Sequel: For Better or Worse ›
Status: Complete. Thank you for reading. :)
For the Best
Psycho Lunatic
I ran across the street to Shannon’s house, the ambulances, police cars, and white vans bringing alarm to whatever was going on.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked her mom as I ran onto the lawn, not really caring what I said as police officers rushed into the house, paramedics following soon after.
“I’m not sure, I think it was the voices again but she attacked him.” She put a hand over her mouth, but I didn’t understand.
“Attacked who?!” I asked furiously.
“She attacked that boy that was coming over today. I-I think his name was Jason. He came over to help with some project and-”
“GET HER OFF OF ME!” I heard someone else yell, but it didn’t sound like the guy she had over, I think she said his name was Jake, the last time we talked. I watched as after a second, two big men in white clothing carried her out, but she kicked and screamed, telling people that weren’t there to shut up and leave her alone. She kicked one guy in the crotch, then hit the other in the face, and they dropped her. She looked around for a second with a crazed look in her eyes, then spotted me and ran straight for me, and her mother got out of the way as she tackled me to the ground. I couldn’t fight back as she grabbed onto my collar. I was literally petrified in fear at what my friend had become.
“They won’t stop, Saylee! They won’t stop! Make them shut up! Please, make them shut up before they-” Her voice suddenly stopped and got deeper. “Before I kill you.” She growled, grinning at me before she brought her hand around to her back, then brought it back into my view, and I shook my head.
“No, no, don’t. Shannon, it’s me you’d never hurt me, would you?” Of course she would. This wasn’t Shannon. I didn’t look at her, instead my eyes were locked on the silver blade of the knife, thinly coated with a red film.
“I’m sorry.” She looked at me sympathetically for a second, the old Shannon flickering in her mind, and giving me just a sliver of hope that she wouldn’t bring that knife down into my neck. “But you gotta die sometime!” She grinned, and in one swift movement swiped the knife down just as the police pulled her off of me, allowing the knife to miss my neck by a few inches and slam into my shoulder, going all the way through and pinning me to the ground. I let my head look over at the knife, and then refocus on Shannon as they tried to handcuff her, kicking and punching, crying and begging them to kill her, all the while screaming apologies that I could barely hear as I slowly faded unconscious.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
That day, October 24th 2009, was a day that I would never forget. The scar on my right shoulder was more than just a scar to me, it was a goodbye from Shannon, it was a memory that I’d never be able to forget, and it was something that I’d have to keep with me for the rest of my life. Shannon changed that day. She had been showing signs of Auditory Hallucinations for a few years, but I never thought much of it, I just thought she was fucking around. But she wasn’t. Whenever her voice would get low, and she suddenly stare at me for ten and twenty minutes at a time, an evil look on her face, she wasn’t trying to scare me, she was planning out my murder. But that wasn’t the Shannon I knew, that wasn’t her at all. That wasn’t my best friend; that was one of the voices in her head that had staked its claim on her sanity. Jake was okay, thankfully. The paramedics got to him just in time. To my surprise, he even visits her about once a month in the psychiatric hospital. The asylum had in a way, become a second home to me. I visited Shannon every day, because I knew that two years ago, she didn’t mean to hurt me, but she didn’t have control over her actions. I forgave her, though it took a good year and a half. I was hard to forgive, but even harder to forget. I had become very good friends with two of the guys at the hospital, Jimmy and Matt. They were best friends, and two of the sweetest guys you could possibly come across in a place like this. Though, they weren’t patients, they were security guards. Shannon used to have a huge crush on Jimmy, despite the four year age difference, since he was twenty three and she was eighteen, and I had to admit, I liked Matt. So during the time Shannon was in here, she grew close to Jimmy, but he only thought of her as a friend, and during my visits to Shannon, I had become close to Matt. Very close. I liked him, and in my mind, I liked to believe that he liked me as more of a friend too. But I didn’t have a chance with someone like him. Not to mention the gap between our ages. I was sixteen, and he was twenty five. That gap was what made me think we could never happen.
“Hey, sorry to rush, but it’s seven. You know what that means.” I heard Matt’s voice from the door, and I looked up at him before standing from Shannon’s bed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” She asked, and I nodded.
“Yep, I’ll be here bright and early.” I smiled and she nodded. “Don’t beat up on the guards too much.” I said jokingly as I walked to the door, hearing her laugh behind me. I walked out, and Matt closed her door back and locked it. I sighed as I watched him lock what Shannon had called a cage.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Matt.” I said, and started walking away.
“Wait!” He called after me, and caught up, walking beside me. “Have you heard about Jimmy?” He asked and I looked over at him as we kept walking slowly.
“No, what about him?” I asked and Matt sighed.
“He finally lost it.” He said, sounding kind of sad.
“What does that mean?” I asked and he shook his head.
“Multiple personality disorder, and schizophrenia. He also threatened to kill a nurse because he needed Lasik.”
“Never saw that one coming.” I said sarcastically and he let a chuckle past his lips.
“I know right, I can’t believe it’s taken this long for him to completely go insane.” He said, and I nodded.
“Yea, it took a while for Shannon to completely lose it too.” I said, and he sighed.
“It’s such a shame she’s in here. She seems like a pretty normal girl. You know, besides the whole, ‘captured by insanity’ thing.” He said and I nodded, wondering if he liked her. He sounded very thoughtful when he said that.
“Do you like Shannon?” I asked as we reached the door at the end of the hall.
“No, why?” He answered quickly, sounding slightly defensive. I got in front of him, blocking the exit.
“You sounded really thoughtful when you said that, is all.” I said and he shook his head.
“Well she’s a wonderful friend, but I don’t like her as nothing more than a friend.” He said, and I nodded.
“Do you like anyone else?” Stop it Saylee! Stop it now before he starts to think you’re some deranged lunatic, or an escapee from a nearby institution
“No, I don’t, why were you wondering? Do you like someone?” If I answered that truthfully it might run him off.
“Not really, but-” He cut me off.
“Do you…do you like me?” The tone of his voice softened, and I looked into his eyes for a second, seeming as if to look into a window to his world before he smiled slightly and leaned in towards me, and my mind began to race, wanting the moment to happen, but also not wanting it to, because I knew my parents would never agree to the near nine year age difference between us if we ever started anything. Just as his lips grazed mine, a scream erupted at top volume from my back pocket, and we both jumped away from each other, me slamming my body into the door and him nearly falling over. I didn’t answer my phone, instead I let it continue screaming as I stared into his eyes.
“I uh…I…I gotta go.” My words came out in a jumbled mess as I turned and ran out the door, grabbing my phone from my pocket, and brought it to my ear. “W-wha…” I had to get myself together. “What do you want, dumbass?”
“Me and your mom are waiting for you at home, where are you?” My dad asked, and I sighed.
“I’m on-on my way.” I was shaken, and didn’t give him enough time to answer before I hung up. I walked outside, and started my journey towards home, thinking of what could’ve happened if Matt had actually kissed me. In a way, even though I hated thinking of that retard like this, but my dad saved me right there. But he also interrupted a moment that I wanted to happen.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Matt’s POV*^
I just stood in the hallway, shocked at what I was about to do just then. God, that could have turned out very bad. She doesn’t like me, she has no interest in me and I nearly kissed her. I did like her, and she likes me, but not the way I want her to. She thinks of me as a friend, and I wish so badly that she would maybe think of me as something more than that one day, but that will never happen. She’s too young for me. Isn’t she?
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Shannon’s POV*^
I got down on my knees, and crawled under my bed to the vent that connected my room to the room next to mine. Jimmy had been moved in there two days ago.
“Jimmy. Jimmy, are you there?” I asked, hoping he would answer.
“No, I moved to Alaska.” He said after a second and I smiled. I had talked to him for the past few days. I don’t think Matt really cared, hell, he didn’t even know.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked, and he scoffed.
“Oh, nothing much, just put dinner in the imaginary oven a second ago now I’m watching Fear Factor on the imaginary TV.” He said, his voice filled with humor, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s nothing to do in here!” He groaned.
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“I swear, if I knew how boring it was in here, I would’ve let you go.” He said, and I laid down on my stomach in the cold floor.
“Why just me?” I asked curiously.
“Because you don’t seem that crazy to me. If it weren’t for the whole deal a couple of years ago, then no one would ever know anything was wrong with you.” He said and I felt my heart wretch at the memory. One memory I couldn’t get out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. The day I nearly killed a guy that I had started to fall in love with, and my friend. Saylee still had the scar, though she kept it covered up well. In a way, I thought she only kept it covered up so I couldn’t see; so I wouldn’t see. Just in case it would pull some kind of trigger in my mind, and make me go off, but each time I thought about it, I went berserk. That’s why Matt and two other guards were rushing into my room, a nurse right behind them as I tried to fight. I lost control again, the other half of my mind, and my partly sane half screaming and yelling, trying to win over full control. Though the apologies I yelled, the demands and threats I screamed at Matt and the two other men, they all meant nothing, because I knew that deep down, Saylee would never forgive me for what I did to her, even though she tried, and this other voice inside of my head would never let go of me and leave me alone. That side will always be with me, desperate to rip my life apart. Sometimes, I couldn’t help but let it.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked her mom as I ran onto the lawn, not really caring what I said as police officers rushed into the house, paramedics following soon after.
“I’m not sure, I think it was the voices again but she attacked him.” She put a hand over her mouth, but I didn’t understand.
“Attacked who?!” I asked furiously.
“She attacked that boy that was coming over today. I-I think his name was Jason. He came over to help with some project and-”
“GET HER OFF OF ME!” I heard someone else yell, but it didn’t sound like the guy she had over, I think she said his name was Jake, the last time we talked. I watched as after a second, two big men in white clothing carried her out, but she kicked and screamed, telling people that weren’t there to shut up and leave her alone. She kicked one guy in the crotch, then hit the other in the face, and they dropped her. She looked around for a second with a crazed look in her eyes, then spotted me and ran straight for me, and her mother got out of the way as she tackled me to the ground. I couldn’t fight back as she grabbed onto my collar. I was literally petrified in fear at what my friend had become.
“They won’t stop, Saylee! They won’t stop! Make them shut up! Please, make them shut up before they-” Her voice suddenly stopped and got deeper. “Before I kill you.” She growled, grinning at me before she brought her hand around to her back, then brought it back into my view, and I shook my head.
“No, no, don’t. Shannon, it’s me you’d never hurt me, would you?” Of course she would. This wasn’t Shannon. I didn’t look at her, instead my eyes were locked on the silver blade of the knife, thinly coated with a red film.
“I’m sorry.” She looked at me sympathetically for a second, the old Shannon flickering in her mind, and giving me just a sliver of hope that she wouldn’t bring that knife down into my neck. “But you gotta die sometime!” She grinned, and in one swift movement swiped the knife down just as the police pulled her off of me, allowing the knife to miss my neck by a few inches and slam into my shoulder, going all the way through and pinning me to the ground. I let my head look over at the knife, and then refocus on Shannon as they tried to handcuff her, kicking and punching, crying and begging them to kill her, all the while screaming apologies that I could barely hear as I slowly faded unconscious.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
That day, October 24th 2009, was a day that I would never forget. The scar on my right shoulder was more than just a scar to me, it was a goodbye from Shannon, it was a memory that I’d never be able to forget, and it was something that I’d have to keep with me for the rest of my life. Shannon changed that day. She had been showing signs of Auditory Hallucinations for a few years, but I never thought much of it, I just thought she was fucking around. But she wasn’t. Whenever her voice would get low, and she suddenly stare at me for ten and twenty minutes at a time, an evil look on her face, she wasn’t trying to scare me, she was planning out my murder. But that wasn’t the Shannon I knew, that wasn’t her at all. That wasn’t my best friend; that was one of the voices in her head that had staked its claim on her sanity. Jake was okay, thankfully. The paramedics got to him just in time. To my surprise, he even visits her about once a month in the psychiatric hospital. The asylum had in a way, become a second home to me. I visited Shannon every day, because I knew that two years ago, she didn’t mean to hurt me, but she didn’t have control over her actions. I forgave her, though it took a good year and a half. I was hard to forgive, but even harder to forget. I had become very good friends with two of the guys at the hospital, Jimmy and Matt. They were best friends, and two of the sweetest guys you could possibly come across in a place like this. Though, they weren’t patients, they were security guards. Shannon used to have a huge crush on Jimmy, despite the four year age difference, since he was twenty three and she was eighteen, and I had to admit, I liked Matt. So during the time Shannon was in here, she grew close to Jimmy, but he only thought of her as a friend, and during my visits to Shannon, I had become close to Matt. Very close. I liked him, and in my mind, I liked to believe that he liked me as more of a friend too. But I didn’t have a chance with someone like him. Not to mention the gap between our ages. I was sixteen, and he was twenty five. That gap was what made me think we could never happen.
“Hey, sorry to rush, but it’s seven. You know what that means.” I heard Matt’s voice from the door, and I looked up at him before standing from Shannon’s bed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” She asked, and I nodded.
“Yep, I’ll be here bright and early.” I smiled and she nodded. “Don’t beat up on the guards too much.” I said jokingly as I walked to the door, hearing her laugh behind me. I walked out, and Matt closed her door back and locked it. I sighed as I watched him lock what Shannon had called a cage.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Matt.” I said, and started walking away.
“Wait!” He called after me, and caught up, walking beside me. “Have you heard about Jimmy?” He asked and I looked over at him as we kept walking slowly.
“No, what about him?” I asked and Matt sighed.
“He finally lost it.” He said, sounding kind of sad.
“What does that mean?” I asked and he shook his head.
“Multiple personality disorder, and schizophrenia. He also threatened to kill a nurse because he needed Lasik.”
“Never saw that one coming.” I said sarcastically and he let a chuckle past his lips.
“I know right, I can’t believe it’s taken this long for him to completely go insane.” He said, and I nodded.
“Yea, it took a while for Shannon to completely lose it too.” I said, and he sighed.
“It’s such a shame she’s in here. She seems like a pretty normal girl. You know, besides the whole, ‘captured by insanity’ thing.” He said and I nodded, wondering if he liked her. He sounded very thoughtful when he said that.
“Do you like Shannon?” I asked as we reached the door at the end of the hall.
“No, why?” He answered quickly, sounding slightly defensive. I got in front of him, blocking the exit.
“You sounded really thoughtful when you said that, is all.” I said and he shook his head.
“Well she’s a wonderful friend, but I don’t like her as nothing more than a friend.” He said, and I nodded.
“Do you like anyone else?” Stop it Saylee! Stop it now before he starts to think you’re some deranged lunatic, or an escapee from a nearby institution
“No, I don’t, why were you wondering? Do you like someone?” If I answered that truthfully it might run him off.
“Not really, but-” He cut me off.
“Do you…do you like me?” The tone of his voice softened, and I looked into his eyes for a second, seeming as if to look into a window to his world before he smiled slightly and leaned in towards me, and my mind began to race, wanting the moment to happen, but also not wanting it to, because I knew my parents would never agree to the near nine year age difference between us if we ever started anything. Just as his lips grazed mine, a scream erupted at top volume from my back pocket, and we both jumped away from each other, me slamming my body into the door and him nearly falling over. I didn’t answer my phone, instead I let it continue screaming as I stared into his eyes.
“I uh…I…I gotta go.” My words came out in a jumbled mess as I turned and ran out the door, grabbing my phone from my pocket, and brought it to my ear. “W-wha…” I had to get myself together. “What do you want, dumbass?”
“Me and your mom are waiting for you at home, where are you?” My dad asked, and I sighed.
“I’m on-on my way.” I was shaken, and didn’t give him enough time to answer before I hung up. I walked outside, and started my journey towards home, thinking of what could’ve happened if Matt had actually kissed me. In a way, even though I hated thinking of that retard like this, but my dad saved me right there. But he also interrupted a moment that I wanted to happen.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Matt’s POV*^
I just stood in the hallway, shocked at what I was about to do just then. God, that could have turned out very bad. She doesn’t like me, she has no interest in me and I nearly kissed her. I did like her, and she likes me, but not the way I want her to. She thinks of me as a friend, and I wish so badly that she would maybe think of me as something more than that one day, but that will never happen. She’s too young for me. Isn’t she?
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Shannon’s POV*^
I got down on my knees, and crawled under my bed to the vent that connected my room to the room next to mine. Jimmy had been moved in there two days ago.
“Jimmy. Jimmy, are you there?” I asked, hoping he would answer.
“No, I moved to Alaska.” He said after a second and I smiled. I had talked to him for the past few days. I don’t think Matt really cared, hell, he didn’t even know.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked, and he scoffed.
“Oh, nothing much, just put dinner in the imaginary oven a second ago now I’m watching Fear Factor on the imaginary TV.” He said, his voice filled with humor, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s nothing to do in here!” He groaned.
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“I swear, if I knew how boring it was in here, I would’ve let you go.” He said, and I laid down on my stomach in the cold floor.
“Why just me?” I asked curiously.
“Because you don’t seem that crazy to me. If it weren’t for the whole deal a couple of years ago, then no one would ever know anything was wrong with you.” He said and I felt my heart wretch at the memory. One memory I couldn’t get out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. The day I nearly killed a guy that I had started to fall in love with, and my friend. Saylee still had the scar, though she kept it covered up well. In a way, I thought she only kept it covered up so I couldn’t see; so I wouldn’t see. Just in case it would pull some kind of trigger in my mind, and make me go off, but each time I thought about it, I went berserk. That’s why Matt and two other guards were rushing into my room, a nurse right behind them as I tried to fight. I lost control again, the other half of my mind, and my partly sane half screaming and yelling, trying to win over full control. Though the apologies I yelled, the demands and threats I screamed at Matt and the two other men, they all meant nothing, because I knew that deep down, Saylee would never forgive me for what I did to her, even though she tried, and this other voice inside of my head would never let go of me and leave me alone. That side will always be with me, desperate to rip my life apart. Sometimes, I couldn’t help but let it.