As far as he could tell, everyone he had seen so far was crazy just like him. Benjamin knew he was crazy, oh he was far beyond crazy. This was the reason he tapped all day, and had to follow the unwritten rules down the period. He sat against the wall and could see the door. He was the first one in the room, and immediately he started counting everything. he had to make sure that nothing was of the bad number. It couldn’t be, why? He didn’t know, but it just couldn’t be. I’ll be fine as long as everything stays right. So far things have. I just hope it will stay as it is. i just hope it will stay as it is. I just hope it will stay as it is. Crazy, everyone here is even if the deny it, it’s come to the point where it is an everyday thing, I don’t even have to think about it anymore. think think. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. When had it come to the point that he couldn’t even keep sanity in his own thoughts? He held a small die in his hand bad number scratched out and blacked out, he dropped it and counted the clicks as it hit the concrete floor. Yet as always before he could speak he had to pat his legs three times with one hand and sometimes with the other also, to even it out. tap tap tap “3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 20, 21, 23...”

;-;-;

Val was harshly pushed into the room by two orderlies. He made sure to maintain standing as they closed the door behind him. Many were moved from different wards as the rooms were being remodeled and some completely closed down. He clutched the doll closer to his chest and stroked her hair. Val carried only two possessions: this doll, and a sketch pad. He saw a blonde haired guy sitting against the wall, head down. The room was silent except for the click of the die. He gave a shiver as he walked over to the window. He looked out beyond the barred thick glass. Everything was foggy outside, and there were two workers digging a large grave, which was nothing more than a hole in the ground. The room was dim and gray. All there was were an assortment of beds (seven in all) and a circular table in the middle of the room with paper and pencils scattered on it, articles were thrown in with it. It had five three legged stools around it, and the table itself only had three legs. He found one of the beds and sat on it. Softly he petted Lady Doll’s hair. She was so quiet. Lady Doll, why don’t you just talk to me, and prove that I’m indeed sane. I know I am. Just tell someone. I just need one person to believe me. Hurry up and find a way to tell people. I’m scared that if I remain here, this place will find a way to make me mad. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the squeal of the lock being undone and the door opened.

He walked through the halls, some orderlies following behind him. How dare they think they could push him around! Didn't they know who he was?! He was an all-powerful angel while they were just weak mortals. He let it go for now though. Their time was coming. He just knew it. He entered the room and laid back on one of the beds, thinking of how he was going to teach these mortals who was in charge.

He sat in the room, against the wall, away from everybody. When he had entered the room, there was only one person. Now, more were coming. That wasn't good. Luckily, there was only seven beds. So that meant not a lot of people would be coming, right? He didn't deal well with to many people around, so he hoped not. He also hoped the people already there wouldn't notice/bother him.

{{Sorry if this isn't very good or very long.}}

Benjamin looked around the room. People, there were more here than he remembered. He put the small die back into his back and counted the people in the room. tap tap tap "3,5, 6, 7... no, this cannot be... wait. 9. Good. There is a perfect amount." He nodded to himself. No, that had not been cheating. He counted the doll as a person too, anything to take out a bad number. It creeped him out a bit, but that was better than that bad number, anything.

Someone had entered the room. Val turned and saw a new person go over to a bed. He stood up from his spot and went over to them. Val chewed his lip slightly and had Lady Doll clutched to his chest. With his free hand he gave a small wave to the person and let Lady Doll see the person. "My name is Val and this is Lady Doll. She is a bit shy, I am sorry. Otherwise she would be polite and say hello, too."

Benjamin looked up at Doll Boy as he called him. He had seen him before, always stating the doll could talk. He gave a snort. He did not understand at all, he was crazy just like the rest of them. That is what made some people crazier, the fact they did not understand exactly how mad they were.

He watched the other people in the room. He's seen them all before, of course. But, they were all crazy. He, on the other hand, was completely sane. He didn't care what the doctors told him. They just couldn't accept the truth. He would show them all soon. Then they would understand. He just needed to await his orders before acting.

Haydn moved so that he was sitting in a corner, as far from the other people as possible. He didn't understand why the doctors put him in here with other people. They knew he didn't handle it well. Yet, There were a lot of beds, which meant more people were coming. That thought made it a bit harder for him to breath, but he barely managed to calm himself down.

A doctor walked into the room. He looked around at the patients. This was an odd assortment. He was the doctor to this block and was checking in to make sure they were doing at least okay and to make sure the arrangement would work. This doctor was in his thirties and his neat black hair was starting to fade to gray. The doctor kept spectacles perched on his nose and he clasp his hands together and spoke for those that were in reality enough to hear him.

“Well, this is all we have here for now. You are the last room that we had to get ready and we will not be need the extra beds in this room. You are lucky that you have a room with extra space. The orderlies will be coming around with your medication for this evening.” He flashed a smile to try to show that everything is under control and walked out. On his clipboard he marked off the patients of that room. Good, now he could go.

;-;-;

Benjamin looked up and watched the doctor leave. He noticed another guy looking like he was having to control his breathing. He wanted to just sit there and ignore the situation, but he went over and crouched in front of him.

He dropped the die and counted out loud, not looking at the die, instead at the guy who was maybe only a foot away from him.

tap tap tap “3… 5… 6… 7… 9…” his counting was slow and he stopped after reaching nine. “Count with me. It might help you relax a bit. I know that the right numbers help me. It also keeps your breathing under control. I think it would suite you well. I used to freak out when there were people. I found what helps me. Maybe it might help you or not, but it is better to try.”

~

Val frowned and tugged on the sleeve of the black haired guy. Lady Doll had found him interesting so Val wanted to talk to him. He gave a small wave at him and spoke.

“Val… That is my name. What is yours? Oh! And this is Lady Doll. She really likes to meet new people. She said that you spoke to angels,” Val leaned in close and whispered, “I believe you. What are they like? I see things too, but no one believes me. The only one who does is Lady Doll. She shows me things too.”

He sat down on the foot of the bed and held the doll close to his chest, finding it comforting to have her so close to him. She was the only person that has believed him for so many years.

(( the doctor, he is not there as a character, just there to explain that and to be seen once! ))

Haydn relaxed a bit when he heard there weren't going to be anymore people in this room. There was more than enough already. Though he started panicking a bit when one of the guys came over to him.

He tried the guy's suggestion about counting. He was surprised that it did help. He managed to calm down completely, which was a first for him when he wasn't on the pills.

"Thank you.. What's your name?" he asked, curious.

~

Michael looked at the man who was pulling on his sleeve. He's seen him around before, always with that doll. While most people found that weird, he didn't. He wasn't going to judge someone who was here.

"My name is Michael. I am an angel; an archangel. It is nice to meet you, Val. And Lady Doll. What types of things do you see?" he asked, curious. If this man could see things others didn't, then great. That made him a psychic. Maybe he could help him with his mission once he got his orders.

{{Alrighty~}}

tap tap tap “My name? Benjamin.” He gave a slight nod at him. At least this guy was mostly sane, right? After all there were some people who could barely remember their names, much less make full sentences.

tap tap tap“There is no need to thank me. I get the panic attacks when something is wrong. like the numbers, but right now, they are all right. I am trying to not count, because when you think something is right, in the end it ends up wrong, because you find something you missed.” He kept steadily dropping the die on the concrete floor, and mentally kept track of the numbers as he spoke.

~

Val gave a shy smile. “Well, I see the monsters. They are all around here. No one will believe me, they all say I’m crazy. I am not. I have been here a long time, I- I think, “He stuttered and then looked down at the Doll, “Lady, how long have I been here?... Eight years?.. Okay. I have been here eight years, Michael.” As he asked the Doll questions or had a conversation with her, he would pause as if she was answering him. It seemed as if no one, but him ever heard the doll speak a single word.

“Where were we? Yes, Lady I remember now. We were talking about the monsters. They are called ‘The Others’ and are scary. They stay around places where bad things h-happened. You are an angel?” He tilted his head slightly and bit his lip before talking again. As he spoke he made a lot of hand gestures, “I thought angels lived in heaven, what are you doing here? Are you here to take us away from the bad place? Do you have wings?”

"It is nice to meet you, Benjamin. My name is Haydn." he told him. This guy didn't seem to bad. Though the tapping was slightly annoying, he could tell he couldn't help it. If he had to guess what was wrong with him, he'd say OCD. "Its good to meet someone who understands how I feel."

~

Michael believed Val wasn't crazy. Though he had been sure that the monsters wouldn't let themselves be seen. That didn't seem like them. Not that he was going to complain about it. Maybe his mission was to get rid of the monsters? He would know soon.

"Angels do live in heaven. But, my father sent me here. Said I had an important mission and when the time is right, he will explain what needs to be done. And yes. I do have wings. But, they can't be seen on this plane of existence."

tap tap tap “ Yes, but there is something bothering me.” Benjamin stood up and looked around the room. He hated the fact that he had to look three times to complete the ritual. It had to be done. He never understood what would happen if he did not complete the rituals as they were called, but he was pretty sure the world might end if he did not. There was something off in the room—There it was.

He stared directly at one of the beds. All of the beds there were mismatched, some were donations, while others had been scrapped and brought here. This particular bed had a stuffed, faded fabric backboard and had wooden posts, one on each corner. That was the problem he was having.

After Benjamin examined the bed he figured the wood would be weak enough to break. He stood on the bed and kicked the post as hard as he could, over and over. It was a bit tougher than he had been expecting and pain shot up his leg as he missed and hit his ankle. He waited a moment and counted before continuing. Nothing could have stopped him from getting the number out of the room. He kept on kicking until the wood splintered and the post hit the floor with a loud thud.

He thought that would settle the problem, but there was something else that was off. Benjamin frowned and tapped his thigh as he looked around again. It was that same damned bed. He went up close to the headboard and looked over the design on the fabric, pedaled flowers with the bad number. Benjamin knew how to solve this problem. The post had wood that was falling off and he grabbed a piece and ripped it off the post then stabbed at the fabric until he made a hole in it and used his hands to tear it and to pull it off.

Something fell out from behind the stuffing. He picked it up and unfolded the yellowing piece of paper. It was about the size of his palm and had writing. He went back over to the wall and read it out loud. tap tap tap

“Wonderland is only as far from you as your imagination is.
When you are sane it is nowhere to be seen. That means when insanity strikes, Wonderland opens her doors.
Time is part of sanity, and sanity does not exist here. As the Hatter told me,
‘We are all mad here.’
Signed, Lacie”

~

Val was impressed. He wondered if the other really was an angel and then scolded himself for questioning others. He knew what it felt like to have his sanity questioned, so he knew better than to do such a thing.

“I cannot believe that you are really an angel! I’ve never met one before. You are really nice too. Lady Doll! Be nicer to him, please. You are such a lovely lady so please use your manners.” Val looks at Michael and gives him an apologetic look,” I’m so sorry about her. She knows how to act but at times chooses to be bitter. You will keep us safe from The Others, won’t you?”

Val walked to the table and grabbed some loose leafed paper showed it to Michael. He showed him the disturbing pictures he had drawn of the monsters, some were just black silhouettes, while others went into gruesome details.

“That is what they look like. I’ve seen them since I was really young, and they always are there. If you ignore them, then if you are lucky, they will ignore you. I-I see them do the bad things around here. They s-scare me a lot.” He twitches slightly and plays with his hands, looking down at them. Val hated talking about The Others, they just plain out scared him, no matter what he did, no one would believe him.

Val jumped as he heard a noise and looked over to see the OCD guy slamming his foot against the post. He watched the whole ordeal quietly a bit surprised with the sudden action. He did not understand how things still surprised him, but there were some patients that just found new ways to express their needs as that was the only word he could come up with at the moment.

After a moment it seemed as if things calmed down and then the lights started flickering before completely going out and coming back on.

Neko Ninja: