Um. Okay how do I start this.
Hi, welcome back to MentalDisorderLand! This is your Captain Adam speaking. If you look to your left you can see somebody with abandonment issues, and if you look to your right, some bipolar half-asshole!
Now up ahead there is a gift shop, and a donation box that is completely optional, but there if you enjoyed the tour and would like to tip. We would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for visiting and we hope to see you next time :)
Haha anyway. A bit has changed in Zoey's life since Tommy went to jail. For starters, it's 2 years later from their perspective. Alex, is still 16, because this Arc takes place right after his backstory.
Anyway, I'll start with her daily routine.
She wakes up and cuddles with her boyfriend Charsley for a few minutes before getting up and going about how she usually does. On her way home, her stops at her favorite restaurant have a little bit more affection to them. And she goes on with the rest of her day until he gets home from work, they talk about their days, and eat a light dinner watching an episode of "Soul Eater" (one of my first and personal favorite animes), shower separately (Zoey reads while he showers, he lays down waiting for her), then Zoey lays down and gets cuddled by the grizzly bear that is Charsley. They love each other a lot, and have been together for nearly a year and a half.
Now now, I know what some people might be thinking. Zoey and Tommy were pretty romantic, but it's been two years since then, move on. Besides Tommy's in jail, do you expect the relationship to last off of conjugal visits alone? Ha.
Speaking of Tommy and his jail sentence. Every Saturday they take a trip (using Charsley's car) to the city that Tommy is jailed in to visit him together. Tommy and Charsley actually have a pretty good friendship. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't jealous of Charsley, but hey, they're all adults who respect each other. And they're all very excited to spend time together when Tommy gets out. Which happens to be soon, so don't you worry :P
However, neither Tommy or Charsley are the focus of this arc, so I don't want you to only think about them please. Nah the real case study is Alex. So, how does Zoey meet him exactly? I mean I might as well say that straight up because we all know that she's going to meet him lol.
Well, it occurs one afternoon when Zoey is going down to Tommy's favorite bar to pick up a bottle of his favorite vodka. You know, for the upcoming celebration. However, in the bar, a fight seems to be going down. A strange one. A short teenage boy is standing in the middle of the room, with purple chains coming out of his black hoodie, tied around the bartender who is on his knees in front of him.
"You're underage, I can't serve you!" The bartender pleas.
"You're misunderstanding. I didn't ask you to serve me, I told you. Now fucking do it!" The teen yells back.
The bartender sees Zoey enter.
"You, ma'am. Please, call the police!" He cries.
Alex looks back at her. His purple gem flashes before another chain appears, attached to Zoey's side. She quickly hits the chain, and it surprisingly snaps. He tries to bring out more, but not before Zoey picks up a stool and
*Wham!*
He falls to the ground, all of his chains releasing at once.
A few minutes go by.
Zoey talks the bartender into borrowing Alex ("he's my brother."), thanks him for the free vodka, then carries Alex to her apartment on her shoulders (as if he's a drunk friend), waving to the pedestrians walking by.
Halfway home, she takes a sip of the vodka.
"Ugh.. well at least Tommy will like it."
She makes it home, and lays Alex down on her couch.
"What shows do you like?"
She asks.
He's still out cold.
"Alright, Dexter it is then. I'll be back with an ice pack for you."
She grabs the ice pack, places it on his head, rearranges him so that she can sit on the couch, and sits down watching TV for half an hour until he wakes up.
He sits up. (Ah, brrr.) He thinks before taking the ice pack off his head.
The first thing he sees is Zoey, taking a bite of a sandwich, before frantically pausing her show.
"Oh hey, don't watch this part, it's spoilers." She says with the mouthful of food.
"Who are you?"
He asks.
"I knocked you out in a bar, and thought it would be best to not let you go to juvie for it. You're welcome."
He looks around the apartment.
"Well um, can I go?"
"Sure thing."
"Okay then.. bye."
He says, getting up and walking to the door.
He steps into the hall, and lifts up his shirt to show his stomach. (I still have my kidneys. She was just weird, got it.) He thinks before walking out of the apartment building.
Outside though, he realizes that he doesn't know where the hell he is.
"You look lost." Zoey says, peeking her head out of the apartment window, 3 stories above him.
"Huh? Oh um.. I think I know where.." He continues looking around. "..where are we?"
"East side."
Alex had never really been to this part of town.
(I'll just look at maps.)
He thinks, putting his hands into his pockets, but his phone isn't there.
He panics a little.
"Hey do you have my phone?"
He asks her.
"You didn't have one on you."
She says back, honestly.
He thinks back to the last time he had it. He was texting his girlfriend (more like prisoner), but she wasn't texting back. Days had gone by and he'd sent hundreds of texts, still no reply. She wouldn't answer his calls either. Alex didn't know what he did wrong to deserve this treatment. As days went on, he got more and more anxious. "What if I never see her again?" He'd think. One day, he threw his phone at the wall after she ignored his call, it cracked, and he got even more upset. Leading him into a delusional rage that took him straight to the bar. He thought maybe alcohol could help. But he had to go a bit of distance away from his house to find a trashy bar where he could get his way.
"Fuck fuck fuck!"
He whines.
"Hey, it's cool, I can help you find your way home. I've been walking through this city for like 5 years."
Zoey says, kindly. Deep down, she's a bit on edge after watching his freakout.
(Okay, getting walked home by this cute girl wouldn't be so bad.)
Alex thinks.
He nods silently. "Alright, give me a minute. I needa pee." She says, then heads down to him.
She steps outside.
Alex gets nervous as she stands in front of him.
(She's taller than me..)
He thinks.
Zoey smiles. "So, where we headed?"
"Umm.. uh."
"Like, what street do you live on?"
"Oh.. West Pine. It's near the Civic Center."
"Alrighty then, I believe I know how to get there. Follow thy leader." Zoey says, as she starts walking to the right.
If they went left, it would have led to the park, but this way, they're walking towards train tracks. A train passes as they get closer.
He watches her as she taps her foot innocently, waiting for the train to pass.
She turns to him and speaks, but her quiet voice is covered by the screaming train.
(She has no idea that I can't hear her. I'll nod.) He shyly thinks.
It passes, the bar lifts, and they step onto the tracks.
"Looks like we're following the train. Maybe we should've just hopped on it." She jokes.
(Yeah, and then get stabbed by the bum living in it!) He sarcastically thinks. But outside, he gives a half smile to gesture that he's entertained. He's not.
They walk on the tracks for a moment before Zoey pokes.
"So. What were you doing in the bar earlier? You're not exactly old enough to drink."
"What is it to you?" He rudely asks back.
"Oh, nothing just curious."
(She just asked a fair question.)
He thinks to himself.
Another minute goes by.
"... I was having a bad day. Well, I guess I'm still having a bad day."
He says, out of nowhere.
(Oh? A crack already.)
She proudly thinks.
"Do you mind if I ask why?"
He shrugs, putting his head down.
"That's okay. :)"
...
"I don't think I ever mentioned. My name's Zoey."
(Do our names matter? I won't see you again. Is she flirting?) He thinks, before saying his. "Alex."
"Well, circumstances aside. Ya know, me knocking you out, it's nice to meet you."
They continue walking along the tracks. In the distance, a corner of the large Civic Center can be seen.
(I'm almost home. But am I really excited about that?)
...
(This is a little bit awkward. Maybe I should say something?)
A large eagle flies above them.
"...caw.." He says, pointing to it.
They walk a bit more before they make it to the nearby Civic Center. Zoey could just walk back home now, but it's getting a little dark and she wants to get him home safely. So, they step off the tracks, walk down the sidewalk for a block, and they're at his house.
It's a nice, white (as in the house is white. Haha), two story suburban house. On the lawn sit a couple of plastic pink flamingos and nicely cut grass. Sprinklers aren't on, but the grass is damp, they were on recently. As they walk to the front door, they step on a comfy smiley face doormat.
Alex opens the door. Inside is a small hallway leading to a living room/kitchen, and on the right wall is a staircase leading up. Alex doesn't hesitate to take off his shoes and go up them.
(Do... Do I follow him?)
Zoey thinks, standing there awkwardly.
"Alex honey, it's dinner time. Are you hungry?" A woman's voice calls down the hall.
"Alex?"
She calls out again, before stepping into the hallway.
"Oh my, hi there. Who are you?"
Alex's mother asks. She's a middle aged woman, a little shorter than Zoey, and has brunette hair in a ponytail, contrasting with Zoey's blonde hair put into two buns.
"My name's Zoey. Your son was a bit lost in town, so I helped him get home."
"Aw, well thank you, I appreciate it. Alex has been a bit out there lately. I think his girlfriend broke up with him."
(She over-shares a bit, huh.)
Zoey thinks.
"Would you like to come in? Dinner's ready and I'd like to pay you back."
She's about to decline, but her stomach growls as she smells the warm food.
"Yes please."
She says, before stepping inside, taking off her shoes.
"Alex, come down honey."
His mom calls out, then leads Zoey down the short hallway.
To their left is a small kitchen, a living room sits in front of them with a couch with two throw pillows on it, and in the corner between both rooms, sits a dining table. Two dishes of food lay on it, and a man is at the table. The man has brown eyes, a rectangle shaped head, and greying black hair. It's his father.
Before Zoey can greet him, Alex walks by, bumping into her.
"Sorry." He says, then sits down at the table.
His mom pulls the nearest chair out for Zoey. She sits across from Alex's dad, who's at the head of the table. Alex sits to her right, and his mom to her left.
"Who's ready for some chicken alfredo?" His mom asks, removing the tinfoil cover from a dish. The strong amazing smell fills Zoey's nose instantly.
"Oh, and mashed potatoes with green beans. Can't forget those, now can we?" She says, removing another cover.
Normally Zoey doesn't eat very much, but she's going to politely stuff her face for this meal. Maybe she can bring some home for Charsley :)
Everybody fills their plate and begins eating.
"So, Zoey. Do you have a job?"
His mother asks.
Zoey nods, finishes chewing, then speaks. "I've been working in a pet shelter for 2 years. But I'm also studying psychology."
"Oh, that's quite interesting I imagine?" The dad says.
"Psychology? Oh for sure."
She responds.
"I bet that is too. But honestly I meant the pet shelter haha. I love animals." He says.
"Both are interesting to me."
His mom says.
(Meh.) Alex thinks, stirring around his food. He's jealous of Zoey's attention.
"What's the most interesting crystal you've seen?" He asks, hoping to be entertained.
"Well, I'm not doing anything professionally yet, but I do read a lot about certain cases. I could tell you one of those."
He nods, intrigued.
She thinks for a few seconds.
"Oh, I know one. Have you guys ever heard of The Placebo Killer?" She excitedly says.
"Oh definitely. Scary stuff. It was a huge thing in the news a few years ago. Never heard how it started though." Alex's dad claims.
His mother shook her head.
"Me neither."
But Alex had. It's always been something that's interested him.
"Well," Zoey starts "His name was Dr. Freed. And he started out as a normal psychoanalyst. One day, he stumbled across a theory that caught his eye, and really began to believe in it. So much so, that he even afforded to bring in a lot of subjects for a long term study. None of his colleagues believed in the theory, so all of the costs came out of Freed and his family's pockets. But, to their surprise, it was actually working!"
"But." Alex chimes in. This intrigues Zoey.
(Oh? He knows the story.)
She thinks.
"Yes, but. A year or so down the line, his colleagues did the same experiment, but with one big difference. They didn't know which group of people were the control group. And it was revealed that, Freed's expectations had altered the experiment, nothing else. So, after a year of devoting his time and life savings to it, just to watch it fail, it destroyed him. His family left and his colleagues thought little of him. It made Freed lose his mind. Then, homicides began to pop up all over his city, but there was never any evidence. One night, a cop caught him in the act, but all Freed did was walk over to him as the white crystal on his forehead shined, and whispered the words-"
"I believe, you bastards will never catch me." Alex says out loud with excitement.
It catches his parents off guard, but they're amused, and so is Zoey.
She smiles. "So, it is thought that his ability was to simply say that he believed something, and it would happen. That is, if you believe in that story. I've always found it.. terrifying."
"Are you kidding me? It's awesome. He's pretty much a god!" Alex says with a smile.
"Pretty much."
She says back.
"And because of that, he's never been caught, and nobody knows where he is. The end." :)
"Ha. Sounds more like a tall tale than anything. But hell, maybe I don't want to believe in him because it scares me too." Alex's dad says.
"Do you believe in him Zoey?"
His mother asks. Alex's ears perk up like a dog.
She nods.
They finish dinner, Zoey and Alex stand outside while waiting for his parents, who said they'd give Zoey a ride home. It's dark, moths gather around the porch light.
"So.. what do you like to do for fun?" Alex asks, fairly nervous.
"Exercise, and watch TV. I guess I could stand to find a new hobby haha. What about you?"
(Exercise huh? Makes sense, great shape 👀) He thinks to himself before answering.
"I play the piano. Well, it's a keyboard so it's less cool, but still."
"Oh wow, really? Maybe you could play me something one of these times." She says back. He blushes.
Zoey looks up to night sky. The stars remind her of her father. That, and that one Lion King scene.
"So, did I help make your bad day better?" She says, jokingly.
He hadn't even thought about it until now. She did make it better.
"Meh." He says in a sly tone with a shrug, mocking his earlier moody self. Zoey chuckles.
His parents step out.
"Ready to go?" The father asks
Zoey nods.
"Alex honey, go get ready for bed, you have school tomorrow. We'll be back soon." His mom says.
"Okay."
"Goodnight Alex. Nice meeting you." Zoey says before the three of them step away.
He goes inside, and they get into the car.
As the car begins to go down the street, she sees Alex poke his head out of his upstairs window, and wave. She waves back through the car's back window.
(What a sweet, confused kid.)
She thinks, smiling.
(He's going to be a fun study.)
She sees potential in him.
But inside his room, as he lies on his bed looking up to the ceiling, he sees a completely different potential in her.
To Be Continued...