The first rays of the sun lit up his room. The dawn chorus of melodic birds drifted in, mingling with orange and lemon scent in the air.

Dr Zackary shifted lightly on his bed, rubbed his eyes, gently got out from the comfort of his white blanket, switched on the lamp beside his bed and took slow short strides towards the window. He draw open the curtains, and with bleary eyes saw a pearly glow in the sky.

Another day had dawned, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations. He knows his life was never an easy one. He struggled, crawled and duelled with fate just to get by. He managed to finish his studies without the aid of his parents, parents who were never there, to begin with.

Today, he will begin his life as Dr Zackary Salvador, a psychologist who's hired by a world-renowned Doctor. He took in the sight before him, how majestic the forest appear in the morning sun, the trees casting large faint shadows on the lawn, leaves swaying by the breeze which freely lingered, haphazardly, with its whooshing sound.

He smiled, opened the window and took a deep breath, "how fresh" he purred while releasing the air from his lungs.

A sudden buzz from somewhere inside his room disrupted his musings. Zackary craned his neck throughout his quarters, trying to locate the source of the sound. It did not take him long to find the culprit, a small speaker hung near the front door just below the light switch. He walked towards it, pressed on the button, and said hello.

"Hello? Oh, Ahhh, Doctor? Doctor?"

Zackary rubbed his temple knowing all too well who's on the other line. Damien, the giant who, in some weird wanting to meet his relative, made him walk miles of dirt.

Yes Damien, what do you want he asked, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

" I...I...I was just check...checking up on you" he answered back.

"Thank you Damien but I would prefer a bit of privacy in this early hours," the doctor complained, but the irate tone in his voice was answered with silence.

"Hello? Hello?" Zackary said again coaxing the other to answer.

"I...I'm sor...sorry sir...I...sssss...saw a person standing near the wi...window and thought it was a ghost" he answered back.

Eyes wide, lips curving into a smirk, he barely had the self-control not to laugh at the ridiculousness. A ghost? He asked

"Ahhhh...Hehe...Sor...sorry to disturb you Doctor sir, it's...it's nothing. Would you like to come down for breakfast?" The man proposed, clearly sidestepping the topic.

Zackary, with an exasperated sigh, said yes and asked for a guide. He did walk to reach his room last night, but with half-lidded eyes and a sore foot, he failed to see the way clearly.

"Be...be there soon" Damien replied.

Zackary pulled out a white collared shirt and black office pants from his suitcase. He went for the bathroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth and hair, put on a pair of black leather shoes and sat at the edge of his bed.

A few minutes later, there was a soft tapping on his door. Zackary stood up and was once more met by the giant from the day before. Zackary is aware that his room is located probably a few floors up because he vaguely remembers walking up a staircase the night before.

The corridor in front of him is narrow. Three other doors lined the hallway which must be rooms like his own. One is beside his, and two more on the other side, each door facing the other. The man beside him smiled then turned to walk towards his left, Zackary followed and kept his gaze on the man before him. He is huge, must be the biggest man he had ever seen.

Yesterday, he was bewildered and a bit scared of him, but those emotions were subdued by the relentless rain and unimaginable stretch of land that he miraculously managed to overcome.

They kept walking the full stretch of the hallway until finally arriving at a staircase. They descended silently.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs they are met with metal bars much like that of a prison cell. Damien pulled out a bunch of keys from his pocket and slid one inside the keyhole.

His gaze held curiosity too obvious to dismiss, so Damien turned to him and said "for protection, you...you know, from the crazies," by way of answering his silent question.

"Well, do I get one for myself?" Zackary asked, knowing he will need one because the idea of being accompanied by someone from the hospital all the time did not sound amusing to him.

"ye...ye...yes" came the stuttering reply of Damien while opening the gate.

Zackary nodded but a frown started to line his forehead. The man who now walks in front of him was not stuttering so much yesterday, well, he was not stuttering at all. Or did he fail to notice? Was he too absorbed by the man's appearance and the tiny tone of his voice that he failed to notice his speech? The thought made him frown deeper.

How could he not notice something so obvious? Lost in thoughts the Doctor barely had the mind to observe his surroundings until Damien whom he thought was still walking in front of him patted his shoulder, the man is standing behind him now, he had walked past him without noticing.

"Ahh. Mr Doctor sir, I...I'm sorry about yes...yesterday" the man said, his tone apologetic.

Zackary turned to face him, he could see the regret and sincerity in the man's eye. He was about to say its ok, but that's when he noticed the wounds on the big man's arm.

Some are minor abrasions, but there are two visibly deep cuts. A black and blue discolouration that run from his middle finger to his wrist which was absent the day before furthered his curiosity.

Dr Mori did inform him that Damien will be punished for what he had done. But isn't the wounds too much? It's a miracle the big man even managed to move with the state of his hands.

He wanted to ask but decided otherwise, if his punishment was meant to teach him a lesson then so be it. One can never be too lenient, especially at a place like a mental

institution, or life itself for that matter.

He knows all too well the consequences that come by letting things pass.

"Ahmm... Doctor?" The big man asked. Zackary smiled at him, nodded and replied with "it's OK" and the big man smiled widely, brightly, like what Zackary said was the most precious thing.

They continued walking and by then Zackary is able to take in the entirety of the place.

There are two buildings standing side by side. Connecting them on the ground level is a tunnel-like passage which must have been what he and the guide last night passed through.

In front of the buildings is a square-shaped garden. A white picket fence surrounds it. Cobbled stones are laid on the hard ground with patches of grass here and there, and on the right farthest from the building is a small cream-coloured edifice with a red roof.

Too absorbed with the magnificence of his surroundings, Zackary couldn't help but smile inside.

This place is where he will build his name, this place will pave way for his future, a chance to be recognized in society, much like the man who had run the place for the past 15 years.

His daydream was cut short by a tiny voice. "Ahm, Mr Doc... Doctor sir the cafeteria is right over there" Damien said while pointing a finger towards the small structure standing inside the garden. "You go ahead doc... Doctor sir" Damien added before leaving him.

He proceeded inside the garden and as he approached the cafeteria, the flowery garden scent that welcomed him turned into burnt coffee, sweet pastries, bacon's, egg and other foods which he could not name.

A rumble in his stomach pushed his legs to move a bit faster. When he reached the small structure, a few people are inside, a single nurse accompanied by a teen whom he had met the night before, a man in a white apron and a middle-aged woman who was busy wiping a table.

The inside is visible due to the window being made of glass. The entrance itself is glass, Zackary pushed the door open and was immediately greeted with curious eyes.

He smiled at them and a few seconds later, the man named Delfin who was sitting next to the nurse on the far side of the cafeteria walked towards him. He greeted Zackary and offered to walk him towards the spread of food that lay neatly on a long table covered with a pink table cloth.

"How was your first night Doctor, I hope everything went well," the man asked. Zackary who's currently munching on a doughnut while stacking bacon and egg on his plate nodded his head in a mute response.

"Doctor Mori left last night, but he wanted me to give you a tour of the place, he will be back by noon" Delfin added. Zackary, too busy slacking his hunger answered the man with

another nod.