Day 3

She is fed up. The constant waking and falling back asleep. The almost indescribable attacks that send every nerve on edge. She scratches a vague itch in the crook of her elbow and surveys her room once more. It is all the same, yet the door is open to the sterile white hall. She musters the energy to get up and walk out the door. Once in the hall she looks from left to right. At least 20 doors are visible, and she can hear faint but tortured moans muffled from the rooms in the immediate vicinity. She quickly moves away from the door that she knows hides the repulsive face to search out anyone else that isn’t being kept in their room. As she walks down the hall she continues to scratch her arm absentmindedly. She comes to a large room at the end of the hall that seems to be a common area. Tables and chairs that have been nailed to the floor are placed in a random pattern throughout the room. Large shatterproof bay windows overlook magnificent gardens with lush flowers and trees. A lake or pond shimmers in the sun. It holds the peace that seems to be absent within the walls. She settles herself down on the chair closest to the window and just stares at the peonies that droop over stoned pathways winding through the trees. Her hand rhythmically relives the itch that won’t dissipate. She sits for hours, blocking out the moans and occasional screams that penetrate the silence. No one bothers her. Whoever keeps pumping her full of drugs has let her be. Her eyes trace the clouds that lazily puff across the sky. The sun moves from high in the sky and slips lower and lower to the water. The sky becomes a riot of colour and her mind captures as many snapshots of the beauty as possible. She stands and walks back to her room, exhausted from her day of inactivity. Her hand continues to scratch, and when she stumbles into her bed, she feels wet warmth on her arm. She looks down to see that she has scratched away a decent amount of her skin. Underneath she sees something black and sharp protruding from the skin. As she touches it in fascination, heat explodes in her heart and her scream adds to the rising chorus throughout the halls.