Freed.

Sensitive content includes:

Mental health and death

Sounds and illusions, maybe they were considered delusions, filled Aurora's mind, tormenting her day by day. Her world was split into between what was real and what wasn’t. Visions of those she thought she loved being thrown into the hands of death himself filled her brain with these heinous, irresistible urges, tempting her, ridiculing her. Who was she to commit these horrendous fallacies? Therapy, psychiatric holds, and four, five, six different medications to subdue her thinking. But nothing ever truly worked. What was wrong with her? Do the people around her know how she thinks and why she does the things that she does? She often thought this to herself. She wasn’t a bad person, no. She just had bad thoughts. Bad thoughts don’t make you a bad person, right? No. She’s just special. Aurora couldn’t convince herself of much of anything. Questions and internal arguments caused her to lash out, bringing her nothing but unfortunate consequences. Jail was one of them, but she did nothing wrong, right? She wasn’t a serial killer or someone who tortured people for the hell of it. So that meant she wasn’t a bad person. They just get loud sometimes. Oh how she hated when they got loud. When they did, she couldn’t think straight. But then again, when had she ever thought straight? Actually, when had she ever thought for herself? 

“Aurora? You’re doing it again…” Her mother said as she walked into the young woman’s dark room. A cold air filled the small space, creating an uninviting and eerie atmosphere. Music played quietly from her speaker, the only sound that seemed to be coming from the room aside from Aurora's mumbling and humming. Aurora didn’t mind this, but it made her mother shiver as she stepped on the cold hardwood floors. Clothing and other miscellaneous items littered her room, portraying the state of mind that the girl seemed to be in. “The mumbling, you’re doing it again.” Her mother continued. Aurora rolled her eyes and continued to hum. How stupid was her mother. “Come on Aurora, at least respond to me.”

“I’m not mumbling.” She said matter of factly before continuing her humming. The song that she hummed that added to the uncanny feeling in the room. Her mother couldn’t take it any longer. 

“You are. Maybe we should go back to the doctors, they can help you-”

“No! Stop it, stop it. Shh…” The girl interrupted, covering her ears. They were loud. Her mind was never was never clear, or full of light. It resembled a sea being battered by a storm that never subsided—dark and seemingly insurmountable. She couldn't climb the swells of thoughts in order to be freed. Freed from the shackles of her mind that controlled her as a ventriloquist would to their puppet. She was nothing but a puppet to her illness, being subjected to the thoughts that brought her no free will. Shadows flickered in her vision and thoughts, attempting to lead her down a road she never wanted to travel. She shook her head as a way to try and get them to quiet down. Her attempts failed, as they always seemed to do. “I said stop!” She yelled, hitting her head repeatedly.

“Aurora stop! Come on, we’re leaving.” Her mother lunged to grab her daughter's arm, meaning no harm. 

“Don’t touch me! Stop stop stop…” She exclaimed. Confusion warped her mind. What was real and what was fake? She couldn’t decipher the difference within her mental debate. 

“Aurora…” Her mother mumbled, attempting to pull her daughter out of her head. She was a lost cause. She’ll never escape this. She’s not worth saving. Her mother thought this to herself when her daughter was first seen by a plethora of doctors, all telling her the same things. Different doctors, therapists, psychiatric holds and what felt like hundreds of medications swirling in her daughter's body and mind. “Maybe it’s time we put you somewhere, safe…? It’s best for you, honey.” Her mother stated. Aurora looked up at her mother, who still had her hand around her arm. 

“What…?” Aurora questioned. After this response, her humming didn’t continue. In fact, her mother had her full, undivided attention.

“Let’s just go to the hospital… they can help you get through this.” Aurora drew her arm back from her mothers grasp, staring at her with her eyes that seemed to be pitch black in the darkness that loomed over the duo. Aurora quietly stood up, and began to leave the room. 

“Aurora! Where are you going?” Her mother exclaimed. The girl didn’t respond. Silence filled the house as Aurora continued to walk, with only them speaking to her. She felt so lost, her mind was stuck in this loop of confusion and delusion. She just had to find them. Eventually, she did it. She found it. She found solace in her life. The voices, delusions, illusions, they were gone. They finally left her alone. All she had to do was listen.

She couldn’t quite remember what happened. All she knew was that she was freed from the shackles of her mind that tormented her from the day she was born. She listened. She finally listened to them, and they were right. If she knew they were right all along, then she would have already done this. What an epiphany! Life seemed brighter and she seemed to be more cognizant. She was young and free, and that was all she ever needed.

“Neighbors complained of a foul smell, do you have anything that would cause this?” The officer asked Aurora. She shook her head no, smiling. 

“No sir. I’m just happy to be alive.” She laughed out. The officers looked at one another, puzzled at the statement.

“Right… Well, we have a warrant to search this property due to a wellness check concerning Mr and Mrs Caddel… have any idea where they may be before we enter?” The officer asked inquisitively. Aurora's smile never dropped. Matter of fact, her entire demeanor never changed since the moment she let herself outside of the door. The officers felt something was off, as a foul odor crept through the closed door although the house seemed to be in an organized state when she opened it just moments prior. 

“Really? They’ve been here the whole time. Wanna see?” She waved them into the house, not jerking back at the atrocious odor that protruded from it as the door opened. The officers gave each other a knowing look, the unfortunate smell was something they were not rookies to. 

Handcuffs were put on Aurora as body bags were being led out of the house on stretchers. But Aurora didn’t care. She didn’t cry or scream or kick and pout. She just knew she was free.