What the fuck was he doing here? His head felt groggy and he didn’t recognise his surroundings; fear began to set in. He tried to wipe the sweat from his eyes but he couldn’t move his arms, it seemed they were bound with something; perhaps he was paralyzed? Had he been in an accident? Was this hospital?
He felt a pillow beneath his head and he rubbed his face against it, trying to clear his vision. Was that sweat in his eyes? Maybe tears, they both stung in the same way didn’t they. Had he lost someone? Had the hospital given him a sedative? Is that why he felt so sluggish? Why couldn’t he remember?
He tried to open his eyes again and the room came into focus. It wasn’t a room, it was a cell. Panicking now he calls out for someone to help him, to explain what the hell was going on; his strength gradually returning, he lifts himself from the narrow bed and lurches towards the steel door. He summons air to his lungs and screams in fear and frustration:
“Somebody tell me what the fuck is happening! What is this place? Why am I here?”
There’s no reply and he sinks down on the dank floor and starts to cry. What can he do? Does anyone know that he’s here? Maybe he can call someone but who? It’s then that the face of his brother pops into his head, John, he can call John, he’ll know what to do. Clambering upright he yells through the tiny opening in the door:
“If anyone can hear me, please, call John. Please! There must be someone there, I need to see my brother”
After a few interminable minutes he hears footsteps, someone’s coming……
“Alright Peter, calm down now” an older man with kind grey eyes speaks to him softly
“Who are you? What am I doing here? Let me out!”
“I’m sorry Peter but I can’t do that” there is sadness in the other man’s eyes but why..
“Then call my brother, call John, he’ll get me out, I know he will” he’s pleading now
“Peter, listen to me, John won’t be coming, not today”
“Nooo!” he screams at the man with the kind eyes and then bears his teeth at him in a vicious snarl
“You bastard, you can’t keep me here” he throws himself against the door, desperate to get at his captor
“Step away from the door Peter, I’m coming in” his voice is still soft but determined
Backing away, he wonders if he can make a bid for freedom and gets ready to run. His muscles tense as the door slowly opens to reveal the older man; he is flanked by two others, tall, powerful looking guys. They walk towards him with terrible purpose.
Peter looks around frantically but there is nowhere to run to. The brutish thugs grab hold of him, he can’t move. His eyes widen in terror as the kindly man walks slowly towards him, hesitantly now. He has something in his hand
“What’s that for? Get away from me? Who the fuck are you people?”
He tries to struggle free but he still can’t move his arms, he starts sobbing.
“Please……where’s John…………where’s my brother?”
He feels the needle as it’s drawn from his neck but that’s the last thing he feels. His legs give way and he sinks into oblivion. The two burly men pick him up and lay him gently on the bed. One of them is new to this place and asks
“What happened to this one?”
The doctor looked at him and said quietly
“He murdered his brother. When his brother was 5 and he was 11, he took him into the woods behind their parent’s home and beat him to death, he then took a knife and cut out his eyes and his tongue. No-one ever found out why”
“So who’s John? Another brother?” the orderly was curious
“No, it’s the same one. He’s been calling for him for 12 years now, every day, the same cries. He has regular therapy but no-one seems able to break through and he is incredibly violent, that’s why he’s kept in the straight jacket most of the time” the doctor’s voice was weary
“But John’s dead, he killed him, how can he not understand”
“Because sometimes, when we do something too terrible to comprehend our mind steps in to protect us. The memory is so awful that the mind has no choice but to repress it”
This was written in response to another daily word prompt from the highly entertaining and irrepressible Fandango; it would seem that I am hooked on this challenge, why not have a go and see if it hooks you too :O)
Lisa x
All About Life 