Almost Easy

“You're doing so much better, Marina. I'm happy to tell you that with the way things are looking, with all the information you've been remembering, I may be able to call the police department and get a detective in so we can tell him what you know together. It's only been three months, this is great! I always knew you'd be able to make it through.” Rachael tells Marina, smiling widely at her.

“Thank you,” Marina smiles back, “I couldn't have done this without you, honestly. Does this mean I can go into the rec room now?” She asks, making Rachael laugh.

“Yes, you can. I'm taking all restrictions off of you.” Rachael informs the blond, standing up from her desk.

Marina stands as well, fixing her tee shirt. She accepts a huge hug before being led out, saying goodbye to the orderly that brought her over. Finally, after two months of solitude, Marina found just what Rachael wanted to hear. She told Rachael about the time she first recognized her abilities. That when Marina woke up naked and alone in that field, she felt different and soon she controlled everyone around her. Those few details made Rachael beam with happiness. Now Marina can read books in the rec room as she pleases.

The hallways are mostly empty as Marina walks to the recreational room. A few residents she's never seen before pass her with their heads down. One woman with crazy black hair, pale skin, and bruised eyes walks by the blond, mumbling incoherent things as she moves in precise steps. Each one is evenly spaced out, a small, awkward shuffle set at a fast pace. The woman freaks Marina out a little bit, causing her to walk even faster.

When Marina passes the feelings poster, her heart swells with happiness. Who would have thought that something as simple as reading a book around live human beings could bring such joy to somebody? She guesses that's what you call a special kind of desperation that most people never get to experience. Honestly, no one should ever want to know what it feels like.

Going into the rec room, Marina feels relieved to see Brian sitting in the two leather armchairs she usually occupies. He's as beautiful as she can remember, it has been about two months since they've let her go anywhere but Rachael's office. Brian's hair is still flat and dull, but his eyes are full of a new life she has never seen before as they skip along the pages of the book he's reading. A black long sleeve shirt clings dangerously to his body, covering all of his beautiful tattoos but allowing you to imagine how built he is. Marina didn't notice it before now, but Brian is a pretty buff dude.

Marina walks over to him with light steps, ignoring the quick snaps of curious heads that want to know who's invading, before plopping down right next to him. As expected, he doesn't look up or even flinch. Brian's beautiful brown eyes stay trained on the book like his life depends on it. Marina isn't sure to feel worried as the minutes tick by and he doesn't acknowledge her, so she just sits back and waits. She's learned how to be patient. Time doesn't seem to bother her very much anymore.

“You've been shut in,” Brian finally says, not removing his eyes from the book.

“Yeah,” Marina swallows, “They thought I was having a mental break down.”

“You were. I heard what happened. I thought you were a little more stable then that,” Brian retorts, shutting his book to look up with at accusing eyes.

A blush slowly starts on Marina's cheeks. Of course he had heard what happened, she was sure everyone had. By the looks of it, she could also guess that the version told was a little different every time. One day someone might tell the real story, then that person goes and tells more people about how she was foaming at the mouth. Then when it gets to Brian, they said something like she was foaming at the mouth, biting people, and her body was bent in half like she was possessed by Satan.

“Brian... I'm not sure what you heard but-” Marina starts to get cut off by Brian.

“A guy told me that you screaming and raving in the middle of the night. When the orderlies came you fought every single one of them until they had to sedate you and lock you down. Then you never stopped fighting so they had to keep you under. I know what happened.” Brain finishes, setting his book aside.

“That's all true, but I stopped fighting. They just thought I was going to be a continuous threat-It's not my fault!” Marina cries, throwing her hands up into the air.

The look on Brain's face morphs from accusing to sympathetic. His eyebrows knit together as he looks at Marina, a slight frown on his lips. All she does is cross her arms tightly, looking down at the ground where her Converse covered feet are. Neither of them say anything for a few heartbeats, both of them too embarrassed to add onto the already messy situation. Brian thinks she is completely insane and he's mad about it like it's Marina's fault. Last time she checked, that wasn't a fair thing to do.

“Marina,” Brian starts, “I-”

“Miss Sullivan,” And orderly cuts him off, standing in front of them in his awful white uniform. “Someone is here to see you.”

Marina stands without a word, giving a small nod to the man. Without a glance back at the guy she thought was going to be her friend, she follows the taller man out. Brian can suck a dick for all she cares. He may be beautiful and one of the only people who were nice to her, but she will not stand for being treated like she chose to be here. Like she chose to have everyone think she's insane. It's just not her fault.

The pair of them walk in a single file line out of the room. The orderly leads Marina down a hallway towards the front of the institution, the large double door to freedom becoming seemingly closer. Right before they're about to reach them, though, he turns to a door that reads 'VISITING'. The older man pulls out his access card, swiping it against the access point before the light glows red. He opens the door, holding it open for Marina who slowly walks in.

In front of her is a long rectangular room with a whole bunch of tables. Other then her and the orderly, no one is in the room. Marina's heart starts pounding at the only seemingly realistic reason as to why he brought her here. There was no way she was going down without a fight. She turns slowly to look at the orderly, her eyes slanted at the confused look on his face.

“Marina?” A familiar voice asks from behind the young woman, causing her to whip around again.

Standing there is a man she thought would never come for her. He's as tall and skinny as she can remember, his dyed black hair still wild as hell. Marina looks up into his crystal blue eyes, unable to breathe. He offers her a smile, opening his arms for her. All she can do is stand right where she is, her body frozen.

“Jimmy?”