As a small child, she could remember her special friend. Her father found his work more stimulating than the company of his own daughter, but she was never alone. Her mother's social schedule left her in the care of nannies whom provided her with no more warmth than that of the snow outside her window, but she was never alone. He was there, with his ember eyes and Cowboy hat, bringing a warm spot in her otherwise cold heart. Making her laugh, listening to her stories, embracing her when she wanted. He was her Dearest Friend. Her only friend.
She had told her Parents once of her Friend, during a particularly boring social event, at least by her standard, and they rewarded her imagination by sending her to a place called Shady Hills. They said that she was an Embarrassment. Her father spitting out curses that she simply couldn't be their child, and her mother simply shaking her head piteously, saying such things as she was better off in a place where she wouldn't offend their peers. She was taken to a room where they would send electricity into her skull, until she could no longer see his bony face, and his sweet voice turned to no more than a whisper. She was given time to interact with the other that resided here, and she had told them of her Friend, with his Cowboy hat and his Ember Eyes, which always earned her another session in the Electrical Shock Chamber until he had abandoned her altogether. So she stayed in the Sanitarium, alone in the Dark.She knew that she couldn't escape this place, with the exception of sleep.
A very very long sleep.
She began to hoard the pills that they gave her, the ones that made the world dull, and gray around her. After a week, she had a good handful of the poison, and popped them into her mouth.
"Spit them out" A voice said, and reflexively she did so, and looked around the padded room. In the corner she saw two red pins of light, staring at her. Her face screwed into a mask. "What do you care!" She spat, "You've abandoned me a long time ago, like everyone else" The lights blinked "I've never abandoned you, it was they that built the wall around you, but you've weakened that wall. Do as you have done this week, and you will see..." The light blinked out again. She didn't want to believe. Belief brought nothing but heartbreak. She had believed that her parents would come for her, but they never came. She believed that the White coated men would come to their senses and release her, but they didn't. She did as the lights said however, knowing that she would have more pills to bring her the relief she wanted if she was again disappointed. The week passed, and no sign of the lights again, as she considered the pills.
The Door suddenly unlatched, and in the glare of the hall lights, a familiar figure stood in the doorway. His Red Ember eyes shined brighter than she had ever seen, and the familiar Cowboy hat placed rakishly on his head. His bones gleamed like Ivory in the light as he beaconed to her. "You gonna sit there all night, or are you ready to leave..." and for the first time in a very long time, there was a warm spot in her Cold heart. The Shady Hills Sanitarium had never had an escape from within their walls, with the exception of the Teenager named Keade Nataka. She had some how passed through the locked Cell, and evaded several checkpoints in her escape. Other inmates mentioned something about a Cowboy Hat, but these were discounted to their Dementia. To confound the mystery, a single Skeletal footprint was found in the snow, next to bare footprints which must have belonged to her. Perhaps an orderly had assisted her, or the Cell Door had not been Latched completely. The Inmates knew the truth, however. Her friend had come to collect her.
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Credits
Goth Girl by Me Treadz by 3DWizard at DAZ