chapter 24
She gaped in horror as the dead swarmed in through the walls, surrounding her, clawing at her, laughing loudly as they mocked her for being a scared little girl. "Scared, little girl," They mocked. "Scared little girl."
"Leave me be!" Alison screamed, terrified as they threw her against the wall. She watched in horror as her body lifted from the floor and was tossed from one side of the room to the other. From the doctor's perspective she looked like she was trying to hurt herself and ramming her body against the walls.
Alison knew then what it felt like to be truly unhappy. She had been taken to the mental institution against her will and now she was surrounded by ghosts and hearing their terrible voices in her head.
She screamed again, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to make them go away but nothing worked. She was terrified and she couldn't take it. Why oh why did she have this happen to her. What in the world did she do to deserve the unnerving ability to see the dead.
And most of all, what if she really was crazy. WHat if she was wrong about everything. What if Linda had in fact not been killed by the monster as the doctors claimed and had really just been hit by a car. What she wasn't seeing ghosts but figments of her imagination. The what ifs of the world plagued her and drove her mad. What in the world could she do to make the what if's go away.
And if she hadn't been mad before. What if the experience drove her mad tomorrow. What then? Was she going to lose her mind? Was she going to join the insane in being purely delusional and crazy. How in the world was she supposed to protect her brain.
From the hallways, she could hear the other patients howling and screaming themselves. SOmething else that was frightening enough to drive a woman mad. It was all too much to take in. But take it all in was all she could do.