St. Peter's Asylum discussion

With white walls and floors, the only color in this room is the bed. With it's black and gray sheets, purple pillowcases, and black comforter with dark purple skulls going up and down. There are a couple pictures pinned up to the walls, one of her family, and one hand-drawn of a group of people. When you get to know Alexia, you learn that these are the people no one else can see. Her hallucinations, as the nurses call them. Her bookshelf has three more of these hand-drawn pictures, each of a new group of people.

Alexia is able to be given a roommate, so if anyone has an idea, I'd love to know!

Alexia sat on her bed, sketching. She had seen a new person today. She was kind for once. Blue eyes, tall. Brown pixie cut hair. She was in the process of sketching the hair as she tossed her own black hair out of her face.

From outside the door came a brief series of firm knocks. On the other side of the wood, Raven stood, one hand on the doorfame, the other curled gingerly around a spiked black collar. He'd seen it in the graveyard when he hadn't been able to sleep last night and had assumed at first it belonged to a dog, before remembering he'd seen something of the sort around Alexia's neck when he'd met her. He'd snuck into an office and gotten a hold of her files again, found her dorm room, and now was ready to return the spiked piece.

"Come in!" Her pencil never left the paper, the jump simply giving the girl a few stray hairs. Her collar was missing, and she was desperately hoping it wasn't a nurse come to scold her for being outside without permission. She was the only one with such an accessory, so it would belong almost definitely to her.

The knob turned, the door creaked open. Raven entered the room, stopping before Alexia's bed. "Hey," he said by way of greeting. "I found this outside last night. Yours?" He held out the item in question, over the paper so that the goth would have to look at it. Obnoxious? Perhaps. But then again, the Indian boy wasn't exactly known for his courtesy.

"Yes. Thank goodness." She breathed a sigh of relief and fastened said object around her neck. "I was almost waiting for a nurse to find it and get me into trouble. Thanks." She put the pencil and sheet of paper back on the nightstand.

"Welcome." Raven flopped down on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. "That stupid collar is more trouble than it's worth. Do you have any idea how much my foot hurts? I stepped on the stupid thing. Practically cut off a toe." He sat up and crossed his legs, rubbing his left foot resentfully for emphasis.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. But that was the point of it. I could use it for self defense." She gazed at him sympathetically. "I've cut myself on it a few times." She then extended her hands, where sure enough, there were a good few scars. "Getting this thing on is a science. One wrong move, and you've sliced your palm." She smiled.

"Well, at least you're set if you ever decide that self-mutilation is cool," Raven replied sarcastically. But his lips twitched as if he was trying not to smile. "Seriously though. Let the nurses think the spikes are fake. If they ever find out you're wearing it, they'll snatch it off of you faster than you can say 'stop'." He rolled his eyes and added scornfully, "they're loath to even let me keep my hair tie because it's very possible that I'll strangle someone with it."

She smiled and shrugged. "I'm not known to have psychotic breakdowns. I personally put on a 'I'm a perfect little angel' act when they're around. It's the other patients tattling that keeps me here." The smile dissipated, and she scowled at the wall.

"Tattling on you?" Raven smirked and raised an eyebrow. "For what crimes?"

"Talking to nonexistent people. Occasionally screaming out of fear. I have a wide range of people in my head. Murderers, kidnappers, cops, and others alike. It's all a bit terrifying when you know every detail about an imaginary being. Sometimes animals. Wolves, tigers, leopards." She shrugged, now impassive. Alexia leaned back against the wall and stretched out her legs.

"Oh." Raven looked disappointed. "I was expecting something more interesting," he complained half-heartedly. He gave her a look, his dark eyes glittering. "You're a little boring compared to some of the others here, don't you think? Do you ever feel inadequate as a psychopath?"

"Slightly. I really pale in comparison. It was more of almost self-harm that got me put in. I almost got hit by a car while running from a cop." She half smiled on the memory, remembering her parents' faces. "When I got home, it was hilarious. My parents' believed me at first, and asked me what I did. I responded with 'Nothing, I swear!' They waited awhile for the cop, and I told them about the car. They freaked."

"They didn't even yell at you?" Raven asked, looking a little surprised. "If my parents had ever found out I'd not only took a forbidden trip into town but almost got run over, I would have been completely black-and-blue by sunrise."

"Well yes, the asking was more in a panic, screaming 'WHAT DID YOU DO?!'. It was hilarious though." She processed the words after that a moment after she spoke. Her voice got gentler, "They'd beat you?" The thought terrified her.

He gave a small nod. "Most likely, yes. Especially if Anna'd been with me. She was their favorite." His last words held a trace of bitterness, but longing peppered them as well. Raven's eyes were sad as he reveled in some dark memory.

"I'm... so sorry. Wait. That doesn't even cover it." She hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes held sympathy, sadness, and a gentle touch of longing to take that pain away from him. "That's terrible. Absolutely terrible."

Raven's eyes flashed with something like anger and he smacked her hand away. "Don't!" he snapped. Pain made his voice crack on that one word--the hand-on-shoulder was his sister's favorite way to show she felt sorry for him. It brought up bad memories, Alexia's gentle touch. He shook his head, elbow propped on his knee, his head cradled in one hand. He whispered, lips barely moving. "Don't do that. Please."

She flinched out of pain and sympathy and slowly edged away, towards the wall. "I'm sorry. I don't.. just I'm sorry. If there's something I can do.." She trailed off and just pulled her knees towards her chest.

The muscles in Raven's arched back drew tight suddenly and her lowered his hand, shaking his head. "Nothing," he said. "Nothing you can do can change what I did." He was conscious of the fact that he might be "saying too much", letting the walls around him crack; just a little. He supposed shame and hurt would loosen his tongue.

She nodded, understanding, and ever so slightly out of fear. "I understand." She picked up the pencil and paper again, resuming the drawing she had started earlier.

He threw her a sideways look and straightened up a little. "Do you want me to go?" Aware that she hadn't pressed and happy for it. Respectful because she'd tolerated his presence for so long. Slightly, ever so slightly saddened by the thought of walking out the door. It was nice to have someone to talk to, Raven realized. Very nice.

"Only if you want to." Her voice was gentle, yet now guarded.

"Might as well." He stood. "You're afraid of me now anyways." Without giving her a chance to respond Raven made for the door, not even pausing to say goodbye.

((Fade?))

She shivered after he left and hid under the safety of her covers. Not many people could unnerve her like that. Alexia didn't often sleep with her collar on, but she would now.

((Fade.))

Alexia was sitting on her bed, singing. Music was one of her new fascinations, due to it's calming effect on her. The notes seemed to float around, distracting and calming her when she was stressed or panicked.

"I'm just one of those ghosts, traveling endlessly. Don't need no roads; in fact they follow me, and we just go in circles." The chorus of the song almost amused her, the melody making her tilt her head to the side in thought as she continued the song.

Music drifted through on the outside of Alexia's room, teasing the ears of a black-clad Drake. Knowingly, instead of knocking, Drake walked right through the door and leaned against the doorway. His face smoothed out as ever, arms lightly crossed over his chest and a slight smile turning his lips as he inspected his girlfriend on her bed, an only slight worry bugging the back of his mind. He knew Alexia only listened to music when she was upset because of the calming effect. He wondered what was bothering her today.

Alexia heard the door click open and jumped, turning off the music before turning to see who it was. "Drake?" She inspected him for a moment, trying to tell if it was him or not. "Is it you?" A look of confusion was directed at him, as her mind had been creative lately, why not bring Drake to her? "Is it really you?"

"Of course it's me. Who else could pull off this look as well as I could?" His smirk widened in amusement as he strolled over to the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. His voice remained as laid-back as ever, his face calm but it was obvious in his eyes how thrilled he was to be here.

Alexia's face lit up as she threw her arms around his neck in an excited embrace. "Drake! What are you doing here?" After a moment, she pulled away, now practically bouncing in excitement. "I've missed you."

Air whooshed from Drake's lips in surprise at Alexia's tight grip. His arms slid around her slender waist and he gave her ear an affectionate kiss. "Mom said she tried to visit you, but they wouldn't let her in because she wasn't family or something." He pulled back, letting his arms rest loosely around her waist still. "I've missed you, too. That's why I came to live with my mom. Colorado was boring and her house is close to the asylum, so I moved to her house and became a volenteer. And that's it!" He grinned, removing his right hand from her hip to rumple her black locks.

"Did you ever talk to Becca?" Her best friend was a priority. "They better let her in. She promised she'd come visit for my birthday." A grin returned to her face as she said, "But even if she can't make it, your here. Thank you."

"We'll work it out," he promised her with another easy-going smile. "No need to thank me. I'm as happy to be here as you are to have me here."

"So how was everyone? I'm going to ask you about everything, due to you being my only way of knowing about the outside world." Alexia smiled, overjoyed to see him as she sat down on her bed and patted beside her.

The bed stayed firm underneath him as Drake sat down. This must be so uncomfortable to sleep on. He frowned, thinking of what hell Alexia had to go through. Again, he found his arms wrapping around her torso. "Everyone's doing great. Your parents wanted me to say hello and that they send their love." He kissed her cheek gently. "My dad wasn't entirely thrilled about me moving here, but he's obviously okay with it now."

Alexia smiled. "That's good. Class is boring as usual?" Questions about everything flooded her head. Any new stores at the mall? Any super ridiculous teachers? What are the new movies about? Anything and everything about the world outside the asylum popped into her head.

"Even more boring." Drake rolled his eyes and leaned against the goth girl, gazing at her with a knowing look. "All right. Go ahead and spill. I know you've got a ton of questions."

"What movies are out? Are the teachers as weird as we expected? Are there any new stores in the mall? Have you found any new songs?" She listed question after question, seeming as if they wouldn't stop. When she finally did, she took a breath and smiled innocently.

Drake chuckled in amusement. She'd been away for so long, of course she wanted to k ow everything and anything. "Well I only just started school like, yesterday because I just drove in and applied to school a couple days ago, so I don't really know how the teachers are." His smile widened with the slightest sly look on his face. "There are some creative rumors about them, though. As for the movies, meh." He made a face and moved his hand in a so-so motion. "There's nothing too interesting out. A romance and a couple action movies. There's always some interesting songs out right now. I can bring in some CDs of the new music and then we can listen to them together."

Alexia grinned as she took in the information. "Would you? That would be great!" She hugged him as she said, "Ah. I've missed you so much."

"Of course." He laughed when she attacked him again, gripping her tightly against his chest. "I know, babe. I've missed you too." His cheek grazed against a spike on her collar. "Ouch. They let you keep that?"

"I'm not psycho, and what they don't know is a weapon won't kill them." She took off the collar and tossed it on her nightstand. As she smiled she asked, "Better?"

"That's true. Well I'm glad you could keep it, even if you are so eager to take it off." He poked her on the side to let her know he was only teasing. "That is better," he remarked and kissed her neck briefly.

She giggled, leaning away from the poke. "I'm glad." She kissed his cheek, happy to have him back. "I've missed you so much, Drake."

"I've missed you too, Alexia." He sobered up, soaking in the moment and pulling back to look her in the eyes. "How long before you can come home?"

"When the hallucinations go away. And I don't think that's going to happen for a while." Her smile faded, a slight scowl took its place. "I'm insane, what can I say?"

"You're not insane," Drake argued and cupped his hand over her chin and cheek. "I'd go as far as saying you're troubled, but not insane. Those doctors don't know you like I do. They're wrong."

"They say I am. Heck, I believe them now. I was in the park the other day, and I saw myself get wounded. I saw the knife go in, the blood everywhere, the pain was excruciating. But it didn't exist. I was screaming in pain, only the pain wasn't there. Luckily someone talked me out of it, so I didn't faint." The scowl became more prominent. "I'm worse, Drake. I've gotten worse." The words pained her, but she said them anyway. "I'd call that pretty insane, wouldn't you?"

"No, there's a reason behind this. No one's just insane for no reason, and I don't even believe that your insane. I never will, either." His lips grazed her black covered lips. "I'll stay here until we can figure out what's wrong then we can go home together."