(This chapter is a little… odd lol I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think...)

Katrina’s screams belted from her tongue, liquid dripping from her once cruel blue depths as her body remained halted from the ground, her arms and legs spread out around her, eyes pleading for the pain to stop while a darkened hole formed in the middle of her chest, smoke rising from her skin, blood seeping into the yellow fabric of her dress before falling like tiny raindrops back down to the earth.

“Please,” she managed to whisper through the agonizing ache, her hand reaching out towards me, and yet from my cowardly corner in the darkest recesses of my mind I watched horrified at what I was seeing and nevertheless pitifully hopeless to stop it. For I could feel the glorious pleasure my darker self took from her torturous shrieks, her outpour of sadness, like a hysterically dehydrated man at last teased with the temptation of water. Her inability to escape, the fear that dripped from her skin was intoxicating as much as it was empowering causing my mouth to salivate at the mere sight of the red liquid viciously snatched from her skin. And had I been any closer to my victim; my powerless captive, I knew deep within myself that I would be no different than the monsters that hounded me. That I too yearned for a taste, craved the chance to savor life’s core being sucked from the very body it had once nourished.

This was the ominous piece of myself that I struggled to contain daily, this was the unquenchable thirst that tried to control my every waking moment…

…and this was the side of me in my foolishly naive moment of useless vulnerability I had allowed to be unleashed idiotically blind to the fact that once released I would be clueless as to how to cage it back inside.

What was once small droplets grew to puddles of scarlet lining the grass below Katrina’s immobile form as her skin grew pale, the spot where lightning bounded into her remained as dark as charcoal; its surrounding layer red and inflamed, and yet there deep inside her eyes. Pass the pain, pass the bleakness of helplessness still laid that tinge of hatred she held for me. An abhorrence that only seemed to grow as my darker carbon copy fed off her fear. Deep within I found myself having to be reminiscent of the fact that I was not this monster I could see reflected in her eyes, that I couldn’t allow myself to become the one thing I dreaded, that this most certainly was not what Andrea envisioned for me.

I found myself fighting against the darker power that had seized me making me defenseless inside, struggling to supersede its quest to dominate my form, but what I once found easy to surrender was almost impossible to recapture. My hands shook, electricity flashing on and off causing Katrina momentarily relief only to find herself once again scorched as darkness and light fought from within me.

“I’m in control,” I screamed as I fought to regain power over my limbs, only for my darker twin to laugh calmly at my failed attempts to gain authority.

“Not anymore,” she openly mocked while quickly shoving me back into the cage I had once willingly allowed myself to be locked into. “Sorry little Marie, but the only thing your in control of now is your mouth.”

“Stop this, now!” A voice bellowed beside us, its sound immobilizing me in mid-kill causing Katrina’s body to harshly fall callously crumpled to the ground. I turned furious eyes to my unwanted interruption only to fall to my knees at the sight.

“Dad?” I whispered, tears slipping from my eyes falling pass my quivering lips.

The thunder receded as quickly as it had appeared; the wind now vanished as the clouds parted and stars began to twinkle in the night’s sky like tiny sparklers trapped in a ribbon of ebony. The full moon glimmered intensely lighting the darkest of corners that the surrounding illumination from the building behind us did not touch. And yet my eyes saw nothing, not even the other man that rushed to Katrina’s side. No, all I focused on was the figure that stood before me; six foot three, brown hair blowing in the slight breeze, a gentle smile upon his lips, and those forever joyful sapphire eyes.

Andrea’s eyes.

Eyes that last I had seen them lied lifeless in a skull that no longer remained attached to its body.

“Baby girl, what have you done?” he asked, his hands rising slowly as if approaching with extreme caution.

Never had my father looked at me with such concern, distrust, and such disguised fear. It wasn’t me exactly that he seemed to have misgivings about, but instead who it was I allowed myself to become.

“I… I don’t know,” I mumbled as I stared done at my trembling hands, my own tears lining my palms.

“Will, don’t fall for her lack of memory bullshit!” Katrina screamed, her body still battered as it rested mostly against the stranger, her eyes smoldering in her unexpressed detestation of me. “She knew exactly what she was doing! I did nothing but help her and you saw what my repayment was for that!”

“Katrin-,” my dad began, his eyes pained as he tried to interrupt her rant.

“No, she can’t be helped! Not only did she try to fry me she enjoyed every minute of it!” Her tears flowed freely just from the memory of the pain I caused. “You see her as your little girl, but I see what she really is! She’s tainted beyond anything we can do!”

“No!” he screamed, his heart leading his decisions more than his mind for when he looked at me he saw the doll like curls and big brown eyes of my former childlike self begging him to come and play, and not the demon lurking trapped inside me.

“Helping her would be like giving assistance to the devil himself!”

“Enough!” My father hollered, the power lingering inside his voice halting us all. “Anna, it is not safe to speak here. You must come with us,” he whispered, his tone much more gentle, his hand extended out towards me.

Katrina stepped forward almost toppling without the other man’s aid, “You’re really going to take her with us after all you’ve seen! Do you not see what she is capable of! The foolish decision to put so much power into a child was-.”

“Not yours to make,” my father yelled firmly while finally silencing Katrina completely before turning back to me, “Baby doll, we have to go.”

I shook my head in denial, my curls swinging out around me, “no, I can’t. I can’t do this anymore,” I replied, my spirit almost as broken as my heart. “Where have you been this whole time?” Tears seeped from my eyes, “Where were you when they fed from me? You’re my daddy you’re supposed to protect me.”

Guilt flooded his gaze, “Marie all will be answered, I promise. Just take my hand.”

I gazed down at his large palm; fingers I had grasped trustingly as a toddler, hands that had fixed toys, wiped away tears, tickled away sadness and yet now I felt unsure.

“Hey, what are you doing out here,” an annoyed voice called out into the distance. The tall figure dressed in white scrubs walked quickly to apprehend me. “You’re not supposed to be out here unattended.”

I knew in his eyes I appeared to speak only to myself, gave the impression of becoming the exact replica of what everyone already labeled me to be, came across as that insane girl so mentally deranged that I remained talking to the wind while eccentrically expecting a response. He did not see the angry eyes of Katrina burning into my skull, the blood still staining her once gorgeous yellow dress that floated out playfully in the breeze, the man who still stood stationary and yet silent beside her, nor did he see my father who stood before me exactly as he had when he was alive, and yet… there was a certain dissimilarity. An inner glow around his white robed form. Something inside that held a certain beauty that could never be captured upon this earth. A pure essence that gave him the guise of being above the adulteration of man, an essence that compelled those around him to desire to be better, to accomplish more.

“Anna, we are running out of time. You have questions, I have answers,” he said still awaiting my decision.

My eyes moved from him back towards the attendant still rushing towards us before my father’s other palm rose stopping the man’s descent in mid-stride, his small showcase of power reminding me so much of Rick that I took a step back.

“What are you?” I asked, gazing up at him.

“Your father, now come with me Marie.”

Without much thought I grasped his hand and everything surrounding us instantly washed away. Trees and the night sky seemed to melt together blending within each other in a swirl of colors causing my head to hurt and my stomach to feel uneasy. I closed my eyes to stop the all consuming sense of dizziness I felt overtake my body as the world seemed to spin around me, and when my eyes sprung open it was not the balcony, the mental institution and the night sky I saw but the lake and the beauty of the forest in mid-day that I was confronted with. I swayed on my feet, my father quick to steady me.

“Sorry, it takes some getting used to,” he joked while assisting me to rest upon a smooth rock, the waters gentle flow and a bird’s soft distant cry were the only things heard. The trees rustled in the wind its touch quick to caress my cheek, to entwine through out my curls. The sun rested warmly against my back as if trying to provide comfort and yet I felt cold. Dead to every thing I once believed in.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

“You were always one to go straight for what you wanted. Andrea always beat around the bush, but never you,” he said with a far away grin as he took a seat across from me.

Katrina had disappeared only god knows where taking the unknown man with her, something for which I was grateful for, and yet even I knew her silence was only temporary. “Do you know where Andrea is?”

The smile left his lips, “I never dreamed this would happen to my girls. Never thought I’d be talking to you like this.”

“What, you mean dead?”

He frowned, “badly put, but yes, dead. Anna-.”

“Dad, I get that I haven’t seen you since… since before the accident, but I need to know. Where were you all this time? Where did they take Andrea? For that matter, who are they?”

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, “Anna-.”

“I know you well enough to know when you’re stalling. You said you would give me answers.”

“There is only so far I can go,” he admitted.

I rose irritably back to my feet, “Well how far can no where be? You haven’t said anything!”

“Anna, I’m trying to protect you!”

“Oh my god, if one more person says that to me today, I swear to god!”

He rose, walking quickly towards me, his arms holding onto my shoulders, his gaze staring into mine, “Anna if I could have-.”

I pushed him away, “let me guess. If you could have helped me you would have? Wow, you have more control than Andrea. I mean at least she showed up after I was attacked, you only showed up when you thought my mind was so completely far gone there was no coming back from it!”

Tears lined the rim of his eyes, “Marie, you know I love you-.”

“Yeah, well you know love isn’t getting me very far lately, now is it?” I mocked. “Where’s Andrea?”

“Making Andrea a guardian was a mistake. They thought having someone familiar watch over you would make the transition easier.”

“What transition? And how is Andrea not right for the job? They make a convicted felon an angel and yet take her away as my protector?”

His expression crumbled appearing as if I had taken a dagger to his heart.

“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Its okay, Anna. I know I did a lot of things that I’m not proud of in the past, but right now I’m just trying to make sure you don’t have to live with those same regrets.” His hand rose to play with one of my curls, “you’re my little girl. It’s a father’s job to make sure your life is better than mine was.”

Tears trickled down my cheeks, “Dad.”

“Will, she must leave here,” that same robed stranger said from the distance. He moved to join us, the white material he wore moving like silk, his features gorgeous, his hair golden, his expression serene even as he chastised, his unwanted companion furious at his side and yet unfortunately completely healed.

“He’s right. Such darkness shouldn’t be allowed on such hallowed grounds,” Katrina spat out bitterly.

“That is not what I meant,” he calmly corrected to Katrina’s annoyance. “I meant it is their belief that she learns the true nature of this world on her own as others before her has.”

I turned my back on them choosing instead to only try and appeal to my dad, “what is he talking about, others? What others?”

“Sweetie?” he started, but disappointingly I already knew what that look meant.

“No, don’t sweep this under the rug dad, answer me! I’m always alone! I’m always in the dark! For once please just tell me the truth. I need to know! I have a right to know what’s going on in my own life!”

“Oh, so now she has rights,” Katrina mocked contemptuously.

“How about we see you try to recover from an open wound in your skull,” I threatened, my legs already moving towards her while my father’s hand on my arm was the only thing holding me back.

“See how you threatens? She is a disaster waiting to happen,” Katrina warned.

“Kat, you’re not helping,” my dad muttered while still trying to calm me.

“Neither is your inability to see the truth in my words. She’s impulsive, reckless, selfish b-.”

“She’s human, what’s your excuse?” my father snapped, his words only adding fuel to Katrina’s fury.

“When she turns on us all, no one can blame me.”

“And while we all meet our final death you can say I told you so.”

I watched Katrina rush off only mildly amused before I turned back to my Dad, “Daddy you have to tell me what’s going on?”

“Will,” the stranger once again warned while I could see in my father’s eyes as he struggled internally.

“Honey, I… can’t.”

Three simple words killed any sense of juvenile optimism I somehow managed to cultivate inside.

“Marie, I have faith in you. You can do this. You will make the right decisions.”

Cynical sobs racked my body, “no, I won’t. I can’t do this alone. Please Daddy, help me.”

His lips kissed my forehead, my eyes closing to such a tender touch that had become so unfamiliar to me as tears clung to my long lashes. He whispered, “I believe in you Marie, and always know Andrea and I will be watching over you.”

“Dad,” I questioned, my eyes opening, my vision taking in the empty balcony. “Daddy?”

The only sound to greet me was once again the rustling of the trees, the soft hoot of an owl, and the footsteps of the unfrozen attendant.

“Daddy, don’t leave me,” I whispered despondently as the attendant captured my arm yanking me towards the building, to my awaiting cell, and to a waiting and yet oddly knowing Clarice.

………………………………………………………..

Clarice led me upstairs in stifling silence as if words spoken would unravel the fragile hold I had on my sanity, and I knew she was probably right. Andrea was gone; viciously taken from my side, Katrina wished for my imminent death as if my future wasn’t perilous enough, my father had come back from the dead, and even now I remained lost with no answers. I was still remained alone fighting a losing battle I knew nothing about. My legs felt heavier with dread of a lonely future fighting faceless demons waiting for the moment when finally my good fortune ran out, the second when I couldn’t somehow find a resolution to aid my escape, the instant when death would finally come to seize me.

We halted briefly at the entrance of my ward, the walls colorless, and my outlook bleak when Clarice paused, “Anna, do you think you can find your room on your own? I promised Dr. Foster I’d help him with a patient.”

I nodded blankly barely registering her disappearance from my side as I traveled along the vacant hallway, my fingers absent mindedly brushing the smooth surface of the adjacent wall, my mind on other things beside the desertion of my babysitter. It wasn’t until my fingers traced the coolness of glass that I realized where I had wandered to. My heart beat quickened as my feet as if with a mind of its own moved closer to the deserted lounge, a lounge I had naively believed would be my sanctuary the night of my arrival. The night monstrous fiends escaped nightmares hell bent on claiming all I had left, the night hell opened up almost draining me completely while managing to almost literally throw me onto death’s doorsteps. The night four other people never made it out of this room alive.

My chest rose and fell in a panicked progression as the temperature seemed to dramatically drop and smoke rose from my parted lips as I wrapped my arms around myself staring at the framed photos of the people I had managed to slaughter by simply arriving. Their blood unintentionally was on my hands as were anyone else who seemed to cross my path. Maybe Katrina was right. Maybe I was tainted, maybe I couldn’t be helped. My unhurried footsteps receded until I felt my back smash into the glass mirror hung near the now deserted nurse’s station, my frantic eyes quick to search my reflection for the monster Katrina claimed me to be.

I smiled, dimples’ flashing into my cheeks as I casually fixed a wayward curl until my reflection was no longer a mirror image, but instead my true self trapped behind the glass.

“Well hello, little Marie,” my darker identity mocked, her hand fixing my curls, her lips forming into a sinister smile while tinges of bloodlust red lingered in her gaze. “Didn’t think I had it in me, did you?”

“Let me out of here!” I desperately raged from inside my cell, frustrated tears of despondency coming to my eyes.

“Now that’s kind of like a thank you, but different.”

“Why would I be thanking you? You trapped me-.”

“No, poor innocent Anna, you trapped yourself,” she corrected, her smirk menacing in its obvious amusement as she watched me cry. “You allowed me to be free. You wanted vengeance and I got it for you. Is it my fault you punked out at the last minute and tried to save that bitch Katrina, no! Is it my fault you’re so weak and pathetic you can’t even regain control of your own limbs, no!”

“Please,” I begged. “You said we were meant to exist, that you are a part of me.” Tears rolled shamefully down my cheeks as I gazed into her soulless eyes, “You have to help me.”

She openly laughed at my broken plea, “Sweetie, I don’t have to do anything. You are a part of me. The spineless, frail part that always seemed to hold me back, the idiotic side of my soul that clung to the useless notation of civilization as if good could ever defeat evil. The mere thought is ridiculous.”

“You won’t get away with this-.”

“Marie, look at you. Honey, I already have,” she taunted. “I fooled them all even your worthless father into believing his little angel stood whimpering beside him; so much so that he allowed me on sacred land, something a demon has never succeeded to do! I mean come on, you are so easy to imitate!” Her face crumpled into a sad expression, her big brown eyes watering, her lips quivering, “See, useless and insubstantial emulated and suddenly I’m you while everyone rushes to my aid.”

My fist banged furiously against the glass and yet its surface barely budged, “I’ll find a way to stop you.”

“Good luck with that, but if I were you I’d conserve my energy. You’re gonna be in there a long…. time.”

“Excuse me, but have you seen my daughter? I’m looking for my daughter Irene,” that same man asked suddenly at my side. He was dressed the same as he had been at the start of visitation day still in his wrinkle free brown slacks, his starched white button up shirt, his white hair neatly brushed in place, his lined face even now determined in his quest to find his daughter.

“Fuck off,” my darker self replied uncaringly.

“Please, I have to find her,” he pleaded, his words touching my heart. “I have to know that she’s okay. No one else can seem to help me.”

Rolling her unsympathetically cruel hazel eyes, “Does it look like I care?”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his expression the depiction of sadness, “but I need your help whether it is willing or not.” He stepped closer his hand reaching out towards my chest until it disappeared completely, his body quickly entering my own. I felt my body immobilize, my breathing cease, my eyes widen as the unwanted presence took claim over my frozen form while watching paralyzed at my reflection as my hazel eyes turned blue, my black curls retracted while turning white from the roots, as my body hunched over and my form no longer was that of a young girl but of someone who experienced much more than my sixteen years. Watched as my full lips shrunk paling from their natural red to a soft pink and lines marked etching the once youthful skin of my face. I watched entrapped from within until all the features that once made me me had vanished leaving behind only the appearance of this frail old man.

“I’m sorry,” he said into his reflection, my own image beside him in the mirror. “But I need to find her.”

“Hey, your not allowed up here,” the same attendant from before yelled coming up beside us, his face one of annoyance. “This section of the ward is closed off, and this level is restricted. Only permitted personnel are to be on this floor.”

The older man’s face creased in concern, “I’m sorry, I’m looking for my daughter. My daughter, Irene Thomas?”

The attendant’s face softened, “Okay, but she’s not on this level. She’s on level three. Just take the elevator down one floor.”

“What a fucking dumbass,” my darker self muttered from within as the older man moved us towards the elevator, “I mean come on, how the hell did this man get clearance to get on this floor. Use your freaking brain! Is everybody clueless around here!”

“What, don’t like being shoved into shadows?” I mocked emotionlessly. “Join the club.”

“Hey,” the attendant called out as the older man had entered the elevator causing us to pause, “you didn’t happen to see a pretty girl wandering these halls did you? Dark curls, golden eyes?”

“I’m right here!” I shrieked internally.

“No, I haven’t seen anyone,” the man lied with ease.

“Well if you do alert someone. She is no where near as sweet as she seems.”

“Don’t worry; I have no intention of running into her.” The elevator doors closed before he continued to speak, “again.”

It was here that my reflection bounded from the door’s shiny surface, here that this man remained clearly determined and yet unfazed at the sight of his inescapable companions. On one side of his unmovable presence stood my frightened entrapped image while on the other my pissed off darker copy.

Together and for once in complete agreement, we raged, “You have to get the hell out of my body!”

…………………………………………………………………..

“Only you could let some pathetic lost soul take over,” my darker essence mocked as we watched this man travel blindly towards the nurse’s station on level three. It was like watching a movie you never paid to see and yet was forced to view; only difference was I seemed to have the star role even if the world couldn’t seem to realize it.

“That’s funny; I could have sworn you were the one in control when this happened.”

“Oh, spare me the crap Anna. We both know that this is all your fault!” she snapped furiously.

I watched as the older man searched frantically through the small crowd of patients while waiting for a nurse he could speak with. I had never been on this level before and yet it mirrored my own the only difference being that fewer attendants lie alert waiting for that moment when calm turned into unrest and what was once docile turned feral, hysteria playing a key role that turned rage into the act of blindly lashing out. But here… the patients were more silent; some huddled in corners staring off into nothingness barely coherent enough to brush their own hair let alone raise a fist.

“Oh, please enlighten me on how you figured that out?” I mocked out of mere curiosity more than real interest. We were ensnared with this man inside of us and until we could figure out how to remove him, or he finished whatever it was he seemed intent to do it seemed we were trapped along for the ride.

“You’re still doing exactly what you always do.”

“And what is that?”

“Deny your true self.”

“Oh, and let me guess my true self is supposed to align with darkness, reek havoc and create chaos?”

She smirked humorlessly, “As if you could allow yourself that much fun. No, what I meant is darkness is a part of you but you run from it and while you deny it exist you always deny a piece of yourself. Your abilities never truly awaken and you never take full control.”

I knew deep in my heart that some of what she said was true but that would mean admitting to myself that Katrina was partly right, that the jury was partly right, that inside me did lay a monster. “Oh, and now I’m supposed to take advice from you? What, because you’ve been so helpful so far?”

“No, because I realize the truth. It’s why it’s easy for me to overpower you. I know there is weakness inside me. I realize you exist and not only that I know the true limitless potential our powers could have if you weren’t forever holding us back.”

“Excuse me Miss, I’m looking for my daughter Irene,” Mr. Thomas asked kindly, his arm reaching out to stop Maria, his eyes sad, his voice trembling.

Maria looked up distractedly from her chart instantly coming to this man’s aid. “Sure what did you say her name was?”

“Irene. Irene Thomas,” he whispered, hope blooming like a fragile flower inside his heart.

“Great, Saint Maria to the rescue!” my twin openly scorned. “You know I never did like her.”

“I’m sure the feeling is mutual.”

“She’s in room 207. If you’ll just follow me,” she said compassionately as she led the way, glancing over her shoulder occasionally to be sure that we followed. “I wasn’t aware that Irene had family left.”

The old man’s hands nervously twisted before him, his eyes glancing at the passing rooms around us, “Yes, I unfortunately have been away.”

“Yeah, away dying! I’m can’t believe this shit!”

“Will you please be quiet,” Mr. Thomas and I said in unison, her negative comments grating on both of our nerves.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Maria asked, her kind brown eyes swimming with concern.

“Oh my god! He can hear us,” my darker self exclaimed in excitement.

“I... I”, he stammered, “I merely said it’s so quiet… quiet on this ward,” he lied.

“Oh, um yes I’m afraid most of the patients on this level suffer from some form of depression,” Maria began only for me to tune her out as my sinister copy reveled in her newfound discovery.

“He can hear us,” she repeated.

“And that’s relevant because…?”

“Must I explain everything to you? It means we are all inside this head. It means we can drive him crazy enough to force him out.”

“Oh, great plan Einstein. Only flaws being that you have no clue if that will actually work, we are in a mental hospital so driving him mad just might put him in a padded cell next to mine, not to mention the fact that if it doesn’t work he may never finish what he has to do and he may be trapped inside me forever.”

“Well at least I have a plan!” she snapped. “What’s yours? Oh let me guess, huddling crying in a corner?”

I ignored her comment, all my attention focused on the blonde in front of us. Her hair lay in total disarray around her face, her blue eyes vacant as she gazed blindly through the window from her chair, her body was thinner than it had been before, and a small puddle of drool fell from her lips. My body paused at the entry of her room just staring entranced at what had become of Holly, of what I had managed to unwittingly allow to happen to her. I felt the old man’s desperate pull to continue but I wouldn’t be moved, my guilt felt so consuming, so limitless.

Maria paused as she saw that we had stopped, coming back to where we stood, “Oh that’s Holly. She’s harmless,” she muttered before she quietly shut the door to her room.

Oh god, what had I done?

“What are you talking about? She was a total bitch, and you’re being too soft!” my inner personality taunted.

“But I put her there.”

“No, a demon’s attack put her there.”

“Only after I opened the door and let hell loose,” I argued.

“Well, you do have a point there.”

“You know if you’re not going to help can you just-,” I started just as Mr. Thomas internally interrupted our argument.

“I realize I shouldn’t have entered your body, but I have to know that my daughter is alright. It’s important to me, so can you two please just allow me to do it in peace.”

Someone in the distance called Maria’s name causing her to pause. “I have to go take care of something but Sam is in Irene’s room, so if you have any questions feel free to ask her,” she replied kindly already running in the opposite direction.

The older man’s hands trembled as it reached up slowly piercing back the wooden door. A red headed nurse stood off to the side writing in a chart but she was instantly ignored as Mr. Thomas’s eyes finally rested on the small figure of what I assumed to be Irene. She lay back on a mound of pillows, her dark hair flowing in waves down her back, her skin almost as pale as her white sheets, her brown eyes just as vacant as Holly’s.

“Are you a visitor?” The nurse asked as she finally noticed our presence.

“Yes, how is she?” he asked, his eyes never leaving his daughter, a tear trickling down his cheek.

“I’m afraid I can’t divulge that kind of inform-,” she began as she moved to usher us out of the room.

“I’m family,” he insisted causing her to come to an abrupt stop.

His determination to find out what happened to his daughter only made my mother’s desertion and my father’s reluctance to help me hurt that much worse. Why was it that I was not blessed to have someone to care for me as much as this man clearly cared for his daughter? Why didn’t I deserve such a love that even after death this father searched frantically for his child?

“Somewhere out there someone is strumming a violin for this hallmark moment.”

“Shut up,” I snapped while trying to hide my sorrow.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually on his side now?” she openly ridiculed. “Anna you’re as pathetic as he is.”

“I’m afraid nothing has really changed since she arrived here. She’s not responsive to the drugs prescribed. She mostly just stares out that window,” the nurse said softly.

He walked closer to Irene, his hand reaching out to run through her long tresses. Her eyelashes fluttered but that blank expression remained. It wasn’t until his hand connected to her cold palm that her brown eyes finally focused on his face.

“Sweet heart, I told you I’d never leave you,’ he said softly, his tears now streaming down his cheeks.

Her gaze widened, her eyebrows furrowing in disbelief before a scream so horrifying in its screech bounded from the hallows of her mind, vaulting off her tongue that even I with no control over my own limbs wanted to cover my ears from the sound. Tears of pure terror fell from her eyes as she snatched her hand away practically flying from the comfort of her a bed at such a speed that she carelessly tripped over the small table lying off to the side of her room, glass pitcher smashing, blood lining her palms as the shards pressed uncaringly into her skin, and still she shrieked in horror.

“Irene, sweetie calm down,” the nurse tried to reason, but it was like trying to compose an angered bull about to charge. “She’s never acted this way before.”

“Sweet heart,” Mr. Thomas said heart brokenly as he tried to come closer only for her to thrash about wildly, the glass only cutting her further in her attempt to crawl as far from him as she could.

“No, no! You’re dead!” Irene screamed, a huge piece of glass clutched in her hand as protection. “I watched you die!”

The nurse ran back towards the entrance, “I could use some help in here!” Before she turned back to a terrified Irene, “Honey, put the glass down.”

“No, no he’s dead! He burned alive! I saw the fire! I saw the flames!”

Two huge attendants arrived at the doorway; a needle resting in one’s fingers as they slowly encircled her, Mr. Thomas taking a step back, his shaking hands rising to cover his trembling mouth.

“Irene, I’m asking you again. Please drop the glass,” the nurse asked while they each took another step closer.

“No, I’m in hell! This is hell! It’s punishment for setting the fire! I killed my parents.” Tears blinded her sight, “I deserve to be punished!”

Mr. Thomas slowly backed away from the scene, his sobs no longer silent as he watched them attack his daughter trying to remove the glass from her fingertips, her cries filling the halls, the needle quickly entering her arm before finally she slumped emotionlessly to the ground, her eyes still on her father.

A tear leaked from the corner of her brown gaze before she whispered, “I killed my mother and father.”

Unable to bear the sight any longer Mr. Thomas tore down the hallway towards the elevator, blind to those who watched him, blind to the nurse calling him back to Irene’s room. The elevator doors closed, his expression reflected in its surface one of panicked distress.

“Well, that was intense.”

“Not now, I think the last thing he needs right now is your unsympathetic commentary,” I snapped, my heart breaking for him as I listened to his tragic sobs.

“Hey, I felt for the guy. His fucked up daughter totally ended him, but he set out to do what he came to do and now its time for him to move on.”

Mr. Thomas arrived on the ground floor quickly exiting the elevator while sidestepping the awaiting nurses and doctors lining the hallway.

“Yeah, your compassion is overwhelming.” I watched him dodge a nurse asking if he was alright before running quickly from the hall. “He’s traumatized.”

“I would be too if I found out my daughter scorched me, but come on, who forgets something like that? How stupid can you be to look for your own killer?” We watched from within as he walked quickly towards the exit, the night sky waiting to greet us, a door I hadn’t seen since my arrival here... Freedom. “Where the hell is he headed?”

He shoved the door open immersing us into the fresh air before quickly walking down the driveway, pass the parking lot, away from the institution, “I’m sorry, but I have to find my wife.”

………………………………………………………….

“This bus smells like piss. I bet he has no clue where he’s even going! He didn’t even know who killed him!” my darker half complained as we shook and swayed on the bus heading to who knew where. Mr. Thomas continued ignoring what little people remained on the bus while muttering to himself about finding his wife.

“Will you please be quiet for once!”

“Oh come on, your thinking it too! As long as he’s inside us we are royally fucked. Look at him, he losing his shit! We should be heading to a church not to wherever the hell he suddenly has to be.”

“Yeah, then maybe finally a priest and compel both of you from my body,” I muttered under my breath as the old man finally stood up about to disembark from his seat.

“I heard that, and I hate to break it to you but I am not an evil spirit needing to be sent to hell.”

“You’re an evil something,” I insulted watching as he now walked down a deserted derelict street.

The dilapidated houses looked as if a strong wind would topple them onto each other; paint peeled from its surface, grass grew wildly untended while some had missing patches all together. Trash littered the sidewalks, street lamps shed sparse light as so many of them had been shattered; broken by stones thrown, and seedy men dressed in over sized hoodies lingered on corners occasionally glancing our way before turning back to cars that slowly crept down the streets. Until finally he came to a stop.

I don’t know what we expected to find.

A home similar to the ones we passed, anything but what we now faced. Tall trees threw larger shadows upon the lot as glass broke beneath our feet. Burned wood lay in shambles all around us, and soot covered every available surface. The doorway somehow stood intact as did the stone steps that led us up to them but the navy welcome mat that once read the Thomas’s home was now worn and so scorched that half of it now lay missing. His shoes scrunched in the silence as he entered into memories, his eyes wet from the past he knew no longer existed as he shuffled through burned debris, shifted through what once mattered so much to him, his fingers rose clutching a picture frame; the only thing truly still intact.

Their family looked so normal from the outside looking in. Their smiling faces looked back at us with such innocence; no hint of malevolence lied in the grin upon Irene’s lips.

“I remember the dinner my sweet Beth had made that night,” he whispered, his fingers running over her beautiful features reflected in the photo. “Irene ruined it. Said she hated us for never letting her do what she wanted to do, for never letting her live her life the way she wanted to live it.” His voice broke in a sob as he moved slowly walking into what I could only assume once was the kitchen. “She had come back from college addicted to any kind of drug she could get her hands on. We just wanted to get her help, but she didn’t want saving.”

He walked passed the ash; pass the broken beams to what was left of the stairs. “She locked herself in her room that night. We assumed she would calm down. We fell asleep and… I don’t think we ever even had the time to wake up. By the time the firemen and police arrived I found myself outside looking frantically for Beth not knowing we both still remained trapped within the flames. Irene hadn’t even tried to get us out. She left us here to die,” his sobs racked his body, his shoulders shaking with grief. “What could we have done so horribly that she would do that to us?”

As his grief consumed him I felt my body lighten, my breath catch, my body to halt as his soul fell from within me. From his knees he glanced sad eyes back up at me, “Thank you. Thank you for helping me find out the truth.” His tears fell in silence, his hands still clutching the frame until his body turned phantom, until even that could no longer be seen. The frame fell from the thin air cracking upon impact, splitting the family into two; Irene on one side, the smiling parents on the other.

“Where did he go?” I asked, grief heavy in my own heart.

“Who fucking cares. He’s gone and that’s all that matters,” my sadistic manifestation snapped as she dusted the soot from my pink dress.

“He just… he just disappeared.”

She turned away from the scorched home already walking quickly from its haunted existence, “he went into the light. He moved on. He’s in a better place, or whatever other bullshit you want to hear Anna. He’s not important.”

I don’t know why but I was stunned at her ability to completely dismiss a man’s life so easily, “Then what is?”

“What’s important is that we’re free, and I’m still in control,” She smiled into the darkness as she walked quickly along the deserted area, her hazel eyes intent on the distant lights of a twenty-four hour dinner. “And without Glover dale entrapping me behind its walls I plan to have a little fun.”

I don’t know if it was the late hour or the seductive sway of my hips in my thin pink dress that drew all attention towards me as I entered the dinner. All I knew was I felt as if all eyes watched me as I took a open seat at the counter, my hands quick to push my curls from my face.

Every other person in here was older than I was; it seemed it was mostly men grabbing a quick meal before getting back into their trucks for the long ride ahead. A small family resided in a corner booth that seemed to be on some family road trip while two women scantly clothed gathered at a back table seeming to be looking for more than just a ride.

My tongue snaked out to moisten my cherry red lips, a man old enough to be my father watching my every movement before I crossed my legs slowly exposing more tender skin of my upper thigh while his eager lustful gaze rested on the hem of my dress. I grinned calculatingly knowing I had a captive if not naive audience.

A waitress almost dead on her feet came up to me, a menu in her hand, a tired expression on her lined face, “Do your parents know you’re out this late?”

I snatched the menu from within in her grasp while replying sweetly, “do you know how to mind your own fucking business?”

She walked away muttering about disrespectful children as I heard the footsteps of the very man I was hoping to attract. I heard the chair scrap against wood before I allowed my golden eyes to meet his.

A blue cap hide his slightly balding messy brown hair, a slight beard graced his weak chin, his blue eyes were alit with hidden desire behind their façade of friendliness, and his slightly overweight form was clothed in a blue and white flannel and dusty blue jeans. He extended his hand to me, “I’m Gary, and I’d be honored if you’d allow me to buy you dinner, Miss.”

“Marie,” I purred from my full lips watching as he followed their actions with hungry eyes, a hunger that had nothing to do with food as I allowed my fingers to slide into his. “And what exactly would you be getting from this deal?”

He dropped my hand quickly, his smile faltering a little, “warm handshake, little Marie.”

I grinned sweetly capturing my bottom lip between my teeth, “Sorry, I’m a hot girl.”

“I think I like that,” he flirted, his mind so full of naughty images he dreamed to make reality that he took no notice of the spark of scarlet that flashed into my eyes before I felt them transform back into that forever innocent golden brown, the way my chest now heaved uncontrollably at the sight of the vein throbbing in his neck, or the tightened grip I held on the counter.

“I’d be getting the pleasure of your company.”

“I think I could come to enjoy…,” I glanced down at the bulge in his jeans, “…pleasure. Why don’t we get out of here?”

He grinned unbelieving in his luck, “My truck is parked out front.” He gestured to the red pickup illegally parked in the darkened lot.

“Great, I’ll meet you outside,” I whispered quickly sliding from my seat walking towards the bathroom knowing his eyes hungrily stalked my exit. The bathroom remained empty; its once white walls stained yellow, its sink rusted, its floors grimy, sweet innocent Anna glaring at me from the mirror.

“What the hell do you think your doing? He’s dangerous! You can’t do this.”

I fixed a stray curl smiling up into my reflection’s angry expression, “you can’t really think he’s the dangerous one, can you?”

The craving was clawing at my insides, the hunger, the want, the thirst, the need to rip into this man’s neck and taste the sweet nectar of his insides as he screamed for mercy was almost unbearable. My teeth sank into my bottom lip, blood dripping into the tarnished sink.

“You can’t do this! You can’t kill him!” Anna screamed seeing the hunger I could barely repress.

“Sorry Marie, I can do anything I damn well please. As I’ve mentioned… I’m the one in control.”

……………………………………………………….

(Okay, before you say anything I had to get her out of the hospital some how. lol what better way then a spirit taking over and transforming her looks. she walked right out the front door lol. I don’t know how I feel about this chapter, but I did reveal some things about Anna: we know her dad is still around, her other side can’t really be trusted, that she’s trapped inside herself, and that other ghost can take her over. What do you think? I mostly write what I feel like I’d want to read, but if you have a comment go ahead leave it. I’m kind of curious on what people are thinking ; )

Comment, vote, but always come back for more…

Until next time…