by Jake Uniacke
Doctor Michaels grabbed a chair and put it next to Georgia’s bed before sitting down. “I’m just going to ask a few questions, is that okay?”
Again, Georgia ignored him. She kept her back to him, hoping that he would catch the hint and at any moment, would leave the room and leave her alone. But he kept talking. He wouldn’t leave her alone.
“I must start with a few security questions,” said Doctor Michaels. “Please, can you confirm your full name?”
No response. Even the simplest of questions, Georgia refused to answer. That’s how they find out all your secrets. They start with your name, and then they go deeper and deeper until they know everything about you. No, I must stay silent. Don’t tell him anything. He will soon catch the hint. Emma will hurt me otherwise.
“I really need you to participate with me, otherwise we will get nowhere.”
Good. Now piss off.
The doctor sat in silence for a few moments. Georgia sighed with relief when she thought he had gone. She turned over and jumped when she saw Doctor Michaels still sat in the chair. Instead of telling him to leave, she just turned over again, so she didn’t have to look at him. The moonlight was spilling across the ceiling and the walls, the shadows of the trees looming over her. She didn’t have the energy to close the curtains, so she just allowed the room to fill with light and shadows instead.
“Please participate,” said Doctor Michaels. “I just want to help you so that you can get better and return home safely to your family.”
Georgia didn’t say a word. Doctor Michaels sighed and stood up.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said “I will come back tomorrow to see how you’re doing. And maybe we can get through this assessment when you’re feeling more up to it.”
I will never be up to it. Emma will hurt me if I tell you anything. Piss off and leave me alone.
Doctor Michaels left the room and gently closed the door behind him. Georgia sat up on the bed and looked around the room. She felt like she was in a prison cell. Her family weren’t allowed to visit until she was less of a danger to them. She wasn’t allowed to do anything for herself unless she tried to cause harm to herself. Each sharp edge in the room had been sealed with sponge and tape so that she couldn’t use any of the edges to cause harm. The psych unit was an extremely strict environment. She understood why they had to do it for some patients. But what she didn’t understand is why they had to do it for her. She felt fine. All she wanted to do was go home. Her mind was in a much better place now; so she thought anyway.
The doctors are just keeping me here to control me. I don’t need help. They just want control.
She looked through the little window in the middle of her door. The lights in the unit were being dimmed and all the doctors were looking through each of the windows on each door to check on the patients, before heading off to do their night duties. Doctor Michaels peered through Georgia’s window and smiled at her. His soft, gentle smile made her feel more at ease. So far, no doctor had smiled at her. They all looked at her with serious faces, which didn’t make her feel relaxed at all. As the doctor walked away from the door, Georgia slumped on the bed and pulled the duvet over her body and up to her neck. Maybe once she had a good night’s sleep, the doctors would let her go home tomorrow. Sleep was all she wanted. Sleep was all she needed. Once she had that, she would be right as rain.
***
Mick sat on the edge of the double bed, stroking Alex’s hair out of the way of her eyes and mouth. He watched as she dozed peacefully, probably dreaming about unicorns or something that she loved. Tears formed in his eyes and they dribbled down his face. No matter how much he was struggling, he felt like it was his duty to care for his family now. He had to look after them to keep them safe. He wasn’t worried about himself. All he wanted to do was keep his children safe and help his wife get better. The tears kept streaming down his face, and they wouldn’t stop. He kept stroking Alex’s face, making sure she was at peace.
“I promise I’ll take extra good care of you,” he whispered. “Mummy will get better. But in the meantime, it is down to me to keep you safe. I promise.”
He planted a kiss on Alex’s cheek before getting up and leaving the room. The door closed gently behind him. There was no chance he was going to be sleeping in Alex’s bed. It was too small for him. Instead, he grabbed her duvet and her pillows and headed for the living room where he set everything on the sofa. He laid down, pulled the duvet over him and gently cried himself to sleep. If Alex woke up and heard him crying, she would probably end up getting upset too. Mick pushed himself down on the sofa to get comfortable. Tomorrow, he would call the psych unit. He had to know how Georgia was doing.
Chapter 8
Monday. The day Alex had been dreading had arrived. It was her first day back at school since Emma died, and she was petrified to go back. All the questions, all the sympathy, all the secrets she had to keep. Everything scared her about going back to school.
“Do I have to go back?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” said Mick. “You need to start getting back into a routine.”
“It’s going to be weird without Emma.”
Mick sat down next to her at the dining table and held her hands. “I know it’s going to be strange. But you need to get back to normal, sweetie. School is very important; and if you ever need a time out, I’m sure your teacher will understand.”
“No, she won’t. She’s horrible,” Alex mumbled. “When Lucy’s dog died, Miss Bell wouldn’t let her sit in the quiet corner.”
“I’ve already spoken to the head teacher,” said Mick. “She said that if you ever need time out, then you can go and sit in the quiet corner or go and sit in her office. She’s even printed out a special card for you.”
Alex tilted her head, quizzically. “What special card?”
“If you need some time out, you show Miss Bell that card and she has to let you leave the classroom. The head teacher has signed it, and it even says on the card that you have permission for time out.”
Alex nodded and hugged her father. She didn’t want to go back to school as this would be her first time going without Emma. If Emma was ever ill, then Alex wouldn’t go in either. They did everything together. Alex didn’t really have many friends at school, except Lucy, because she would always stick with Emma. She was determined to make new friends, so she had people to comfort her and to talk to if she ever needed to.
***
The rain poured from the sky, splashing against the windows on the car. Mick drove extra carefully to make sure he didn’t cause an accident as the roads were extremely slippery. Alex held her teddy close to her chest. Mick had suggested taking her teddy into school for comfort so if she did need time to herself, she would have a teddy to hug. Alex was adamant to take it in as she was sure Miss Bell would confiscate it. But Mick assured her if that did happen, he would be straight into the school to make a complaint.
Cars raced past as Mick and Alex sat quietly in the car, the only sound being the radio. As soon as they approached the school, Alex’s stomach dropped. That feeling of dread filled her, making her stomach feel weird. It was like there were butterflies inside her, fluttering around and tickling her insides. Mick stopped the car in the lay-by and waited for Alex to get out. But she didn’t move. She froze, frightened to go in. She stared out the window for a few moments, watching all the children running around, kicking puddles at each other, and screaming as they got wet.
“What if people ask questions?” Alex said. “What if they ask me what happened to Emma?”
“Then you don’t say anything,” replied Mick. “It’s none of their business what happened.”
“But what if someone finds out?” A tear ran down Alex’s face. “What if someone figures out that I did it and they tell the whole school?”
“That won’t happen. The only way people would find out is if you told them. And you’re not going to. Are you?”
Alex shook her head.
&nb
sp; “Good girl. Come on, get out the car and go to school. The day will fly by and then when I pick you up, we can go to the corner shop and get some sweets,” Mick said with a smile on his face. “You’ll be okay. Don’t answer any questions and everything will be fine.”
Alex opened the door and jumped out of the car. She stopped by the gates and turned around to look at her father. He was watching her, making sure she went into school okay. Before she could change her mind, Alex turned back around and walked towards the school entrance. Everyone in the playground stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Alex trudged through the playground, holding her teddy tightly. She looked around at all the young faces gawping at her. It felt strange and overwhelming having all the attention on her. Droplets of water dripped from Alex’s navy-blue coat as the rain continued to fall from the sky. Her eyes flitted from left to right as she looked at everyone’s eyes glaring at her. Did everyone know what she did?
The bell rang, startling her. Everyone lined up by their teachers waiting to be invited into the school. Alex didn’t care for the rules. She walked straight into the building, barging past the caretaker and headed straight for her classroom. The classroom was new since she had gone up a school year, although her teacher remained the same. It felt like it was her old classroom though. Miss Bell had made it that way so the class would feel more comfortable and at home. It had paper bumblebees stuck around the room, since the class name was Bumblebees, unlike her old classroom which was called Ladybirds. Miss Bell looked up and spotted Alex standing at the door. She smiled and waved her hand, inviting Alex into the room. Alex closed the door behind her and went straight to a chair at the back of the room, ignoring Miss Bell’s attempts at conversation.
“You should be lining up outside,” said Miss Bell. “I was just on my way out to bring you all in.”
Alex didn’t say anything. Instead, she buried her head between her arms on the table and didn’t listen to her teacher. Miss Bell stood up and walked over to Alex. She gently placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder, comfortingly. “If you ever need to talk, I am here. I’ll bring the rest of the class in and then we can get started with the learning. You never know, it might help distract you!”
Miss Bell jollily left the room, leaving the door open. Alex lifted her head and looked around the room. Hanging mobiles spun above her head, all the verbs and adjectives written on the laminated paper morphing into one word as the motion caused her to go cross-eyed. The room was scarily quiet.
Silence. Emptiness. Colour. Ever since Emma’s death, Alex’s life hadn’t been very colourful. She had barely noticed her pink bedroom walls and purple princess bedding. But being back in the classroom had made her recognise the colour in her life again. At that moment, twenty children piled into the classroom and headed straight to the conservatory where they hung their coats and bags. Alex hadn’t even bothered to put hers out there. Instead, she rested her coat on the back of her chair and her bag sat on the floor by her feet. Miss Bell hurried the children to their seats, and she called out the register.
As she called Alex’s name, she looked over and saw Alex playing around with her teddy. She was completely ignoring her teacher, wanting to forget where she was. Usually if Emma were there, they would get into trouble for constantly talking and messing around. But now she was on her own, Alex figured she had a chance of getting away with it.
“Alex,” said Miss Bell. “Are you here?”
Her sarcastic tone made Alex stop what she was doing and look at the teacher. “Yes, I am here.”
Miss Bell tapped the keyboard and continued reading out the other children’s names. When that was done, the classroom fell silent. Alex continued holding her teddy bear and playing around with it.
“Shall we wait for you to finish?” Miss Bell asked.
“What?” Alex flinched as she came out of her daydream.
“It’s pardon! And please can you put that bear in your bag? And then put your belongings with everyone else’s?!”
“No. My dad said I could keep my teddy with me.”
Miss Bell sighed and put her hands on her hips. “I know you are going through a tough time and I give you and your family my deepest sympathies. But you cannot play around in class distracting the other children.”
Alex rolled her eyes and tutted. “I need my teddy to help me. He keeps me calm and stops me from being sad.”
“Right, well, can you at least put him on your lap and not play with him?” Miss Bell walked over to Alex and towered over her, like a beast that was about to eat its prey.
“No, I’m keeping him on the table.”
Miss Bell tried to take the teddy from Alex and put it on her desk until the end of the day. But Alex reacted quickly and snatched her teddy back and held it close to her chest. Alex’s face turned a bright shade of red, anger fuelling within her.
“Don’t touch my things!” Alex roared. “You have no right!”
Miss Bell jumped at Alex’s sudden loud tone. “Please wait outside the room.” She pointed to the classroom door. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Alex huffed and stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door violently behind her. The floor vibrated for a few seconds, before calming down. She sat on a chair just around the corner from the classroom and held her teddy tightly against her chest, attempting to keep herself calm. Tears streamed from her eyes and ran down her face. She had warned her father that Miss Bell wasn’t a nice person, but he still made her go back to school even when she was still struggling. Alex looked at her teddy’s face and stared into its eyes. It somewhat felt comforting.
Teddy’s eyes began to turn a dark red, and Alex gasped with shock. It glared at her, almost as if it was hypnotising her. She looked around trying to find who was doing it. The corridor was empty. She looked back at her teddy and its eyes were back to their shiny black colour. Alex sighed with relief and closed her eyes, calming her anger and relieving her sadness.
Alex.
Her eyes shot open.
Alex.
Goosebumps prickled along Alex’s arms, her face emptying of all colour. Her hands trembled as she kept a tight grip on her teddy to keep her safe.
You have been a very naughty girl.
Alex whimpered as the whispering grew louder in her ears. The echoes around the corridor were faint, but still loud enough for Alex to hear.
Alex. Alex. You will pay for this.
One by one, the lights all the way through the corridor switched off. She looked around the corner and looked for her classroom. Everything was black. She couldn’t see anything or anyone. It was like everything had disappeared. Alex lifted her feet onto the chair and wrapped her arms around her knees, rocking from side to side, her head flitting from left to right as she followed the sound of the voices. She felt like she was in an empty, dark room with no one to hear her and no one to save her.
One.
A slow countdown began. Alex leaned back in the chair.
Two.
Alex began to cry, her entire body shaking with fear.
Three!
Emma jumped down from the ceiling and pounced onto Alex. Alex let out a horrified scream. She opened her eyes and everything was back to normal. Her heart pounded against her chest as she struggled to catch her breath. Miss Bell placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder. Alex jumped out of her seat and crawled into a corner.
“Are you okay?” Miss Bell asked. “You look terrified.”
“Don’t touch me,” Alex whimpered. “Please don’t hurt me.”
Alex looked up and down the corridor. All the lights were back on and teaching assistants walked up and down just like they were before, carrying piles of papers and taking students elsewhere.
“Why would I hurt you?” said Miss Bell. “We can talk at the end of the day. Come back into the classroom and do some learning. We’re writing stories today. Maybe you could write a story about your teddy bear.”
Alex nodded and got back up. Before going back i
nto the classroom, she gave the corridor one more look. It was normal. It was as if nothing ever happened. Strange.
***
“Was school okay?” Mick asked.
Alex didn’t say anything. Mick looked over at his daughter and moved her hair out of her eyes. She looked up at him and frowned.
“No,” she said. “It was the worst.”
“Why, what happened?”
“I got attacked by Emma again.”
Mick shook his head. “It was your imagination.”
“I bet you said the same to Mummy. And that’s why she is in hospital.”
Mick frowned and looked away from his daughter. She was right. He had said the same thing to Georgia, and that is what caused her to become ill. Maybe if he had believed his wife, then maybe he would be able to believe his daughter too.
“I just don’t understand how Emma can be behind all of this,” said Mick. “She’s gone. And there is no such thing as ghosts.”
“The thing is,” said Alex. “Is that she isn’t a ghost. She’s like some kind of monster. A beast. A demon. But she is no ghost, that’s for sure.”
Mick knew he needed to believe his daughter. Two people experiencing similar things and both saying it was Emma seemed strange to him, but he had to consider that it was a possibility. He held Alex close to protect her. Knowing what had happened at school made him want to keep Alex at home and not send her back to school. He could home school her; he was clever enough, after all.
“Don’t eat all the sweets,” Mick laughed. “I’ll be starting dinner soon. Save some for after.”
Alex giggled and tied the bag up before putting it in the kitchen.
Alex.
She jumped and turned around quickly. The house was empty.
Alex. Look behind you.
Alex turned around and saw her doll’s limbs scattered around the kitchen. “No!”
The head began to float before being launched straight for her face. She let out a scream as the impact of the assault caused her severe pain.