Free Insanity by Lauren Hammond

normal.
    The walls have stopped vibrating.
    Bright light burns in my eyes and I focus on the tan walls for a second, waiting for the tiny white spots in my vision to fade. The screams that disappeared a minute ago still throb in my ears. This place doesn’t seem like the type of place where people are sent to get better anymore. I mean it never really did seem that way, but part of me had hope that no matter what negative rumors I’d heard, I’d make up my own mind on Oak Hill, and form my own opinion of it later.
    My opinion of the institution now…
    This place does not help people.
    It is a fabrication that entices people from the outside with its rose bushes, lush landscaping, massive red-brick building, and fake friendly staff.
    This place is not a medical institution.
    This place is a slaughterhouse.
    And just like pigs, people are brought here to die.
    My eyes bounce between the girls in the room and theirs do the same. The quiet wraps around me like a blanket and comforts me or at least I’m trying to reason with myself that it should feel that way. Yes, Addy, I tell myself. The quiet equals no torture, no pain. The quiet equals peace.
    As eight eyes continue to dart around the room and land on one of four different faces, I come to the conclusion that no one knows what to do or what to say. Mainly I think it’s because nobody wants to ask that major question—the question I know that we’re all thinking. The one looming in the back of all of our minds…
    Just who did they take down to the basement today?

Chapter 9
    ~AFTER~
    After supper, which consisted of rubbery meatloaf, a wax-like colorful vegetable medley, and a piece of stale bread, I retreat back to the rec room and stand at the window. The sun is setting now and the sky is splashed with darkened oranges, yellows, and browns. There is no one outside anymore and I keep my eyes glued to the ground, watching as the wind tosses up dead leaves and spins them around in tiny cyclones before depositing them back on the ground.
    For some reason, focusing on the skyline reminds me of summer.
    And Damien.
    We both used to sneak away from our houses at sundown. Daddy would be passed out by then and his parents were wealthy and donated a bunch of money to different charities so they always had some elaborate party to go to. In the summers they had one every night. Even on the weekdays.
    His deep husky laugh sounds off in my mind and I revel in it. I close my eyes and he’s chasing me through the field. You know I’m going to catch you, Addy! His voice carries on the wind and as the wind tousles my hair Damien’s voice caresses my earlobe.
    I laugh and pump my legs harder, zig-zagging through the long, swaying grass, willing myself to go faster. Ha! You’ll never catch me, Damien Allen! I shout back.
    His footsteps thunder in my ears and I can feel him coming up on me. Before I know it his hands are wrapped around my waist and we’re crashing to the ground, laughing so hard we can’t breathe.
    A lonely tear escapes from my eye and I wipe it away quickly when I open them. I miss him so much that since yesterday my heart has felt like a towering inferno and there isn’t any water or a fire extinguisher around to put it out.
    The tips of my fingers graze against the glass window. It feels cold. Distant. Startling. I’m perplexed because Damien knows I know he’s here. Why hasn’t he come looking for me again? I relax when I think of the consequences. What would they do to him if they saw us together? An orderly and a patient who the staff thinks is insane? He’d probably be fired and God only knows what would happen to me.
    I’d probably be given electroshock therapy or worse.
    No… Having Damien here is too precious. Too magnificent. Too amazing.
    And I’m not willing to risk giving it up.
    Taking one last look at the sky, I turn to go to my room when I feel a pair of hands sliding up my back. At first, I tense up because I’m terrified of who might be