The Psychopath Maker

Chapter Fifty-Seven

He stood in front of Isabeth and Faith in nothing but black. Isabeth wondered how he executed not wearing hospital attire and Faith wished he would stop leering at her like she was a book to be studied.

"You can go, now." Isabeth broke the silence.

He tilted his head to the side like he was astonished that the girl could talk. "You're free." She lifted her arm and pointed her finger to the door.

He lifted his gangly arm and pointed a long, bony finger at the door. Isabeth dropped her arm. He dropped his.

Isabeth narrowed her eyes at him as she pushed a clump of hair behind her ear. He narrowed his eyes and tucked an imaginary piece of hair behind his small ear.

"What is he?" Faith waved him away. "A mirror."

Isabeth shrugged and so did he. She groaned. He didn't copy the noise. He placed one hand in front of his abdomen and the other behind his back then bowed after which he turned on his flat feet and pranced out the room like a trained ballet dancer.

"He's not that scary," Isabeth said digging in her pocket for another key. "He seems harmless."

Faith quirked her eyes at her, "He had to do some shit to get in here." She watched Isabeth maneuver the key into the next door. "His ass ain't harmless."

"True that." Isabeth proclaimed as she twisted the key. She jumped back as the knob began to twist on its own.

The door open and this room was not like the others. Light from the ceiling shined over the white room. A bed was on one side of the room and a desk with books was on the other side. Leaning against the door was a boy that looked to be their age in jeans and a concert tee.

"Your friend's right. The Mime is far from harmless." He stood up straight and tugged down his shirt that he seemed to be growing out of. "They're kind of the same. The Mime and The Mockingbird." He gestured to the last two doors the girls opened. "They both hide in the shadows. The Mime is there and you don't know it." He scratched at his temple. "You know that feeling you get, like someone, is watching you...it's The Mime...it should be mimes because it's more than one but that was the head and you just gave the body back its head. So, look out world!" He smiled then deadpanned.

"What does—" Faith stopped. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, ignorance is bliss after all.

"The creepy dude that crawls." He read the curiosity on Faith's face. "He wasn't always like that. It made him that way." He nodded. "Days of being in a cage, eight feet above the ground would do that to you. He won't talk unless he wants devotion." He leaned over and began to whisper, "And trust me, you don't want to give him devotion. He will drive you mad...he mocks things, anything. Crickets. Cicadas. Until you can't sleep and the only way out is to slit your own throat with the blade he provides." He regained his posture reading the girl's faces. Faith's widening eyes and Isabeth's tight lips. "Which leaves me with one question...why the fuck did you let them out?"

"The Psychopath Maker threatened our families' lives." Isabeth roughly rubbed the key to the next room in her hand. "Threatened us!"

"So..." His tone was harsh. "The Psychopath Maker scared you into submission." His nostrils flared as he fumed. "You love your family." He nodded his head for them. "Well, other people do too! And you just let them out to reek havoc on innocent people." He saw the key in her hand. "You're about to go let out the mayhem that is The Apothecary and then Plagues! Have you lost your damn mind!"

Faith jumped from the rage in his voice.

Isabeth held her ground, "No." She said firmly.

"And how are you supposed to prevent that." He mocked.

"They're not going to kill anyone...maybe their time down here has reformed them." He rolled his eyes at her naivety. "But if it hasn't...I will stop them."

"How?" He huffed out.

Faith stared at her waiting for an answer too.

"If they...." Isabeth swallowed the contradictions her brain and her soul warred over. "I'll kill them...if they kill anyone."

He tapped his finger on his sealed mouth then pointed at her, "And that's why it picked you because...you have it in you."

"And what is that?" Isabeth asked.

"Murder." He stepped into the hallway. "It's the foundation for any good psychopath." He held out his hand. "Give me the keys. My conscience is already filthy."

Isabeth handed him the key and Faith asked, "What did you do...to get in here?"

"I'm The Virus." He plucked the key from Isabeth's opened palm. "Computers are my specialty. I didn't kill anyone." He shrugged like being a non-killer was a character flaw. "I designed a program for someone that does..."

"Who?" Faith asked.

"X.....as in Unknown." He answered like they knew what he was talking about. "Now...Go!"

What have they done? Can The Virus be trusted? Friend or Foe?