Elaina Wells
Jake was sitting at the gray table. His head was hung in a downwards position and he was slouched, looking at the table. Both of his hands and feet were shackled, two Guards on either side of him "in case something were to happen". I doubted anything bad would actually happen. I hoped nothing bad would happen.
I sat down across from the three of them and stared straight at the Guards. "I'm not like most 'Therapists' these days. I actually believe in HIPAA and confidentiality." They were the same thing, but nowadays no one knew what HIPAA was. Jake bit his lip. Both Guards returned my frown and switched it on me. All I did was cock an eyebrow.
"As do we." Bullshit. "We're simply here for your safety, Ms. Wells."
"That's Doctor Wells. Hello, Jacob." He finally looked up at me. He looked so sad and afraid. Like a scared animal in a shelter. I smiled a friendly smile at him.
"Hello, Doctor."
"You can call me Elaina." he looked unsure, as if he felt this was a trap of some sort. "I just want to make you feel comfortable, so you know it's okay to talk to me and ask any quesitons if need be. Beefcake and Brawn, however need to address me by my Professional title." One of them gruffed.
"You know you're being recorded?" Jake's eyes widened. I got close to the Guard that spoke.
"Then I suppose we're even for calling me Miss." I read his name tag. "Officer Jefferson." He nodded his head once.
"I suppose we are." I turned my attention back to Jake.
"As you know, this conversation is being recorded. Don't be afraid. It's for my Transcripts and for proof that you're stable enough for this project. Do you consent to this meeting?"
"Yes, ma'am." It was strange having someone older than me that had watched over me call me ma'am. I knew it was a sign of respect, it was just odd to me. It wasn't anything new for me to be called that by Prisoners, but with Jake it was different.
"How old were you when you were taken?"
"I can't remember. I was young."
"How old are you right now?" He hesitated.
"I also don't know..." He looked away, embarrassed. I shot the Guards an awful luck. I knew it wasn't their fault this happened, but it shook me to the core.
"Do you know the year you were born in?"
"2094."
"You're 25." He's been here for over a decade.
"I guess I missed all the good years, huh?" He joked. I smiled. The old Jake was still in there somewhere.
"Yeah, you'll have time to celebrate soon." He gave me a look that said, Yeah, right. "You went to the first Prison in our state in the beginning of all this mess. What made you transfer to the Medium Security one?"
"I got into trouble for fighting. They say I'm violent. But they don't know my story."
"Do you think you're violent?" He shrugged.
"I don't think I am. Just defensive. I always have been. The first transfer-well, all of the transfers could have been avoided. It's just so damn hard."
"Why is it hard?"
"In the beginning I was scared. These kids were people I knew. We got fucking castrated when we hit puberty! That wasn't supposed to piss everyone off? How can someone let this happen? People were complete assholes. I tried to survive. Look where that got me. I wish I was dead."
"Jake... Jacob.... I know it's a shitty situation, but things will get better."
"How I'm serving a life sentence for shit I can't control."
"Trust me, I'll help you. I'm running an experiment that's going to help you and so many others."
"How? Are you going to get the disease out of us?"
"No. I'm going to show the world people with mental disorders aren't threats."
"We are when we're off our medication, which we have been for several years." I had a plan for that. I just had to deliver that news carefully.
I still had Jake's medication from all those years ago. If all goes well I was planning on duplicating it and other medications. If people found out I had the medication before this test's success and reveal to the world, I could get thrown into Federal Prison. The real prison.
Knowing my mother would have gotten rid of the real pills, I exchanged them for weight loss pills that I found and hid the real pills in my pocket. Sure enough, my mother flushed the weight loss pills I had found. She gave me the pill container back to hold coins. I kept both in the container and hid the pills again when we would go to the bank to exchange the coins for dollars.
All I told Jake about that part of the plan was that there were books and other records that gave instructions on how to create the medicine. That was a good enough answer for him and the Guards. Luckily the Guards didn't see through my white lie.
"Why did you go to the High Security Prison to prove that we're not threats?" He asked. "Some people here are nuts!"
"We selected one person from each Security Prison and we go from there. If you pass the test, more people from your Prison get to take their's and more people get free.
"No pressure."
"Have faith." I winked at him. "I believe in you." It took everything not to reach across the table and take his hands in mine. He was nervous, I wanted him to be calm. The other Guard, no Jefferson, scoffed. I frowned as I faced him.
"Problem?" I snapped. Jefferson looked away from me, the other one had a scheming look in his eye.
"Ask him how he got here." He gruffed. I showed no fear, although that was the question I was hoping I could avoid, although I knew it was inevitable.
"How did you get here?"
"My most recent cell mate was murdered-or killed himself. I got the blame for it." I wasn't informed of that knowlege. As far as I knew, Thai was his most recent cell mate. I guess Thai was just his last living cell mate. I didn't know what to say. It took a few seconds for the interview to continue. The assholes looked happy with themselves.
"Did you?"
"Kill him? No! I was in the cafeteria at the time of death."
"Why do people think you did it?"
"Because htey need to put blame on someone. I coulnd't even see the body. I was just shipped off." My next question was for the Guards.
"If he killed someone, why isn't he in Maximum?"
"Couldn't prove it. But if he slips up again, that's where he'll be." Other Asshole Guard said.
"After the test, after everyone's free, you're getting a fair trial."
"What's the point? I'll just get thrown back in here." The Guards both wore satisfied smirks. I wasn't going to let them keep that egomanical pride.
"Don't think that way. You'll get out. You'll stay out."
"Why are you making promises you can't keep?"
"I'm not." I looked at the Guards. "He's going to be staying here until the tests are given and the results are released. That's an order." They exchanged looks. "This concludes our interview. Thank you, Jacob. Thank you, men." I pushed the stop button on the recorder and shook all three of their hands. After that I left.
I didn't have the authority to make Jake stay there, but I knew I could get it from the Government. It took a few persistent calls and emails, but finally I got what I wanted. I was on a time limit though. I only had thirty days to test on Jake before the prison could do whatever they wanted with him, including ceasing contact with me. I hoped Jake's behavior didn't get too absurd and that the Guards weren't petty enough to get him out the second those thirty days were up.
I knew I had to think of a plan fast. I had to make good on my Not-So-White-Lie and select one person from each prison, including the Maximum Security one. I reviewed many prisoner files. Biased choosing was a lot easier than doing actual in depth research. There was so much research, so many prisoners. But it had ot be done. I finally settled on one. He was a Boarder Jumping Predator. He went from state to state violating people. I interviewed him like I had with the others. His name was Jacob Recari. I'm not going into details of the interview, but his interview was behing a glass wall with a phone on each end.
The rest of the plan was to have myself in the room alone with each of them. Nothing in the room except for each of us and a gun loaded with blanks and a one way mirror. The decision was simple, but difficult, when the test subject only knew the half truth.
A/N
Hey guys! Sorry there's so much dialogue in this chapter, but the end of the story is almost here! That honestly makes me super sad. But now I can show you the ending I've been wanting to show you guys since the beginning! I hope you guys like it!