The Monsters of the Mind

Part 12

"Poor Mr. Hall! He was alright, though?"

"The man was fine, but he was very upset with Jimmy. Even Rose was concerned, especially since she was afraid that Jimmy would set a trap for her eventually."

'Well, she had a right to be,' my mind thought.

"And it wasn't just the dead animals or the traps either," Dr. Bose continued, "Harvey, in particular, had told me he was worried about Jimmy's mind. For a boy his age, his imagination was... quite outstanding.

"He would draw things that he claimed was in his mind; cutting things open, attacking creatures or people, building traps that would lead to certain death - it was all very concerning."

"The pictures in his room? Amy showed me that."

Dr. Bose nodded sadly, "Harvey showed me those drawings and I was concerned, not only for Jimmy's well-being, but also for the other guests in the hotel as well as his mother and uncle.

"I decided to test Jimmy. A part of me felt that there was something wrong with his empathy skills, but another part of me thought it was something more. I asked Jimmy if he would do something nice for me. As he was a smart boy, and a finder of various objects, he asked me to follow him to the kitchen so he could show me what he was going to do. So I followed him.

"Once in the kitchen, he pulled out an old chef's hat from who knows where and put it on his head and asked if there was a particular type of meal he could prepare for me."

"He is a very good cook," I agreed, thinking back to the hearty meal the two of us shared that morning.

"And that's exactly what I told him," Dr. Bose smiled slightly, "I told him what kind of sandwich he could make for me, as I was a bit nervous about what would happen if he tried to make soup or something that involved using any of the equipment in the kitchen. Then, I told him that I would be up in my room when he was ready and if he would bring it up."

"I take it all was good?"

"Not exactly," Dr. Bose's face fell, his lips a thin line, "When Jimmy brought up the sandwich, he... had this mischievous look on his face. And after a few bites of the sandwich, I realized why. My throat had felt like it was on fire with little needles pricking into the skin. I began to cough uncontrollably and discovered blood on my hand."

"The bathroom..."

Dr. Bose nodded, "I discovered he had placed broken pieces of glass in my sandwich. The pieces were so fine, like sand, that I couldn't even taste it. Jimmy was trying to kill me by slitting my throat and voice box with the invisible shards- the tears in the flesh could have easily made me bleed to death, if it didn't slice my stomach or other internal organs first."

I swallowed hard, feeling sick to my stomach. 

This morning, it was so easy to forget that Jimmy was capable of doing these things - especially since I had eaten the food he prepared without a problem. Now, it seemed I was going to have to take everything and anything he placed on a plate in front  of me with extreme caution - or go into town to get my meals from now on. 

Dr. Bose continued, "I realized that Jimmy could be a danger to himself and to others. I had to get him to calm down  in order to do a more thorough investigation. All I had on my person was a bottle of Diazepam - not the most ideal for the circumstances, but would work nonetheless.

"I ended up chasing him around the hotel that whole afternoon. When I did catch up to him, he was screaming like the devil had a hold on him. It scared not only Mrs. Hall, but many of the guests as well. He started screaming that I had attacked him and beaten him."