Time and location (present day): 9:43am, ENDURE Center for Rehabilitation

“Royce,” the voice was distant, indistinct.

“Royce,” it repeated.

Still, I couldn’t pull a face from memory to match the vocalization. I stood in an endless ocean of alabaster, the same as before. No walls, no floors or ceilings, just white. A strange sensation filled my body, or rather the space my body would’ve occupied. But in this strange realm I was weightless, like consciousness with no form, occupying nothing but open air. Pure white as far as the eye could see, and yet my sense of touch remained. I felt every gust of perceived wind, every movement from surrounding objects that were every bit as invisible as I was. Transparent, but they were there. Possibly not objects at all, but entities, living organisms stuck in the same snowy blindness that I found myself floating within. Was I the only one here? Or were there others? Desperately trying to cry out for help to no avail? An explanation for what was happening escaped me, but I could draw the conclusion that if there was a hell, this was surely it. No fiery cavernous depths boiling over with lava and steam, no ghoulish creatures or hellhounds imposing their will, just emptiness. Stark, white emptiness; an existence without truly existing. Then suddenly, as if my silent plea for help had finally been heard, something appeared off in the distance. It was small; a mere speck of black in a sea of florescence, but at this point I’d welcome any form of company. As it drew nearer, so to, did the sound it was producing. Humming? The closer to me the speck progressed, the less muffled the noise became. What was once static was now beginning to form into words, sentences, and then I understood; This speck was what had called my name moments ago. With its decreasing distance, its form became more familiar, stretching and morphing into a frame. Tall and slender, with limbs and appendages. An image that became more and more distinct the closer to me it moved. Soon, I could see without any impairment; the speck, now a full-bodied man, stood before me. His face was twisting and contorting as if someone had taken human features and thrown them into a blender. As the cycle slowed, it became apparent that the man was no stranger. The features upon his flesh canvas settled, a mouth fully formed, and then my father spoke.

“Royce,”

The vibrations trailed off and echoed into the eternity that lay before us.

“Open your eyes, come home. It isn’t too late to fix what’s broken.”

This left me confused. Come home? But home was nowhere, not anymore. My family was gone, and I could hardly call the facility that I had been thrust into my home. Before I could attempt to produce any words of my own, the pallid ocean before me became unsettled. The everlasting white that had surrounded us now decayed, yellowing and eventually cracking into dust and fragments, giving way to nothing but darkness underneath it’s bright exterior. As this strange world fell apart, I stared on; my gaze deadlocked into my father’s when suddenly the cycle upon his face started up again. Charles Wilko’s face, my father’s face, began twisting and writhing into an unholy puddle of cartilage and skin. As the process spun on, almost everything around me had shattered and fallen into the abyss apart from the separate patches of white my father and I stood upon. When the face finally settled again, my stomach dropped deep within my abdomen. Staring back at me now wasn’t the face of my father, but the face of Dr. Atticus Cais; cold… calculative...

“Creationist”, said Atticus, as if reading my thoughts.

The floor beneath me gave way.

My eyes opened slowly; the panic that once accompanied these nightmares subdued by their repetitious pattern. I tried to sit up in my bed but felt a pang in my stomach just below the left side of my ribcage. That’s right… I was stabbed… My God, Jonathan. I… I killed Jonathan… As my brain replayed the scenario in a game of catch up, my eyes took in my surroundings. This wasn’t my room, but rather appeared to be some form of infirmary. As I glanced around at all the various pieces of medical equipment, I suddenly became aware of someone at my bedside, the entire chest of his facility-provided jumpsuit stained with blood. I instinctually jolted, which had clearly been visible to the man because he raised his arms in an act of peace.

“Woah kid, take it easy, I’m not a threat. I’m a friend, just relax. We need to discuss things before the nurse comes back.”

I twinged as I continued sitting up, my muscles somewhat atrophied and aching with every slight twist and turn.

“Jonathan had been a friend too…”

The weariness in my voice spoke volumes, and my new guest could probably read it on my face as well. He exhaled heavily.

“While that may be a fair point, I’m not here to stick a knife in your gut, despite being covered in your blood. My name is Matias Castellón. I’m a friend of Desmond and Aiden’s. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about that later, but for now we need to operate on assumed trust.”

I couldn’t decide if it was plain stupidity, or the lack of willpower I was left with after being betrayed and nearly murdered by the only person I had called friend here… whatever the case, I decided to trust Matias for the time being.

“Alright, what do you need to tell me before the nurse comes back?”

Matias looked around the room as if checking for peering eyes or listening devices, then leaned in close.

“I reached your room later than I would have liked after Jonathan attacked you. I found you in a pool of your own blood and carried you to the lobby. Staff saw and intervened, which leads us to the here and now. Luckily for us, Jonathan’s death was an act of self-defense. So, for the most part, when they ask what happened you’re going to tell the truth. The one thing you need to leave out though, is anything he may have said about the voices in his head. As far as they’re concerned, you had a disagreement over a previous chess match and Jonathan went ballistic. His chart says he struggled with schizophrenic tendencies and anger management issues in the past, so we can riff off that to help with our falsification of facts.”

Jonathan’s chart? How did this guy get access to patient records? Why hadn’t Jonathan told me about his ailments? What left me the most stunned though was the mention of voices in Jonathan’s head. All at once a memory came rushing back from the assault; Jonathan had spoken Mallen’s name. I never talked to anyone other than Lena about Mallen, and she wouldn’t have told anyone other than Atticus about him, right? Certainly not other patients… How then, had Jonathan known about this shadow creature that had taken up residence in the recesses of my mind? This suddenly led me to another potentially shocking revelation.

“Wait… do you hear him too? What about Desmond and Aiden?”

Matias reconned our surroundings again before speaking.

“Like I said, we can discuss in further detail later. The short answer is no, your friends doesn’t speak to us. We just know that you and Jonathan aren’t the first to hear them.”

Them? As in plural???

The door to the infirmary room opened, and I imagined Matias’ stomach dropping all the same as mine. Lena entered, hurried to my bedside.

“Oh, thank God you’re alright Royce,”

She reached for my hand, then as if thinking better of it pulled away and composed herself. I could see tears welling behind her eyes as she tried to choke them back; she really did care for me.

“I’m sure you’ve been introduced by now, but this is Matias Castellón, he resides in the room across the hall from yours. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what would’ve happened. Matias saved you Royce. Normally we wouldn’t allow other patients into the infirmary without illness or injury, but Matias insisted on being here when you woke up. Considering the circumstances, we made an exception.”

I looked then to Matias as the realization settled in; I owed this man my life. I nodded in acceptance, a silent thank you. He returned the gesture, taking the opportunity to deploy our narrative.

“I heard all the commotion from my room, I just wish I had reacted sooner. Maybe if I had, Jonathan would still be with us.”

Lena became suddenly sullen.

“You’ve told him then? I’m so sorry about Jonathan Royce, I know you two had grown close over the past few months. What happened? What caused all of this?”
Showtime. I felt a bit guilty in that moment, willingly lying to Lena, but at this point I couldn’t be certain of who to trust. If I had to bank on one of them, it would be the person who didn’t have direct ties to Atticus Cais, no matter how I felt about her.

“Shortly after you left my room to get Atticus for help, Jonathan arrived and let himself in. He was ranting about… about a prior match of chess we had played. He began shouting that I was a liar and a cheat, and before I knew it, he was on top of me and hitting me. Somewhere along the line, he pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed me. We continued fighting until he tripped and stabbed himself as well. I was pleading with him the entire time to stop, but… eventually he began choking me and I… he left me no choice. I did what I had to Lena. He forced my hand… I’m so sorry…”

I guess the performance was easier to execute than I had anticipated, because I was sobbing now. The pain and reality of it all came rushing in. I missed my friend, and yet I couldn’t reconcile the man I had come to know with the one who had attacked me like a rabid beast. Of course you’re upset Royce, you murdered your best friend. What kind of animal does something like that? Maybe the beast is you. It took every fiber of my being to ignore Mallen’s voice in that instance. Lena knew about him, but I couldn’t let her know that Matias was aware of his existence too. So, I focused on the pain. Focused on sitting in it now that the dust had settled. Lena placed her hand on my shoulder, and I was certain that if Matias hadn’t been there, she would have dropped the professionalism and embraced me.

“It’s okay Royce, let it out. It’s understandable that you’re upset. Normally, you’d have to speak with law enforcement about this altercation but based on Matias’ testimony and the evidence collected from the crime scene a week ago, they deemed this as an open-and-shut case of self-defense. There may be procedural follow up, but I want you to know you’re safe.”

Did she say a week ago?

“What do you mean a week ago? Did I lose time again?”

Lena nodded her head.

“Unfortunately, yes. You had to undergo anesthesia for surgery, and you fell back into a comatose state afterwards. Dr. Cais found it best to let you recover on your own time. It was only a week, though.”

Atticus arrived just then as if on cue, summoned like a demon at the mention of his name.

“Hello Royce, glad to see you up and at ’em again. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing, though I’m sure Lena has already covered everything with you.”

I quickly glanced at Matias, wanting to see his reaction to the doctor’s arrival. It was subtle, but I could tell all the same; Matias hated Dr. Cais just as much as the next guy. I feigned nicety again, gathering myself after having released all my pent-up emotion. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I responded.

“Yes, she has. Sorry, it’s all just been… a lot.”

Atticus approached me then, and he too, placed a hand upon my shoulder as Lena had done earlier. His touch, however, sent shivers down my spine.

“Don’t apologize, you’ve been through one traumatic event after another. How you’re feeling is entirely understandable. Right now, what you need is rest. Once Lena performs a proper health check on you, you’re free to return to your room. You’ll find no trace of the altercation upon your return; we’ve made certain of that. Take care of him Lena.”

Atticus turned his leave to go, but stopped when his path crossed my new acquaintance’s.

“Matias,” he said with a simple nod.

Something in his eyes changed ever so slightly before he continued and exited the room. There had been history between the two, but of what variety, it was hard to say. Once Atticus was gone, Matias stood up from his chair beside my bed.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay kid. Looks like my job here is done, I’ll leave you to it nurse. Royce, I’ll see you around.”

I nodded.

“Thank you, Matias, for everything.”

“Don’t mention it,” and then he too, was gone.

With only Lena and I remaining, the mood relaxed a bit. She sat down on my bedside, now grabbing my hand as she wished to earlier.

“You really had me worried there for a moment.”

Can you trust her Royce? Or is she every bit a snake in the grass as her dear uncle Atticus? I closed my eyes, sighed exasperatedly. Lena pulled away slightly.

“What is it?”

She asked with that wounded gazelle look.

“Not you, it’s Mallen again,” I said, feeling more secure in my ability to speak freely of him now that we were alone.

“What’s he saying?” she asked.

On that subject, however, I felt compelled to be as vague as possible.

“Nothing, just attempting to cast a healthy amount of doubt towards everything and anything like he always does.”

“I suppose that’s as good a leeway into the next conversation as any,”

Lena responded, pulling a dram of pills, the same dram of pills she had offered me a week ago from her pocket.

“I want you to start taking these regularly. I believe they’ll help mitigate your side effects, but I also think they may subdue Mallen’s hold over you, silence him entirely or at the very least, muffle his voice in your head.”

There was a time where I would have contested, been suspicious of her, but I was in no mood for arguing, nor dealing with Mallen’s incessant prodding of my mind. With a silent up and down shake of my head, I accepted.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Can I take some now?”

Lena seemed surprised at my request but recovered quickly.

“Of course, it’s a once daily medication. I’ll have it at the dispensary ready to go for you every day, and they’ll send for you via the intercom system if you forget.”

She handed me two of the bright blue pills, and I threw them to the back of my throat, swallowed.

“Thank you, I truly appreciate everything you have done, and continue to do for me.”

She smiled gently.

“Of course, you’re my… well I’m responsible for your care, right?”

The way she paused midsentence spiked a nervous chill that bristled every hair on my body, what was she going to say?

Not wanting to pry, I decided to leave it to my own interpretation, and instead simply replied with, “Right”.

Lena stood removed herself from the edge of the bed.

“Well, my uncle is right, you really should get some proper rest, and I should be going. When you’re ready, feel free to leave. It was good chatting Royce; I’ll see you soon.”

I smiled at her; it was all the response that was necessary. She hesitated for a moment longer, then walked away. Once the door shut, I let out a final exhale. So much had happened so quickly, it would require much more time to process and work it all out. Now, with whatever this medication was in my system, I would at the very least be able to think it through without Mallen negating my every thought. I doubted they were simple anti-inflammatory meds as Lena had previously suggested, but I didn’t care anymore. If it brought me inner peace, I would welcome these pharmaceuticals with open arms. It occurred to me as I thought about everything that had happened, that I had yet to check what kind of damage the knife had left upon my body. I unzipped my white jumpsuit, removing my arms from the long sleeves so that its upper portion fell around my waist. When I looked down though, I became more confused than ever. There, under my left ribcage was a small, almost indistinguishable scar. If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought it was a birthmark. Lena had said only a week had passed since the incident. How then, was I all but completely healed? Things weren’t adding up; Desmond and Aiden, and now Matias were seeming less and less crazy with every passing minute. What if Atticus Cais and ENDURE weren’t who they appeared to be? I continued to mull this over as slipped the upper portion of my jumpsuit back on and headed for my room. As soon as I exited the infirmary, however, I was immediately flanked by two police officers and Dr. Cais, the latter of whom was caught just as off guard as I was when we almost ran directly into one another. Atticus took a step back, straightened his coat and cleared his throat before speaking.

“Royce, I was just coming to retrieve you. I apologize, I did not know that law enforcement would be visiting today, they showed up unannounced. They’d like to take your statement now. I know I said you needed rest, but this unfortunately cannot wait.”

Christ, I just want to be left alone for a single moment… I tried hiding my irritation before I responded.

“Of course, I understand. I’ll cooperate however I can.”

“Thank you, Royce. If you would, please follow the officers this way,”

Dr. Cais gestured to the right of the infirmary, and I took a step down the hall. Before The two of them turned around to lead the way, I made a point of checking both names embroidered over the right breasts of their uniforms; They read Oakley and Shaw.