"Being crazy isn't enough."

― Dr. Seuss

/ / l o u i s / /

I'm thrown into my room and I land on the floor. Laughter escapes from my throat and I shake my head, "Nice throw, fellas." The guards stare at me as if I'm nothing but a mental patient to them. That's probably all I am to them. A nurse enters the room and when I see the syringe in her hand, I rise to my feet and rush over to my bed.

She soothes me, "It's all right, Louis. I won't hurt you. In fact, I want to help you."

"No one can help me," I tell her and sit down on the bed.

She walks towards me and I notice the warm smile on her face. Her black hair's in a high ponytail on top of her head and she's wearing scrubs that have multiple pictures of medical equipment on them. When she grabs my arm, I move and she misses my body as she tries to give me the shot. There's shock in her eyes and she tries again. I move and her arms fall to her sides. I don't know what she's trying to inject into my body. I won't risk it.

"Why won't you be still?" the nurse groans as she tries to stick the needle in my arm. I jerk my body to the right and she lets out a frustrated sigh. There's another nurse in the room but she's too busy on her phone to notice what's going on. I move to the left as she tries to stick my arm again. "Louis, if you don't stop, I'm going to have to stick you in the leg."

"Go ahead," I say, smiling. "If it'll make you feel better."

She looks confused, "Just...be still." I move again as she tries to stick me with the needle. Without warning, she jabs the syringe into my thigh and I collapse onto the bed as she inserts the drug. The stab wounds on me have not healed, yet, and the stabbing from the syringe is only adding fuel to the fire. I look at her and my eyes are full of hatred and anger. "I warned you but you kept moving."

"Oh, this?" I keep smiling. "This is nothing." She looks even more confused as she puts the syringe down on her tray. Next, she picks up a plastic cup and it doesn't take me long to recognize the red pills. Sleeping pills. "I'm not tired."

"You will be," she says and hands the cup to me. I don't take it. "Please take your medicine. I don't want to have to give it to you by force." I practically snatch the cup out of her hand and she winces. I put the pills into my mouth and pretend to swallow them. I hide them underneath my tongue and open my mouth so she can see. I've been doing this for the past few days. She'll make me take the pills, and I'll hide them under my tongue. "Good job on taking your pills." I close my mouth and there's a fishy taste in my mouth as the pills begin to dissolve. "They won't kick in for another hour so Carlos will be here soon to take you down the hall to the lounge. Try to make some friends today, okay? I think friends will be good for you." She smiles and walks out of the room with the other nurse.

I spit the pills out of my mouth and shove them under the mattress on the bed. Harry stands in the corner of the room and he shakes his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk." The sound annoys me. "Bad boy. Such a bad boy, Louis. Bad boys don't take their pills." I stare at him with confusion clear in my eyes.

"What do you want?" I hiss. He smiles and begins to walk towards me. I don't move from my spot.

He tilts his horrifying head to the side, "No fear." I sigh. "No meal for me." He takes another step toward the bed. "She's making you stronger."

"She's not doing anything to me." I claim.

"I can't sense your fear," he murmurs and I look down at the white socks that cover my feet. "This is unacceptable, Louis. No, no, no, this isn't good at all." My eyes meet his and he's smiling. "I suppose I could go check on the girl and see how she's holding up. You know, she attacked her nurse a few days ago."

"You're lying," I snarl.

His smile widens, "Now...why would I ever lie to you? You're my favorite marked one, you see. I've known you the longest and you're so vulnerable." My hands ball up into fists. "Now, tell me. Why aren't you afraid?"

"I've opened my eyes," I say through gritted teeth. "I know that I'm never going to get away from you."

"What a shame," he sighs and holds his head back. I watch his dark skin turn pale and his scalp fill with brown, curly hair. He looks at me and his white eyes turn green when he blinks. The only thing he has on is boxers and he places his hands on his hips. "I guess I'm going to have to pull the fear out of you."

I look away from him, "What are you going to do?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he chuckles. "No spoilers for the bad boy."

The door opens and a man enters. Harry hides behind the door and puts a finger to his lips. I go back to looking down at my socks and I pretend that Harry isn't in the same room as me. I pretend this man in front of me isn't going to die. "I'm Dr. Rivera but you can most certainly call me Carlos. I'm here to take you downstairs, okay?"

"No," I whisper.

"It'll be fun," he says. "There are other patients down there and you can make friends. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"Run," I tell him, slowly looking up.

"Pardon?"

"Run!"

"I don't—"

"Didn't you hear the man?" Harry chuckles from behind the door. Carlos turns around but by that time, it's too late. Harry closes the door and smiles. His fangs are replaced by normal, human like teeth.

Carlos takes a step back, "Who are you?"

"I go by many names," Harry responds as he begins to circle around Carlos.

"Tell me your name," Carlos says. "What's your room number? You have to be escorted back to your room immediately." I frown. He thinks Harry is another mental patient. "Sir, did you not hear me? State your name and room number."

"Shut up!" Harry snaps. "I'm not one of your sick patients. I'm more than a mental patient. I'm more than you could ever be!"

Carlos backs up some more and the back of his thighs hit the bed. I scoot back on the bed until I feel the pillows behind me. "W-Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," Harry smirks. "You won't live to know my name."

He stiffens, "What did I ever do to you?"

"You have something I want." Harry replies. "And I will get it, Carlos. It won't matter if you try to fight me back. I'll win. I always win. Ask the man behind you." Carlos doesn't bother looking behind himself at me. I don't blame him. He's frightened. I can tell by how his body's shaking and how his hands tightly grip the end of the bed.

"What do you want?"

"Your clothes," Harry smiles. "I can't go around in my boxers. That would instantly give me away, wouldn't it?"

"You can't have my clothes." Carlos hisses. "N-Now, get out before I call the guards." My hands cover my face and I begin to shake my head. He shouldn't have said that. Now, Harry's going to kill him for sure. I hear a gasp. "Y-Your eyes." I remove my hands from my face and look at Harry. He has made his eyes white again. "What are you?"

Harry grins, "A child of my savior."

"W-Who?"

"The Devil."

"God—"

"Your precious God can't save you now," he says and I close my eyes as he lunges forward.

I hear a gasp and a noise that I hear too often. A sound that lets me know Harry has broken the skin of the victim. Carlos cries out for help but it's soon muffled. Perhaps Harry covered his mouth with his hand? I hear hits. Is Carlos fighting back or is Harry beating the poor man? I cannot bring myself to open my eyes. I hear muffled screams and I cover my ears. My body begins to rock back and forth. I won't let this get to me. I've opened my eyes, remember? I've made myself fearless. I must keep myself this way.

My hands are yanked away from my ears and I let out a cry. I open my eyes to see Harry sitting on the bed in front of me. His mouth's covered with blood and when he smiles, so are his teeth. My eyes widen with disgust and his hands are bloody as well. He's wearing the scrubs that once belonged to Carlos and I feel guilty. Carlos died because Harry wanted his clothes.

"You didn't have to kill him."

"I know," he gets off of the bed. "But I wanted to." He begins to lick the blood off of his hands and I look at the bed to keep my mind off the fact that there's a dead man on the floor not even ten feet away from me. The air smells sour and metallic. Blood has such a strong smell and it's making me dizzy. "I'll be the one that takes you downstairs."

"You?" I glance at him and he's getting the blood off of his lips. "You can't do that."

"And why is that?"

"The other doctors and nurses know who works here. One look at you and they'll know something is wrong. Can't we just stay in here?"

"No," he replies and walks to the foot of the bed. He bends down and I assume he is pushing Carlos under the bed. "You are expected to be downstairs and that's exactly where you're going to be."

"The blood," I state. "What about the blood on the floor?"

"Leave that to me," he hisses and stands up. "Come on." 

I slowly get off of the bed and follow Harry out of the room. With each step we take, I'm afraid someone will know the truth. Harry can just as easily disappear and when that happens, Carlos' death will be turned around on me. My arms wrap around myself as we take the stairs instead of the elevator. I look down at the stairs to make sure I don't miss one and trip. I don't want to socialize with the other patients that I do not know.

I want to socialize with Evelyn.

"Where is she?" I ask.

"Who?"

"Evelyn."

"How am I supposed to know?" Harry chuckles.

"You...You said she attacked her nurse a few days ago."

"So?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I have ears, Louis," he explains as we make it to the first floor. I take one look at the lounge and want to go back to my room immediately. I don't belong down here with these people. They're the ones that are mental. Not me. I'm not mental. Crazy? Perhaps. But most definitely not mental. "Go sit down somewhere." I walk towards a table where a man's sitting and look at the empty chair.

I clear my throat, "Can I sit here?"

"No," he responds.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because Zayn said so," he murmurs and I notice the name tag on his shirt. It's labeled, 'ZAYN.' Is he talking about himself in third person? I sit down anyway and he looks up at me. His eyes are bloodshot red and he looks like he hasn't slept in days. His hair's a mess on top of his head and he has facial hair all around his mouth. "Zayn said no."

"You don't control me." I shoot back and he messes around with his hands. He gets up from his seat and tugs at his hair.

"Zayn doesn't like company. You...You are company. Zayn does not like you," he whispers before walking off to find another seat. I watch him and he sits down in a chair in the corner of the lounge. He pulls his knees up to his chest and lays his left cheek on top of them. I feel bad now that I made him get up and find a new place to sit. I look away from him and my eyes land on something else...someone else.

Evelyn.

She's standing in the middle of the lounge and she looks lost. Her hair's down and it looks like a nest on her head. I notice how pale her skin is and she doesn't have any socks on like the other patients and I. Right now, I cannot believe she's in the same room as me. Why would anyone let her down after what she did? I open my mouth, "Evelyn."

When she slowly turns around, I feel like smiling. Her eyes are wide and from where I am sitting, I can see how dry her lips are. We stare at one another and I want her to come sit down with me. I want her close to me. I always feel safer with her around. For a split second, her face twists with anger and I sit back on the chair. Her arms fall to her sides and she walks toward the table. She sits down and places her hands down on the table before her, "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" I ask and place my hands on top of hers. They are much smaller than mine and I love how soft her skin is. "What plan?"

"We can't stay here, Louis. I can't stay here. We have to get out of here. So, there's a plan, right? What is it?"

"Why?"

"Why?" she repeats and I nod. "Louis, we're in a mental hospital!"

"So?"

"We're not mental," she whispers. "We did nothing wrong! If we leave soon, we'll still have a chance of not getting caught. If anyone finds out about what we did to Joe, we'll be here until we die." I begin to bite my nails. "Are you even listening?"

"I'm beginning to like it here."

"What?"

"It reminds me of home."

"What's gotten into you?" she hisses. A lot has gotten into me. Harry killed a man in my room not too long ago and I can barely think straight. I'm only saying whatever comes to mind.

I lean forward with a smile on my face, "I've opened my eyes, Evelyn, and I think it's about time for you to do the same thing."

"My eyes are open!" she argues. "They're open too much, if you ask me. I see things that people like me shouldn't see!"

"There's no point in running." I sigh. "They'll find us and bring us right back here. We belong here, you know. This place calls for the mentally ill and it never lets them escape. When the patient thinks they've won, they get sucked right back in. It's like Hell, really. Since we're both owned by a demon, we might as well stay and enjoy the show. It sucks that we won't have popcorn or a soda pop, though."

"Harry wouldn't help us for no reason. He wouldn't want us to be here!"

"What makes you think he helped us?" I laugh.

"He helped me escape my hospital room," she explains. "He helped me get to you."

"Bah!" I laugh some more. "He wasn't helping you. This was his plan all along, see? He wanted you to go to me back at the hospital. He wanted you to find me because he knew the guards would find us and bring us here. Harry never helps anyone. He sure as hell loves to make them think that, though. He wants to watch us suffer and I'm no longer suffering. I've opened my eyes and realized that no matter how hard I try, I'm stuck in the middle."

"The...middle?"

"I'm stuck in between worlds." I explain. "One world is for the people who aren't insane. The other is for the people who are insane. People think I'm insane and I'm beginning to believe them. I'm beginning to fall into the world for the insane."

"Louis," she breathes.

"What?" I snap. "I'm tired of running. Let the people think what they want to. If they think I'm insane and want to hide me inside of a mental hospital, so be it. I always knew it was going to end this way."

"You didn't know that."

"Evelyn, Evelyn, oh, poor, poor Evelyn..."

"Stop," she whispers. "You're scaring me."

"Am I going to scare you off, too?" I ask and scoot my chair closer to hers. I am losing it. I just know that I am. "Are you going to run off and tell everyone about the boy who can see demons?"

"I can see them, too, Louis."

"But do you see them when you close your eyes?" I question her. I poke the skin between her eyes. "Are they there when you go to bed at night? Do they make you afraid to look over your shoulder? How many times has one attacked you?" She opens her mouth to speak but hesitates. "Exactly. Zero times."

"Harry attacked me."

I am caught off guard. "What did you say?" She stands up from her chair and my heartbeat quickens. Her hands carefully grip the ends of her white shirt and she lifts it up, stopping so that I can only see the bottom of her black bra. I glance at the scratches all over her side and my body fills with heated steam. She quickly pulls her shirt back down and sits down in the chair. "When did he attack you?"

"Hotel."

"When I went to go get you some hot chocolate?"

"Yeah."

"I shouldn't have left you alone."

"I should have gone with you," she says and I touch her hands again. "We have to get out of here, Louis. I haven't seen Harry since we got here. Maybe if we hurry up and leave, it'll be a while before he comes. He won't know where we are."

"He always knows where we are." I murmur. He knew where I was when he killed Carlos. "It's not like him to forget where his food is."

"He hasn't fed on our fear in three days."

"Perhaps he's waiting."

"On?"

"He wants our fear to build. That way, he'll have a feast." She covers her face with her hands and shakes her head. I laugh, "There's no use in crying, Evelyn."

"I can't help it."

Her eyes are watering.

"It's time to accept who you are!" I yell, making her flinch. "I've lived with this for years. It's time for you to accept your insanity!"

"I'm not insane!" she argues. "You can't tell me who I am!"

"You're insane!" I laugh and fall out of my chair. "We're all insane!" Evelyn gets up from her seat and puts her hands to her ears. Guards run in our direction and they are yelling. My laughter is blocking out their words. One of them pushes Evelyn and she lands on the floor. A sharp pain rises in my thigh and I shake my head. This is the second shot in my thigh. My laughter dies down and the guards lift me off of the floor. "As much as you try, you can't hide it. We're all insane. We're all Satan's children."

"No," she whispers and I am pulled away from the lounge. 

Harry's standing with the remaining guards and a smile appears on his face. I look down at the floor; ashamed. What's gotten into me? We approach the elevator and one of the men presses the up button. I glance up to see Harry walking in our direction.

"We've got it from here," the guard who pressed the button says.

"I've got you all." Harry says, jumping slightly.

"What?" he asks and Harry blinks, his eyes turning white.

He grins, "I think it's time we all play a game."