(A continuation of An Evil Stranger)
I had spent several days in the facility. Doctors and nurses surrounded me at all times, taking tests, doing blood work, and checking my vitals. I was exhausted and had a very strict schedule set in place by the doctors. My eyes blurred as a small nurse once again took a blood sample from me. However, I didn’t mind all this. The worst part of being in the facility was the Dark Room. Once in a couple days, the doctors would place me in the same dark and desolate room that I had found myself earlier. I absolutely dreaded it. I always felt hopeless and lost as the sea of darkness enclosed me. The Dark Room also unsettled me and I could feel the negative energy surrounding it. I would kick, and thrash myself, anything to get out of there. My screams echoed in the small space, and once again, I would feel hopeless while crumbled up in a corner. However, I never remembered getting out of the Dark Room. I would always end up passing out just to find myself back in the same old hospital bed when I woke up. It was very odd. My parents didn’t object to this at all. They just went along with whatever the doctors were doing, even if it hurt me. But, the biggest thing that bothered me was that I couldn’t remember anything the night Charlie was killed. I beat myself up because of this. Why couldn’t I remember anything? Even the doctors couldn’t figure out why. They performed multiple scans and took many blood samples, but still didn’t get any answers. This feeling absolutely tortured me. But soon enough, I would find out why this had happened.
After weeks spent at the facility, doing tests and visiting the dreaded Dark Room, everything changed. The change began when Dr. Patel arrived. From the other doctors, I learned that Dr. Patel was the top psychiatrist in the world. This meant that he specialized in brain disorders and was known to diagnose and treat them immediately. I overheard the nurses talking about how Dr. Patel was the root of many new studies all to do with the brain. I still had not been diagnosed after weeks of tests, and everyone was convinced that Dr. Patel was going to change that.
One day, Dr. Patel walked into my room to finally understand what was going on. He had a shiny, bald head, and his old gray eyes carried his thick glasses. Wrinkles pinched the corner of his eyes as he smiled.
“Ahh, I see you like my glasses,” said Dr. Patel in a kind voice. He smiled with his eyes and his chuckle lit up the room. I saw why all the doctors seemed to like him. He was radiating positivity.
“Yeah,” I murmured.
“Anyway, I’m here to understand what’s happening to you. The doctors have told me that you don’t remember your night with your dog. In fact, they have a video showing that you actually killed your dog which you didn’t seem to remember,” stated Dr. Patel while glancing over his notebook. Tears welled up in my eyes when he mentioned Charlie. My eyes became glossy and tears trickled down my cheek. I missed him so much.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“Also, the footage from the enclosed room has shown you acting very violent. When in the room, you scream and hurt yourself. And, when the doctors transfer you back to the hospital bed, you scratch their faces. Once you even stabbed a doctor with a pen. Due to this, the other doctors have been very scared to be near you,” said Dr. Patel, still looking down at his notes. Of course the Dark Room had cameras.
“What!” I couldn’t hide my surprise. “I did not do that!” I said defensively.
“Yes, you did. There are cameras all around this facility to monitor the patients. The cameras picked all of this up, and we have doctors to vouch for your aggressive behavior,” responded Dr. Patel.
“I don’t remember anything!” I was so confused.
“Ahh, I see,” said Dr. Patel, quickly jolting something down in his notebook. “I believe you may have dissociative identity disorder. This means that you have two or more personalities within your body. This might explain why you don’t remember your aggressive behavior. Your alternate personality is what scratched the doctors and what killed your dog,” explained Dr. Patel with a worried expression. “This is an extremely rare case that we need to treat with proper precaution.”
This explained why I hadn’t remembered anything about my terrible behavior. My alternate personality had taken over and was the one performing these evil actions. I was absolutely terrified and confused. What was my alternate personality like? How did they behave? How did they talk? Then a realization hit me. What else would this evil stranger perform? How many more people would I hurt? My mind was surrounded by a haze of unsettling thoughts. I needed to get to know the other personality in me and discover more about it. Only then would I be able to conquer the stranger in my body. I had absolutely no clue on how to interrogate my own self. But all I knew was that this was just the beginning.
