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**Warning: This story is based off actual events that sadly some people have experienced recently. We are in no way using such events for just mere mild amusement. Be advised, some of the events are tragically graphic. Please don’t take this story too seriously, we are after all fiction writers.**

“Predestined Insanity”

~Locked Away~

Six months after…

The black sleek 4Runner crawls to a stop in front of the tall intriguing white mental institution. Flinging open the driver’s side of the door, Jeremy Morris steps out over the scattered gravel in the parking lot alone, grabbing his tape recorder and slipping a pad of paper and pen into his jacket pocket. He sighs slowly and presides to make his way towards the entrance of the institution. Stepping into the uninviting cold lobby, he walks over to the front counter where a middle age woman stood behind the counter, typing manically on a keyboard: the words blurring together on the flat screen monitor.

“Excuse me.” Jeremy whispers, placing his butter pecan hands onto the rich dark wood counter. The attendant smiles and looks up all dressed in white attire.

“Uh, yes. How can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m Jeremy Morris, the journalist you talked with last week. You gave me permission to interview the women.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. Let me get Ms. Benton, she’ll lead you to them.” She whispers, pressing a small button on the inside of the counter. A soft static vibrated through the lobby as the woman speaks calling for the nurse to meet her in the front. She sits back in her seat and smiles gently, her soft grey eyes glitter happily. The soft white lights gleam down, lighting up the institution. Jeremy stands uncomfortably, clearing his throat.

“So mister Morris, how did you get interested in wanting to talk to those two women?”

Jeremy smiles, shrugging his shoulders, his dark eyes lock with the woman, “Well the story died down and there was no real answer. Even with all the interviews that were done, there wasn’t anything solid that any journalist came up with.”

“And you think you can find the answer to that?” The attendant whispers, continuing her typing.

“Hopefully: if the women will share. But I have a question, why did they come here?”

The woman gulps and stares up at Jeremy, “You’ll have to ask them that when you see them.”

“Oh ok.” Jeremy whispers, watching a white attired nurse appear down the long off white color hallway. Large windows lie scattered through out the hallways as she makes her way up to the counter.

“Hi Mister Morris. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m glad you made it here alright.” She extends her hand as Jeremy shakes her hand gently.

“Yeah, the directions were fine. It seemed far off from the city though.”

“Yeah, that’s what we tend to do. Facilities like these tend to be separate from the cities and such. It allows the patients less distractions and more of a safety issue for them. Plus they seem more comfortable here than living in the society. Doctors tend to get through the patients better when they’re away from such places.”

Jeremy nods and smiles, “Wow, I see it’s beautiful, it’s like another world over here. You have a beautiful garden and the back yard looks amazing.”

Smiling, Nurse Benton leads the way down the hallway, “Come, let me show you the rooms the women are staying in.”

“Ok, great thanks. I have a quick question if you don’t mind.”

“Sure what is it?” Benton asks, pressing the lit elevator button.

“Out of curiosity? I know its been six months since they’ve experienced all that, will they willing to tell me anything?”

The nurse nods her head and holds the opening elevator doors that just arrived, “Of course, if they weren’t willing to talk about it, then you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Right.” Jeremy whispers, standing quietly as the white paneled elevator takes them down a few floors. “Basement huh?”

“Yeah, they wanted the full privacy and asked for the basement. Strange, but I assume they have their reasons.” Benton states, stepping out of the sliding open elevator doors. “Follow me this way Morris.”

“Just call me Jeremy, more casual that way.”

“Alright, I’ll try to remember that.” The fair headed nurse smiles, her dark emerald eyes gleam as she leads the way down a dim lit almost prison like hallway. On either side of them, a wide tall glass window aligned the hallway, reflecting their steady movement. He sees at the end of the hallway only one white iron door. Curious, Jeremy eyes the window besides his left and jumps at what he saw inside it. He can see into the dark grey room, where a tall fair skinned woman dressed in a flimsy white lace dress walks steadily barefooted along side him. Her emerald sapphire eyes shone brilliantly as she places her right hand along the window, walking besides him.

The nurse, not noticing the sudden presence of the woman in the room that was trailing behind Jeremy, slides a card through the slot of the door, opening it and pulling it open. “Mr. Mor…Uh Jeremy, let me show you the women. Come in.”

Jeremy follows the nurse and glances back at the window to his left to see the woman disappear from his view. Smiling, the nurse enters the room, flipping the light switch on. “They’re in here. This is where they spend most of their time. Sometimes they head out in the garden and even take a dip in the pool we have further in the basement. Ana, Jamelet: girls. The journalist is here. Come meet him.” She calls out to the women.

A sudden soft movement shuffles in the dark corner: a petite figure steps out of the dark shadows. The young woman steps into the light dressed in a similar lace white dress and smiles at the nurse nodding at Jeremy. Her dark brown curls trickles pass her shoulders: her light eyes staring at the new comer.

The tall broad shoulder woman that had followed Jeremy in the hallway from within the room, steps out of the threshold of the room she was in. She stares at Jeremy quietly and slithers her way over to the only furniture in the room; a thick wooden dark mahogany table, grabbing a seat, settling down on it. The brunette heads over to the window pane, sitting down on the small window seat, staring out into the evening sunlight that barely reached their window.

The nurse smiles and pats the flaxen hair beauty on her shoulders, “This is Ana. The dark hair woman is Jamelet. I’m sure you all have plenty to discuss. So I’ll leave you to begin. If you need me for anything Mr. Morris, just push the small blue bottom on the side of the front door, I’ll come here shortly after then. Ok?”

Jeremy nods and whispers a thanks as the nurse slips through the door and exits. Clearing his throat, he smiles softly and takes a seat across from Ana. “Hi. Uh, is it ok, if I record our discussion?” He whispers, pulling out a small tape recorder along with his pad and pen. He watches Ana stare at Jamelet and remains quiet, waiting for the older woman to speak.

Jamelet turns her head at Jeremy and shakes her head, making her way to the table, sliding besides Ana. “No, go right ahead.”

Jeremy jumps at the sound of her voice after being so quiet in the room, “Ok, well can we begin now?”

“Yes.” Ana whispers, clasping her hands in front of her.

“First off, tell me why are you here? I did research on you two, neither of you are insane.”

Ana smirks, “Define insane for me. Because after we’re done telling you the story, you may begin to consider the opposite.”

“Really now?” Jeremy asks, preparing the tape recorder.

“Yeah, at least that what happens after each journalist comes here to talk with us.” Jamelet whispers, fiddling with her fingers.

Jeremy smiles, “I’d doubt that, unlike the other journalist’s, I actually did get reasonable data and I’m sure you won’t change my mind, you both seem naturally normal.”

Jamelet smiles gently and places her arms on the table, leaning close to Jeremy, “So you say. Let’s begin.”

Jeremy nods and pushes the bottom on the tape recorder.

Ana’s soft voice begins, “One never knows when their time is up. We’ve been either blessed or cursed with the sudden ‘gift’ given to us.”

“Gift?” Jeremy interrupts.

“Yeah, it seems that if one avoids their fatal death by some sudden miraculous event, death comes back for you.” Jamelet whispers, “And it doesn’t stop till it takes you with it.”

Jeremy gulps and listens as the flaxen haired woman, Ana, speaks again: “It started six months ago, May to be exact. It was a regular day…”
~*~

He tries hard to withhold his yawn as he gazes at his excited friend pulling in an empty fishing rod. Rubbing away the sleep that tempted his eyes, he groans and leans back on the base of a tree:

“Nick this place sucks. Why did I listen to you guys? This is so boring. Old men do this. Fishing? Man how lame is this?” A.J. grumbles, standing up to stretch, kicking a stone into the calm blue green river. The stone bounces on the surface sending the ripples to flow outward into what seems like infinity on the water’s surface.

Kevin, relaxing on the base of a tree with his back on it, laughs and crosses his jean clad legs at the ankles. “Chill out Alex. Sorry this isn’t the club hopping trip you enjoy. I think it’s a good idea for us to come here. It gives us time to bond.” He smirks at the angry glare A.J. gives him.

“Bond? Dude, do you we look like girls that we need to bond?” A.J. asks, lowering his shades to stare at Kevin.

Brian laughs and shakes his head, “Hey what’s wrong with bonding? We can bond: you know…There isn’t anything wrong with male bonding.” His sapphire orbs gleaming devilishly.

“Man that sounds so gay.” Nick quips, providing the laughter for the group. The warm breeze fluttering his fair short spiked hair.

“Yo where’s Howie?” A.J. asks after his laughter subsides, tossing a coin into the air and catching it.

“I think he’s pissing somewhere behind a tree or something.” Brian mutters, busily un-wrapping the cord around his fishing pole.

“Oh, eww man.” A.J. states: kneeling besides Nick who was again waiting for a bite from the fishes. The soft afternoon sunlight beams down on them as warm air embraces them passionately. He passes his hands through his newly grown goatee and picks at his nails.

Footsteps approach from behind them as they see Howie grinning madly with relief on his face.

“Man, I think I was holding that in for the entire car ride.” Howie smirks, getting a few groans from the others. “Oh what? You act like you never had to piss before.” His dark brown eyes open wide with interest and mischievous.

“Dude that’s so gross. Really not our business man. Its not that, it’s just ‘cause you ain’t wash your hands and I don’t want you touching me now.” A.J. pipes up, receiving a few stares from the others.

Brian chuckles softly and eyes Howie who plops besides Kevin. “Shut up. Nick and A.J. have dirtier hands than I.” Howie teases them as Kevin smirks.

A.J. plops on the ground and groans, “Ahhhh, this is so wack. Guys, we need to go do something before I lose my mind.”

Kevin eyes his friend, “J, why don’t you try giving the whole fishing thing a shot? Who knows, maybe you’ll catch a fish.”

“Kev! If I want fish, I’ll go buy it at the stores! That’s what their there for!” A.J. exclaims.

Howie grins, shrugging his shoulders at A.J., suddenly an idea struck him, “Hey Nick, you said you know a lady who reads tarot cards for a living right?”

This caught A.J.’s attention as he listens in on the conversation. Nick nods and looks at Howie who’s tan was clearly showing from the sun’s effect. “Oh yeah, my mom knows the lady. In fact I think she stills works there. It’s not that far from here. Hey J, maybe we can go check that lady out, she does this cool stuff with the cards.”

A.J. groans and smirks, “Dude, you’re kidding me right? You don’t believe in that sh…”

Brian interrupts him as a sneeze cuts through A.J.’s sentence, “Hey that’s sounds neat, let’s go.”

“Bless you buddy.” Howie whispers to Brian as they all stand up.

“Thanks. So Nick, you think she’s working now?” Brian inhales a fresh breath from the lowly forest.

Checking his watch, he nods, “Yeah, its two now. I’m sure she’s off from lunch and be back there.”

A.J. lazily scratches the side of his head, running his fingers through his dark hair. “Ok, ok. Fine, I see what you guys are doing. You’re trying to keep me entertain, so I won’t bolt out on you guys.”

“Damn, you figured that out.” Kevin jokily responds, snapping his fingers.

“Man, whatever. Look, if she’s good at the card thing then let’s check it out, it’s better than waiting around for a stupid fish to bite.” A.J. states, pulling on the edge of his black tank top to wipe the perspiration that rolled down his cheeks.

“Great! We’re going on a trip!” Howie quips up, ruffling Nick’s hair.

“Cool, wait let me tie my pole down.” Brian rushes over to his fishing pole and ties it around the bark of a tree. Nick does the same thing and both head out, leading the way as the others follow.

Nick and A.J. glance at each other before they all trekked out of the forest and out of the pier.
~*~

“There it is I think.” Nick points down the boardwalk, approaching a small red bricked store.

A.J. nibbles on his lower lip as they gather at the entrance of the small plain store.

Kevin narrows his eyes and peeks at the window, examining the signs in there. “You sure this is? I thought it be all weird looking, with scrolled scary letters that say…”

“Come see what the cards hold for you and see what your future holds.” Howie states, interrupting Kevin.

“Yeah, exactly.” Nick whispers confused as they scroll their eyes over to the front window where in small bold italic letters stated what Howie just read.

“Well that’s nice. What a trip Nick. Guess we should head back, I’m sure the fishes are snapping at the poles now.” A.J. whispers, turning around and bumping into an elderly woman. “Uh oh. Man, I’m so sorry. Are you ok ma’am?”

The woman giggles and nods her head, “Oh yes, dear. I’m just fine. Thanks though.” She pushes back wisps of salt and pepper hair strands behind her caramel ears as she smiles. “So, you all must be here to see me, right?”

Brian smirks and pokes A.J. in the ribs, “Uh yeah. That’s right. We’re killing time, waiting for the fish to come out. Plus our buddy here, A.J. needs some form of entertainment and Nick thought to bring him to ya.”

The woman breaks into a smile and nods her head, “Ahhh, well thanks Nick. The name’s Miss Levees. Nick has always been a good costumer to me so this one is on the house. What do you all say?”

Kevin shrugs his shoulders, “Oh hey sure. Free is never easy to find anymore.”

“Tell me about it.” Howie whispers as he shakes the lady’s hand. She guides the five men into her small store and they all gather around the small wooden table. She pulls out a deck of tarot cards from a satin red box and kisses it gently, her caramel cheeks glowing brightly in the early sunlight.

“Alright. A.J. right?” She asks him as he nods his head. “Ok, this is the deal. These cards in my hands all represent a specific symbol that reflects your life and or where’s it heading. And before you say this is ridiculous, I have made a good reputation that my cards don’t lie. I’ve predicted many people living in this community, in fact I predicted you’re friend’s mother that she was impregnated with this man here.” She smiles, gazing at Nick.

Brian snorts as Howie chuckles slightly.

“Ok, Miss Levees, can you show us what you see in our lives?” Kevin smirks as Howie rolls his eyes.

Miss Levees smiles and shuffles the cards, placing them in a deck. One by one, she pulls out a card face down and spreads out the five cards, one next to each man. She pulls the rest of the cards away and sighs. Whispering a small prayer or possibly a chant before flipping the cards over, she begins. All five men watch curiously as she begins flipping the first card. A picture of a black eye stares back at her and the men.

“Uh, what does that mean?” Brian whispers, his eyes rolling over the eye card. Miss Levees frowns and flips the next card, revealing a grim reaper. Nick gulps as Brian clears his throat nervously. The silence in the room was deafening as she turns over the third card revealing a skeleton. She gasps as she nervously twitches her gaze over at the men. “Ummm… this can’t be. Hold on.” She whispers, her throat gone dry.

Kevin eyes Howie who shakes his head seeing A.J. watching in confusion. Miss Levees flips the fourth revealing a picture of a bowl full of what one assumes was blood. By now, her hands her shaking terribly as a cold sweat begins to emerge from her forehead.

“Miss Levees, listen hey you ok? You don’t look so good. Maybe you should stop, this isn’t important.” Nick whispers, worried about the fate of the elderly woman.

She shakes her head rapidly no, “Once I start, I can not stop until I reach the end. It is the custom Nick.” She whispers out in a frighten voice.

“Look, Miss Levees, don’t worry about this. You can forget it, it’s obviously worrying you.” Kevin whispers, watching a shock look cross A.J.’s face.

She ignores him and flips the last card to show a picture of another eye. “Oh God! This can’t be happening.” She whispers, shivering slightly.

“Alright lady what does this mean?! Its freaking us out watching you do this.” A.J. shouts, standing up.

She looks up at him and gulps, “The first and last card: the eye, shows what you all will see in your future. The three in the middle reveals death, your life and its danger of it.”

“You’re lying. What does it mean?” A.J. growls, as Nick holds his tense friend back.

Miss Levees closes her eyes, shaking her head: “Oh God, Death has chosen you all. You’ll all die if you don’t watch out. Death has plans for the five of you.” She cries out, her hands shaking as Brian and Howie try to calm the woman down.

A.J. narrows his eyes and grabs the five cards smirking, “This is bull. Nick don’t ever take me to these things, it’s a lame way to scare people.” And he walks out, fear pricking his soul. Kevin smiles gently at the woman,

“I’ll apologize for my friend, I just think that want a little too far, Death isn’t something to be played with you know? Doesn’t make for a real good joke you know.” Kevin whispers gently.

Miss Levees gasps and takes deep breaths, “It’s real! It’s true! You can’t hide from death, its coming for you.” She shouts, standing up, pointing as the five men exit her store.

A.J. smirks and holds the door open for the others, turning to her direction, “Like I didn’t hear that before.” And with that exits the store, leaving the shaking woman alone in fear.
~*~

“Look girl, you have to start packing. If we’re going to this road trip, you gotta move your butt girl!” Jamelet shouts from below the apartment stairwell.

Ana grumbles and grabs her suitcase, placing a small wad of money into the small pockets. “Yo, Jammy, you have the tickets right? Cause I can’t find them anywhere.”

“Yeah, it’s in my bag, Let’s go.” Jamelet calls out again.

Sighing, Ana grabs her suitcase and beams brightly at the mirror in her room. She quickly grabs her keys and slips out the apartment, locking the door behind her. Reaching the bottom stairwell, she meets her friend and both exit the apartment building.

“I’m so hyped! I get to chill at the beaches of Florida! Hehe, hey you think I can get a nice tan?” Jamelet beams, placing her shades on as they make their way to the front of the building where their taxi was waiting for them.

“Hell ya! I’m about to burst through my clothes, I can’t wait to check out the hotties down there! And you should have no problem getting a tan. Me however and the sun don’t get along. So you get the suntan for the both of us.” Ana giggles, flipping her blonde locks behind her shoulders.

Jamelet laughs and both board the vehicle, not knowing that they were pulling away from their normal life and about to enter into a world where death plays with its victims.
~**~

**~To Be Continued…~**