Mind Over Psyche by Karina L. Fabian Read Free Book Online

psychic buzz of staff and patients.
    â€œJoshua?” His voice sounded small and plaintive to his ears, and he bit down on his lips to prevent a panicked sob from escaping. Of all the staff at the SK, he trusted Joshua the most. If this was all fake, he’d help Deryl see it. And if it was real…
    If this is real, I have escaped and am on another planet, and Joshua …Again, he saw himself holding a piece of broken glass to his friend’s throat. Then that wrenching. If this was real, where was Joshua? Had he hurt him?
    Deryl realized he had wrapped his arms wrapped around himself and was rocking slightly. Was he doing it because, in reality, he wore a straitjacket? Is that what he wanted?
    He shook himself and stood. Barefooted, he walked to the open window. The floor felt smooth and a little soft, like no tile or dead wood could feel. He pulled open the strange window and leaned out, turning his head, wishing for the brick-and-mortar of the stately building of the asylum, with the well-manicured lawns of the courtyard jus t outside.
    Instead, he found himself on the second floor of a building like none he’d ever seen before. It seemed to be covered in a rough bark and decorated with large leaves…unless...were they growing on the walls? Or were they the walls? He looked past the grassy field to the tall walls that surrounded the complex a nd gulped.
    He knew those walls: how thick they were, the narrow passages between and inside them, the secret entrances. He knew, too, what defenses lay beyond, and even within the city, if there was one here. The Miscria had designed this keep using her knowledge of Earth battle defenses and medieval fortress con struction.
    He’d spent a year studying medieval architecture and history as well as defense strategies to satisfy her curiosity.
    Can this be true? He ran his hand on the windowsill—rough on the outside, but smooth indoors, and a little warm. Alive. Real. Yet he could hear Dr. Malachai speaking to him in calm, reasonable tones. “Perhaps it was not the best of ideas to let our young intern try his Neuro Linguistic Programming tricks with you. With his one-size-fits-all-psychoses brand of psychology, he may likely believe that it makes no difference if your Miscria is real, as long as it allows you to…function…in polite society. But we do know better, don’t we, Deryl? You’ll never be truly sane until you accept this Miscria for the illusion it is. Yet, after a few short weeks with Joshua, your ‘it’ has a gender…”
    More than a gender. He shivered as he regarded the peaceful scene before him. A city. Inhabitants. Infra structure—
    â€œYdrel?”
    A voice?
    He whirled and gaped at the stern young woman standing at th e doorway.
    Th e Miscria!
    He backed up so fast his elbow slipped on the windowsill. If it was a w indowsill.
    Of course, it’s a windowsill , a voice answered in his mind. Or are you back to disbelieving I’m real? When he didn’t answer, her exasperation turned to concern, and she spoke to him aloud. “Ydrel. Deryl. It is I, the Miscria. Tasmae, remember? It’s all right. You are s afe here.”
    She moved toward him slowly, murmuring gentle reassurances and projecting concern, and he let her take him by the arm and lead him back to the bed. He sat down on the low mattress while she got him a drink—water, clearer and purer than any he’d ever known—then sat down on the floor in front of him. She waited until he’d slowly sipped the ent ire glass.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he finally said, surprised to find his voice sounded so steady. “I’m a little…disoriented. I’m really here? O n Kanaan?”
    â€œYes.” She said, and smiled, though her eyes held worry. He felt her concern in his mind, but he fought the urge to answer in kind . Not yet.
    â€œHow did I get here?”
    She shrugged. “Through the Void, I