Silence is normally something one does not associate with a mad house. Normally, places such as these are thought to be filled with maniacal sounds. The laughter of an old woman, driven to insanity by events, misted with black, that occurred in her past. The man who screams constantly, for he is unable to escape unseen shadows that hide in the corners of his mind. There is the thought of the old man, who can only speak in unknown tongues, and the beautiful young weeping woman, who’s beauty is taken, and twisted by her shimmering tears, that will forever stain her cheeks. These horrid sounds, and so much more are all enough to drive and perfectly person to the brink of insanity. Though, a little known fact is that silence, in its eerie way of filling the room, and wrapping itself around you, constricting all thought, can be just as maddening. One merely has to listen for it.
Seth Leahn was a clinical psychologist, who made it his life’s work to help those that couldn’t be truly helped. He was more than qualified for the job, being intelligent, kind, and extremely patient. He was easy to love, and easy to trust. The man had always been like this, even as a child. His mother was schizophrenic, though she had taken drugs in order to cope with every day life. She was normally emotionless, but always had a smile for her dear boy. The woman was forgetful as well, which had allowed Seth to acquire such patience. At a young age, he seemed to be able to deal with his mother better then his own father was able to. In fact, he left them when Seth was fifteen. Seth hadn’t minded much. He was able to take care of his mom, even in college. How he managed to accomplish that he didn’t know. Though, Seth found it almost cruel, that once he had more money, and more experience in dealing with schizophrenia, his mother passed away. It had only been a year since she had, and the thirty five year old man was just getting to where he could accept that she would be gone.
One particular night, the green-eyed psychologist was made to endure the silence of the mental ward. Not even his foot steps sounded in the to clean halls. The florescent lights lit his way, reflecting from the pure white walls and floors. Seth was never very fond of fluorescent light, but he had learned to ignore them for the most part. That evening however, they seemed to be particularly annoying. The light, combined with that silence, was getting to him. It seemed to crawl beneath his skin, and taunt him while it moved about under his skin, making sure he knew there was nothing he could do about it. His eyes glanced from side to side, searching for anything suspicious, as if the feeling under his skin was an omen. Alas, there was nothing that could prove that haunting feeling right.
Even as he exited the building, there was no sound. The evening was a gloomy one, for the sunset had been stolen away by the darkest of clouds. Everything was tinted with gray, which would soon darken to black. Every tree, car, building, and person seemed unreal; as if painted onto the earth’s surface. With a heavy sigh, the man made his way to his green Subaru, and began to recall the day’s events.
Ms. Raine, a patient with a serious case of paranoid schizophrenia, claimed her mother was going to use cyanide to kill her, though he mother had been long gone. She screamed at her nurse, and attacked the poor girl. Mr. King, a man with severe manic depression, was found attempting to harm himself, and given some drugs. Other than those two events, nothing much had happened for Seth that Friday. Only paper work, phone calls, and the utterly useless feeling of nothing to do.
The man shook his head, as he entered his car. Buckling up, and turning the ignition, he was greeted by the sound of the engine, and some 80's metal song. He pulled out of the parking lot, and soon was part of the busy stream of metal cars, blaring horns, red lights, and people who never made eye contact.
With in a half an hour, he was opening the door to an empty aparment, which he called home. Flipping the light switch up, he allowed himself a small smile. Seth had made it through the week, and managed to survive. Now he had two days to himself. Unless of course he was called in the case of an emergency. Though, he prayed that wouldn't happen. Looking about his own home, he took in the warm light, which illuminated most of the room, though left some parts to be hidden. His eyes fell on his couch, which at times, doubled as his bed. Throwing off his coat, he grabbed his book of Norse mythology from the coffee table, and sat down on his couch. He began to read, though soon found himself laying down. Before he could get much to sink in, his mind drifted, and sleep closed in.
“Knock! Knock! Knock!” There was a quick rapping at the door, which broke Seth away from his sleep. Squinting, he could see that it was mid morning by the light that was shining through his window. “One moment!”
Seth forced himself out of his bliss, off the couch and to the door. He sighed, unlocking the door and opening it. Looking from the ground, up, Seth nearly jumped back wards. Standing before him was a teen age boy, whom seemed to be a complete delinquent. He had shocking peridote eyes and jet black hair that was covering one eye, though was spiked in the back. He had all kinds of piercings; two in his lip, one on his eyebrow, and even some on his ears. He wore a simple black tee-shirt, tattered jeans, and black boots. On his neck was what could very well have been an actual dog collar.
Seth didn't even have the time to shout out, “Take my wallet! Just don’t kill me!” For the thin boy slipped passed him, and into the apartment.
“Your Seth Leahn aren’t you?” The boy’s voice was surprisingly gentle. “You’re a clinical psychologist right?”
Seth blinked, caught off guard by the boy’s immediate question. Turning, he replied, doing his best to keep calm, “Yes. But that gives you no right--”
The boy cut him off, as he looked around. “You help people that a crazy. Correct?”
Seth could only nod, the boys behavior throwing him for a loop.
“People like me.” This wasn’t a question, but a statement. That statement left Seth silent, all thoughts of yelling at the boy gone. What could he mean by this?
The boy laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose I should introduce myself. I’m Tyr.” He looked Seth in the eye, and held out a hand, “T-Y-R. Tyr. Like the Norse god.” Seth blinked, looking down at the hand blankly. Tyr withdrew it, and continued. “I’m seventeen years old. I go to high school, and plan on going to college. I do get the grades for it. I grew up with my parents as a normal kid. Though, I’m anything but.” Pausing for a moment, he drew in a breath. “You see Seth, I believe myself to be schizophrenic.”
Seth was left to stand in silence as the teen wandered about his apartment. He had the urge to send the boy out of his home, but something was stopping him. Perhaps it was the fact that if the boy was telling the truth, there was no way Seth could deny him most anything. Though, the man still watched the boy with skepticism as he began to move about. The man refused to let his guard down, at least for now. Tyr turned, and gave a gentle smile. Slowly he raised his arm, his hand made to look like a gun. “Bang bang.” Tyr let his arm drop, chuckling the slightest bit. Seth could help but smile at the jest, and eased up the slightest bit. Breathing in, the man gathered his thoughts. The first thing that came to mind was a question.
“Young man, if you believe yourself to be schizophrenic then why come directly to me instead of admitting yourself to the clinic?”
“I feel more human this way.”
“More human?”
Tyr nodded, confirming his statement, though he offered no answer, leaving Seth to press further. “How so?”
The boy shrugged. “I suppose I’d rather speak to you now, when you know so little about me. So that you can form your own opinion on me as a person, with out looking at the schizophrenia.”
Seth nodded, seeing the point the boy made. Though he was still curious. “So what do you want me to do for you?”
“Just listen.”
Seth blinked, shaking his head. “You do realize only drugs can help out with schizophrenia right?”
The boy nodded, smiling the slightest bit. “Yea. But I intend to keep in touch with who I am.”
Seth shook his head. How would it possibly help this boy to just listen to him speak? Seth knew for a fact that schizophrenia could only be helped by medical treatment.
“So what do you say Seth?”
The man was tempted to say yes, but logic and fact told him otherwise. Though some how, a single word came tumbling from his lips. “Sure.”
Tyr smiled and walked to Seth. “Thanks.” There was a small pause as the boy walked to the door way. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”
And then he was gone, leaving Seth to wonder what he had just agreed to.
***
Seth awoke early that day, merely because he had no idea as to when the boy would be coming. He sat on his couch anxiously, though he had no clue as to why he was looking so forward to the meeting he was going to have with the boy. After all, as he had told himself over and over the night before, it was pointless.
Then, at around noon, a gentle rapping came to the door. Leaping from his chair, he ran for the door. Opening it, a gentle smile greeted him at the other side. Seth moved, and let the boy in, motioning for him to sit down. Tyr did just that, and looked around once again.
There was a long silence for a while, only the humming of the ongoing world outside the building could be heard. Seth walked to his couch, and sat beside the boy, wondering if perhaps he should talk. Finally, Tyr spoke. “I see things. Well, people. They refuse to leave my side. Its okay at times; they are all intelligent. But at times, I wish they would go away.” He paused, looking to the ceiling, his head lolling about on the couch cushion. “They at times threaten me, and my family. They even try to convince me to do horrid things.” Seth blinked already growing annoyed with himself for not convincing the boy to go to the clinic.
There was more silence between the two, this time, it ate away at the time as the clock ticked off every second. Tyr sighed, which caused Seth to speak. “Why are you here if your not going to talk?!”
Tyr glanced to Seth and grinned. “Well, I love to talk. I just hate talking about this.”
“Then talk about anything else!” Seth said, no longer wishing to hear the silence. “Have you read Beowulf?”
“Beowulf?”“Yes. Beowulf. It’s about a Scandinavian hero, by the name of Beowulf. It’s the classic tale of good versus evil. It was almost certainly written in a biblical context, though it takes place while pagan ways were still excepted as true. Its believed a monk wrote it...”
And it began; the beginning of what Seth would see as an beautiful friendship. Every Sunday it would be the same. Tyr would arrive around noon, and begin speaking about anything, and at times, it would seem like everything. In each day they met, he would reveal more and more about his hallucinations, and how, at times he would truly mistake them for reality. He would speak of how he acted toward his mother when he was little. He said that ‘they’ seemed to show up more and more around her, and ‘they’ would convince him she was evil. He said he had attacked her on several occasions.
Seth eventually began to look forward to their meetings together, and found that it was all he could and would talk about in his free time. For six months it went on like this, leaving Seth with a grin every Monday. One day in particular, a nurse whispered something that disturbed him. He was walking down the hall, after telling a woman about his latest discussion with Tyr about the parallels between several religions, including Christianity.
As he was walking, he heard that same nurse speak to one of her friends. “I’m starting to wonder if this kid exists.” Her voice was hushed, and distressed. What was she insinuating?! That day, Seth rushed home, worried. Why, he hadn't a clue. Of course Tyr was real! He was there every Sunday, and always had an intelligent thing to say. Sure, the kid got on the darker side of things at times. But, he was by no means a figment of his imagination.
That looming doubt lingered with him though, impairing every thing he did. Even his conversations with Tyr were harder to get through, with out wondering if the boy was there. But why should he doubt it?
Every night as he crawled into bed, sleep was hard to get. The question, as well as the answers, loomed above him every night, pressing down upon his chest, refusing to leave. They formed in reality, as actual words, and would fly about his head, causing him to suppress a scream. Every night it got worse and worse. Finally, it became to much. Those simple words had driven Seth to the point of breaking. One Sunday afternoon, Tyr had not shown up. When the sky began to darken, Seth could not take it any longer. He took hold of his coat, and exited the apartment.
The man wandered, his face contorted with miserable doubt, and his eyes filled with a dull melancholy look. He found himself in a Cathedral, staring up at the Virgin Mary through a crimson-yellow light, that came off hundreds of candles. There was silence, but it wasn't horrible. Seth stared up into the face of a woman, forever locked in youth, thoughts escaping his mind.
“Hey,” A surprisingly gentle voice reached Seth’s head. He swiveled about, to see Tyr standing there.
Grinning, Seth took a step forward stumbling as he did so. “How did you know I was here?”
Tyr shrugged, and looked up at the statue. His face was tinted a golden color, and his eyes twinkled. “I suppose I could find you where ever you were.”
“What does that mean?”
“Look at her beautiful eyes. I wonder what color they were.”
Seth turned, and looked into the statue’s eyes, blinking. He could have sworn, that for an instant, they were the deepest brown eyes. Turning, he was about to speak, but what he saw terrified him. There was nothing. He stood there for the longest time, until finally, he sunk to his knees. As the candles flickered about in the room, casting whispering shadows upon the ground, and walls, silence took its hold. There was no words that could be spoken, or would be spoken. The silence closed in on Seth as he rocked back and forth, clutching his head. It wrapped around him, choking him, and some how, it whispered to him the dreaded realization, that he to, could not be helped.
...
End
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