Finding Mara ||| Inkwell Fiction Prompt 115

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Images Generated using deepai and Edited in Illustrator

At The Night Life Club:

Eve and her long-time friend Destiny were dancing at the Night Life when Eve's phone started to ring.

“I think your phone is ringing, Eve,” Destiny said.

Destiny got a raise at her corporate job. This was the reason they were celebrating at the Night Life, a night club they frequently visited. People were busy dancing like there was no worry in the world, like it was their last time. They were feeling alive.

“Sorry, I have to go out and take this. It's work,” Eve said to Destiny.

Eve left the club to hear well.

“Yes, this is Eve Wendell, how can I help you?” Eve said looking at her left and right because the back alley was suspiciously quiet.

“We need your help. We want you to find Mara, our daughter. She's been missing!” Mr. Dash said worried.

"Just calm down. I can help you. We will meet up soon, and you can tell me what is going on and how she went missing, Ok?" Eve said.

Eve spoke more with Mr. Dash on the phone and tried to calm him down. When she made sure everything is ok with Mr. and Mrs. Dash, she hung up the phone. She was about to go inside the Night Life to inform Destiny she has to leave when she was surprised to see her standing outside near the door waiting for her to finish her call.

“Sorry, I have to go like right now, it's work!” Eve said.

“It's ok, I don't mind, I know your work is important! Go get the bad guys!” Destiny said with a smile.

Eve was a private investigator who worked for a private company dedicated to finding missing people. She was 36 years old, always determined to help people. Her brown hair was short, which made it easier to wash. She was always clean and wanted everything to be in order and neat. She had a fit body because she always worked out. She has seen many strange things that no one believes. She always said to her close friends "That's part of the fun!". It was fun for her that no one believed her insane stories.

Eve quickly went towards her car and drove to Dash's family house. Destiny went back inside the Night Life and continued enjoying her time.

At the Dash family house:

"So tell me the whole story and remember every detail matters," Eve said to Mr. and Mrs. Dash.

"Mara is our daughter. When she was 27 she was driving with our son Sam when they had an accident on the road with a truck driver. Unfortunately, we lost Sam and this was hard on Mara because they were close. Mara had a brain injury, which caused her to become extremely ill. She was diagnosed with Cotard Delusion by Dr. Alastair. She thinks she is already dead and has lost her soul. She also told us she can see Sam's ghost!" Mr. Dash said while Mrs. Dash was looking at him, worry was really obvious in her eyes. Mr. Dash handed a photo of Mara to Eve, which she took. Mara was happy in that photo. A girl with straight long blond hair, small blue eyes, straight nose and thin lips.

"Dr. Alastair suggested a new treatment to Mara, and she insisted we try it because she was devastated and frankly exhausted. She wanted to do it before her illness develops into something she wouldn't be able to control. The burden of the loss of his brother was enough for her. She did not want to grapple with the illusions and depression her whole life." Mrs. Dash continued her husband's conversation.

"According to Dr. Alastair, the treatment is experimental and there is no guarantee that Mara could get better. We thought we shouldn't miss this opportunity, so we let her do it. But after a few days, we've been informed by Dr. Alastair that Mara ran away from the institution because she felt “pressured” by the treatment. The Eden mental institution informed us and the police that Mara has been missing,” Mr. Dash said.

"The police looked everywhere, but they couldn't find her. We are sure that Mara is still inside the institution. It's unlike Mara to do such a thing. We don't believe she ran away. We want you to go and find her,” Mrs. Dash said.

“So, you think Dr. Alastair lied to you?” Eve asked.

"Yes, we think there is something he is not telling us about the treatment," Mr. Dash said.

"I see, I will look into this, and we will keep in touch. I want you to tell me whatever you remember about this issue, just give me a call, okay?" Eve said.

“Mrs. Wendell, we chose you because you are the best at your job. We don't want to be disappointed,” Mr. Dash said politely.

“Yes, of course, I understand your concern, and you must believe me when I say I will do my absolute best to find your daughter," Eve said, looking straight into Mr. Dash's eyes.

"Thank you!" Mr. and Mrs. Dash said.

Eve spent some time researching the Eden mental institution owned by Dr. Alastair. The building was built in 2016, and they accepted patients ever since. They had some success stories that made it to the news. It was unusual, the treatments those patients had all done were experimental, but none of them went missing. They all continued with their lives. It was also the question of how Dr. Alastair successfully treated some of the most dangerous and incurable mental illnesses. This led him to be semi-famous among patients, and his institution worked better than other mental institutions.

"Whatever they are doing, it is their first time, because their record is clean!" Eve thought. "If I want to know what is really going on, I have to go undercover, pretend I'm a patient and dig into this."

Eve informed Mr. and Mrs. Dash of what she decided.

"I will go inside and will call you with this number. Only I will call, you can't call this number, only send text messages. I can't use the Eden's mental institution's phones because they are controlled, so our only means of communication is this phone. I will report to you what I am doing there,” Eve said to Mr. and Mrs. Dash and they accepted to do as she said.

Eve made some fake documents proving that she was mentally ill, and she needed to be hospitalized. Hid her small phone and headed to Eden's mental institution.

When she got into the institution, she was handed a gown that she needed to wear, and was directed to her room. As she was heading towards her room with the nurse, she saw mentally ill people. They all looked lost and in their own world. Some looked more normal, while others looked like they lost all sanity and were on the wild side.

Eve looked around her, examining her surrounding, “Everything is white. How do people not go crazy with white everywhere?. It is supposed to be calming, but it's not!” Eve thought. She was prescribed 5 different pills that she needed to take throughout the day.

It was about 10 P.M when the nurse came to Eve's room to give her the medicine. She took the pill, but did not swallow it. She put it under her tongue to throw it away later.

When everyone slept, and it was all quiet, Eve got up to investigate. She searched everywhere, making sure no one was seeing her, especially the guards. She searched room to room until she got to the room where they kept patients' files. She searched for Mara's files. There was no record of her getting a new treatment. Eve found no clue to lead her to Mara. It was almost 6 A.M. and she needed to get back to her room and leave the search for the next night.

Eve found somewhere quiet and called Mr. Dash from Eden mental institution from the secret cell phone she brought with herself.

"Mr. Dash, I found nothing regarding the new treatments in Mara's files," Eve lowered her voice while speaking.

"There must be something, we are sure they are hiding something somewhere in that mental institution," Mr. Dash said, sure of himself.

"I will keep looking," Eve said, and then hung up the phone because a nurse was coming. She needed to hide the phone, so she can't see it.

The night came and it was time for continuing the investigation. As she was searching for clues in Eden mental institution, she came across a locked hidden door, which she could not open. She used different methods to open it, but they did not work. She needed the key to open it. As she was struggling to open the door, she heard someone was coming, so she hid herself.

Eve saw Dr. Alastair with a nurse coming towards the door. They had the key and opened the door. Eve rushed towards the door before it closed and followed Dr. Alastair and the nurse. They passed a long, narrow hallway with dim light bulbs that led to another spacious room. The room was filled with hospital beds. Eve hid herself and listened to the conversation Dr. Alastair was having with a nurse called Jackson.

“How is Mara Dash doing?” Dr. Alastair asked.

“She is better. Last night was hard on her body. She couldn't take it. We asked her to do the impossible. We have to take it slow!” Nurse Jackson replied.

“She'll get used to it. We can't keep her here for long. We must relocate. The police wants to search the institution. After we are done tonight, prepare her for the relocation. We need to do this tonight!” Dr. Alastair said.

"Where do you want to take her?" Nurse Jackson asked.

"I don't know yet. Somewhere far away from here. It will take 3 more days until we are done questioning her and find out how she does it. Just 3 days. Bring the machine, please, so we can start,” Dr. Alastair replied.

"Yes, Sir. I will bring it right away," Nurse Jackson said and left the room.

It was then that Eve saw two non-human extraterrestrials who looked like big-headed aliens coming to the room from another entrance. They spoke in a strange language and Eve could not understand them. They spoke with Dr. Alastair, and he had no difficulty understanding them.

When they finished talking, Dr. Alastair and the two aliens exited the room from the same entrance the two aliens came from.

Eve searched the room to find Mara. The beds were all empty except for one last one, there she laid on it unconscious. They probably gave her drugs to keep her unconscious.

Eve looked for something to wake her up, after about 45 seconds she found what she was looking for and injected a drug in Mara's arm so that she can wake up. After a few moments, she opened her eyes.

"Who.... are.... you?" Mara asked.

"I am Eve, Your parents hired me to find you. Did they hurt you?" Eve asked.

"I know it sounds fictional, but I really can see ghosts. They've been experimenting on my brain to see how I can do that, It's been a tough few days dealing with them," Mara said.

"They need to be punished. It's illegal to keep you here against your will," Eve said.

"What are those aliens doing here? Are they part of it?" Eve asked.

"Dr. Alastair works with aliens to treat patients. The aliens help him and in return they do experiments on humans, specially the ones with supernatural powers. They designed a machine that can monitor the working of the brain in regards to supernatural powers. At first, they wanted to give me a special treatment to cure me, but when they realized I'm telling the truth, that I can see ghosts, they wanted to know how I am able to do it, this is how I got stuck here!" Mara replied.

"We will talk later. We need to get out of here now. But, before that, let me tell your parents the good news,” Eve took out the cell phone from her pocket and messaged Mr. Dash “I FOUND MARA! SHE IS OKAY! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE INSTITUTION, NOW!”

Despite Eve telling Mr. Dash not to call this phone, Mr. Dash called and the sound of the phone buzzing filled the room.

"Let's get out of here really fast," Eve took Mara's hand and they ran towards the door.

The two aliens and Dr. Alastair who heard the phone ringing got themselves to the room and they saw Mara and Eve running towards the door.

"Jackson.... Jackson.... They are running away.... Stop them!" Dr. Alastair shouted, but Mara and Eve were already gone and they were in the narrow hall. They ran towards the main entrance, but the door was locked.

Mr. Dash called the police because he was too worried, and told them everything. They arrived at Eden mental institution just in time and got the two girls out.

The two aliens and Dr. Alastair secret room was revealed to the police, but before police got to them they ran away with a helicopter. However, the police tracked them down and arrested them.

The police told Mr. Dash's family and Eve that they must not say a word to the public about what happened in the institution and they will take care of Dr. Alastair and those two aliens.

They all thanked Eve for her bravery, no one could have done it better. Eve couldn’t wait to tell Destiny all about what happened. She was the only one who believed her!



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6 comments
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Very interesting your story, especially Eva's performance to rescue Mara and discover Doctor Alastair, who performs treatments to patients together with the aliens. Have a nice evening

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@lenaspiritual, please be sure not to derive stories from any existing stories, books, movies or other previously published content. We are just mentioning our concern based on similarity to other plots. Additionally, please note our guideline on the length of stories, which is #7 in our fiction contest rules.

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Thank you!

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Wow, such an interesting story. Thank God they didn't get caught by the bad guy.s

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