Unhinged

by Shelley R. Pickens

  “Oh good, you’re up,” she says cheerfully and in a voice all her own. “I brought you some food. This should help you gain your strength back. You’ve gotten entirely too skinny of late.”

  Even though I saw that she was fine last night, the last image I have of her is being wheeled off by nurses to get more tests done. The sight of her standing in front of me, radiating clarity of mind, startles me. I watch as she places the tray of food on the table next to the hospital bed and approaches me. The smile on her face enhances her natural beauty.

  “So,” I begin, a bit unsure what to say or how to act around her. “You’re okay? I mean, how do you feel? No bad guys rummaging around in your head?”

  She laughs. It’s the sweetest sound I’ve heard in days. “Yes, honey, I’m fine. Better than fine, actually. It’s such a relief to have my mind back. I feel rejuvenated.”

  Grateful, I smile at her. The weight of the world and what I’ve gone through these past few days just a little bit lighter knowing I could help someone I love. More than help, it seems. There’s just one more worry lurking in the back of my mind. No longer afraid, I take Mary’s hand into mine and I’m exceedingly relieved when she doesn’t shy away in fear, but rather meets me halfway, eager to touch me.

  “So, we’re okay too?” I ask shyly.

  Mary smiles and pulls me closer for a gentle embrace. “Of course we are, sweetie. Nothing you could ever do or say would make me love you any less.”

  I let out the breath I was holding, a weight on my heart lifted. But I begin to worry I’m perhaps wrong when I see the smile fade from Mary’s face.

  Her eyes are serious as she says her next words. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t hurt for you, or wish the evil in this world would just pass you by. It seems like fate has a different destiny for you. A fate I can’t help you with or lead you away from. A destiny you alone can choose to fulfill or disregard. But I promise you one thing, my sweet Aimee, I’ll protect you as much as I can.”

  I smile at Mary and hug her, forever grateful to have someone like her in my life. And not a little bit scared of it as well. “Honestly, that’s what worries me. After all that’s happened, I don’t think I can protect you from anything.”

  “The people you love aren’t here for you to protect. It’s the other way around. Our love is what protects you. Without it, I fear we would lose you to the darkness forever. Our love is your light whenever you feel yourself falling into darkness. Cling to it. That’s the only way we can protect each other.”

  Moved by Mary’s words, I hug her fiercely, hoping she never let’s go. Reminded of darkness and convinced that all is well between us, more pertinent things come to the forefront of my mind. I break away from the hug, preparing to ask Mary if she’s heard anything about Logan or Dejana, when the door to the hospital room opens and in walks Dr. Evans. His normally perfect hair is a snarled mess, his pristine lab coat is covered in wrinkles, and his glasses sit askew on his face. I wonder if he slept here last night. From the looks of it, he probably didn’t sleep at all. He looks around the room quickly, taking in the scene before him. He must be pleased with something because he nods his head and wastes no time on pleasantries.

  “I’ve searched the hospital and surrounding area, but no sign of Logan or Dejana. Since they were in comas, they couldn’t possibly have walked out of there on their own accord. Sadly, there’s only surveillance inside the hospital and at the front desk. Whoever took them had to have known that and absconded with them out the back entrance where only the doctors and nurses enter.”

  I sit on the bed, unable to move. Fear for my friends’ safety practically strangles me, choking me until I can’t catch my breath. All the horrible memories inserted into their subconscious rise up before me. If David is capable of hurting them like that, what other horrible things does he have in mind to torture them?

  “He won’t hurt them,” states a voice softly from the doorway.

  I look up through blurry eyes and see Brett standing alone by the door, his hand still on the knob. I look at him skeptically. “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because he needs them alive to draw you to him. They’re bait, Aimee. He doesn’t really care about them. It’s all about you.”

  Deciding that makes sense, I don’t ask the million questions that run through my head. The first being how in the hell does he know anything about this David that’s left me clues in the evil memories so viciously inserted into my friends brains? And why wasn’t he around when I woke up? He’s been by my side every minute for the last few days and suddenly, he disappears just when I’m starting to trust him. Then it hits me, maybe he was just as rattled as I was by the almost kiss. It has to be that, or else he wouldn’t be standing there with his hands in his pockets, shuffling back and forth on his feet, all the while looking at the floor instead of me. It looks like we both regret our rash behavior earlier. I decide to let my suspicions go since Brett’s been by my side while everyone else has been taken from me. So far, he hasn’t let me down.

  “Okay then Mr. know it all. You can help me figure out where he took them.” Finally feeling better, I jump off the hospital bed and head for Brett at the door. As I walk, I prepare myself for a long day ahead, even though I have no idea where to start. Just as I pass, Dr. Evans grabs my arm in a very uncharacteristic move and forces me to look at him. His eyes are wild and his demeanor rattled. I never would have thought it possible for a man that is always so in control to be so…unhinged.

  “You can’t go after him, Aimee,” he states firmly, his grip on my arm painful.

  I’m so shocked by his behavior, I’m rendered speechless.

  “Let go of her. Now,” growls Brett from the door, his voice threatening. A tone I wouldn’t have thought him capable of using.

  Looking into Dr. Evans’s eyes, I’m unafraid, even though the pain from his nails biting into my arm is intensifying. Somehow, I innately know that he won’t hurt me. I don’t see malice in his eyes; I see desperation, mixed with a heap load of worry. Why would Dr. Evans care about what happens to me? We only met a couple of days ago. My only guess is that he doesn’t want to lose the one cursed person he can study; the only person that can confirm what he believes and has researched about memories.

  Beside me, Brett moves forward, his face red with anger and his fists clenched. I put my palm up towards him, halting his advance, and shake my head. He seems to get the hint that I don’t want him to interfere, even if he isn’t happy about it. Slowly and purposefully, as if I’m dealing with a wild animal, I place my gloved hand on top of Evans’s and slowly put pressure underneath his fingers, trying to get him to release his death grip.

  “I won’t let him hurt me, Doctor. I promise that no matter what happens, I’ll come back to help you with your research.”

  “Research?” he asks, puzzled. Then suddenly, a switch clicked in his brain and the light comes back into his eyes, along with clarity of purpose. He releases my arm and I instantly begin to rub the pain away. I look over at Brett, his rage threatening to boil over.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not sure what came over me,” says the doctor sheepishly.

  “No worries, Doc, but I have to go and find my friends. You have my number if anything changes. Please take care of Mary for me,” I say as I take one look back at Mary to say goodbye.

  She nods her head at me, clearly more optimistic about my abilities to conquer than I am. “Be safe, sweetie,” she whispers from across the room.

  “I’ll do my best, Mom,” I respond before I grab Brett’s arm and shove him out the door, closing it, sealing in all the good and bad memories behind us.

  Once outside and away from Evans and Mary, I turn to Brett and face him determinedly. “Are you under control? Because if I’m going to find Logan and Dejana, I need you all in. So tell me now. Are you with me or not? Because I don’t have time to waste. My friends’ lives are at stake.”

  Brett sighs heavily as he shakes his head to clear it. “Sorry. N
ot sure what came over me, but I’m good now.”

  I look into his eyes for any sign that he too may have been infected with evil memories, but all I see is clear sparkling blue regarding me with obvious affection he can’t seem to hide. Affection way beyond what one should feel after spending just a few short days together. And there’s something else lurking there just beneath the surface that I can’t quite put my finger on. A longing of sorts, but for what, I can’t see. My eyes fall to his lips and memories of wondering what he tastes like come back to me. Embarrassed I look away, trying to clear my thoughts for the task ahead.

  “Okay,” I say, not quite believing him, but not wanting to waste any more time on it. “First thing we have to do is search each of their rooms for any clue David may have left behind. If you say he wants me, I bet he left something for me to find.”

  Brett nods his head in agreement. “I’ll drive us over there and we can go into the hospital using the same door the doctors do—less questions that way. Once in, I’ll take Dejana’s room, you can take Logan’s. Text me if you find anything.”

  “Wait,” I say, stopping him in mid stride as he’s starting to run away down the hall. “How are we going to get in through the doctor entrance? Last time I checked, we weren’t doctors. And how do you know what rooms they were in?”

  “I have Dr. Evan’s I.D. card and he told me the room numbers while you were sleeping. I have a very good memory. Now, once we get there, you just go straight down the main hallway and Logan’s room is the fifth door on the right—224. Dejana’s room is down the opposite hall. If you see anyone suspicious, just yell. I should be able to hear you.”

  I look at Brett, so sure of himself in every situation, and wonder if I’ll ever be that confident when it comes to my place in the world. I try not to think about how he knows all that he does and just concentrate on being grateful that he’s helping me. Still, something pricks at my subconscious, something that isn’t quite right about Brett, but I simply don’t have time to figure it out now. There’s bigger fish to fry.

  I nod at Brett, silently telling him that I understand what to do, and take off at a run down the hall towards the entrance where the parking lot is located. Luckily, it doesn’t take very long to get to the main hospital and we successfully enter through the portal for the resident doctors, no one the wiser that two teenagers are loose in the hospital.

  The minute I’m through the portal, I run down the main corridor, counting the doors as I go. I finally arrive at room 224 and quickly slide open the heavy hospital door. The room is just like Mary’s in that it has white walls, speckled ceilings, and washed out pictures of pretty scenes. The big difference is that Logan’s room is filled with flowers and get well cards. So many that they ran out of room and had to start lining the walls with presents. Logan always has been very popular. Seeing his room inundated with so much love should make me feel better, but it only serves to make me feel guilty. While he’s been in a coma, battling demons put there because of me, I’ve been almost kissing his best friend.

  Guilt strangles me. I have to find Logan and make this right. I need to show him I love him more than any of these people who sent flowers or cards ever could. He trusted me to keep him safe and I failed—a mistake I intend to make right no matter what the cost.

  I begin to rummage around the room, looking for any clue that could lead me to David. I looked through his bed first, hoping he left a note for me there, but no such luck. I look on the end tables and in the closets, but can’t find anything out of the ordinary. I look through the flowers hastily just to see if there was anything that caught my eye, but each is your garden-variety-sympathy bouquet from the local florist. Nothing out of the ordinary is screaming ‘I’m a psycho. Come find me!’ I skim the dozens of get well cards that litter his windowsill. We miss you…Praying for you…Game isn’t the same without you, dude... My desperation grows as I rummage through them, leaving a jumbled pile on the floor.

  I’m finally about to give up when a particular card catches my eye. I climb on the bed so I can reach it and rip it down from the window. Staring at me up from the front of the card is a lighthouse. My mind is buzzing. The memory I encountered in Logan’s head of the schizophrenic girl mentioned something about a light. What was that exactly? Ugh! I slap my forehead trying to remember. I pace the room, willing my mind to work. Finally, it comes back to me. Her high-pitched voice in the dungeon saying, “You will find him by the house made of light. There, the two will become one.”

  House made of light. Could it be a lighthouse? Is that what she meant? I look on the back, hoping to find a clue, but it looks like a normal greeting card. I open it, expecting to see a message of hope for Logan, but it’s blank, save a few numbers and a couple of sentences. My breath catches in my throat as the card drops from my hand and I leave the room screaming Brett’s name.

  It’s an address. And just below, written in blood, are the words: Come alone.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ~ Fate Can’t Be Changed ~

  “No! Absolutely not, Aimee. I forbid it,” Brett yells as I blow through the front doors of the hospital, keys in hand.

  “Who do you think you are, Brett? You can’t forbid me to do anything. I’m going, you’re staying, and that’s that. It’s like you said, he wants me. If you come with, he’ll probably kill you.”

  “Which is the exact reason why I should go! He took them to lure you to this place. I’m sure he isn’t planning dinner followed by a game of Uno. He wants to kill you. Doesn’t that register at all?”

  Frustrated and in a hurry, I stop abruptly and face Brett. “Look, you don’t really know me or my life, so I get that you don’t understand why, but I have to go after him. I’ve been running from this asshole all my life. And now, he has my friends. I can’t run anymore, Brett. I have to do what I can to save them. If that means sacrificing my life, then so be it.”

  Brett looks at me startled, as if he’s seeing the real me for the first time. “You really mean it, don’t you? You would sacrifice yourself for them?”

  “Damn straight I would. And they’re running out of time so I have to go. I need you to let me go so I can do this. I’ve appreciated all of your help these past couple of days, but this is something I have to do alone. The note did say ‘come alone.’ Besides, I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you too.”

  I take off running for Brett’s car, the entire argument settled in my mind. It only took one sentence for him to stop me dead in my tracks.

  “And how exactly do you expect to get them out of there without help?”

  Shit. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  Sensing my hesitation, Brett pushes on, “They’re both in comas. If you let me come with you, I’ll keep hidden and get them to safety while you talk to whomever it is you’re going to face. Please, Aimee, you may not want my help, but they’re my friends too. Let me help you save them.”

  As much as I hate to admit it, Brett has a point. As much as I fear for his safety, saving Logan and Dejana is more important. I have to let him help or I could lose them both.

  “Alright, you can come,” I concede, despite my better judgment.

  Brett visibly relaxes.

  “But you have to get them out and not interfere with me at all. I mean it Brett. Even if you see that he’s going to kill me, you have to promise me that you will get them out and leave me. Promise me now!”

  Clearly uneasy with the plan, Brett hesitates, not sure what to say. I’m seconds from withdrawing my offer when he steps close to me and nods in acquiescence.

  “Okay, I promise. But you have to promise me something back.”

  I nod, mentally preparing myself to lie to whatever he asks just to get him going so I can save them. “What?”

  “Don’t die.”

  For the first time in who knows how long, I laugh. “Now that’s a promise I’ll happily try to fulfill.”

  Brett smiles his devilish smile and grabs my gloved h
and, pulling me along to his car. “Good, because I have a plan. Now, let’s go save our friends.”

  * * * *

  The sun is high in the sky as we drive to meet my fate. Brett fills me in on his plan along the way. It’s a good idea, I have to admit, but one that depends on me being able to distract David long enough for him to get the others to safety. Distracting is one thing I’m sure I can do. Getting out of there alive? Not so much.

  My thoughts are dark and desperate as we drive in silence. All I can think of is how vulnerable Logan and Dejana are while unconscious. He could be doing all sorts of horrible things to them and they wouldn’t be able to fight back. I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself, but it isn’t working. The ride to the house seems to be taking forever. The GPS in Brett’s truck indicates that the house lies an hour away on a small island on a remote part of Lake Lanier in northern Georgia. Brett says he knows roundabout where it is, but hasn’t ever been there since the land has been saved for building million dollar homes.

  I watch the trees as they pass, trying my best to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. I wish I hadn’t spent my whole life running from David. Then, maybe, I’d know more about the psycho holding my friends hostage. Other than his incessant interest in me, I don’t know anything else about him. I’m scared to death to face him, but that doesn’t deter me from saving Logan and Dejana.

  To forget about my fear, I think about Logan. I see his hazel eyes sparkle as he stares at me. I remember his devilish smile that intoxicates me. He’s the only one who’s ever made me feel as if I’m the only girl in the world. I think about Dejana’s strength. I know she’s fighting the horrible visions right now. That girl doesn’t know how to bow down or give in to anything that she doesn’t deem worthy. I try to be strong for both of them.