The rest of the day past
quickly for Josh. He removed the girl from solitary breathing a sigh of relief.
He ate dinner with some of the older kids. Even challenging some of the boys to
a game of one on one. By the time his shift was over, he was tired, and was
ready to get home and crawl into bed. Through out the day, he felt something
near by. He never saw anything, but he knew something was close.
Walking into his
house, he threw his keys on the table walking through the dark house. He
stopped in the kitchen, but continued on quickly. Walking into his bathroom, he
stripped off his shirt, as he reached into the shower turning on the water. He
adjusted it to a nice temperature before taking off the rest of the clothes.
As he felt the water
cascade down his back, he let his memories go back to that day he most wanted
to forget. It had only been three months ago. He had decided to take over one
of Joe's shifts so that he could spend his anniversary with his wife. He was
well into his second shift when a fight had broken out on the girls floor. He
had separated the girls, and for the most part they had calmed down. All except
for one. He had tried talking to her, but nothing had worked. After she had started
another fight, he had decided to put her alone until the end of his shift. He
had hated to do it. Putting people in solitary made it seem like the shelter
was a prison which it really wasn't. It was these kids last hope before
juvenile hall.
At the end of his
shift, he walked down to the quiet room as they called it with Chris. When they
had opened the door, they had found her. Somehow she had hidden a razor blade
in her clothing. He had no idea how she obtained such a thing. She had laid
cold and lifeless on the floor of the room. No hope for saving her. She had
been the first kid he had lost in house, and hopefully she would be the last.
Josh shut the water
grabbing a towel from the rack and wrapping it around waist. He walked over to
the sink wiping down the mirror. He bent over the sink brushing his teeth with
his eyes closed. When he finished, he looked up into the mirror gasping at what
he saw. He turned his head to look behind him, but once again he saw nothing.
He turned back to the mirror locking his eyes on the figure he saw standing
behind him.
It was a man. He was
dressed all in white. Shorter than he was with blonde hair and crystal green
eyes. He reached up his hand to the mirror touching the glass softly as he
spoke, "Who are you?" He traced the figure in the mirror, as he
waited for a response. When none came, he sighed. "Am I finally losing it?
I must be. I'm seeing things. Talking to things that aren't there. I must be
going crazy." Josh watched as the man in the mirror shook his head.
Laughing, he shook his head. "No, I am not going crazy. Well, thanks for
letting me know. From my perspective, I'm losing it. I see you. I feel you. But
you aren't there. It must be the lack of sleep, but I can't sleep. Last night
was the first night I slept normally in months. I keep remembering. I don't
want to remember that night."
Josh slumped over the
sink closing his eyes. When he felt something touch his naked back, he opened
his eyes to see the man standing next to him. He reached up his hand, and
touched the man's cheek. "You're real?"
The man nodded. He
brushed a few stray bangs away from Josh's eyes. He pressed his lips to Josh's
forehead causing Josh to close his eyes. When he opened them back up, the man
was gone. Josh sighed. He felt nothing, so he knew whatever it was that had
been there was totally gone. He left the bathroom, and walked into his bedroom.
He put on a clean pair of sweatpants, and climbed into bed covering himself
with his sheets. Closing his eyes, he fell fast asleep unaware of the ever
watchful eye of the man still watching him.