Lunatic (Ruthless Asylum #1) - K.L. Savage Page 0,1

a burden. You aren’t normal.”

“Momma, I am. I am, normal. I’m telling you. Look, they are taking me just like I said they would! Momma, look. You have to believe me. Please,” I sob, tugging on the restraints as hard as I can, but I’m trapped. The room starts to spin, and I lose my footing, tripping over my left foot. One of them saves me from smashing against the ground. I want to be thankful, but if they want me with them, why do they need to restrain me? “Dad?” I whimper when I see him at the door. It’s wide open, and the humid air makes it hard to breath from the heat. “Dad, don’t let them take me,” I beg.

“You need help, kid,” he says, slapping a big hand on my shoulder. “You’ll realize it one day.”

What are they saying?

I don’t understand.

When the sun hits my face as they push me out the door, I see a van waiting in the driveway. My heart is pounding in my chest. It’s like the better part of me is dying to get out, but the bad side of me is too strong. I can’t fight it.

This happens sometimes. I have really high highs and low lows. I don’t understand it, but it’s so hard for me to focus sometimes because of how fast my mind is running. It’s gotten me in a lot of trouble at school, but I don’t know how to control it. It’s like I suddenly wake up and they tell me what I did wrong.

“Where am I going? What’s happening?” I start to come out of the fuzzy haze that’s fogged my mind when they try to put me in a van. “No. No! I’m not going. You can’t make me go.” I struggle, lifting my legs to kick and scream.

“Kid, let them help you!”

“Coming from you, that’s means nothing!” I shout to the man I once thought of as my new dad. Tears drip down my face when I read what’s on the side of the van.

Nevada Psychiatric Facility.

Where minds come to heal.

“I’m not crazy. I’m not!” I scream louder until my throat is raw.

No one is listening to me.

I kick my feet up and they land on the fender. The men grabbing me don’t expect it, and I use my small size to my advantage. I push out, letting my feet press against the side of the van. Their grips loosen and I yank out of their hold and dart away.

I try to run back inside the house where my family is, one of the few places I’ve called home, but my mom is there is the doorway, and she slams the door in my face. A sharp pinch hits the back of my arm and when I look, I notice a dart of some sort.

My head turns foggy again, and I spin slowly, wondering how two grown men can drug a ten-year-old-boy. Another tear drops down my cheek when I realize what’s happened to me. They’re the only family that I’ve ever known. Sure, my momma bounced around before settling with the President of the Ruthless Kings. I had always wanted a brother, so when I met Martin, I thought I had it all.

The only person in that house that loved me was Jesse, and he didn’t know me well enough to hate me yet.

I’ll miss the little guy. He was my buddy.

“I got ya,” a stranger says as I fall, and before I can hit the ground, he catches me in his arms. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. I really am.”

I believe him.

He sounds sad for me.

He shouldn’t waste his breath. I’m not worth it.

The van door slides open, and I’m placed in the backseat. It’s leather, smells like my brother’s gym bag, and it’s hot.

He shuts the door at the same time I shut my eyes. I give up. I’m not going to fight anymore. Fighting has gotten me nowhere in life. Hopefully when I wake up, I’m somewhere where I feel more like myself, and maybe one day I can come home again—when I’m better.

If I’m better.

Only time will tell.

I know I’m only ten years old, but I feel like I’ve lived a hundred lives with all the energy in my mind. It’s constant electricity. I can’t shut it off.

And I don’t know if I will ever be able to.

Thirty-five years later

“Happy Birthday, Zain,” the guard says, banging the baton against the door. “How many years