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When the computer was warmed up, Luke logged onto the Internet anxiously. Recently, things hadn�t been going too smoothly with his friends. He was eager to get online and see if anything new was happening. When he logged onto Messenger, however, his eagerness and enthusiasm were both shattered. There was a single offline message which read:
�Mew_Magick_of_tr47 (4:58:08 P.M.): ::sobbing:: Luke, I�m so sorry it had to end like this. I cut my wrist and it�s bleeding really bad. I�ve got it wrapped in a towel, and it�s hard for me to type. I love you more than anything, Luke. Maybe if I pull through I�ll be able to tell you to your cyber-face. *hugz* I�m sorry it had to end like this.�
Luke immediately sank back into his chair in despair. His best friend had just attempted suicide, and chances were that she wouldn�t survive. Luke immediately logged off the Internet and shut down the computer. Rachel, a.k.a. Magick, had also mentioned something about sending him a letter. He would get it via snail mail in a few days.
Luke laid down on his bed and began thinking about what had happened. It was getting fairly late, so he fell asleep within minutes.
A few days passed, and Luke waited anxiously for Rachel�s letter to arrive in the mail. He knew it would take about four work days, but he was still hopeful that it would arrive early. Rachel�s letter finally arrived in the mail on Friday, six days after Rachel had sent Luke the chilling offline message.
<Author�s Note: Magick is Rachel�s nickname. I may switch back and forth throughout the story.>
Luke�s paw trembled as he tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Folded in the pages of the letter was a sketch, which Luke immediately tossed aside. The sketch wasn�t important to Luke at the moment. He immediately began reading the letter. For the most part, it wasn�t nearly as depressing as Luke thought it would be. He was actually somewhat relieved to know that the entire letter wouldn�t be depressing.
It was then that Luke read the last page. A tear formed in his eye, then ran down his fur-covered cheek. He folded up the letter and placed it back in the envelope, then placed the envelope in the cover of his yearbook with a different letter.
Luke placed his head in his hands, then began crying quietly. He was the only one home, but it was uncommon for him to cry at all. After a few hours, Luke finally climbed into bed and fell asleep. However, it was only 8:30 P.M. when he went to bed. He woke up at 4:00 A.M. the next morning, then his mind was immediately flooded with memories of what had happened.
Luke pulled out a notebook, then wrote two separate letters to his friends. One letter to Michelle and Kathy, then another letter to Rachel, just n case she was still alive. He folded the letter and put them in separate envelopes, then quietly snuck outside and placed the letters in the mailbox. Upon returning to his bedroom, Luke proceeded to write a third letter to his family. He placed it in an envelope after finishing, then placed the envelope on the kitchen table.
Luke returned to his room again, then picked up a hobby knife that was sitting on the dresser next to two models: one of an F-16, and another of a Ford Mustang Cobra. His paw trembled as he clutched the knife tightly. He turned his other paw over, then swiftly brought the razor-sharp blade of the hobby knife across his furry wrist . . .
Luke woke up drowsily, then squinted in the bright light. His first thought was, �Am I dead?� His eyes still hadn�t adjusted to the light. He quickly found that he couldn�t move his arms or legs.
Upon further inspection, and once his eyes had fully adjusted, Luke realized that he was strapped down to a hospital bed. The leather and velcro straps were closed around Luke�s arms and legs, preventing him from moving anywhere. A single IV line ran from the inside of his elbow, and a large bandage was wrapped snugly around his wrist.
After a few minutes, a nurse who was a wolf walked into the room and smiled. �Good morning,� she said sweetly. She the proceeded to check Luke�s vital signs and such. Luke began to blush and feel uncomfortable, because the hospital gowns did little to cover oneself below the waist.
�Why am I here?� Luke eventually asked.
�Well,� the nurse began, �your parents found you in your bedroom nearly dead. You had slit your wrist and lost quite a bit of blood in the process. Your parents immediately dialed 911, and you were brought here, to the ER. We had to strap you to the bed because you�re a danger to yourself. It�s a requirement for all patients who may find ways to harm themselves while in the hospital.�
Luke sat back, then sighed. He could only lift his head, which made speaking very awkward for him. The nurse eventually left, leaving Luke by himself in the room. He sighed, then began thinking about his friends. He probably would never talk to them again.
�That nurse was hot,� a voice said.
Luke�s eyes shot open, then he lifted his head and looked around the room. Where had the voice come from? Had he heard anything at all?
�Up here, genius!� the voice said.
The voice came to Luke loud and clear, as if somebody was standing right in front of him and talking. He looked around, but still couldn�t see anybody in the room.
�Where are you?� Luke said quietly.
*In your head, idiot.*
�What?� Luke continued to look around. �Who is that?� he thought to himself.
<Author�s Note: From this point on, Luke�s other personality will be denoted by an asterisk (*), and Luke himself will be italicized when he�s thinking. Anything said will be in quotation marks (��) as normal, and will specify which personality of Luke�s is doing the talking/actions.>
*It�s me, pal. I�m right here in your head.*
Am I going nuts, or am I really hearing voices?
*Both, kid. Meet your other half. You�ve been ignoring me and my commands all these years, so here I am, stronger than ever.*
What do you call yourself?
*I don�t call myself anything. But since you brought it up, Lukey will be fine.*
Oh, that�s really cute. Taking on my nickname as your own.
*Well, you�re the one that asked.*
After a few minutes of conversation within Luke�s head, the nurse returned again. She removed the empty IV bag from the tree next to Luke�s be, then attached a new one. Luke glanced over at her, and caught himself checking her out as she had her back turned. Luke�s head pulled back down as she turned around, and he smiled innocently. She winked at him and smiled, then left the room.
What was that all about? I certainly wasn�t the one doing that!
*Face the facts, pal. I may be just a voice in your head, but I have just as much control over your body as you do. You might as well just go with it, because it will only make you look bad if you fight it.*
Don�t touch my body. It�s mine, and you have no right to do that! I don�t know where you came from, but get out!
Lukey clicked his tongue angrily. *Sorry, but I can�t leave. I�m a part of you. You�re the one who created me, whether you like it or not.*
I won�t let you do this to me. Now I know that you�re the reason I�m here in the hospital.
*You�d like to think that, Luke. You attempting suicide is what freed me.*
As a doctor, who was also a fox, walked in, Luke said, �You�re lying!� The doctor looked at Luke in confusion.
�I didn�t say anything,� the doctor said quietly as he scribbled notes on a piece of paper. �Are you feeling okay?�
Luke snapped his head in the doctor�s direction in alarm. He didn�t realized that he had said that out loud, or that the doctor was even in the room. �Sorry,� Luke mumbled. �I just woke up from a dream.�
The doctor shrugged his shoulders, then pulled up a chair and sat down next to Luke. Luke immediately realized that he wasn�t a regular doctor. He was a psychiatrist. The doctor was scribbling down a few more things, then he looked up at Luke.
�If you don�t mind, I�d like to perform a psychoanalysis to discover the cause of your suicidal actions.�
�I�m not nuts,� Luke said, �and I can tell you exactly why I tried to kill myself.� He wasn�t about to tell the doctor he had schizophrenia and get thrown into a mental institution.
�That�s good,� the psychiatrist said, �but I�d like to go much deeper than that. I�d like to see what goes through your head.�
*I can tell him exactly what goes through your head.*
Shut up, Lukey. Don�t even try it.
The psychiatrist began asking Luke a series of questions. Luke answered them the best he could, although he was starting to get a bit nervous. What if he slipped and Lukey decided to take over? The psychiatrist eventually began repeating a few of the questions, and was surprised when Luke answered differently. He jotted down some notes quickly, then began asking other questions, occasionally repeating some of the others again to see what would happen.
Once the examination was finished, the psychiatrist stood up. �Thank you for your time,� he said, then quickly walked out of the room.
Oh great, now you�re going to get us thrown into a mental hospital.
*You should�ve let me answer all the questions.*
Shut up. I�m not talking to you if that happens.
*You�ll talk to me whether you like it or not. I can respond to anything you�re thinking since I�m in your head as well.*
Luke looked around, then heard somebody talking quietly outside of his door. He immediately recognized the voices as his parents. He smiled, because he would be glad to see them. Suddenly, however, his happiness was destroyed.
�The psychoanalysis reveals that he�s suffering from Schizophrenia. I picked up on it right as I walked into the room, because he yelled, �you�re lying!� for no reason. He claimed that he had woken up from a dream, but he was fully alert when I walked into the room.�
Luke threw his head back against his pillow. The psychiatrist was standing outside his door, telling his parents everything. Now his entire family would know that he�s nuts, and it was likely that he would end up in the mental hospital after being released from the ER.
*I still say it�s your own fault.*
Shut up, moron.
*My name is Lukey, than you very much.*
A little while later, the same nurse returned to Luke�s room. She did her usual rounds, then was about to leave.
�Aren�t you going to kiss me goodbye?� Lukey asked.
Hey! I told you to leave my body alone!
*Oh, come on. You know you�ll like it.*
Luke tried to say something to the nurse, but Lukey was in control. The nurse giggled to herself as she stopped. She was an intern, so she was quite a bit younger than the others. She turned around to face Lukey, then walked over to his bed. She bent down and placed her hand behind Lukey�s head, then kissed him tenderly on the lips.
I can�t believe you said that!
*Oh, come on. You know she wants you.*
Lukey/Luke watched as the nurse walked out of the room, giggling quietly. When she left, Luke felt control of his body return to him. He shook his head, hoping that Lukey would leave.
*What are you trying to accomplish? I�m staying right here.*
Like hell you are! I�m going to get you out of my head if it kills me!
*Sorry Luke, but death is the ONLY way to get rid of me.*
So be it.
Luke began straining against his straps, trying to get an arm free so that he could kill himself once and for all. Within seconds, however, numerous doctors were in the room, holding him down. Luke immediately began to feel drowsy, and realized that a doctor had injected a tranquilizer into his IV line. He glanced around as his body slackened, then fell into a deep sleep . . .
Luke woke up slowly, and squinted as sunlight poured in through a window on his face. �Am I home?� he thought. He rubbed his eyes, then pushed off the soft blanket that was covering him. The white sheets underneath him were clean and pressed, aside from the few wrinkles as a result of him sleeping in the bed.
Luke rubbed his eyes again, then looked at the room he was in. The walls and high ceiling were painted white, as was the door. The room was bare of any decorations or items. There was a single window on the wall, and a smaller one on the door. The door had no handle on Luke�s side, and it appeared as if it wasn�t possible to open.
Luke slid off the bed and set his feet on the floor. The cotton pajamas he was wearing were a pale blue color. He didn�t recall ever owning any such pajamas. He stood up and touched the wall, then immediately realized that it was padded. He ran to the window, then saw a sign in the distance.
�Provo, Utah Correctional Facility.�
Luke stumbled away from the window in shock. Had it really happened? Was he really locked away in a mental institution?
*Welcome to Hell, my friend. You�re going to be spending a long time here, and I�m the only person you have to keep us entertained.*
Luke sat down on the bed, then screamed in anguish. It was bad enough that he was schizophrenic and had a hormone-filled second personality, but now he was locked in a nuthouse. He didn�t know how long it would be before he would return to the free world, if at all . . .