Erroneous

My eyes start to open up again; everything looks blurry and even my body feels weak. Every little bit of strength I have makes me want to drift to sleep again. But if I want to get up, I’m just going to have to fight myself.

Lifting my neck, the strain on it feels really bad. Taking a few deep breaths, I lift an arm to rub my eyes. Although, all of my fingers feel like they’re stuck in place.

“What happened to me?”

Getting up from the bed, I see my legs shaking, as if they're made of jelly. Throbbing muscles begin to ache on my forehead; it makes me misstep. Falling against the barred windows, I put an arm on it to regain my balance.

Looking down, it appears I stepped on some type of red paint. Using a few fingers, I dab them on it and immediately smell the intoxicating fumes. Glancing my eyes to the top corner of the room beside the door, I wave my arms toward it.

“Can someone please help? My head is killing me and someone left paint here.”

Looking back, my footsteps left a trail of red footprints.

“Wait, didn’t I have socks on when I first woke up.”

All of my fingers and toes regain their ability to move again. However, the paint still remains below my foot. I begin to drag it across the floor, hoping all of it gets off. It kind of works, but something weird is found in between my big and second toe.

“What the?”

A red spot lays there, looking very similar to the ones I saw on my neck. Touching the old spots, they don’t hurt anymore, but the skin feels harder.

Going back to my foot, I carefully touch the new red spot. But an intense pain explodes from my skin.

“Ow!”

Falling to the floor, it begins to throb more and more. Breathing heavily, every part of that spot feels like it’s about to explode. Clenching my foot, something seems to poke out of the spot.

Spurt

I don’t know what’s happening, but yellow and blue liquid begins to flow out of me. Mixing in with the red, orange, green and purple are created. They begin to flow in random directions all over the floor, replacing the white walls all over the room.

It even begins to go around me and splatter on the door. My heartbeat and breathing grow as the room changes again.

Everything covered in paint starts to chip away, it falls to the ground like leaves. But behind the paint, everything has suddenly become old, worn and disgusting.

Numerous cracks are around the walls; the bed I slept in has become nasty as if it was from a junkyard.

“Someone! Please help!”

The room warps and stretches, my own breathing now echoing and bouncing off the walls. The paint stops oozing out from my foot, but web-like veins start appearing all over.

“Someone! Help!”

Closing my eyes, the ache on my forehead returns from earlier. Every pulse to it can be heard through my ears, along with my repeated breathing.

Slowly opening my eyelids, the room appears normal again. I turn my head repeatedly, as I look on the floor. All the paint has disappeared, even the red one I stepped in first.

“What is going on?” Muttering to myself.

Bzzzz

My door opens, as I hear a high-pitched tone coming from the hallway.

“Attention everyone, we apologize for the delay, but dinner is served. Please exit your rooms and go into one line for some shredded beef and potato.”

Following the order, I get up and step out into the hallway to see the other kids. Looking around, I see Itona ahead of the line. Everyone begins walking up slowly through the doors to enter the Common Area.

Step by step, I pass through the doors and see Itona getting her food. What catches my eyes is that there are more doctors and some guys dressed in dark uniforms. Looking at them, they had something at their waists, like a gun.

Getting my food, I find Itona sitting by a corner seat at the other side. Going to her, I see some kids eyeing and chattering about the guys dressed in all black, bringing in stares from the men.

“Hey Amaya.” My friend says.

“Such a relief to see you, Itona.”

“What’s wrong?”

Sitting down, I lean in closer and clear my throat.

“Listen, I had an evaluation and I knocked out. What’s weird is when I woke up, these weird visions started to happen like my room changing.” I softly whispered to Itona.

“What? Did you tell anyone about it?”

“No, the thing is I’m not sure if I can trust this place. I did get some answers about myself though.”

What I told Itona made her lean in more.

“What did you find out?”

“Okay, this place is called the Haruki Psychiatric Institution. I found out I’m from Osaka and this place is expensive and far away from anyone else. We’re not even allowed to phone our families.”

Itona takes a bite of her food, gulping it down uncomfortably.

“Okay, uh, this is weird.” Itona rubs her arm.

“What about you? Did you have an evaluation?”

Itona looks at me and shakes her head.

“No. Although, I’m prepared to ask about my past and anything about this place.”

“Is your throat better Itona? Your voice sounds way better.”

After asking. Itona gives me a confused look.

“Um, what do you mean?”

“Earlier, you told me how your throat was dry. You chugged down your drink like no tomorrow.”

Itona looks at the table for a glimpse before eyeing me.

“Amaya, I never complained about my throat. I remember us talking about this place but other than that, it was normal.”

My memories flooded back to me, Itona did complain about her throat but it’s as if she forgot about it.

“I don’t understand. Well, do you remember that crazy girl that lost her mind earlier?”

Itona looks back at me with another confused look.

“Who?”

“Some other kid here had lost their mind, and they sent us to our rooms to wait until dinner or if we were called for an evaluation.”

Scratching her head, Itona is still at a loss for words.

“I don't remember anything like that happening. Are you sure you’re fine Amaya?”

Getting nowhere, I rubbed my eyes.

“You know what, never mind. Let’s just eat.”

I take a bite of the food, tasting barely any flavor from the shredded beef. A boiled potato is set aside, along with a cup of water. Looking at my only friend, I can tell by her face the beef’s blandness is getting to her.

“If this place is supposed to help us, why can’t they improve the dumb food?”

Itona sets her tray aside as the other kids behind us chatter. I still don’t understand why this is happening to me, now I’m worried about Itona losing her mind. Why can’t she remember what happened today?