Night of the Hunter

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*Jared's P.O.V.*

It was just another typical day. Got up, ate breakfast, showered, went to group therapy, spent time with the others, had dinner, and prepared for bed. There rarely was any type of change in the days. It was so repetitive, I swore, I didn't know what day of the week it was anymore. It was basically like living the same day, over, and over. Nothing changed. Until tonight, of course. Something was about to happen. It was as though I could sense it, or feel it in my blood. A frantic commotion began, staff members rushing about, telling us to get to our rooms. I stalled for as long as I possibly could before security escorted me to my room, locking me in. What the fuck was going on? I stayed near my door, attempting to listen to what was going on on the other side. Moments later, I could hear someone screaming, and more chaos ensued.

"Dr. Williams, we need you in the emergency room", the P.A. announced.

Was somebody dying? Did somebody attempt suicide again in here? Once more I heard screams. My hands clutched the door handle as I closed my eyes, as if I was preventing anything from coming in. I could hear people rushing by my door, so I listened closely.

"They just brought him in. He had..", but the voices strayed away before I heard any of the details.

Someone new? Opening my eyes, I backed away from the door, releasing my hands from the handle and going to my bed. As I sat down on the thin mattress, my eyes focused on the bed next to mine.. The tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about my former roommate. The awful events that happened that day replayed in my head endlessly since it happened. And I felt partially to blame..

* * *

* * * "I had another one of those awful dreams..", Jensen explained as we sat in our room after being woken up.

I could tell he hardly slept though because of the bags under his eyes.

"About.. him?", I asked.

He just nodded. I knew exactly who he was talking about because I had nightmares of the same man, if you could call him that.

"I can't take it anymore.. I don't think I can survive another night of this.. He's getting too strong", Jensen continued.

"You can fight him. The only way he's going to get stronger is if you allow him to. You know you can defeat him. We both can", I encouraged.

"No, not if nobody believes us. They all think we're crazy", he motioned, pointing towards the open door, and implying the staff in that.

"Adam doesn't think we're crazy. Neither does Elijah, or Jay, or Carlton..", I spoke.

"I don't mean them. I know they believe us. But the staff? They think it's some fucked up illusion we are all having. That it's just some form of guilt we are facing", he added.

"That's because they haven't experienced what we have. They haven't seen what we've seen. But as long as we stick together, we can make it through this", I replied.

"Wake up already Jared! Look where the fuck we are! Do you really believe any of us will get out alive?!", he questioned, raising his tone of voice.

"Jensen, you don't understand".

"No, I understand just fine. We're in a fucking mental institution, and none of us are getting out of here. Not before he kills us", he shot, getting up and leaving the room. * * *

* * *

Everything was still so fresh in my mind, as if it just happened yesterday. The tears fell from my eyes as I now found myself laying on Jensen's bed, sobbing against his pillow.

* * *

* * * "I need to use the bathroom", Jensen spoke during our group break.

"Five minutes", Dr. Williams noted.

Jensen nodded, and left the room as I sat there with Adam.

"Is he alright?", Adam asked, making note of Jensen's strange behavior.

Adam's bright blue eyes looked dull, and he had bags under his eyes as well now. His jet black hair laid flat in a mess slightly, and he just looked rugged.

"He had another nightmare last night", I answered.

"Well, at least he survived. He should be thankful. Not everyone makes it out", he responded.

And he was right. We had already lost three people to what was being experienced. Six minutes had passed and Jensen hadn't returned.

"Jensen hasn't returned yet", I noted to Dr. Williams.

"I'll send Dr. Dumas to check on him", Dr. Williams replied.

He went over to her, letting her know what was going on with the situation, and she promptly headed out of the room to find him. I waited patiently for him to return so that I could talk to him once group was done. I knew Jensen was pretty upset and pissed because the doctors once more didn't believe him about the nightmare he had. I could tell how frustrated he was, as was other members of the group. Seconds later, I heard a female scream, and I instantly thought the worst. Rushing out of the room, I refused to listen to anyone.

"Jared, come back here!", Dr. Williams ordered.

I didn't stop, there was no way I could. I spotted Dr. Dumas, kneeling outside of my bedroom door, her hands covering her mouth. Other staff members gathered around, going into the room. I pushed my way through, getting to the door way. And once I was there, I wished I had never looked. My eyes grew wide with shock, and horror. There was Jensen, hanging in the middle of the room by his neck, and what appeared to be yarn that was really doubled up to become a noose.

"No..", I cried.

"Jared, don't look at this", Dr. Williams spoke, covering my eyes and turning me away from the scene.

We walked through the crowd as people had gone in to cut Jensen down. Once we were away, my eyes were uncovered and I was instantly in tears.

"I can't believe he got him..", I cried.

"What are you talking about?", Dr. Williams asked.

"The man.. from our nightmares. He got Jensen", I answered.

"But Jensen wasn't asleep. Jared, he gave up. He took his own life, and way out", Dr. Williams responded.

"No, Jensen would never do that.. He was stronger than that", I retorted.

"Jared, you have to stop blaming your nightmares. They aren't real. Jensen committed suicide". * * *

* * *

When I awoke, I was still on Jensen's bed, and everything around me was silent. No more noise. No more commotion. No more screaming. Just silence. I sat up, looking around the now darkened room.. It wasn't dark when I had dozed off, and I couldn't add it up. I heard the door unlock, and it opened, squeaking as it swung open. The hallway was lit with red lights, and all I could think was that something happened. Putting my feet on the floor, I could feel a warm moisture beneath my flesh. Looking down, there was a trail of blood that led directly out in to the hallway. Something didn't seem right about this. Slowly walking out into the hallway, I looked around carefully. Nobody was around from the looks of it, and as I looked down at the floor, I realized there were bloody foot prints leading to the right. Following the foot prints, it led me to a doorway, in which the door was cracked open. Pushing it open, I stepped in, heading down the stairwell. Getting to the bottom, I looked around, realizing I was in the boiler room. Fuck. I was in his world. I was asleep. This was another nightmare. My heart pounded beneath my chest, and all I could think was that I was going to die tonight.

The sharp, piercing sounds of the knives scraping along the metal made me cringe, and I knew he was here. I was quick to rush back to the door, only to open it and find myself back in the mental hospital, but I wasn't alone.

"Jared.. Help me", a voice called from behind.

Turning around, Jensen was standing there, his wounded neck purely visible.

"Help me..", he repeated.

"This isn't real! You're not real!", I shouted, closing my eyes.

That's when I heard that very familiar, monstrous, echoing laugh. Opening my eyes, Jensen was now gone and replaced by that very man that haunted our dreams.

"You're never going to get me. NEVER", I shot, standing my ground.

"That's what your buddy said, but it looks like I won that battle", he laughed.

"No! Jensen was stronger than you, and so am I!", I retorted.

"Let's see just how strong you are", he snarled.

I began to run in the opposite direction, and I had a feeling he was following. Getting to my room, I slammed the door, holding the handle and closing my eyes.

"Someone wake me up.. Please someone wake me up", I whispered.

"Your days are over kid!", the voice growled from behind, and I could feel his claws tearing at my back.

I screamed as loud as I could as I felt the knives tearing my flesh on my back. Right then, an alarm wailed and I found myself sitting up and opening my eyes. I was on Jensen's bed and I was in the room again, but the light was on. I escaped. My back ached and I looked back at the mattress, only to see blood staining the white sheets. My door opened and two of the nurses came in. Seeing the blood, they were quick to take me to the emergency room, getting me cleaned up and bandaging my wounds.

"How did this happen?", the one nurse, Mrs. Summers asked, again.

"I already told you.. The man in my dreams", I shot, getting annoyed. "Why is it so hard for you people to believe?"

There was no answer.

"Would you like to talk to Dr. Williams?", nurse Summers asked.

"No.. I just need to sleep".

I didn't feel like playing their games. No one would believe me. Once I was cleaned and bandaged, I was sent back to my room. The blood stained sheets on Jensen's bed were gone now, and I made sure I laid in my bed this time. I feared the nightmares again, so I attempted to prolong sleeping for as long as possible. I didn't want to face him a second time tonight..

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