MENACE

Ashton

It was a few weeks before things started to settle down.

Ashton sat on his bad, fiddling his fingers. He hadn't seen Niall in a few weeks.

He missed him.

He still heard Niall's voice, but it was different. He couldn't see Niall. He was no longer there, talking with him. He didn't hear Niall's voice the way he heard Dr. Wright's.

It was in his head.

"I miss you."

Ashton's heart sank. He'd heard Niall's voice say those three words too many times over the last three days.

"Me too," Ashton whispered, but somehow, he knew Niall couldn't hear him.

Dr. Wright walked in, carrying a tray of food, water and pills. "Hello, Ashton, how are you?"

Ashton looked up at the doctor. "Tired. I miss Niall."

"I miss you, too."

Dr. Wright sighed. "Do you understand where he went?"

Ashton frowned. "No. But I know you took him away. I want to know where."

"I'm not far..."

Dr. Wright frowned. "Take your medicine first, and then I'll explain."

"Please... don't... fight it for me... for me..."

Ashton took a deep breath and then downed the medication.

Niall's voice was silent for the first time in days.

"Ashton, do you know why you're here?" Dr. Wright asked, cordial.

Ashton frowned. "I killed two people."

"Yes, you did. But that's not why you're here at an asylum."

He wrinkled his nose. "Does this have to do with Niall?"

"Yes."

He panicked. "Where have you taken him?"

"When's the last time you saw Niall?"

Ashton's hands curled around the edge of the table between them. "Um, a few weeks ago."

Dr. Wright nodded. "Has anyone else been able to see Niall?"

Ashton shook his head. "Wait, actually, that girl. Hayley."

Dr. Wright grimaced. "Hayley couldn't see him."

Ashton was confused. "But-"

"Hayley is a pathological liar."

He was stunned. "She's in an asylum just for lying?"

Dr. Wright shook his head. "No, no. She's a pathological liar, but it's different. It's not just lying out of habit. It's beyond that. She believes everything she says. Her mind makes her words a reality. When she said she saw Niall, her mind conjured up an image of a boy, probably different from how your Niall looks."

Ashton was dazed. "My Niall..."

"Nobody has ever been able to see Niall because Niall never existed."

Ashton's eyes widened. "But he had to exist! He was real! He told me to kill them!" He rambled on, panicked. "I didn't mean to! I didn't know! I thought he was real! He is real! He is, isn't he? Where is he? Oh god, he stopped talking. I'm going insane. That's why I'm here. I have an imaginary friend." He scrunched his eyes shut and pressed his fingers against his lips.

"There's a name for your condition, Ashton. Schizophrenia."

Ashton opened one eye. "Skit what?"

"Schizophrenia. Your mind has trouble perceiving reality. You can't tell what's real or what's fake."

He paused. "Isn't that what Hayley has, then?"

Dr. Wright shook his head. "That's different. Hayley chooses what she thinks is real. You don't have a choice."

Ashton groaned. "So then, if Niall wasn't real... then..." His eyes widened. "Then I just killed them on my own."

"Ashton, don't-"

Ashton couldn't hear him anymore.

He could only remember hearing Niall tell him to kill them.

Only now, Niall's voice sounded a lot like his own.