Every time he said that to me, I wanted to tell him I wasn’t. Just for the small hope that he’d let me go. But then, I knew he’d kill Mommy for infidelity. None of the women there were allowed to bed anyone else but him.
I hate that I look like a ghost, which is why I was happy to cover it with makeup. I can’t even bring myself to wear my pigtails anymore. Not when I don’t have my doll face painted on and my pretty knife in my hand.
“I don’t want to, but they say I’m crazy. I’m being forced to plead insanity. The lawyer said Willowcreek Institute will provide me the best possible life, compared to prison.”
At least in prison, I could continue carrying out my mission. Prisons are filled to the brim with evil people. If I was sentenced to life, at least then I’d have nothing left to lose. I could keep killing, and still find some semblance of happiness. Even if my henchmen couldn’t be by my side.
Glenda stays quiet for a moment.
“The outsiders—people that think they’re normal—they don’t understand people like us. We see the world for what it is. This Earth is layered, just like an onion, and we’re only living in one of those layers. Us—we see the other layers. The energies that exist in this world and all the ugly and evil that comes alongside it. These layers are thin and strong entities can walk through the cracks, into other layers and wreak havoc.
“They say it’s all in our head. But I think they’re just suppressed. The things we see—they’re not in our heads. They’re in our faces. In our lives. And sometimes, in our bodies. They just can’t see them.”
I sigh. Despite what the doctors say, I’m not seeing or feeling anything that isn’t actually there. Glenda’s right. I know that the people I’ve killed were evil. I know that with every fiber of my being. I can smell their souls. I can smell the rot that’s festering inside their bodies from the inside out. And I’m not wrong for extinguishing tho
se rotted souls.
I’m not I’m not I’m not I’m not I’m not—
“Sibby?” My head snaps up. Glenda is staring at me, concern etched into her wrinkles. She’s not looking at me like I’m crazy. Like the nurses or doctor would be. And especially the rotten guards that leer at us like we’re scum. She’s looking at me like she knows exactly what I’m feeling.
“Did you do it?” I whisper.
She stares back at me, an unreadable emotion flashing in her eyes.
“Did I do what, dear?”
“Did you kill your family? Because they were demons?”
She smiles—almost a tired smile.
“Honey, they weren’t my family. They were Satan’s.”
That’s all the confirmation I need.
Glenda’s like me. She sensed the rot. She knew it to be true. And she got rid of them.
“I’m glad you’re here, Glenda.”
I don’t say I’m glad I’m here because I’d rather be anywhere else but here. But I know Glenda is glad she’s here, and since I’m forced to be here, I’m glad she is too.
She pats my hand.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think what you did was wrong.”
I open my mouth—to say what, I’m not sure. But I’m interrupted before I can figure it out.
“Sibel Dubois, let’s go!” The same, greasy guard is yelling for me. Summoning me to see Dr. Rosie. I sigh, and Glenda winks and offers me a good luck.
Normally, I don’t need good luck. But lately, I do. Dealing with Dr. Rosie is a headache, and she claims every session is a new breakthrough. If you ask me, the only thing she’s breaking is my control to not fucking rip her eyes from their sockets.
The guard escorts me to her office, knocking once on the door.
Doctor Aberlyn Rosie is written on a pretentious gold plaque on the door. I want my pretty knife so I can carve the word Bitch into the plaque alongside her name. Only then, would I be able to stand to look at it.
“Come in, Sibby,” she calls. A shudder works through me. She’s not my friend. Only my friends call me that.
I shoot the guard a nasty glare, purely for just existing and it makes me feel better, before storming into the room. The first thing that greets my nose is a woodsy scent. Dr. Rosie smells like pine trees. I wrinkle my nose. I don’t like the smell of pine trees, I like the smell of flowers.