Chatterbox: Inkwell

First page of my story! TW/ This story may contain some horror elements in which people might not feel comfortable with, continue at your own risk!

“One… Wake up, it’s your turn.” The old lady tugged at my sleeve, and snapped her fingers to get me to wake up.

I opened my eyes and grunted at her as I pulled my sleeve away from her grasp. She pulled back, her disgusting breath staining the inside of my nose. She smelled like rotting flesh and canned mushroom soup.

As the old lady walked away, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, it was time for my morning routine; sitting at the edge of my bed and staring at my feet, getting dressed, then heading to the cafeteria before my morning meeting with doctor Evalynn.

“Psst! Nix!” A voice whispered from my doorway. It was Winter.

I waved at her, attempting to smile but then remembered the mask the hospital had attached to me. Winter entered my room and felt around the walls to try and make it to my bed where she usually sat.

“Hisssss!” I was unable to speak, but I could still make sounds to alert her where I was. She immediately recognised my attempts to guide her and started following where the hiss had come from.

“So,” She sat at the edge of my bed right next to me. “ You’re up first again, huh? Sorry about that… I wish I could take that mask off for you so you could talk back to me.”

“But what about you? Your sight? My voice isn’t as important as your ability to see?” I signed on her hand. 

“ Sight? Trust me, I barely used my sight when I had it. You always seem to be writing and I would love to hear one of your stories, but I doubt you’ll ever have the time to write entire paragraphs in the palm of my hand.

Winter pulled at the mask on her face as I got dressed. Once I was ready, I pulled Winter’s hand lightly and yipped as a signal I was ready to go. We made our way to the cafeteria, passing many different faces on our way… I remember when it was just me, Cassandra, and Winter… I used to be angry that we were the only ones, but once more people started coming in I started to feel sad that these innocent beings were forced to partake in such an atrocious series of experiments.

I barely ate anything once we sat down at the breakfast table. My mind raced with ideas of what kind of horrible shot or pill they would feed me next. What type of chemical would they put in me this time? When they took my voice they had promised that by the third shot I would have it back… But here we are, 86 experiments in and I still haven’t gotten my voice back. I miss it so much, I used to talk all the time to people I trusted. I never took advantage of my voice, ‘nor did I use it too much… Was this just how things were meant to be? My worried thoughts kept racing and racing as mountains of anxiety piled over me. Suddenly, my fearful ideas and theories were broken by the soft touch of a worried Winter.

“Are you alright? You look nervous? I’m sure your meeting with the doctor will go perfectly fine darling!” Winter said cheerily.

“I’m fine.” I signed on her hand.

She frowned and spoke in a gloomy tone. “I know you’re lying, but that's okay. You don’t wanna talk about it so I won’t make you.”

“QUIET!” A loud voice boomed, breaking through the chatter of 500 hyper children. The cafeteria went silent.

“Hmph! Good,” Everyone turned their attention to the same woman who appeared every time we had a newcomer. A woman in a porcelain mask and a purple velvet dress. She wore her long black hair in a loose ponytail that stretched to her lower back. The waist and hems of her dress were lined in rhinestones and rubies, glimmering in the dull light of the flickering cafeteria light.

“I am Abbelaine Noelle, former queen of this half of the world and now headmaster and manager of this hospital as well as its education system. I am here to present some new students/patients, who will each be assigned a tour-buddy. We only have two newcomers today, so cross your fingers and hope you get picked.”

Two kids my age appeared from around the corner as Miss Abbelaine gave her signature hand wave. One of them was around 5’0” with short and wavy green hair swept to one side, while the other was 5’5”also with short wavy hair, but hers was red and swept to the opposite side. As usual, they both wore the default outfits that are given to every patient. For the shorter one, a light blue shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers, and for the other one, a light blue dress with black leggings and mary jane flats.

“The tour-buddies assigned to the newcomers will be…” She paused for a moment.

“Winter L. and Nixie S. Congratulations to you two… After Patient One’s visit with their doctor you will both show your new friends to their rooms.” 

Applause that had been tainted by bitter jealousy echoed throughout the room as Winter and I stood and bowed. We walked to our new soon-to-be friends and greeted them warmly with a handshake. As always, we had to escort our newcomers to the waiting room so that we could give them a full tour after my appointment. Just as I was about to leave for my appointment, I waved them goodbye but was held up by the shorter child’s voice.

“Wait! Before you go, we should get to know each other's names real quick!” He said.