Alex:
A satisfied feeling rushed through Grace her body as soon as she noticed Nigel enjoying her touch, and went on toward his neck as she parted his lips. Her eyes were lightly narrowed, thinking about several things. Suddenly she was confused. Something was messing up with her mind without permission. Alex. She found a way to shut him out, though, but it made her feel dizzy in her head. She inhaled deeply, smiling lightly - the confuse recognizable in her eyes.
'I hope this will mend the pain a little. And he is dead, indeed, but yet here.' She smiled politely and stroked through his hair again, looking at the collar of his dress which was revealing a part of his pale chest. 'He's looking after you. He'll always be here, with you.'
A soft laugh escaped her throat, and she shook her head as she saw Nigel's confused expression. Of course he didn't understood what was happening. He was totally brainwashed.
'Perhaps we should stop talking about Jack now, I see that you're more interested in the massage after all - or at least it's more useful at the moment. Sit and relax, okay? Tell me where it hurts.'
Before Grace could actually even finish her sentence, Nigel had already closed his eyes, and she smiled again. Mathilda growled, passing them as she looked full of disgust - as if Grace did anything wrong.
'Stop trying,' she hissed. 'Nobody likes you!'
Grace didn't pay any attention to it, though. She just kept staring at Nigel, being satisfied and proud about the fact she was helping somebody out. A guy who she had to meet - a fate Jack had told her.
She suddenly startled as soon as Nigel jerked her hand away, completely out of nowhere, and the pulled back the both of her hands as she backed off - crawling away for a couple of centimeters so their faces couldn't touch each other if that would even happen.
'I'm sorry!' she squeaked. 'It wasn't my intention to scare you, I just tried to help, that's all!'
'She's a witch!' Mathilda yelled as she pulled her nasty little finger at Grace. She suffered from rheumatism, that was definitely recognizable. 'She's a witch! She tries to curse the boy, destroying his cure!'
'Shut it Mathilda,' Grace gritted back.
'You're a child of Satan!'
'I'm not!'
Nigel:
He had actually smiled shortly, before he was shaken up roughly by that flashback. He had, not because he believed her, but because it was nice to imagine anyway.. The chuckle roused him from his peaceful place shortly, but not long enough to keep him from drifting back when she continued massaging his muscles one by one. He hadn't even heard Mathilda's insults. He was too far gone.. peaceful for once, at last. The more nasty it was when it was taken away from him.. And after he had recovered of the shock that the flashback brought, he was filled with sheer disappointment.. feeling that emptiness again.. that tiresome stress.
So when Mathilda started to take it out on the one person who had brought him that peace.. well.. he didn't take it to well. In fact his eyes flashed up at her with a look that had the darkness of the devil in it. He picked up one of the blocks she'd been playing with and smashed it against Mathilda's head violently and repeatedly, getting her down, begging and crying on the floor, until the guards came around finally to save the insane woman from the insane boy. They tried to pull him off of her but Nigel, in manner of speaking, had put his teeth into the girl. And once he smelled blood he wasn't going to let go. Eventually they had to shove a syringe down his neck to knock him into unconscious or they would've never been able to pry him off.
Alex:
'Mathilda, stop it, that's not true!'
'Murderer, murderer!' Mathilda scratched her nails over her own cheeks while growling that, as if she was possessed by some bad spirit - or the devil himself.
'I'm not the one who killed her little twin sisters, you scrag!'
It was a blink. In a second Nigel had armed himself with a wooden block, and within a flash he started to smash it against Mathilda her head violently. Grace immediately backed off, and widened her eyes as she tried to hid in the corner behind a bookshelf. Honestly, she admired Nigel. She found him interesting, and wasn't backing off for him - but for the guards coming up to them both. Her lips parted as she saw the blood coming out of Mathilda her eyebrow, and pressed herself up - as she tried to get a better view. Her lips curled up, her eyes sprinkling from admiration and curiosity.
It was then that the guards suddenly came, pulling and shouting as they tried to stop Nigel. They couldn't. It was like he was in some sort of trance.
'Nigel!' Grace yelled as she pressed herself up, running toward him while trying to push the guards away. The three guards all took their bats, and two of them started to hit Nigel on several spots of his body - trying to knock him down.
'No! No, leave him alone! Nigel, Nigel run! Stop, stop please. Nigel, it's okay!'
And there they got it, the bat that hit the both of their heads and made them losing conscious. Without the both knowing, they got transported away - both toward the office from the "headmaster" the tyrannical nun Missis Bennett where they both would face a nasty punishment.
Nigel:
He could feel the bat hitting him repeatedly and it hurt like hell, especially now.. And still it couldn't stop him. He kept going. Nigel wanted to stop but he wasn't in control of his own body anymore.. And the odd thing was that it felt like he had experienced it before.
When the syringe came he came limp slowly, but apparently it wasn't fast enough for the guards.. for there was another knock against his head that hurt like hell and then he passed out.
There was that light again.. that white, bright light that hurt his eyes. And that voice.. "I'm right here Nigel," he whispered as Nigel called his name - his second name. 'I'll always be here."
It was of course just a flashback.. of something his brain picked up without even knowing it.. But it might as well be said right at the moment. And it was an oddly peaceful way to lose consciousness..
When he woke up, he silently regretted that he wasn't allowed to stay unconscious forever.. No.. he had to make due with this wretched old woman that seemed just as sadistic as the rest of them. He stared at her after he opened his eyes. He wasn't as confused this time.. He knew what happened. He remembered, and he was ready to face the consequences. What did come as a surprise, was that he saw Grace sitting next to him. She had done nothing wrong, right? Or had she mingled in the fight after all?
"I trust you both know why you're here," the ugly old lady spoke in her authorizing tone.
Alex:
There they were, tightened against a chair in the office - as if they would really harm any of them. As if they could still do a thing after the torment they've been through. The feeling of the bat hitting their limps was still there, as if they kept beating - but then mentally.
It was coincidence how they both woke up at almost the same time. Grace her head hurt like hell, and she could still taste the blood that was resting on the center of her lower lip, resting there with a blurry purpose. Did they hit her against her face? She couldn't remember that. She blinked, and didn't seemed to be surprised at all, awaking in the office from Missis Bennett - a woman that Nigel had never seen before. She'd been here before, many times even. They punished her lots of times in the beginning, and always she had to face this woman again. It was like Grace was het favorite patient. In Grace her opinion, she hadn't done anything wrong those previous times, but still-
Her eyes slowly moved toward the closet on the right of her. That closet was filled with horrible whips, and one of them was going to hit the both of their buts. The frightening area that had served Grace so many bad nightmares in the pass. Twenty hits to be exact, on her and Nigel's. A shiver climber up her spine. She could remember herself not being able to sit properly for a few days after this treatment, and she'd prayed not to be ever treated like that again. But in vain.
None of them both answered Miss Bennett as she asked the question. Grace kept staring at the closet, nervously and frightened, but concentrated as well, and Nigel- he only seemed to be sprinkled by surprise. Grace knew this wouldn't do good, but she was quite used to it. There was no escape. Only order and discipline was needed.
'Let Mathilda come in,' Missis Bennett nodded as she glanced at one of the guards. Mathilda came in, sitting in a wheelchair with her head bandaged up. Grace wondered how long they had been out of conscious, since she still tasted the coppery taste of blood but Mathilda was already treated like she'd visited the hospital department. Her eyes followed Mathilda, seeing how she got rolled further into the room - her eyes sparkling by joy. Of course she liked this scene. Grace and Nigel were about to be punished for their deeds, and Mathilda was going to play an important role in it. She could choose the wipe that Missis Bennett would use for the action.
'Mathilda. Since you already know our way of treating bad behavior, please, chose a whip for these two wasters.'
It was obvious and predictable that Mathilda was going to chose one of the most painful whips, and so she did. Within a few seconds Nigel and Grace got grabbed by their necks, released, and pressed forward over the desk with their backs bend so their naked but would be revealed to the light after Missis Bennett had pulled down their underpants without any permission.
'Twenty whipping for each one of you, a punishment for breaking the rules and being violent. And another ten whipping for Grace, since you already familiar with the rules...'
Nigel:
He stared at the woman in front of them and didn't answer her question. He knew perfectly well.. But he didn't know why they brought him here, instead of locking him up in his room, like they'd do in his former asylum. And he also didn't understand why Grace was here, so he took the liberty of asking.
"Why is she here? She didn't fight." At least not that he could remember. He was too busy on trying to know the woman's ugly teeth out.
He too could taste fresh blood at his split lip, and he realized that this was supposed to be technically impossible seeing the state of Mathilda, all stitched up. Unless they kept beating after they were already unconscious.
His arm aced badly too,- and he could conclude that it had re-broken again. This time they didn't cast it back up, though.
His only theory as to why they were brought here was because they'd be given some speech on their behavior. They'd be told-off and probably put up with consequences.. like not being able to have visits in the garden for several weeks. .. Nigel was yet to find out they didn't háve a garden here for the patients, they had whips.
His eyes widened slightly at the sight of them and one eyebrow quirked up in disbelief. Corporal abuse? Seriously? He hadn't taken Grace's warning quite as literal as he should. How was it still even possible, for a place like this to exist?
"You've got to be kidding me.." he mumbled, throwing a dark glance at Mathilda who actually chose one of those monstrous things. Before he knew it he suddenly got grabbed in the neck and pushed forward over the desk. From the corner of his eyes he saw the same happen to Grace.. Only he didn't hold still like she did.. Instead he started struggling for dear life, though in vain.
"Get off! LET ME GO!"
He wasn't used to this institute yet.. he wasn't used to their cruel ways. His body had felt the impact of electroshock therapy just yesterday and now he was already being beat up a second time, different form. Of course he couldn't manage to stay calm.
Miss Bennet moved around the desk to stand before them, looking down. A guard had to do the actual beating.. she wouldn't dirty her own hands after all. No she rather read the pain in the patient's eyes. But because the guard was behind them it was impossible to see who'd have to suffer first.
"You've got to the devil in you, boy.. Both of you do. And for your own sake, we have to beat it out."
She gave the sign to the guard who lifted the whip and striked it down again as hard as he could manage.
Alex:
Grace gritted her teeth, feeling how her bruises and shades got tightly pressed against the edge of the desk. It hurt, but she didn't complained at all - only because she knew the consequences of complaining. Patients could never give their opinion because they didn't had one - in their eyes. Utter bollocks of course, because they were "almost" all human - for as far you could call these people human.
Missis Bennett glanced at Nigel as he asked his question, and snorted by disgust. Grace knew how pathetic she could be. She immediately felt attacked whenever somebody asked a question during these brutal "rituals" - as if she declared as a fool.
'Grace is complicit,' she hissed. Grace grabbed Nigel his hand, stroking her thumb over his palm as if she tried to make him clear that it was okay. They would be okay.
'It's alright,' she whispered as her blue eyes shone.
'SILENCE!'
SLAP!
The first whip against the table, just to make them both a bit scared already. Missis Bennett stroked with the tip of her index finger along her chin, and sighed - as if she released all het anger and frustration with that hit on the table. Grace dropped her gaze to the ground, pursing her lips lightly as she inhaled afterwards. It was going to be a hell to see Nigel suffering. Grace was used to it. She learned to keep her moans low just as she had learned to stay quiet and politely whenever they did these things - even though it was so incredibly hard. You had to be emotionless as a stone in here. No weeping. Then, when you would visit your room afterwards, you could finally release all your emotions, anger, pain. But also that got less in time for Grace.
She turned her head - since they both got pressed with their cheeks against the table, and she wanted to look at Nigel so she could wish him strength at least.
'You're going to be alright,' she whispered. 'It will hurt, but just for one minute - at most.'
It was too late. Before she even actually finished her sentence, Nigel already started to struggle and yell as if he totally lost his mind again.
'Nigel! Nigel please, stay quiet, it's okay.'
Missis Bennet spoke, and the whip already reached their buts, so incredibly hard that it brought tears in Grace her eyes again - something that hadn't happened in a long time.
SLAP!
She held her breath, pressing her teeth together as her tongue pushed against her palate. Only a high hissed noise escaped her throat each time the whip reached her skin.
SLAP!
Both still twenty-eight to go...
Nigel:
Well perhaps she was but not in a negative way.. But that was not the least disturbing. It was the punishment at all. The whole point of an assylum these days was to aid those who were dangerous to society and themselves, because they couldn't help it. This wasn't just punishment on their acts. They were being punished for their own unwanted conditions. Or just the conditions they were labeled with, even though they didn't deserve it.
Nigel used to be as cold as stone.. Of course things had changed ever since he went mad, but he still had his SPD.. One of the few diagnoses that DID fit his mental condition. And still this was something different.. It was not about emotions it was about the acing of the nerve-system. He was still only human. So when the lashed down upon them he groaned in automatic response. But at some point, - halfway through the punishment - he managed to hold himself still at last.. make no more noises even. It was bad, but the pain he could handle. There was something else that almost bothered him even more.. It was a 'feeling' after all. One he felt before in his youth but then it was caused by his own father. Humiliation was the word for it that Nigel couldn't find. And for this reason he didn't even look into Grace' eyes, even though he knew she wanted him to. He didn't want to look at her. He wasn't usually the kind of person to find comfort for things like this on others.
Finally the whipping came to and end, and they were roughly put back on their chairs. For some reason Nigel seemed more fixated on his and Grace's locked hands than the situation around him now. He was really just thinking to himself though. Things he knew he now he could better not say aloud. One of them was that he'd just have to try get used to this continuously lasting pain and torture.. Just like had tried to let go of Alex. Then again, that never truly happened either, or he wouldn't be here anymore.
Alex:
The slaps of the whip, cutting, burning, scorching, as if they slipped straight through their pale layers of skin. Stripes, welts, shades of red, blue, purple and yellow got revealed in no time, and when they reached the count of fifteen - they counted out loud - even blood revealed. Hissing noises of Grace and Nigel gasping for breath through their teeth was loudly hearable, and Grace clenched her fists as she tried to think about something else.
She couldn't smile, not anymore. She'd tried her best to comfort Nigel, but she had underestimated this. This was so much more worse then she'd expected in the beginning. It had been quite a long time ago when she got whipped the last, and they never used this whip before. This was worse. This was insane. Brutal punishment, but Grace knew she couldn't do anything against it. It would only bring more problems.
Grace her cheeks were red from the tiredness, the lack of breath and the pain. She had to hold her tears in the middle of the punishment, but after her skin started to bleed she couldn't feel anything anymore. Only the tingling feeling of her nerves being overburdened.
The way they got pushed back into their chairs on a though way, made Grace gasp again and for the first since a long time again she had to snort to keep her tears away. Too bad a tear left her right eye, but she quickly wiped it away as soon as she noticed it, and her expression changed into stone again. She looked to the left now, looking at her and Nigel's hand still being entwined. They were white - a sign that they had been squeezing each others hand while they had hit them. She pursed her lips, swallowing everything away. The tears, the pain, her emotions. She knew they wouldn't have mercy with you. None of them. They were all cold as stone. Heartless. None of them understood you. It wasn't in their system. We were the children of Satan. We had to be punished... In their eyes we deserved this.
'I'm sorry,' Grace whispered softly as she searched for Nigel his eyes - which were still fixed on their hands. Her thumb rubbed the palm of his hand, gently and caring, and she hit her eyes again.
'How sweet.' Miss Bennett walked up to us and took a seat behind her desk. 'After one day you already made friends, Nigel. Why don't you introduce yourself a little bit more? What are your hobbies, your interests...'
Grace knew that Miss Bennett only did this to make everything more painful and awkward, pretending like nothing happened - as if they just went to this office for a little chitchat...
Nigel:
As he kept staring at their hands he suddenly noticed how he was squeezing it still and loosened his hand somewhat, to make sure they didn't have to suffer more pain then they already had. Not that it mattered much anymore.
He kept looking at them - their hands - however, to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. Even as Miss Bennet spoke and sat down in front of them again he refused to look up. A silence fell after she asked him that, filling the room with a certain cold tension.
Nigel had just gone to yet another sort of trauma and he reacted the way he always had.. by keeping quiet and in his head, not speaking to anyone. They knew he could react this way in his old institute.. and he was sure it was described in the files they received here too, but he should probably know that it wouldn't be taken as kindly here. He had a lot to learn.
"I asked you a question, Nigel.. What are your interests!?" miss Bennett continued impatiently. ... Another silence ...
"You'd better speak up boy. If you can scream you can talk. And if you don't you'll get another round.. No, both of you will."
Finally Nigel looked up at her, his eyes cold and empty, though.. Not even hateful or judging.. Just empty.
"Chess," he said hoarsely, clearing his throat afterwards to be more audible. "I like chess and reading."
Of course there were other things he'd always been interested in.. The Templars, biology, taxidermy, anatomies ... death in general. But he didn't think it was the answer she wanted to hear and he hadn't carried out that hobbies in a long time anyway.
Alex:
Grace her lips got parted, and a weird feeling crept through her body. She looked down at their hands again. Nigel his hand was warm. Grace couldn't remember herself ever holding hands like this before. It was like she'd never hold anyones hand before.
The eyes of Miss Bennett seemed to burn straight through Grace her skin, leaving scars everywhere. She had scars, and goddamn many also. A lump in her throat. Nigel didn't had any scars. Not yet. He was such an innocent boy in her eyes. Here he would got brainwashed. Here he would get hurt. Grace never felt sorry, really, never, but now she did. It was like she weren't herself.
Miss Bennett glanced at Grace, disgusted by the way she stared at Nigel - apparently. Grace knew Miss Bennett didn't liked her patients to feel good - or to feel anything positive. Grace didn't felt good at all of course, but she at least had a friend now. She saw Nigel as a friend, unknown.
Nigel didn't answered the woman her questions, and Grace lowered her chin - a sign that she could smell the bad consequences coming closer. Every second a cramped feeling overtook her. She was afraid, afraid they would hurt him or them again. She softly squeezed his hand again, and luckily he answered the question after a second warning.
'Chess and reading,' Miss Bennett repeated slowly. A strict expression was visible on her face. Apparently she had nothing to complain about that, or to make any fun about. 'Grace, what about you? Why don't you tell him about your interests, your hobbies? Your youth?'
Grace loosened the grip between their hands, and glanced away so she couldn't make any eye contact anymore. After five seconds of silence she even let go of Nigel his hand, and reduced her shoulders to make herself more smaller. Dived in.
'Grace?" Miss Bennett repeated again. 'Be polite, don't forget the politely rules we've teached you. 'Tell him about your history. For example, the cops shoot you, right?'
'Yeah,' Grace answered softly.
'Why, why did they shoot you?'
'I don't know...'
'You've murdered people, Grace. Kids, men, women.'
'Why?' Grace said softly as she looked up, her eyes full of tears and red. 'Why would I do that?"
'Tell him.'
'Why would I do that?'
'Grace-'
Grace gasped and shook her head, pressing her hands against her head.
'No, why would I do that?'
'You did Grace. You are a disappointment for our country. You are such a waste...'
'No- I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I was different then- It… It never happened.'
'You're attracted to the darkness. Don't lie.'
Nigel:
He stared at their hands again, but he still listened cautiously to the conversation.. The woman's cruel taunting. When she spoke about murdering people, innocent people, something flashed before his eyes.. A man.. lying bleeding and moaning on the floor under the bashing of a never-ending baseball bat. He didn't know why it was in his head - they never told him how he killed the couple - and therefor it was strange but like usually he wasn't too impressed with violent images like that so he pulled himself back to reality.
"She must have had a good reason to," he muttered, looking the nun in the eyes. Attraction to the dark side... hear who was speaking.
"You're a woman of religion.. You believe in god. So do I. Don't you think that if he made Grace like this he had meant her to be as such? It would be insulting, after all, to suggest he made a mistake, wouldn't it?"
He knew he was getting something for this.. But he just couldn't stop himself. It was Alex' influence speaking through him, making him unable to stop his ideas - which were the right ones, from flaunting out.. He winced momentarily, just at the thought of him, but immediately he composed his face to emptiness again.
"-..ma'am.." he added a tad too late, perhaps in the hope to restore some of the damage he had done.
Alex:
Grace looked up, searching for Nigel his eyes as he spot. Her lips curled ups little. Satisfied about the fact that he at least showed his way of understanding. He got a point there too. Miss Bennett was religious, but still she lived like a mad person. We weren't the devils, but she were.
As Nigel spoke further, Grace felt uncomfortable. He was getting himself so in trouble by this.
'Shut it,' MIss Bennett mumbled as she fixed her uniform. 'I said shut it!'
Nigel didn't listened at all. Just as she wanted to slap Nigel any time in the face, Grace stood up and grabbed Nigel his hand again, wrapping her fingers around his as she entwined them again. She pursed her lips, and sat down again, staring at Nigel with eyes which spoke: don't speak at all.
'I didn't killed anyone...' Grace looked up, daring to look the nun in her filthy eyes, and parted her lips. She knew she would get punished again, she always got whenever she said these things.
'You did Grace, you did...' Miss Bennett stood up and took Grace her head between her hands, squeezing it softly as she pinned her eyes upon Grace's. 'You did. How many times did I tell you not to tell lies? We can't forgive you. You have to pay for what you did. All the trouble you gave the world, all the sorrow...'
'No,' Grace yelped as she pressed her nails into the skin of her legs. 'Don't do this. I would never do such thing... I won't, nev-'
SLAP!
A flattened hand reached Grace her cheek, and she shut her eyes as soon as she inhaled deeply. She had to turn her emotions off again, and so she did. It only cost her a lot of trouble. She licked her lips, softly. Luckily no blood this time.
She slowly placed the back of her head against the backrest of the chair, and stared at Nigel as she swallowed. She blinked a few times. Her cheek was lightly red, a sign that she got hit quite hard. Though miss Bennett was a non - dressed up, neat, strict - she could punch so incredibly hard. It was almost scary for an old woman.
Nigel:
He shut up and didn't say anything further to elaborate the subject. He even kept quiet when the hag hit Grace her cheek, even when he could see the red tint on her skin. He wánted to. In fact he wanted to grab the wipe and beat her brains out but the guards were still there and it was a struggle he could never win. Also, he had the feeling that if he did anything wrong, - well in her sense of the word - Grace would be the one to pay for it. Besides she had just sacrificed herself to make him shut up. It would be indecent to make that be in vain.
This time he was the one to pull his hand away from Grace's though. He didn't want her to think he was getting attached to her - even though he was sort of. But he didn't want to have friends anymore. Or maybe he did, but he didn't want to admit to it. Because the moment he'd admit to have a friend, he could lose this person like he'd lost Alex, and he couldn't go through that again. It seemed to make the nun back down, though, this one act.. As if a certainty that these two wouldn't be friends that perhaps found support in each other was enough for her. For now at least.
"You two murderers should keep in mind that you will both be punished for your crimes.. And you should be grateful for it. Any suffering you get now will make you repent in the sight of heaven. Not that you'll ever truly be forgiven, but it might compensate slightly for yours many sins. You are both dismissed now.. But if I hear one more word about any of you, I'll tell you, the consequences will be far worse than the mercy I've shown you today. Also you won't leave your room for the rest of the day. Not even to eat.. Not that you were allowed to anyway."
The guards picked them up again and pulled them along roughly back to their rooms.
"Thanks for what you did this morning," he whispered to her along the way. He meant the massage that had managed to get the pain away slightly. If she hadn't he might have not been able to take the beatings at all.
Alex:
Grace licked her lips, and decided not to move anymore. She thought it would be for the best today. She got punished way too much. Her whole body hurt, and she knew it would only get worse further during the day.
She dropped her gaze as soon as Nigel pulled back his hand, and a feeling of disappointment crept through her body again. For a moment she'd thought she'd made a friend for the first, but apparently she took everything way too- overreacting perhaps. The tip of her tongue stroked along her lips again, and she tried to shut all the things out that Miss Bennett had said. It was bad stuff. Things that could hurt mentally.
All the things that Miss Bennett said now, was entering one ear, and leaving the other. Grace felt empty, but also satisfied. She helped somebody again, though it gave her troubles. Normally she would've never done that. So why she did now? Never she showed her emotions to anyone. Whenever such thing happened as these, she kept being emotionless, cold as stone. Now it was like she'd turned into an emotional wrack. A thing she couldn't understand.
The thing she honestly forgot at the moment, was that she still shared her body with someone. It was Alex who did all these things. Who made her feel and do things she'd never felt before. Alex and Grace their spirits were mixing up together, slowly and unknown. They had no idea that this could deliver them so many problems.
They got brought to their rooms, roughly and brutal. Each time this happened, another piece of Grace her metal wall got ripped apart. She looked up, searching for Nigel his eyes as soon as he spoke, and she smiled lightly. She didn't expect him to say this.
'You're welcome,' she softly spoke. 'We're going to be okay, Nigel. I'll always be here, remember?'
Nigel:
He didn't bother to look up when she thanked him, like he wasn't really listening at all. But apparently he was because at her second comment a ripple of recognition moved through him and he looked up at her wide-eyed, stopping in his tracks. He realized there was something wrong with that sentence.. Apart from it being something he didn't expect her to say, she added the little word, remember..? Like she had said it before. But she never hád said it before, Alex had.
When he stopped walking the guard gave him an impatient push that brought him to move forward again but he kept looking at her in some sort of expression of shock and disunderstandment.. Up until the point Grace got thrown into her room and the door was closed.. From that point on they were unable to see each other anymore.