It took a long time for me to accomplish my goal, but I finally got to the point where I was released from my straps. My next move had to again, wait, but I was eventually able to find a sharp object which I kept hidden at my side. I persuaded doctors and nurses that I was getting better.
Officer Daley was interrogating me once again. He'd tried on several different occasions to get me to talk. I wouldn't speak to him after I'd offered to play the game. But, I finally made the next move and I'd planted the sharp needle that I'd stolen, into his neck, pulling it through his skin and resulting in him crumpling to the floor.
I was content with watching the blood come from his throat.
I was placed under intense watch and the straps were once again applied. My brain was declared insane. I simply laughed when they told me that. I was most definitely not insane. They were insane for thinking I was insane.
I'd been taken to therapeutic sessions of all kinds. Sometimes my family was brought in, but I didn't pay them much mind. I was always trying not to answer their questions. People were quite pushy.
I sighed and tapped my fingers against the table. My hands were handcuffed to the table with a heavy chain, but that was okay. I didn't plan on moving too much anyways. "Now, Ms. Grey-"
"My name is Austen." I grumble.
"Austen, if you just open up, make a little progress, we can soon release you from this-" the shrink in front of me tries. I laugh.
"That's bull crap." I hold her gaze as she sighs and clicks her pen. The action makes me grimace and she notices. I hated the noise of clicking pens ever since I'd killed Officer Daley. "What happened to Alec?" I ask.
"Ms. Grey, I've explained to you.. I-"
"My name is Austen!" I snarl. The shrink flinches away from my volume. I almost feel bad.
"Austen, I've told you. Alec is not of your concern. He's gone and-"
"I'd say he's my concern." I snap. She pauses. I read her name tag. Belinda. Frowning, I twiddle my thumbs together.
"He suffered a deadly shot to the side. It broke his ribs and pierced his internal organs causing catastrophic damage and-"
"Why didn't you come earlier?" I demand, tears brimming my eyes. "It was awful in there."
"What happened?" Belinda asks softly, probably hoping I'd open up since I'd shown weakness. Alec was the only thing that did this to me nowadays. I blink a few times.
"A horrible game." I mutter. Belinda waits for me to explain but I don't. I start muttering about my dreams. "He likes to follow me in my dreams. He'll walk slowly behind me and no matter how hard I run he always gets closer." I shake at the image the words brought me. "Sometimes he just sits across the table and stares at me, other times he engages in a conversation where I can never speak or defend myself. He's very controlling, which I suppose he would have to be if he ran a game like he did." I tap my fingers on the table again, resolved not to say anything about him further.
Belinda looked to be elated with all that I'd said even though I'd told her the same dreams before. I watched as she scribbled hopelessly fast on her clipboard. "Austen, we're here to help you and-"
"Which is why I'm in handcuffs." I say pointedly.
"That's-" Belinda pauses. "That's for your safety."
"You mean your safety. Have you thought that if I just killed myself, you and I would be safe from me? My brain, as you said, is insane. I don't have control of it so I believe we should kill it. It seems logical and I-"
"No. You're going to get better." Belinda argues heatedly.
"I don't want to get better." I say lowly. Belinda stares at me. "Put that down for one of your notes. I'm done speaking to you for today." I close my mouth and leave it shut even as Belinda goes into hysterics to get me to respond.
Eventually Belinda takes me back to my room, leaving quite dejectedly. I didn't mind. I did however mind being locked in that white washed room.
The blank, empty walls reminded me of myself.
I start pacing. My mind was traveling all too far in the small room I was enclosed in and my feet needed to follow. Alec's voice was being screamed in my head. I could hear his soft, gentle voice, calling me, telling me play the game. I'd listened to the voice too many times.
There was a time when I'd thought it was my own voice that commanded me to kill. But as I had the time to sit in this room and think, I realized the voice was familiar because it was Alec's. He had taken control of my mind without me realizing it.
I'd wondered if he was some supernatural being and he had possessed me but I'd soon thrown that idea out the window because it was simply absurd. Alec was a man of flesh and blood, the only power he had was his keenness. It sent me into a rage just thinking about it. My fist slammed against the wall.
"Get out of my head!" I scream. There's an alert that starts ringing and immediately a guard enters, looking me over and checking the wall.
"Are you okay?"
The question makes my anger flare.
"I'm in an insane asylum... do you think I'm okay?" I snap. The guard doesn't move from my harsh words but rather remains calm and collected. "Please, just leave."
"You have visitors coming in a few minutes. If you wish to see them, I'd suggest behaving." With that he turns and leaves. It was a different guard every time. I wondered if I scared them away. My breaths were short and staggered so I started working on calming down.
I didn't really want to have visitors, but I'd do anything to make the doctors think I was trying. Giving me visitors was not going to help me but they thought it would. It seemed everyone was trying to help me, but I knew no one really wanted me better. They just wanted my information, after that I was useless to them, just becoming another name on their long list of people to "help."
I started pacing again, muttering to myself.
"My name is Austen Grey." I begin. The words feel heavy on my tongue though I'd said them many times before.
"I've been in here for..." I pause. "Two months." I continue pacing. Three steps forward, turn. Three steps forward, turn.
"I got out." I sit on my bed and wring my hands together, grimacing as memories poured into my head. "And I will-" I groan in pain as pain pounds on my head.
I saw the girls neck snap in a moment, watching her eyes fall from their sockets. I saw hollowed out cheekbones and red seeping from her mouth. I saw a bullet lodged perfectly between her eyes.
I saw my own hands holding the gun.
I shoved my head into the pillow and screamed again, tears streaming down my face. My body convulsed in pain as I felt hands roam over my skin. I imagined feeling Alec's hot breath on my neck and my eyes rolled back, causing me to enter into a world of darkness.
When I came to there was a chair next to my bed and I was strapped in tightly in my restraints. The restraints brought some comfort to me for some odd reason. They were familiar I supposed, a welcoming embrace that told me I wouldn't hurt anyone. I sighed and closed my eyes.
I heard a knock on my door. I didn't respond, but they entered anyways, as I was sure they would. My eyes closed and I shook my head, trying to calm my mind. Belinda sat in the seat beside me.
"Are you feeling better?" She looks hopeful that I have an answer, and at first I'm tempted to give it to her. In the end I turn my head away from her. "You have a few visitors. I promised them each a couple minutes."
I heard her leave and a couple of feet enter. The footsteps sounded so loud. I heard a light clear of the throat and when I turned I saw Makayla and the other girl who'd I'd told to leave with her. Tears well in my eyes.
"Hi, Austen." Makayla says lightly. I start crying and she embraces me though I'm not allowed to return it.
"You're alive." I whisper. She nods. I notice the cuts and bruises on her arms. She was even skinnier than last I saw her and the other girl looked just as beat up.
"We followed your instructions. We ran for miles, Austen." Makayla's lip trembles and she falls silent for a moment. I don't rush her. "We were followed... but we lost them, how, I don't know." Makayla wipes at her tears. The other girl, whose visitor tag said Rachel, put a soft hand on Makayla's small shoulder.
"We got to a town, called the police..." Rachel pauses. Makayla takes the lead once more.
"We heard what had happened." Makayla looks me over with soft eyes. She doesn't look at me as though I'm wounded, or that I'm a caged animal. She looks at me with such love and tenderness that it makes me, if only for a moment, truly want to recover. I sob as pain races through my body.
I hadn't even worried about her this whole time.
"Thank you, Austen." Makayla says, a smile in her tone. "Who knows what would've..." she trails off but I don't need her to finish. "You saved us." She stands and kisses my forehead as the only sign of affection she could offer. Her hand holds mine for a mere moment.
Rachel looks at me with tears in her eyes. "Thank you. I got to see my family again... I got to go home... I got to be free. Thank you." Rachel squeezes my hand and then she too backs away from me.
Makayla wipes furiously at her tears. "We can't stay; we were only allowed a couple of minutes but I plan on coming back. Thank you, again, Austen. Get better soon, okay?" Makayla begins to leave but I stop her.
"Makayla, I killed Trisha." I say with tears still hot on my cheeks. "I killed Alexander. I killed Jared. I killed a girl... I killed Officer Daley. I'm a murderer." I put it all out there for her. "I don't deserve any thanks."
"Maybe you don't deserve it." Makayla says slowly. She's calm. "But maybe you do. And I know you saved me. The least I could do is say thank you, Austen. You saved more lives than you killed in the years to come and-" she stops. "You deserve it." And with that she leaves me once more in my quiet room.
I cried silently for a long time before there was another knock on my door. I prayed it was Makayla, that they let her back in for a longer time. I prayed it wasn't Belinda, coming to talk to me about what I'd confessed to Makayla in what should have been a private conversation.
Footsteps walked towards me and as if by instinct my skin started to crawl. I couldn't see who it was but I didn't want to talk to anyone but Makayla. My heart was thudding erratically in my chest and I should have listened to the signs.
"Hello, Darling. I hope you're enjoying your stay." I feel fear well up inside of me, causing me to squirm and convulse in my restraints. Before I can speak, I feel a strap go over my head, a muzzle placed on my mouth, keeping it clamped shut. I scream but to no avail.
"It's been such a long time since I've seen your face." Alec is now in my vision, his body healthy and looking as it always had. He looked strong and ever so terrifying. I cried and struggled ceaselessly. "Did you miss me?" Alec was smiling.
"You're probably wondering how and why I'm here. You see, while I suffered from a deadly wound, it didn't kill me. I was well taken care of. And as to why I'm here... that should be pretty simple." Alec leans over me.
His face comes too close to mine for my liking. I could see the deep vines in his grey eyes. They were cold like jail bars, hard and foreboding. I couldn't move away from him. "Did you want to guess or should I tell you?" He teases, his breath fanning down my neck, the very feeling I'd hated.
I should have killed him myself. I shouldn't have second guessed myself. I shouldn't have allowed myself to hesitate. Alec grins as my fear begins to consume me.
"In the game of tag, each person has an equal chance of being it. I was tagged, Darling, and I don't like being it. So, since this game isn't quite finished, I decided to come make the next move." Alec chuckles as he pulls back. It doesn't make me feel any better.
"Tag, you're it."