Madness by N.E. Stevenson

Author:N.E. Stevenson [Stevenson, N.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

“We are late!” Dusty exclaims, pointing to the clock on the wall that ticks by ominously.

It's a countdown to another therapy session that I’m never quite ready for.

“Not late. We still have two hours,” I sigh, resting my head in my palm as I watch him pace in the small box that is my room.

“It’s better than the room at Alice’s.”

“Yes, it is…” I start to speak back to the masculine voice, then realise Dusty is staring at me strangely.

He stalls his pacing, turning to me, and quirks his eyebrow, “Are you talking to yourself?”

I nod.

“Bit weird, isn’t it?” he laughs at his joke, and I have to clench my teeth in an effort not to hit him because aren’t we all a bit weird here?

“Yeah,” I say bitterly.

Dusty shrugs, resuming his pacing in front of me like a yo-yo.

“You could make him go away, you know?”

Just ignore him, I tell myself. Ignore them all.

“You don’t want to ignore me, Alice. You need me to tell you what to do; otherwise, you are lost.”

“Lost, lost, lost!” Queenie shrieks,

“Shut up!” I hiss.

Dusty whirls around to face me. “I said we are late! Look!” He shoves his finger in my face, then turns to the clock, which is still ticking each second.

Tick.

“Just hit him.”

Tick

“Kill him.”

Tick.

“I can’t.”

Tick.

“You can’t what?” Dusty asks.

Tick.

“I just can’t! I can’t sit here with that fucking clock ticking and you pacing!” I shove up from the bed, getting into Dusty’s space.

The sterile white walls of the room seem to get closer, pressing on me, and each breath I attempt to take becomes a desperate gasp for air. I know why I’m here, and the weight of what I did settles on my shoulders like an anchor pulling me deeper into the abyss.

Alice’s face floats in front of me, her eyes filled with betrayal and pain. “I loved you,” her voice floats towards me, but her lips don’t move. Instead, they turn up into a wicked smile filled with rows of pointy teeth.

“Chesh,” I growl, sick of the games he wishes to play.

If I could reach out and strangle his head from his body, I would, but he would just vanish into thin air as he always does.

“Al?” Dusty’s voice breaks through the fog, “Are you ok?”

I shake my head because how will I ever be ok?

These walls are a reminder – a punishment, and I know I deserve it, but all I ever wanted in life was to be free.

Free from the madness.

“Legacy. It’s a legacy, Alice, and one day you’ll see why.”

“I don’t want to see why. I want to be normal!” I scream into thin air.

Dusty visibly flinches, and his hand reaches out tentatively to touch my arm.

I fling myself back, unable to handle being touched right now.

What if I hurt him as I did Alice?

“Off, off, off! Off with their heads, heads, heads.”

“You aren’t going to hurt me, Al,” he reassures me, his eyes softening as he looks down at me huddled in the corner.

How did I get here?

How long have I been here for?

Tick.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.