Xavier’s POV

I roll over just to feel a sharp pain in my side. I jolt up from the bed and look around. This isn’t my house, where am I? I quickly take in the room. The walls are painted brown and it’s peeling in the corners to reveal a bluish color, there’s a metal chair with some blankets rolled up on it sitting to the right of the bed next to a small desk. The bed, is not even a bed, it’s more like a rusty old cot, the mattress is thin and uncomfortable to sleep on. There’s a sink near the door of the small room with a mirror above it. I stand up and walk over to the small mirror and gasp as I take in my appearance. My hair is long, longer than I would ever be allowed to keep it, my eyes are hollow and their color has gone. I’m very pale and thin. This isn’t even me, it can’t be, I mean I was just at home yesterday talking to my mom about running errands. I look over and see a person standing on the other side of the door to my room, their eyes peering through the bars. I walk over and look at the man for a second before speaking.

“Do you know where I am?” I ask him. His stare makes me nervous and it makes something stir inside me as I feel tears coming to my eyes. “Please, tell me where I am.” I beg him. A smile forms on his face before he looks down the hall and then back at me before walking away. I start crying loud and begging for someone to tell me where I am. Suddenly, something is slammed against my door and I quickly jump away from it and hide in the corner under the sink. My eyes are wide and I’m still sniffling but I don’t hear any footsteps leaving or any more slamming. “Hello?” I call out. A sigh comes from the other side of the door.

“I’m opening the door. Stay back.” A man says. I hear the lock click and the door creaks open. I slowly stand up as he looks into the room. “It’s time to meet with the doctor.” He tells me. I don’t understand him at first because I’m still caught in my thoughts but he grabs my arm and yanks me out of the room pushing me down a hall with what seems to be other halls branching off of it. The hall is painted the same way and it makes the place very dark even though it is lit up. I look behind me for just a second and see the man from earlier standing in the darkness smirking at me and I quickly turn back around.

“Sir, can you tell me where I am?” I ask quietly as we walk past five more rooms. He doesn’t say anything just continues to push me down the hallway. The next hallway turns out to be some kind of common room. There’s an old TV with a dial for channels and volume, a bookshelf with what seems like a good selection of things to read, a dirty old couch, a table and chair, and regular windows probably with a good view to draw. There is an old teddy bear sitting on the couch that looks like it really wants someone to play with it. We walk past that room and up to another little room that is separated by windows and a little white door. The windows are covered in dust and dirt so it’s hard to see through it but I can make out a medicine cabinet and some syringes. “Am I in a hospital?” I ask. The man pulls me to a stop in front of a huge metal door and pulls out a small plastic card before scanning it. A loud metallic buzz sounds and I cover my ears as the door slowly swings open leading to another hallway. The man grabs my arm again and starts dragging me through a maze of hallways until we stop at a door. It has a faded nameplate on it but I can make out that it says ‘Doctor’. I decide not to ask the man anymore questions because it’s clear that he won’t answer anything for me. He steps forward and knocks on the door before stepping back and holding my arm again. The door opens about a minute later to reveal a disheveled old man. He looks at the both of us first before fully opening the door and smiling.

“Ah. Thank you Darius. I will let you know when he is ready to go back.” He dismisses the man and ushers me into his office. I slowly walk in and look around, the room is dark except for the lamp that is lighting half of the room from the top of the desk. The window is covered for some reason. The doctor quickly walks behind his desk and starts looking through the huge stacks of files that are scattered everywhere he could stack them.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where I am?” I ask. He doesn’t answer but instead keeps looking through the folders until he finds what he’s looking for.

“Ah ha!” He exclaims before carefully moving the files off the top of his desk and sitting down across from me. “Now, what is your name?” He asks me. My face falls into a frown as I stare at him. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m here to help you. Now, tell me your name.” He says more demanding this time.

“Xavier.” I answer shortly. He smiles and writes it down.

“Do you know why you’re here?” He asks me. I think for a second and shake my head.

“No. I don’t even know where I am. I asked you earlier but you weren’t paying any attention.” I explain. He nods his head and smiles.

“So that’s why you were angry. Well, Why don’t you start by telling me the last thing you remember.” He says. The last thing I remember?

“Well, I was sitting at home talking to my mom about running errands.” I tell him. He nods and takes down a few notes.

“Did you ever run those errands?” He questions. I think and then nod slowly.

“Yes. I went straight home after running them too.” I tell him. He nods and takes down a few more notes before turning to a page at the front of the folder and I recognize the papers as sign in papers. I clench my fists around the arms of the chair as I wait for what he has to say next. There’s no way that my parents just dropped me here and left, that’s impossible.

“It says here that your father brought you in complaining about you having psychotic episodes. Do you remember any of these?” He asks me. I feel my eyes widen as I stare at him. I shake my head a few times before finding words.

“I’ve never had a psychotic meltdown or anything like that. I’ve never even gotten angry at anyone before.” I explain. He raises his eyebrows and nods before flipping back and taking more notes.

“Your father told us that you threatened to kill him.” He informs me. I feel tears starting to form in my eyes.

“Impossible. I would never…I’ve never even thought about killing anyone before. I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t know why I look like this, where I am, what you’re telling me. What does any of it mean?!” The doctor is staring at me with wide eyes and has pushed away from his desk to get away from me. I realize then that I was raising my voice and I was standing over his desk with my fists resting on it. “I’m sorry.” I say quietly before sitting back down. The doctor clears his throat and scoots his chair back up to the desk.

“You don’t get mad?” The doctor asks with an eyebrow raised and a small smile on his face. I roll my eyes and slouch back in the seat.

“I do but I have ways to deal with it.” I mutter looking away from him. I see him nod and take down a note.

“What do you usually do to deal with your anger?” He asks. I think about it.

“Well, I always found that painting or drawing helped, sometimes reading.” I tell him. He nods and takes notes on a separate piece of paper.

“Would you like it if we brought you those things into the ward? With the understanding of course that if other patients show up you will have to share those things and none of these things can go into your room for safety reasons. Are those conditions okay with you?” He asks me. I nod with a smile on my face, I guess he cares at least a little bit about my well-being. “Good. I will call in for it by the end of the week.” He says before closing his folder and looking up at me.

“Umm, you still haven’t told me where I am.” I tell him. He nods and sighs before sitting up and linking his fingers under his chin and looking right into my eyes.

“You are at the Greenborough Asylum.” He tells me. I nod slowly finally putting pieces together in my mind. My parents thought I was insane and dropped me here and now I’m going to be living in this dump for the rest of my life, however long that is. I feel tears stinging at my eyes again. The doctor sighs and grabs a wooden box and places it in front of me.

“What is that?” I ask in a stuffy voice. He smiles.

“It’s just a metronome. It will help you to relax. Just watch the mirror.” He tells me as he clicks the top of the box open and then pulls a little stick out of the middle of it. He pulls it to one side and then lets it go. My eyes instantly start following the small mirror on the top of it. I see my reflection but also a man standing behind me with a smirk on his face and then I let my eyes droop shut.

roup,�IX2-x�

Next Chapter: The Bookworm