Page 12 of Burn For Me

I startled as a cool hand touched my arm, and I thought for a moment one of the ghosts from the room had finally reached me. Eyes snapping open, I looked at the hand and then into the red eyes and bruised face of Adalyn.

Her hands shook as she reached for the buckle holding my arm. Small sobs left her mouth as she got the strap undone. With my one hand free, I quickly pulled on the strap and undid my other arm before sitting up to do the same to the ones holding my ankles.

Finally free, I leaped from the bed and grabbed her discarded top, but it was torn down the middle. I walked over and pulled the top off the spare set of scrubs they had in the room for me and squatted down in front of Adalyn. Handprints lined her arms and her neck, and the dark bruises were a stark contrast on her skin. She had her arm across her chest, her body shivering as she stared at nothing.

I held up the shirt.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, unsure how to get it on her without touching her.

Those soft blue eyes found mine, and they held so much agony, but she lifted her arms slowly above her head. As gently as I could, I slipped the material over her head and then helped her sit on the edge of the bed to get her pants back up into position. I cupped her face, and this time she leaned into my touch. “I’m so sorry.”

She nodded and then yelped as the door clicked and banged open. Adalyn jumped and cried out as she tucked herself behind me. Her small arms wrapped around my waist, and I could feel her body shaking uncontrollably. This time Dr. Wallace was leading the charge and with him were six orderlies. The only one I recognized was the youngest one that had left the room.

This wasn’t happening again. If I had to break every one of their necks, I’d make sure they all died in this room before a single hair was hurt on her head again.

Dr. Wallace held up his hands like he was trying to ward off an animal, and maybe he was. I’d always felt more like an animal than a human. My soul was broken and stamped down into something that no longer fit into society.

“Easy Derek, we came to help,” Dr. Wallace said.

I pointed my finger at him.

“You did this. You sent those men in here to teach me a lesson, and they did this to her. You’ll pay for it as much as they will. I’ll make sure of it,” my voice was low and sinister, and I could see the men shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. I fixed each of them with a glare as I memorized their faces.

“Come on, Adalyn, let’s get you to the hospital,” Dr. Wallace said and held out his hand.

My body instantly went rigid and ready for the fight. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

Adalyn’s small hands slipped away from my body, and she stepped up to my side. I looked down at her and knew if she wanted to go, I’d let her. But in truth, I didn’t want her to leave my sight. I didn’t trust the doctor or a single word that came out of his mouth.

“I’ll go. This will only escalate if I don’t,” she said.

I searched her face, and all I saw was fear, but she was acting brave to save me from another round of beating and drugs.

“Don’t do this for me,” I whispered.

“I’m not.” She looked down, her hair covering the side of her face. “I need to see a doctor.”

“Okay, only if you feel safe going with them.”

She looked up at me again, and there was so much in her eyes that I couldn’t decipher. “I don’t know if I do, but I have to go,” she said so softly that I barely heard her before she stepped away from my arm. She limped over to Dr. Wallace, and at least he had the decency to look horrified by what happened.

As the procession left and the door closed, I was once more alone with the demons in my head. My hands balled into fists, my heart still pounding hard. They would all pay for what they had done. Every single person in this place would pay with the only thing that mattered—their life.

Unsurprisingly, over the next few days, I didn’t see Dr. Wallace, Jim, or the other two men that had hurt Adalyn. What tore at my heart was that I didn’t get to see her either. I didn’t hear her voice in the halls or see any sign of her with another patient as I was moved from one area to another for my daily activity or medication distribution. My hearing had been pushed out by a week, which I was happy about because it gave me more time to plan. I was the grim reaper walking the halls. Every face I passed was another hauntling just waiting to be made, and I was going to set them all free.

I’d made sure that I was uncharacteristically calm and made myself look near-catatonic with the trauma of what Jim and his friends had done. It took a week, but the first phase of my plan started to take shape. All those who worked around me were lulled into a false sense of security, so I used my time wisely. Cameras were a constant issue, but I quickly found ways and reasons to be in the areas where I needed to stash items. I’d gone so far as to stand in the corner of the men’s changing room and stare at the wall until two orderlies guided me back to my room.

I needed a fucking award for the acting job I’d been pulling off.

“Mr. West, please come in and sit down.” The orderly that had my arm moved me across the floor, and I waited until he gave me a push before I sat.

I focused on the exotic bird painting that was on the wall behind the doctor.

“Mr. West, can you hear me?” He waved his hand in the air, and I slowly moved my eyes from the wall to his face but stared at the silver streak in his hair. “Do you feel like talking about what happened?”

It was a baiting question, and I wasn’t falling for his shit.

“Mr. West, it concerns me that you’re acting like this. That is what you’re doing, isn’t it, acting?” I was tempted to say something sarcastic, a sentence on the tip of my tongue.