Status: Active

In This Lie With Us All

Hear me now

I couldn’t say anything when we entered the building. I knew where we were, I know why the people were there. But I didn’t know why someone like him would be in a place like this, not from what I heard. It made no sense.

We walked noiselessly through the white halls, where we were greeted by a doctor, who lead us further. People were staring at us as we walked, but it seemed like I was the only one who noticed.

“I’ve been here before...” I whispered.

We walked passed a lot of closed doors, which were blending in with the walls. Tom stood closest to me; he paused to let the others pass and gave me a confused look. I had explained to them that I just moved here, and that I never knew Magdeburg existed before then. Of course it was impossible for me to have been here before; it seemed stupid now that I thought about it. But this play just seemed to familiar to me.

I shook my head and continued walking, waiting for Tom to pass me.

“Then you know what to expect.” He mumbled, rejoining his friends.

A girl passed us. She was dressed like the most of us, normally, a black t-shirt and jeans, her brown hair covering one eye. But that’s where it stopped. Her mouth opened slightly when she looked at me, her eyes widening. It wouldn’t have scared me if I’d seen her anywhere else. But the emptiness in her black eyes made me feel her pain. She looked so fragile, but she had seen a lot. Her eyes told that story perfectly, she knew what life was about, and she still ended up in here.

It seemed like I had seen it all before. I must have been here, how else would I recognize their faces? I followed behind them slowly, looking around. When we passed most of the rooms in the hall, the doctor paused, opening the door second closest to the end of the hall. He entered, but the guys stopped. Tom held out a hand to stop me too.

They waited for the doctor’s assistant to walk in, and then walked into the next room. I was the last one to walk past the room, and I couldn’t help but glance inside, unlike the others. The room, from what I could see, was empty except for the doctor and assistant. It was strange.

The guys were already in the room in front of me, but I couldn’t see anything inside, it was pitch-black inside. He hovered slightly before entering, then took a deep breath. The room had five chairs in it, and a large window, allowing us to see the doctor who was in the room closest to the one we were in. It was only when I sat down that I saw that there was someone in the room whom I didn’t see earlier. I couldn’t see much of him, except that his long hair was hanging over his face.

A man in a white coat, which looked much like the doctor before him, closed the door. He never really noticed us; his eyes were on his clipboard as he peered over it with his glasses. The light in the next room was the only thing I could see, Tom, Georg and Gustav merely illuminated by it. They were looking at each other, but I found it hard to look away from the black haired man.

He sat in the corner, on a small white bed, hugging his knees to his chest as the man approached him. It looked like he was sleeping, and the man was about to awaken him.

The doctor next to me’s pen scratched noisily on the piece of paper, as if he was making notes. His head lifted wearily when the man placed a surprisingly gentle hand on him. He took the frail body into his arms, picked him up and carried him to the table closest to the window.

Once he was on the chair, he let his hair fall over his face again, covering his features completely. The faceless stranger had caught my attention completely, but I wanted to be in that room with him. I wanted to know why they were treating him this way, or what happened to him. Like so many people that were forced in here, he seemed like all he needed was someone to talk to.

Maybe I could be that someone.

In front of him was a chess board, for what reason I didn’t know. There was no one for him to play against. The doctor glanced down at him and nodded. I looked at Tom.

“Can they hear us?” I asked randomly.

His eyes seemed to be glued to the scene in front of him, as were Gustav and Georg’s. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, and rested my eyes on the man once again. He had now moved the chess piece and sat perfectly still, as if waiting for an opponent to make their move. I glanced at the doctor and his assistant, both of them watching the man as carefully as Tom, Georg and Gustav; they all seemed frozen as they concentrated on him and him alone.

I avoided the uncomfortable chill running down my spine and glanced back into the white room, at the table. I let out a sharp gasp as the black chess piece moved forward. I didn’t understand what was happening now, but he had an opponent he was playing against.

I hopped up slightly with shock and excitement, a humorless smile apprearing on my lips. The guys still hadn’t noticed my reaction; I doubted that they truly cared. I was just a stranger like them. But a stranger who they trusted with a secret almost no one knew. That must mean something? Yet, they ignored me now, as if something like that happened every day.

“Did you just see that!?”

I waited for a minute, I didn’t know whether I should get used to getting an answer. Maybe they thought they had already given me enough.

I sat down again, scowling. For a second, I forgot about why I got so excited in the first place, but remembered when I looked at the man. I couldn’t understand any of this. The only sound in the room was my breathing; it was like I was the only one doing it too. Gustav and Georg sat behind us; I tilted my head slightly, turning my ear towards them. I was almost sure they weren’t breathing.

I hardly got scared, but this was starting to make me feel uneasy. I didn’t want to speak again, but I turned. None of them were moving an inch, they weren’t blinking and now, I was sure they weren’t breathing. I starched out a hand, waving it in front of Tom’s face.

It was like they were dead. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t feel the same, mesmerized by it all. This was all so new to him. He didn’t know why it al happened to him on this day, he just wanted an explanation. Not see this man suffer in front of their eyes.

I stood up once again, walking to the glass. I wanted to be close to him, I wanted to see why they pulled me off the streets. I wanted to see his face; I wanted to see what he was like. But most of all, I wanted to see why I felt so connected to him.