Page 7

Harlow

Saturday

The Third Floor

I t had been a week since I’d seen Monty or the nightmares that had taunted me in the night. A week of being in the halls of Dark Haven and learning my way around.

The meds had finally succeeded, which likely explained the lack of my imaginary friend.

My monster.

I missed him.

The medicine made my brain feel foggy and I was tired. It was getting better, but I hated the feeling of them. Then again, I hated the hallucinations just as much. Most of them.

My days were a monotonous cycle of boring online classes, therapy, and homework. They haven’t given me any one-on-one sessions yet, claiming they had to work me into the schedule. I didn’t even have a name for my psychiatrist yet.

I’d take that as a win. Dr. Vane and Bradley didn’t exactly give me a great outlook on their staff.

“Move.” Drake’s order was barked loud enough in my ear that I jumped. Annoyance bubbled up, and I slammed the dryer closed.

“Fuck off, Drake,” I bit out as I picked up my laundry basket. Before I could even fully turn, it was yanked from my hands and tossed aside. There was no time to protest since I was being pinned against the wall, his fingers around my throat.

Nightmares and assholes liked to do that here.

A whimper nearly escaped as I was enveloped by his scent. We were a match yet there was no way he could be my mate. He was far too full of hate.

“What did you say to me?” he demanded. His voice was loud, making me flinch, which only had him pressing tighter to me. The feel of his body on mine sent another rush of heat through me that I berated myself for. He’d scent the slick pooling between my legs if I didn’t stop.

Don’t even think about it, Harlow. He’s not yours.

He was a fucking asshole. Not even an attractive one.

No, that was a lie.

Drake was delicious . . . and off-limits.

Maybe that was what made me want him. Every brooding stare, the way he chuckled darkly to himself during group sessions, each angry glare my way made me more curious about the prick.

Something’s seriously wrong with me.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were too dumb to understand. I said, fuck . Off .” Making sure to enunciate the words the best I could around my limited oxygen supply.

He started to smirk before shoving hard against me, then letting go.

“I’d watch that mouth of yours, it’ll get you in trouble,” he warned me as he stepped away. His glare was back, and I scoffed.

“By you? You’re merely a patient here, trapped just like I am, Drake. I don’t fear you,” I lied. He did scare me, but not in the sense that he’d kill me, more the sense that he’d ruin me in the best and worst ways.

“You should,” he said with a cold laugh, giving me one last long look before leaving the room.

Did he want me like I wanted him?

It took me several minutes to recover before I gathered my laundry and went back to my room, glad I wouldn’t have to go back for another solid week.

“Hey,” Crew said as I passed him in the hall. I muttered a response but didn’t bother to look up, still reeling from the confrontation. “Hold up.”

Groaning internally, I stopped but didn’t turn around.

“What?” My words were sharper than I intended, and I expected him to back away. But Crew wasn’t the type. Even when someone snapped at him, he never lost his cool. It was insane to me.

“What’s wrong?” This time he walked around me and took my basket, leading us into my room. Thankfully, he just sat it down by the bed and didn’t try to fold my stuff.

His scent was subtle and not what I wanted right now. It was the scent of burning metal and wood. Fitting, he was obsessed with fire and watching things burn.

“Just not sleeping,” I muttered. “And Drake was super pleasant in the laundry room.”

He chuckled at that. “I’m shocked about Drake. He’s such a sweetheart.”

That broke the fog I was in and a slightly unhinged laugh escaped.

“Can I ask you something?” I started, finally finding a way to ask about what I’ve been seeing. Thanks to the meds, my hallucinations have been at an all-time low.

Except at night.

“Sure,” he said eagerly. Part of me felt guilty that I was using him for answers. He was always eager to be around me, flirting constantly, but I wasn’t interested in more.

“Why does everyone say to not leave their rooms at night?” He tried to hide it, but I noticed a hint of fear in his eyes before he just shrugged.

The coverup was quick enough that I questioned if it was there at all.

“Probably so the nurses don’t have to leave the nurses’ station,” he countered. “Sometimes Layne has nightmares.”

“How is she today?” I asked at the mention of the only other girl on our floor. She was getting quieter by the day, and I hadn’t seen her in two.

“She gets like this sometimes,” he said. “Deep depression. They move her to another floor for a few days, then she comes back after a bit. She’ll be fine. She hasn’t dipped low enough to be moved yet.”

“Okay,” I said before grabbing the basket. “Thanks. I’ve got work to do, see you in the common room later.”

I didn’t bother to add that it was only because it was mandatory. The one time I tried to skip, I got the lecture of the century from Nurse Drew.

She was like an annoying, nagging older sister.

“Sure,” he said. This time he didn’t mask his disappointment as he stood and walked out. I hated the disappointment in his warm brown eyes but I couldn't give him what he was hoping for.

All I could think about as I folded was the long hours I’d spent up at night. I didn’t leave my room again after that night. But I could hear them out there. The nightmares. Creatures. Whatever they were.

They prowled the halls more openly now that I’d learned of them. The screams and cries were haunting, and I felt helpless cowering in my room like a fucking coward.

I was positive it was in my head, a taunting nightmare that was my burden to suffer through.

In the morning, everything was always normal.

No strangeness from the others, no lingering shadows, nothing.

If they’d shown signs of nighttime torture, I’d have questioned it, questioned them. But now it would just make me look crazy.

I’d asked Layne about why we couldn’t leave, and she gave me a generic excuse about rules and nurses. It confirmed my fear. That it was in my head, another twisted hallucination to fuck me up further.

Yet the meds had knocked out my hallucinations... So, why were the nights so vivid?

Giving up on the clothes, I left my room, walking to Layne’s door and knocking. When she didn’t answer, I pushed it open.

“Layne?” I called out, but she didn’t bother to look over or move from the cocoon she was wrapped in on the bed. “Can I get you anything?”

She shook her head but didn’t speak. My usually lively floormate even looked different. Dark circles lined her eyes, and her hair was sticking out at crazy angles, like she’d tugged on it relentlessly. Her usually expressive eyes were dull and lifeless. And it did not smell amazing in here. Her banana split scent had a sharp sourness to it now.

“She’ll be fine.” Hiro’s voice filtered into the room from behind me, and I glanced one last time at Layne before walking out.

“She’s so different,” I said. I’d never been around someone with Borderline Personality Disorder, but it was hard to keep up with.

“That’s Layne,” he replied with a shrug. “Sometimes she’s manic, other times mean, or just indifferent and numb, or like this. She’ll snap back soon, and they’ll monitor her.”

It was meant to reassure me, but it only had my frown deepening. I barely knew these people but already they’d started to mean something to me. Maybe it was the camaraderie built from sharing trauma, or they were the only ones who tried to be nice to me.

Well, except for Drake.

Either way, I didn’t like seeing her like this and not having a way to help.

“Crew said you weren’t sleeping?” Hiro hedged.

I laughed at that. “How did he spread that around already? I just mentioned it.”

Hiro gave a sheepish smile. “He was pouting in the common room, said you were having a bad day.”

“I’m not.” I sighed. “I just didn’t feel like sugarcoating shit.”

“They can give you meds to sleep,” he offered.

“Hiro, I appreciate it, but unless you have an explanation to why these halls are scary as fuck at night and not the day, then I don’t want advice,” I snapped before walking away again.

Now I was angry again, frustrated for snapping on the sweetest guy here but also at the lack of answers.

Instead of going to my room, I went to the nurses’ station. Nurse Drew glanced up and raised an eyebrow in question.

“I need some fresh air,” I said. Something in my voice must have conveyed my mood because she nodded, grabbing a big keyring from the wall before swiping her ID to unlock the door.

“I could use a smoke break. But if you make me regret this, you’ll be back with the cops and not here,” she warned me bluntly.

“No running, I promise,” I said in a rush. The prospect of fresh air and being off this godforsaken floor was too enticing to fuck it up.

She didn’t speak as we got on the elevator and took it down to the first floor. She had to swipe her ID to get us out the back door and into an enclosed courtyard.

“There’s a fence. How could I run?” I deadpanned. She chuckled and walked over to a bench, lighting up a cigarette and taking a slow drag before answering.

“It’s a short fence,” she said simply. “Go have your fresh air.”

At one time the courtyard was probably beautiful. Right now, the grass was barely alive, a dull, pale greenish yellow. The winding pathways were overgrown with weeds, the rocks hidden by dirt and debris. The fence was covered in a thick layer of ivy, only small spaces showing the city beyond. It almost felt like another world here.

In the center was an old gazebo with cracked paint but it looked sturdy enough. I perched on one of the benches lining it and glanced out at Dark Haven. The back of the building had vines creeping over the stone, wrapping around windows and stopping a few feet under the roof.

The stone gargoyles glaring down at the world made it look downright creepy.

I’d spotted two at the front entrance, but back here there were at least ten, all perched on different corners of the roof and balconies.

Something stirred in my chest. At first, I thought it was Monty, but it wasn’t the familiar iciness that followed my imaginary friend. It was a static charge, a jolt of electricity that thrummed through me. I couldn’t seem to look away from them.

What the fuck is this place?

And why did everything here call to me while simultaneously giving me a healthy dose of fear?

“Harlow.”

My name blew in on a breeze, the voice deep but strange and unfamiliar. Clearly, my hallucinations weren’t all gone, I’d just stopped stressing as much or something.

“Harlow.” This time it was drawn out but stirred that subtle spark that had hit me a few moments ago. It was a calling, something pulling me in that I couldn’t see.

And it was fucking horrifying.

Yet I couldn’t pull away.

Flashes of blue fire and inky darkness filled the space. Like I was seeing quick glances of a slideshow that made no sense to me.

Then I saw her. A terrifying visage of bone and beauty. Dark hair that blended in with the void around her. Sparks of pale lightning illuminating the landscape and the woman every few moments, if only for a brief flicker.

Jagged mountains and icy plains. Definitely not this world. It smelled of snow and damp earth, like a cave on a snowy mountain.

The familiarity I felt at the woman and her world was alarming, but I knew I’d never been there before, never seen either of them.

This was strange, different, yet I felt as if I knew it as well as I knew myself.

“Harlow!” Nurse Drew’s sharp yell had me jolting out of the trance and back to the present. I blinked a few times and stared up at her annoyed expression. “What the fuck kid?! I almost went and got an orderly to drag your ass back inside.”

“Sorry,” I said. “These meds are making me a mess.”

She calmed at that and nodded with a hint of sympathy. It was one of the few times I’d seen her show real emotion. She’d kept herself calm and detached most of the time, simply doling out orders and duties with ease.

She kept side-eyeing me the entire way back to our floor, almost relieved when the elevator opened, and she rushed back to her post.

Fuck. I’d likely just ruined my chances of going back outside for a long time. That scared me more than the visions. I didn’t want to feel trapped, but I also needed to know more.

Who was the woman, that world, and why did the gargoyles make me feel strange? Hell, why did all of it make me feel like I was crazier than ever?

I meandered my way down the hall, still freaked out by whatever the fuck happened down there. After she’d pulled me out, it felt like everything was heightened.

My senses were stronger, sharper somehow. I was on edge, nervous energy surging through me with every step so I fidgeted with my hands.

It could be the meds.

But for some reason, I thought it was something more.

Before I could make it all the way down the hall, someone bolted from the storage room and grabbed me. My fist connected with a stubble-lined jaw and Drake cursed. He still managed to pull me back in with him, closing the door behind me.

In here the alpha’s scent was so strong my head spun. Or maybe that was the aftermath of my visions in the courtyard.

My chest heaved as he flicked on the light above us, the bulb buzzing to life as we glared at each other.

But it was short lived, panic replaced everything else as I took in his bubbling rage. Fury danced in his eyes and his expression was hard, even his hands were in fists as he breathed like an angry bull.

Drake slammed a hand into the wall, plaster showering the ground as I tried to reach for the door handle to free myself.

Fight or flight was strong, and I knew if I didn’t get out now, I might not be able to later.

“I didn’t do anything to you,” I yelled as I yanked at the door in hopes we’d tumble out of the tiny space, and, of course, it didn’t budge.

My fighting had him stumbling to the side, but he grabbed the handle quickly, holding the door closed and looming over me.

“What did you do? Who are you?”

“What are you talking about?” I gasped out as I clenched my thighs, refusing to let the feel of his warm breath affect me. I hated that my body reacted to him, that he had slick coating my panties just by being close. “Let me go. Nurse Drew will notice if I’m gone.”

“No she won’t. You had her running for the back room,” he said with a hint of arrogance. As if this man couldn’t get any more insufferable.

“How do you know?” I accused. “Are you stalking me?”

“Hardly. But I know everything here. Now tell me, Harlow. What are you?”

When I didn’t answer, he spun me around and caged me in with his hands, giving me no escape route.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from reacting and he smirked down at me. My teeth dug sharply into my lip until the taste of copper filled my mouth. His eyes widened and nostrils flared, and for a brief second, his eyes burned like those creatures.

“You’re one of them?” I gasped, no longer turned on but defeated. If he was, then I had no way out.

My words had him narrowing his eyes, distrust and confusion easy to read, but it didn’t feel like it fit for the confidence he had at throwing accusations at me moments ago.

“Of who?” he prompted in a lulling tone that didn’t fit him, as if he were urging me to speak.

“Fuck you, Drake. Don’t play with me,” I growled. My fight was amping back up and I slapped him.

He let out a dark laugh before shifting me from the door and slamming my body into the shelf. Something soft fell on top of me but he swatted it away just as quickly.

“Who. Are. You?” He was desperate now, and that was oddly reassuring. Without his consuming anger, he was downright enticing.

Good thing I’m in therapy already, something is fucking broken in me.

“I’m nobody,” I said evenly. As much as he was throwing me around, he made no move to hurt me. I didn’t have the illusion he wouldn’t switch at any second, but for now I felt confident I wouldn’t die.

That was something at least.

“I doubt that,” he gritted out. “And I will find out.”

With one last glare he was gone, leaving me alone in the closet, contemplating how the fuck I’d make it out of this place alive.