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Bonfire Tales!
| In-Game Name: |
Leafania |
| Digital ID: |
11916740 |
| Server: |
Asia |
Today, I saw her again.
She was staring at me through the window with that raven hair of hers. She had no face. Instead, it was just like staring into a void. Dark and empty. How long has it been? Days? Weeks? I couldn't even remember when it started and why. Why do I keep on seeing her? And why only I can see her? Something must be going wrong with my mind. It must be playing tricks on me. It must have been too much coffee or overworking myself out in the office. What could be the reason for this to happen?
I got lost in my train of thoughts until my girlfriend snapped her fingers in front of me. "Hey," she called, "Is it about her again?"
"Ah," I said while shaking my head in confusion, "N-No.... Yes." I stuttered.
"You know, if you keep on thinking about her, it will become even worse."
I nodded my head in reply. I don't want to bother her too much with my craziness. She already has a lot of things on her plate. I looked at her for a quick moment and couldn't help but notice how bright and beautiful she really is today. Though, her face shows how tired she was from all of her work, I still can't help but admire her beauty. Her name's Scarlet. Pretty name, right? Her name suits her well. I met her a few years back when I was traveling. We somehow clicked and it was an adventure with her from then on.
"Don't you have to go to your therapist? It's almost time." She uttered, pulling me back to reality again.
"Ah, yes. Yes, of course." I replied.
Due to my circumstances, I had been seeing a therapist to help cure my... Illness. If I hadn't, I think I would have already become a madman, spouting nonsense to other people. I'm glad Scarlet had been understanding. I don't know what I would do without her. She was the one who had adviced me to come see a therapist since they know their way with these kinds of situation. My therapist is a good one. She's helping me clear my mind out and suggest what I would do if I'll ever see that lady again.
I made my way to the therapist's office and knocked on the door as soon as I got there. A lady in her late fourties then pulled the door open. She squinted her eyes trying to focus on my face. "Oh, Mr. Adam. Welcome." She finally said, pulling the door wide and motioning for me to get in, "Please, make yourself comfortable. Take a seat."
I nodded and walked my way inside. My therapist, Dr. Smith, closed the door behind me before turning around to sit on her chair. I pulled myself down to take a seat on the couch in front of her. Getting herself a paper and a pen, she turned to look at me.
"Now, Mr. Adam. How are you today?" She started, flashing me a smile.
"I'm fine." I said while looking down and fiddling with my fingers.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Well, um... " She trailed off, clearing her throat.
"I saw her today, Doctor." I retorted out of the blue. My hands started to shake and I could feel the cold sweat starting to form in my temple.
"You have?" She asked, clicking her pen and taking down notes with it. "Did you do what I told you to do?"
"Yes, I did."
"Well, that's wonderful Mr. Adam. You're improving a lot these past few days." She said, scribbling something again on her paper. "You see, you'll overcome the challenges if you'll just face them."
I looked at her and flashed a crooked smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Smith. You can't imagine how glad I am to hear I've improved."
"Oh, uh. Sure thing." She replied.
"It's been tough these past few days, Doctor. My girlfriend is the only one whom I can talk to with these things and it's just sad to let her watch me deteriorate," I bursted out. Dr. Smith was leaning in closely, listening to what I had to say, "I had to quit my job because of this nonsense. I just can't pull her life down with me being like this." Tears had been forming in the corner of my eyes as I confessed these things to my therapist. Looking back on the sacrifices my dear Scarlet made for me, I can't help but feel guilty about the man that I become.
"You really love Ms. Scarlet. Don't you, Mr. Adam?" She asked while still giving me that smile to which, I thought, was a sad one.
"Yes, I love her. With all of my heart. I'm so grateful to have her."
Doctor Smith didn't say anything afterwards. She just gave me a smile again and stood up to place the paper she kept on writing with on her desk before proceeding to tell me that our session was over that quickly. 'You should celebrate your improvement,' said she. I guess she was a busy person. I looked over her desk and saw piles of unfinished paperwork. I thought it would be best for me to leave so I thanked her for listening to me and made my way out.
Later that evening after taking our dinner, Scarlet suggested that she would be the one to make the bed. I insisted that she's already tired from everything so I should be the one to do it but she kept on saying how messy I make the bed so I surrendered. As I was about to head over to the bathroom to wash my face, Scarlet then bursted out, "Our neighbors are noisy as usual."
I paused and listened closely. She was right. I could hear the faint screaming and shouting of the couple next door. "Yes, they are." I said.
Scarlet then sighed while looking out to the window. "Let's move out soon."
"You know we can't do that. This is our home now." I slightly laughed while saying so. Scarlet just looked at me then averted her eyes to the moonlight coming through the window. Her face glowed and I smiled thinking she looks beautiful in this moment. Her silky long hair was flowing with the wind. Her eyes twinkled against the light like little stars. She might have noticed me looking at her because she turned to me and gave me a faint smile.
Embarrassed, I turned around, and decided to go to the bathroom. I walked over the sink and washed my face. I then looked at myself from the mirror in front of me. All I could see now was someone who has lost his mind. There were already dark circles forming under my eyes. I am a mess. But I knew that man in the mirror isn't me. Clearing my thoughts, I shook my head off then I opened the cupboard behind the mirror and took my medicines out. These were medicines Dr. Smith had prescribed to me. She said it would help me ease my mind out and would help reduce my hallucinations. I took two pills out and swallowed them quickly. I closed the cupboard and that's when I saw her reflection from the mirror. She was behind me. My eyes widened from the scene. I then felt my head pounding. This was not supposed to happen, is it? Is it because of the medicine??? The pounding in my head started to become stronger and I could feel my heart beating so fast. My hands were starting to shake too as I lost my grip of the bottle of medicine. It fell into the floor and the pills flew out from it.
"Dear?" I could hear Scarlet's faint voice from the other room. I didn't nudge nor speak. My vision started to get blurry and I just froze there, looking at the lady in the mirror. She still had no face. It felt like... Like she was staring at me intently. I slowly looked behind me to face her but to my surprise, there was nothing there. Feeling a small relief rushed over me, I looked back at the mirror but the lady was still there. I screamed and out of panic, I threw my fist and punched the mirror. It cracked with a loud noise. Small shards of glasses pinched through my fist. I could feel the blood coming out of my hand but I felt no pain. My vision was only focused on the lady in the mirror.
"What do you want?!" I screamed at her but somehow, she didn't reply. But I swore, I could see a small smile forming. Her slurred face started to form into someone. Someone I know. I looked behind me one more time and I saw Scarlet's shocked face. I haven't realized she already made her way to the bathroom.
"Adam?" She asked with a worried face. I turned to the mirror and the lady was already gone. In her place stood Scarlet looking at me in the mirror. I turned to look at her. She took a step back, feeling scared. That's when the memories started to come back. To what happened that night. I screamed one more time while running back to the other room. I saw the messy bed, barred windows, and a set of women in white clothes bursting out from the door with syringes. That's right. I... I-
"Have the Stuart couple calmed down?" I asked Rachel, our new assistant.
"Ah. Yes, Dr. Smith. It was our mistake to have them in the same room. They're already immobilized." She replied while flicking her eyeglasses with her finger to the bridge of her nose. "We had put them in separate rooms now." She continued.
"You didn't listen." I threw the binder over to my desk out of anger. Rachel flinched and her pen fell into the floor. She bent down and picked it back up.
"I-I'm sorry, Doctor." She stuttered.
I put my palm over my hand and sighed. I turned to look at her. "It's okay. You're still new here. Learn from your lesson."
"Yes, Doctor." She nodded and looked over her report. "And Mr. Adam, the man next to the Stuart couple's room, has already been calmed down."
"Ah, yes. My patient." I said, remembering his case.
"Do you mind me asking, Doctor... What happened to him?" Rachel asked. She was still not assigned here when they moved Mr. Adam into one of our rooms.
"Mr. Adam was a bright young man. Until he got obsessed with his beautiful girlfriend, that is." I started as I walked over to my desk and sat down. "Which led to him murdering Ms. Scarlet when she finally decided to leave him and their toxic relationship." I continued. Rachel's face went sad after hearing that story.
"What was his motive? Did he kill his girlfriend just because she wanted to leave him?" Rachel asked again, intrigued by his case.
"It remained unsure. The police found him with the dead body in their dining table after their neighbors complained about an odd smell coming from their house. Mr. Adam was preparing a meal and the rotten body was sitting on a chair. Ms. Scarlet's body was already in poor shape because it was already crawling with worms and the skin of her face was removed. The court decided it would be best if Mr. Adam was sorted out and placed here in the local asylum."
"That's horrible." Rachel exclaimed.
"It is." I said to her as she handed her report to me. I took it and fixate my signature on the paper. "You may leave now."
"Yes. Thank you, Doctor." She bowed and turned around to walk to the door and leave.
After quite some time of doing paperworks, I looked at the wall clock which was hanging above my office's door. It was already time for me to make rounds around the patient's rooms. I gathered my papers and pen for me to keep track of the patient's statuses. I made a first stop to Mr. Adam to ask him about himself. He was actually improving his mental state. I thought that maybe it was the Stuart couple who triggered his hallucinations and let him come to his senses for a short while. He said he kept on seeing this lady. Maybe it's his sins haunting him.
I turned into the corner and walked in the doorstep of his room. I was about to open it when I saw him inside through the small window all crouched up besides the bed with his hands on both side of his head muttering to himself, "She was mine. She was mine... " He said as he kept on rocking his body back and forth. "I love you. This the only way that will show how much I love you." I heard him growl from the inside. I turned around to walk to my next patient and decided not to pay him a visit today.
Well, I guess no one leaves the asylum sane, after all.
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Post time 2018-10-24 09:47:06
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Post time 2018-10-24 10:37:47
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