Are They Broken?

Chapter Two: Bi-Polar

The sound of her phone alarm had made Kaitlyn's heart leap out of her chest. Coming in to work at six a.m. was miserable and having to wake up at five to have time to get showered, dressed, eat breakfast, and get to work made it worse. Her crusty, heavy eyes shifted from her phone, which she had slapped silly to get the alarm to turn off, to the I.D. badge sitting on top of her notebook. She sat up and looked out her bedroom window at the streetlights, thinking about her job.

Kit was a phenomenon. It wasn't the average person who was able to see a psychopath. Anti-social people and socially awkward people could be found anywhere, but Kit's behavior, from murderous tendencies to a lack of empathy and guilt, was clearly psychopathic. And he was well aware of the distress his behavior caused and had found joy in it. snarky insults, off-handed comments, and disturbing statements, was clearly the way he satisfied his sick desire to elicit a reaction from the doctors and herself and the reactions he received, though negative, clearly pleased him, as was evident by his eerie grin. Kaitlyn almost didn't want to come in to work. That grin was more than just mischievous; it was threatening. The feeling that he was merely humoring the doctors by remaining in the lab had creeped up on her. It was almost like the doctors were trapped in their world of science and he was the one viewing them through the peaceful safety of his glass cage.

"I'm letting that psychopath get to me," she muttered, getting out of bed and going to the shower, "He can't escape. He only looks so relaxed because he's too mentally disturbed to understand the gravity of the situation he's in."

She released a shaky sigh as she turned on the shower water and moved to brush her teeth. After putting on nice slacks, a white peasant blouse with gemstone brooch on the keyhole in the neckline, and black flats, she ate a quick breakfast of microwave oatmeal, grabbed her purse, I.D. badge, and notebook, and started the walk to the warehouse. The chilly morning air nipped at her fingertips, but it was succsefully waking her up, so it was bearable. She watched as cars slowly started to fill up the road as the sun peeked up over the buildings. She entered the warehouse just as traffic started to pick up, reminding her why she hoped to never own a car.

"Morning," Holden said, greeting her at the door. He walked her into the elevator and handed her a coffee as the elevator started down.

"What's on the other floors?" she asked.

"Nothing. There aren't any other floors. Honestly, the numbers are just there to tell you how deep underground the lab is," Holden said.

"Why did I have to come in so early?" she almost whined as they stepped out of the elevator and she took out her earrings.

"You'll have a conversation over breakfast, leave for a lunch break, and come back to talk until dinner," he said, "Let me put it this way. The more topics of conversation you can find, the less boring your job will be. It's up to you how entertained you are."

She nodded, setting down her cup of coffee and notebook and relinquishing her earrings and purse. She showed the guards her I.D. badge and set it down before walking through the metal detector.

"Look at that. It's like you've been working here for years!" holden said, giving her what seemed like a genuine smile as she put back in her earrings and took back her notebook and coffee. She waited for Holden to pass through and put on a lab coat, which he had neglected yesterday, before leading her back to the white room with the glass cage where Kit was waiting.

Holden entered the room without saying a word, although Kit clearly knew someone was there.

"Good morning, Kit," Kaitlyn said.

"You're the first person to ever say good morning! I feel so special!" Kit said, a true smile seeming to grace his lips for a moment before settling into his grin.