Stay with me

Chapter Two

“It was instantaneous, the mutual agreement between

her mind, heart, body, and soul. All at once they left her,

replaced by four walls. Though inside, she’s screaming,

the darkness was inevitable. It was instantaneous.”

—Oliver Masters

THE FLIGHT WASN’T so bad. No obnoxious crying children or Chatty Kathy’s. Though, I didn’t look like the type to entertain a conversation. People tended to stay away from me. Resting bitch face was real, and I wore my venom on my sleeve, not my heart—I didn’t have one. Well, yes, I had the organ that was continuously flowing blood through my body. It did its job, unfortunately.

I spent the entire flight leaned against the window, looking out into the different shades of blue with my wireless headphones over my head, listening to playlists most would criticize. As the color of the ocean blurred into the sky, it was hard to tell where the water stopped and where the sky began.

Surprisingly, my father had arranged for a limousine to transport me from the airport to the university. It was nothing more than a guilt trip—literally.

The sky was now shades of gray on the verge of a rainstorm. As we approached the tall iron gates of the school, the letter “D” was monogrammed front and center before they slowly opened, splitting the “D” in half. A tall brick wall wrapped around the entire campus. No way to escape once the gates closed. If it weren’t for the security guard who was sent by Dolor’s finest, I would have jumped out at the first opportunity, more than happy to leave my suitcase behind. Even my condoms. I could find my way around the United Kingdom, beg for food, sleep in alleyways. The thought of my dad receiving that call made me smile to myself. I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

The large German man sneered over at me as the idea crossed my mind, or at least I assumed he was German by the looks of him. He was tall with a shaved head, muscular build, square jaw, and light eyes. He didn’t speak but looked like the kind of man vocal during a game of rugby. Did he know what I was pla

I fell back into the black leather and averted my eyes from the silent German man and looked out the tinted window toward the castle before me.

The lawn was perfectly manicured with the lawnmower stripes still visible. Vines snaked vertically up the sides of the stone castle walls. A tall tower protruded on the left-hand side, and on the right sat a separate building wholly detached and made of concrete. Victorian windows covered the majority of the front of the castle with the addition of black bars across them.

No way out.

The limousine came to a stop, and a one-man welcoming committee greeted me as soon as the driver opened the door.

“Thank you, Stanley,” the older gentleman said, greeting the Silent German as I exited the vehicle. “Hello, Ms. Jett, welcome to Dolor. I’m Dean Lynch. Now, follow me.” Lynch didn’t bother extending a hand for a formal shake, which filled me with relief. I followed behind him with my luggage in hand and my headphones around the back of my neck. We walked through the tall wooden double doors and a security checkpoint conveniently waited for me. Stanley took my suitcase and laid it across a revolving belt before it entered the sca

“Arms up,” Stanley insisted with a wave of a stick. He speaks.

I raised my arms to my sides as my face found the ceiling. “Is this all really necessary?”

Stanley ran the detector down each side of my waist, and as soon as it met my hip, the beeper went off.

“Hand it over,” Lynch said with a palm in the air. “Cell phones aren’t permitted.”

“You got to be kidding me. I can’t even listen to my music?” Screw talking to anyone. I didn’t care if I never spoke with my father or Diane again.

“I will need your earphones and any other valuables as well.”

I unwrapped my headphones from around my neck and dropped them into his palm. “Would you like blood and a pap smear while you’re at it?” I sneered.

Lynch relaxed his shoulders. “That will come after our brief meeting.”

My brows snapped together. I had been kidding, but he was serious.

After Dean Lynch collected the only items to keep me sane, I walked through the security checkpoint without any beeps. Lynch ushered me down the hall across the shiny white and gray swirled marbled floor.

I took in my surroundings as I followed close behind. Natural colored board and batten spread over the walls on each side of me. “We are two weeks into the new school year, so you’re already behind. I understand this is your first year in a university?” Lynch asked as he quickly shuffled ahead of me. He was ski

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Lynch paused mid-stride, and I almost crashed into him. He turned at the waist, and instead of disappearing as I’d hoped, he peered down at me, his teeth yellow and crooked. “We use our ma

“Yes, sir,” I whispered with a grin.

His lifeless eyes sliced into mine, but I held my ground. I’d lived with the same searing eyes for over nine years. Nothing could break me under pressure.

Lynch faced forward again and continued to walk down the empty hall at the same fast pace as before, but this time I kept a good five feet between the two of us.

Large portraits lined over the board and batten in a row. Each picture was framed in tarnished brass containing the same lifeless eyes as Lynch’s. It seemed whoever walked through the doors would have the life sucked right out of them.

We turned a corner and entered an office. Lynch gestured for me to take a seat. Cherry wood bookshelves lined the entire wall behind his matching cherry wood desk, and a large window with a thick red velvet curtain took up most of the adjacent wall. His desk lacked clutter, aside from a single folder with my name printed on the tab. He took a seat, rolled under his desk, and opened the file.

“Your first year will be working toward your undergraduate degree, which is transferrable in the states. If you succeed the two years here at Dolor with appropriate grading, counseling, and group therapy requirements, along with good behavior, you will be discharged with a clear record.” Lynch pulled a paper from the top and handed it to me. “Here is your schedule. You will meet with Dr. Conway twice a week, and you will start group therapy your second week after you have grown accustomed to our ways. Here is the Dolor handbook. I suggest you familiarize yourself with our code of conduct and dress code.” The thick handbook was handed over to me. “Do you have any questions, Miss Jett?”

I shook my head despite the fact I had dazed off halfway through.

“Very well, then. Stanley will escort you to the nurse’s station before showing you to your dorm.” Lynch closed the folder and filed it into a drawer of the desk as I sat in a fog. “Miss Jett, if you miss a session, you will be forced to solitary confinement. If you cause any problems, you will be sent to solitary confinement. If you—”