Nation 27

CH 29: The Case Of Louis (Pt 1)

Author’s note:

The following is a recount of certain events from Jared’s point of view. Unlike previous chapters, this chapter has been written entirely in monologue form.

I’ll be writing the second part of this recount much later on due to some details… 

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Louis was the first friend I’d made after being admitted to this facility. We met on one of the days I was lounging around in the recreational area. Upon awakening a couple of days after one of Doctor Heine’s therapies, I decided to get a change of scenery. Since the access level for a patient is limited, I wandered about listlessly between the 5th and 3rd floors before eventually finding myself standing in front of two large doors with the sign “recreational area” at the very top.

In many ways, it was inevitable as there were only patients’ rooms on all three floors apart from the recreational area. Moreover, it was the last place that I’d not seen. Initially, I was curious to see what sort of setup the recreational area had. Without much of a second thought, I twisted the doorknob open.

However, my earlier curiosity soon dissipated when I realized that the room was in complete darkness. Worse, I was all alone. There wasn’t a soul in sight. I shivered slightly despite knowing that no one was up and about as it was still very early in the morning. It wasn’t cold, to say the least, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched by someone.

Not wanting to have a confrontation if it did turn out to be a person, I immediately turned around in an attempt of escaping the unnerving situation.

A second later, a boyish voice called out from within the dark recreational area. A boy who looked to be my age emerged from the darkness. Despite my anxiousness, I felt somewhat less threatened upon seeing the boy. With eyes as blue as the summer sky and golden locks for hair, the boy was truly angelic looking.

I came to find out that the boy, Louis, was new to the facility and enjoyed wandering around whenever there was no one around. He said that just being around a few people was enough to quicken his heart rate. He’d spent the last few days, upon the first day he’d arrived at the facility, simply walking within the hallways. As for being in a dark recreational area, Louis explained that it was the first time the lights were off. He was searching aimlessly in the dark for the light switches.

Thinking of my earlier anxiety, I chuckled slightly over the innocent sequence of events. I do remember being surprised at my ability to genuinely laugh after the number of trials I’ve been through. The last time I’d laughed or smiled was before the incident- before I was forcefully sent to this place. Thus, I found myself unconsciously drawn to Louis. His wit and charisma only sped up the process.

I guess it was the very reason that I wasn’t able to pick up on the signs much earlier. Although I didn’t socialize with many, I did keep in close contact with Omar, Nic, and numerous online acquaintances. Yes, I’m aware that everyone can hide who they truly are behind a screen, but the occasional dramas illuminated the types of characters one should look out for.

I’m not saying that Louis is a psychopath or serial killer, but he does seem to be ingenuine in many ways. Then again, I continued to disregard my feelings about the matter because… Who am I to judge? I’m no criminologist. Moreover, between the medicine and therapies by Doctor Heine, my sense of perception could have been compromised. My mother and best friends basically betrayed me while a man claiming to be a doctor took great pleasure in every second of my screams… To be honest, it became very easy in painting everyone as the villain rather than trusting another person.

But I refused to allow myself to become pessimistic and even berated myself for every negative thought I had of other people. But in hindsight, I shouldn’t be too optimistic either. Regardless of his kindness and warmth, I should view him in an objective sense. Perhaps it would have helped my case if I didn’t assume that everything he did was justified- as the angelic appearance he has.

Anyway, I digress…

Despite being nice and attentive to me, Louis was as prickly as a cactus with others. None of the other (rather sane) patients would interact with me. Whenever I attempted to approach them instead, they would often look fearful or yelp before backing away. To be honest, I thought it was something I’d done or said. It couldn’t be because I was painfully aware of how nerdy and dorky I looked with my circular glasses and small, scrawny figure. 

Then was it some sort of rumor of me? I knew that I was deemed the most serious mental case the facility has seen in years by the doctors and orderlies but it wasn’t as if they actually treated me like one. I doubt that people with such an attitude would bother spreading a false rumor about me to the other patients. I mean, considering how sensitive a number of the patients are, it wouldn’t help the facility in any way if a mass breakout were to occur due to panic.

So, what was it then? 

I don’t know how long after, but I began to notice that the frightened patients would always glance at Louis for a second or so before running away. It was strange as Louis wasn’t standing next to or close to me whenever this happened.

And then there were the doctors and orderlies. The glimpses of their expressions are a mix of emotions- reverence, fear, and even disgust. It was strange, but I chalked it up to it being some doctor-patient privilege that they knew about Louis. Yes, it was unethical for all staff to know but it was the only reason I could come up at that time.

As my ringing worsen, I began to lose my memories and get things jumbled up. Although the ordeal didn’t last for long, I did get the first confirmation of my suspicions. Despite my deteriorating state, I was aware that Louis seem to know everything about me while I knew nothing about him.

He was even stuck to my side at every waking hour to the point that the only personal time I got was whenever I needed to use the bathroom. So, when Louis disappeared during one of my nightly pains- when the throbbing of my head was at the worst- I staggered quietly after him.

He tiptoed to a small storage room, and shortly after, I heard both his and Samantha’s voices. It wasn’t long before there was yelling a crash was heard. I’d have rushed to their aid had I not heard the entire conversation. I wasn’t very close to the door but their voices carried quite clearly along the quiet hallway.

After that fateful night, I’d pretend to swallow my medicine, and then feign sleep. Like clockwork, Louis would sneak out of the room to do a variety of odd things. Sometimes, it would be to run experiments on Harold, the zombified orderly, who was locked away in a room next to the morgue located on the lower ground floor. Sometimes, it was to check on the locks and ensure that everything was secure before going out to a balcony to call out to the zombies. 

But I stopped following after him after a few times as I wasn’t sure of how to handle a confrontation if he were to spot me. So, I ended up spending most of my newly found alone time rummaging through the patients’ files.

After going through every file, I couldn’t find any document about me or Louis.

It was very unnerving.