ForevaXena's FanFic . . .


 

Knocking On Forbidden Doors

by Jordan Falconer


Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle etc belong to MCA/Universal and Ren Pics, and anyone else who has an interest in Xena Warrior Princess, not me.

Copyright © 2001: The characters in here belong to me. All rights reserved. No part or whole of this work may be copied or used in any shape, form, or manner whatsoever without the author's express written consent. If you want to use them, all you have to do is ask … nicely.

Violence disclaimer: Yes, there is violence, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, perhaps you’d like to move on. Also contains references to abuse and a ‘bit creepy’ alert. It’s a much darker tale than normal but worth it!

Love/Sex warning: This story depicts a love/sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live - move along, move along, nothing for you here ...

Major vote of thanks to my ever patient beta reader ForevaXena for taking valuable time out to read this. Without her, I am eternally grammatically and spelling stuffed :-) An equally large vote of thanks goes to the Bard’s Village – if it weren’t for them this wouldn’t have been finished.


PROLOGUE

The doctor looked through the small peephole of 5A. Satisfied the pale, stringy blonde haired woman in the straight jacket had not moved, he stepped back to let the eager cluster of students crowd the small window to peer at the spectacle within.

One by one, he allowed them to gawk their fill. “Well? Does anyone care to hazard a guess?” His voice was clipped and cold, a contrast to his kindly, benign face.

Alison Mitchell was the last one of the students to look through the dirty perspex. She stared long and deep into the seemingly sightless green eyes, luminous even from this distance. Suddenly, the eyes flickered, so swiftly it was almost as though Alison had imagined it. Struck, she leant forward in an attempt to more closely study the now oddly vacant eyes. They were beautiful in an eerily familiar face, quite striking. “What’s she doing here?” She did not think that she would be heard.

“What was that?” The doctor stared at her scornfully. “What’s she doing here? That’s rather a stupid question, isn’t it?” Instantly his kindly father image vanished, and his pale gray eyes glittered coldly. “Thank you Miss Mitchell, but I think we can do better than that. Does anyone else care to hazard a guess?” The class collectively sucked in a deep breath, looking fearfully at their two brightest comrades, willing them to speak.

Corbin Daly, a young, tall, gangly man with wire rimmed glasses, easily the best one of the group along with Alison, could feel the terrified vibes of his peers begging him to say something. Inwardly he sighed. “Sir? Do you think you could give us more of a rundown of patient symptoms?”

The doctor turned his penetrating stare on the boy, trying to instill fear by intimidation. Corbin didn’t bend – he didn’t particularly like the supervisor, and he would be damned if he gave the old bastard the satisfaction of quaking.

“We have severe delusions, inappropriate affect, rigid catalepsy …”

Alison caught on immediately, at the same time Corbin did.

“She’s schizophrenic …”

The Doctor ignored her, and the expectant silence stretched out.

Corbin cleared his throat and spoke up a little louder than Alison had, mostly because the supervisor seemed intent in grinding them into the dirt this morning, and he simply didn’t feel like being trampled. “She’s schizophrenic.”

“Thank you Mr Daly.” The doctor’s stare was expressionless.

“What’s her name?” Alison cast a swift glance at the doctor, eyes quickly skittering away as though burned.

The doctor gave her his best, coldest stare. “Her name.” Pause. “Her name.” Pause. “If you must know, it’s - ” he checked his clipboard – “Katherine Dupont.” The frigid silence stretched out until he was satisfied he had appropriately cowed the young student.

He walked away from the door, already speaking about the patient two doors down. “In 5D we have a more unusual case …” his voice trailed off.

Alison pushed her glasses back up her aquiline nose and peered one last time into the padded cell at the woman. Once upon a time she would have been quite a beauty – with a thick head of golden hair, sea green eyes, trim body … For some reason, the woman struck a strong chord. What had happened to Katherine Dupont, to bring her to such a sad state? What was she doing here?

Alison resolved to find out as much as she could about Katherine Dupont. She hurried to meet the glare of the class lecturer, and tried to listen to the problems of the next patient.

 

PART ONE

 

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