short novel "I see white clouds" part 3

My brain shifted from terror to action by immediately cleaning up.  I removed the blankets off my bed and wiped the floor until there was no trace of it.  Being OCD truly paid off tonight, I always kept a small caddy with cleaning products under my bed.  I put on my cleaning gloves and began to scrub the floor clean. I scrubbed until the floor was immaculate, by the time I was done, I was dripping with perspiration.  I must’ve been scrubbing for two hours or so because my knees were raw from kneeling.  I didn’t however, open the door; whatever was on the other side, I didn’t want to see.  I threw the blankets into a garbage bag and closed it tightly.  I pressed a thick beach towel underneath the opening of the door, dressed the bed with clean linen, put on my earphones, covered myself from top to bottom and tried to go back to sleep.  Day light was only two hours away. 

From a distance, like an echo, I could hear someone knocking on my door.  They wouldn’t stop, then I heard my name being called, I didn’t answer.  I increased the volume on my iPod and completely blocked them out.  Eventually they stopped.  It was almost ten o’clock and I knew I would have to get up for my session or they will get me up.  As soon as I took off my earphones I could hear Lolita rambling in the other room. She was saying something about being visited by aliens last night.  I wondered where they had landed their spaceship this time; the last time they were here they set the lawn on fire where they landed their ship.  Laughing out loud at the crazy things Lolita does, I heard the knock; it was the nurse calling me for my appointment.  I looked in the mirror to quickly comb my hair, I looked horrible.  The huge dark circles under my eyes gave away the fact that I’d hardly slept.  I ran cold water over my face, hoping it would help me look a little more alive.  My eyes were as red as fire; there was nothing I could do to hide that.  I put my hair up in a pony tail and off I went.    

Session 3

As soon as I entered the room she asked me what happened to my eyes, I told her I didn’t know that I had woken up that way.  She began to make small talk as to ease my uneasiness.  She asked me if I heard what happened last night.  I froze, I felt myself drifting; but I held on, something inside me wanted to know what she knew.  She continued, “according to Lolita we were visited by aliens again.”  A sign of relief came over me; I smile.  “Yep, apparently they were here to let her know what a great job she was doing with her missions.”  I laughed out loud and said “thank goodness they were happy this time; the last time they were here they were so angry with her that they destroyed everything in the game room.”  We were both laughing remembering the drama of that day. 

“Pricilla, what happened to your knees? They look raw, she asked.  I was trying my best not to look uncomfortable as I answered “I was cleaning my room and didn’t realize how long I’d been on my knees scrubbing the floor.” She looked puzzled, “did I say too much, did she know?” I thought to myself.   “Oh, so why was your floor so dirty that needed to be scrubbed that hard?” was her next question.  To which I thought, “She knows, she is working her way around to get me to speak.”  I answered “you know me and my OCD, we always overdue our cleaning, never know when to stop.”  What she asked next paralyzed me in my chair, “Pricilla, do you know that because of the type of facility this is we have surveillance cameras in every room?”  OH MY GOD!!!! She knows!!!  I looked down and couldn’t respond, I’d forgotten about that small detail.  She went on, “security brought me a copy of last night’s tape of your room.” At that point I felt myself drifting away to my safe place.  She spoke firmly “Pricilla, don’t leave me.  I can help you, I just need you to stay with me and tell me what happened. If you continue to drift every time you are confronted you will never get better.”

Something about the words “get better” made me want to try harder at staying.  “It was blood; I was cleaning blood off my floor.” I said with a trembling voice.  “I heard some noises coming from outside my door.  It was a small whinny voice; like a child’s voice.  Then I saw my doorknob moving as if someone was trying to come inside.  Within seconds there was a scrapping sound as if someone was sliding down against the door. And then a thug on the floor, that’s when blood began to spill into my room from under the door.” I told her everything.  She took my hands inside hers and looked into my eyes with pity “Pricilla, there was no blood.”   

End session

I ran to my room determined to prove that there was blood that I wasn’t lying.  I looked inside my closet to pull out the garbage bag with my sheets inside.  It was gone; they must’ve come in to get the laundry.  I ran to the laundry room and begged the maid to let me look though all the sheets.  She had already put them to wash.  I asked her if she had noticed any sheets with blood on them.  She said that she didn’t look; she simply spills the

bags inside the washer and goes on about her day.  Oh great, I thought; now I’ll really spend years here.  I have to prove it, I will prove it.  I spent my day bothered, upset and angry.  I went to lunch and then outside for some fresh air.  Could it be true? I thought to myself over and over.  Suddenly I was distracted by Lolita’s new mission gear.  She was wearing an Eskimo suit; the aliens gave her an Alaskan mission.  I didn’t even know there were squirrels in Alaska.  She came over to me and whispered in my ear “Pricilla, do you want to join me in this mission?” I said “of course” I’d learned my lesson by seeing what happened to others when they turned her down. They became an enemy of the squirrels.  She would avoid them at any cost, won’t even be in the same room.  She yelled every time they were near her “ENEMY!!!” it was scary.  I rather put on the Eskimo hat she gave me and join her, than suffer the pain of being an enemy.  Ha ha ha you gotta love her.

It was about nine o’clock in the evening when Lolita decided I was done. She told me that I stunk at being an agent. I went to my room and pulled out my journal; read it until I dozed off to sleep. At around midnight, I began to hear the same sounds as the night before. I got out of bed and tried to look through the crack but I couldn’t see anything. I could hear what appeared to be a child crying, this time clearer than before. I pressed my ear against the door, the tiny voice was saying something but I couldn’t make out what it was. The doorknob began twisting, I felt as if my knees where going to give way. I felt the cold chill of fear go through my body; someone was trying to come inside. They started to open the door but I pushed myself against it. A whisper came from the other side “Priscilla, open the door.”