Screams in the Darkness (Dark Screams Book 1) Read online

  Screams

  in the

  Darkness

  By

  Sabrina Samples

  Published by Sabrina Samples

  Copyright © 2016 By Sabrina Samples

  All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from Sabrina Samples

  The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  ASIN -B01MEDHS8D

  ISBN - 978-1537794587

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to everyone who has helped me to branch out of my comfort zone. I would never have finished this book without you!

  I want to thank my amazing editor Mindy Rigel for dealing with me being neurotic during this process. I want to thank Jessica Baldwin for keeping me motivated through the whole process and I want to thank Rachel Zarella for making my beautiful cover and for helping to keep me on track.

  Prologue

  Alex sat in her hospital room, the beeps of her heartbeat pinging the monitor. Her body may have been heavy from painkillers, but there was still the steady throb on her face, chest, and legs. As she shifted to her side, there was a tugging sensation along the side of her neck. Her fingers then gently glided down the thick line of stitches spanning from her chin to her collarbone.

  “Oh good, you’re awake.” Alex jumped as a nurse walked through the door. This elected a groan as the movement tugged on her stitches. A short, plump woman with shoulder length red hair entered the room, wearing a set of green scrubs. She began to walk toward Alex’s bed. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Like hell. When can someone bring me lunch? I'm starving.” Alex tried not to move too much. “The pain meds wore off a while ago. Is there any chance you can change that? It feels like I lost a fight to a bear.”

  “I will see what I can do, but it will be after your visitor leaves.”

  “Visitor? I don't have anyone visiting me.” Confusion spread over Alex face.

  “There is an officer here to ask you a few questions. Do you feel up to it right now?”

  With a sigh, Alex pressed the button at her side to turn off the TV. “Sure, why not?”

  Nodding, the nurse turned and left the room. Moments later she returned with an older man with greying hair. He wore a pair of black slacks and a white shirt under a faded black sports jacket. As he stepped inside the room, his pale blue eyes began taking everything in. The monitors at Alex’s bedside were beeping softly, and finally the detective’s eyes fell on Alex. Her skin was pale, and her blonde hair was in a loose ponytail. He noticed the line of stitches, resembling a zipper, from her chin to her collarbone. The detective’s eyes then pulled from the wound on Alex’s neck to her face, as she tried shifting on the bed with limited success.

  “Alexandra Parker?” The detective’s voice was gruff. Alex acknowledged him with a slight nod, as she winced with pain. “My name is Detective Roy Brown. I need to ask you a few questions about what happened yesterday at Kingsbury Asylum.” Roy paused for a second, and he took a step closer. “How are you feeling, Alexandra? The doctors said you took a pretty bad beating.”

  Alex tried to sit up in the bed, but flinched and laid back down; the pain shooting to her head. “It would appear so,” she said through gritted teeth. “Just ask your damn questions and leave!” she snapped.

  Roy’s eyes widened, and he looked down at his notepad. “Can you tell me what your relationship to Brandon Harris is?”

  “He was an orderly at Kingsbury.” Roy nodded as he wrote in his notepad.

  “Did you know Brandon prior to entering the asylum?”

  “No, I met him on my first day there.”

  “How long ago was that?” Roy asked.

  “A little over four months ago.” Alex couldn’t help but smile as she thought back to that day.

  She let her mind wander in the silence; the detective scribbled in his notebook.

  There was a knock at the door, and another man joined them in the room. Roy stood up and walked over to him. Alex assumed it was another detective as Roy followed him into the hallway, leaving Alex alone with her thoughts.

  Chapter 1

  Alex sat on a wooden bench at the back of the room. Her parents were sitting in leather chairs in front of a wooden desk which faced a plump woman with grey hair and wire-framed glasses that rested on the edge of her nose. Alex assumed the room was supposed to feel warm and inviting to people, but to her it was the room that would seal her fate. She wished those stupid paramedics would have just left her to die on the floor. Death would have been better than becoming a lab rat for a bunch of people who only wanted to throw medication at her.

  “Mister and Misses Parker, we have done our initial assessment of Alexandra, and my colleagues and I agree that she suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder,” stated the doctor. A badge reading, “Dr. Miller” was now visible as she moved in her chair.

  “What does that mean?” Alex’s father asked in a stern voice.

  “Alexandra reacts to situations with extreme actions. She often lashes out and hurts others, or more commonly, herself,” the plump woman with grey hair answered. Alex reflexively pulled the sleeves down further to cover her hands. “And recently she has shown problems controlling her anger,” she continued, barely nudging her wire-framed glasses.

  “What can we do for her?” Her father sounded more concerned now, and Alex finally looked at him. He seemed older than she realized. He had frown lines on his face, and his hair was starting to turn grey. He had black bags under his eyes, and he seemed exhausted overall.

  “At the moment, we are going to try her on a drug called Lithium, along with Zoloft. We are going to pair those with intense therapy. We will also have her on a daily schedule of events that will be productive for her.”

  “What does that do?” Alex’s father asked.

  “Well, since there are no approved medications to treat BPD, we need to focus on treating symptoms. We are going to use the Lithium to treat the suicidal thoughts, as well as the aggression issue. We are then going to use the Zoloft to help with any depression she may be experiencing.” Doctor Miller flipped through the file at her desk for a second. “We have noted she has been on Zoloft in the past, but then she stopped taking it. Was that by the doctor’s suggestion or through her own wishes?”

  “She stopped taking them on her own.” Her father sounded sad as he spoke.

  “Yes, that is one of our concerns with any medication given to her. We would need to monitor her to make sure that she is actively taking the medication during her stay.”

  “How long will she need to be in here?” Alex’s mother finally spoke, her voice thick with emotion.

  “That is not something we can say at this point. It all depends on Alexandra herself. She needs to want to get better.” Both Alex’s parents and the doctor turned to Alex on the bench.

  Alex looked up from the floor where she had been staring intently at a group of ants fighting over a crumb. “I would like to go to my room if that’s okay with you. All this talk about what’s wrong with me and how you plan to ‘treat’ me. I would rather go to sleep than listen to this bullshit.”

  “Alexandra Parker!” Her mother shouted at her. “That is no way to speak to your parents!”

  Doctor Miller raised her hand to calm Alex’s mother. “This is to be expected.” She tu
rned to Alex and said, “I will have one of the orderlies escort you to your room.” She stood up from her desk, walked over to the door, and opened it.

  Alex could hear the doctor speaking quietly with someone, and as she stepped out of the way, a man came into the room. He was wearing a white set of clothing. Alex couldn’t help but be reminded of something sterile as he stood before them. She then took a moment to really look at him. The white button down shirt he was wearing stood in contrast to his olive skin, as the shirt clung tightly against his biceps and his chest. His emerald eyes were alert and focused on Alex, and his chiseled features were set in a neutral expression.

  “Alexandra, my name is Brandon. I am going to take you to your room today. I already placed your bags in there.” Brandon’s voice was like velvet, and Alex couldn’t think of anything to say when rising from the bench. She merely walked toward the door, and Brandon moved out of the doorway to allow her to pass. Alex was hit with the intoxicating scent of cinnamon as she walked past him. Brandon turned and followed her out. “You shouldn’t be so hard on your parents; they are just worried about you,” Brandon said as they turned down a side hall.

  “Yeah, they care about me so much that they locked me up in here,” Alex said with disdain in her voice.

  “They brought you here, so you could get the help you need. Maybe they thought that you would be better here because they can’t do anything to help.”

  Alex stopped walking and turned to Brandon. “No, they have me here because they don’t want me to embarrass them with their new ‘friends’. They locked me up to forget this is happening, and now they won’t feel guilty about going out for drinks or going to parties.” Alex paused for a second and looked Brandon in the eyes. “They want to forget about their crazy daughter that they never wanted,” she whispered.

  Before Brandon could say anything else, Alex turned and started walking down the hall. He caught up to her, and they walked the rest of the way in silence to Alex’s room.

  Brandon stopped at a closed door and looked at Alex. “This is our stop.” He smiled as he opened up the door.

  Alex walked into the room first, taking in the white walls and ceiling. The metal frame bed was covered in white sheets and blankets. The single window on the wall by the desk looked out onto the parking lot of the hospital. Alex walked over, grabbed her bag, and relocated it to the bed.

  She turned back to Brandon. “Look, I know why I am here. I know I’m not going to get out unless the doctors think I am better. It just sucks that I am stuck in here.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, why exactly are you in here?” he asked.

  Alex took a step toward Brandon as she pulled her sleeve up to her elbow. Her arm was covered in pink and red lines, some looked old and scarred while others looked fresh.

  “You’re a cutter?” Brandon asked, surprised.

  “Yeah,” Alex said as she looked away from Brandon and quickly pulled her sleeve back down. Brandon reached out and grabbed her wrist.

  “Don’t be ashamed of it.” He paused for a second and then let go of her wrist. He grabbed his own sleeve and pulled it up, his arm revealing fresh cuts. “You are not the only one who does it.”

  “I believe all that proves is that you should be a patient here along with me as opposed to a worker,” Alex said as she opened up her bag and started pulling out her clothes.

  With a loud sigh, Brandon pulled his sleeve back down. “Just thought you would like to know you aren’t alone. Not here.” Brandon turned to walk out of the room, “Lunch is in 20 minutes, I will be back to escort you down to the cafeteria.”

  As Brandon walked out of Alex’s room, he rubbed his temples. “Keep it together.” He chastised himself as he turned down a vacant hallway. He walked into an empty room and slammed the door behind him. In the dim room, there was a small window letting in a slight breeze. There was a grimy mirror hanging on the wall above a sink covered in dirt and dust. The toilet next to it looked like it hadn’t been used in years. Brandon walked over to the sink and turned on the water. After the pipes groaned and protested, it began to pump out brown water. With a sigh, he shut off the water and looked at his reflection in the mirror. “What was I thinking? I should have never showed her the cuts. She is just going to think I am crazy,” Brandon said aloud, gripping the edges of the sink tightly as he thought of Alex.

  “You are crazy though,” a voice echoed in the room.

  “Who is there?” Brandon asked as he spun around looking for the voice. No one was in the room with him, so he turned back toward the mirror. The reflection looking back at him now had a twisted smile on its face. “What the fuck?” Brandon said, backing

  away from the sink. The reflection lost its smile, and was then replaced with only a confused look which Brandon wore. Brandon shook his head, thinking his mind was just playing tricks on him.

  The buzzer rang through the halls signaling that it was time for lunch. With one last look in the mirror, Brandon looked at his own reflection. He shook his head again, and walked out of the room.

  Chapter 2

  “Brandon Harris?” asked a tall man with short cropped black hair. He was standing in the doorway to his hospital room. His brown suit clashed with his pale complexion.

  Brandon looked away from the TV against the wall across from his bed, as it quietly flashed images from The Avengers movie. “Who are you?” Brandon asked defensively.

  “Brandon, my name is Carlos Mendes. I’m with the Pittsburg Police Department. I need to ask you a few questions about the events at Kingsbury Asylum.”

  Brandon rolled his eyes as he shut off the TV. “You are wasting your time here with me. You should be arresting that crazy bitch.”

  “Who are you referring to?” He paused and flipped his notepad open. “Alexandra Parker?” He looked up at Brandon.

  “Yeah. She is the reason I am in here.”

  “My partner is down the hall speaking with her right now.” The officer tried to reassure Brandon, but Brandon’s eyes went wide with horror. His eyes bounced from the cop toward the door.

  “She is–here?” Brandon’s voice was higher than it had been before.

  “She was admitted following the situation at the asylum.”

  “Why is she on this floor? In my hallway?” Brandon yelled at the officer.

  “She is being treated for her injuries, just as you are.”

  Brandon’s mind flashed back to him sitting on Alex’s legs in the knocked over chair. He had a blade pressed against Alex’s neck.

  “It slipped,” Brandon whispered to himself. Then he snapped back to the detective standing at the edge of the bed looking at him. “She’s on this floor?!” Brandon shouted. “Are you insane? Keep that crazy bitch away from me!”

  “Please, Mr. Harris. I need you to calm down for me,” the officer urged.

  “Calm down? That crazy bitch beat me unconscious, and she is down the hall from me right now! You are down here talking to me about stupid stuff while she is down there probably laughing at me.” Brandon’s voice was irate as he tried to pull the I.V. from his arm.

  “Mister Harris, I need you to keep your voice down,” a woman said as she opened the door and walked into the room. She was tall and thin with brown hair and glasses. She quickly closed the door behind her. “I shouldn’t have to remind you that you are in a hospital, Mister Harris. I would ask that you keep your voice down.” She continued to chastise him as she walked over to his I.V. stand. She began fixing the tubing and messed with some of the dials.

  “What are you doing?” Carlos asked the nurse as she continued to mess with the monitor.

  “Thanks to you he is in an agitated state right now, and the doctor advised we keep him calm until we get the psychiatrist in to evaluate him.” She spoke without even looking at Carlos.

  “Psychiatrist?!” Brandon said, his voice still loud and livid. “Why are you fucking people making me talk to them? You should be down in that bitch’s room with a gun to her h
ead!” Brandon struggled to sit up as Carlos quickly moved over to pin him down. The nurse injected something directly into Brandon’s arm. After a few seconds, he stopped fighting and leaned back in the bed. “That feels nice.” Brandon yawned and closed his eyes.

  The nurse quickly turned and faced Carlos. “I told you to keep him calm before you came in here. What did you not understand about that?”

  “I still need to ask him questions. He was one of the two people in that room. We need to know what happened in there.” Carlos felt his agitation with the nurse skyrocket.

  “You should have thought about that before you got him so worked up that we had to sedate him,” the nurse responded; her voice was firm and loud. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she began again. “Mister Harris is going to be out for several hours. You can either wait in the waiting room until he wakes up, or I can have someone call the station.” The nurse looked him square in the eyes with an annoyed look written all over her face. When Carlos still did not move, she tapped her foot.

  “I am just going to go and meet my partner,” he said after an awkward moment passed. He stood up straighter, taller. “If you could give me a call when Mister Harris wakes up, I will be back to question him.” Carlos handed the nurse his business card and turned on his heels to leave the room.

  As he walked down the hall toward Alex’s room, he could not help but wonder what had set Brandon off so much about this girl. Carlos saw the injuries to both Alexandra and Brandon. As far as Carlos knew, Alexandra was the victim in the case. Carlos silently walked up to Alex’s door and saw that it was cracked. He could hear his partner Roy talking with her.

  “How long ago was that?” Roy asked.

  “A little over a year ago,” Alex responded.

  Carlos knocked on the door and pushed it open. Roy turned to see his partner walking into the room, an annoyed expression painted on his face. His line of sight returned to Alex. “Excuse me, Alexandria. I need to talk with my partner out in the hall for a moment.” Roy stood up and headed to the door.