’ve been placed when I first arrived here. And have a chance for what? Why might the medication they prescribe to me interfere with my chance? I wish he hadn’t run off like that. I came with one question needed to be answered. Yes, I know that answer would lead to more questions. I didn’t know that answer would lead to more questions that came with additional questions.

I walk out of the room and head down to the cafeteria. Most of the people have left already. There are only a few people still eating or just talking. From the looks of it I think there shutting down the kitchen area, which means I won’t get to eat tonight. Honestly, my mind is just too busy to think about hunger right now.  

I spot Lucas sitting at the table we were at a week ago. There isn’t a tray in front of him so, he must’ve stayed and waited for me. I walk over to the table and sit down.

“Here,” he says as he hands me a white paper bag that was sitting right beside him.

I grab the bag and open it. It’s dinner. “How did you get this? I thought they only give dinner to those who come get it.” I ask.

He shrugs, “I wasn’t hungry.”                       

“Thank you.” I smile, “If you come to my room, I’ll share.”

He shakes his head. “I’m fine, actually. I just thought you disappeared or something.” He smiles, “Good thing I saved the food.”

“Disappeared?”

“It’s noth"” He eyes follow something behind me.

I turn around and it’s Dr. Peters. She asks me to join her in her office because she needs to check up on me and ask a few questions. I don’t think she wants to check up on me out of care. Past circumstances have shown that. By the look Lucas is giving me, I can tell he doesn’t want me to go. I don’t want to go. What can I do, though? I have to go. He knows that, I can feel it. He just wants me to keep my mouth shut about"well, about everything.

I follow Dr. Peters down to her office. I’ve got to admit, her office is pretty nice. A nice mahogany desk with a smooth black leather chair placed behind it, two big black chairs in front of it. Funny how everything in this entire building, or what I’ve seen, is completely white expect for her and her husband’s office.  

“From what I see, you’ve gotten comfortable here.” She states.

“Mm"what is the definition of comfort?” I put my hands in my back pockets and shrug.

She chuckles and wags her finger at me. “Oh, you humor me.” She gestures me to take a seat as she sits down behind her desk.

I take a seat and shake my head. “What do you want?”

“I told you, I wanted to check up on you.”

“No. What do you really want?”

“I need to ask you some questions.”

She spends the next three hours interrogating me. Of course I didn’t spill anything, but I think she’s started to catch onto what Lucas and I are doing. Not that we’re really doing anything. It’s not a crime to dream and keep them a secret"well in some cases it is. What is a crime is to hold someone against their will. But ay, I’m not a judge so; guess no one’s prosecuting anyone today. Not yet, at least.

She stands up from behind her desk and holds her hand out.

I stare at it and say, “May I go now?”

She pulls her hand back and narrows her eyes, “It’s pretty late and your room is quite a distance from my office. I’ll call down two nurses to escort you to your room.”

“No, I’m fine.” I shrug. “Trust me, I know my around here.” I wink.

While I walk towards the door I look at her dead in the eyes.  “You know, you can’t always have you way. You can’t always control everything. Of course you think that’s not true…” I laugh, “But, one day soon you will found out you don’t have all the power you think you have.” I walk out of the room down the hall.

I’m walking down the hall, the hall that leads to the rooms. There’s a guy pushing a cart really fast in front of me. I can’t tell what on the cart. It looks like a bunch of files and paper. I follow him a little bit longer. He takes a too sharp turn and a booklet falls off the cart. He doesn’t notice it fell, though. I creep over to the booklet and pick it up. The polite thing to do would be to let him know this fell, but what can I say? I’m not in the mood to be very polite. I stick the booklet under my shirt just in case I’m being watched. I run back fast to my room.

I sit my key down and go to sit down on my bed. The front cover reads: Unit 3 Staff Manuel. I open it. The first page is just the table of contents. I spot that starting on page 57 is the list of residents. I immediately turn to that page. The names are hand written and there’s a date at the top of each page. I don’t remember the exact date of when I got here, but I remember Lucas got here around 6 months ago and I got here around 2 weeks ago. All the names have a number written next to them.

After a while, I finally spot my name.

8514"[15][14]"3[15][12][12]9[19]9[15][14] NATALIE DANIELS (Door 363)

I flip back and forth between the page with my name and the page with Lucas’s name.

8514"[15][14]"3[15][12][12]9[19]9[15][14] LUCAS SHUTTERSWORTH (Door 122)

The numbers are exactly the same. I wonder what they stand for. I glance for a little while longer to see if any other names have that same number. I only counted 3 others.

I take the pen off the nightstand and circle mine and Lucas’s name. I put the booklet under my pillow and just lay there. I let my mind run wild for a little while until I drift off to sleep.

Author's Note

Please please... this is literally my first book so, if its getting bad let me know. should I continue?

Reviews

[JBoone]

Yes continue, this a page turner. Reall well done. I am big fan.