Stuffed

Prologue

The last thing he had expected was to have been studying the patient who'd been famous for killing her parents and peers at an elementary school at age six. This kind of psychopath wasn't even in his field but it was apparent that he was stuck being the one, his co-workers refused to talk to her so it was now his job being the youngest and newest employee. The idea in itself kind of made him on edge, but Maurice White was always confident and fairly charismatic, he imagined it to be a breeze.

Taking a sip from his dark blue mug of coffee he stood up from his office chair. Maurice's desk was always tidy and neat, he loved organization and the oak wood was spotless with a beautiful finish. The man smiled to himself as he adjusted his clothes and fixed his short brown hair, his pale skin matched well with his white suit. Looking into the mirror he was met with big hazel eyes and a sickly thin face, he grinned to look comfortable and walked out of his dim lit office.

The girls file was in his hands and he made sure to keep all of papers inside and in their proper order. While paying attention to this little vanilla folder he turned a sharp left into the area where the youth patients were kept. On the walls were bright flowers and adorable little animals of all the colors of the rainbow, it made him let out a slight grin. Continuing his walk to the very end of the hall was a locked door on the left, the room was where the young girl had been kept. It's been a long time since the murders but she's been here ever since, Maurice quickly looked down at the folder it read 'Isabelle Johnson' it seemed to be a pretty name.

Unlocking the silver knob of the door he twisted it and pushed it open to be greeted by a short girl with very long red hair. She faced a small window which had allowed her to view the world, however thick black bars covered it just so she didn't try to break the glass. Taking a few steps forward Maurice piped up to her in a friendly voice, "Hello miss Johnson, how are you this evening?"

The girl faced him, her pale white skin and ice blue eyes glowing, "My friends call me Izzy, you can call me Izzy if you want."

"Alright Izzy, how are you?" Maurice asked again pulling up and chair and placing the file on a small white table.

Isabelle didn't reply and just watched him silently, she must have been shy. She got up with a small green rabbit teddy tightly wrapped in her arms, she sat across the table as if she's been through this before. Peering down at the table Mr. White noticed a colored drawing of a giant terrifying creature that was colored similar to her little rabbit. Not knowing how else to react he smiled weakly looking into her ice cold eyes.

Pointing at her plush he spoke, "That's an adorable little rabbit you have."

"His name is Patchi..." She held it closer to her torso as he eyed her.

Taking a deep breath he replied, "Well he's a very cute rabbit! Anyway let's get down to business Izzy, have you ever had therapy before?"

Izzy nodded in response still staring at him with large eyes.

"Okay well then you must be familiar, well because I'd like to get to know you better I have a little sheet I'd like you to fill out" He grinned at her passing her a sheet from her file.

She gazed weakly into his eyes, "You don't want to know me, that's what all of them said. The only ones who love me are my friends..."

"Well I do want to know you, I want to help. It's nice that you've made friends, who are they?" Maurice asked nervously.

With a deep sigh she got up once more placing Patchi onto the table, she approached her bed and picked up a small backpack that appeared to be fairly old. Bringing it forward she pulled out six more teddy bears, each of them colored brightly. She pulled out a bright white saber cat, a tan and brown puppy, a purple bat with pink wings, a blue dinosaur with purple spikes, a grey squirrel with a blue heart mark, and a little black deer with red hooves. After they all were sitting on the table with silly sown in smiles she silently began filling out the paperwork.

Mr. White took a few moments to realize that she meant the plush animals, they were her friends. A tiny bit of guilt and unhappiness hit his gut, it was at that moment he wished he hadn't asked at all. In a few agony filled silent minutes Isabelle handing him back the paper, her rounded face seemed like it was porcelain. The sheet was filled out as expected, indications of depression, loneliness, and a high anxiety. However what he was told is that she was schizophrenic, she exhibited no symptoms upon meeting or any listed symptoms that would indicate that.

"You never told me your name" Izzy questioned out of the silence.

Maurice placed the file back into the folder, "Oh I'm sorry, you can call me Mr. White!"

"Your real name" Her eyes darkened.

Swallowing in he replied, "Maurice, Maurice White."

"Thank you, the cat is Raina, Buster is the dinosaur, Squeaker the squirrel, Betty the bat, Floppy the dog, Raum the deer, and you already know Patchi" Isabelle mumbled.

"Who gave these little ones to you?" He asked with a smile.

She tilted her head, "No one, I found them and named them. We take care of each other."

In the back of his mind he finally clicked where the Schizophrenia aspect came from, the altered view of reality must have been from being so alone. Not wanting to break her heart and to do his job he smiled and nodded as he wrote. He tapped his pen against the table while he thought, it was a slight tick of his to rid of silence. The tapping almost seemed to echo through the pale room as the girl opposite at him gazed at the ground.

"Are you nervous?" Izzy questioned as she squinted her eyes.

Baffled by the question he tilted his head, "What makes you think that?"

"You're tapping that pen on the table a lot..." She answered gazing down at his hand.

Maurice chuckled, "Oh no! It's just a little thing I do when it's quiet."

"So you're afraid to be alone?" Isabelle pelted him with the question.

Mr. White gave her a look of confusion, "No I am not, where did you learn this?"

"Raina tells me that people who make noise when it's really quiet are just afraid of being alone, that it's a way of dealing with it" She gazed out of the window once more s she explained.

"Alright well that doesn't apply to everyone. Anyway I'm supposed to be helping you, not you helping me. Is there anything you wish to talk about?" He responded defensively even though he was slightly afraid of being alone.

She peered down at the floor, "I don't like talking to people unless they really care about me."

"Well how would I get to know you if you don't talk to me?" Maurice asked sweetly.

Digging into her backpack she dragged out a black journal that was very ruffled and worn. It seemed as if this has been kept for years, he lifted a brow at her in a confused fashion. She passed it to him and leaned back gently into the white chair she sat in.

"What is this?" He wondered curiously.

Izzy pointed towards it, "That is my journal from when I was six, my friends and I redone a lot of the pages so it's more readable."

"You want me to read your journal?" Mr. White asked in a puzzled tone.

The girl nodded slowly, "if you read a page and for every page you read will be one day I actually talk to you..."

The man nodded slowly and gained back professionalism.

"Also I will know if you didn't read it because I'll ask you every time you try to talk to me" Isabelle declared in a gentle voice.

Maurice clenched his hands together, "Alright then if you think those are the terms then I will. I was contacted because you want to return to the real world however so we are going to work on getting you ready to go back to public school and find you a job. I have these magazines for you to mull over until I read some of your journal, is that a deal?"

Isabelle nodded while brushing her orange hair behind her ear. Taking a deep sigh of relief Maurice smiled and unpacked some help reading magazines that she could use to help improve her confidence for the time being. The girl nervously snatched it away from him and put it into her pack. He got up in his usual way after a meeting and shook her hand then proceeded out the door, he even had a little time left for lunch.