True Love

I awoke one night to a commotion out in the hallway. The door to my room was closed, which I immediately thought was strange. They didn’t let us close our doors at night. I turned to my roommate’s bed and strained my eyes.

“Jim?” I whispered. But there was no answer.

I got out of my bed and flipped the lights on. Jim was indeed absent from his bed. I focused on the commotion now. I opened the door. There were screams. Jim was wailing. I looked down the hall to the cafeteria area. I saw Jim on his knees. He had ripped off all his clothes. Tears ran from his eyes like a faucet. Three guards were around him. Two were grabbing his arms and trying to hoist him to his feet. The third turned to see me.

“Back in your room! Everybody is to stay in their room!”

I took another moment to take everything in. Everyone else’s door was closed as well. The bright lights appeared less bright. The guard started to walk towards me.

“Get back in your room, NOW!”

I quickly slid back inside and closed the door. Listening intently, I put my ear to the crack and tried to focus on what Jim was yelling. There were words bubbling up amongst his guttural bellowing. But they were too garbled and warped. He sounded like some frenzied animal in danger. Soon the screams got quieter and quickly disappeared.

Jim was the subject of discussion in every conversation the next morning. Everyone in the wing, including myself, was absolutely stunned. Jim had been a very reserved guy. I might’ve heard him speak ten words since I had been brought in. Everyone had different stories as to what had happened. But they all agreed on one specific detail. Jim was screaming “I saw him! I saw the devil!”

Kevin talked my ear off as I carelessly stirred my orange juice with my finger. Kevin was usually the best morning entertainment. He could talk and talk to no end. I know most of his stories, well maybe all of his stories, were complete bullshit. It was still entertaining to hear him go off. But I didn’t want to hear him this morning. His incessant babbling was all centered on what happened to Jim the night before. He speculated that Jim was really a missionary from Ireland or Scotland or something. I paid little attention to what he was saying. I wanted to know what really went down, and I knew who could tell me.

Stacey was my closest friend in the wing. She and I understood each other. She was cynical and slightly jaded, just like me. We stuck together in the wing and talked bad about the other patients, and everyone who worked there. I absolutely loved it. She was the best friend I couldn’t find in the real world. She swore to me that we would keep in touch once we were out. Stacey may have been thirty years older than me but I found her to be beautiful, and I had plans to marry her one day. It was true love.

Stacey’s room was the closest room to the cafeteria. She had definitely heard what happened the night before. My neck began to hurt from constantly craning it to look for her. Kevin and Stacey were usually always at our table before me, but not today.

“Have you seen Stacey?” I asked Kevin.

“Sure have. Saw her earlier heading to the bathroom. I said hello, but she didn’t say ‘hi’ to me. Isn’t that weird? Do you think she’s sick? Maybe it’s just a bad day. Or maybe-“

“There she is.”

Stacey rounded the corner into the cafeteria. Her long, black hair was all over the place and she was still dressed in her pajamas. I tried to wave her over but she had frozen in place, her gaze fixed on the seat where Jim usually sat. After a moment, she shook her head as if snapping out of a trance and walked over to our table.

“Hey Stace.”

“How are you feeling hun?” Kevin asked as he scooted his chair over.

Stacey didn’t say a word all day. She ate and drank and attended group therapy but she never uttered a word. I tried pulling her aside at one point to talk to her personally, but she just shook her head and walked away. I hadn’t heard Jim’s name mentioned after breakfast, until I brought it up in my meeting with the doctor.

Dr. T was a real prick. Patients met with him once a day, every day, for about fifteen minutes. He did not care about us one bit. I enjoyed the meetings with his assistant far more than meetings with him. The doctor had a checklist of questions that he asked his patients. As long as we didn’t give any answers that weren’t “normal,” he would send us off like nothing. If he didn’t like our answers to the questions, he would simply make a change to our medications or the dosages of the medications. Sometimes I would purposely act crazy just so I could see how the different medications made me feel. But today I answered all his questions to his liking. Then I asked him a question.

“What happened to Jim?”

“Don’t worry about Jim. I’m sure you’ve heard enough about the situation from everyone else.” Dr. T looked down at me from his oversized desk with a fake grin.

“I want to hear it from you. I will cause problems if you don’t tell me.”

“I’m not allowed to talk about that Lucas.” His expression was now stern.

“You’re the doctor, you can do what you want. You rule this place. I just want to know what happened to him. Where is he now?”

“Why, he’s at home. You needn’t worry.”

“Home?”

“Yes, he lives with his mother. She came and picked him up last night. He is doing fine. I’m in a bit of a rush this morning Lucas, so if you could-“

“He freaks out like that and gets to go home?”

“Sure. His mother got to make the decision. Now I really need to get to my next patient Lucas I am sorry.”

“Right, thanks doc.”

At dinner, I told Stacey and Kevin what the doctor had said.

“That lucky son of a b***h!” exclaimed Kevin.

“He went home?” asked Stacey with wide eyes. I let out a breath, fortunate I had gotten her to speak finally. Though, that was the only thing she said. Her eyes remained wide for the rest of our meal, and she remained silent. I asked her repeatedly if she was okay. Each time she would seem as if she were coming out of a daydream. She only nodded.

I didn’t sleep that night. I laid in my bed wide awake. I thought about Jim. I thought about Stacey. I thought about the empty bed next to mine and how badly I wished Stacey was in it. I thought about home. Around four o’clock is when the screams started again.

I bolted out to the cafeteria. A guard arrived to the scene at the same time as me. He pointed down the hallway and gave me angry eyes but quickly turned his attention to the naked girl flailing around on the floor. It was Stacey.

“I SAW HIM I SWEAR! HE’S HERE! GOD SAVE US HE’S HERE! HELP OH PLEASE! GOD SAVE US!”

God save us? God save us. An adamant atheist proclaimed: God save us!

I now had something real to think about while I laid in bed for the rest of the night. I saw most of the struggle between Stacey and the guards. I watched in deep admiration. I’d never been more in love with her. I knew exactly what this was. I knew just what to do.

Luckily, everyone had managed to come out from their rooms and see what was happening. They all saw Stacey putting on her show, and they all heard her screaming about God. This made my work much easier. Kevin looked petrified at breakfast. I sat down and motioned for two others to come over: Dolly and Richard. They were two other patients that I had casual relationships with. Kevin stared at me as we all sat down.

“Luke, what are you doing? Aren’t you upset, or scared?” asked Kevin.

“Kevin, baby, come on! Last night wasn’t for real!” I explained.

“What in the world do you mean by that?” Dolly asked in her usual sassy manner.

“Guys, it’s Stacey! She’s not susceptible to paranoia or hallucinations or any of that! She’s way too smart. Plus, did you hear what she was saying? “God save us?” Stacey was a devout atheist!”

“What are you trying to say man?” said Richard. Honestly, I didn’t really care for Richard and the ugly scowl always plastered on his face. I just knew how much he hated this place.

“I’m saying that Stacey put on an act last night.”

“Luke! That’s ridiculous! She was naked. She wouldn’t do that.” Kevin seemed offended.

“Oh yes she would. Kevin what did her and I always talk about? Always, I mean non-stop?”

“Uh… er… I guess you talk about getting out of here a lot.”

“Bingo. Remember what the doctor told me about Jim? He went home. That’s what Stacey was doing. She was getting her free ticket home!”

“Hang on bro, I knew her a little bit. She’s not that type.” I was beginning to regret calling Richard over.

“Oh excuse me BRO, I didn’t realize that you two were B-F-F’s! No look, I was her best friend in here. We told each other mostly everything. I know exactly how she is! She did this on purpose. She went home! She gave me all the signs yesterday. I just know it!”

“Oh-kay so what? What does it matter if she did do that to go home? Good for her,” said Dolly in her sing-song voice.

“We can get out of here too! Don’t you see? We get a bunch of people to ‘see the devil’ and they’ll have no choice but to send us home. Oh boy, maybe they’ll even shut this place down!”

“You’re insane Lucas.”

“Okay Richard, ha! Look at mister bipolar calling me “insane!” If I haven’t piqued your interest you can f*****g leave then!” I stood up from my chair and pointed back towards Richard’s table. He remained seated.

“Why a bunch of people?” he asked. “Why do we have to get a bunch of people to do this? Why can’t you just do it if you wanna leave so bad?”

“They’re gonna catch on eventually. I say we drop the bomb early on. If we could get everyone in the wing to do it, they’d probably shut this whole place down. That’s what we want isn’t it? F**k this place, right?”

The three resisted my plan for most of breakfast, but by the end they all started to like the sound of it. I knew they would, because I know what this place is. The people in there are sick, beaten down, hopeless. They were all locked up there because they had reached the end of their rope. I wasn’t. I was there by choice, out of boredom. I was better than that. I knew things. And I knew that everyone in that place were looking for anything to believe in. All we had in there was the doctor, the guards, and the nurses telling us the rules, telling us what to do. I saw the opportunity to free everyone, so I took it.

I got Richard, Dolly, and Kevin on my side, and they got all their friends on my side. By dinner we had about ten of the nineteen people in on the plan. At four in the morning we were all going to strip down to nothing and run to the cafeteria screaming about the devil. It was so simple, yet so brilliant. It was like I had orchestrated my own little prison break.

I sat up in bed waiting for the time to come. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I would be out looking for Stacey the next day. I would find her and tell her how the stunt she pulled inspired me. I would tell her what I had done and she would fall in love right then and there. Then we’d go to her room and make passionate love on her bed. That’s when I would propose. Right before the sex I’d take out a ring. She would be sure to say yes. It was a sure thing. It was true love.

It was beautiful when it happened. It also unfolded in an entirely unexpected fashion. All the naked bodies charged for the cafeteria. Dolly, the stupid b***h, hadn’t stripped. Anyway, it was otherwise a powerful scene. We all ran yelling as loud as we could, determined to send a message, to get what we wanted. Our screams seemed to harmonize. I could hear Richard quoting Stacey, “God save us!” Kevin bellowed in the corner as he tried to hide his naked self with his limbs. But as I caught a glimpse of Kevin I was slightly stunned. I paused from flopping on the floor for a moment to study him. His face was bright red. Tears were literally gushing out of his eyes. He uttered the most primal screeching noises I had ever heard a human being create.

“The devil! It’s the devil!” I yelled as I resumed my act. But then I noticed Dolly. She had finally removed her clothes and was repeatedly smashing her head against the entrance doors. Blood poured down her face. The guards were in the room by this point. They had their hands full. As they began to escort people out of the room I turned to Richard to see a grisly sight. He was rolling back and forth on the floor clawing his eyes out with his fingernails. He yelped in agony, or fear- it was hard to tell. The guards dragged us off one by one over the span of about twenty minutes. I was the last one they got to. As they approached me I realized I was stood up in the middle of the room. I was taking everyone’s actions in and, admittedly, enjoying it. I wasn’t even conscious that I had been standing there, wide eyed and silent, almost the entire time. After snapping back to reality, I pretended to struggle as to not arouse any suspicion in the guards when they grabbed me by the arms. They took me to a back room and jabbed a needle in my neck.

As it happens, the plan did not work for everyone. It worked for me. Actually, it only worked for me. It’s because I still live with my parents. They came in that night and were faced with the choice of taking me home or sending me to a stricter, more secure facility. Of course they took me home. Unfortunately, none of the others who participated lived with their parents. They were all sent to the other place by the doctor. Turns out that’s where Stacey is too. Normally I would shrug it off. I got out, time to move on. Big deal if Stacey was going to rot in an asylum; I hadn’t known her that long. But something very strange happened when I got home.

I woke up in my room the next day and I was not alone. But it was not my parents sitting in the chair across from my bed. It was the Devil. He doesn’t look like you’d imagine. If it were not for the blackened red skin, he would appear to be a normal business man in a sleek black suit and medium, slicked back hair. He worea pair of circular glasses made of gold. He talked to me about what had happened. He’s the one who told me what happened to the others. To my bewilderment, he started clapping slowly. My parents came in my room, but did not see him. They told me to stay in bed, to take my meds, that I would start seeing a religious psychologist, blah blah blah. I just wanted them to leave so I could speak to the mysterious man. When they finally left, the Devil and I had a long talk. He was enamored by the fact that I had sent all those other people to suffer while I got what I wanted. He explained that he had been looking for a person like me.

The Devil follows me everywhere now. He whispers to me and makes my decisions for me. We talk bad about everyone. I like his style. He’s just like me. We understand each other. I think I’m in love. I think this time it really is true love.