Chapter One

A Chapter by CLHartmann

Chapter One

"Jake, here's your assigned resident, that you will be shadowing." Mr. Walker said passing Jake a folder as he exited the bus.

Waiting for the rest of the class, Jake glanced around the grounds, and spotted a girl sitting near a pond beside a willow. He notice the dirt on her gray dress as she brought her knees to her chest. He kept his focus on her until Mr. Walker patted his shoulder.

"All patients will be escorted by staff, to ensure their and our personal safety." A large man loudly spoke.

"If every patient is to be escorted, then why isn't she being watched." Jake sarcastically said, nodding his head towards the willow tree.

“I can ensure you that every single patient, is under a form of supervision.” Mr. Shepard, whom had just announced his name, said glaring at Jake.

“Then why is she sitting near the pond,” Jake retorted looking back at the pond, “unsupervised.”

Faced with an empty space, Jake groaned as Mr. Sheppard harshly squeezed his shoulder, and loudly spoke, “As I announced earlier, every patient IS ESCORETED.”

The class followed Mr. Sheppard as he lead them through the lobby which was under construction. The few parts that were completed, held very little excitement, except for a aquarium placed in between a rustic pole, which held Black Molly's. Black Skirt Tetra, and Platies. Nothing about the aquarium had captured Jake’s attention, he only noticed the girl, whom he had saw earlier, standing there feeding the fish through a hidden slot.

He quickly approached her and sharply turned her facing him. "You! You made me look like an idiot." He furiously shouted at her.

He expected her to be afraid, but instead saw her with a calm expression on her face, almost as if she was studying him. She smirked and shook her head. "You're upset about being made a fool of. You want an explanation, Jake. Then, you'll have to ask nicely." She said backing up.

He couldn't help notice her features as he watched her disappear behind a wall. He noticed that she was shorter than him, and that her eyes were a pale gray. Her light brown hair was French braided just past her shoulders. But what held most of his attention, was the fact that she knew his name, without him revealing it.

"Hawkins." Yelled an all too familiar voice. He looked over and saw Lucas, with his idiotic group of friends.

"Kennedy." Jake spat bitterly at the blond hair boy.

"Just the psychotic idiot, I was searching for." Lucas sneered followed by his friends laughter.

"Well you'll have to keep looking." A girls voice spoke as he felt himself being jerk in the direction they were running.

He let the girl, he knew from earlier, lead him through the twists and turns of the institution, until they came upon a dead end. "Help, unless you want them to find us." She snapped tapping with one ear against the wall.

"What are y..." Before Jake could finish asking, she slid two panels to the side. Grabbing him by his wrist, she slipped through with him following closely behind. Quickly sliding the panels back in place, she gently pushed him forward, raising a finger to her lips.

Couple seconds later the muffled sound of Lucas and his friends voices crept through the walls. Taking a deep breath, Jake closed his eyes, trying to relax before he revealed their hiding place. He opened his eyes once their voices disappeared, but by the he saw the girl waiting for him to follow her through the maze of narrow passages. He tried to keep track of the left or right turns they made, but failed due to little light given through cracks in the wall.

"You never gave m..."

"Paige." She interrupted before he could finish, "And you might want to cover your eyes."

"Why would I cover..." Bright lights blinded Jake, causing him to shield his eyes, and mumble. "You could of warned me."

"I did." She replied entering the room.

Slipping past, Jake glanced, and grimace. He had seen enough pictures to know that they had entered a surgical room. From the blood stains that turned brown from age, to the surgical tools that lay scattered in bowls filled with murky water. He covered his nose with his jacket, trying to block out the smell of rotten corpses, and sewer water. His eyes stung from the suffocating odor, blurriness began to over take him. He dashed towards the opening of a door less hinge.

His eye sight began to return the further he distance himself from the room. Beginning down crumbling white halls, Jake passed by empty rooms. Rooms filled with broken chairs, shattered photo frames, torn up beds, and papers scattered across the floor. Some rooms were painted in vibrant colors such as: light blue, yellow, pink, or a light green. Others were painted in duller colors: white and gray.

He could only imagine what it must of been like living here. He pictured young children staring at vibrant walls with insanity trapping them in the room, rocking back and forth, their chest. Adults locked in their dull looking room, ripping their hair out of their head, or picking at their skin removing invisible bugs crawling all over their bodies. Instead he found paint chipped walls, and haunting feeling of death.

"Where are we?" Jake mumbled opening up a closed door. The door he just open, lead to a room, but instead of vibrant or dull walls, he found a wall painted in night skies around a small window emulating little light.

"Jake." Paige softly said resting a hand on his shoulder, "It's better if you leave closed doors closed."

He watched her close the door. She looked upset, and began to walk away. He needed to quickly distract himself from the undeniable curiosity gnawing at him. "You never explained how you knew my name." He spoke, quickly catching up with her.

"That's because you never asked." She responded.

"Well?" He asked, perhaps too quickly.

"Well what?" She playfully asked.

He swore he saw a small smile form on her lips, but it quickly disappeared. He chuckled as he watched her scrunch up her nose at him realizing he had caught her trying to hide her smile. Nudging her gently with his elbow, and wiggled his eyebrows at her once she glanced at him. Earning a fit of giggles from her, he smiled.

"Such a charmer." She said in between breaths.

"Always am." He exaggerated.

"What's your story with that Kennedy boy?" Paige asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"There isn't one." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"There never has been a reason why we hate each other. We tolerate each other when forced, but other than that, it's a fight waiting to happen." He explained leaning against the wall.

"There has to be more." She softly spoke.

"Maybe." He said shuffling around. "I've been dying to ask you this, but how do we get out of here."

“Simple.” She replied.

“And?” He asked taking a step forward.

“Wait.” She spoke, closing any distance between them.

Breaking eye contact with her; “For what?”

Without a response he looked back, only to find her missing. Silence disturbed by footsteps, slowly advancing towards him, echoed throughout the halls. “If this is a game, its not funny.” He called out hoping to find her lurking around the corner.

“Your right it isn’t funny.” Said the gruff voice of Mr. Sheppard.

Yanked off his feet, Jake stumbled around trying to regain balance, as he was dragged down the halls. Without warning, Mr. Sheppard shoved him through an open doorway, "Found your missing student, wondering in the halls of the old institution."

"Terribly sorry about Jake's behavior," Mr Walker apologize, "I assure you that it won't happen again."

"Hmm." Mr Sheppard grumpily replied, exiting the room.

"Get on the bus." Mr. Walker ordered, not even bothering to look at Jake.

Following orders, Jake headed towards the bus passing the few stragglers of his fellow classmates. Thunder echoed across the sky as the storm grew closer. He found himself lucky as he boarded the bus before it began to rain. Taking a seat towards the front, he watched the rain drops splatter against the window.