Chapter 13：A Deal With The Devil

I try to grow accustomed to Lee's glances, but they're driving me crazy. All the way home I wanted to scream at him to keep his eyes on the road.

Ann had picked out some clothes based on my preferences so that I could leave the mall asap. It was obvious that the guilt of my sudden confession weighed me down, but I tried to not let it get to me. The amount of perspiration coating my face and limbs made my discomfort evident no matter how hard I tried to brush all of these things off.

Once more Ann held my hand in the car, ignoring my buckets of sweat.

If that wasn't enough, I got an alert on my phone the moment I left the car for the house. It was one that cemented my irresponsible escape from reality. I needed this the least.

Lee noticed how pale I'd grown and tried to get a response from me. I was desperate to respond, but too far gone. My body felt entirely numb. White lights bounced and combined in my vision to the point of nausea, turning the world white then black in an instant.

~~~

I slowly regain the ability to open my eyes fully, to find myself sunk in my bed. My neck ached too much to move, and it was hard to see in the darkness, but I felt cotton pjs cloaking me.

If I was with it enough I'd question who bathed and dressed me, but it didn't bother me at all.

The moments leading up to blacking out filtered through my brain. I was reminded of the mounting stress, then the email I received. It stated quite clearly that if I skipped the next mandatory orientation my acceptance to college would be revoked. Years of hard work crashed around me, shattering whatever semblance of pride I owned.

Tears ran down my face until a monotonous beep I barely registered earlier picked up. I recalled the sound my grand-mere's heart attack while hooked up to a monitor. The sound increased until the air was shattered by my screams.

The door flew open as Lee, a concerned looking woman, and several doctors rushed through the door. They scrambled for a strange vial, which I barely registered them calling a tranquilizer.

My world became dark once more.

~*~

After Jen's last outburst I was at my wits end. The bizarre and colorful girl looked like a corpse, a shadow of the person who screamed the lyrics to Sweet Caroline not that long ago. The girl who got in my face and grinned like nothing was wrong with the world when I found her painting.

What on Earth happened?

Ann approached me, looking oddly calm, yet worried all at once. She said nothing since Jen became ill, only calling our mother and speaking in a hushed tone. The wise woman who's cheerful eyes dimmed shook her head at him sadly.

"I think I know what's wrong."

"What?!"

"Hush child, I didn't give birth to you for back talk. To answer your question, she seems to have PTSD. Annchi explained the girl's situation. I believe it's in everyone's best interest to let her settle down first. We can't keep sedating her in hopes that it'll solve everything."

"Now how are you going to make up for keeping this pretty girl's presence a secret?"