Fever Dream Red

21

My feeling were all over the place to say the least.

But The Base was wierd. Super wierd. Most days there was a strange ceremony of sorts.

The first day we all had to do it was a few days after the first day there, I believe.

We were trooped into a grand section of The Base, somehow grander than the rest of it. It felt ominous and special, like the feeling you got in a church.

It was a bit like a church. There were pews we all had to sit in, silent unless spoken too. I sat there, looking down, scared to step over the boundary of what was acceptable and what wasn't. I remembered that only days before I had a gun to the back of my head. What would it take for them to be placed there again? I qasn't about to risk it.

Nick walked through and we were all motioned to stand up, like he was a bride getting carried away to marriage. He smiled at us charmingly as if we did this of our own accord, even though this was all forced.

He was so desperate for validation he would force people to do it, not caring thst the illusion was not real, whatever the scale.

Then Fae, who was sat at the front, was motioned to walk over to Nick, who was now stood at the front of us all. We were his audience, forced to watch all of his shows.

Fae was nervous - so nervous she was practically shaking. She got up unsteadily on her heels and walked over to where Nick was, her heart practically beating out of her chest.

Whose wouldn't be? We had not been informed about what was going on. Fae could be getting married away to Nick or a bullet through her brain. We just didn't know.

She then stood in front of Nick, their noses nearly touching. He then took her hands. I could've sworn Fae flinched when he did so. It was like watching a toddler being disciplined by her scary father.

They were engaged in the longest staring contest ever, their eyes silently arguing with each other. Nick then whispered something into Fae's ear. She shivered as his sound radiated into her ear. She then said meekly and timidly: "Thank you."

Nick's face broke into a smile. Fae then hurried back to her sea with the upmost haste. I could only imagine how relieved she was that she didn't end up in anything deeper.

Line after line people were called up, all of them saying the exact same thing. After Aggie went after Fae, we all realised what was going on.

Lily went after. She thanked him, although she did so between bottled up laughter.

Sunny and Doug went up, both extremely nervous. They thanked him, both eager to get out of the situation.

Alfie went up relaxed and carefree, hands in pockets. He shrugged to Sunny and Doug afterwards, muttering something to them about why they were so nervous. I didn't know how Alfie did it sometimes.

Zack went up equally scared as Fae, Sunny and Doug had been. He left the same too.

Skye went up confusedly. They didn't know what was going on, but they viewed the situation with an amazed sense of bemusement. We were all thinking it.

Danny and Inez went up one after the other. They both went up quite normally, although Danny whipped around to catch my eye as Nick clasped his hands.

Then I went up. My footsteps echoed on the marble floor for everyone to hear. My heart was racing unimaginably. It was all I could hear. I hoped nobody else could hear it.

As I walked along the way to the front I tried not to catch anyone's eye, which was hard, since they were all staring at me, but I managed it.

I got to the front and was in front of Nick. He took my hands in his clammy, sweaty palms. I had the feeling I would have to shake them dry.

I thanked him with a certain sense of breathlessness, and then the spell was broken. I had to look into his eyes, and it threw my off guard and unnerved me. The blue vastness of them reminded me of the sea at its stormiest.

I walked back, not caring that everyone was looking at me, instead trying to shake my head of those eyes. My heart wouldn't slow down. It was preparing for a race it would never win.

Inez and Danny asked if I was okay, and I insisted I was fine over hushed voices as Eli went up to thank Nick. He did so graciously. He was probably one of the three people that were actually grateful for him. Inez had told me that Zoe was getting better, and for that I was glad. Really, I was. Eli was wierd, but it wasn't his fault his sister was ill. His siter was probably pretty cool.

After it was done I rushed out to the fresh air. The eyes were still in the back of my mind, haunting mine.

I turned to Fae, who was next to me then. We had just become friends.

"His eyes were like vortexes, weren't they?"
"Like you could get lost in them and never return? They were scary."
"I'll say."

It unsettled me no end. I couldn't get them out of my head. When I went to bed at night, they were there watching over me sleeping. They watched over me at all times.

It became increasingly clear that Nick wasn't only a narcissist. He wasn't just on some kind of power trip. He truly believed he was some kind of God. He felt he was the true saviour. Perhaps he was to some extent, just not to the healthy, sane and young who wanted nothing but to live freely. He saved the sick and the dying and then made them dependent.