By: Aldriech Villamor

I woke up in the dark, much like the rest of the patients here. It was 6:30 in the morning at the Anglewood Mental Hospital, and I was absolutely drained from the medications they had put me on. The daily routine was absurd and animalistic, making it depressing to watch everyone roam about the hospital. We were different than the people in the outside world because they were perfect. They weren’t enthralled with tendencies to see one’s true essence of fear, nor would they enjoy the taste of flesh and bone.

          Breakfast came along, and as usual, I held my spot in the cafeteria. Something new caught my eye, another patient in the uttermost worst condition. His tall and scrawny body had looked lifeless. The frail composition of the man seemed frightening, like something I would have never thought to be scared of. I came closer to the man, just enough to get within earshot of him.

          “Dispatch.. Constrain him!..  He needs to be fixed!..” I could hear him say in a very raspy voice, much like as if he was talking while inhaling. I had tried not to pay attention to it, but his voice had brought a cold air, bringing me still in fear. It was then interrupted through the sound of a bell to go back to the rooms. Now catching the opportunity, I quickly ran to the exit of the cafeteria, gazing back at the unnamed patient. He was the only person in the cafeteria.

          A few hours passed, and now it was time for group therapy. I, along with several other patients, would sit down and discuss ways to control our tendencies and urges. Dozens of groups tend to run off at the same time, so I wouldn’t have expected to have the new patient in the room.
          “Everyone, this is Jack, the new patient. Come say hello to everyone Jack.” The nurse kindly introduced him to the group. He then made some kind of effort to say something.

          “Jack.. new patient here..” was the most that he said before taking a seat. Therapy then followed, but the whole time I was focused on Jack. His posture had begun to be more fidgety, almost anxious from seeing all the people in the room. It appears the nurse had also seen this.

          “Jack, are you alright? Is there anything I can get for you?” The nurse asked concerningly.

          “Fear.. Fear..” Jack repeatedly replied, his actions becoming more violent. He began shaking around even more in his chair, his head violently shaking. The other patients had moved back, afraid of what would happen. The nurse then walked up to Jack, in an attempt to comfort him. It was when the nurse was knocked back and left unconscious that we had finally seen Jack’s truest form: A very metallic body with large arms and claws. His human self had disappeared, now replaced by metal and the rag he was wearing.

          “Fear! Fear!” He now screamed while chasing towards patients. When getting to them, he had done so unsparingly, tearing apart their bones and impaling them to hear their scream at its highest.

“Is this the fear he was looking for?” I thought to myself before attempting to run out of the room. I was at the door before being impaled with a metal claw. His reach was massive, as he got me from the other side of the room. I began to blackout before seeing several nurses and officers come in to restrain the monster.

Hours passed, and upon waking up, I was in the medical wing of Anglewood. The stab from the metal had still stung when two doctors had begun to see me. 

“You sustained very heavy damage, but you’ll be just fine.” The main doctor said to me. The other one stood firm, holding a clipboard.

“That monster was horrifying! Where’s everyone else?!” I exclaimed in shock.

“No one else came out of that room. The patients, the nurses, and even the officers, all in severely unrecoverable positions. We caught on camera that the beast had screamed “Not done” repeatedly before fleeing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to tend to. Dr. Finn will watch over for you.”

“Please doctor! You’ve got to save them. There has to be something you can do!” I said, now showing concern and fear for the lives wasted by that monster.

“Sorry but.. They’re past saving now. I fear for their lives as well, but right now there are others I must tend to right now.”

The doctor had left the room, leaving me and Dr. Finn to a quiet, now remembered silence.
          “They’re past.. their lives. I must.. tend to fear..” Finn had said before beginning to let out a blood curling scream. It had scared me, the suddenness of it. The panic now invoked in me made me press the nurse’s call button, but it was when I could feel the life leaving my body that the monster had found its taste for fear.