“Useless!” Dawn heard her father yell from the other room, storming into the house. She clutched her teddy-bear tight, as her three year old mind was racing. She walked to the closed door of her room, but didn’t dare to open it. Her father sounded mad and annoyed with her, for some reason.
“I can’t believe this girl still lives under MY roof and can’t bother to-!” Suddenly, Dawn’s father was cut off by her mother speaking.
“Jerry, she is three years old! You are blowing this way out of proportion!” She said in a calm, but sad voice. Dawn kept her ear to the door, making sure to listen to every word her parents were saying as they fought for the millionth time.
“Am I, Harriet? That girl has PROBLEMS!” He yelled. “She can’t stay here anymore!” His voice sounded raspy and mad, like he was going to hurt something or someone.
“What are you talking about?” Harriet asked, raising her voice. She paused for a second, and then gasped. “You cannot take my daughter to…to the hospital! Are you crazy? She is not a lab rat, Jerry!” Dawn didn’t know what they were talking about, they had never mentioned a hospital before. She wasn’t sick, so why would they take her there?
“Harriet, she can’t stay here!” Jerry yelled quite louder, to the point where Dawn jumped a bit.
“She is our flesh and blood!” Jerry clutched his teeth.
“It does not matter! She is insane! A crazy girl! She sees things, Harriet! She talks to people!” He yelled, his fists clutched in a mad rage.
“You are insane, Jerry! I won’t let you take our daughter there!” Harriet said. “I am calling the police!” Dawn opened her eyes in shock. Her mother had never called the police before. Not even when Jerry got her really mad.
“Harriet, don’t do that!” Jerry yelled.
“Then get out!”
“What?” Jerry asked, still in a rage.
“Get out! I don’t want you near my daughter!” Harriet screamed, clutching the phone.
“You’re NOT getting in my way!” Jerry yelled as he slapped Harriet hard, to the point where she fell on the ground.
“Ah!” She yelled. Dawn was crying at this point, going to open the door, with her teddy bear in hand. Jerry’s eyes were red and he looked like he was about to explode as he grabbed a lamp and smashed it against Harriet’s head.
Dawn had now grasped the door handle and pulled it open all the way to reveal the rest of the house. Her tears had made their way down her entire face and onto her pink dress as she ran down the stairs, only to see her mother in a passed out state and her psychopathic father standing over her.
“Dawn, my dear…” He slowly said, turning his head to her. “You’ve come out of your room…” Dawn gulped a little and shook lightly.
“Yes, daddy.” She said slowly and calmly.
“Go back to bed, sweetheart…mommy and daddy were just playing…” Dawn knew they weren’t playing, but all she could do was nod and make her way back up the stairs into her pink room.
She crept into her bed and slowly shut her eyes, trying to forget everything she had just witnessed. She still had a hold of her teddy bear as she drifted off into slumber.
When she awoke, she realized that she was not in her bed. She was in a hospital room. Her eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the change of lighting. The room was not decorated at all, actually the only thing in the room was a bed and two chairs next to Dawn. Did she get hurt in the middle of the night? Was this a dream? She quickly sat up, but clutched her head tight. She had a huge headache.
“Ach!” She said to herself as she banged her hand against her head.
The pain in her head was unreal. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to get the pain to go away, but it didn’t. She lowered her head back down, slowly to the point where she was facing the ceiling once more. The pain slowly drifted away and she opened her eyes back up. This time, instead of getting greeted by nothing but darkness, she saw a man.
“Ah, you’re awake.” He said. Dawn looked at him. He had a beard and brown hair with glasses. He was dressed in a lab coat and had a clipboard in his hands.
“…H-Huh?” Dawn asked, not really knowing what to say.
“Dawn, is it?” He asked, putting his hand on her forehead. “Hmm, the serum seemed to cause a fever.” He wrote something down on his clipboard and then looked back at Dawn.
“W-what?” Dawn asked, her throat hurting every syllable she says.
“Do you have any other pains?” He asked, ignoring her confused face. Dawn didn’t know how to respond.
“Hmm…my head hurts…” She slowly said. He chuckled a bit and then looked down at his clipboard.
“Silly Dawn, that isn’t from the serum…that was from you getting up too quickly.” Dawn felt embarrassed that she just said that.
“Oh..” She said, quietly. She looked up at the clipboard but everything was written in cursive, not that she knew how to read in the first place.
“Well, just a few more tests and then you can go back to sleep.” He said, turning his head to her.
“T-tests? What?” Dawn asked.
“Yes, just a few more.” He said, looking down.
“What tests? Am I sick?” She asked politely. She stared down at her body, she didn’t look sick. The only thing that hurt her was her head.
“Just experiments…” He slowly said. Dawn scratched her head at the confusing word.
“What does that mean?” She asked.
“We need to test some stuff on you and see how your body reacts to it.” He said, smiling.
“Can I go home? Where’s mommy? Where’s daddy?” Dawn asked.
“I’m afraid you cant go home just yet…” The doctor said.
“What?” Dawn asked.
“A few tests and then you can go home.” He replied. Dawn felt tears prick at her eyes.
“I don’t want any tests! I want mommy and daddy!” She sobbed and looked at him. “Please, can I go home?”
“Not now, sweetie.” He said, reassuring. Dawn cried louder and louder as she sat up. The doctor grabbed a hold of her and tried to pin her back down to the bed, but she kicked and hissed.
“Let me go! I want mommy!” She yelled, banging and screaming.
“Nurse!” The doctor yelled, trying to keep a grip on Dawn. Dawn kept biting and hitting the doctor, not doing much pain to him. In a matter of seconds, a nurse came in. She had blonde hair and a blue outfit on. Her eyes obviously had contacts, as they were sparkling.
“Yes, doctor?” She asked.
“Get the syringe.” He said, calmly. She nodded and rushed over to the cabinet, fishing for a certain syringe.
She rushed back to him with a mysterious drug in hand. He let go of Dawn for a second, only to grab her again by the wrist.
“Now, don’t move your arm…if you do, it’s going to hurt you a lot more.” He said. Dawn screeched as she felt a cold prick pinch her in the arm, and she fell down in a passed out state.
She was drifting around in her dreams, like an ocean. Her arms hurt very bad and her legs felt as if they were moving her without will. The crazy thing, though, is that she didn’t know where she was…it was all darkness, it was consuming her. She tried to run, but fell to her knees at the unbearable pain. Tears flooded her eyes as she felt the darkness take complete control of her body.
When she awoke, she was in the same bed. This time, she was tied up. She confusingly looked around the room, not wanting to be in the hospital for one second longer. That’s when she saw the woman next to her bedside.
“You’re awake.” She said calmly and nicely. “Do you feel any different? Are you hurting?” She was much nicer then the doctor. Dawn looked at her. She had chestnut brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a dress and leggings, too.
“I…I’m not sure…” Dawn said, kind of scared that she was still in the hospital.
“We are sorry we had to use the Rohypnol, you just wouldn’t lie down.” She said, looking guilty. Dawn was confused at the weird word, but didn’t say anything about it.
“Why am I tied up?” Dawn asked. “My hands hurt.” The woman looked up and remembered that Dawn couldn’t move because she was tied up to the bed.
“I’m sorry, Dawn. This is for your own good.” She replied. “If you stay still, we can untie you…we don’t want to hurt you.”
Dawn felt tears fill her eyeballs.
“The shot hurt…” She slowly said. “I don’t want anymore! I am not sick!” The nurse looked down at her, sadly.
“I-I’m sorry sweetie…it’s not really my choice.” She stuttered a little. “Otherwise, I would help yo-.” Just then, she got cut off by the man who Dawn saw earlier rushing into the room.
“Ah! You’re awake!” He said to Dawn, holding his clipboard in hand. “Nurse, fetch the drug now, please.” He turned his direction to the nurse.
“Doctor…” She said. “She just woke up, give her some time.”
“Nonsense! It won’t hurt much, she’ll be fine!” He said, clutching his clipboard tighter.
“Please, doctor she-.” The nurse started to say.
“Fetch the drug, Kate.” He demanded. “Now.” Kate turned her head to Dawn, then back to the doctor.
“Okay…” She gave in and rushed to the drawer to fetch another needle.
She came back with the drug in hand, slightly shuffling with it.
“Thank you, Kate.” He said, grabbing it. Kate looked down at Dawn and lipped ‘I’m sorry…’ Dawn felt tears prick at her eyes again as they rushed down her face.
“Please, don’t give me another shot.” She begged to the doctor.
“Stay still, now.” The doctor demanded, ignoring her concerns. Dawn’s tears were all over her face as he injected it into her arm.
“P-please, d-dont…” She begged, sobbing. It was too late. The drug had entered her blood stream and was quickly spreading around her body.
He took the now empty needle out of her arm.
“Done!” He said, looking down at Dawn.
“W-what did you d-do?” Dawn asked in-between sobs.
“We think we have found the cure to HIV. But, we need to see what side effects come with it.” He said, writing some stuff on hid clipboard. “They should appear within an hour.” Kate gasped.
“Side effects? You injected her with side effects?” She yelled at him.
“Kate, not now.” He said, putting his hand to her face.
“Doctor she-.”
“Shut up, Kate!” He demanded, angrily looking her way. Kate sadly glared at him and then looked down at Dawn.
“I…I-.” She tried to say.
“Are you going against doctor’s orders?” He asked.
“W-what? N-no! Of course not!” She reassured him.
“Good!” He replied to her. “Because that would be a problem.” The doctor stared down at Dawn once more, and then exited the room.
“Dawn…” Kate said as soon as he left. “…It’ll be okay.” Dawn cried more and more, lightly sobbing.
“I…I wish I could help you…” She said. “I have to go. But, believe me…it’ll be fine.” She knew it wasn’t going to be fine and in an hour, Dawn would be in immense pain. But, she didn’t dare to say anything.
Kate’s predictions were proven right when, in less than an hour, she heard Dawn yell at the top of her lungs. Kate quickly rushed from her station to Dawn’s room, the doctor following behind her.
“Dawn!” She yelled, looking at her. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Her eyes were losing their color, and blood was coming out of her hands, as if they were cut.
Dawn looked up at her.
“Help me!” She screamed, half-crying.
“Amazing!” The doctor yelled, walking over to her tied up hands. “How is this possible?” He grinned and wrote down the observations.
“Doctor!” Kate yelled. “Help her!” The doctor didn’t turn to her, but he kept writing down observations. Kate rushed over to the cabinet, but the doctor grabbed her arm.
“Don’t.” He said, looking at her.
“B-but doctor…she is in pain!” Kate said. “Look at her!” The doctor turned her head to Dawn and smiled once more.
“Incredible, no?” He asked. “Blood is oozing from her hands! Amazing!” Kate put her hand over her mouth.
“Please let me help her!” She begged. Dawn was still screaming and crying at this point.
“Kate, are you going against doctors orders?” He asked. Kate paused for a minute and then lightly shook her head.
“Then leave Dawn alone…go back to your station.”
Kate looked back down at Dawn. Her eyes were now black and soulless instead of blue, which it was before. Kate didn’t want to see Dawn’s hurt body for a second longer, so she ran out of the room and back to her station. Dawn felt blood pour from her hands as she screeched in agony.
“Interesting…” The doctor said.
“P-p…please….h-h…help me.” Dawn said.
“Just a few more minutes…” The doctor said. “Then you will stop feeling the pain.” Dawn looked at him with sad, black eyes.
“P…please…” She begged quietly.
“Don’t make too much noise…” The doctor said, walking out of the room. Dawn was so confused…he couldn’t leave her there…right? But, her fear was correct. He left and locked the door, leaving the three year old girl in a mad state.
The doctor’s words had been wrong. Dawn’s pain did not go away in a few minutes. In-fact, it stayed all night. She cried and begged for mercy, but mercy did not come. Kate heard Dawn’s screams from her room, where she slept. She wanted to help her very badly but she knew that the doctor would not approve and might hurt her. So, in the end, they both cried themselves to sleep.
When Dawn awoke the next morning, the pain was gone. She let out a sigh of relief. There was dry blood all over her hands and on her bed. She didn’t know how the medicine caused her to bleed from her hands. The three year old girl looked around the empty room she was in. There was no TV, no books, nothing. Just a bed and chairs. That’s when she heard the door open a bit.
Kate came in and she was holding a plate of food. Dawn looked at her with a confused face as she sat next to her on the bed.
“Here you go, sweetie!” She happily said, handing her the plate of applesauce and eggs. Dawn was truly hungry and thirsty, since she had not eaten for 24 hours.
She lightly untied Dawn’s hands, trying her best not to hurt her.
“Are you alright?” She asked Dawn calmly, handing her a spoon. Dawn ate the food very quickly.
“I-…I don’t know…” She slowly said. Kate felt tears in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you…” She replied. Dawn looked at her, but didn’t say anything. Dawn truly felt betrayed.
“But, you’re okay now…and that’s what matters…right?” Dawn looked down.
“Uh huh.” She said. Kate sighed sadly, wishing there was some way to help Dawn. But, she knew there wasn’t. She slowly got up and walked out of the room with her guilty conscience bearing over her. And, once again…Dawn was left alone and confused.
Every single day was the same in Dawn’s life. She had countless tests and experiments done on her, without her permission. She eventually learned not to fight it because it would just make it more painful for her. She didn’t go to school…she didn’t watch TV…she didn’t do anything but get experiments done on her all day and all night. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years. Even with the unbearable tests done on her, Kate tried to keep her happy. She would tell her stories and talk to her all day.
She was now 11. Her eyes were still black, her hair had turned blue and long, her skin became paler, her hands had massive gashes on both of them, and her mouth was sewn together in a frown, so it made it very difficult for her to talk. She forgot everything about her mother and father and thought that she was born into a family of crazed scientists. Kate had been like a mother to her, which is something that got taken away.
On her twelfth birthday, Kate had a present. She lightly tapped on Dawn’s door and then let herself in when she didn’t get a response. Dawn was doing the only thing she could do – sleep. Kate lightly tapped her on the shoulder and she awoke in a flash. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes and yawned.
“Hi, Kate.” She lightly said, not trying to hurt her mouth.
“Hello, Dawn.” Kate replied, smiling. She held the present tighter, beyond excited to give it to her.
“What’s in the bag?” Dawn asked. Kate laughed a little.
“So observant! This is for you, kiddo!” She said, handing her the bag. Dawn smiled and quickly opened it. It revealed a bright pink dress with white laces. Dawn smiled and looked up at Kate.
“This is for me?” She asked. Kate nodded and smiled.
“Do you like it? I sewed it myself.” She asked, eager for a response. Dawn smiled.
“Yeah! I love it!” She replied, picking the dress up.
“Why not try it o-?”
Suddenly, the door slammed open to reveal a crazed doctor with a needle in his hand.
“This is the finished product! Finally!” He yelled. Kate looked his way with confusion.
“Huh?” She asked.
“We have made a cure for HIV! There are no longer any side effects!” He seemed happy that he had worked so hard.
“That is good! Dawn can go home now, right? You kept her for 9 years, doctor!” She asked happily. The cure was finished. She should be able to leave! The doctor’s face suddenly got from happy to serious, and it made Dawn nervous.
“I’m afraid not…” He said, walking over to Kate.
“W-what?” She asked. “Y-you cant keep her here! She deserves to go home!”
“Are you insane?” He asked her. “Do you know what we’ve done to her? We would go to jail for the rest of our lives!” Kate looked at him with pure fear and confusion.
“You and I both…” He added.
“I-I…” She started. The doctor quickly cut her off with his next words.
“You see, Kate…she needs to be removed from this earth…” He whispered. Kate gasped and covered her mouth.
“N-no! Jerry said-.”
“I don’t care what Jerry said! She is not worth our time!” He yelled with a crazy look in his eyes. “You see, Kate…you shouldn’t have gotten this attached…now, you will see her die.” He laughed a little as he pulled out a small pocket knife.
“Please don’t do this!” She begged, backing up. “Don’t kill her!” Dawn was watching in horror, not being able to move her legs. Then, the doctor said something that made Dawn’s blood run cold and her memories come flooding back to her.
“You are NOT getting in my way!” He yelled as he stabbed Kate. Dawn gasped and started to cry.
“AHH!” Kate yelled as blood was pouring out of her chest. Dawn started to cry more and more.
“PLEASE! STOP!” She begged, crying. The doctor wouldn’t stop. He kept stabbing and stabbing her. Kate slowly looked at Dawn and lipped one word, and one word only. ‘Run.’
Dawn knew what she was asking and quickly jumped out of the hospital bed and ran out of the room. There were doors to the left and to the right of her, and she didn’t know where to go. All of the walls were plain and white, and all of the doors were brown. There was no diversity.
“Dawwwwnnn.” The doctor said once he was finished with Kate. Dawn gasped and quickly ran into the first room she saw, which was unlocked. She quietly shut the door and clicked the lock, hoping for him not to find her. She held her breath and crouched in the corner of the dark room, waiting for him to pass by.
She heard his footsteps outside of the room. She didn’t dare to talk or move, even though tears were streaming down her face. Once the footsteps passed by her room, she gasped a sigh of relief but didn’t dare to stand up just yet.
She counted to 60 four times before sitting up. He was long gone. She looked around for a light-switch, not knowing which room she was in. And, sure enough, she found one near the door. She flicked it on and the bright light blinded her for a second as it lit up the entire room. She opened her eyes and realized she was in some sort of storage room since there were cabinets everywhere. Being quiet, she walked over to one and opened the drawer and was surprised to see files labeled A-Z.
There were many of them. Names like Alice Harper to Zayn Jones. All of the files had pictures of children with horrible defects. Some had no eyes, some had extra limbs and some even had no emotions…no soul. Every single file had a red X in the middle of it, too which made the entire thing more unsettling. Dawn looked at every one with horror and disgust. That was, until, she got to one that did not have an X on it…and the name…the name shocked Dawn.
Katie Luce. It was a picture of a little girl who looked just like nurse Kate. She had brown hair and blue eyes and she was wearing a blue shirt. Dawn gasped. Her stomach had a large cut in the middle of it and it went down her legs.
“Is that why she always wears a dress…?” Dawn asked herself. “No…that can’t be Kate! It…can’t be!” She dropped the file onto the floor, not knowing what to do.
Just then, she heard the door open.
She quickly jolted her head and saw the doctor. He still had a crazed look on his face and had the pocket knife in hand.
“That’s enough of hide and seek, Dawn.” He slowly said, making his way towards her.
“Please!” Dawn begged, backing up into the corner. The doctor made his way to her until they were face-to-face. A smile crept on his face as he grabbed Dawn by the neck and put the pocket knife to her throat.
“Goodbye, Dawn Radley.” He said, slitting her throat.
“N-no! P-please!” Dawn gasped once more and slowly felt the life drift away from her body, blood was covering her as she closed her eyes for the last time.
The doctor smiled and picked up the dead girl. Not before he went over to the ‘D’ section and picked up a file. Grabbing a red pen from his pocket, he drew a red X over it.
He took both the bodies of Katie and Dawn and buried them with the other children and nurses he murdered. He thought he was in the clear, he thought he was safe as he walked back into the hospital.
He walked into his room and took out his clipboard.
“She was a good nurse, too bad.” He said to himself as he wrote down some stuff on his paper. The hospital was empty, he was the only one in there. That’s when, all of the sudden, he heard a bang come from outside his room. He jumped and gasped.
“Who’s there!?” He yelled loudly, demanding to know where the noise came from. There was no response.
“Answer me, dammit!” He yelled louder. Still, no response. Angry and annoyed, he grabbed the pocket knife he used to kill both Dawn and Kate and walked to the door. With each step he took, he felt a darker and darker presence. He had never believed in ghosts, but it was kinda freaky what was happening.
He slowly crept to the door knob and twisted it. He took a deep breath and pushed it open, revealing the hallway. He slowly walked out of his room, but didn’t see anything.
“Must be hearing things…” He slowly said to himself as he walked back into the room. Just then, he felt two hands grab him from behind and hold him. He gasped and yelled as he turned his face to the mysterious figure. And, just then, he felt his heart sink into his chest.
A girl with brown hair, blue eyes, and a name tag that said ‘Nurse Katie’ was holding him down. Blood was dripping from her chest and down her legs. He tried to break free of her grasp, but couldn’t. She had a grip on him that was so tight, he could barely breathe. He kept struggling and screaming…until he saw the girl.
She had a pink dress on with white laces. Her eyes were black and she had bright blue hair. Her skin was pale and she had blood dripping from her neck. Along with that, her mouth was stitched together in a smile. The doctor looked at her in horror and begged for the woman to let go of her.
“Don’t remember us, Allen?” She asked. The doctor turned his face to the girl once more and realized that it was Kate.
“K-Kate? D-Dawn? But I k-.” He started to say, before Kate cut him off.
“Do you want to know what it feels like to be a lab rat?” She asked, a smile claiming her face. Allen shook his head in terror.
“I’m sorry!” He begged. “Let me go!”
“I’m afraid not…” Kate said as he grabbed him tighter.
Dawn smiled and inched closer to him. As she did, Allen realized that she had a syringe in her hand.
“No!” He yelled as he kicked and bit the two girls. They just laughed as Dawn crept closer with the syringe. Before injection it into his body, she smiled.
“Don’t worry…the pain will go away in a few minutes.” She said as she stabbed him with it. It pierced his veins and he dropped to the floor in utter pain.
“Make it stop!” He begged. Blood was dripping from his teeth and eyes and it felt as if he were melting away. Before Dawn and Kate left him to die a painful death, Dawn leaned close to him and whispered something in his ear.
“The doctor may see you now…”