Free These Lying Eyes by Amanda A. Allen

expect to find Mina salivating over the corpse of a baby.
    The doc continued, “Seeing things. Things that are not there, that are not real. It’s very serious. Can we risk the chance that she’ll decide to follow one?”
    Follow one where, Mina wondered. And suddenly she was angry. Furious, with white-hot burning rage.
    And as she stood in the light that slanted through the Doc’s garden door, she was utterly certain she wasn’t crazy.
    She’d never been crazy.
    She was just a witch or a fae or whatever. She was one of that group of The Hidden from her stories and even though it seemed crazy to believe it; she was confident that she’d finally found the truth.
    The depth of her heart, the strength of her soul; her eyes…she was finally going to accept what they told her.
    “What,” Dr. Seal asked, “if she listens to the advice of one of her little…visions? There’s too much of a chance that she could escalate even further.”
    Mina’s eyes narrowed. When had she ever done that? Well, she’d done it all the time. But when had it ever been something that needed to be monitored, to be imprisoned over?
    With barely a pause, Dr. Seal continued, “For her safety, for the safety of your other children, Mina must get specialized help.”
    Magic words, Mina thought, the safety of your other children. I am screwed.
    “When would you want to move her?” Asked her dad, voice cracking.
    “As soon as possible—today really.”
    “Today?” gasped her mother. “Oh, Lucas, this is all my fault. I didn’t realize. I didn’t notice. Maybe if I’d seen, she wouldn’t be like this.”
    “No parent anticipates their child being…” Dr. Seal’s voice murmured.
    But, Mina didn’t stay to listen. As she tiptoed over the lush carpet, she filled in the thought in—berserk, bonkers, nuts, looney tunes…crazy.
    But it was the utter fury that sent her sidling through the glass doors leading down into the beautiful coastal garden. She’d read this book, Mina thought, and seen this movie. It never ended well for the crazy girl after they locked her up. Pretty soon white walls would be closing in. And the orderlies were always menacing.
    Carefully, Mina snuck open the door and ran to the garden wall. She’d have to move fast. It’s hard to get out of a little coastal town when everyone is hunting you. Especially if you’re on foot.
    Mina ran.
    She jogged away from the center of town and towards the national forest. Out of the garden, behind the shops, in the alleys the tourists didn’t visit, Mina raced through Ocean Haven faster than she thought possible. They’d bring the dogs once they realized she wasn’t skulking on the beach or getting a frozen yogurt. Ocean Haven wasn’t that big, so she didn’t have much time.
    Mina heard buzzing over her head. It sounded like a swarm of bees, but she knew that wasn’t what she’d see. With a quick glance, she counted the miniature bodies pacing her with the wings of butterflies, dragonflies, birds. At the head of their flock was Zizi. They egged her on; they warned her when to duck, to run, to hide. And, Mina listened like she hadn’t in years.
    At their cry, she darted into the alley near the library just as her Uncle Mike drove by in his old white truck. Crouching next to Grace’s SUV, sides heaving, with sprites covering the vehicle she waited for them to wave her clear of a group of off-season tourists.
    “Carousel Park, Mina.” Zizi said from her shoulder.
    “Now,” yelled the sprite on the SUV’s antenna. He was mottled shades of green with a shock of black hair.
    Mina didn’t pause or look as she plunged across the street and into the trees lining the park’s meadow.
    She dodged at one sprite’s command, paused behind a tree at another’s.
    “Go Mina,” the mottled sprite yelled, and with laboring lungs, Mina lunged over tree roots and bounced from trunk to trunk using them to propel her exhausted body away from whatever Dr. Seal had in