I think of him stalking the abandoned ward, taunting me about games and I want to retch.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I force the words out in a nonchalant way and fake a yawn. “’Cos I want to get back to sleep.”
Gethen backs away but he keeps his eyes on me until he turns around and walks away. Lacey shuts the door.
“Mares,” she says. “You’ve got dust on your forehead.”
Chapter Fourteen
“So Johnny is evil and so is Gethen?” she asks, hanging half out of her bed.
“I don’t know about Johnny. I think he lured me there so that Gethen could get me, but I don’t know how or why.”
“ Maybe Gethen can see ghosts, too,” she suggests. “Maybe they’re working together.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Johnny is a trickster. I think he’s playing some sort of game.”
Want to play my game ?
I shudder.
“What are we going to do?” Lacey says. “We have to do something. He killed Frankie.”
“We don’t know for sure. We don’t have any proof or anything.”
“What about the drugs he gives everyone every morning? They could be poison or anything,” she says.
“Don’t take the pills anymore.” It makes me sick to know he has that much power. We’ve trusted him to give us our medication every morning. We trust him to look after us. That’s the thing about hospitals, what I’ve always hated. We give up control of our life and hand it over to someone else. Most of the time it’s a good thing. We need these people and their expertise. But what if they don’t want to make us better? What then?
After a long conversation with Lacey , I shut my eyes and wait for sleep to come. Every time I try, I see Gethen. I hear his echoing voice. I have no proof that he killed Frankie, or those people, but know it deep down inside. Every instinct in my body screams it.
And what about Johnny? What did he mean when I asked him about the Things? He said they were nothing. Was it a lie, or was it something important. I shouldn’t believe a word he says. He’s probably been lying to me from the beginning, trying to spook me away from the deaths in the hospital.
I stumble into sleep , dreaming of spiders with human legs.
Lacey wakes me before breakfast. I shower with a churning stomach. Today I have to pretend that Gethen doesn’t scare the crap out of me. Did he notice the dust on my forehead? Does he know it was me?
Breakfast goes by in a blur. There isn’t a single yawning patient. Mo still isn’t back from the white room and I start to worry for him. If Gethen really did kill Frankie, there is nothing stopping him from taking out Mo next. If he’s not out by tonight I’ll have to go back up there. I’ll have to get into the white room and warn him. It’s the only way.
“Time for drugs,” Lacey says. The black eyeliner distracts from the dark shadows under her eyes. Only someone close to Lacey would see the difference in the way she jokes around this morning. It’s not her natural self. She’s forcing it. “Form an orderly queue, boys and girls. Step right up!”
I stay close to Lacey. The few bits of my breakfast I actually ate are whirling around my stomach like a washing machine. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to be near him.
“You’ll do fine. Just try not to sweat so much,” Lacey says.
I wipe my damp forehead with the sleeve of my jumper. With a jolt, I realise that it’s Mo’s hoodie I’m wearing. My heart pangs. I wish he was here. I wish I could tell him everything.
Lacey takes her pills without saying a word to Gethen. It’s my turn. My throat goes dry.
“Name,” he says.
“Mary Hades.” Somehow I don’t stutter.
As he hands me the cup a scream sounds in the corridor outside. I drop the pills and they tumble to the floor. Gethen smiles at me with yellow teeth. I back away and turn to the commotion outside. A woman is crying. She collapses to the floor as a doctor tries to soothe her.
“Another one,” Lacey
“Is there something I can help you with?” I force the words out in a nonchalant way and fake a yawn. “’Cos I want to get back to sleep.”
Gethen backs away but he keeps his eyes on me until he turns around and walks away. Lacey shuts the door.
“Mares,” she says. “You’ve got dust on your forehead.”
Chapter Fourteen
“So Johnny is evil and so is Gethen?” she asks, hanging half out of her bed.
“I don’t know about Johnny. I think he lured me there so that Gethen could get me, but I don’t know how or why.”
“ Maybe Gethen can see ghosts, too,” she suggests. “Maybe they’re working together.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Johnny is a trickster. I think he’s playing some sort of game.”
Want to play my game ?
I shudder.
“What are we going to do?” Lacey says. “We have to do something. He killed Frankie.”
“We don’t know for sure. We don’t have any proof or anything.”
“What about the drugs he gives everyone every morning? They could be poison or anything,” she says.
“Don’t take the pills anymore.” It makes me sick to know he has that much power. We’ve trusted him to give us our medication every morning. We trust him to look after us. That’s the thing about hospitals, what I’ve always hated. We give up control of our life and hand it over to someone else. Most of the time it’s a good thing. We need these people and their expertise. But what if they don’t want to make us better? What then?
After a long conversation with Lacey , I shut my eyes and wait for sleep to come. Every time I try, I see Gethen. I hear his echoing voice. I have no proof that he killed Frankie, or those people, but know it deep down inside. Every instinct in my body screams it.
And what about Johnny? What did he mean when I asked him about the Things? He said they were nothing. Was it a lie, or was it something important. I shouldn’t believe a word he says. He’s probably been lying to me from the beginning, trying to spook me away from the deaths in the hospital.
I stumble into sleep , dreaming of spiders with human legs.
Lacey wakes me before breakfast. I shower with a churning stomach. Today I have to pretend that Gethen doesn’t scare the crap out of me. Did he notice the dust on my forehead? Does he know it was me?
Breakfast goes by in a blur. There isn’t a single yawning patient. Mo still isn’t back from the white room and I start to worry for him. If Gethen really did kill Frankie, there is nothing stopping him from taking out Mo next. If he’s not out by tonight I’ll have to go back up there. I’ll have to get into the white room and warn him. It’s the only way.
“Time for drugs,” Lacey says. The black eyeliner distracts from the dark shadows under her eyes. Only someone close to Lacey would see the difference in the way she jokes around this morning. It’s not her natural self. She’s forcing it. “Form an orderly queue, boys and girls. Step right up!”
I stay close to Lacey. The few bits of my breakfast I actually ate are whirling around my stomach like a washing machine. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to be near him.
“You’ll do fine. Just try not to sweat so much,” Lacey says.
I wipe my damp forehead with the sleeve of my jumper. With a jolt, I realise that it’s Mo’s hoodie I’m wearing. My heart pangs. I wish he was here. I wish I could tell him everything.
Lacey takes her pills without saying a word to Gethen. It’s my turn. My throat goes dry.
“Name,” he says.
“Mary Hades.” Somehow I don’t stutter.
As he hands me the cup a scream sounds in the corridor outside. I drop the pills and they tumble to the floor. Gethen smiles at me with yellow teeth. I back away and turn to the commotion outside. A woman is crying. She collapses to the floor as a doctor tries to soothe her.
“Another one,” Lacey
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