In the meantime, here's a prize for everyone since you all did so amazing with the contest. This drawing is of a character named Avery from a book I'm not sure will ever be published, but it's one of my favorite stories. Below are the opening pages of Avery's book, SANCTUARY. Enjoy!
Footsteps in the hallway told me they were coming back, as if my heart weren't withered enough. They'd come so many times that I knew exactly how long it would take for the orderlies to unlock the door of my room, shove me down, and for the nurse to pump more mind-numbing chemicals into my veins.
I had precisely three minutes and twenty-four seconds before I would slip into oblivion yet again.
The linoleum floor beneath me and the scuffed up wall I curled my body against was cold through my sheer hospital gown, but at least I could feel something. To feel was bittersweet. Sense was almost brain-stabbing overwhelming or nothing at all.
I listened to the muffled voices outside my door. A key jostled the lock and the knob turned, the door opened, and a sliver of fluorescent light blinded me. I turned my cheek away and into the wall, my dark tangled hair a protective sheet over my face. The light was bright even through my squeezed-shut eyelids. They kept my room dim for the same reason they sedated me every evening: to keep me calm. To keep me from harming myself. To keep me from killing anyone.
"Avery," the nurse cooed in a low voice.
Avery couldn't see Nurse Ripley, but the woman's typical perfume of roses and antiseptic was enough to make me gag. I pressed myself deeper into the wall, my medical bracelet cutting into my wrist. I dragged my chipped and bloodied nails across paint, my fingertips dipping into old gouges in the sheetrock.
My chapped lips parted and I dry-swallowed painfully. "No," I rasped.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Nurse Ripley said, "but it's bedtime and you need your medicine. Can you stand for me?"
I slid myself away from Nurse Ripley and into the corner, tugging my limbs to my chest. "No… medicine."
The woman sighed gruffly, her patience waning. "Don't be difficult tonight, please."
The two orderlies with her shuffled across the floor toward me. I peeked one eye open to see them approach, hands reaching for me, their heavy male scents no match for Nurse Ripley's nauseating atmosphere. Their icy fingers made me jump upon contact, waking me up just a little more. I threw an arm out, but they deftly grabbed hold harder and yanked me to my feet. I begged them to leave me alone, my chanting pleas ignored as they dragged me toward the little bed on the other side of the room. They threw me down onto the hard mattress roughly and I buried my face into the thin pillow and my wild hair.
One of the orderlies made an ugly noise and jerked my face forward by my chin, his large, unkind hands on my skin and shoving my hair back. "Come on. Show me those freak eyes of yours."
Freak. I squeezed my closed eyes even tighter, taking long, deep breaths to stop the fear stirring in my chest. My heart was starting to pound, my pulse picking up speed. The more they noticed my fear, the faster they'd work. They wouldn't make the mistake of allowing me to panic before they knocked me out. Not again.
"I need her arm," Nurse Ripley ordered. She was right above the bed now, no doubt pulling out the needle and syringe, preparing for injection. The second orderly yanked my arm away from my body and stretched it out flat.
"Stop, please!" I cried, but the men overpowered me physically by several times. "I don't need it. I don't need it!"
Down the hall, the other patients stirred from their beds, yelling from their rooms, and beating their fists against walls and doors. I felt my mind reaching out to them and uselessly tried to rein it back in. I couldn't control it, couldn't control myself. The others felt it, the ones whose own minds were fragmented and damaged unlike the minds of the institution staff who couldn't sense my abilities until it was too late.
"You were scratching your face again," Nurse Ripley tsked. "You don't want any more scars, do you?"
"Trying to scratch your eyes out?" the first orderly sneered, his breath blasting my face. My mind wrapped around his hostile emotions, making my skin burn and itch. I thrashed against him, desperate to scratch, unable to handle the aggravating sensation. I couldn't handle it, couldn't take it. I needed to be free or my skin would sizzle off my bones. This man didn't care if he hurt me, didn't care that he was bruising me.
My eyes snapped open, taking in the familiar and unwelcome faces above me. They flinched as I did so—they always flinched when they saw my eyes—and I focused my terror-stricken gaze on the orderly who taunted me. He froze a moment to regain his composure and cruelty.
"There's my little freak," he said with satisfaction, but a twinge of uncertainty trembled in his lip.
The nurse hovered over me, tapping the syringe before aligning it with the vein in my arm. My mind lashed out, cracking across Nurse Ripley's hand. The woman cried out and dropped the syringe.
"I'm sorry!" I gasped, appalled at what I'd done. "I'm so sorry."
The first orderly back-handed me, making my face snap to the side. "Don't even start it!"
Pain lanced through my jaw and down my neck, my body twisting to the side. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I was too busy trying to rein back in my mind for me to cry. I was going to lose control—I could feel it. My reason was no match for my instinct to protect myself.
Nurse Ripley retrieved the syringe with shaking hands. "Avery, sweetheart…"
"Just stick her already!" the second orderly hissed.
I slowly turned my gaze back to the nurse. The instant I felt cold metal against my skin, I erupted.
My mind slammed into the woman's chest, expelling the air from her lungs and sending her flying across the room. Nurse Ripley shattered the wall and fell to the ground in a limp heap. I sent a blast at the orderly who'd spoken a moment ago. His body careened into the door, yanking it off its hinges, and the man disappeared into the hallway in a cloud of dust. The orderly who struck me wound his hands around my throat, all hope of sedating me gone with the lost syringe. I choked and gasped for air, my nails clawing at his skin. My mind lunged forward and wrapped around his consciousness, digging into it, driving like railroad spikes into his brain. He screamed and released me, whipping his body upright, his spine contorting in ways it shouldn't have. His hands clamped down on his skull as my mind ripped through his without mercy, unyielding to his desperate plight. I watched him flail his body, shrieking in agony, his fingernails cutting into his face as he held his head and thrashed from side to side. I skewered my mind into his even harder, overloading his consciousness with my own.
"Make it stop! Please, God, make it stop!" He spun into the wall and slammed his forehead against it with maximum force, smashing the wall into dust as he pounded his skull over and over. Slam, slam, slam, slam. Something cracked and the man made a pitiful gurgling sound before dropping his hands from his face. His knees buckled and he hit the floor and lay still. Red pooled on the linoleum in a halo around his head.
I pulled my mind out of his, letting it coil up inside me where it belonged. My power seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as if it'd been waiting for violence for far too long. Cold reality settled on me heavily like wet snow as my eyes captured the bodies around me.
Shouts echoed through the hospital and mixed with the cacophony of footsteps on tile and the manic cries of other patients locked in their own rooms. This time I would welcome the needle—anything to take me out of this world of fear and blood. I longed for the oblivion the chemicals sent me to, to forget about all the bodies I'd left littering the ground in my wake.
"Not again," I moaned, burying my face in my hands, my hair pouring over my shoulders. I balled up in the far corner, the mattress springs squeaking beneath my shifting weight, the stench of fresh blood clouding my senses.
What have I done?
The linoleum floor beneath me and the scuffed up wall I curled my body against was cold through my sheer hospital gown, but at least I could feel something. To feel was bittersweet. Sense was almost brain-stabbing overwhelming or nothing at all.
I listened to the muffled voices outside my door. A key jostled the lock and the knob turned, the door opened, and a sliver of fluorescent light blinded me. I turned my cheek away and into the wall, my dark tangled hair a protective sheet over my face. The light was bright even through my squeezed-shut eyelids. They kept my room dim for the same reason they sedated me every evening: to keep me calm. To keep me from harming myself. To keep me from killing anyone.
"Avery," the nurse cooed in a low voice.
Avery couldn't see Nurse Ripley, but the woman's typical perfume of roses and antiseptic was enough to make me gag. I pressed myself deeper into the wall, my medical bracelet cutting into my wrist. I dragged my chipped and bloodied nails across paint, my fingertips dipping into old gouges in the sheetrock.
My chapped lips parted and I dry-swallowed painfully. "No," I rasped.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Nurse Ripley said, "but it's bedtime and you need your medicine. Can you stand for me?"
I slid myself away from Nurse Ripley and into the corner, tugging my limbs to my chest. "No… medicine."
The woman sighed gruffly, her patience waning. "Don't be difficult tonight, please."
The two orderlies with her shuffled across the floor toward me. I peeked one eye open to see them approach, hands reaching for me, their heavy male scents no match for Nurse Ripley's nauseating atmosphere. Their icy fingers made me jump upon contact, waking me up just a little more. I threw an arm out, but they deftly grabbed hold harder and yanked me to my feet. I begged them to leave me alone, my chanting pleas ignored as they dragged me toward the little bed on the other side of the room. They threw me down onto the hard mattress roughly and I buried my face into the thin pillow and my wild hair.
One of the orderlies made an ugly noise and jerked my face forward by my chin, his large, unkind hands on my skin and shoving my hair back. "Come on. Show me those freak eyes of yours."
Freak. I squeezed my closed eyes even tighter, taking long, deep breaths to stop the fear stirring in my chest. My heart was starting to pound, my pulse picking up speed. The more they noticed my fear, the faster they'd work. They wouldn't make the mistake of allowing me to panic before they knocked me out. Not again.
"I need her arm," Nurse Ripley ordered. She was right above the bed now, no doubt pulling out the needle and syringe, preparing for injection. The second orderly yanked my arm away from my body and stretched it out flat.
"Stop, please!" I cried, but the men overpowered me physically by several times. "I don't need it. I don't need it!"
Down the hall, the other patients stirred from their beds, yelling from their rooms, and beating their fists against walls and doors. I felt my mind reaching out to them and uselessly tried to rein it back in. I couldn't control it, couldn't control myself. The others felt it, the ones whose own minds were fragmented and damaged unlike the minds of the institution staff who couldn't sense my abilities until it was too late.
"You were scratching your face again," Nurse Ripley tsked. "You don't want any more scars, do you?"
"Trying to scratch your eyes out?" the first orderly sneered, his breath blasting my face. My mind wrapped around his hostile emotions, making my skin burn and itch. I thrashed against him, desperate to scratch, unable to handle the aggravating sensation. I couldn't handle it, couldn't take it. I needed to be free or my skin would sizzle off my bones. This man didn't care if he hurt me, didn't care that he was bruising me.
My eyes snapped open, taking in the familiar and unwelcome faces above me. They flinched as I did so—they always flinched when they saw my eyes—and I focused my terror-stricken gaze on the orderly who taunted me. He froze a moment to regain his composure and cruelty.
"There's my little freak," he said with satisfaction, but a twinge of uncertainty trembled in his lip.
The nurse hovered over me, tapping the syringe before aligning it with the vein in my arm. My mind lashed out, cracking across Nurse Ripley's hand. The woman cried out and dropped the syringe.
"I'm sorry!" I gasped, appalled at what I'd done. "I'm so sorry."
The first orderly back-handed me, making my face snap to the side. "Don't even start it!"
Pain lanced through my jaw and down my neck, my body twisting to the side. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I was too busy trying to rein back in my mind for me to cry. I was going to lose control—I could feel it. My reason was no match for my instinct to protect myself.
Nurse Ripley retrieved the syringe with shaking hands. "Avery, sweetheart…"
"Just stick her already!" the second orderly hissed.
I slowly turned my gaze back to the nurse. The instant I felt cold metal against my skin, I erupted.
My mind slammed into the woman's chest, expelling the air from her lungs and sending her flying across the room. Nurse Ripley shattered the wall and fell to the ground in a limp heap. I sent a blast at the orderly who'd spoken a moment ago. His body careened into the door, yanking it off its hinges, and the man disappeared into the hallway in a cloud of dust. The orderly who struck me wound his hands around my throat, all hope of sedating me gone with the lost syringe. I choked and gasped for air, my nails clawing at his skin. My mind lunged forward and wrapped around his consciousness, digging into it, driving like railroad spikes into his brain. He screamed and released me, whipping his body upright, his spine contorting in ways it shouldn't have. His hands clamped down on his skull as my mind ripped through his without mercy, unyielding to his desperate plight. I watched him flail his body, shrieking in agony, his fingernails cutting into his face as he held his head and thrashed from side to side. I skewered my mind into his even harder, overloading his consciousness with my own.
"Make it stop! Please, God, make it stop!" He spun into the wall and slammed his forehead against it with maximum force, smashing the wall into dust as he pounded his skull over and over. Slam, slam, slam, slam. Something cracked and the man made a pitiful gurgling sound before dropping his hands from his face. His knees buckled and he hit the floor and lay still. Red pooled on the linoleum in a halo around his head.
I pulled my mind out of his, letting it coil up inside me where it belonged. My power seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as if it'd been waiting for violence for far too long. Cold reality settled on me heavily like wet snow as my eyes captured the bodies around me.
Shouts echoed through the hospital and mixed with the cacophony of footsteps on tile and the manic cries of other patients locked in their own rooms. This time I would welcome the needle—anything to take me out of this world of fear and blood. I longed for the oblivion the chemicals sent me to, to forget about all the bodies I'd left littering the ground in my wake.
"Not again," I moaned, burying my face in my hands, my hair pouring over my shoulders. I balled up in the far corner, the mattress springs squeaking beneath my shifting weight, the stench of fresh blood clouding my senses.
What have I done?
7 comments:
Wow..That was rather..impactful.
Haha, but it sounds so intriguing! Why won't it be published? It's great so far.
CYP
Sanctuary is great! I hope you go back and work on it some more! I'm hooked.
Wow--that was really great! I don't believe that it won't be published! Keep writing, Courtney! :)
-Angel
http://909reviews.blogspot.com
Awe thanks guys :) <33 Yeah I'd love to finish the book and publish it, but you never know. I'm working on a site with tons of exclusive content from a series I'm writing that may/may not be published either. I hope you like it!!
Awesome i love it. But i got confused when you switched from third to first person again. I think u may have made a slight error when doing that.
I think you would be out of your mind not to have this published it's good, really good.
uhhh wow. That was amazing! CANNOT wait to read it! :) And don't worry... it will be published! It sounds too good not to be! :)
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