White As Walls

There was something about him that she couldn’t explain. He seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was always there when she needed him though. As Amber walked silently through the street that cold November day, the leaves whirled around her bare feet as thoughts of Maddox filled her head. No one understood why she went without shoes. Maybe it was because when she was small she was afraid that the shoes wouldn’t come off at the end of the day. She didn’t know the exact reason herself.
The wind was cold and harsh. Amber continued to walk without a destination in mind. But she continued to walk, stopping only to look over her shoulder. Why was that man following her? Why couldn’t she see his face? He was only a few yards away. Suddenly, someone touched her shoulder. As she turned around, the shock still plastered on her face, she was met by a tall, dark hired man. Maddox. Once again, he was here at the perfect time.
“Amber.” He said, his voice blending with the wind, “You need to tell someone about him. You know it isn’t right. He shouldn’t be here.” Amber glanced back at the man, who was still following at a distance. Maddox’s words rand through her ears. It isn’t right. He shouldn’t be here. What a strange choice of words, Amber told herself. She turned to face Maddox, who was staring at the man. The stranger paid him no attention, but kept to himself.
“How do I know for sure that he isn’t just walking the same way I am?” She whispered. She knew that people gave her odd looks when she spoke to Maddox. She figured it was because they didn’t expect her to be with someone like Maddox. He was practically perfect. And she was a mess. So she always stayed quiet when speaking to him.
“And he happens to stop when you do. Face it, Amber. He’s here because of you.” Why did Maddox always have a strange choice in words? Amber glanced back at the stranger again. Maddox muttered something about Amber being warned, but Amber didn’t quite hear him. She turned to face Maddox, but he was already gone. Suddenly, Amber felt extremely tense. She slowly turned back to face the man. But instead of across the street, he was right there staring at her with his unnaturally red eyes. Half of his face was covered in a tattoo that made him look more like a beast than a man. Amber jumped.
“Surprise.” He growled. He smiled evilly and showed his sharpened teeth. Amber screamed as he reached to grab her. He narrowly missed the chain Amber wore around her neck, which was from her grandmother. He only missed because Amber had sprinted away from him, but he wasn’t far behind. She continued to run, hardly making a sound besides her feet pounding on the cement underfoot. As she ran into the nearest building, she was relieved to find it was the police station.
“Somebody help me!” She shrieked as she turned to see the man once again. She ran from the front of the room to the stairs, climbing to the next floor. She ran into the nearest department shrieking and pleading for someone to help her. Three officers ran to her but she pushed away from them and ran. She tripped on one of the officer’s shoes and was amazed at the sensation of falling until her head hit the corner of a desk and she lost all consciousness.
When Amber awoke, she was sitting in a cot, dressed in white. The room was empty except for the cot, which she noted had restraints on the side. She vaguely remembered being brought in, after a few men in white had done something to her. What had they done? Amber sat silently on the cot, letting tears run freely. That was when she noticed a man in the corner of the room. She cried out and the tears fell faster.
“Maddox.” She whimpered. He stood and walked to her, slowly at first. When he sat on the edge of the cot she fell into him and sobbed. “What am I doing here, Maddox?” He didn’t answer. He just stood and went back into the corner of the room. It was so dark that she could hardly see him. She only would have known he was there because he had already revealed himself. As she stared at the dark corner, the big door across from the cot opened. A man walked in letting in some light. Maddox must’ve taken the opportunity then to slip out of the room because when she looked over to the newly lit corner, he was gone.
“Amber?” the man said, slowly.
“What?” She replied without looking at him.
“Do you know what you’re doing here?” He asked, stepping closer.
“If I did, do you think I’d be crying?” She snapped back at him. She heard him sigh slightly.
“Amber, who were you just talking to? A few minutes ago before I came in?” He asked. Amber glared at him. Why was he asking so many questions?
“I was talking to Maddox.” Amber said. She buried her face in her arms, which were resting on her knees.
“Does Maddox have a last name?” Why did he need to know about Maddox?
“Irving. Maddox Irving.” She saw the confusion on the man’s face. “He lives in my apartment building. 3B.” She buried her face once again, not knowing why she had told him where Maddox lived.
“Amber…” The man, Amber assumed he was a doctor, said, “I looked into your friend Maddox because you were saying his name in your sleep last night. There is no record of a Maddox Irving ever living in your apartment complex or in this city. I called and asked a few of your relatives about him and they said they had never met him but you talked about him.” His face was tight with worry. Amber looked at him like he was stupid. Of course there was. She had been seeing Maddox for months and he had often times been seen with her in public.
“Amber,” the doctor said her name again, “The police say you ran into the station claiming that someone was chasing you. That he was going to kill you. Can you explain that?”
“He had been following me and after Maddox had left, he came up to me. He tried to grab me but I ran. He began chasing me. So I ran into the police station and then… then… I can’t remember…” Amber said, her voice growing softer. The doctor looked even more upset then.
“Can you describe the man?”
“What are you, a cop?” Amber stood up and walked to the corner of the room where Maddox had been sitting. The doctor looked at her softly.
“Amber, will you please describe the man to me?” Amber sighed and relented.
“He was short, with brown hair a little lighter than yours. He had red eyes and a tattoo covering half of his face, making it look like her was half wolf. He was wearing a beanie and a red button up shirt. It was unbuttoned and he had a white tank top underneath. “ The doctor sighed and ran his hands through his hair. She stood up and sat on the cot again. “Why was he after me?”
“The police went and asked the people on the scene about it. They all said that you were running from… nothing. You screamed and then took off. There was no one there and you weren’t being chased by anyone. In fact, they said you had been standing alone at the corner for a half hour. You didn’t talk to anyone and after a while, you just screamed.”
“What are you saying, that I just imagined the whole thing?” She screamed, “I know what I saw! I was being stalked!”
The doctor kept his voice low, “Didn’t your father have a rather bad case of paranoia?” Amber nodded slowly.
“Yes my father was paranoid. “ Amber said through gritted teeth.
“Did you ever meet your Uncle Anderson?” He asked.
“I met him once when I was about seven. But it’s been over fourteen years since I’ve seen him.”
“I did a little research on him. He went missing several years ago, but before then there were several accounts of him having random outbursts, talking to himself, and other actions. He was diagnosed with Schizophrenia when he was about thirty.”
“So?” Amber barked back, afraid of what he was going to say.
“We have reason to suspect that you do too.” He said carefully. Amber was non responsive for a few seconds. Then a single tear fell as Maddox approached her from behind. She turned to him.
“You’re not real?” She whispered. He only shook his head as he slowly faded away. She turned back to the doctor and fell to the floor. Sobs shook her entire frame. The doctor slowly stood and lifted Amber to her feet again. She slipped into him arms and wept uncontrollably.
He held her and slowly walked her to the door. “Come on, Amber. I’ll show you to your room.” He led her out of the room into the hallways, which were white as well. Amber sobbed as she realized, she couldn’t go back to the real world any time soon. She melted again into her new doctor and accepted where her new home would be.