"To be ill adjusted to a deranged world is not a breakdown."

― Jeanette Winterson

/ / e v e l y n / /

My eyes slowly open and all I see is a bright, white light. I look around to see light blue walls that have nothing on them. The wooden door's shut and the window's blocked by white curtains with birds on them. I realize I'm no longer on the floor in the hotel room. Instead, I'm laying on a bed and I'm tightly tucked underneath a blanket. My feet don't reach the end of the bed and I immediately feel ten times smaller. My throat's extremely dry and I attempt to swallow some saliva to stop the dryness. It's as if I don't have any saliva in my mouth...

I look around the room some more and see a TV connected to the wall closest to the window. I pull my arms out from underneath the blanket and notice the IV in my left arm. Glancing beside me, I see a plastic bag full of clear liquid. The liquid's going into my body and it doesn't take me long to figure out where I am.

I'm in a hospital.

My tongue runs along my mouth as I try to wet it but nothing works. Why is my mouth so dry? I sit up and pull the thick blanket off of me. How did I even get here? I swing my legs off the bed and stand up. I'm wearing a hospital gown and white socks cover my small feet. My hand grabs the IV pole and I walk towards the door. I want to ask someone if they know how I got here.

The hall's empty when I step out of the room and I look down both ways of the hall to make sure I'm not alone. Unfortunately...I am alone...just like I was in the hotel room when Louis went to go get some hot chocolate for me.

"Louis," I whisper.

I don't think I can speak any louder than this. Where is he? If I'm here, he has to be here, too, right? What if he was the one who brought me to the hospital? I suddenly feel like there's hope and he's somewhere in the hospital. I turn the corner to see the gray doors that belong to the elevator. I press the down button and wait impatiently. If Louis is here, I want to see him. I glance around. What floor am I even on?

The doors open and a woman looks at me, "Now, what are you doing out of bed?" Her auburn hair is pulled back in a ponytail and she's wearing a white lab coat over her pink scrubs.

"Louis," I mouth. My throat's too dry for me to even try to explain myself to her in a whisper.

"Come on," she smiles. "Dr. Gibson won't be pleased if he finds out you got out of bed. I'll take you back and we can pretend this never happened, okay?" She steps out of the elevator and grabs my wrist that doesn't have the IV in it.

"Louis," I mouth again and make sure she can see my moving lips. I run my fingers along my throat to let her know it's hard for me to speak.

Her smile widens, "Yes, I'll get you some water as soon as we get you back to your room. When you got here a few hours ago, you were extremely dehydrated."

"Louis!" I want to yell but it comes out as a low shriek that's barely audible.

She pulls me along, "I hope your blankets weren't too thick. I had to tuck you in pretty tight so you wouldn't roll off of the bed. You're quite the wild sleeper." I try to pull myself out of her grip and she chuckles. "Someone's anxious to get something to drink."

"Louis," I whisper, risking the pain in my throat.

"Movie?" she asks and nods her head. "Sure, I can put in a movie for you. What do you have in mind?"

"No," I whisper and shake my head.

"Gnome?" she laughs. "I don't think we have any movies with gnomes in them but I can most certainly check for you." I try pulling myself out of her grip again but her grip only tightens. I need to find out where Louis is. I'm pulled into the room and the nurse leads me back to my bed. "I'll go see if we have any movies with gnomes in them, okay? Just stay in bed and—oh! I completely forgot about your water. Let me run and get you some real quick." She rushes out of the room as soon as I sit down on the bed and I place a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Louis," I murmur. "Where on earth are you?"

I spread out on the bed and get back underneath the blanket. I bring my hands to my face before letting out a sigh. If the nurse hadn't been on the elevator, I would've been another step closer to Louis. Now...I've stepped farther away. Did Harry get to Louis after he got to me? I quickly stand up and a sharp torture grows in my side. Hissing in pain, I touch my side with shaky fingers and wince.

What the...?

Slowly, I pull the hospital gown up to where my bra is and my eyes widen at the sight. There are claw marks all over my side and there has to be at least twice a dozen of them. My skin's red and my eyes move from my side to my stomach. There are marks there, too. I let the gown fall back down and my entire body's shaking. When did Harry do this to me? I don't remember...

"I'm back!" the nurse chirps and walks into the room with a plastic cup and two bottles of water. "I suggest you drink both of these. Not all at once, but when I come back to check on you, at least one of the bottles should be empty. We have to keep you hydrated." She hands me the cup and one of the water bottles. She sits the other bottle on the table by the bed. "There's a red button on the side of your bed. Push it if something goes wrong." I only nod and she smiles. "I'm going to go check on another patient but I'll be back soon."

"Wait," I say and she stops. I'm surprised she can even hear what's coming out of my mouth. "W-What happened to me?"

"Animal attack," she replies. "Someone found you in the woods behind a hotel earlier today."

"That's impossible," I murmur.

"The scratches on you claim otherwise," she says. "Now, please. Drink your water and relax. I couldn't find a movie with gnomes in it, so just watch regular TV for right now. I should be back in less than an hour."

She walks out of the room and shuts the door behind her. I open the bottle of water and take a sip. I sit back on the bed and look up at the ceiling. Did Harry really get me out of the hotel without anyone noticing? How...? I take another sip of the water and shake my head. I want to know who found me. Perhaps Louis did and he brought me here? If he did, why is he not in here with me right now? I need to know where he is. This is—

"Evelyn..." a whisper fills my ears.

I rise to my feet, ignoring the pain, "W-Who's there?" The lights begin to flicker.

"You should really pay attention to what you drink, Evelyn..." the voice whispers. "It would be a shame for you to choke."

"What are you t-talking about?" I ask, looking down at the water bottle. I can't see because of the lights flickering on and off. "I...I...can't..." The lights stop flickering and I get a good look of what's inside of the bottle. It isn't water at all.

The bottle is filled with maggots.

I shriek and throw the bottle across the room. It hits the wall, causing the maggots to escape the plastic container. Harry sits on the ceiling and he no longer looks like a human. He looks like the demon that will forever haunt my dreams. My eyes are wide and my body doesn't stop shaking.

He laughs, "I thought I'd bring you a gift."

"No!" I cry out. "I don't want any of your gifts!"

"Hush now," he demands. "We wouldn't want anyone to interrupt our lovely conversation, now would we?"

Tears fall from my eyes, "Maggots...out of all things, why maggots?"

"Take a closer look, girl. Look at the mess you've created," he says and I look at the wall. None of the maggots are there. I rise to my feet and look around the room. They're nowhere to be found. I quickly look back at the wall and it's covered with water. I'm losing my mind. Harry's making me lose my mind. "You shouldn't believe everything you see."

"Should I believe in you?" I ask.

"Should you?" he smiles, showing off his white fangs.

I'm freaking out. He falls off of the ceiling and I can't help the small scream that escapes me. If I was with Louis, I wouldn't be as frightened. I want Louis to be here with me. Better yet, I want to be wherever Louis is.

I snap, "What did you do to Louis?"

"I buried him six feet under," he replies, shrugging his shoulders as if it is nothing.

"What?" My eyes widen.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, either," he mutters. My chest feels as if it's going to concave. "I did nothing to the boy."

I stand my ground, "I know you did!" My hands go straight for my neck and I fall to my knees. I can't breathe. My nails dig at my neck and my eyes sting. Harry only stares at me with his head tilted to the side. I fall onto my side and it screams at me for making such a foolish move. My vision becomes blurry and I cough as my chest burns.

"Who do you think you are? You don't know a thing about me!" One of my hands falls from my neck and I reach out in Harry's direction. I know he's doing this to me and I want him to stop whatever this is. "You want me to stop?" I nod my head and he quickly laughs. "And why should I?" I open my mouth but I only whimper. "Oh, that's right. You can't talk, can you?" I gasp out as oxygen begins to fill my lungs and when I blink, tears stream down my face. "Speak!" I get off of my side and stare down at the floor. If I vomit, I won't be surprised. "I said, speak!"

I look at him, "I'm...valuable to...you."

He laughs, "And what makes you say that?" I point to the black circle on my neck and he stops laughing immediately. "My mark on you means nothing. Absolutely nothing!"

"Then why did..." I stop and take a few deep breaths. "...you do it?"

"Because I can," he replies. "Because I'll take all of the extra food that I can get!"

"You only...marked me." I argue.

"You're testing me, girl," he hisses.

The door swings open and the nurse from before enters. Her eyes widen at me, "Oh, dear. How did you manage to fall out of bed?"

"I didn't..." I begin to say.

"It doesn't matter, sweetheart. Let's just get you back into bed, okay?" she smiles and helps me stand up. Harry's still in the room and the nurse doesn't seem to notice him at all. My eyes never leave him, though. He still didn't tell me what happened to Louis and I want answers. Without him, I'm easy bait. Lately, Harry has only been coming around when Louis isn't with me. If I'm not mistaken, Harry only does this because he knows I'm vulnerable. I cannot fight back. The nurse helps me back into bed, "Just lay right here and you should be fine."

"Okay," I murmur so she knows I'm not ignoring her. She covers me with the blanket and and turns around. She gasps, and for a split second, I think she can see Harry.

"Did you throw your water bottle against the wall?" she asks, slowly turning around to look at me. I simply look away from her and sigh. I don't want to think about the maggots. Harry laughs and I close my eyes. I want to block him out. "Miss Foster, I need you to be honest with me. Did you throw your water bottle against the wall?"

I shake my head, "No, I didn't."

She places her hands on her hips, "You didn't, eh?"

"I didn't."

"So, it just magically flew across the room?" she asks.

Harry puts a finger to his lips and I murmur, "Something like that." I'm not going to tell her that I threw the bottle across the room because it was full of maggots. She'll think I'm insane and check me into a mental hospital. Then I'll never know where Louis is and he'll never know where I am. I cover my face with my hands and shake my head. "Louis."

"Pardon?" the nurse asks me.

"Louis," I repeat. "Where is he?"

"I don't know anyone by that name," she says and when I look at her, she looks uncomfortable.

"Louis Tomlinson," I continue. "He has to be here!" I get up from the bed and she takes a step back. I don't care if she's afraid. I am afraid. "If I'm here, he has to be here, too. Just tell me where he is and let me see him!"

She shakes her head, "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to sit back down. You're not well."

"I'm perfectly fine!" I hiss. "Take me to Louis!"

"There isn't a Louis here in the hospital," she says and her voice's shaky. "Perhaps you've mistaken him for someone else?"

"No!"

"Scream," Harry whispers.

I look at him, "W-What?"

"I said perhaps you've mistaken him for someone else?" the nurse repeats and I put up my hand, silencing her.

"Scream," Harry says again. "Scream and I'll take care of the rest." I continue to stare at him. What does he mean he will take care of the rest? If I scream, how do I know he won't get me checked into a mental institute?

"No," I whisper.

"Scream!" he yells and I wince. "Scream or you'll never see your precious Louis again!" My hands are fists at my sides and I look back at the nurse. Her eyes are wide and she looks confused. I lick my dry lips and look up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," I apologize.

"Sorry?" she laughs a mirthless laugh. "What are you sorry for?"

I open my mouth and scream. 

The nurse drops her clipboard and her hands go straight for her ears. I glance over at Harry and he's smiling. It looks demonic and he leaps across the room. I stagger back but I don't stop screaming. What I'm seeing keeps the high-pitched sound coming out of my mouth. Harry tackles the nurse to the floor and her eyes are wide. She looks right into Harry's eyes and screams as well. He's letting her see him...

"Let me go!" she shrieks. "Let me go!"

She keeps screaming and I realize that I'm no longer screaming. My mouth's wide open but nothing's coming out. Harry places his hands on her shoulders and opens his mouth. She screams even louder and he begins to scream right back at her. His claws dig deep into her skin and he doesn't stop screaming. The nurse is crying now and Harry quickly jabs one of his claws into her neck. My eyes squeeze shut as the room grows silent.

"Go," Harry tells me and he's out of breath. I open my eyes and look at him. "Go!"

I turn toward the door when it opens and think of something quick. I automatically fall to the floor and start screaming. Two men enter and they look at me. I make sure my body's shaking and I point toward the dead woman on the floor. Harry gets off of her and steps back. None of the men see him.

"What happened?" one of them asks. I just continue to scream and point. "Get her out of here and take her to another room." Another man walks toward me and he grabs my wrist. I keep screaming and when I try to pull my wrist away, he tightens his grip. He pulls me out of the room and when we are in the hall, I stop screaming. Harry's standing in front of us and the man's grip loosens on me.

"Harry," I whisper.

"Who are you?" the man practically shouts.

"Would you like to play a game?" Harry snickers. "I think we should all play a game."

"Fuck this," the man says and takes off running, leaving me behind without any protection.

"Oh, how I love it when they run." Harry mutters and he takes off running, too.

I rise to my feet and continue on down the hall. I check each room to see if Louis is in there but so far, I don't have any luck. There's nothing left but a rectangular shaped glass to look into. I approach it and frown. The glass is foggy on the other side and I can't see anything. Screams echo throughout the hall and my hand wraps around the doorknob that leads into the hazy room.

I open the door and the room is too misty for me to see anything. I walk deeper into the room and blink as my eyes begin to burn. My bare feet are cold against the floor and I hold my hands out, looking for a wall. My hands find something, but it isn't hard like a wall. It feels like a...face. I feel the face and soon touch the hair. Whoever this is doesn't make a sound and I close my eyes, wondering why this person's all alone in a foggy room. It all begins to make sense and I drop to my knees.

"Louis?"

No response.

"Louis, is this you?"

Still, no response.

"God, Louis, we have to get out of here."

Nothing.

"Please, Louis, if you're okay, say something. Let me know you're okay."

Silence.

"Louis!"