Z2012INFIRMARYANDCHAPEL

3dsp story Delaney Robinson

According to her journal, Melody Lake lived near the site of The Event. She had a younger sister and a younger brother. Melody was the sole caregiver of these small children. Every day she went to the chapel, recording the money given in offerings, as gifts to the chapel, and the attendance record for employees and the church goers on Sunday. She was paid for her work, but it was barely enough to support her and two small children. Her diary entries spoke of the priest and his worry for her. The priest often worried for her and her state of mind. Melody was an anxious young woman and the worries of whether or not she would be able to put food on the table got to her. Whenever the worries became too much, she would desperately seek out the priest, just to talk to him in order to soothe her frightened mind. Often times, the priest was able to console her,and according to the priest himself, on the rare occasions that he couldn’t, Melody would break down and rave and rant about a woman named River Harmony. Melody claimed that River would be her end and that everything that she had would end, all because of this mysterious woman named River. All the priest could bring himself to do was pray, and send her to the infirmary. Now, the infirmary was a source of fear for Melody. She feared the doctors and nurses and the poor sanitation of this place. She feared the needles and the shots that they gave her. She didn’t understand why she had to get these horrid things. She didn’t need them, not one bit. It didn’t matter that every time she looked in the mirror that the face looking back at her wasn’t her own. It didn’t matter that every time she walked through the markers on her way home from the chapel and the infirmary she saw ghostly hands grabbing for her. Nothing mattered, she knew she wasn’t crazy and she knew that this woman River would ruin her life. Her life couldn’t be ruined. She had to take care of her younger siblings. One day, after she received her shot from the infirmary, the doctors and nurses tried to keep her there. Melody became angry and ran away from the doctors and nurses. She ran to the chapel. She needed to talk to the priest, tell him they were trying to keep her away from her brother and sister. He would understand. He would protect her. Reports say that Melody ran to the priest’s office and threw open the double doors. She began to explain all that had happened to her at the infirmary, but she stopped dead. On either side of the priest were two orderlies. Melody was too shocked to react. She was taken roughly by the upper arms and sedated. The last thing that she saw was a single tear falling from the priest’s eye.