Tainted: Origins of a Psycho

Gone

"Shhh....take a deep breath."  Veronica whispered, pulling him into her arms.  "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

"But what about when I go home?"  He sniffled, his words muffled by her shoulder.

"I'll make sure you don't ever have to go back there."

Veronica held him for several minutes as he cried on her shoulder, and when he was finished she took him back into his room. She poured him a glass of warm milk and tucked him securely into his bed. 

"Can you stay for just a few more minutes?"  Vincent asked, sipping his milk.  "We don't have to talk about anything if you don't wanna.  We can watch tv."

Veronica looked at him hesitantly before nodding her head.  "Alright, but only for a few minutes.  You really need to go to sleep.  It's almost midnight."

She watched television with him for fifteen minutes, then turned it off and insisted he went to sleep.  She gave him a small kiss on his cheek before leaving his room to return to her own. 

The halls of the infirmary were silent as she walked down them with a sad look on her face.  She wished there was more she could do for Vincent, but she knew much of his healing would have to come from within himself.  The only thing she could do at this point was to be a good friend and a listening ear. 

There was a cold breeze inside of her room when she stepped inside of it, causing her to shiver. The light was turned off and the window beside her bed was wide open.

'That's strange.'  She thought, 'I don't remember leaving that open.'

She shrugged her shoulders and closed the window before any more cold air got into her room, ignoring the strange feeling that came over her. After locking her window, she reached for the light switch and turned it on.

Her eyes widened when she saw a masked figure standing in the corner of her room.

"Hello, Sister." The person said, waving casually before lunging towards her.

Veronica froze in horror as she was roughly shoved against the wall, a gloved hand covering her mouth before she could scream.

"Don't you dare make a sound or I'll kill you."  Her captor warned, shoving a sharp blade against her throat. "Do you understand?"

Veronica nodded her head frantically and stayed quiet. The masked figure slowly took his hand away from her mouth.  "Good girl."

"Wh-who are you?" Veronica choked. "What do you want?"

"You're going to take a little ride with me." The man answered, running his hand over her cheek.

"B-but why? I don't understand."

"You'll find out soon enough." The man said, "And if you cooperate with me I will not lay a hand on you."

"Sir, please-"

"But if you don't cooperate I'll kill you and everyone else here."

Veronica pinched her eyes shut and thought about the innocent children. "I'll do whatever you want."

"A wise choice." The man chuckled. He reached into the pocket of his dark jeans, pulling out a thick piece of cloth and handing it to Veronica. "I want you to tie this around your mouth."

"No, please." Veronica groaned, fear washing over her like a rushing river. "I promise I won't scream."

"Don't argue with me, Veronica." The man warned as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his other pocket.

Veronica could feel the warm tears flowing down her face as she tied the cloth around her mouth.

Why was the happening?

Who would want to hurt her?

The man chuckled again and secured the cold handcuffs around her wrists. "You're obedient. I like that in a woman." He said, lifting the ski mask off of his face.

Veronica gasped when she saw the man behind the mask.

"I knew you'd be happy to see me, doll." Victor Graves said, "You've always seemed fond of me."

Veronica screamed into the cloth and tried to pull herself away from him, but her screams were cut short when he punched her in the face hard enough to knock her out cold.

Victor put the black ski mask back on and tossed her unconscious body over his shoulder. He opened the window and made sure there were no witnesses in sight before carrying her out to the car he'd stolen earlier that day.

He shoved her into the back seat and covered her with a large blanket. When she was sufficiently hidden, he climbed into the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking lot of the infirmary with a smile spread across his face.

And Sister Veronica was never seen again.