Free Possession by Catrina Burgess

padded room. Maybe
restraints. I wanted no part of it.
    We turned a corner, slowly, as Mildred peeked
around to make sure the coast was clear.
    We’d barely cleared the corner when I heard loud
footsteps behind us. I grabbed Mildred’s shoulder, spinning her around and
gesturing wildly behind me.
    She grabbed my arm, pulling me quickly down the
hallway and around another corner to a closed door. She took out her keys, found
the master key, opened the door, and shoved me inside before stepping in and
then gently closing the door behind her.
    We stood in the dark of what appeared to be a janitor’s
closet, huddled together. I could see the light from the hallway peeking under
the door. The footsteps got louder. Heavy boots hit the floor. A large shadow
passed by, blocking out the light for a moment. I held my breath.
    No one came in. The person kept moving.
    I let my breath out in a loud gush. Relief flooded
through me. I put my hand on the knob and Mildred smacked it back. Before I
could ask what she was doing, she reached up and put her finger up to my lips. Then
I heard it—more boots. Heavier thumping. A bigger shadow passed by this
time.
    Mildred whispered in my ear. “They always travel
in pairs at night.”
    Minutes passed by. When I didn’t think I could
take being cooped up in the dark, small space any longer, Mildred turned the
handle and opened the door. The hallway light spilled into the closet.
    She gestured with her hand. “Come, child, we have
to sprint the rest of the way. They’ll be back before long.”
    For a woman her age, she was surprisingly fast. I
had a hard time keeping up with her as we raced down the hall and then down
some stairs. My newly returned memories gave me at least a general idea of where
we were and where we were going, but it still seemed like the old building was
trying to trap us. Hallways that I could have sworn would take us back to our
rooms dead-ended in dark walls. Pathways I didn’t recognize appeared in areas where
I remembered none existing before. When faced with one of these, Mildred would
shake her head and mumble to herself for a second before jogging on with a
surety I didn’t share. To my surprise, we suddenly found ourselves in front of
my room.
    “Here we are, safe and sound. I doubt they’ll come
this far tonight. I smelled coffee brewing when I passed the cafeteria
earlier.” She patted my arm. “Get some sleep. Nighty night. Don’t let the
bedbugs bite.”
    I stood there in the doorway, watching her walk
away. Don’t let the bedbugs bite. It
was something my brother James used to say to me when we were both kids. A sob
escaped my mouth. James . I raised a
trembling hand to my head as the memory came rushing back, fresh as ever. My
brother was worse than lost to me.
    A demon had taken his soul.
    A demon I had freed.
     
    * * *
     
    Morning came too soon. Caroline, a young nurse, only a few
years older than me, woke me and told me she was there to escort me to
breakfast. I got ready and followed her out of the room. Apparently I was going
to have a personal escort with me wherever I went. I wondered for how long.
They left most of the areas around the asylum unlocked during the day,
especially the well-traveled paths. It was only at night that the place went
into lockdown. They packed our schedules, but we were free to move from place
to place on our own in the daytime—at least, those of us not considered
violent. The staff escorted some of the more erratic patients for their own
safety and the safety of others.
    And now they considered me one of the more violent
and erratic ones, thanks to Morgana.
    We pushed through the cafeteria doors, and as
usual, the place was packed. I saw a nurse feeding Dean on the other side of
the room. I spotted the nervous reader, Andrew, at one of the tables, shifting
his milk carton back and forth across his tray. I grabbed a red tray and stood
in line. When it was my turn, I dutifully passed it to the women serving