#at anyone’s house besides Millie and direct family | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

caressedorcrushed · 7 years

Text

Nathan had to keep reminding himself what he was doing, as he walked down the sidewalk, his eyes and mind wondering off as he passed things. Being in the psychiatric ward ones entire life, left them a bit in awe of all the differences that had taken place in the outside world. But this also served to anger him even more, fueling him onward. Whenever he hadn’t gotten himself in isolation, and allowed in the common room with the other patients, there were always cartoons or some movie on that hadn’t exactly been much help in knowing the world outside the ward. Muttering a bit to himself he was almost stomping as he made his way down the sidewalk. Fuck them! Keeping me locked up there, in that hell! Nathan thought. The dull, almost completely emotionless look on his face sharpening just a bit as his cold black eyes narrowed on the path in front of him.

Tamara needed to get away from the house. Her parents had been acting so… weird. The girl thought a walk could help her clear her head. There was something slightly off with this whole place. It wasn’t as she remembered. Hadn’t she only been gone a little while? She plopped down onto the bus bench a mile or so from her house, taking a deep breath.

She only wished someone would be honest with her, instead of walking on eggshells.

Pulling his eyes up from the ground, he looks over toward a car as it drove passed. Jerking his gaze away from the street then, he looked toward the houses. Which one was the one he’d been looking for. Being taken to the ward at seven, he was having a little trouble remembering what the place looked like. Turning his head away, he spots a young woman sitting on a bus bench. Walking over, he looks at her. No, this wasn’t a face he knew “Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know where anyone with the last name of Douglas, lives, would you?” No, of course she probably doesn’t know. What a stupid question, but it’s too late now to just walk by and ignore her… Or maybe it’s not. Nathan turns then and starts walking off, feeling like he was getting closer to his destination, anyway.

Camille had been focused on her internship and really trying to keep her game on so that she could impress her professor. While walking down the sidewalk on her way to the common house that she and the other interns normally studied or worked she’d accidentally bumped into the male as he walked the other direction. Causing her to drop all her things, she’d yelped from the shock of being bumped, before groaning in frustration. “God dammit.”

Stumbling back as something crashed into him, Nathan closed his eyes. A wave of anger washing over him, though seeing as it was already there, simmering just at the surface, there wasn’t much more of a push he’d needed. Taking a step toward the woman, his head tilting as his eyes lock onto hers. He purposely starts walking on several of the fallen items, twisting one foot into an item and scraping it on the ground “Get out of my way!” He hissed. Then he reached out to try to grab her by the wrist, preparing to whip her out from in front of him, and clear his path again.

God, she just needed some air. No matter how ‘good’ her home was, the constant stares and worried glances were suffocating her. Constance figured a walk would do some good, but she hadn’t figured she would nearly run over someone in an attempt to calm herself. “Oh,” the breath was short as her eyes met the figure in front of her. Analyzing him as quickly as she could, Constance took a step back and opened her mouth to apologize. But nothing came out. Of course nothing came out. So, instead – unsure of what to do – the young girl stood there and let her eyes drift to floor. He could move, or say something. Either way, she would just take it. What else could she do?

He could feel the stinging in his palms as his nails cut into them, it had been a while since the last time he was forced to have them cut. To prevent him from scratching the hell out of the staff when they came near him. When the girl remained quiet, his nose flared for a moment. That moment where her mouth had opened only a little made him clench his fists more. Then she looked away. Through clenched teeth, he just stared. Why is she just standing there!? Get the fuck out of my way! I’m just going to ram into her. Nathan managed to bring himself down a bit, then, a slight smirk appearing over his lips, at the thought of knocking her off her feet “You are in my way. Move.” Or I will make you move. Tamara glanced up when she heard the voice. She was a little on edge at first, but working at a bar for a few years can train a girl’s brain to be weary of anyone. Even a puppy.

She gave the man a polite smile and listened to him, trying to help with his apparent worry. “Douglas?” She spoke as he began to turn away, “I haven’t been around for a while, but I think I might know where it might be.” The girl stood up, dusting off her skirt. “I’ll show you if you’d like. Maybe find a Yellowpages on the way.”

As she’d repeated the name, he stopped, then slowly began to turn to look at her. Bringing his eyes down over her, he tried to find any reason to believe her words. But he couldn’t find one “Really?” He almost whispered too lowly for her to be able to hear. Questioning the other still, he takes a step toward her “You will show me?” The yellow pages. That would of been useful, but he wasn’t exactly interested in warning anyone that may have lived in his old house, especially his family that he was coming home. They wouldn’t be too happy about that. Nathan gave her the sweetest smile he could feign at the moment and nodded “Show me.” He gestured for her to take the lead, but did not waste the next moment and began to contemplate punishing her, should she fail to lead him where he’d liked to get to.

She gladly began the trek with the stranger, happy that there was a little bit of adventure to occupy her mind. “Should just be a few blocks this way.” Her pale hands slid into her pockets, trying to fight the chill weather that fell upon this town.

The man still seemed to be a bit uneasy, although she probably didn’t seem much better. He might have been just as tired as she was. She’d probably never know. In an attempt to break the ice some, she decided some small talk was probably the best option. “So, besides the confusion about the house, hopefully the rest of your evening is going well.” She glanced back up at him, “Are you from around here?”

As she’d walked in front of him for a moment, his jaw shifts slightly his eyes narrowing on her back. Only a few blocks? And who was she? Judging by the looks of her, he supposed she might of been around his age. But she didn’t seem to recognize his face, so the initial thought he had quickly made it’s way from his mind. Anger started to build back up though at his thoughts of his family. Again his mind started to wonder as he walked slowly behind the other. As his thoughts were interrupted when she spoke, he let out a low hiss.

He bites on his tongue in an attempt to throw off his irritation, his eyes shifting to the side as he acted innocently “Hmmmmmm. I guess that it is.” Though it would be going better if I located where my fucking family is, do they even live in this town? Is she thinking of the same people I am? Nathan zoned out for a moment, before answering her last question “I guess that I am. Though I also guess I am not…”

Millie looked at him as he’d purposely ruined more things of hers, “Hey!” She yelled at him, these were important documents that she still needed for her current case. She looked into his eyes, and her anger was replaced with fear. “No..no.. not again.” She thought to herself, not again was she going to let someone control her. “Get off me!” She yelled at him, trying to get her wrist free. “You lay another hand on me, and you will regret it.” She spoke through her teeth.

Narrowing his eyes on her as she shouts at him, he drags his foot, and the item under it with it, along the sidewalk. Then something weird happened, she suddenly started to fear him, instead of being angry. Many years in the ward had managed to teach him this change in someones being. Plenty of patients had been great for experimenting on, with such things. Smirking then, he lifts his head up a little bit “Are you scared?” He asked, enjoying the look. Though he knew he’d feel much better if he threw her to the ground. Though this was the outside world, asserting his dominance was going to be harder. He wondered if he should welcome that challenge.

He kept his grasp on her wrist as he spoke “Apologize.” Though he honestly didn’t care about apologies. As she went on he raised his eyebrows up “Oh? I will regret it?” She was trying to talk big, he’d seen it all the time in the ward. Lifting his other hand up, he brings it to her face, and then goes to flick her nose. Always a fun way to set of the more unstable patients back at the ward, he’d found. Send them into fits, this distracted the nurses and other staff long enough that he would often try to break out of the ward during those times. Amazing what simple flicks could do, he wondered how this apparently sane girl would react.

“Well that isn’t very nice,” Constance replied upon squinting up her features in disdain. Oh, well she hadn’t expected that to come out, but what was she supposed to do now? She could stand there and likely annoy him, or move like he asked. Constance chose the former. “Seriously,” she added. “Do you have a stick up your ass or is this just how you normally are?” And once again, Constance wasn’t quite sure where that came from. If she had to guess, she would probably say it had something to do with the fact that she finally had a little room to breathe – and she was taking up all the damn space she could. Hell, Constance was even pushing the boundaries.

Yeah, well, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there isn’t always very nice people out there. Especially when you stand directly in their path! Nathan thought, narrowing his eyes. He had to calm down, if he did something stupid, the entire operation would be done. Sucking in a deep breath, like he’d learned to do at the ward, he started to go through what he’d been taught. Though as he were being taught these methods to calm himself, he’d found everyone of them to be stupid. But surprisingly they seemed to be working at the moment. As she went on he opened his mouth, jaw unhinging.

He glances away for a moment as he pokes his tongue out, biting on it a bit. Coming up with what he wanted to say, he smiled at her “No, of course not. I just don’t like when I am walking peacefully down the sidewalk.” Muttering to myself “And some random girl comes onto my path, who then accuses me of being the one who has a stick up my ass. When you seem to expect people should just move for you. Is it because you are a brat, or because you are a woman, that you think I should be the one that has to move?”

Camille looked at him as he asked his question that she would never admit the answer to. Of course she was scared, she’d already tackled someone like him before. Someone who didn’t have control of when to stop, her professor’s husband had the exact same look in his eye when he held her a similar way. She looked at him, and took a deep breath trying to make her speech seem less shaky, less proof that she was scared.

She stood still for a second and when he demanded her to apologize she furrowed her eyebrows. In a moment of fair justice, it was in her legal bones never to admit to something she didn’t do. “Apologize for what?” She spoke through her teeth. “Walking on the sidewalk?” It was then she started to really put effort into pulling her wrist away. “Yes, you will.” She spoke looking at him and with a final pull, she’d finally pulled her wrist away. “Get away from me.” She spoke before getting own to the ground to pick up her files.

He waited for her to answer, and when she didn’t he nods a bit. He found that he really didn’t need the confirmation of something he could physically see and hear, right then. It was when she seemed to think he was stupid, that started to really begin pissing him off. His eyes becoming like pitch black empty pools as she spoke on. Now, he wasn’t completely trying to be unreasonable, here. But after many …many, disagreements with other patients in the ward, he had found this little collision between them and her refusal to take any responsibility a bit more silly than a couple disagreements over who got the sparkle filled crayons that day in the art session…

Sucking in a breath, he had to remind himself of what he was doing, before he completely exploded. He could feel his body heating up, just by how angry he was becoming as she managed to get free of him, though he did loosen his grip just so she could “Ah.” He lets out, eying the other. “Oh, I’m going to.” He stares down as she begins picking up her files “It was interesting running into you. Well, having you run into me, actually.” What If I just kick her. He gave her a smile, despite himself and stepped around her, making sure to give the file his foot was on one last good twist into the concrete before he started to walk away to find his old home. A part of him told him that he should remember that girl for after he’d taken care of his family.

Amaryllis had a habit of watching his feet instead of people. He didn’t like how those who had never died stared at him as he walked down the street, either in confusion or shock. He didn’t realize that he had died, no; which made him a little more intimidated when he finally looked up at saw someone who seemed to be staring at him looking angry instead. “U-Uh– Hi?” He offered weakly, hunching his shoulders.

Running over the plans he had formed in his head, for quite a few years now, he almost missed the others weak voice. Stopping though, he slowly brought his head up, then his eyes a moment later. They weren’t really talking to him, right? His eyes shift from one side to the other, is head turning a bit as he looked around. Then he looked to the other again “What?” Though he picked up on the others posture, they seemed smaller, like that. He took a step toward them, grinning a bit “Hm.” They stood like the a few of the patients he’d fucked with on occasion back at the ward. Nathan looked the other over, seeing if he could find anything else.

Amaryllis swallowed, tilting his head slightly. He was a tall guy; he was a bit heavyset, too. He was just… Easily intimidated, despite his leather motorcycle jacket and his ripped-to-shit jeans, and his unkempt hair. “Why’re you starin’ at me?” He muttered, trying to muster a glare. It just looked more like a kicked-puppy look.

Now, Nathan could tell the other was obviously quite tall, and perhaps a bit plump? He was not really that tall, or what you’d call the average in weight either, perhaps a bit below the average. The meals in the ward weren’t exactly good, after all. Tired eyes continue to look over the male in front of him. At their question he zoned out for a moment, then swallowed before he finally answered “Because you said ‘Hi’ to me.” Raising an eyebrow, he lets out a light laugh at the face the other seemed to be making. Taking another step forward then “Are you too scared now to say anything else to me?”

Of course, he immediately relaxed, though his face may have turned a little pink. He’d just overreacted. Damn. “Oh– Oh. I thought– I thought you were staring at me before that.” He grinned sheepishly. “I’m… Really used to everyone staring at me lately, I guess. I don’t know why. Nobody ever looked at me since I was a kid, but then one day I woke up in the trees and walked back, and now everyone’s always lookin’ at me funny. It’s fuckin’ weird, man. And I’m always hungry. Like– what the fuck?” He hadn’t had anyone to complain to; he had been ready to complain to his mother when he’d first came home, but that… Hadn’t ended well, mostly for her. He wondered if she could breathe properly again. Hm. Oddly enough, he didn’t particularly care how she was.

“The fuck would I be staring at you for?” Nathan said, his tone cutting and cold. Nathan sneered a little bit as the other went on. He didn’t get any stares, surprisingly, or was it? He really couldn’t tell, it wasn’t like he was going out of his way to get anyone to look at him anyway. Nathan made a face, looking slightly annoyed, before making a remark “So weird.” Of course he couldn’t imagine how this guy would react to spending most of his life in a mental hospital, and then suddenly being free in the modern world. Thinking about it, he figured he was getting a little hungry. This plan to kill his family was going to have to derail for a bit, he supposed “ Uh-Huh. So hey, can you tell me something. Is there any diners or some shit like that around here?”

Camille just grabbed her the stomped and semi ruined paper work of the sidewalk pavement and continued to walk to where she would study for almost three hours. She and some of the other interns had got into yet another argument about how they should move forward with this case, and her professor told them to leave to get some air. She’d done exactly that, grabbing some case files, and making her way to the diner that her adoptive father used to take her when she was a kid. It began to rain, and of course she didn’t bring any sort of umbrella. She sighed as she walked as fast as she could toward the diner. When she’d arrived she was sort of being soaked through and through, as she was being seated to her table she began stripping off layers, hoping they’d dry as she’d placed then on the back of her chair. She sat down, only to look up and see the exact male figure she’d threatened hours ago, sitting at the table right next to her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Letting out a breathe as he came to a stop, he tried to remember the last time he’d been able to walk around this much. Oh, yeah, probably about when he was seven… Swallowing he lifts up his wrist, a watch loosely hung from his wrist. It was getting late. He had to get back to where he was hiding out before it was too dark out. It was absolutely annoying, seeing how big this place had actually been. It was hard to see it from the ward anyway, where there were a lot of tree’s and such filling the massive gap between the ward and Killbourne’s main area. A moment of resting had been interrupted then, when it began to rain. This only helped him become even more annoyed by today’s failure. Starting off down another sidewalk a moment later, he quickly started to become soaked as he made his way quickly down the sidewalk.

Eventually coming across a diner and quickly walking inside. Being led to a seat at a table he jerked the seat out and didn’t bother looking around “Soup- I don’t care what flavor.” He ordered as a waitress happily greeted him. Dropping onto the chair, his left leg stretching out under the table, he glanced around the small diner. Then remembered he had to pay for the soup, didn’t he… Sighing as he reached into his pockets, water dripping off the rim of his hood and down the side of his face, as well as around the chair. A moment later he pulls out a crumpled wad of cash, slamming it onto the table and then starts to slowly count out how much he’d had. As he was counting he didn’t take notice of someone taking the table next to his and was only brought out of his trance as she spoke “Look, bitch, I can eat where ever the fuck I want. Now, fuck off. I’m trying to count.” He only had $31.47.

“You tell me.” Amaryllis laughed quietly. He didn’t know he had died; but just about everyone else did, anyone who had access to the news. His death had been made known; a sweet kid found face down on the floor after drinking himself to death, mixing his ‘too much whiskey’ with his ‘too much Tylenol’. But he didn’t know.

His attention was quickly grabbed again as he lifted his head, offering a faint smile. “Yeah. Yeah, there’s one down the block and a street sign over, actually.”

Blinking, Nathan wondered if his words went right over the others head. Though the lack of a sarcastic tone probably didn’t help him out. As the other then seemed to go off onto some little trip down memory lane, he supposed, Nathan contemplated just leaving. Though as they returned and answered him he gave them a fake smile “Thanks a lot.” His tone still had that detached sound to it, practically giving away how just unthankful he actually was. Realizing just then that there might of been one thing that he was going to miss about the ward, and that was being drugged whenever he got too out of control.

Mostly because right now, he wished he was riding that high. Clearing his throat then, he spoke “Well if that’s it, i’m going to go now. I have shit to get done.” “Wow,” she breathes out. “You’re joking me, right? You think you’re the one who gets to throw out names?” She was ready to bite through him in her head, but her mouth stayed shut from doing such a thing. Constance looked him up and down once more before she added. “It’s not because I’m a brat or a woman. I just think you have a piss poor attitude.”

Closing his eyes as she spoke, the urge to hit her was strong. Digging his nails into his palms still, he could feel a bit of blood start to build up around the cuts that were forming in his palm as this girl spoke. A moment later he was physically starting to shake, and as each second passed the shaking grew until she was finished talking. I have a piss poor attitude?! ME!? No way! … Maybe if you didn’t stand in the fucking way!? Nathan’s jaw clenched, the bones popping out as he bites down. 1….2……3..4…56789….10, He counted in his head, taking a few deep breathes,…Remember, you have to kill your family, then you can find her later!… She isn’t going to ruin this for me! His eyes suddenly open then and he smiles at her “Yesssss. It’s my fault you decided to stop walking, right in front of me.” His teeth were still clenched shut as he spoke. He stepped to the side and then started to walk by her, but not before trying to ram into her as he passed by.

All Camille wanted was to sit in the diner and work on her case, the rain coming down always relaxed her. She normally loved the rain, she loved watching it come down against the window and even though she had a massive pile of word ahead of her, it would still make her feel better. Though his presence trumped all those happy relaxed feelings. Now that they were in public with witnesses’ she felt more confident, “Still waiting for your apology.” She spoke, obviously to him though she didn’t let her eyes leave her paper. She looked up at him, when he called her a bitch she stared at him with glaring eyes. “You’re the intruder. So eat your damn food, then get out.” She spoke and when he mentioned counting. “Do you have enough for your meal?” She mocked.

“Still waiting to get fucked?” He said before even thinking about what he would say, and just let whatever come out of his mouth. Nathan paused for a moment, as if seeming to regret what he’d just said, then just shrugged and went back to what he’d been doing. Reaching over to grab the napkin bound dining utensils as she spoke again, he nods, seeming to not be phased at all by her words “Intruder, huh?” He supposed that had a lot to do with whatever in the fuck was going on with this town. Nathan grinned a bit at a wicked little thought that came to mind. Then he pulled a spoon out and aimed it at Camille, suddenly angry again “It’s amazing how many people don’t figure that even a metal spoon can be used as a dangerous weapon, if it is used properly.” He mumbled, turning the utensil over in his hand. Maybe having one less eyeball will teach her to shut the fuck up. Then the waitress finally came back with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and gave him his receipt.

Camille furrowed her eyebrows when at his come back, she’d expected more. It didn’t seem as threatening as his history of come backs. She suddenly felt that she didn’t need to really worry about herself, if that’s where his brain would go in a way to protect himself. She nodded, “This is a small enough town to know that someone as big of an asshole as you doesn’t belong here.” She spoke looking at him. When he started playing with his utensils, she didn’t understand. She wasn’t threatened or scared, it was a spoon. “Right.” She spoke not caring for his threat. “You’re threatening me with a spoon..?” She stared at him with her eyebrows raised slightly, there was no need for her to explain how stupid she thought his threat about the spoon, her tone of voice was doing that perfectly fine.

There was only a split moment of silence as he just stared at her. Then he just nodded, before he launched himself from his table toward Camille. Grabbing the closest hand to him, in his free hand. Then lifted up the hand that held the spoon in it and, lifting it up so quickly she might of had absolutely no time to even think. The curved edge of the spoon then was pressed against the bottom half of her left eye “Say something else. I dare you.” He smirked, enjoying the rush of his blood as the anger took hold. He pressed the metal farther into her, making sure the threat was real, but doing no harm to her eye, at the moment. Nathan tilts his head a bit, picking his empty hand up then. Gently he brought the tips of his fingers on that hand to the side of Camille’s face “Hows that for a threat?” His nails gently started to scrape down the side of her face then, someone in the diner shouts at him then. But Nathan ignored it.Staring right into the others eyes, he continued to smirk “Say something else. Come on.”

Camille sat there, and her confident feeling was gone, her thoughts of being safe in the public eye was gone. She couldn’t even react because he’d launched himself at her so fast, all she had time to do was lean back though it didn’t help her. As he taunted her, she didn’t say anything. She stayed completely quiet, she’d wondered if anyone had seen what was happening, she almost felt relief as someone shouted. She yelped when she felt his fingers scratch down her face. “Get off!” she yelled and without another second she pushed him and the same man who yelled had stepped in and pulled this monster away from her. The second she was out of his grasp, she stood up from her chair and moved away. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

He had slipped, he was aware of that. Smirking though, he didn’t care at the moment, he wanted her to hurt, for being so annoying. This sort of scene wasn’t unfamiliar, to him. But he was sure these normal average every day people were not as used to this as him. Which only made this moment even more satisfying for him. A little hint of chaos never hurt, much “Get off? You want me to get off?” He offered, though he wasn’t talking about the exact same thing she was. Twisting his arm up, as if preparing to shove the steel right into her eye socket, he laughed “Oh, I’m going to get off.” Sucking in a breath he bites on his bottom lip, then sucks on it “Trust me.”

Then the shove came and before he could sink the spoon into her eye, his arm was grabbed and he was jerked away from Camille. As she shouted at him, the male who intervened standing between him and Camille, Nathan let out a laugh “Nothing is wrong with me.” Amused he stepped forward, the male that stood between them pushing him back. Nathan points at Camille “Maybe something is wrong with you!” His eyes shift to the male standing in front of him then as they say something and then tell him to get out. Before they shoved him in the direction of the door to the diner.

Camille looked up at him, as he spoke to her. She couldn’t say anything, no that she didn’t want to, but it wouldn’t help her cause. Wimpering a ‘yes’ to answer him wouldn’t make her seem strong, even though it’s evident that she isn’t. “why would I ever trust you?” she spoke looking up at him. When the shove came she couldn’t be more thankful.

She stood a couple feet from him, her hand was on her cheek wanting to see if she was bleeding from the scratch down her face. She stayed behind the man who’s helped her. She furrowed her eyes at him, “I think you should re-evaluate yourself.” She retorted, she shook her head. “You need help. You need a psych ward with serious drugs.”

For some reason, one that if he were given a moment to actually think about, this girl had easily been pushing his buttons. Or perhaps it had been the grand total of the entire days adventuring and the over all unsatisfactory results of not being able to find what he’d been looking for, combined with the few irritants called ‘people’ that got in his way through out the day. Before he could manage it, everything just went dark and he leaped at Camille again, only this time the male standing between Nathan and Camille had manage to catch him and start dragging him out of the diner.

Nathan was shouting practically every horrible thing one single person could possibly fathom saying to another, at Camille, and kicking and clawing at anything he could to break free of the man’s grip on him, to get to Camille. It wasn’t till he was tossed outside and hit the ground that he started to snap out of his fit. A sickening feeling washed over him as he stood up. Letting out a cough he glanced back inside the diner before letting out a 'tsh’ and began walking away, his stomach letting out a growl to remind him he was still hungry.

Her heart stopped for a second (or at least it sure felt like it had stopped – if it had even started again after waking up) when he spoke once more. In some subtle way his voice must have changed to her, and she felt dread in her stomach just listening to the tone. Unable to process him moving quick enough, she felt the full force of his body colliding with her shoulder, sending her staggering for a second while she struggled to find her balance. The air had been knocked out of her (literally and figuratively) while she watched him move. “You’re a fucking asshole, buddy.” Constance made no effort to even try and be quiet. Better if he hear it than not.

Stopping, he turns back toward her and blinks a few times. Then nods “Gee, I wonder what gave it away.” He didn’t care about being called an asshole by some stranger girl who liked to just stop in the middle of the sidewalk at the same time someone else had been walking down it. And he was sort of too busy to let himself care about whatever this was trying to become. Nathan had one thing on his mind at this exact moment, and that was finding his family. Fuck anyone else that gets between me and that goal! Smiling at Constance then, he spoke “But being a bitch doesn’t exactly make you any better than me.” With a cocky little tooth filled smile he turns and starts walking again, the smile along with any other expression dropping completely off his face.

When he launched at her again she screamed, and lunged back though thankfully there was the man between them or else she’d thought she was dead. When he yelled and freaked, there was a small part of her that felt bad for him. She watched as he was thrown out, and just from the adrenaline of fear she felt her chest beating pretty fast. When things calmed down, the waitress began to clear his things on the table, and she’d seen about half of his money still there on the table. Before the waitress was done, she grabbed what was left and put it in her pocket. Not because she’d needed it, but she had a feeling she would see him again. She’d thought that maybe returning something of his might not make him so dangerous if they meet again.

The diner had quietted down after the scene and Camille went back to studying and memorizing the case files. After a meal and a milkshake later she still had a good portions of her meal left. She never passed on leftovers, so she asked it to go, and gathered up her things right after paying her bill. She felt nervous walking out of the diner door, she’d decided to ignore it and walked down the street, unknowing it was the same direction that Nathan had gone roughly two hours earlier.

It was about forty some odd minutes when he realized he hadn’t taken some of his cash with him. Shit shit shit! Fucking damn it! Turning, he made his way back down the sidewalk leading to the diner. Of course he wasn’t sure he was going to be allowed back in. But he needed that cash. His stomach growls again, making him stop in his tracks. He felt dizzy for a moment, his stomach twisting as it continued to protest. So far his diet had been consisting of snack food. Where he’d been hiding had quickly run out of food resources since he’d… Nathan didn’t know what to call it, actually. Or what to think of how he’d woken up in the woods.

As he walked he took notice of the figure in the darkness, walking toward them. It didn’t take him long to recognize who it was. Letting out a low growl he starts walking toward her, Don’t get mad! I- I need to keep calm, she means nothing to me. I have more important things to do than to deal with her. Nathan averted his gaze then, focusing mostly on reaching the diner and try to get his money. Camille had been looking down at her phone as she unknowingly got closer and closer to Nathan down the street. When she finally looked up he’d startled her, she gasped and took a step back with her hands up just in case. She took a deep breath, “Look.. i’m sorry about what happened… I don’t know if you came back for revenge.. or just.. to hurt me.. I don’t know.” She spoke, hoping that there wouldn’t be any violence, especially now since there wasn’t anyone to pull him back and save her.

With a bit of a smirk as he noticed that she seemed to finally know her place, Nathan continued to watch her. Enjoying how terrified she was now. He looked to check the side of her face, soaking up whatever mark he might of left there from before, growing a bit excited at the memory of it. Blinking though as the other spoke then “Oh, are you?” He questioned, skeptical. These people didn’t care about what they did to anyone! Explained why they had a psychiatric hospital just outside of town to throw their outcasts and other freaks of all sorts in. Nathan narrowed his eyes a bit “I didn’t come back for you!” Though he was thinking about hurting her, there had been no doubt about that. Shaking his head a bit he turns his head away, forcing himself to stop thinking about that, and then reminding himself what he was really doing “You are nothing to me.” With that he began to walk toward the diner again.

Camille wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t going to hide her fear especially not around him. He was a serious threat, he was unstable, and there wasn’t anything that she wanted more than to either hope he leaves town, or go invisible. When he yelled at her she flinched, and though he started walking away making his positions very clear. She watched him turn away and a part of her wanted to let him keep going, though she took a deep breath and hoped for the better. “Wait!” She looked at his back, as he continued to walk. She huffed lightly then yelled out. “I guess you don’t need the rest of your cash?” She questioned him, assuming that truly what he went back for.

At her call, he tried to ignore her at first. But reluctantly his attention moved to her as she brought up the money he’d left behind. He knew if he interacted more with her, she’d possibly end up pissing him off again and he couldn’t afford to hurt this woman, not yet anyway. But he turned to look at her “Do you have my money?” He asked, his tone edging more on demanding. He started to walk toward her at that moment.

Millie looked at him as he’d urned around, as he walked toward her she didn’t move back like she should have she just stayed still. She reached into her jean pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill and a couple nickels. “Here.” She spoke and took a couple steps toward him, then let her hand out to give the rest to him.

As she held out the cash to him, he narrowed his eyes. Suspicion creeping into his conscious. Why would she care about giving him his money? Of course, seeing him probably made her wish to give it back. So he couldn’t trust that her intention was to give back the money, entirely. Snatching the money out of Camille’s hand then, he counts it, then slips it back into his pocket. He didn’t like this woman. But at least he had his money, so he’d give her this moment. Going to turn away again, his stomach suddenly growls loudly. Though he was tried to ignore it. He needed to get to a place to sleep before it was too late.

Camille jumped slightly when he’d snatched the money from her hand. She brought her hand back and crossed as they stood in silence. As he started to turn away, she heard his stomach growl. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. He only had around 30 dollars, he was protective over that thirty dollars and now his stomach was making loud noises. “Hey..” She spoke to him before he could walk too far, she knew she had at least half a sandwich left and some fries. She walked up to him, and held her bag of leftovers to him. “Here.. I was gonna toss it out eventually.” She looked at him and just assumed that he’d want to reject her so she interjected before he had the chance. “Before you push me away, just think when was the last time you ate something? and when is the next time you’ll be a complete asshole to someone and that same person give you free food.” She joked lightly, with a small smile at her lips. “So just.. take it.” She encouraged.

Stopping as she spoke again, he rolls his eyes. Wasn’t it obvious that he wasn’t interested in making friends or being nice to anyone? He had things to do before he was possibly captured and sent back to the ward. Friends would be completely pointless for him, especially now. As she went on he turned back, his eyes moving to the bag. He could feel his mouth watering , but should he take her offer? He figured this was some sort of plan. As she spoke again he squints a bit and takes a step toward her. He didn’t find her joking very amusing “Probably soon.” He says, knowing himself more than anyone, of course. He knew he’d be an asshole, it was his go to- to….Nathan swallowed and pushed his thoughts elsewhere, lifting his hand up and taking the bag. He opened the bag and sniffed, it smelt so good, better than the soup he didn’t get the chance to eat. It has been a long time since I’ve had fries like this.

She looked at him and the second she’d mentioned the food, his demeaner changed. He wasn’t as confident, or.. evil per say, he was starving and she could tell. When he spoke, “Well that person wouldn’t give you this.” She didn’t flinch when he grabbed the bag from her. Watching him smell the bag, it was kind of hard for her to believe that he was the guy who’s just pounced on her earlier in the day. “Can I ask you something?” She spoke, without waiting for an answer she began to speak again. “Do you have family you can stay with.. or get money and food from?” She spoke looking at him. That’s one thing she couldn’t understand. How could someone around her age not have family support.

Reaching into the bag as she talks, he doesn’t bother to respond as a moment later he’s shoving food into his mouth. So he gave her a nod, and chewed the food up. It was cold, so it wasn’t as good as it could of been, but it was better than anything he’d had in a while that was anything remotely close to what was in the bag. As she asks if she can ask him something he mutters a bit. He wasn’t interested in answering any questions a stranger had to ask. That was until she went ahead and asked her question anyway. Swallowing, he coughed a bit. Well, he wasn’t going to tell her he did have family. He couldn’t imagine that would do him any good. Besides, he’s spent many years virtually without his family, abandoned in a ward. His mother did visit, but it wasn’t the same, it wasn’t enough. Nathan fidgets with the bag for a moment before shaking his head “They are dead.”

Camille looked at him, as he clearly just explained his hunger without words. His actions said everything, he was stuffing his face from her left overs and in this moment she truly felt bad for him. She was hoping he wouldn’t shrug her off and take her seriously when she asked her question. Hearing his reply, her eyebrows raised. “Do you have siblings you could call?” She spoke looking at him, furrowing her eyebrows.

When she pressed the issue on, about siblings, he ran over the many stories he’d concocted over the years. He hadn’t seen or heard from his brother or sister in all this time. So they might as well of been dead to him. Not that he would expect a call from someone he almost drowned when they were two. How were his parents even handling that, he wondered. What did they end up telling his sister? Or did she only think she had one sibling… A bit annoyed at the idea, he turns his head to the side. Austin would have to remember him though, right? Nathan shook his head, he didn’t give a damn either way! Looking back toward the other he shrugged “Dead, unfortunately. It was a bad day.” Or well, it’s going to be a bad day…

She furrowed her eyebrows as she waited for an answer, when she finally got her answer her heart just sank. He had no one, truly no one, and he was only living off 30 dollars. “Oh my god..” She spoke looking at him, “I’m so sorry..” She spoke obviously feeling bad for the guy, her family meant everything to her. Even if she were adopted, she still loved them like they were blood. “So.. where have you been staying?” She questioned, because his non chalantness of it made it seem like it was years since this horrible event in his life had passed.

Despite what many of the patients had been in the ward, there had been a few of the more stable ones who would react in just the same way as this girl. Of course, these patients weren’t there for extensively long periods of times either. They were the ones who got to leave, after a few weeks sometimes. And their reaction, much like this girl, only made him annoyed. She was sorry?! She didn’t even know him. She didn’t know his family… What the hell was she sorry about? That was confusing.

Nathan hadn’t believed in someones sincerity in quite a long time. Of course it was understandable, when there had been patients who were at the ward because they were habitual liars. He picked up on things easily, from other patients. At her last question he shrugs again “I’ve been staying with a friend that lives outside of town.” His friend being someone who had picked him up from the woods when he woke up. He was also using this excuse for his staying at the ward all these years. Not that his ‘friends’ house had been near the ward. They were on complete opposite sides of the town “He’s out of town though,” He lied. “ And I’m not a very good cook.”

Camille only waited for a response, although she felt comfortable in this conversation she didn’t know if she was stepping over boundaries or crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Family could sometimes be a touchy issue, though from his act of not caring, it didn’t seem like too harsh of an issue to talk about. “So how long ago did they die?” She asked.

She nodded when hearing his response about his living situations, she was a little thankful because knowing her she would have offered him a spot and that wasn’t something she really wanted to do. “Okay that’s fair.” She spoke, though really her mind could have come to many other excuses if she couldn’t cook. Take out is the big thing. “Why not just order take out, instead of starving yourself.” Then it hit her that he barely lived on 30$. She didn’t want to pry anymore, not wanting to press and do not disturb button and have him attack her again. Though her curiosity and the need to help and fix got the better of her. “So do you work in town?”

Nathan gave her a look, a bit angry about her prying. He didn’t like talking about his family, honestly. With how abandoned he’d felt by them, he didn’t like how conversations about them made him feel. At the ward it had become a subject the staff quickly learned to not talk about. Letting out a light breath, rolls his eyes a bit. Then answers her “About sixteen years now? Give or take…” Which had been exactly how long he’d been at the ward. He’d spent more years locked up than he did having a childhood. Nathan sometimes felt robbed.

“Right. Fair.” He didn’t know what else to say to that. Watching her with the same bitter expression he wondered what she was thinking. Hoping she’d believed what he was saying and wouldn’t bother him about it anymore. He didn’t want her snooping in his business. Not when he was so close to his revenge. Toying with the bag as she spoke again he froze for a moment. He didn’t have a job, he’d never had to do anything like that. He’d spent most of his life basically being treated like he was a 3 year old. Swallowing he searched his mind for something “I-uh…Draw. I do art…stuff. I’m not very popular, I guess.” He clears his throat then, feeling angry about how stupid that sounded, and about the entire thing really.

The brunette stood there, and the more he answered her questions honestly or so she thought. The more she felt comfortable speaking to him. Camille looked at him and when he spoke about his family, it dawned on her that he didn’t grow up with family. That was a life she was close to having until her adoptive parents took her in. “Wow..” She couldn’t even relate, even if she was adopted, she still had a family to take her in and mentioning that didn’t seem like a good idea.

Camille noticed his nervousness suddenly kicked in when asking about a job, she’d assumed that he’d have something like this in control if he’d lived… with his friend? Her mind wondered where he lived the rest of his life, because there was no way he could have lived with his friend for over 16 years. “So were you adopted, or stayed with aunts?” She spoke, and she’d noticed she hadn’t once spoken about herself. Though he wasn’t asking. “I was adopted.. I kind of get what it’s like to know you were left behind.” She paused for a second before she continued. “I mean at least yours wasn’t intentional..” She’d blurted out. When he spoke about his talent, she nodded as said. “You draw.. Right.. So you don’t have a job.” She spoke firm yet lightly with a small smile.

Wow? WOW?! Nathan bit back a small little hiss that was threatening to come out. He couldn’t believe he’d run into someone so, amusingly disregarding of their own actions. It was like finding a new toy to break. Nathan managed a small smile then, thinking about it more as an opportunity “Yes, Wow.” Thinking about how he could end up breaking her, if he were given the time to be able to do so, after he’d dealt with his family. He liked the idea of keeping her locked in the basement of where he was staying, to torture her. After all, there wouldn’t be any fun in just outright killing her, dragging it out seemed much more his speed.

As she asked about where he’d stayed or if he were adopted he shook his head “Yes.” Was the only thing he could come up with in response to that. He didn’t know if he had any other relatives. Being that his memories of his family were basically from the seven year old version of himself’s perspective, he’d forgotten plenty of things while being in the ward. Growing more irritated now, he was starting to feel his composure slipping again “Right, It wasn’t intentional.” If you could call personally being dropped off at a strange place by your mother and hardly seeing her in the sixteen years that followed that drop off, not intentional. It was then, at the last thing she’d said that he’d decided he was done with this conversation “Yeah!” He said through clenched teeth. He turned then and started walking away.

‘’No,I can’t make it tonight.I’m stuck at work and a few patients need me.So,I’ll see you another time.’’She ended the conversation with her friend and turned around.’’You know that eavesdropping is not polite,right?’’

“Yeah? Did you know talking loudly in a hallway doesn’t help people not eavesdrop?“ Nathan said, with a slightly narrowed look. He was sitting just a few feet from her, one leg hopping as a hand picked at his fairly somewhat too large and raggedy looking pants “Not that you said anything worth gossiping about at the local bar, anyway.” He said snidely turning his head away, lifting up his hand from his pant leg then and going to pick at the edge of a painting just near his head. The art in these places made him want to die.

Nathan frowned a bit as he leaned back on his hands against a fence in front of a house. He had to plan his next few moves. He couldn’t let his anger get in his way, he knew this. If what he wanted to do was going to go smoothly, then he would have to do better in his execution of things that lead up to the final part. Narrowing his eyes at that thought, glances to one side, moving his left hand from the fence then and bringing it up to the hood over his head, pulling it down to keep his face as well hidden as he could.

Millie was helping a friend out hammer down to posters for the upcoming election, she looked up at the person. “Hey.”

Walking along the sidewalk Nathan noticed several signs. Every so often he would pass one and grow even more irritated with the repetitiveness of them. Stopping as he happened upon the other he raised an eyebrow. Then cleared his throat and leaned in closer to her “Well, aren’t you just a good little girl.” He muttered and turned his eyes back to the sign “Give me one good reason to vote for that piece of shit?”

Moments like this make me wonder why I am not stabbing everyone I meet, right now… Nathan thought as he was preparing to leave, he had better things to do. A massacre to plan. It would be a lot easier to stab them if I even had a knife… Should never go anywhere without one… “ Shut. Up.”

Camille looked up at him and then rolled her eyes, “Oh good. It’s you.” She spoke, hearing him automatically dismiss what she believed would be a good mayor only made her squint her eyes at him. “Give me one good reason not to vote for her?” She looked at him, “She’s a girl in politics, who’s going to bring awareness to a hundred issues against women. Issues a male mayor would simply dismiss.”

Nathan’s gaze shifted away from her as she spoke, then with a snarky little grin he spoke “Surprise, bitch. Bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.” As she throws the question back at him he sucked in a sigh, becoming irritated. He decided to not go with the ‘I asked you first’ approach and cleared his throat as she finished. Taking a step forward he smirks “Because voting is a waste of my time.” Nathan was not sure how much time he had before the hospital figured out he was alive and well, and have him brought back. So, any idea of voting was out of the question “A potato could do better than both a male or a female. So maybe you should start putting ‘Vote for Potato’ signs up…”

Fran was known for having a big mouth. Being the cocky guy that he was— and hell, a clever one— he sometimes had a hard time knowing just when to keep his mouth shut. Now was the time that he knew he had to keep talking. The current victim of his waterfall of endless sass, however, seemed a little… bothered, to say the least. He was creepy.

“Yikes, man. What, am I interrupting the voices?”

With a small twitch in his fingers Nathan started to turn his head to get a better look at the other male. His eyes locking onto Francesco’s, a twitch worked its way over his lips before Nathan managed to make it settle on a smirk “What did you say to me, you little bitch?” He snapped, his tone was biting as he shifted to face the other entirely. Bringing his gaze down, taking in the others body, he locked in on vital points on the other. Then brought his gaze back up to meet the others once more “Did you know, that I could slam my palm into your nose and kill you, right now?”

Camille wouldn’t back down from him this time, “They why bother ask for my opinion?” She interjected shaking her head, then giving up my rolling her eyes. As he stepped close she forced herself not to be uncomfortable, or nervous. She shook her head, not wanting to let this boy get to her. “Well that’s your own un-educated pathetic opinion. So why don’t you start a petition and stay away from me.” She spoke hammering the sign once more, before grabbing the pile and starting to walk further down the street and start hammering the third last sign.

“Because I wanted to see if you would give it a good ol Good Girl try.” Nathan said. As she’d gone on, her words sounding insulting, Nathan let out a laugh. Of course in the ward there wasn’t much education as one might think. especially for someone as difficult to control as Nathan. Who was more than likely locked in solitary confinement than he was ever to be caught being in the ward classroom. As she walked away he turned his eyes to the poster, not looking away from it for a long moment before reaching over and yanking it out of the ground and throwing it into the street. Nathan had decided then, as he moved onto another sign, that he was going to mess with her a bit. Of course this would mean taking a minor detour from his original plans. But he figured it would be worth it, to get a rise out of the other.

If anything, Francesco seemed unimpressed. An eyebrow arched above a growing smirk, and the older male casually, calmly, crossed his arms over his chest as he realized that, yeah, he had hit a nerve in the other. While often viewed as just some reckless, mindless party-goer, Fran had gained a whole lot of people-skill from it. He was a social person, a true extrovert, and while not exactly the nicest guy in town, he knew how to slowly get to know a person through small actions like this. Not that he usually preferred to get to know someone, but that usually counted for those he’d like to share a bed with for a night. This guy? Francesco sure wasn’t going to waste his time on crazy, and this psycho was definitely not cuter than he was crazy. “And yet… You haven’t. I’m not impressed. A very dedicated bee could kill me, you’re not special.”

His eyes shift away from the others while they are talking. A thought clicking at that moment. They weren’t impressed that he hadn’t hit them yet? They should have been counting their lucky star’s that he had not. Nathan clenched his jaw tight as he tried to resist the erg to fall into this trap. If he caused any trouble that got in the way of him murdering his whole family, what would be the point of all his planning. Though, Nathan was also easily distracted and often contradictory, too.

“I’m very special, I’m just tied up at the moment. But if you’d like to reschedule your murder. I’d be more than happy to do that. But I have more urgent business to get to.” Nathan had run into plenty of people similar to this man, and he knew that more often than not they were just talk. Especially those who weren’t in the ward, with him. Nathan gave the other a little grin as he thought of digging something sharp into their throat… He’d be cuter if he were choking on blood right now.

A small giggle emitted from the girls lips, as she crossed her arms over her chest, shifting in her five-inch pumps. She raised an eyebrow, and proceeded to tip her head to the side. “ Why don’t you make me, hm? “ She suggested enticingly — the annoyance written all over the males expression was doing nothing for Demi but amusing her at this point.

The others giggling made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Nathan had found the tone of it to be one he had heard before. Of course, in the ward, there was plenty of other patients who giggled. So perhaps that was more his problem, rather than just the sound of this one’s own giggling. Nathan’s eyes narrow on her as she challenged him to make her. In the ward, he would already be on her stuffing her own shirt down her throat, at least the best that he could.

Unhinging his jaw, he clicked his tongue. Then he started walking closer to her “Oh, you don’t understand how much pleasure it would bring me to ‘make you’.” Nathan grinned, lifting his left hand up once he was close to her, and tapped his middle finger on her forehead. In time, Nathan, do not get distracted by these fucking idiots. I mean, what do you possibly have to lose after killing your own family, than to just kill everyone else too….

Camille rolled her eyes at him, when she started to hammer the next sign, she heard a ruckus behind her. She lifted her head and saw her sign in the street, and her eyes looked in the direction she had just come from. Seeing him clearly being the reason for why the sign wasn’t where it was. She dropped the sign she was currently working on before storming over. “What the hell is your problem!” She yelled at him, “You are unbelievable!” She went in the street to retrieve her sign and walk back to the spot she’d previously hammered it down. “Seriously. What gives?” She looked at him sign in hand.

“I was raised in the forest by some wolves.” He answered with a snarky little grin as he watched her storm about, moving along to the street “ I am.” Nathan confirms, musing a bit as he continued to watch her. As she then directs a question at him he shrugged “What’s that line… From that movie, Ah…‘Some of us just want to watch the world burn’…. I think that’s what it is.” He wasn’t very sure, it wasn’t as though he had a whole lot of time to catch up on entertainment since gaining his freedom. The ward also didn’t really allow for their patients to just sit around watching television all day, either. Nathan twists a bit “What, you don’t like it? Maybe I am just flirting.”

Camille ignored his initial snarky attitude, and focused on getting the sign. She glared at him, so frustrated with him. She scoffed at his movie quote shaking her head, “Well here’s some other reasons, your selfish, inconsiderate, low life, pathetic butt face miscreant!” She yelled and turned her head and began walking until he’d mentioned flirting. She scoffed and turned around pointing with her finger. “You wouldn’t know how to flirt with me, even if you read a ‘how to’ book.”

Rolling his eyes, this time, as she tried to circle in on who he was. Of course, he wasn’t going to deny it. Most of his life was just a …. Well, misunderstanding, ultimately. They had it all wrong. But was he going to do anything about it? No. Nathan lifting his right hand up, covering his mouth as he laughs “Buttface? What are you, five?” He mutters, turning his head to glance around, trying to not show how amused he really was by what she’d said. But it just so happened to be far too laughable. Clearing his throat as her attention came back to him a moment later, his eyebrows rising for a moment “Oh I wouldn’t? Well, I don’t read children’s books. So I don’t imagine I’d even bother picking yours up.” What a lame come back! What are you even saying, you idiot!?

The more she seemed to annoy him, the more she giggled. It wasn’t a normal laugh, it was something far more sinister. She leaned her shoulder against the wooden wall panels, her weight supported by it.As he approached her, she still stood a good foot below him, even in her infamous black heels. She toyed with the necklace that was long enough to reach her bellybutton, eyes fixated on the male while he closed the space between them.

Demitria looked up at Nathan through her thick eyelashes, batting them slowly. “ I’d like to see you try, Douglas, “ she retorted instantaneously. It wasn’t like this kind of thing was new to Demi, however, her heart, that was suddenly beating again, was racing in her chest. It thumped so loudly heavily she almost thought for a second Nathan might be able to hear it. Blood, and adrenaline were flowing wildly through her veins, though she was completely calm. “ What’s wrong, big boy ?? Hearing those voices again ??” She antagonized further, pushing her luck.

Watching as she moved, toying with her necklace and tried to look more cute than he felt was necessary, Nathan’s head tilts slightly. She was toying with him, wasn’t she? Trying to egg him on. Some things just seemed to be more normal in the outside world than he’d originally thought. As she said his last name his eyes widen just a bit. But in the next instance dull, to hide his shock. How could she know his last name, who was this woman? Maybe she knew Austin? But the next thing she’d said didn’t tell him that was the case, unless Austin heard voices? Nathan couldn’t be sure, seeing as he hadn’t seen anyone from his family in so long. For all he cared, Austin could have tripped and fell off a bridge into a river and died. At that thought, he laughed. But quickly focused on Demitria again. Or maybe they had met before, and he just wasn’t remembering it.

“Douglas?” He muttered, his hand moving from her forehead to grab onto some strands of her hair and run his fingers down “What makes you think I am hearing voices, hm? Is it easy to tell on my face? Or did you think I wasn’t talking to you when I said shut up? Because I was.” Suddenly he grabs her jaw “Well, if you keep it up. I’m going to have to do some horrible things to you.” Leaning in closer, his head pressing against the side of hers, his lips near her left ear “Do you know what it’s like to die from tiny little cuts all over your body? It’s not pleasant.” A little personal space invasion to intensify the mood.

Camille looked at him as he started to offend her with her comeback. “Yes, Buttface Miscreant!” She yelled back before just shook her head and deciding it would be better to shrug him off. She huffed, then bringing her attention back to him. Hearing his own comeback, she gave him a look out of pure confusion. She didn’t even know how to respond. “Right..” Was all that came out of her mouth.

“OH no, I think my feelings are hurt? I’m a buttface?” He sniffles a bit. Then lifts his left hand up to cover over his eyes “How can you be so meean?!” He muttered dropping his head down “No, please, no more. I’ve learned my lesson…” Nathan sucks in a breath before lifting his head back up, showing that he, of course, had no tears in his eyes.

Giving Camille a smirk, he puts his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and laughs “Did it go right over your head?” He asked before twisting away from her and making his way over to another sign, that he just started to kick, and then looked at her before he lifts his foot up and stepped down on the center of the wood and breaks the sign in half. As the sign snapped his eyes never left hers, and only narrowed as the noise from the sign breaking broke the silence.

Camille groaned in pure annoyance at his sarcastic and mocking response. “Oh shut up!” She yelled and then started to go back to her post. She turned at another sound of kicking. She stared at him, as he stared her in the eye and snapped the wood of the sign in half. She started to fume, she stormed over and without a hesitation, she slapped him across the face. “Fucking asshole!” She yelled before turning back, figuring if he was going to ruin them all there was no point to wasting anymore of her time.

Catching her as she made her way over to him, he wondered what she would do. Of course this didn’t take long to figure out as she’d slapped him across the face before yelling at him. He began to feel his mind go hazy then. A low piercing draw out beep manifested in his mind, shredding into his ears as he just stood watching her walk away. Everything suddenly became dark and he shifted toward the broken sign. Bending down he yanked the piece sticking in the ground out.

Rising, he toyed with the spiked ends where he had broken the wood in half and then looked at Camille before starting to quickly chase after her. Once he caught up with her he grabbed her by the back of the head, yanking on her hair. A moment later the wood was pressed against her neck “Where do you think you are going? I’m not done playing with you yet. No one is here to protect you now.” Nathan glanced around You should find somewhere more secluded, she’ll scream and then the people will see and you’ll be taken back. Remember the plan, Nathan.

Camille didn’t hear his footsteps coming behind her she was so mad and focused on figuring out a way to get all these signs back up sooner rather than later. She felt a pain in her head as she flung back, her back hitting his chest and without a second thought a pointy wooden stick was across her neck. “Get the fuck off me!” She screamed as she’d grabbed his arm and tried pulling him off. She groaned as she tried to fight his grasp, when she’d realized she couldn’t do it. She began to scream from the top of her lungs, “HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

With a hallowed laugh at her demand Nathan held her closer to him. He looked around for an escape from view. But as he was looking the other started screaming which brought his eyes back on her. Lifting his hand from her hair he moved it around to cover her mouth “Shut the fuck up! Or I will break your god damn neck right now!” He hissed. Then he began to yank her toward some trees to use as a hiding spot as some people began to peek their heads out to see what the shouting was.

Nathan continued to drag her toward the side of a house just on the other side of the tree for some better coverage, the stake still threatening to stab into Camille’s throat if either one of them made the wrong move. Or if Nathan ended up deciding to cut his loses. Hooking his thumb over the top of her nose so she could breath out of it he pressed himself against the house “ Sh-shhh….” Take her back to the house. She can’t tell anyone then. Closing his eyes as his head started to throb with his thoughts “ Shut the fuck up…I n-need to think!”

The feeling of his fingertips running down the length of her hair earned a small shiver, as shocks ran down her spine. She lived died for this, for the adrenaline, for the excitement rushing through her petite frame. Nathan was different, though, he wasn’t like other boys. Demitria didn’t have the same kind of hold she did on him as she did other men; she had men wrapped around her little fingers, one for every day of the week. But for Nathan Douglas, it didn’t seem to matter; he just seemed to hate everyone – even if they were pretty.

Demi giggled again when he grabbed her jaw, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge him even more. She didn’t know Nathan well, however, she had met him before. When she was in her early teens, her boyfriend at the time broke up with her and she wound up cutting her own thighs with the blades from her razor as a cry for attention. She was sent to a ward for a few months by her parents, to ensure her own safety. She had only had a few conversations with Nathan, and had never actually been properly introduced, but she knew his full name by the plaque on his door, one just like every other patients. It was his last name, and the first letter of his first name.

Demi knew him as Douglas, N. And he probably only knew her as Santino, D. He was always a mystery, one she wanted to investigate, and figure out. She wasn’t scared of him, like most, however she did know he wasn’t entirely right in the head, and things could turn on her at any moment for the worse. “ You don’t remember me, huh ?? “ She tipped her head with the question, doe eyes staring up at the ceiling above them as his lips brushed over her ear. “ Do me a favor, and do your worst, bub “ she shrugged in disinterest. “ No, actually, but it doesn’t sound too bad to me. But, I mean, I found out today that I was brutally murdered on top of a roof, so, I mean, whatever, “ she huffed.

At her question he frowned. He really could not place her. There were plenty of people who were just in and out of the ward so often that it never really seemed to register in Nathan’s mind that he’d ever needed to remember them. As he was a permanent resident of the ward, things that were more frequent had a much better hold on his memory. He also felt she must have been inconsequential, to have him so easily forget her.

“No, I don’t remember whores. Maybe I’d remember you better if I got a better look at you with a bag over your head.” He sighed, his eyes lilting just a bit before he pulls away from her ear. Continuing to hold onto her jaw though he looks at her closely. At her telling him to do his worst he’d felt a depressingly heavy weight of boredom at the prospect spill into his chest. It just wasn’t fun if the victim asked for it, you know? Nathan turned his eyes away from her then and shoved her face away, releasing his grip.

Brutally murdered? What was she talking about? She obviously didn’t look dead, to him. Was this another way she was going to try to mess with him? He smirked, his dark gaze on her once more “Don’t be fucking stupid, you aren’t dead. How could I do this if you were dead-” Suddenly he pinched her arm. The people in this town are fucking weirder than I could have imagined, at least the ward had a- His iris’ shrank then as a memory hit him. Lifting his hand up he grabs the side of his head “Dead, she’s dead…I …I forgot…” Tasmin… Tasmin, I have to get to her. No! You can’t, you have to remember your plan, it’s too late for her! Kill them…I’m going to kill them all.

She continued to scream throuhg the muffle of his hand on her mouth. “NO! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!” It wasn’t until they left the streets and his hans plugged her nose. She groaned as the wood started to scrape at her skin, “Listen.. stop.. you don’t.. you don’t have to do this.” She mumbled and blabbed hoping to find some justice in this. She jumped lightly when he yelled in her year. She became quiet, an just waited for something to happen.

After a while of sitting in silence, she gripped onto his arm that was pulling him against her. “N-nathan..” She spoke, in a pleading tone, really hoping he wouldn’t hurt her.

His patience with her was growing thin as she shouted again “I said shut the fuck up!” Nathan growled before looking around once more. The people hadn’t heard her that last time and started to head back to what they originally had been doing “Good. That’s right. Fuck off. Nothing for you to see.” He whispered as he peeked around the corner of a house. Bringing his attention back to Camille as she spoke, he began to grow more agitated “I don’t have to do a lot of things. But I do them anyway, because they make me feel better!” He snapped. Then just to add to it, he stuck the piece of wood into her throat enough to draw some blood “Now be fucking quiet!”

As he sat against the house trying to think of a way back to the house he had so luckily been able to obtain from a young man who had helped him back into town from the woods outside the ward. Nathan knew it would be a hassle to bring her to this place, so he was trying to remember a path that was a lot less populated. When he’d heard her say his name though, he froze. How did she know that? No one outside the ward knew him… He didn’t even think that anyone spoke about him. Glaring for a moment as he stared down at her before speaking “Don’t say that name.”

Camille flinched as he screamed at her once more. Though this particular sentence made her more scared than anything else he’d said. Only because it was now that he’d admitted that he would hurt her for pleasure and pleasure only. She took in a deep breathe, only waiting for the next move while trying the think of what to do next.

She looked up at him, feelings tears come down her cheek as the blood from her neck trickled down. “Okay. Okay!” She yelled. “I won’t say it. I won’t say it.” She closed her eyes for a second before opening them.

It had always been that way. As Nathan grew older he was able to accept it more. Before being taken to the ward it was a lot more frightening. He’d felt all these strange things. This darkness and confusion would just sort of take over and he had no way to control it. He still didn’t know how to. But it made him feel better when he was able to act these strange desires out. When he was able to hurt others, it made everything seem right with the world.

But his father, no, his father had said it wasn’t right. That he wasn’t right. Soon after that incident with his sister he was sent far away. Nathan scowled as he remembered how lonely it had been when he arrived. How much he’d grown to hate his father, and everyone else around him. Catching the trickle of blood dripping down Camille’s neck he smirked “ Good. Now we are going to stand up, and you are going to quietly come with me, nice and calm like, okay? If you draw attention to us, I will dig this stake into your fucking liver.”

Millie watched as he decided in his head what he was going to do, feeling the stake press so hard into her neck the thought of trying to escape was gone. She knew it was the last thing she was going to do, if she was ever going to gain the courage to do it. All she could and slightly wanted to do, was follow him. Follow him, or she’ll get hurt.

In this state of constant fear she felt tears coming down her cheeks, How could this happen to her, why was this happening to her. She looked in his eyes when he gave her the following instructions, she kept her mouth shut and nodded quickly. She didn’t say a work to submit herself into a submissive role, she didn’t want to provoke him. By not speaking she gave him full control of the situation and of her.

He could feel her give up. It was smart of her. Nathan may not have been on any sports teams growing up. But he certainly wasn’t weak in any sense of the word. Straightening up as she remained quiet. He gripped her arm in his free hand and pulled the stake away from her neck with the other. It would be too obvious walking around with it pressed against her neck. Hiding it away on his person he shoves her forward “That’s good. Know what’s good for you. This situation will be better for you if you keep quiet.” He whispered to her as he walked her back toward the path “You are going to learn what happens to people who touch me.” He smiled at her “It’s going to be fun.”

Nathan quickly lead her down the streets, hand gripping onto Camille’s arm in a vice grip as he guides her to his base of operations. He didn’t talk to her the entire way to the home, which was somewhere just out-of-town and surrounded by tree’s, which they walked through to leave Camille a bit disorganized about the exact location of the house. Shoving her over to the front door he stares at her “You’ve been very good. I might just give you a reward before I torture you.” He whispered, opening the door and shoved Camille inside.

Camille got up on her feet and walked with his push, she looked around lightly without moving her head too much. She looked for someone, anyone, to help her. Anyone to make eye contact with, in hopes of being able to mouth for help. Of course there was no luck. The streets were empty and no one was at their window.

Camille didn’t know where they were going, though it seemed far from the central part of town. Hearing his words about touching him, she didn’t even know how to feel. So many feelings were so intense, that she just stayed silent. Even when he mentioned giving her a reward. She wasn’t excited, because she couldn’t even begin to imagine what a reward was in his twisted mind.

Turning back toward the door Nathan took a moment to look out, it was getting late, someone was bound to realize the girl was missing, and soon. He had to figure out what to do with her. Closing the door then he turns back to face Camille, seeing the look on her face sent a rush through his veins “You already look so pathetic, and I’ve barely even touched you, yet.”

Reaching over toward the coffee table where several items were scattered over. His hand moved over to some tape “You know I can’t let you go now, right? It’s too late for that.” Nathan lifts the tape up and pulls out a strand of it “Which also means I can’t have you screaming your lungs out, either. Not that you would provide much in the way of conversation.” He stepped toward her “Maybe you’ll survive long enough to be found after my plan has been completed.” Nathan mutters pressing the tape to her lip and then wrapping it around her head a few times “Hold up your hands.”

Camille looked at him, “Well when a psychopath drags be to a house practically outside of town there really isn’t much for me to do.” She spoke amusingly, though still choosing her words somewhat wisely so that she doesn’t get hurt for what she said.

Camille watched as he grabbed the tape, “No.. I won’t talk. I won’t say anything.. I promise.” She spoke though she quickly went back on her promise when the tape got closer. “HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!! ANYONE!! HEEL-” Without another sound the tape was over her lips and wrapped around her head. She started to quickly breathe out of her nose in panic. She stared up at him, and didn’t move. She didn’t want to give him what he’d wanted. She just stared at him, in the eyes. Glaring proving a stance.

Nathan just grinned “Psychopath, I’ve never heard that one before.” His tongue clicked at that. Of course, he didn’t think he was a psychopath. Then again, Nathan probably had little to no understanding of what that was, or what he in fact was even doing. Or more, why he was doing what he was doing, and why he liked it so much. Frowning as he thought, his brows burrowing as he finished with the tape, he felt himself beginning to grow more frustrated by what she said.

“You know, maybe I am not a psychopath. Maybe I am just….Uh, Misunderstood!” He pointed at her, giving a playful little grin as he rolled his eyes.

Her screaming from before didn’t bother him so much, he knew she wouldn’t be heard from this far out-of-town. Nathan just didn’t want her screaming her throat raw in her futile attempt to get the attention of some outsider. He knew that at some point the tape was going to have to come off her mouth so she could tell him things, like when she needed to go to the bathroom. Letting out a long sigh as he began to tape her wrists together, leaving it to were her veins had enough room to circulate blood “You understand no one can hear you. So you need to stop screaming. The sooner you realize you are on your own out here, the quicker I will remove the tape from your mouth.” He figured that at this point that could be her reward “Do you understand?”

Camille looked up at him her breathing was fast and quick through her nose as she panicked. She whimpered as she lost the courage of yelling, she closed her eyes trying to calm down. She hugged her knees into her chest and tilted her head down to not show him that she was giving up. She felt the tears stroll down her cheeks, she sniffled as quietly as she could.

When he’d talked to her, she couldn’t reply. She just nodded while staring down at her feet. She didn’t want to look at him, she didn’t want be there. She wanted to pretend she wasn’t in the state she was him. She took a deep breathe and closed her eyes once more as she thought of her roommate hoping that she’d noticed that she wasn’t going to be home.

Giving her a confused look for a moment as she tried to hide herself, Nathan shook his head. This was not part of his plan. Why did she keep showing up while he was forming his plan? But at least she wasn’t trying to scream anymore. Standing up a moment later after she had curled up, he grabs her right arm and starts to pull her back up “Now then, what sort of fun can the both of us have, hm?” He smiled as he yanked her toward the kitchen.

Pushing her toward a chair then he shouts “SIT!” And snaps his finger at a chair near two others “And then we can pick your brain for a bit.” Giving a light laugh he watches her before spinning the roll of tape on his wrist “Maybe it will help me with my plan, you and-” He glances toward a door that least to the basement …. The other. Looking back at Camille again he smirks “I think you will be Tin.” Moving toward Camille he brings a hand up and caresses her cheek “…I wonder what he’s doing…” Nathan muttered his thoughts out loud “Twenty three years, I bet everything for him is just perfect. He didn’t get left in a fuckin’ ward! Obviously! ” Hissing he pushes Camille into the chair and starts to tape her legs to the chairs legs.

Camille looked up as she fel the yank of her arm off the floor. She did exactly what she was told. She didn’t want to step a foot out of line with him. She walked toward the kitchen and sat on one of the chairs. After sitting down she just stared at him. Her eyes red and puffy, she furrowed her eyebrows when he wanted to pick her brain. She was about to speak though instead she hummed quickly in confusion.

She got lost with what he was saying when he looked toward the basement door. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she’d felt that the boy who’s tied her up had just went from potentially mis understood to sociopathic. When she saw him reach for her face, she leaned back and tried to twist away from his reach. She didn’t know who he was talking about. She screamed lightly as she was pushed into the chair. She took a deep breath through her nose.

Her reactions were only making things better for him. She was scared, and upset. Which was fine with Nathan. He wanted her to be terrified. It told him that everything was working out just well, for him. She was definitely a great candidate indeed. Nathan began to tape Camille’s upper half to the chair a moment later “Once you have settled down some I will remove the tape.” Nathan said, looking at Camille. So I have a Tin and I have a Father, to practice on. If I grabbed two other people to practice on, then I can figure out which ways I would like for them to die…. Or I could just stab them all in the aorta and be done with it. heh. At that thought he laughed. Nathan wanted it to be slow, and bloody. To emphasize his hatred for his family.

Blinking he turns away and tears the tape as he finished binding Camille to the chair “The aorta…. That’s good, actually.” He muttered, turning his cold gaze away from Camille and set the tape down on the kitchen counter “But how bloody would that be? …If the cop’s arrive before I finish-” He cut himself off and started to walk away, seemingly forgetting about Camille at that moment as he stepped out of the room. Moments later he was on the second floor and stepped into a room off to the side where he had his entire plan mapped out. Plus a map of the town, as he hadn’t exactly been able to even locate his family yet. Picking up a red marker he brings it to the map and takes the cap off, then x'ed out a large block “I’ve searched there…” There were several other large x’s on the map as well. Nathan points at another block “I’ll start looking there, tomorrow.”

Camille watched as he spoke to himself, she’d never felt so helpless a day in her life. She listened in and what he was talking about, trying to find a clue or something to give her a hint of what he was going to do to her. She felt more scared as he sunk into only talking to himself. Half an hour ago, he wasn’t this insane. He didn’t show the signs of a psychopath, now he did and it scared her more than anything. Hearing the work bloody, and the cops. She gasped through her nose, hoping to god he wasn’t talking about her. But how dumb can she be.

He left the room, and she heard the footsteps lead upstairs. She looked around and tried to find something, she’d realized her phone was in her pocket. She reached inside her jacket and looked and turned the sound off and tried to text her roommate anyone to help her. She heard his footsteps coming so she quickly hid her phone back where it was knowing there wasn’t a change he could have seen it.

Pushing himself onto a desk he stares at the map for a moment, bringing his legs up to sit lotus style and tapping the marker against his bottom lip “Would he still be living with our parents though? Twenty-three is too long for someone like him to live with their parents. Unless something happened. So I just might be needing to look in two places. Once I locate them all, I can just wait for-” Nathan laughed “A holiday! Exactly! Have them come together on their own in one location, then spring the trap!” Clapping his hands together at that he nods “To set the trap up though, I will need to find the ‘Rents.” Sighing he pushed himself off the desk and twists, tossing the marker onto the desk before making his way out of the room and soon back down the stairs.

Walking into the kitchen he eyes Camille as he walks passed her, she was up to something, he could see it in her body language. Raising an eyebrow he walks over to a cabinet and takes down a plate, What’s with that look? Nathan set the plate down and then grabs a box from another cabinet, pulling out a packet of oatmeal from the box a moment later he opens it and dumps the contents into a bowl, She must be up to something. Turning on the water from the sink he holds the bowl over it for a moment before walking over to the microwave and sticking the bowl inside. Pressing the time into it he turns back to Camille “ That look on your face makes you look like a deer caught in headlights.” She looks like a few patients trying to hide cigarettes from the staff, or whatever items that they didn’t allow in the ward….“Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

Camille waited for him to come into her point of view, she looked at him scared, for more than one reason. First him hurting her, and second finding her only potential way out of this situation. She watched him grab a meal, as if this were a day to day thing, and talking to her as if she were a true volunteering guest in his house. She shook her head, and leaned her head down needing to take a deep breath and give herself a mental punishment. She can’t let him find her phone. She has to stay calm. She took a couple deep breathes. Game face. This is a lawyer’s room, the is a courtroom, nothing more. Game face.

She tilted her head up to look at him, she hummed out. Wanting to get the tape off. She moaned again. Almost hoping it would suggest to him that she wanted to speak, she hoped that he would trust that she wouldn’t scream. Because that wasn’t something she was going to do.

As she shook her head he nods “You will be. And I will be busy for some time.” Of course, he really didn’t care if she went hungry for one or two days. Her health wasn’t of the utmost importance to him. Nathan had offered merely because of some other reason. Taking the bowl from the microwave he sets it on the counter and walks over to her. The food wasn’t exactly for him. Letting out a small sigh as she started to seemingly try to get his attention, he walks toward her and smiled coldly “What? You want to talk now?”

Nathan shook his head, could he trust her? Dropping his face down in front of hers he continued to give her that unnerving unkind smile of his “And you promise you won’t scream?” Raising an eyebrow at his question he slips his hand behind his back and at moment later the wooden stake from earlier taps her on the top of the head “If you do. I am going to hit you with this.” He figured he might as well do that anyway, just for her to understand the gravity of the situation. In case she wasn’t grasping it already. But mostly because he just wanted to hit her and see how she reacted. Sliding the stake along Camille’s jawline at that moment, his face taking on a more malicious look.

Yawning, Scar stood against the diner counter, waiting for the place to pick up. Customers had fluttered in and out at a slow pace today. She had only had two tables in now going on three hours, and really she wanted to ask if she could just leave and go home to study. However, before she could strike up the nerve to do so, the bell at the door jingled. They sat at one of her tables, so she put on a little smile and walked up to the counter. “What would you like to drink?” She questioned as she placed a menu down on the table.

Deciding to take a break from his search for the other Douglas’, Nathan made his way to a diner across the street from him. Dropping the cigarette from his hand he steps on it, twisting his foot into it a bit before looking both ways down the street and crossing. Walking into the Diner he avoids eye contact with the other people inside and makes a b-line right to an empty seat. As some girl walked over and asked about what he’d like to drink he smiled “Orange juice.” Then he moved the menu over and opened it up and painfully tried to read what was written on it.

Scarlet smiled and nodded to the man as he gave her his order. “Orange juice it is.” She wrote it down on her pad and turned to go fetch his drink. She made sure to give him a normal sized glass over their ‘juice’ glass. Adults always complained when she brought them those small glasses of juice, and it was always more work for her to come refill it every five minutes. Setting down the glass of juice, she watched him for all of two seconds looking at the menu. “Would you like me to give you a bit more time to choose something?” She asked, not wanting to rush him at all.

While Scarlet had been away getting his drink Nathan let out a yawn. He’d noticed something about his sleeping pattern since he’d woken up in the middle of the woods. Rubbing his eyes after a moment he continued to read the menu as he tried to ignore the thought. Nathan figured it was because he was no longer being dosed in order to sleep through the night so that the night shift wouldn’t have to deal with him and he wouldn’t keep all the other patients awake because of his inability to respect their sleep. As Scarlet returned he glances to the glass of juice before looking at her as she asked about giving him more time. With a moment of hesitation he dropped his hand down to his pocket and pulled out five dollars “No. Just give me how ever much sausage this will get me.” Then he closed the menu and slid it toward her before picking up his drink and taking a sip.

It was late; far later than the redhead would usually find herself outside. It was the darkness, creeping in on either side of her that terrified the girl. If it were any other day, she would have rang a cab after her late shift – but on this particular evening there had been no time. Waiting for one would only encourage her boss to offer her a ride, and she knew more than anything how that would go down – so Willa had rushed out the back as quickly as she could without being noticed. She was walking home now, hastening her pace out of necessity when she rounded a corner and almost had a heart attack. Her hand flew straight to her chest as the other person appeared, and she tried hard to slow her panicked breathing. “You scared me to death!”

Folding up the smaller version of the map he had of the town, he x'ed out a few areas on it as he walked. This town was much larger than he’d originally expected, or the other Douglas’ didn’t live here. Nathan shook his head, he could have sworn that he’d been told they had. Scratching his head he continued to stare down at the map as he walked. But as he heard movement suddenly in front of him he stopped and looked up as the girl spoke “Oh?” Wouldn’t that be an interesting way to die? I wonder what that would even look like. Nathan started to smirk a bit before catching himself and pulling the map closer to his chest “Sorry. It’s my fault, I should have been paying more attention, too.” He couldn’t help but bring his gaze to her hair, it reminded him of someone. That prying bitch! I wonder, has she found someone else to fuck with? Bringing his eyes from Willa’s hair then he cleared his throat “You wouldn’t happen to know where a college campus is around here, would you?”

When she really thought about it, Willa hadn’t been a resident in the town nearly as long as it felt like she had. There were still a lot of things she did not know; places she wasn’t sure of or their whereabouts. She mostly only knew the spots that were the most relevant to her, the way back and forth from her house to the center of town and whatnot. The redhead surveyed the young man in front of her, her hand finally falling down by her side again as she calmed herself. She really had to learn not to be so jumpy, it wasn’t a particularly good trait. She noticed the other was holding a map, and wondered. A newcomer, perhaps? She gave him a warm smile – the least she could do was be polite after acting so clumsy. “It isn’t too far past where I’m heading, actually. You can walk with me if you’d like?” Honestly, some company against the night would be quite relieving.

He figured if he weren’t so busy trying to find his family, he would have spent more time with this girl, to exploit this jumpiness she obviously had. But ignoring that for something more important was all he could do for the moment. Pressing the map to his chest still he nods as she speaks. Turning his head a bit as she made the offer, he tossed around the idea before turning his head back and looking at her “Uh, sure, if you are okay with that. It will be great.” How lucky could he be? If Austin was going to college then Nathan could easily spot the other on a campus! Nathan let out a sigh, it seemed a very hard part of his plan was finally coming to an end. It was going to be amazingly easy for him to spot the other, seeing as they had the same face. Nathan just had to make sure Austin didn’t spot him before he spotted Austin. Or maybe he’s stupider than I am, and isn’t going to college.

Scarlet watched the man pull out five dollars, giving him an odd look before nodding. “Okay. Five dollars worth of sausage. I can get that for you.” She said as she picked up the menu leaving his side to put the menu up and then putting in his order to the kitchen. After about fifteen minutes she was able to bring the man a plate absolutely full of sausage. Grant it she did tell the nice cook about what the mans request was, so he added a few extra to the plate for the guy. Smiling after she set down the plate, she nodded her head. “Look okay?”

Looking up at the girl as she spoke he squints a bit in suspicion at how seemingly nice she’d sounded. Golden brown eyes follow her for a moment as she turns and leaves before he moves them back to the table and brings his drink closer to him. It was a bit shocking for him to actually run into someone who previously hadn’t met him and he didn’t snap at, that were nice. Tapping his fingers along the cup of juice when Scarlet finally made her way back to him he glances up at her again “Ah- y-yeah. That looks great.” He honestly didn’t care what it looked like, he was really hungry. Nathan just wanted to eat something “When was the last time I had-” Catching himself saying his thoughts out loud he reached over and stabbed one of the sausages before bringing it up to his mouth and stuffing the entire thing inside. Oh my god…. This tastes a hell of a lot better than anything at the ward.

Perhaps it could be said that the girl was too open with strangers; too trusting – but her need for some friends ran deep and she could barely help herself. She had always been a rather friendly girl, a little quiet in her ways but not too much so. Willa nodded a little at his acceptance of her offer, the beginnings of a smile quirking at the corners of her mouth. The young woman tried to think of something she could say, to get her mind off of the darkness surrounding them and distract her until she got home. “So, are you new to town?” It was quite an awful attempt of starting a conversation, but she was trying her best. She held on tightly to the strap of her bag as they walked. “Oh, and I’m Willa by the way.”

Trying to keep himself from thinking about doing anything too stupid to this girl, that would in some way mess up his plans any farther than he already had, Nathan started to think about what he would do to his family. At her smile he narrowed his eyes a bit before giving her a smile back. Returning to his own thoughts then he walked with her in silence. This was something he was used to, Nathan refused to start conversations at the ward, while in a session or not. But when she spoke he laughed “Well, um, I guess in a way I am. I have relatives out here that I used to visit, a long time ago.” When she went on to introduce herself something came to mind …. Do I have to be Nathan? No. That would probably be troublesome later on. Nathan is too obvious, and if my brother-…Something clicked in his brain then “I’m Austin.” Well, this could be harmful or helpful to my plans. I will have to study his behaviors when I find him…

“Good. I hope you enjoy.” She said with a smile, noticing he stopped himself from finishing his sentence, Scar just nodded and left his side to give him his space to enjoy his meal. She aided another waitress in taking a large table their meals, and then returned to Nathan with a fresh glass of orange juice for a refill. “Do you need anything?” She questioned as she adjusted her pen behind her ear.

Chewing with a stuffed mouth made it pretty hard to respond to her in any way other than some starving neanderthal-ish grunt and a not “Mm.” Nathan really didn’t care about how he might have been seen while he ate. The emptiness in his stomach started to subside as he swallowed. After a few more moments of eating like this he slowed down and just kind of played with the remaining food on the plate, with his fork.

Pouting slightly as he started to drift off in his thoughts Nathan had almost forgot what he was in the middle of doing before Scarlet returned with his juice “Yeah. Do you have a news paper I could read?” That will help me blend in. Look casual and like you care about the news, Nathan. No one will ever suspect you of anything…And stop eating so fast, you will end up getting the hiccups, idiot. He pushed the empty glass toward her then and takes the new one trying to act more normal “My mom is a terrible cook, it’s been a while since I’ve had any actual good food, like that. She insists she’s an amazing cook though.”

On the other hand, silence was something that Willa could barely stand at the best of times. She always almost had to have some sound somewhere; even if it was just in the form of music coming from her earplugs. There was too much danger that lurked in silence, the same with darkness. It was just best for her to avoid both things, in fear that the memories would start flooding back and she would have a panic attack or something just as bad. She gave a slow nod at his explanation, though it got her thinking about the last part of his sentence. The girl was about to ask why he had ever stopped visiting them when she stopped herself, thinking it might be a little too personal of a question for a first time meeting. Besides, it wasn’t any of her business. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Austin.”

Being in the ward was probably the worst thing Nathan could ever imagine. Not only for the fact that he couldn’t get certain things that those from the outside had. Solitary confinement for self-revelation was something he had gone through on more than a couple of occasions. Some due to his inability to communicate with staff or any other patient that happened to irritate him. The other reasons were his constant need to break out of the ward.

Nathan enjoyed the silence, and the dark. It felt more like home to him than the ward or the home he was removed from. As he walked with this girl he started to think again about how he might have turned out if he weren’t locked up. If he hadn’t had to watch his mother visit him that same disappointing, sad, look on her face. Nathan looked at the girl “Uh yeah, it’s nice to meet you, too. How long have you been here?”

From the little she knew of him this far, Austin seemed to be a rather mysterious character – and Willa was the kind of girl you could often find curled up with a mystery novel. Whether that was a good thing for her or not, she wasn’t entirely sure yet. A girl who loved mysteries who was also afraid of the dark. What a contradiction. She thought a little on his question, even though it wasn’t a hard one to answer. She just didn’t want to accidentally slip something out about her parents.

“Must be more than five years now.” Maybe more. She had only been introduced to the town after moving in with her adoptive family, and it had all been a brand new start for her. One she had soon found she needed. Since then the years had flown by rather quickly. “Where are you from?”

Nathan nodded at her answer, thinking briefly about what he was even doing five years ago before going on to answer her question “I’m from Colorado.” At seven it was hard for him to remember his old town, let alone the entire state. By the time he was twenty three he couldn’t really remember much of anything from before, just that he hated his family. So he just threw out whatever came to mind “Springs. Colorado Springs.”

He paused for a moment before realizing he should go on, since she seemed more interested in talking “Several of my relatives that still live here told me this would be an inspirational place to do some work at. Because of the tranquility?” With a light grin he searched his mind trying to find something to end on “I don’t know, is this place really that tranquil?”

Millie looked up at him when he’d asked her if she wanted to talk, she nodded slowly not wanting to be too aggressive. When he’d asked his second question she shook her head ‘No’, when she saw the large piece of wood again she sucked in a break. she hummed through the tape trying to say, ‘I promise, I won’t talk, I promise.’ thought of course non of those words came out.

Eying her as she nods he huffed slightly his eyebrows lifting up for a moment as he considered it. It wasn’t like he couldn’t use the conversation, so he pulled the stake away from her jaw and tossed it onto the counter. Walking around to the other side of the island he reaches his hand out to the knives displayed near some paper towels. Pulling out one of the knives a moment later he walks back over to her and pressed the tip of the knife to her cheek “ I doubt you will have anything enlightening to say to me.” Slicing down then, he cut right through the tape, and most likely even skin. Lifting his free hand up he grips onto the end of the tape that he cut and tugs on it, ripping the tape away from Camille’s lips “Speak then. Go on.” Wait…Is she around our age, maybe she could be helpful. She did say your name earlier. Ask her about that! “ You called me Nathan, why?”

Camille watched him and didn’t expect him to use a knife to cut the tape, she should have expected it though for some reason she didn’t. When he put the knife to her skin, she hummed loudly through the tape solely from pain. When he didn’t slice all the way down, she sighed and just looked at him. When he’d ordered her to speak she didn’t even know what to ask, “I.. why are you doing this?” Was the question that popped out, when he’d asked her to call him by that name she furrowed her eyebrows and looked down to the sticker that was stitched into the edge of his shirt. “It.. it says it right there? It’s stitched into your shirt?”

Her question was one he knew she was going to ask. Why was he doing this though? She of course had to be dealt with after she had hit him and he sort of blacked out for a moment. Before realizing moments later what had happened he had already been holding onto her and hiding beside a house. Nathan tilts his head a bit “Because you hit me, and I- Uh.” Confused he paused, looking away “Had to?” He shrugged then before listening to her answer about why she knew his name. Narrowing his eyes on her then before looking down to see the name he let out a growl. How in the hell am I still wearing those fucking clothes?!

Nathan twists a bit and starts taking off the shirt “Ah, well this isn’t my shirt.” He said tossing the shirt away and looking back at her. I’m sure she will believe that, you fucking moron. Thinking for a moment about what to say next, he cleared his throat and pulled one of the other chairs over. Sitting in the chair he watched Camille for a moment, waiting for her to say anything else. You know you can’t let her go now, she’ll tell everyone who you are, and then you’ll never be free. They will take you back, and you will rot in there, just like your family wants you to. You will be forgotten again.- I refuse to be locked up again. I will kill them. “I wish that you didn’t see that. But it is too late for you now. You’ll have to go into the basement.”

She nodded at his response with a slight smile. If anyone asked her where she was from, it was more or less instinctual for her to say New York. Even if she wasn’t specifically from the big city itself, it felt more like home to say it because that was where her dad had been from. Willa was almost certain at this point that she would never meet another who could be the friend her father was to her; didn’t want to replace him when she thought about it, really.

At his words, she tilted her head slightly in interest. She wondered what kind of work he was referring to. Willa figured it would be the perfect place for a writer or something of the sort to gain inspiration. “That depends on what kind of work, I suppose.” At his question she had to think for a moment. Tranquil might have not been the best way to describe the place – especially with the unpredictability of the storm and whatnot. “Yes and no.”

Nathan hoped what he’d told her came out as if it were something he said normally, to sell the lie better. Though Nathan wasn’t big on lying. It wasn’t that it was too hard for him to lie. It was just never essential for him to lie or make up stories. He was stuck in a ward where by the time he was thirteen years old plenty of the staff believed they could read him like a book and often did try to tell him what he was. Which wasn’t anything much, just another loser kid bound to live and die in a system of their making.

“Yes, I guess it would.” What kind of work should he make up for himself, he wondered. Nathan’s skill-set was very minuscule, he was very aware of this and knew he had no real world skills that would apply outside the ward. He then remembered the times staff forced him to do activities to keep him from doing violent things. One of those sessions involved painting once a week for two hours. He figured that today he could be an artist “I paint.” With her answer about the town he frowned, then looked confused before asking “Why do you say that?”

The young woman had always been a rather trusting girl; maybe not even a far reach from naive. Although her believing in him wasn’t particularly down to naivety, the other honestly hadn’t given her a reason to think he was lying. For someone who chose to see the best in people a large amount of the time, she hadn’t been given reason to start doubting people now. Even with her slightly troubled past. Maybe she thought herself immune to the hurt. She smiled slightly at the mention of what she assumed to be his occupation. An artist, how lovely. Willa had always rather appreciated art herself.

She hummed slightly beneath her breath, trying to think of the best way to describe the town to someone who wasn’t a local. “I mean, in all the ways it is quaint. Although it also has something else to it, you know? A mystery of sorts… I’m just not sure why or how.” Though that could just be because of her fanciful imagination, she swore the town had a strange aura about it. Finally the pair came around a corner and the redhead could spot the college in the distance, lit up in the night for the students. “This is where I leave you,” She informed him with a nod, pointing to the light of the building in the near distance. Her house was only a few blocks from this point. “Uh.” She blushed a little, unsure how to say goodbye. “See you around maybe?”

Nodding slowly as she spoke, he looked around saving the way to the college to memory as they walked. She definitely wasn’t selling Killbourne to him. But Nathan smiled anyway as she answered him, trying to look sincerely interested. So the place had mysteries, he couldn’t imagine there not being a place that hadn’t had at least one. Looking toward Willa he swallowed “Mysteries, Ooo… I love mysteries.” Nathan said offhandedly as continued to survey the area around them.

After turning a corner and a college campus came in to view, or what he could only assume to be one as he really hadn’t ever been out of the ward to know otherwise if it were one. Squinting a bit in suspicion at the campus he nodded awkwardly “Riight. Well. Okay.” Nathan’s eyes were locked onto the sight of the campus. As Willa spoke again he tears his gaze away from the campus “Uh… Y-yes? We can.” He tried to keep his face from looking confused at the others question. Not really knowing how to answer that one. It wasn’t like he was normally asked to be seen around, again. Most people just wanted him to go away. Nathan started walking then, pulling out the map as he approached his destination “ Bye.” He said as he walked away from Willa.

Nathan was heading for the college campus he’d been shown a few days earlier. Nathan put on a pair of sunglasses as he walked toward the campus, leaving the bottom half of his face open at the moment, he slipped the mask he had into the pocket of his hoodie as he continued to walk. He’ll see you- “No, he won’t.” Yes he will, and then you’ll go back - “ Maybe he isn’t even here!” Willa didn’t even go to the college, but she had been planning on going over to ask a few of the teachers whether there were any night classes she could take with her limited grades. She doubted it, but it was worth a shot – she would have liked something other than her job to occupy the remainder of her time. She had overhead the conversation the familiar young man had been having with – with who? She couldn’t see anyone near him, but decided to shrug it off. “Oh, hey!” She shouted, greeting him.

Listening for a moment to his thoughts, Nathan was growing more irritated. He knew he needed to stop talking to himself, but it was some of his most interesting conversations. Nathan rolls his eyes and shakes his head… It would be a whole lot more easy if I kidnapped him. I could wear the mask the entire ti- Then a voice shouted out. He looked around confused for a moment before his eyes land on the red-head from the night before “Ah!?” Was she really talking to him? Looking over his shoulder before turning and lifting up his left hand nervously “Hiiiiii.” He lets out his fingers curling toward his palm in a wave. Then he shook his head and moved closer “Willa, right?” He grinned a very polite grin. Yes, look like a polite decent young man, everyone loves a smile. Just don’t let her know about the knife you have on you, or why you have it. Why do I have it? “How are you?”

He seemed to stare at her for a moment, but no sense of recognition popped up onto his features. Demi lifted her small shoulders in a careless shrug, looking away, eyes distracted as she listened to him insult her. “ Ouch, that hurts…You think you’re so bad, calling me a whore, huh, big boy ?? How ever will I mend my broken heart ?? You’re truly a savage, Nate. Please, have mercy on me. “ Her tone was so sticky with sarcasm that you could practically feel it in the air as she spoke. She sighed dramatically, placing the back of her hand on her forehead as she acted as if she was about to faint for a moment, before perking back up. “ Wait, so are you calling me ugly ?? Or are you staying you want to suffocate me with a bag ?? “ She questioned, tipping her head to the side. “ Because, if you’re saying I’m ugly, I’m pretty sure you weren’t saying that in the ward a couple years ago, but, whatever. As far as the bag, be my fucking guest,” she hissed, rolling her eyes.

When he pinched her, her hand swatted at his fingers, frowning. “ Did I say you could touch me ?? “ She hissed, staring at him as if he has three heads, crossing her arms protectively over her own chest. When he suddenly grabbed his head, Demi arched an eyebrow in slight concern. “ Who’s dead ?? I’m pretty sure, like, half the population is coming back to life as of lately, so, I mean, she might not be dead for long.” Demi shrugged again, this time innocently, as if she actually cared. “ I’d pray for you, if I was religious, but I’m not, so, good luck with that, I guess. “

As she spoke he tilts his head. What she was saying was making him very confused, and this lead to him beginning to grow even more irritated by her presence. And she called him Nate, which he didn’t know how many people he authorized to actually use that version. There was one he once had enjoyed hearing that name from, but coming from this girls lips made him want to choke her.

With her question he glanced to the side, his tongue toying with his upper lip as he thought of what he was going to say once she shut up. Rolling his jaw and nodding slowly, his eyes locking onto her “I am sure that if I didn’t call you ugly in the ward a few years ago, it’s probably because I just wanted to get in your pants. And apparently you are a whore. So I imagine I didn’t have to try very hard, you must be easy.” Puckering his lips up a bit, somewhat mocking her, he makes a kissing noise at her “Don’t you have an ego.”

Nathan pulled his hand away as she smacked at him. The anger surging up just that much more. But a familiarity started to drift back to him, among all the drugged cloudiness over the years “Hm.” Dropping his hand from the side of his head, he smirks at her “Right. That makes a fucking ton of sense. The dead don’t come back to life.” Staring at her he wondered, if she were dead, who killed her. She struck him as someone who needed to be killed “You. are. annoying.” Nathan shoved her, then turns away from her and goes back to thinking about the next part of his plan. His eyes scan over the street signs, committing them to memory.

Nina watched as a familiar face walked up the pathway, as she sat on a bench, a book in her hand. She had been distracted by the hustle and bustle of the campus; she was only there to have a meeting with her professor from the one, and only night class she currently took. They were going to discuss an assignment she missed due to being sick, but he was late. So, there she was, eyes fixed on the boy as he took something out of his pocket, and began talking to himself. “Uhh…excuse me? You look…really…a lot like somebody I use to know, uhh..wow. Sorry, it’s just…who were you even talking to?” She asked, though she was kind of nervous about what his answer would be. Maybe he had a blue-tooth speaker in his ear? Or a mic under his shirt with an ear-piece she couldn’t see? She had no idea, but she didn’t see any sign of him being on the phone with somebody.

I bet you wish you were smart enough to actually go to college. But you aren’t, because you can’t even break out of the ward. Nathan shook his head a bit as he continued on his walk. You know, I can be a real asshole, even to myself. Shut up! Hissing lowly he continued walking until someone cut him off mid thought. His eyes move toward the sound of the voice, a familiar one. A very, very familiar one. One that ignited every single flame. His eyes dart toward it, cold brown eyes falling on the form of the person it belonged to. Nina Fredericks. The prying bitch, the one who wouldn’t stop pestering him. She seemed devoted in figuring him out. He smiled a bit swallowing down the hatred that was piling up into his chest and throat, for her and those she worked with the same.

He hated the people who worked at the ward, but she wasn’t in danger, yet. Nathan had a plan, and that was to kill his family first “Pff. I- have never heard that.” Frowning a bit as he tried to figure out how to answer her last question “No one, just myself.” Normal people talked to themselves all the time, he was sure of it. But you should say something that makes you seem more normal. Grinding his teeth for a moment he then went on “I’ve had a bit of a hectic morning, er, anyway, does this person I remind you of have a name? You could be mistaking me for my brother.” Even though you are supposed to be locked in a ward.- Shhh!- Though it had only been a few weeks since Nathan had died, which he didn’t know about. So he was officially supposed to be no where.

The guy looked a little confused at first; disoriented almost, like he didn’t know whether or not she was really talking to him. She couldn’t help but notice something a bit different about him since the last time they had met – or maybe it had been there and she had just refused to see it. That sounded more likely, but Willa couldn’t be sure either way until she talked to him a bit more. “Yeah, hey,” She confirmed, fixing her bag where it was falling halfway off her shoulder. “I see you found your way here.” A soft laugh made its way past her lips as she glanced around the campus before them a little until landing on him again. “I’m quite good, thank you,” The girl answered, pausing for a second before asking, “Are you okay?” The redhead didn’t want to seem suspicious in any way, but her tone ended up sounding that way.

Looking around for a moment he nods “Yeah, I have a pretty decent memory.” Looking at Willa again he smiled “Good.” Ugh, why does it strike me that small towns have a sweetness overload to go with some their residence. It makes me nauseous. Nathan resisted the urge to make an unpleasant face as Willa went on to ask him if he’s already “Oh, yeah! I guess it’s just been a while since I’ve been in an atmosphere like this. My heads a bit of a mess about it, sinuses I guess?” With a laugh he looked toward a few buildings. Nathan rolled his shoulders “So, uh, what brings you here?” He asked curiously, trying to move quickly onto something else. Scratching the back of his head Nathan shakes his head a bit, his mind hazing for a moment with thoughts about what had been going on the last few days back at his hide out “Do you go here?” A small laugh escaped her at his words, though she had been teasing in the first place. It was just the other night when she had told, or rather shown him how to get there. The girl nodded slightly and put that information to the back of her mind. So he hadn’t been to a school in a while? Or so that was what she mainly picked up from his words. It was understandable for the atmosphere to be pretty overwhelming – hoards of students were milling about everywhere. It was a bit anxiety-fueling, if she were honest. Especially given her state of mind, it was probably for the best that she stayed out of full time education. She just wanted a night class to give her a change of pace. ��I don’t, yet. I was just looking into possibly taking a night class or two,” She informed him with a tilt of her head in his direction. “Are you going to register?” Willa was interested in how long he was planning on staying in town.

“Oh-” He wondered what that was like. A night class wasn’t exactly something he knew much about, if anything about at all. Nodding though he continued “So you must be really busy during the day.” With her question he bites his bottom lip and nods “Maybe, I might take a few classes. Just to have something else to do. It might help me get to know more of the people who live here.” Nathan blinked as an idea struck him - Oh, come on now, you can’t possibly believe you’d make friends, here. These people don’t want to be friends with a psycho. You are better off on your own Nathan, like always. Nathan looked at the ground “ What classes were you thinking about taking?”

Kris had made plans to see her boyfriend when they got home since normally their paths didn’t cross that particular day. Though should could recognize his body from anywhere, when she did she smiled and wondered why he was being so secretive. “Austin?” She questioned with a smile before jogging over lightly and pulling his shoulder. “Babe?” She laughed and then pulled his hoodie down. “What are you doing?” She chuckled, “Also what are you doing on this side of campus? Are you not going to class?” He of course wasn’t used to being called Austin so he didn’t exactly react as it was said to him. He just continued to stare off into space, seemingly looking over the campus before something touched his shoulder, he jumped away looking at whoever it was that had just touched him. Silently he watched the other suspiciously- Smile you idiot, it’s someone he knows. But how does he act around this person?! I don’t know. Uugh. Nathan rubbed his eyes to try to look tired, he muttered “I’m just… I don’t know actually. Something had my attention and I guess I just followed it to here.” Staring this strange woman over he tilts his head. Austin seems to have some taste, anyway. She is kind of cute…Babe…Babe…Are they- no way. Score. Nathan grinned then “Ah, No? I’m not, like I said, something else came up.” Nathan said, pulling his hood back up over his head.

Kristine watched as her boyfriend was acting strange, “Something else distracted you?” She spoke, furrowing her eyebrows. “Aus.. did you get any sleep last night?” She questioned, knowing that her boyfriend had been working way too many hours on this assignment he had due. “Okay, well you need to go home and you need to sleep. If you’re not gonna go to class, you’re gonna sleep. There’s not a chance in hell i’m letting you work on that assignment for one more minute without getting a proper nap.”

“Yes.” Nathan answered, raising an eyebrow at her furrowed ones. He could have said more, but at her question decided to put what else he wanted to say aside for later. He laughed a bit, I don’t get any sleep at all, every night. Catching himself staring at her he looks to the side “Ah, no?” He had no idea what she was saying next, obviously. Wondering then what Austin was in college for he started to drift off again into his own thoughts before his attention returns to the woman’s next few words “A nap?” Does she think I am a little kid? I don’t need a nap. Who does she think she is. Narrowing his eyes a bit he steps closer to Kristine “A nap. Sure. I guess.” Is she falling for this act. If she is, I could kidnap her instead and make Austin come to me, then I could replace him in order complete the plan, and kill the entire family. I could easily find out where the rest of them live, pretending to be Austin like this.

Kristine looked at her boyfriend as he was so dazy, and not himself. She looked at him, “Aus?” She questioned him before chuckling. “Okay, come on. Stay at my place cause it’s closer to campus.” She looked at him, and grabbed his hand. “Also put your hood down, you’re looking like a wanna be gangster.” She chuckled pulling the hood off his head once more.

Looking up at the nickname she apparently had for his brother he felt a bitter taste enter his mouth “Huh?” Blinking then at her suggestion he sighed “If you say so. I could probably make it back to my place though, honestly.” Forcing himself to yawn then, to sell the bit a little better he nods “Okay, your place.” His jaw clinched a bit as she grabbed his hand, but he was going to let it slide for now. If he was right about who this person was to Austin, it was something the normies considered ‘normal’ being all handsy, and such. Nathan of course was not about that being handled kind of life though. Nathan let Kristine lead him after she yanked his hood down again. Nathan gave her a silly grin after she called him a wannabe gangster “Maybe it’s my new style. It’s that rebel goth with a side of anarchist hipster, look.”

Dillon watched the other guy, raising an eyebrow in interest. “Alright, fess up, dude, what kind of drugs are you on? :And what’s up with that?” He nodded to the hoodie and mask, slight concern etched on his features. “You look like you’re off to give bomb threats in the boys locker room or somethin’, it’s creepy, loose the mask, Austin. Seriously,” he laughed.

Nathan was sure though, that if their father was involved that things would get done. Austin was probably the golden boy the old man wanted and would probably be forced into some normie life style. He guessed that would involve college, if he isn’t here, I am shooting him in the dick. As soon as I find a gu- When some weird guy suddenly walked up to him he frowned “Drugs?” I was once on all sorts of drugs. I couldn’t begin to name them at the moment… Nathan blinks as the mask is brought up “Do I?” He tilts his head before looking up at the other again “I need it, for my project?” He said, questioning, more to see if the other would buy what he was saying.

Nina adjusted her purse on her shoulder, as she contemplated just where she recognized the boy from, but he had her stumped. “Hmm..I don’t even know, actually.” She hummed, tapping her finger on her chin as she thought. “Oh, you have a brother? What’s his name?” She asked, tipping her head with the question as she watched him, sure she had seen him at least once before in her life. He seemed so familiar, but the redhead couldn’t manage to place him. She had a lot on her mind lately, and had been seemingly forgetting everything; her keys, her drivers license. Being an intern was harder work than she had expected, but that didn’t mean Nina would give up; she had always been pretty stubborn.

Nathan sighed, this woman was always getting on his nerves at the ward. How could he run into her outside the ward, too? Looking at her the best he could, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her ‘cutie’ act. He wondered how many she had fooled with it. With her question of his brother’s name he grinned “Nathan was his name.” He put on a sad look for a split moment, before continuing “We’re twins.” Watching her for another moment he didn’t believe she had forgotten him. He had made sure she wouldn’t. Or maybe you weren’t as deadly as you’d like everyone else to believe you are. You have never killed anyone. Could you even bring yourself to kill your own family? Or are you going to chicken out.

“Yes, drugs – are you high? You’re pale, and your eyes look empty as hell,” he commented, motioning a circle in the air, towards his masked face, though he had no idea that the guy in front of him wasn’t his classmate. Austin did look a bit different than Nathan, probably due to the fact that he was healthier – and well, hadn’t come back from the dead. Dillon stood there, arching an eyebrow when he brought up it all being for a project, and nodded slowly. “Okay, sure, a project….” he hummed, chuckling afterwards. “Whatever you say, man. You coming to the party at my place tonight, or no? You seem tired,” he pulled his phone from his pocket and shot a text to one of his other buddies, before sliding it back into his jacket and looking up at his ‘friend’. Dillon had his own place off campus, and had a party almost every other night. His life was nothing but going to work, going to class, partying, and a new girl in his bed every week.

“Always.” Nathan muttered, not amused by Dillon’s question. But he grinned a moment later “I’ve been trying something new. It’s called, Fuck Off, I’m not telling you.” Tilting his head a bit he twists his neck slightly making it crack. He rolled his shoulders in the next moment before turning his head away from the other. Nathan sucked on the top of his mouth as the other sounded skeptical of what he’d said about the mask. Jerking his head back toward Dillon, he smirked “A party? What kind of party?” His sigh surprised her, the stranger seeming to be almost annoyed with her the moment she approached him. Though when he grinned, and told her about her twin, Nathan, and she stopped in her tracks. Her heart jumped inside of her chest, blinking slowly at the dark-haired boy. “Oh, I…uh, yeah,” she narrowed her eyebrows, nodding slightly. She knew the name, taking note to the ‘was’ in his sentence; past tense. His name echoed deep within her eardrums, as she recalled the boy from the ward, one she had tried to help, but also one who didn’t want her help. She tried anyway, but didn’t get very far with him until he overdosed. She had a bit of a spooked expression on her features, cheeks flushing with color, as she shook her head quickly. “I dunno, never heard of him,” she stated bluntly, a lie. Her tone was almost cold, clearing her throat, as she averted her gaze from his. She was never a good liar.

“Yeah?” Nathan was confused but shrugged the look away, but continued to study her reaction “Yeah. I have not seen him in a very long time.” He grinned, as if to appear as though Austin enjoyed the idea of not visiting him in the last sixteen years. It was amusing to think about, he realized. Nathan knew he had to avoid saying anything that would make her think of the ward and his knowing her connection to it. He couldn’t mention anything about his being there “Yeah, he’s- complicated.” Nathan glanced away, thinking for a moment. He could tell she was lying as she mentioned never hearing of him. Now why would she lie? That was a answer he was interested in. She had no reason to lie about at least having seen him, or did she. Preventing himself from giving her a knowing look, and possibly ruining both their lies, he nods “Well, I have no idea why I’d seem familiar then.” “Uh, yeah guess you could say that.” Although her job was more part time than anything, despite her boss asking her to stay late constantly. “I just have a small secretary job right now. Paperwork and stuff, nothing fancy…” She trailed off, fingering a wayward strand of red hair and putting it behind her ear again. “That sounds like a good idea, especially to meet people. From what I’ve heard, the place is quite good.” She didn’t want to say why she wasn’t going to school already, didn’t want to admit to her having just about zero grades to get in with. “Well, I definitely want to look into taking a pottery class. Sounds a bit silly, but I saw it on TV and thought it looked fun.”

Nathan’s mind wondered for a moment as Willa spoke. He started to get the sense that there was something going on with the other. But he decided he didn’t care and brushed it off “I’d probably lose my fucking mind working a job like that.” He said a bit harshly. Nathan nods as she confirms with him that his idea was a good one “I know.” Giving her a smile then before continuing “Have you? A campus in a place like this has to have interesting students, right?” Scanning over the grounds again, he found himself wondering about his brother and sister. If they were here like he’d heard, what kind of people had they grown up to be? Narrowing his eyes, Nathan wished he hadn’t thought about it. Looking at Willa he feigns a laugh “No, it sounds like fun. I don’t think I would enjoy it much, personally. I have no idea what I will take at the moment.” Because Murder 101 probably isn’t on the list of things to teach others with around here, unfortunately. Kristine smiled and when she heard her boyfriends explanation, is was so not him to talk that way. “Oh please.” She laughed lightly, and looked at him carefully. “You much be real fucking tired cause you’re even acting weird.” She walked inside her apartment, “Alright go sleep in my room, hopefully my happy boyfriend will come back.” she spoke and walked up to him and kissed him on the lips. “Go sleep. I’ll wake you in a couple hours.”

He grinned a bit, so he was starting to figure it out now. Kristine was proving to be a great source of information, not that she was perfect though. He needed to see Austin to make a definite assessment. Nodding a bit he laughed “Oh, you have no idea-” He paused, wanting to finish with her name but of course didn’t know it. Clearing his throat he looked away awkwardly “It’s the assignment, it’s really fucking with my mind, I guess.” He kept an eye on the streets leading to Kristine’s apartment as they walked. Once they were inside and she told him to go to her room and sleep he nodded. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep though. What surprised him more was when she moved in and began to kiss him and for a short moment he was enjoying it, until he started to over think it. Just think, Nathan, your brother has probably kissed this woman a thousand times. I wonder if his spit is still in her mouth. “ Err-” He pulls away, licking his lips and then looks around “Where’s your room?” Kristine pulled away when he started to ask weird again, what the hell is going on? she furrowed her eyebrows as he asked where her room was.“It’s.. over there?” She questioned as she pointed to her bedroom door, a place that he’d been in many times, hell they’ve had sex in there just last week. She couldn’t handle what was going on, but she shook her head and just blamed it on his sleeping patterns. “Just get some rest.” She spoke semi-distantly as she walked to the kitchen and put in a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Looking toward where she’d pointed he nodded “Cool, sweet. Awe-some.” Raising an eyebrow he looked at her. He was going to blow this if he didn’t stop freaking out. Glaring at the floor for a moment he starts to walk “All right!” He snapped, far too irritated at the moment to even attempt to be nice. Moving toward the room he stepped inside and slammed the door closed. Maybe I don’t fucking want to go to sleep. Walking over to the bed he stares down at it for a long moment. Then turned his attention to the window. Moving toward it he slides it open and pokes his head outside staring down at the street below. Ducking back into the room he walked over to the bed and tosses the blankets down to the end. Falling onto the bed he curled up and closed his eyes, his arms wrapping around him. He was at least going to attempt to sleep.

And he probably had sex in this bed- “UGH!” He turned onto his back and just decided to stare at the ceiling “ Do I smell popcorn?” He heard his stomach groan as the smell continued to fill his nose. Following this his eyelids began to grow heavy. Nathan’s breathing began to pick up for a moment as panic began to set in No, I can’t go to sleep, I’m not finished yet. He clawed at the sheets under him and tossed his head a little bit. His throat felt like it was swelling up, the groaning in his stomach began to intensify until he was gasping in pain. His eyes water a moment later, What the fuck is happening to me. After a few minutes of this Nathan sat up gasping for air and feeling completely sick to his stomach. I have to get out of here. But just before he could move to go through with his escape he dropped back down onto the bed and passed out from exhaustion. Kristine hadn’t understood what made him so irritated, she was worried and a little scared. This wasn’t Austin.. it couldn’t have been. Something.. else is going on with him that’s making him so stressed and upset, and it hurt her that he hasn’t or won’t tell her what it is. She jumped when he slammed the door, she looked around her apartment and went for her phone and texted someone.

When she heard him shuffle and then yell out for popcorn, “Sleep!” She yelled back, through the closed door. She pulled her bowl out and went to the living room and started to work on some of her own homework. A while later, she looked at the time, saw that he’d been passed out for almost an hour. She got up from her studies opened her door lightly just to check on him. She saw her boyfriend sleeping peacefully and it only made her worry what was going on in that head to make him act the way he did just an hour ago. She closed the door with a sigh and went back to her studies. She’s gotten a couple of hours of productivity before hearing him move around in her room again.

Jerking awake Nathan looked around, it was darker in the room now. He looked toward the window and noticed the sun was going down. Pushing himself up he felt sluggish and his stomach was still flipping. Sucking in a breath he moved from the bed and wondered where he was for a moment before remembering some girl picked him up at the campus “Hmm.” Quietly he started to rummage through her things until he stumbled upon something that had her name written on it “To Kristine?” Placing this item back where he found it he made his way toward the door.

“Kristine! You know what, I do feel much better. You were right, I really did need that nap.” His voice cracked toward the end because he just didn’t have the right kind of energy to keep this up, but he was determined. Smiling at her he walks up and grabs her then pulls her closer to him, his hand moving up to grab her jaw “I’m sorry I was such an ass earlier.” He whispered moving closer to her, his lips brushing against hers for a moment before planting a proper kiss on her lips, ignoring his earlier disgust “You are not mad at me, are you?” I think I’ve decided to kidnap her. His eyes shift up looking in the space behind Kristine, cold and black as he resists the wicked grin tempted to spread over his lips. Kris had focused on her paper before she heard her name fall from his lips, though normally he just called her Kris, but she let it slide. She looked up at him and didn’t expect him to be so aggressive, and when he was she furrowed and didn’t like where this was going. She kissed him back, though feeling weird with this. She kissed him for a second before pulling away and pushing him away. “Austin.. Stop.” She took a step away, “What’s going on with you?” She looked at him, studying him. “I don’t know what’s going on, whether it’s this assignment.. but something’s off..”

As she’d pushed him away he stepped back, confused for a moment. Of course he wasn’t a very good Austin, but he was trying. Nathan’s jaw unhinged as she stepped back. Offended, he narrowed his eyes on her “Nothing is going on with me. I’ve just been having an off day.” He said, teeth grinding as he tried to keep his tone as mellow as possible. Well, I tried. Stepping up to Kristine the smile dropped from his face and he tilts his head “Okay, something is off.” He held up his hands in surrender and stepped around her “ If you are just going to act like a bitch, I’ll just leave.” Heading for the front door he pulls it open, then stops himself. Turning back to look at her then, he smirked “I’m gay, sorry.” With that he walked out into the hall and slammed the door. As soon as he spoke in response to her job, her eyebrows rose a little. It wasn’t that she blamed him for thinking that about her occupation – it was boring – it was just the way he had said it so aggressively. Almost like he had changed as quick as she could blink. She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant about the possibility of interesting students, but she just put it down to the whole people rising from the dead fiasco. She made a quiet humming sound while she tried to guess what classes he might enjoy. “There has to be plenty of art ones, right? I think I’m going to try and take creative writing, too.”

Crossing his arms over his chest he narrowed his eyes on a student that had just made their way out of a building. -Is that?! No, it’s not, damn it. Digging his fingers into his arms as he swallowed down a bit of irritation. How long were these damn classes anyway. Had he missed Austin? At her humming he looked over at her and listen to her suggest art classes “Huh, that actually doesn’t sound too bad.” He glanced up at the idea of writing for creativity. When was the last time he actually had to write? Nathan knew it had been several years now “I like that, I might actually take that class, too.” Despite them being in a conversation, he seemed kind of distracted by something. She attempted following his gaze but it led to nothing in particular, just groups of students coming back and forth from where they needed to be. How odd. She couldn’t help but wonder what was on his mind, but thought it would be a little rude to ask considering she still didn’t know him well at all. The redhead nodded a little. He sort of pegged her as the creative type, for some reason, and obviously it was true considering the whole art thing. “Well at least if that happens you’ll have one face you know.” She reasoned. Going into somewhere alone could be quite scary.

Nathan smirks a bit as a thought occurred to him. He knew he could find out more about Austin if he went to registration. The type of classes the other had currently been taking could tell him what Austin was interested in, as well as where the other lived. Places like this kept that on file, Nathan had figured this out years ago when he attempted one of his break outs. He looked back over toward some students “That is true. And maybe you could have someone to walk here with.” Nathan nods at this. Aww that’s cute. Does she think you are someone who is going to be her friend? Looking toward Willa again Nathan finally got a good look at her. It doesn’t matter what she thinks this is, what matters is finishing my plan. It’s the only way I will be free to live my life. I have to kill everyone who gets in my way “Maybe I should pick up the list of classes at the office? If they have something like that here.” She couldn’t felt but feel slightly giddy at his words; the idea of having any kind of companion very appealing to her, considering how long it had been. It felt that it had been so long since anyone had really understood her; all of those people with their happy homes and smiling faces. Not that she didn’t love and appreciate everything her adoptive family did for her, but it always felt like there was something missing. A blood tie that couldn’t really be replaced, but there was nothing left to do now except perhaps make some friends that could be as close as family. Pink rising to her cheeks in a blush, the young woman nodded. “That would be nice.” Chewing on her lip, she waited for him to finish speaking. “Oh yeah, I didn’t think about that. Honestly I feel a bit nervous going in to speak to one of the teachers anyway.” Maybe she could just email them with her questions.

“Traveling in pairs can be very secure, my mother taught me that. Because this world has so many sickos.” Studying Willa he didn’t know how to take the others blushing. It seemed silly, to him. Nathan being someone who of course wasn’t very good with emotions from others. There was this block when it came to thinking about those sort of things. Something that prevented him from understanding another human beings feelings. Nurses had told him over and over again about there being something ‘entirely fucked’ with his brain. It all sounded so similar to the final things he’d heard his own father say. He hissed lightly as a memory struck him suddenly, of himself when he was seven years old and getting yanked away from his mother, he didn’t understand at that time that he was never going back home. Nathan’s eyes watered slightly, raising a hand up he covered them and pinched the bridge of his nose as he went on talking “Ah. You can join me if you want to get to talk to someone now?” Nina listened closely to his words, the way he talked. Something was off, something not right. She thought about the information under the Douglas’ file at the ward, and the mentioning of his twin brother. However, said twin never did visit, not even once during Nathan’s stay. Nina began to wonder, if he even had any idea he had a brother in the first place, nevertheless, when Austin found out, he was at the ward the next day. He demanded to speak with somebody who knew his brother, and the only person that had personally dealt with Nathan that was there was, of course, Nina. They didn’t have the best interaction, it was mainly Austin’s anger getting the best of him, and the strawberry blonde attempting to calm him down. He had questions nobody could answer, and demanded to know things he legally, could not know. They left off on a sour note, and he seemingly had no recognition of it. Did he even remember her? She had no idea, but she was going to play off as a stranger unless he confronted her about it first. The last thing on the redheads mind was that the male in front of her was actually her previous patient.

“Oh, yeah? I’m sorry to hear that,” she jutted her bottom lip out just a little bit, in a small pout, before nodding. “Well, I mean, the best of us are, sometimes, right?” She chimed, tucking her thumb into the front pocket of her jeans, before shaking her head in confusion. “Yeah, I have no idea, I’m sorry,” she apologized, offering a small smile.

Clicking his tongue at her he tried to think of what he could say. Nothing was coming to mind, it was too hazy to decided at the moment. There was so much already going on, he just didn’t have the energy to spare for this interaction with Nina on a deep level. He had two kidnapped people at his hide out, his brother’s girlfriend ( Or what he thought was his brothers girlfriend) ran into him and that was a very disgusting interaction for him, if he were going to give it a rating. This campus was just full of distractions.

“It’s nothing really. He tried to kill our sister. As far as I am concerned he can rot where he is. My dad probably saved a lot of lives sending him away.” Nathan turned his eyes away before looking back at Nina again. He gave a fake laugh “ If you say so.” Biting on his tongue for a moment he decided to continue “But his complications are really not something I’d consider to be good.” Shrugging then “It’s no problem at all. I guess I just have one of those faces.” His eyes move up to her hair for a moment before he turns away and starts to walk away from her. When he brought up his sister, Nina tensed, her head turning slightly as she narrowed her gaze. The way he spoke, the small shrug in his shoulders. He made a comment about his father sending his brother away, and from meeting Austin previously, it seemed far out of character. His laugh seemed all too plastic, definitely forced. She cleared her throat, nodding slightly. “Wow, t-that’s…awful,” she commented slowly. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek, watching him carefully. “You’d be surprised, there’s a lot worse than him in the ward-” she stopped abruptly, eyes widening for a millisecond before she instantly began to correct himself. “I’d assume, anyway, my aunt was inpatient there for a while,” she quickly saved herself; a little white lie never hurt anybody, right?

When he turned and began to walk away, Nina stared at him for a moment, before stepping after him. “Wait, wait, what’s your name?” She called after him, mainly for her own satisfaction.

“Yeah, he was a pretty scary kid. I would walk in our room sometimes and he would be talking to himself about weird stuff. One time he set a stuffed animal on fire. In the house.” Nathan raised an eyebrow, watching her and waiting to see if she’d actually believed what he’d said.

“Yes, awful. He had to go.” He winced slightly as she went on. He knew he hadn’t said ward. He hated that word: Ward, his own personal hell. Tilting his head a bit inward as he bit back the urge to say anything about it at that moment. Is this bitch serious? “You don’t say, there’s much worse than -Nathan?” Brushing the aunt part off then he decided to turn back toward her and grinned “My name is Austin Douglas.”

“Now, why don’t we backtrack a little bit. You said Nathan isn’t the worst one in that ward. What makes you say that?” He was actually very upset to hear this news. He made damn sure he was a fucking nightmare! If they were going to keep him locked up in that shithole he made sure that anyone who crossed his path would at least dart away before he hurled a shit storm of rage their way. The others ‘always’ comment earned a small scoff, followed by a light-hearted laugh. “A man after my own heart,” he stated, patting his friend on the shoulder. He watched him crack his neck, and roll his shoulders, before smirking at him. “Uhhh..same as usual, beer, girls, weed, drunk girls, music, probably acid if Slater comes around, let’s see…a pool, food, my game room.” Dillon was listing things off left and right, and could of kept going, even. But, he assumed the other got the point. “C’mon, Aussie-boy, you act like this is your first time at the rodeo.” He teased him, ruffling the hair on top of his head.

Nathan brought his eyes down to the others hand as it pats onto his shoulder. Lightly he pulls away and smiled “Am I?” Who the fuck is this guy? Sizing Dillon up, Nathan laughed. Apparently a friend of Austins. Aren’t I a lucky little psycho. Nathan’s mind wandered off while the other was listing off things that were going to be in the party, after the other had said weed. He could get behind going to a party that provided that sort of thing “Not weak ass shit, is it?” He asked about the weed. He guessed drunk girls would suffice. But drunk guys were a lot more amusing, to him. The pool was also of no interest to him, he didn’t know how to swim. Nodding then he decided he could at least enjoy one party, he felt he could gather more information there. Staring the other down he smiled “Sure, I’ll go to your party. Where’s it going to be?” Aussie-boy? What a stupid nickname. Does Tin let them call him these things on purpose? Blinking slowly, Nina’s eyes darted back and fourth ever so slightly as she scanned his expression, for something, anything that made things make sense. He told her about the stuffed animal, and raised an eyebrow. “Really?” She asked hesitantly, though she didn’t doubt it. I guess that’s better than killing neighborhood cats, or taxidermy… she thought to herself. The real psycho’s were almost always into mutilating things, whether it be breaking things, burning things, hurting things, or even themselves. Images of the ward, and Nathan’s sick laughter echoing throughout the halls, made her stomach churn. She remembered everything, and it almost made her feel sick every time she recalled it. She was the one to find him, lifeless, in his bed. She gave him his medicine daily, and checked his mouth afterwards, every single damn time, to make sure he swallowed it. She had no idea how he had saved enough pills to overdose, especially when she had been so careful. “Oh, for sure,” Lie. Austin was probably one of the worst, but the redhead always had a soft spot for him. She’d never admit he was one of the bad ones, especially to his brother. The name coming from his lips made a small shiver creep up her spine, sticking out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Austin, I’m Nina,” she introduced, along with a smile. After they shook hands, he seemed to bring up the thing she said about the ward quite passive aggressively. Nina was a bit taken back, but remained composed on the outside. “Oh, well,” she hummed, realizing she didn’t really have an answer, that didn’t give her away. “There was just a lot of crazies in there, I guess. This one guy had his hand in his pants every second he could manage. Always muttering something about how he was going to destroy everyone when the guards made him stop, the whole psycho-act. ” she huffed in disgust. “ Let me tell you; that guy, was a freak.” She wrinkled her nose, shaking her head at the thought of the man, one who had been in the ward from a very young age, and had a chronic illness. “I heard he even attacked a nurse with a spoon once…Did some damage, too,” she added.

Surprisingly to probably everyone he’d ever known, Nathan never intended to kill anything, pets, sisters or otherwise, until now. But to say he was absolutely against it was also something he couldn’t say. He didn’t want that sort of negative attention, it was a whole different sort of attention he had craved. But she seemed to of fall for his little story from his past “Oh, yes. It was really horrible. Mom and dad thought the entire house would go up in flames.” Nathan gave her a little grin

“Yeah, for sure.” He repeats her words, eyeing her still. Looking at her hand when she held it out and introduced herself, he really didn’t want to touch her. But even more so he didn’t want her touching him. Resisting the feeling he was having he sticks his hand out and shakes her hand, against his will “Nice to meet you, too. It’s interesting to run into someone my brother actually knows.”

While she was explaining he thought back to those days. It was one of his favorite things, scaring people away from him. He had wanted to be alone. Nathan had no intentions of making friends with anyone there. But then his mind started to move onto something else, someone else. Tazmin wasn’t a friend, she was something else to him. Frowning a bit as he thought about the older woman and that had died just a little while before he mysteriously woke up in the woods by the ward. Nathan would deal with her murderer after he finished off his family. He swore it, again “Oh? That sounds gross.” Nathan knew the guy she was talking about.“Oh, well, that’s horrible.” Dillon cocked an eyebrow in pure amusement, laughing in response to his question about the weed. Was he really asking that question? Dillon was known for getting great product, without having to shell out half of a paycheck. He had been smoking since a young age, and after being in the area for a while, he built up quite the connections. He didn’t consider himself a drug dealer by any means, however, he did believe in redistributing to friends. He considered it helping them out, with the upside of getting free weed on the side in profit. “Are you really asking me that right now?” He questioned, taking a step back, and placing his hand on his chest, as if he were offended. Maybe he was, just a little bit. But, he was joking for the most part. “Damn, son, must I remind you that the last time we smoked together, you passed out on the floor after like six hits off of the bong?” He reminded in a matter-of-fact tone, rolling his eyes. “You know damn well I get good shit,” he grinned. “My parents house. Their out of town, and their house is huge, so we may as well put it to use, right? Starts at 10,” he informed the other.

Nathan nods at the others question, before realizing the other was joking now. He turned his eyes away trying to figure out if it was in any way amusing, to him. Maybe he was just being kind of shrewd. As the other went on he continued to look off into space “Son? I’m not your son.” He bit back toward the other before frowning. If I were your son, the knife in my hoodie pocket would be in your throat right now, instead of being hidden. He had never used a bong. So he just nodded and pretends he knows what Dillon was talking about “Oh yeaaah.” He held his mouth open and let a spit bubble build up in it and pop “I completely forgot.” Turning his gaze back toward Dillon he toyed his tongue over his upper lip as the other spoke “Good. Uh, remind me where your parents live again? And that is ten tonight?” Willa raised a fair eyebrow at his words, before giggling a little at how serious he had sounded while saying them. Of course she more than anyone was quite aware of how dangerous the world could be, and despite her naivety it could be said that she was still afraid of everything. Just someone speaking too loud could instill the fear of God in her, all things that had changed in her since the incident. She used to be a fun preteen, outgoing in all the ways a young girl should be. Then all of a sudden all the doors within her had closed, not allowing anybody in. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Willa had been hoping that the other had suggested such a thing because he was starting to like her, but she knew that was probably hoping for too much out of a stranger. She was honestly quite fascinated by him; he didn’t seem like a lot of people around the town and she admired that. Willa didn’t notice the quick change in the young male, she was too busy thinking about what she was going to ask. “Uh yeah, if that’s okay I guess I could tag along.”

At her giggling he raised an eyebrow, then smiled a little bit. Though he didn’t know if she had run into the same sort of ‘sicko’ as he was actually referring to. Of course Nathan wasn’t so blind to those out in the real world that could just be as sick as those in the ward. But from his perspective the Ward was full of people who, in some occasions murdered people but were declared too insane to be in a normal prison. And the type hadn’t only been just murderers. He tilts his head a bit realizing at that moment that the world outside of the hospital was safer. Though with him being one of the biggest dangers at the ward that had probably meant very little at the moment “I am?” He questioned, still in his own head at the moment. Being told he was right had felt so strange. Since the last sixteen years of his life he’d been told he was wrong the majority of the time. Containing himself he pulls his hand away from his eyes and gave Willa a faint grin “Okay, which building do you think the office is in?” “Uhh..it’s kinda a joke…a nickname? Not literal, dude.” He raised his eyebrows in confusion, as to why Austin had took what he said so precisely. He seemed on edge, like something was wrong. He stared at the other for a short moment, before pulling a cigarette from the back he retrieved from the front pocket of his flannel. He slid one in between his lips, and located a black lighter in his front pocket, sparking it to light the end of the tobacco stick. He took a slow drag from it, inhaled, and released the smoke in one steady exhale. “Jeez, man, you’re forgetting everything today, aren’t you? 62 Baker Street, two houses past the church. Big yellow house with a mailbox out front with the name ‘Hardwick’ on it,” he reminded him. "You should come early and we’ll smoke a couple joints, just us. You need to chill out, or somethin’ — you look seem pretty beat, Aus.“

“Yeah, I got that.” He forced a grin over his lips before looking away, his eyes widening “I was fucking with you, brooo.” Nathan wanted to cut his tongue out of his mouth after saying that. Instead he just twisted it around in his mouth and let the other continue to talk to him “Yeah, I guess I am. Tragic. It must run in my family I guess, forgetting things.” His nose curled a bit as he finished. He laughed a bit as the other finished telling him where their parents house had been “Heh. Baker street. Getting baked on Baker street.” He started to lose it for a moment, breaking down in laughter. He covered his mouth and shook his head. Stopping himself he smiled, then bites his bottom lip and nods, his eyes watering “Right. I will chill out, on baker street, while we get baked.” Trembling a bit he tried to contain his laughter, he didn’t know why he thought it was so funny either. But he burst out laughing again. “I didn’t mean to.. I was mad and i’m sorry.” She bluttered out, hoping her apology could get her one step closer to a way out of here. “You.. You didn’t have to..” She spoke gently, feeling emotion start to evolve in her chest. She swallowed hard as she tried to swallow down all her feelings, not wanting to cry again. Looking at him and sitting there in fear, she almost forgot about her cell phone that was in her coat pocket. She took a deep breath as she realized she could be fine. Someone could find her, this knowledge didn’t make her confident or cocky, but it gave her some hope to stay strong.

Camille looked at him as he tried to make an excuse for who the name was. Although she couldn’t believe him, there was a part of her that did because of how sick he was. Those clothes could have belonged to the last person he kidnapped, of the last person he killed, or whatever else he could have done. Her brown hues looked at him and stayed quiet, there wasn’t anything else she wanted to say. “What?” She spoke looking up at him, terrified yet again. “No.. Please.. I believe that wasn’t your shirt.. I don’t know your name.. I know nothing about you. Not even where you live.. please.. don’t.. is there something I can do? Something you need? Money? I can help with that.. I promise..”

“Oh, you did to. Everyone means to hit someone. They either just feel sorry for it, or they don’t, later. Depending.” He narrowed his eyes and watched her for a moment. He laughs as she tells him what he didn’t have to take her here “Oh, and what, you were just going to forget about that?” He didn’t want to explain his lack of control, it would reveal he had no control over his anger.

Sitting up in the chair as she began to plead “Oh, now you want to be scared again?” He smirked and stood up. Walking toward Camille then he brings his hand up, tapping his index finger under her chin and then making her look up toward him “Money isn’t why this is happening. I have no use for it, certainly not at the moment.” Leaning toward her, his face dropping in front of hers. He smiled “If you be good, you’ll be home with your family before you can spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ten times fast.” He giggled a bit and pulled way, yanking his finger out from under her chin.

Looking at his arm for a moment he thinks, then grins and turns away grabbing the oatmeal on the counter he walks toward the door leading to the basement of the house and opens it “Be good. OR daddy will have to come back up here and spank you.” He was joking, about the daddy part. But less on the spanking part. And then he disappeared down the stairs leading to the basement. Millie looked at him when he got up close and in her face, “Wh-what do you want from me then?” She questioned as he declared that money wasn’t something he wanted. “Just tell me what you want.. i’ll do it.” She wanted to go home so badly, she wanted out of these ropes, out of this cabin, out of this forest. She wanted her bed, and her roommate, and her friends. She wanted normalcy.

Camille flinched when he called himself daddy, she felt gross on the inside not knowing if things were going to go sexual but she godly hoped they weren’t. She watched as he went back downstairs and when she’d heard his footsteps reach the bottom step she quietly pulled out her phone and texted her roommate, ‘S.O.S’ then after she clicked send she shoved the phone back where it was. She sat in the chair for a while, noticing he wasn’t coming back up. “Uh.. is there a name you want me to refer you as?” She yelled through the floor boards knowing he could probably hear her.

Stepping onto the concrete floor he reaches up with his free hand and flips on the light. Turning a corner a moment later he smiled as he approached a man chained to a chair “Hey. Time to eat!” He cheered walking over toward the person, hand slamming onto the top of their head. Shaking the others head back and forth he laughs when they hiss with pain “Good. Are we learning how to be quiet now?” He placed the bowl down on the table and scooped a spoon in it. Yanking the mystery males head back he stuffs the spoonful of oatmeal into their mouth and let’s them chew as he looks around. After a few minutes the oatmeal was gone “You can have some water in two hours.”

As he heard Camille he looks up and sighed. Stepping back from the chained up male he walked over to a couple of wires that were connected to the house “ Just call me Austin. Everyone else will.” He shouted up in response, cold black eyes shifting to look up at the floor boards over his head. Slipping on a pair of gloves then he reaches over and grabs the wires off from where he had them hooked up “Is that what you will tell the cops if you are let go? Because I know you will go to them.” He frowned as he approached the male, pulling the wires apart, electricity sparking between the two ends “It’s what you normies do. Because you think I’m insane, don’t you? Why would anyone just, do such horrible things, hm!” With that he stuck the wires on either side of the mans neck and the house’s lights dimmed for a second. Dillon was barely taking his bottle of beer away from his lips when he whipped the door open, eyes widening just a little as he swallowed a mouthful of the malt beverage. “ Holy SHIT, you actually showed, “ he threw his hands up in the air, careful not to spill his beer. “ C’mon, come in, get yourself a drink, “ he grinned.

Nathan was good with memorizing things. So he didn’t have too much trouble finding Dillon’s parents. He was early, arriving at 9 figuring that to be a decent time show up. As the other opened the door he huffed “Yes, you invited me? Why wouldn’t I come. There’s weed.” Nathan didn’t know if there was something wrong with this guy, but he was starting to sense something. Though this only lasted a split second before he brushed it off, no caring. Smiling then he walked in “Sure. Where’s the weed?” Laughing, Dillon stepped back to allow who he thought was Austin to step in, closing the door behind him. “Good point, my man.” He patted him on the back and proceeded to walk over to the table, grabbing a bowl that was quite literally, filled with joints rolled with assorted flavors of rolling papers. There must of been at least 100 joints in the bowl; Dillon prepared far ahead of time for this party. He was always big with his parties, especially when his parents were out of town. “Pick your poison, Mr. Douglas,” he held out the bowl to him with one hand and reached in to pluck out a pineapple flavored joint for himself; his favorite. “Need a light?”

“Isn’t it. I seem to be making good points a lot lately.” That will show those fucking nurses, wont it. Nathan flinched as the others hand pat against his back. A spike of irritation hitting him for a moment, he closed his eyes reigning it in before it could turn to anger. These people were all so touchy. He didn’t know how much more he could tolerate, if one more stranger touched him he was going to start chopping off hands. As they approached the table he stared down at the bowl and smirked. Being in the ward there weren’t many options for this sort of thing. It was hard to sneak in, and bribing the staff had always been a tricky sort of game. Reaching out toward a random one then he brings it up and sniffed it “Uh. Right! Yeah!” He held the joint out to accept the others light. Once it was lit he brings it back to his lips and takes a drag, holding it in his lungs for a few moments before letting it puff out from his slightly parted lips, then coughed lightly “Oh, wow.” Unown (D) reblogged stfudillon stfudillon

Two small dimples popped out as he grinned, looking down as he searched his pocket for his BIC lighter. Once he found it, he pulled it out and sparked it, touching the flame to the end of his buddy’s joint, and then to his own, all in one fluid motion. He puffed on the unlit end, releasing a small cloud before breathing it in once more, holding it afterwards for a solid moment, until exhaling the smoke from his lungs. The others coughing made him chuckle instantly, raising an eyebrow. “Good shit, huh?” He asked, in reference to the other male’s question about if Dillon’s weed was good or not, that he had asked earlier that day. “Easy there tiger, you don’t wanna loose a lung,” he teased, plopping down on the end of the couch and bringing the joint in between his fingers up to his lips once more. Usually, Austin was just as much of a smoker as Dillon, and seeing him couch after the first hit off of a joint was all too amusing for the dirty blonde.

Swaying a little bit he grins and gives a few nods “Yes. Th-that is really fucking good.” He shakes his head and pats his hand against his chest. He was sure that he was missing out with the stuff he’d gotten a hold of at the ward, now. At the others next comment he froze for a moment in thought “Huh.” How did Dillon know if he didn’t want to lose a lung? One of the last things he could remember was having a meltdown and wanting to take his own life, when his last escape attempt failed “A lung wouldn’t be so bad to lose, compared to, I don’t know. Maybe losing all your freedoms? Being locked up in a place you don’t belong and held there against your will, sounds like it would be worse than losing a lung.” He giggled a bit before bringing the joint back to his lips and taking another drag from it. This time making sure to let the smoke out without coughing, though he really did want to cough. Oh, come on Nathan, be cool, don’t look weak in front of this freak. Kaley was walking around, trying to find the next spot to paint when she saw a male. Even though she’s lived in this town for a few years, she was an introvert. She didnt go out much. Didnt meet very many people. So she shook away the nerves and walked over to him, giving a polite smile. “Uh, hi! Would you like some help getting around?” Kal asked, biting the inside of her cheek. It was obvious that she didnt do this very much, and she was so caught in her own thoughts that she didnt notice him talking to himself.

Spotting someone across the field he tilts his head, peering over the sunglasses he had one- Oh shit! There he is! It only took you three days Nathan! What have you been doing?- Procrasterbating. Pulling the hoodie closer to his face he kept himself out of view before a voice interrupted him and he jumped half out of his skin. Narrowing his eyes he turns to look at where the voice came from “Some-Uh.” He looked back to where he’d spotted Austin, but the other male was gone. Looking at the young girl then he tried to contain his shaking from how irritated he suddenly was “ Show me around? I- er, g-guess. I’m new here. Is it that obvious?” He smiled awkwardly then. Kaley could obviously tell that he was hiding from someone. Maybe he was in danger? But she kept her thoughts to herself, jumping back when he got startled. “Oh, im sorry! I didnt mean to startle you.” She quickly apologized, running a nervous hand through her hair. His question caused her to shake her head. “No no, not at all. But ive been the new girl more times than i can count. Its easy for me to spot others out.” She explained, giving him a soft smile. “Where were you heading to?”

Swallowing at her apology he pats on his chest “I’m just jumpy today. You don’t need to be sorry about that.” He grinned. When she answered him he frowned a little “Oh! Have you?” Nathan glanced away for a second then looked back toward the girl “Here I thought I had this perfect disguise and everything.” Rubbing his stomach then as he thinks about what he was doing. Which wasn’t anything at all, since Austin had gotten away. But a funny little thought came to mind “Oh. I was just about to go to registration and get into some classes here.” And maybe fuck up Austin’s classes a little bit. Won’t that be hilarious. Nathan’s nose twists at the thought before he smiled at her again “I am just having trouble finding the building.” “Now look, Nathan, you have upset your mother.”

“I told her the truth about this place, and you people.”

“ You’ve been telling her the truth since you arrived here, Nathan.”

“That’s because you sick fucks have her believing this place is helping me.”

“We are helping you, Nathan. Now take your pills.”

“Helping me!? I am not any better! I want to leave. You can’t keep me here!”

“Nathan! Pick those up! You have already been told, you are too dangerous to leave. We would get in a lot of trouble if we let you out, and you ended up killing someone.”

“I’m an adult. I have rights! I want out of here-”

“Dr. Prescott has told you, Nathan, you are a danger to society. Now pick up your medication.”

“No, fuck you! -No! Let go of me! I’m leaving!”

“Hold onto him. This is why Dr. Prescott had to change your doses, Nathan. We can’t keep having these outbursts. It’s not good for business-Now, Shepard, please hold Mr. Douglas’ mouth open this time. If he bites me again, you will be fired.”

“This time she’ll tell them what you fucks do here! This time is different. I made her cry this time, she believes me!”

“She thinks you are out of your mind and so do the rest of your family. You just helped her realize there is no saving you. After sixteen years you should know it, too”

“Fuck you! I will kill you and burn this entire fucking place to the ground, you bitch! You are all dead! You just don’t know it yet! Every wall of this cursed fucking building will be stained with your worthless blood and the halls will echo with your dying screams, if that’s the last thing I ever fucking do! And the last thing you will hear is my victorious laughter as you slip into hell! I will scotch this earth with my rage like a fucking mega-storm! Do you hear me!? I will leave a scar so deep in this earth, this town will never forget my name! The ground this fucking place is built on will strike terror in their hearts at the memory of the massacre that will befall you all! No! Let go of me!- DO. YOU. HEAR ME, YOU BITCH!!?!” His little grin after he spoke about the house catching on fire left an unsettling feeling in her stomach, though she made no comment, and simply shook her head. She shook his hand, and something about the feeling of his hand touching hers made her skin crawl just a little bit. When he stated something about it being interesting to run into somebody that knew his brother, Nina realized her mistake. She said something wrong, but she didn’t know what. She thought she was being careful with her words, but apparently not careful enough. She decided going against what he had said would draw more attention to their relationship, and Nina wasn’t ready to talk to anybody about it. She had given her all to Nathan while he was in the ward, but, some people just didn’t want to be helped. The redhead would of given the world and more to help him, but it was far out of her hands now.

She thought about the scar he had shown her, and something about it gave her deja-vu. She swore she had seen the same mark, in the same place, on Nathan. Was it possible that they had the same scar, after they had been separated at such an early age? None of it made sense to Nina, and thinking about it almost made her head hurt. She had a strange feeling that the man in front of her was not Austin Douglas, but somebody much darker.

Nina realized he had spoken several times, and she hadn’t said anything. She was just sort of staring at him, blankly. She awkwardly cleared her throat and averted her gaze to look at the trees, shifting backwards on her heels. “Y-Yeah it was,” she managed to say, still holding herself like a deer caught in headlights.

Staring at her hand as they touched he could remember every time she had touched him. Checking on him. He would bat her away. Nathan didn’t trust the hands of the staff at the ward with his care. Her hands included. They were always touching him, holding him, prodding him. Years of it had made him sensitive to another persons touch. Contact with another persons skin sent a chill through the offended flesh. Bringing his hand away he grips his hand into a fist, holding off the impulse to wipe the invisible filth off him. He tilts his head a bit then.

As he realized the other had been off in her own world he took the time to roll his eyes. Typical. She is only interested in hearing what I have to say if it involves getting into my head. Fucking bitch. His eyes narrowed and he brought his hand up to play with his shirt as she finally spoke “Mhm….” Nathan let out a breath then and looked away “You alright? You are acting weird.” Making a face at her he steps away “Well, I guess I need to get to my class. You should probably head home and take a nap. You look really pale all of a sudden, like you have seen a ghost. It’s cold out, you might catch something.” He held up his left hand as he spoke and made a gun motion, shooting at her before turning and walking away. Demi’s stare could almost burn holes in the back of the other’s shirt as they turned away from her for a brief moment. If looks could kill, they’d already be dead. However, when they faced the Santino again, her expression lit up with a completely fake, closed-lip smile that could of fooled anybody. “ Oh my gosh, hiii, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, “ she batted her eyelashes as she spoke, beaming at the person in front of her. I wonder if they could tell how utterly sarcastic that was…she thought.

Letting out a breath as he stares up at the sky trying to count the stars, for the last hour. Needless to say he was completely out of steam by this point “It is fucking impossible!” Lifting a beer up he throws it at the sky “Fuck you.” But as it went soaring across the air he heard a voice that he recognized talking to someone else. Turning his body to face her, he squints, his right eye twitching “NOW I remember.” The beer smashed behind him several feet away, just then. Walking over he grabbed Demi by the hair and yanked on it “You. Come with me.” As the person she had been talking to tried to stop him, he glared at them and pulled out a knife “Fuck off! I will use this.” He grabs her shoulder then “Let’s go.” Getting grabbed by a drunk frat boy and tossed into a pool was certainly not been on the top of Nathan’s to do list. And for the brief few seconds he was scrambling to get to the side mind had completely emptied of any thought before landing in the cold water. Pulling himself up onto solid surface and standing, his entire body was shaking. His eyes moved from person to person, most were oblivious to what just happened. Then he heard the person who had thrown him into the pool say his brother’s name. Something in him snapped at that moment, his mind went blank as he stepped toward them. In the next moment his fist had slammed viciously into the guys face, sending them stumbling to the side and dropping to the ground. Nathan could hit pretty hard, for someone who had mostly done a lot of sitting around talking about their feelings in a hospital their entire life. This asshole could have ruined everything, you should not have come here. Kaley nodded her head, playing with the tips of her hair out of a nervous habit. “I moved a lot, so i was always going to different schools.” She explained before giggling. “Im sure you do. just… Tend to be really observant. So i guess i know the signs more than most.” And that was true. She didnt talk to a lot of people, preferring to sit in the corner and draw so she did a lot of people watching. “I was just there the other day. I would be happy to show you.” Kal smiled brightly, motioning for him to follow her as she started to walk. “Im Kaley… By the way.”

Watching the girl, he studied the way she toyed with her hair, an eyebrow rising as he observed. Before he checked back in on what she was saying to him and nodded “Really? I’m from Colorado, been there my entire life, unfortunately. This is my first time out in the big wide world.” His hands wave out as he finished. Nathan smiled “Oh?” At her offering to show him where the registration was, he resisted a smirk. He knew where it was from the other day when he’d gone there with Willa. He hadn’t had the opportunity then to do much besides trying to get into a writing glass and some artsy class. As she started to walk and then gestured for him to follow he did “Kaley? My name is Austin.” You know what is really annoying? Calling yourself Austin. You know what you should just do, call yourself Fucking Moron, because Austin you are not, moron. You also couldn’t possibly be as attractive as he is, cut your hair- and maybe. I should cut my hair, good idea, me. She was too distracted to notice the raised eyebrow. He was right, however; she hadn’t run into contact with the type of sickos he meant. People a little too handsy or strange definitely, but not as insane as he perhaps was referring to. She wasn’t completely oblivious as to be unaware of the danger around her; she still tried to stay clear of it as much as she possibly could. In her opinion, she had experienced her fair dose of it. Maybe not personally, but it must have still counted. “Yeah,” She responded, laughing softly again at his slight disbelief. “Um,” She pondered for a moment before shrugging. “It can’t be too far from the entrance, right?”

Nathan had spent a great deal of time in isolation, unfortunately not enough to be oblivious to the goings on in the hospital. He wondered at that moment if he were indeed one of the worst. How had he not been able to permanently land himself in confinement. He was sure the ward staff were at least thinking about it on several occasions. Of course, he also wasn’t discounting her experiences. Nathan had trouble relating to people, his problems were always more important to him.

Scanning over the campus grounds he nodded slowly “So maybe we should go see-ah, that building maybe?” He points and starts walking toward the building he pointed out. Not looking back to see if she were going to follow, because he expected her to. A moment later he was walking into the building and was greeted by some older lady “ Hi? Yeah, we-” Looking over his shoulder to see if Willa had indeed followed and then looked back at the other “ Wanted to sign up for a class- and other stuff.” Ugh, this ‘fitting in’ shit, is so fucking tiring. I hope Austin likes creative writing. Not. “Yeah. I had an interesting childhood.” That was the understatement of the century. “I actually lived in Colorado for a week. Its gorgeous there.” Kaley smiled softly. She even got a few good paintings while living there. They were in a box in the basement of her Uncle’s home somewhere along with hundreds of other paintings. Every single home she lived in, she drew something. It was a huge reminder of what she went through. “You can call me Kal, like Superman. If you want. He was actually the only Superhero that I- Nevermind.” She quickly cut herself off with an awkward laugh, blushing softly. There was definitely a hidden nerdy side to her. Thanks to one of her foster siblings. “Uh, what classes are you thinking about joining?” She asked, slipping her hands into her pockets as they walked.

“Oh, you did?” He stared, his gaze glazing over for a moment. He wondered how many other people had interesting childhoods as well. Then he smiled, because he also knew he had an ‘interesting’ childhood. Blinking away the urge to roll his eyes he looks away “For sure.” He had no idea what Colorado looked like, to be honest. So he was pretty sure the place could have been a lava pit, or a wasteland of nondescript and his response would have been the exact same. Nathan also really did like the image of desolated landscapes. Wondering off for a moment in thought about the possibility of surviving in a wasteland after another moment. Bringing his attention back, he laughed “Like Superman?”

Not batting an eye at her adorable little cut off he turns his head away. Nathan couldn’t add much to that, having grown up in the ward was depriving in so many ways. Biting on his tongue as she went on, he tossed his head, getting a few black strands of hair out of his face “Engineering. Something in chemicals maybe. Maybe psychology.” Yes, because being a psycho is perfect criteria for a career in psychology, Nathan.- I could have been…- It’s too late to be anything but this, a killer. Your classes are Fratricide, Genocide, Patricide, Sororicide, Matricide, and your ‘passing the bar’ is Suicide. Find your family, kill them. End it before they can stop you! Kill everyone who has ruined you! Gasping in surprise, Demi almost dropped the drink in her hand, hissing back at Nathan as he tugged on her ponytail. “ Hi, Austin, “ she giggled, having heard him talking to Dillon, and refer to himself as his twin. Dillon and her had grown close over the years before her death and when the Santino asked him who he had been talking to, she knew it wasn’t actually Austin. She knew who he was, the moment she saw him; it wasn’t very easy to tell the two boys apart, though.“ God, you really know how whoo a girl, don’tcha?? “ She hummed, taking a sip from the bottle she held. She complied to his wishes and walked away from the girl she had been talking to, one of her old ‘friends’ whom she never even liked.

Smacking his lips in a bit he mocks her condescendingly “Hiii! Oh my gosh! You ‘membered my name, boo. So. honored, right now.” Rolling his eyes around in his head for a moment, he let out a stuck up sounding sort of laugh and whipped the knife away from the other person “You know me so well.” Scrunching his nose a bit he leans toward her “Nothing seems to fly under your radar.” As they moved away he flipped the other girl off “See you around never, whore!” Once they were walking away he glared at Demi “You died, yes?” Looking her up and down for a moment, he couldn’t tell. She looked completely alive. But he knew something wasn’t right “Do you notice anything different about yourself? Habits that you have now that you don’t remember having before. Certain traits that are stronger now?” “Yeah. I suppose so. It was mostly due to moving so much.” Kaley explained with a smile, although she didnt really have a good idea of what a childhood should be. Growing up for her was like living in a boot camp. His question caused her to nod her head. “Like Kal-El, yeah.” She explained with a laugh as he building started to come into sight.

Kal wished she could only take art classes at college. It was one of the only things she was the most passionate about. That and helping others. It was just a little bit hard when she was an introvert and would rather spend time painting or drawing then going out to a party. “Oh, im taking Psychology. I also heard they have a good Art program. I mean… If you like Art of course.” She smiled brightly, definitely signing up for that.”

“You moved a lot?” He said, trying to put as much interest in his tone as he could muster by this point. All the interaction and pretending to be something else was taking a toll on him, he realized. At the ward all he had to do was fight someone for a few seconds and he’d end up being confined. Which he liked most of all, because he could talk to his imaginary friends in solitary far better than he could in the open. Seeing as he understood these friends weren’t really there and he just conjured them up to keep his mind sharpened, to remember things he could not forget.

“Not familiar with it, sorry.” Nathan frowned at that “I must have been living under a rock.” Or in a place where the most common words one could hear on any given day were curse words and something sexual. Sucking in a breath he stopped himself from laughing. Then nodded “Are you? Maybe I could see you in it?” He crossed his arms over his chest and thought about this art program. He of course had already looked into it when he went to this building with Willa the other day. Looking ahead he grinned “I love art.” The redhead might have believed somewhere in her that she was aware of all the bad that went on in the world daily, but the truth was that she only had a minor idea of the fresh hell that life could produce. Of course the girl didn’t want to know of all those bad things, but sometimes it was relieving not to be so oblivious. Or so that was what someone so innocent would say and think. It wasn’t as though she thought herself immune to the hurt, of course not. Willa knew she wasn’t, which was partially the reason she was so damn scared most of the time.

She nodded to his words, suddenly a bit excited to start this new journey in her life. It wasn’t so typically school, but close to it. Maybe she would get to live the experiences she had missed out on in her earlier youth. Going to parties; meeting new people. Willa quickly followed in his steps, much shorter legs struggling to keep up with his stride. She pasted on a kind smile for the lady at the reception office, finding Austin’s awkwardness a little endearing. While he was busy, she made her way to another desk and lowered her voice to the member of staff sitting there. “Hey, I just wanted to know if you had any like– exceptions with people who’ve been out of education and are willing to get back in?” For some reason, she hoped the young man she was with hadn’t overhead and decide to ask her questions later.

While Willa went with one woman Nathan was led away with another. He took a seat in one of the chairs in their office and smiled as they seemed to recognize him as Austin at that moment “Yes. That is me. I am Austin, Austin Douglas.” As they went on to bring up some files on the computer he tilts his head, looking over the room. He turned his eyes back as the other started listing off Austin’s classes “Yes. Drop all of those. I am bored with them.” He sits up straight and leans in closer “I have found that I have new aspirations and shit. Whatever.”

They looked at him in complete confusion before asking if he were sure about what he was saying. Austin seemed to be doing very well in his classes. “Yes. I am sure.” They went to work then and Nathan found his attentions moving onto something else as typing filled the room. Then they asked him what he wanted to take to replace his dropped classes “I want to be put in the creative writing class, for sure.” Nathan smirked, and started listing off several other artsy classes before he was finished and soon walking back out to wait for Willa to finish up. They asked if he would like to have any notifications sent to him about his changes and he shrugged “No. I have a great memory.” Staring at her hand as they touched he could remember every time she had touched him. Checking on him. He would bat her away. Nathan didn’t trust the hands of the staff at the ward with his care. Her hands included. They were always touching him, holding him, prodding him. Years of it had made him sensitive to another persons touch. Contact with another persons skin sent a chill through the offended flesh. Bringing his hand away he grips his hand into a fist, holding off the impulse to wipe the invisible filth off him. He tilts his head a bit then.

NIna hadn’t even realized she had been off in her own world, thoughts whirling in her head faster than she could process them, but, somehow they all still made sense, in their own chaotic way. She took note of the tilt in his head, and the roll of his eyes – gaze shifting to stare at him, watching his every move as he began to step away. “Yeah, no, I’m fine I just –” She didn’t get to finish, before the next comment left his lips, and a chill ran up her spine. His words almost sounded like he was actually concerned for just a moment, before Nina noticed the thick sarcasm present in his speech.

Everything was blurry until he lifted his hand, forming a gun with his fingers and shot off her head with an imaginary bullet. Nina’s breath caught in her throat, and her heart felt as if it dropped into her stomach. The simple motion was something Nathan had done many times before, in the ward. All of her questions were now answered; the boy that was now turning away from her, was not Austin Douglas. It was Nathan. She had no idea how he was here; she’d found his body, lifeless and stiff in his room. Watching his back as she stood, mouth agape and body frozen in it’s spot, she suddenly felt a very bad feeling wash over her. He was at the college his brother attends, with a mask on, and was walking away from her with a purpose in his step – the redhead didn’t even want to THINK about what was on his agenda. “Yeah. My parents couldn’t really take care of me, so i was a foster kid for a while.” Kaley explained with nonchalance. It wasn’t something she particularly brought up on her own, but if it came up in conversation, then she didn’t really care if people found out. She lived with her Uncle now, who she adored, so it was all a happy story now.

“I have boxes of comics at my house! You are welcome to read as many as you want, but some people do find them quite boring.” She said as the building got closer now, playing with a necklace she had in her pocket. “Me too! Art is one of the best subjects, in my opinion of course. You cant go wrong with it.” Kal said with a bright smile. In her backpack she had all of the necessary materials she needed to draw or paint wherever she was. Sometimes muse struck her in the blink of an eye.

Nathan nods as she explains herself. He dropped his eyes down as he realized his parents couldn’t take care of him either. Once, he felt they did love him. Well, he guessed they must have. Then in one moment that world he was living in shattered. They didn’t really love him, he came to understand. You don’t abandon someone you love. He felt unloved all sixteen of the years he had been locked away, because of a mistake. He began to hate them all as the years went by. His mother wouldn’t listen to him, the staff at the ward seemed ignorant to his words, brushing them off as part of his illness, it had really pissed him off.

Looking back up as she mentioned coming over and reading comics. He blinked, confused by the notion “Ah, I-uhm- S-sure.” He winced awkwardly, not knowing if he was actually going to be able to take up that offer. Nathan let out a breath the more excited she sounded. He didn’t know what to do about it. Smiling at Kaley he nods “No I do not think so. I usually like to use my fingers with paint.” Because sometimes Nathan just wasn’t allowed to have a brush in the art sessions he was in. Nathan wondered what happened to all those things he worked on while in the ward. He never got to see them after finishing them. His room was far too small for all that stuff.

Kaley sometimes wished she would have tried to find out who or where her parents were. She had very minimal memories, and she tried to keep the bad ones away. But even then, she really only knew the stories that people told her. Not really things that she wanted to know in the first place. They were drunks who couldnt take care of a little kid. Drunks who forgot she even existed for Four days which was the main reason for her being taken away.

“Uh, i mean you dont have to! Im sure we will run into each other again and i can give you a copy. If you want it.” Kal said quickly, awkwardly brushing her hair behind her ear. When he spoke about finger painting, she thought back to when that was the only way she could paint. Not all Foster parents would give her anything she wanted. “Thats how i use to paint when i didnt have brushes. If you take Art, im sure you will like the materials you can use.” She said with a bright smile as they made it to the building. “Is there anything else you need help with? Im sure you will see me around so you can ask if you think of something.”

Blinking away the oddness he was feeling about her gesture, Nathan nods. Reading was something he’d found a bit troublesome. But he was sure if he did run into her and she did end up handing over a copy of some comic he would have no problems reading it. From what he had heard they were mostly pictures. Nathan smiled “That sounds great.” As she continued on with the subject of art after he mentioned finger painting he nods slowly “Right. I am sure there’s quite a few interesting items to pick up for the art program?” He guessed that painting was an expensive talent. Not that the ward went out of their way on materials.

Nathan just assumed it was something that could be expensive. Plus a lot of creative people were in and out of the ward and he learned what he could about the outside world, as much as he could, from those people. He couldn’t wait to get his hand on a v-gouge, just steal one Nathan, use it to torture your family. It will be entertaining. Nothing says ‘listen to me’ like carving a bit of skin. Approaching the building he looked up before turning his eyes back to Kaley “Nothing that comes to my mind right now. But thank you so much for your help already.” Nathan smiled and started to walk up to the door “I will do that.” With that he opened the door and walked inside the building. Maybe it was because she was lighting her cigarette in front of the church. Maybe it was also the additional pagan symbols drawn on the front of her shirt. Maybe it was the fact the lady had a kid, Lia still didn’t quite appreciate the judgmental look the mother had passed her. Wasn’t as if Lia was doing anything illegal. She had only found this town a few days ago, feeling it had potential with a school nearby–at least it gave the girl the opportunity to consider going back to school. The cigarette began to leave a taste in her mouth only beer could wash out, but Lia could not quite place herself in the direction she felt she needed.

“Excuse me,” Lia tapped the nearest shoulder she could find, “Where’s the nearest dive? Or pub or whatever might be around here?” She asked.

Chewing on the tip of his thumbnail, Nathan was feeling a bit more on edge at the moment. There were certain things he was just becoming less and less comfortable with in this town. All the touching, and being ‘nice’ in order to not throw people off, to hide his anxiety, was becoming more stressful the closer he got to reaching his goal. He was probably even doing a horrible job at it. No matter, it still had made him feel too tired to control himself.

So when a hand tapped onto his shoulder he let out a hiss and flinched away from it. Turning his cold dark eyes fall on Lia, a small sneer working its way over his lips, he asked “A dive? What the fuck is that?” He continued to stare at her in confusion “No. I do not know where whatever the hell that is, is.” Straightening his back he continued to watch her before making himself look away. Honestly, it was all a little daunting for her. The last formal interview she’d had was the one for her current job. Willa hadn’t been aware at the time, but now she was convinced that her boss had took her on for one reason more clear than the rest. The thought now managed to send chills up her spine. He was only some middle aged man thinking he could take advantage of her good nature. She couldn’t count how many nights she had spent awake, terrified at the thought of having to see him again the next day. The older lady gladly intruded her thoughts by asking her a few questions, and getting her to sit down and fill out some paperwork. She found herself wrinkling her nose at some of the questions, hardly any of them really applying to her. The hand holding the pen hovered closely over the ‘other’ section. How could she so easily describe her situation, as the words put it?

Of course she only ended up being able to join a couple of classes; the creative writing class and a night pottery class. It was enough to make her feel somewhat productive however, and soon she was heading back out into the main office to meet up with Austin. She grinned at him once they were headed out the door. “All good?”

Nathan had ended up in a chair near the entrance, sitting lotus style in it as he waited on Willa to finish up. He figured he could have left. But there was something about the girl that made him rethink doing this. It’s not like they had discussed waiting for one another, which ever one finishing first, right? Or that they were friends, he had only known of her existence less than two days. But still he had stayed.

When the other finally showed up he greets her with a nod and stands up. When she grinned at him he gave her a toothy grin back. Then bites his lips as he nods and walks with her “Yes. It was pretty easy, I think. They seem really excited to have me in attendance.” Nathan thought about how the changes would effect Austin, his eyes narrowed as a few horrible scenarios crossed his mind. It’s nothing that he doesn’t fucking deserve. Lia’s eyes just widened as he reacted. “So this town doesn’t sell booze? Anywhere?” Lia didn’t mean to startle the person, that’s why she tapped them. Apparently she needed to be more careful. Lia leaned her weight on one of her legs, pulling another drag from her smoke. “Not to be rude, but you seem like you could use a stiff one yourself,” Lia spoke as she exhaled.

Realizing what she meant at her next question, he frowned a bit, still not knowing where a bar might have been in this hellhole. The map he was using didn’t exactly give those kinds of descriptions for locations in the town. So Nathan just shook his head 'no’, slowly. When the woman went on to point out his oddness, he glared “I have had a lot of stiff one’s, where I am from, thank you.” Smirking, he raised an eyebrow and waited to see how the other took that statement. Before he let out a sigh and turned his head away “Are you new to this shithole or something? How do you not know where the bar is.” Lia snorted at his stiff one joke, but cleared her throat to cover her giggle, feeling it may be inappropriate. There’s a chance of misunderstanding. Lia had heard there were others like her, she had also learned it’s better not to assume anything of anyone. “Yeah, I drove in yesterday,” Lia answered simply, snuffing out her cigarette butt, “Thought there might be some interesting people there. Or a good drink,” She shrugged.

Is she actually amused by that? I bet it’s more that she’s laughing at you, Nathan. Nathan put on a smile and nods a bit, taking note of her moving on passed the joke, and her body language. As she answered his question he blinked tiredly and sucked on his teeth as he nods at her words. With Austin running around it was hard to keep up the lie that he was out-of-town. But he was still going to play along with it “Yeah? I am from Colorado, I just got here a couple of weeks ago.” He said, his tone thick with a bit of disdain. Clicking his tongue off the roof of his mouth he snorts at her “Did you really think that? A bunch of pleasant fucking dipshits running around this town, if you ask me.” She hadn’t been expecting or not expecting him to still be there, really. The girl would have brushed it off easily enough if he’d left, although she did find herself feeling happy at the fact he had decided to wait for her. Willa hoped this meant she was gaining a friend, or something like that. Though she was smart enough not to get her hopes up.

She remained in silence as they walked through the campus, and gathering her courage, the redhead came to a stop and turned to face him. “Uh, I don’t have work today, so if you’re not busy would you like to go get a coffee – or something?” Instantly her eyes directed towards the ground, feeling embarrassed. “Don’t feel that you have to, though.”

Nathan’s attention began to wonder off over the campus as they had walked through it. He was memorizing everything he could at a glance about the place. So this is where Austin spends a lot of time a day. Did it cost a lot to get in? Probably not as much as it would have cost for us both to go to college. Cut off one twin, cut the price of everything down to one, I guess. Nathan swallowed as a lump started to form in his throat. He shook his mind of those thoughts and looked back to Willa when she spoke. Coffee? Nathan tossed around the idea “ Or something? Sure. I guess a coffee would be nice.” He smiled at her. You don’t have a whole lot of money, Nathan, you need to survive long enough to at least kill your family, idiot. Nathan shook his head at her “No, it is alright, I do not have anything to do today either.” Besides hunt down your family, but no, it’s cool Nathan, procrastinate even more. “So you’re already acquainted with the town?” Lia asked, looking past his head for a moment, taking as much of the place as she could, “I have honestly seen a lot worst. So I have to think there are at least some interesting places around. Looks like there’s too much history here.” Lia shoved a few fingers into both of her jean pockets, fiddling with a visible lighter with her left hand. The corner of her mouth twitched hearing how displeased the stranger was with their situation, “Why don’t you leave then?” She asked, rather bluntly, but Lia didn’t understand, “I mean, just speculating Mr. Colorado; but sounds like you could be doing better. Being stuck is shitty….”

“Something like that.” He muttered. Nathan had not really stopped to enjoy the town. He had a plan and most of what he had done since waking up in the woods near the hospital were things he did in order to get to his family. Taking a moment then, he looked around them before turning his eyes back to Lia “Sure. A lot of history.” With her next question he jaw unhinged as he looked to the side “Wow, you know what, that is a pretty great question. I should have thought of that.” Blinking, he felt a wave of irritation strike up, he huffed “Though, I really can not just leave. I’m kind of stuck here until I’ve finished what I came here to do. Is that why you are here, did you just leave where you were? Were you stuck?” He was being short. Annoyed. Lia seemed to be good at finding people’s nerves; intentional or not. His question made the girl stand up a little straighter. Lia fiddled with her cigarette carton as she spoke. “Well, I didn’t want to be,” Pulling out the tobacco filled paper, Lia had to think carefull of how to use her words as she placed the cigarette between her lips, “because I knew if I was, it’s because I wasn’t thinking of me. And that’s pretty selfish sounding, but what else do I really have?” The lighter she was playing with finally served it’s purpose as Lia clicked the flame alive, leaning her smoke into it.

Nathan nods as the other spoke. His eyes moving slowly to look at the church they were standing in front of, before looking back at her. He looked her outfit over with curiosity as she finished “Thinking of yourself sometimes can be the right way to go about doing things. It takes some people too long to realize that choosing yourself is not always wrong. Because there’s only one person you are stuck with your entire life, yourself.” Nathan felt that was what his entire crusade was about. His family had spent sixteen years not thinking about him. Living their lives in normalcy while he suffered, hidden away in a hospital, thinking about getting home to them. Nathan’s eyes dropped down as he finished looking her over, then shot back up, locking onto her eyes. Willa bit the inside of her cheek lightly, getting herself ready for his answer. It didn’t matter if he wanted to come with her or not, she was still going for a coffee. She just couldn’t help but find herself hoping he would say yes. So she smiled when he did, and began walking in the direction of the towns coffee shop. “Nice. So how are you enjoying the town so far?” The redhead asked him politely. Maybe it was too early to ask that question, but he must have had somewhat of an idea by this point. She still didn’t know him well enough to know whether he was the type of guy to like this kind of place. She had no doubt it would be a little too quiet for some.

Nathan looked confused for a moment as he followed behind Willa, of course not knowing the place that had coffee was the reason behind this. Nathan felt a bit uneasy about it before deciding to ignore this feeling and just follow along, sure everything was going to work out well in the end. As long as this gets me to where I need to be.- How is going with some girl you just met going to get you to anywhere near killing your worthless family. Nathan cleared his throat and looked at Willa when she asked about how he’d felt with the town “It uh, has very nice people so far. Of the people I have run into. A little touchy, but nothing I have never had to put up with before.” Awkwardly he shrugged a shoulder and lifts his left hand up, twisting it a bit as he makes slightly goofy face. Looking around he huffed “It is growing on me, though.” The fall weather had called for her leather jacket, her style choices made Lia chose her favourite witchy tank full of graphics resembling what she believed were Wiccan sigils. Black skinny jeans pulled it all together, even though they were torn at the knees. The girl stood as straight as she could, at a slender 5′7, and her smile took up most of Lia’s face. Flashing a smirk, Lia agreed, “See, and that’s exactly why I’m here,” Lia smiled, waving her smoking hand around their surroundings. It was better she had left. “Who know’s how many chances we’ve got. Seize’em when you can; that’s my motto,” Lia smirked apathetically.

Nathan liked this girls style, a lot. Stopping for a moment as he thought about what he’d look like wearing something like it, a fox-like grin appeared over his lips before he seemed to check back in as she was finished talking “Right.” Watching her cigarette as her hand waved he suddenly had an urge to have one. Looking at Lia he smiled “Yeah, who knows. Tomorrow you could be dead.” It sounded more like he was saying that as a fact, and not just a guesstimate. Of course, Nathan was not the god of death or anything like that. He was just feeling very cryptic at the moment. Jutting out his jaw a bit for a moment he worked his way around to prolonging the conversation with this odd, yet interesting woman “So uh, where do you shop at?” Willa didn’t notice anything strange in the air as she was too distracted with being happy to have company, jolly walking straight out of the campus gates. She raised her eyebrow a little at him mentioning touchy people; she was practically certain she hadn’t really met any of those yet. Everyone had been so kind over the years, and accommodating when she’d first moved there. So she was hoping to be just as helpful towards somebody else. She smiled and checked that he was still with her before walking into the cafe. Thankfully the place didn’t seem too busy on a weekday afternoon. “A latte, please.” She asked the barista, fishing for her purse.

Your brother must be a very touchy person thing, too.- Personal displays of affection are gross. Nathan smirked at this thought and rolled his eyes as he looked away from Willa. He didn’t like strange people touching him, not a single bit. Though he understood that it had a lot to do with being stuck in the ward. It was irritating to be subjected to getting touched, more when it wasn’t asked for. But Nathan had often times enough shown a great propensity to control his frustration for it if he really had to. But at other times, he would just lose his mind. Austin wasn’t locked up in a ward his entire life, and made to sit in a tiny room for days on end, though. So he’s probably really touchy.

Looking up as he went on thinking he makes a face. Yeah, his girlfriend was pretty soft who wouldn’t want to touch someone like that? I didn’t see a single scar on her. As they approached the cafe he followed her in and eventually started taking in the sight of the place, like a small child seeing something for the first time. Which had been mostly how he looked this entire time. A latte, what the fucking hell is a latte? When the barista addressed him he looked over and smiled “Ah-uhm… I- uh.” I got this, I got this, what kinds of coffees are out there. “……” One with a lot of sugar? Cream! Nathan say something. Anything. “Blllaaaack.” I’ve never had coffee before, actually. Lia tapped her nose, as if playing a game with him, agreeing. “I’ve spent too much time worrying already. I mean, doesn’t say much as I obviously run away from my problems,” Flicking her eyebrows up, Lia pulled the cigarette to her mouth again, “but I digress.” Lia exhaled, contemplating his question. “Mmmn, thrift stores? Some stuff just given to me, like this jacket. And some I’ve found…” Her voice trailed off in memory, “Yeah…whatever’s cheap really. What about you Colorado? Where’d you find those nifty threads?” Her voice came off a little sarcastic, flirty even, but Lia was genuine, glad she had finally met someone who seemed cool.

Watching that little nose tap he made a face. Nathan of course had no idea he was dead, and he was no closer to finding out if there were actually dead people running around the town. He was very skeptical about it. It just didn’t seem to compute in his mind, the dead coming back to life. He just thought waking up outside the ward he had been living in was a lucky coincidence. Nathan nods “ Right. Running away sounds cowardly. I am more the type to face my problems head on.” By stabbing and torturing them. And once those problems are dealt with, if I still wish to die, then so be it. As she explained where she went shopping for her clothes he nods “Cheap. Nice.” Nathan grabbed onto his ratty looking hoodie and started down at the pants he had still been wearing from the ward “Ah. Well, I just kind of found this stuff. I usually also get a five finger discount at some places.” It’s an absolutely great feeling to be surviving on mostly no cash at all and practically starving to death, really. “Well when you put it that way,” Lia half mumbled, jokingly, “Sounds like you’re a real go-get’er. Big dreams to fill Colorado?” Lia asked. She had come to peace with her decision months ago. Knowing now good would come from revealing her current status. The thought, however, still caused Lia to snuff her current cigarette for another. This time, she tilted the pack towards Nathan, “Want one? Figured it’s rude not to offer,” The girl spoke, her own smoke stuck on the corner of her mouth, the filter now rimmed with the same dark red, almost purple lipstick. “Never good at stealing,” Lia smirked, lighting her thrid smoke, “But I could help, when necessary.” Her tone became playful, as if proud. Living on the streets makes you make decisions, so far it seemed Lia had been making the right ones, so she didn’t question her gut much. The same gut that was now telling her it was time for food. Hearing the call for help, Lia looked down at herself, as if shushing her body. “Hey, so I’m willing to put off my alcoholism for some food. My car is literally around the corner, wanna find an iHop or something? I hate eating alone. Always makes me feel like–I’m being watched or something, judged for trying to have a meal. It’s weird, I know…”

Nathan smirked, she had sounded a little upset by his words, though he did also take note of the joking tone her words held. At her question he continued to smirk “Yes, very big. Life changing to be honest.” He felt tingly just imagining plunging a knife deep into his fathers throat and watching the older Douglas’ blood spill out onto them. Nathan took a deep breath through his nostrils, pleased. He was so close to reaching his goal. His eyes moved toward the offering as she held out that pack toward him “Uh, yeah…” Plucking a cigarette from the pack he holds it up for a light “Thanks.” Once the thing had been lit he moved it to his lips and took a long drag. It had been a while since he lifted the last pack he had. It was very hard to get his hands on one in a store, as they were usually behind the cashier in most places.

As he let the smoke drift out he huffed. A calmness washed over him after that. At her offer, or what he assumed to be one he raised an eyebrow “Is that right? Well at the moment my thing is kind of a solo sort of thing.” He muttered, knowing that he hadn’t been planning on being around long he didn’t think it would be very nice to form strong bonds with others. Nathan blinked at her next offer and opened his mouth to reject it before his stomach protested at the idea of food, but not just food, something sugary “ Ah-…” Closing his mouth, he bites on his lips and looks away seemingly embarrassed. Shaking his head he calculated the cash he had then and nods “ Sure. I guess I could also use something to eat.” My family can wait, I’m too close to let hunger get in the way of my plans, now. Willa was someone who was quite aware of personal space, and how it was sometimes a necessity. It had started with her parents dying and she had begun pushing everyone away. Then the whole issue with her boss had not helped anything, and since then Willa had been more than aware of who was around her and who she allowed to touch her and who she did not. It had little to do with anyone else; it was entirely a personal problem. One the redhead of course wished she didn’t have, and could go back to being the bubbly carefree young girl she had once been. Which was why she had an understanding for such things, and would probably never be seen within touching distance of a stranger until she really got to know and trust them.

She certainly did notice the odd faces her company seemed to make as he was completely submerged in his thoughts, but the young woman was far too polite to say anything or comment on it. She put it down to something pretty much everyone did when they were distracted. When he gave his order, the barista told them to take a seat and that they would soon bring their coffees over. She nodded, took a quick glance of the entire room and swept over to a table in the corner with what seemed like a very comfortable couch. She instantly sunk down into it, making a satisfied little “Ah,” sound as she did.

Taking the coffee off the counter he frowned a bit at it, curious about the taste. Then he pulled out a few crumpled bills and tossed them onto the counter for payment. As he took a seat with Willa he tried to think of what to say to her. Nathan wasn’t very good with conversation. Most people he had been talking to weren’t very good at it either. Those who were at the ward year round had almost long given up the normal part of a conversation, long ago. It seemed to set some of those who were there for a couple of months at most on edge. Nathan found it amusing when a new patient arrived, they were like lost kittens.

Lifting the coffee up to his lips he takes a sip and hisses, it was gross. But he smiled and nods “Always delicious.” Taking another sip without reacting he sets the cup down “ So, what kind of stories do you like? Are you planning on writing things like them in your class?” He asked playing with his coffee for a moment before looking up at her and grinning. He was sure he had plenty of material for possible things to write about, after being in the ward. Plenty of the normies would think he would be joking with the more honest ones, Nathan assumed. Which he figured would be perfect for normies looking for that sort of thing. Nathan noticed that most who didn’t know about something in-depth usually relied on fictitious stories about whatever subject was in question. Like with mental hospitals, which seemed to have such horrible reputations. Camille just nodded when he’d told him to call him Austin. Though he didn’t understand what he meant by ‘they will’ who will? She thought to herself, she assumed she was dealing with someone who was waiting for the attention of the public. Just knowing how his brain might be working in this very moment made her worried for her life, and for her wellbeing in this cabin.

Millie didn’t understand who he was talking to, if anything she’d assumed he was talking to himself. Though the second she heard the screaming, while the lights began to flicker she screamed out of fear. “Stop! Stop!” She screamed at him through the floorboards.

Pulling the wires away from the male sitting in the chair in front of him as Camille started screaming. He rolls his eyes at this “Will you shut UP!” Bringing tossing the wire in his right hand over to his left he sighs “Sorry dad, I have to go deal with Austin, he’s being loud.” Reaching over he pokes the other male in the neck where there was a red spot forming “Hmm. Don’t worry, Beth and mom will be here soon and we can all have a nice fucking chat about mistakes and whatever the fuck.” Tossing his right hand up he smacks it against the others head with the back of his hand and smirked before he turned away and started to move to put the wires back.

A moment later he was running up the stairs and moving quickly toward Camille, without a word he walked over and pushed the chair over “Shh! I’m not telling you again! You aren’t saving yourself by yelling! And if you fucking keep screaming you are going to hurt your voice box, you stupid cow!” He grabbed onto her jaw angrily then “Now, shut it?” Standing up then he grabs onto his head and starts to pace a bit “If you want to talk, you should say so. But don’t waste my time. I have a lot of things to do and I don’t have time to talk about why the sky is blue or how I’m being so mean to you.” He moved toward the counter and slammed his hands on it, staring at the knife from before “If you don’t have anything to say, I would like to return to my planning.” Nathan made a face as he walked along. He had no idea what was even going on. He had his hood up and glasses on as he simply just checked out the people at different booths, and the things that were going on around them, not paying any attention to what was directly in front of him. Well this is just fucking great, what am I supposed to fucking do with all this activity. “No, I can’t do it.” She spoke putting the flower down, not caring if she’d lost the challenge at this certain tent booth.

Pulling down his glasses as he walked up when Camille gave up, he smirked at her before reaching over and grabbing the flower before lifting it up and taking a bite. Chewing he made a face “Not that bad.” Willa stared around the tent, biting her bottom lip in thought as she turned to the person she was standing beside. “Kissing booth or a henna tattoo. Both are a little… wild for my taste, but I have to choose at least one!”

Along his walk around the festival area he had managed to run into Willa. It was becoming a sort of routine at this point. Though he did enjoy seeing her, honesty. It made the days feel less lonely when he’d run into her “Well…” I don’t want to kiss no gross mother fuckers. Do the tattoos. “The tattoos I guess.” He smiled and started walking toward the booth. “Would you quit it with the sour face, you look like a baby who just bit down on a lemon. You could at least loosen up with some cotton candy or something,” Elizabeth said with a huff, her palm placed on her hip. It was one thing for someone to be a wallflower at a gathering like this, but Nathan certainly seemed to be bringing down the vibe, and it was just enough to annoy Eliza to no end.

At the voice he paused and stared at the person who was apparently addressing him. With a slight raise in his eyebrow he looks them over. With a smirk he realized it would take nothing to shove her over and stop her from talking to him like that. But he had to remind himself of the crowds. This only made him more irritated by the situation “Don’t tell me what to do.” Camille laughed as she realized her competitor had given up before her, when she saw the face that took their place. She froze cold, she looked at him and seeing him take a bite, she wanted to scream. She finally got control of herself and looked around briefly before getting up and walking away from the booth.

With her reaction, Nathan gave her a cold stare. As she hurried away he stepped around the table and walked after her “Wait up.” He said as he stalked after her. He had been keeping an eye on her, it wasn’t like he had much to go home to after the girl got out of his clutches days earlier. The hide out he had been absolutely not safe anymore “Will you wait?!- I want to ask you something!” She was thankful to run into the young man once more; he was someone she hoped she could call a friend by now. Not that she was in any rush at all. Willa nodded, relieved that he’d chosen that option. It was still a little bit out of character for her, but it wasn’t like they were permanent. Following in his steps, she soon picked up the booklet full of designs. “Wow, these are pretty detailed.”

Of course getting touched and painted wasn’t exactly the easiest choice for him to make. But against kissing, it seemed to be the lesser of two evils. Not that he was opposed to kissing, he just didn’t like the idea of catching something from these normies. The ward was a lot easier to kiss a ‘random stranger’, at least Nathan had some idea of who those randoms were. Walking over he looks at the designs they offers before settling on one and starts to let the person running the booth work on it. Looking at Willa he nods “I don’t have a clue what these are.-But at least I don’t have to kiss anyone in a booth.” He laughed. Camille had walked as fast as she could, she went through people and through tents knocking a coupel things over accidentally. She ignored his callings out for her, “Go away!” She yelled back at him as she continued to storm through the crowds. She finally picked up the pace and hid behind a tent, slowly looking behind her to see if he was around.

Pausing as she walked fast, he let out a breath, adjusting his shoulders. He didn’t want to walk through the crowd of people just to talk to her. But he was getting really irritated that she wouldn’t stop to listen to him. Even though he understood why she wouldn’t. Clenching his jaw he musters up the courage to start walking through the crowd but this lasts only a minute before he rushed out, taking a few deep breaths a hand moving to his chest. He glared around him and tried to find another way around. After a couple of moments he makes his way around, spotting the girl hiding a tent he walks up behind her and grabs her by the back of the shirt “Listen to me.” Camille continued to look through the gap between the tents into the crowd hoping she would see his face. Or hoping she wouldn’t, she wasn’t sure, before she got the chance to figure it out for herself she felt a hand grab the back of her shirt. She screamed quick and short mainly out of fear, but stopped when she heard his voice. She pulled out of his grip and turned around to face him. “W-what?!”

He smirked as she pulled away and turned to him “Ah.” The words he wanted to say had fallen from his mind. After the thing with the crowds he was feeling a bit scattered. Trying to get his shit together he cleared his throat “Well.” Swallowing he stepped away from her “I have been watching you, with your friends.” He shrugged “I know you don’t like me very much right now after that whole thing…But you cannot go to the police.” He had already cleared away most of the physical evidence at the house, but he knew this girl was aware of things “ How did you do it?” He then asked, talking about how the other managed to get free and escape the house. Willa could hardly think of why kissing a stranger would be appealing, it was just the same as getting stupidly drunk and doing the same thing. Except you were paying for it. She knew that the money would probably go somewhere good; like hopefully charity, but she certainly wasn’t about to risk her comfort for it. She takes a little more time to choose her own design as she watches him get his done. “Well, they certainly look good,” She acknowledged, laughing along with him. “Yeah, I don’t really want to do that either.”

Watching the person putting the tattoo on him he nods at her comment “I guess they do. I am not really an expert on it though.” He smiled and then looked over at her. He guessed that all the germs being passed back and forth in that booth was going to be horrible, especially since he could only guess that his immune system wasn’t as strong as most others who had not spent the majority of their life locked up in a mostly sterilized ward. Those who came in with germs generally were isolated until the sickness was over or, if in the case that patients got sick, precautions were taken to prevent it happening another time. Nathan smirked a bit “It’s really disgusting, I think. The people willingly participating in that are going to regret it.” It doesn’t help me at all, in trying to kill my family to get sick at this time. Camille looked at him when he started his sentence she made a face and crossed her arms. She raised her eyebrows and scoffed at him, “Excuse me?” She questioned, “You’re fucking joking right?” She spoke looking at him, “You kidnap me for three days, brutally abuse someone in your basement and you just expect me to keep my mouth shut?” She spoke to him, she disregarded everything he’d done to her, though she should have gone to the police already. She just shook her head and looked away from him before he asked a vague question, “Do what?” She spoke with an attitude, unsure why she was still standing here.

Looking around at the people passing by them he smirked. He was not going to explain himself. And certainly not here. Rolling his eyes a bit he looks to the side “Yes, I did torture someone. But you don’t know why I did it.” Narrowing his eyes on her then as a group of people walked by them, he turned away and lifts a hand up to the side of his head, toying with some of his hair “Look! Just, keep your trap shut! Okay? It-It’s all going to make a lot of sense. I swear. Just-” His eyes shot around. Then turning his attention back to her, irritated he took a step close to her “How did you get free, are you deaf? Or was that flower laced with something?” She chuckled softly. “Yeah, me neither.” Willa had always admired the artistry of tattoos, but could never see herself getting a real one. Although maybe she would; god knows she was changing with every month that passed by. Anything was possible. Although her fear of needles would never simply disappear. She understood his dislike for the booths, but the sheer amount of it surprised her a little. She was pretty sure those people who did it wouldn’t regret anything considering they had chose to in the first place. It was still an incredibly silly idea, though. She finally picked her design, a floral one with swirls around it.

Nathan nods as she agrees. He watched as the tattoo formed while the artist drew. He was enjoying the process, it was actually keeping him calm, he realized. With all this noise and movement around him he was on edge. Nathan looked up and stared at Willa after a moment “I don’t have time for kissing diseases.” He said, holding a serious face for a moment before smiling at her playfully. Looking as she finally finished picking out what she wanted he tried to think of something else to say “So, I was thinking of going to one of those craft booth things. Or something, after this.” He muttered. Turning his head a bit he tossed around a few ideas as he looked around him “On a good note, this also will help with meeting new people.” There was so much going on that her head was buzzing. She would much rather be at home drawing or painting then go here, but her Uncle insisted. Told her it would be good for her to finally get out after giving a speech about staying safe, yada yada. Kaley felt someone bumped into her shoulder and she quickly looked up. “Oh! Uh, sorry.” She said as she pushed her hair behind her shoulder when she realized it was Austin. “Are you okay? There’s a lot of people here… Its sorta hard trying not to bump into anyone.”

Nathan hadn’t been thinking much about who he had bumped into. He just wanted to avoid running into someone troublesome to his plans. Since things at the house out in the woods he’d been more on edge. It was only a matter of time before someone came for him and brought him back to the ward. He would not go back there, though. With the voice of the person he had bumped into piping up, he looked over “It’s fine.” He muttered in return to her apology. The next thing she said he gave a weak grin “Yeah, it is. I am a bit lost.” He laughed weakly before nodding “I’m alright, though. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Camille watched as he was almost nervous with the amount of people in the text and surrounding them. While she stood there nervous mainly for his presence, from a pair of strangers eyes, they looked like two awkward kids with a crush on eachother. “No, but just because I don’t know the reason doesn’t make it justifiable.” when he raised his voice her went down to mouse level. “Make sense?” She found her voice, “None of this makes sense!” She looked at him, shaking her head. “Why the hell would I tell you?” She spoke narrowing her eyes at him, she then stood her ground and took a deep breath before she began to speak. “No, here’s what’s going to happen. You tell me everything. First you’re going to apologize to me. Then you’ll tell me who the guy was, and why you took me and him.” She spoke looking at him, “After you tell me that, then i’ll tell you how I got out and maybe I won’t go to the authorities.”

“Oh doesn’t it? I guess it’s all about perspective and understanding.” He frowned, of course he wasn’t ignorant to the fact that torture was wrong. He just didn’t care. He had his reasons and that was all he really needed, for himself to make what he does more justifiable to him. Nathan crossed his arms over his chest as she went on “It will, soon.” With her continued defiance he let out a sigh and shook his head. At that moment he decided he didn’t care how she had managed to escape. It wasn’t pivotal to his plans, what was, was making sure she kept her mouth shut. When she started to command him he looked away from her, passed her, his eyes steeling as she spoke. Who does she think she is? You don’t take orders from her!

Nathan narrowed his eyes and then dropped his gaze back to hers once Camille had finished “I’m not going to apologize to you, you hit me.” He said, lacking any tone of remorse for anything he did after that point “ The guy was someone who found me in the woods weeks ago. Other than that he is no one of significance. I took him to practice on, to get it right. To make sure they suffer for what they did to me, all of them.” Cold dark eyes continue to stare into hers, unblinking, a smirk made its way onto his lips “This is a revenge story, sweetie, not a game that you will fuck up for me. You don’t give me options. I give them to you. You shut your fucking trap, or I slit your throat in this damn tent and sneak the hell out of here before anyone notices you are dying.” She chuckled softly; a hand reaching to cover her mouth as she watched him sitting there relaxed. He seemed to actually be enjoying getting the tattoo painted onto him. Who would have known? Willa nodded again, her face turning totally serious for a moment. “Oh yeah, me neither. Plus, I’d like to actually know who it was I’m kissing.” Not that she was doing much of that these days anyway. At least not those that had granted her permission. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been that close to someone – there had only been a few flings in her teen years. The girl sat down in one of the chairs and waited for the artist to get started on her. She tossed Austin a crooked smile. “Does that mean I’m invited?”

Nathan watched the image he picked out continue to form as Willa spoke “And unfortunately I do not think I know anyone here that well.” He grinned a bit before glancing over at her for a moment “Isn’t it that in small towns like this where weird diseases suddenly break out? Like a zombie virus or something like that? One kiss from someone and BAM! We are all trying to eat brains!” He exclaimed then laughed. After that he remained silent for a few moments as he became distracted by the artist’s work. Then he nodded at Willa “ I mean, ah, if you want to. If you like crafts.” He grinned. Camille stared at him and just shook her head, he couldn’t be dealt with. “Well soon isn’t good enough.” She spoke, dark and demanding like. She looked at him when he said he wasn’t going to apologize, “You trapped me in your cabin for three days.” She spoke back furrowing her eyebrows, when he told her who the guy was she raised her eyebrows. “Practice on who?” She spoke, knowing that if she got this answer she could prevent some serious potential future damage. When he gave her the ultimatum options, she stood there frozen. He’d done it again, he terrified her to the bone. “The second I go to the authorities I will be so far deep into the system there’s no way of finding me.” she spoke back, not knowing how far she wanted to go or how far she could go.

She is just like the others, unable to understand where I am coming from. Nathan closed his eyes, trying to keep his anger at bay. But her attitude was so severely annoying it was making it all very difficult to keep a handle on. Lifting a hand up to his forehead he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration “That’s because you hit me! I told you what happened!” He snapped, pulling his hand from his face and continued to glare at her “Practice on him?” He looked confused for a moment before hissing at her “That’s not what I said! I am telling you, that you are going to die here, if you do not comply with what I am telling you? Shut up, and nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Grumbling he smacks his hand against his face “That’s all you have to do, until- well, you’ll see it. You will know once you see it. Just shut up until then.” She’d be completely quiet if you just stabbed her! -I’m not going to stab her, she’s just being difficult, she thinks this is a joke, I think- Kill her! She’s just like them! She will never understand! She doesn’t care about you, no one will save you, you can only save yourself. She was also a little entranced by the forming of the design, and how smoothly it was being created upon his skin. Laughing at his words, she nodded. “Yeah, I mean in all the books I’ve read that is what seems to happen. Though I must say it’s usually by a bite, but we could always just make up our own version.” She shrugged. “No, uh, I do. The last time I did anything crafty I think I was about thirteen.”

“Right!” He nods. Nathan hadn’t been able to read too much on such things. It seemed to be a sort of sore spot for some of the residents he lived with. Nathan wasn’t one of those. But he still had to suffer because of it. Things were always selected based on majority rules. And the majority were a bit too unwell for zombie stories, much to Nathan’s disappointment. But that didn’t stop him from starting up a few commotions by telling his own versions of zombie outbreaks. With a smile he answered “Right, we are in creative writing.” He nods as she spoke about the last time she did anything crafty “ Thirteen?” Nathan thought back to the last time he had done something with crafts. It was very recent. The staff insisted it helped him control his anger “Good, then we will do some craft booth stuff. Hopefully no zombie outbreaks happen there.” Kaley’s senses were hyperactive in big crowds like this. She was always a skittish little girl, which was most likely the reason families that took her in couldn’t connect with her. She was constantly trapped in her room, painting anything she could think about. Her hand nervously ran up and down her arm before giving him a small smile. “Yeah… Me too. I’ve never been to one of these festivals before. So im not really sure what we are supposed to do.” She said as she looked around, trying to keep out of peoples way. “No no, im perfectly fine!”

Nathan gave her a bit of a smirk as she spoke, his eyes glanced around them before returning to him. He hated the lack of space, more than he hated being surrounded by the people in it. It always reminded him of the worst parts of his imprisonment. But he had asked himself, what if someone in his family showed up? What if he could find them and then follow them to where they lived? Wouldn’t that have been lucky for him. Nathan gave her a sweet little smile then and shook his head a little bit “I am a bit confused about it too. Being out of town, this is all new to me.” Lifting his left hand up, his index finger taps curiously against his lips, his eyes shifting up as he thought with a slight tilt of his head. A moment later he looked back to her “Well, perhaps we could discover what all the excitements about together?” “Yes, we are,” She murmured before the artist announced they were done and started working on her design. “Let me see it?” Willa asked, gesturing to his tattoo. The young woman spent far too much of her time reading, writing and working to consider doing any arts and crafts. She figured it would probably be a good way to relax, though. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the mention of a possible zombie outbreak. “God, I hope not. Though as you said, there’s far more of a chance for one to happen over at the other booth, I think we’ll be just fine.” The artist probably thought they were crazy, speculating over zombie outbreaks while getting tattoos done.

He gave her a light grin at that and looked away from her “Yes.” How cute, she thinks you are so normal. Wait until she sees what you have planned, on the news. Surely all that attention you wanted as a kid will come to you, wont it. Nathan looked to the side and let out a small breath as the artist told him he had finished with the tattoo. Standing, he stepped away from the artist and looked at the design on his left hand and wrist “Wow.” Nathan held out his hand for Willa to look “What do you think?” Raising an eyebrow he listen to the artist tell him what to do to keep the design from being damaged. Nathan watched Willa take his place and laughed at her answer “Well at least we’ll be safe enough to probably escape those who don’t die during the immediate outbreak.” Nathan was very much used to people around him thinking he was crazy, so he didn’t notice, if the artist thought this. Kaley was happy that she wasnt they only one that didnt frequent these types of events. She always did seem to feel like an outsider when she was with a lot of people, or anyone at all. Kal’s blue eyes brightened a bit at what he said about them discovering the festival together. She was always someone who was easily excited about things. Almost like a puppy. If she happened to be sad or upset, just someone saying hi to her could make her feel better. “I would like that!” She said with a happy smile before looking around. There were so many booths, she didnt know where to start. “Where would you like to go to first?” Kaley asked, looking back up at him.

Figuring having someone to be around would put off anyone from looking too closely at him, Nathan was fine with spending some time with the other. She hadn’t done anything to make him think to little of her, so using her didn’t seem to bad. He would look just like a normal person, which was really what this was all about. Nathan couldn’t lose his cool during such an important time, not when he was so close to reaching his goals. As she agreed he smiled and gave her a nod “Good!” He looked around then, staring over the booths that were offered at the festival “Ahh.” He noticed something he could barely remember from many years ago “Look, ducks, let’s do that!” He walked over to a booth with a couple of rubber ducks floating in a kiddy pool with numbers on the bottoms of them.

She nearly scoffed at his expression towards her, but she instead went for a sly grin, looking him up and down with a brow raised so high it nearly touched her hairline. She obviously couldn’t hear the cold tone of his voice, but she felt it in her bones. The darkness he seemed to be exuding was a little too much for Eliza’s taste, so she gave up on trying to fight him on it. “I’m not exactly commanding you to jump off a bridge or anything, but quit being a party pooper. If you’re going to sulk, don’t bring anyone else down while you’re at it.”

Making a displeased face as she tried to in some way justify herself to him, he felt a wave of exhaustion run over him. The people in this town are absolutely draining. This woman in front of him seemed to be no different. She was asking him to be pleasant, for the sake of the majority. But Nathan wasn’t exactly in a pleasant, people pleasing, sort of mood. If at any point he had been it was all to get something. Dully his eyes dropped away from her, his mouth opening a little as his jaw rolled. He let out a contemptuous sigh and rolled his eyes “Look, bitch, why don’t you fuck the hell right off with your pleasantness and bullshit!” He snapped, reaching the end of his rope “I will do whatever the hell I want with my fucking sulking, unless you want to switch bodies, you cunt! Do not walk up into my business and start telling me what I should do with it!” Was he being unreasonably harsh? Of course he was, he had anger issues and the last few days had been stressing him out. She just happened to come along at a very bad time for him. Green eyes glowed a little as she leaned forward to check out the tattoo. “Woah,” She mumbled, inspecting the intricate patterns and whirls. She hadn’t seen anything so pretty in what felt like forever. “I think it’s amazing, and it suits you somehow,” Willa admitted with a smile. She began to make herself comfortable in the chair and held out her arm for the artist. “Mhm,” She murmured, still pondering over the impossible possibilities. “I hope you’re a fast runner,” She said with a cheeky grin, the brush tickling her skin as it glided softly over her arm.

“Oh?” He questioned looking over the design and nodding “Yeah, I can really relate to the swirls.” He grinned at her then and brought his eyes to the artists hands as they started to draw on Willa’s hand. Comforted still, he continued to watch before she murmurs. Nathan looked over at her and smirked a little bit at her comment about running. Nathan couldn’t say for sure. He wasn’t exactly out of shape, nor was he very athletic looking. There wasn’t very much running or exorcise going on at the ward. Nathan made a face, his nose twisting a little bit “ I never did very well in P.E.” She couldn’t help but chuckle at that, shaking her head a little. Considering she had barely attended school, there had never been much need for running in her life. She certainly wasn’t the most sportiest person in the world, even though her adoptive parents were always trying to get her out of the house to do things like that. She’d just found it much preferable to be curled up with her head in a book, a cup of tea somewhere nearby. The redhead didn’t really have an adventurous streak because she didn’t believe there was anything too exciting out there, it was much better to pretend like she was doing with the other right now. “I’m not sure these little legs will be enough for the both of us, but then again they say adrenaline can do a lot for you.”

Nathan would have liked to participate in more physical activities. But it seemed the staff thought that would be bad for him. Nathan over time had started thinking this was more for their own safety. It of course wasn’t that he was into any sports, in particular. He just grew extremely bored with the same routines offered to him over and over again, for years. Talk about how to feel, talk about your experiences, do a craft, paint a picture, repeat. Nathan was amazed by his ability to not just up and bash his head into a wall, every day. Smirking a bit at her comment he wiggled his nose a bit before responding “I’ve heard that it can to, we seem like we could get away, I think. If we were scared enough.” A fire seemed to light within Elizabeth, and it became far too stoked to fade out with a few words out of this prick’s mouth. “I only ‘walked up’ to tell you about it because just like you apparently have the right to be a total dick, I have the right to enjoy my time at the festival without your hormonal self ruining it! So how about you take the stick and bug that crawled up your ass and either get joyful or get lost, because this is a fucking celebration. Life can really suck sometimes, so maybe we ought to take one event, just a few days, to forget about everything else and just remember how lucky we are to be here, because not everyone else is so lucky.” She huffed, nearly out of breath as she reached for one of the stands offering cotton candy, grabbed a cone, and frustratedly started chomping away, her fingers and mouth filled with pink and blue fluff.

“I wasn’t ruining it for you until you took it upon yourself to walk up on me and start spouting your pleasantness all over my personal space!” He shouted. Glaring at her he takes a step close to her “And there is no stick or bug up my ass.“ He spoke, calmer then, his voice still remained laced in a venomous tone. Nathan’s hands ball into fists, his nails digging into his palms as his anger only increased as he tried to pick away at what she’d said to him “I didn’t know that a festival hinged on me. Wow, I must be fucking popular! ” He laughed then, taunting almost, right in her face “Lucky!?” They should all die. None of them deserve your mercy, Nathan. They should suffer, just like you have suffered. He reached out, shoving her as she took the bite of her cotton candy “Don’t tell me what to do!!” Smirking a bit he placed his left hand over his left eye, gripping slightly onto his head, he spat out “ You should just die.” Kaley was never wonderful at reading people or what they were thinking. She was quite naive in that way; always assuming the best in people despite her experiences with different types of families and kids. When he started to walk away, she followed after and stood by the booth. She tilted her head as she observed the carnival game. “Uhm… What is it?” She asked with a soft frown.

Crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at the floating ducks, reminiscing for a moment about things that happened far too long ago for him to find the memories to be one of comfort. Nathan let out a small sigh and then looked at the prizes. He remembered getting something that was cool the last time he’d played. Austin hadn’t shut up about it for several days. Nathan didn’t even care about it, at the time. He had other things on his mind, then. Looking over as Kaley asked about it he tilts his head “Uh-” The girl at the booth started to explain then, saying that each rubber duck had a number on it, and whatever number you got you got a prize with that number on it. The lower your number, the shittier your prize “Right. It’s really easy.” Walking down the sidewalk Nathan was entirely soaked from the rain that was pouring down from the sky. He was again, back at the college campus. Obsessed with finding his brother, again. Or anyone that would get him closer to murdering his entire family. You are slow. Do you not want this. Killing them is the only way you will be free. Are you not wanting your freedom. Nathan sniffled a bit, his nose somewhat stuffed from the heaviness in the air “I will finish this. I swear.” He muttered walking up to a bench and sitting down “ I have just had some setbacks. Don’t worry.” Nathan whispered as he sat down and brought his legs up to sit lotus style on the bench, his hands stuck in the pocket of his hoodie. Maybe it’s already too late. She has probably told everyone. You should have killed her when you had the chance, why didn’t you. Nathan’s eyes narrowed at that, why didn’t he? Mackenzie woke up near the side of a Lake, covered in dirt and clothing ripped with no recollection of the night before. After an hour of walking she made it to Town. She must have had too much to drink.

With a small sigh, she ran a hand through her hair and walked into the crowd with a frown. She didnt know that she had been dead for almost three years. Kenzie grabbed someones arm. “What happened last night? I woke up next to a Lake. That must have been one hell of a party.”

Nathan was standing in front of an apartment building, his eyes locked onto one window. He was trying to figure out his next steps in his plans as he stood there. He played several ideas in his head before a hand reached out and grabbed his arm. Looking quickly toward the person he yanks his arm away as they talk to him “Who, the fuck, are you?” He hissed, then turned to face them “You must of been extremely drunk. Or extremely fucking stupid, I am betting on it being both.” charity woke up feeling uneasy. her mind was becoming fuzzy and she didn’t feel like attending class today. a heavy sigh left her lips as she left her apartment and made her way into the woods. in desperate need for a walk. needing to figure out a way to find her dad or step mom. she didn’t understand any of it but needed answers. desperately. though as she walked further into the woods, she felt a body collide into hers causing her to stumble back and fall to the ground. brown hues glancing up to see the other, “in a hurry?” she questioned while shuffling back onto her feet.

Nathan stumbled away from the other as crashed into him. Narrowing his eyes on Charity as she spoke, he takes an intimidating step forward, bending at the waist slightly he tilts his head a bit. Looking her over before saying something “No, are you? Maybe you should watch where I am going, hm?” He glances to the side for a moment before looking back at her and giving a wicked grin “What’s a girl like you doing in the woods, there might be wolves out here, aren’t you afraid you might be…eaten?” Raising an eyebrow he flashed her some teeth, his tongue gliding over his right canine before he bites onto it. Emily was strolling along the sidewalk of the college campus, approaching her classroom full of students. She adored teaching creative writing. It was a way for her to have an outlet to channel her depression towards, plus helping her students achieve their goals, whether it was to write a book or get another college credit towards their major. Not paying attention to where she was walking, since she was grading the last of her papers on the way to class, she bumped into someone, the papers flying everywhere. “Oh my!” she squealed, scattering to pick up the flying papers. “Could - Could you help me?”

There was something about the people in this town, and running into other people. Nathan hadn’t quite placed his finger on what that thing was, though. He watched the papers fly around them before looking at the older woman as she spoke, snirking a bit at her ‘oh my’. As she asked for his help he made a face, then remembered that he had signed up for her classes. No, actually, he had signed up his twin, Austin, to be in her class. Giving her a sweet look he dropped down, crouching toward the fallen papers “Wentworth, you seem in a hurry. Something happen?” Act concerned, be open, that’s what Austin is like. No, I don’t actually know that, though. Nathan raised his eyebrows “You seem a bit tired.” charity was walking around the campus with an umbrella. trying to figure out how to make the most of her day. she didn’t have many friends, or anyone to hang out with. so she spent some time in the music room then made her way back out. but as her chocolate brown hues scanned the area, she noticed a male sitting on a bench. drenched from the rain. blinking a couple of times, she made her way over and held the umbrella above the both of them. “hey.. are you okay?” she questioned with the tilt of her head and a kind smile.

With his head tilted down he was going over some thoughts on what his next step would be, when the rain that was pouring onto his head and dripping from the hood of his hoodie almost stopped entirely. Slowly he looked up to see a girl standing in front of him. As she asked if he were okay he realized he was shivering. Though he couldn’t say he was feeling very cold at all “Y-yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking about something really hard.” He looked at her suspiciously then. No one cares if i’m okay, what is this? Is she with them!? “yeah, i’m fine.” she replied, getting back on her feet and dusting off the dirt that now covered her floral skirt and sweater. blinking up at the taller male curiously, she kinked an eyebrow at his last comment. “no, i’m not afraid to be eaten. i don’t bother the wolves, the wolves don’t bother me, i survive and they don’t have dinner. my mind is else where anyway.” her shoulders slumped as she realized she was rambling. a habit she had and couldn’t get rid of. “though, are you okay? you know, even when you didn’t fall to the dirt?”

“Awesome.” He says, his tone dull. Not that I fucking asked if you were okay! As Charity went on he nodded looking almost disinterested in what she was saying, before putting on another grin “Well I wouldn’t expect a wolf to be so tame. You should be more cautious. You don’t know what a beast can do when it’s hungry.” He bites his teeth at her for emphasis. Bringing his eyes away from her as she asked if he were okay he smirks “Oh, yes, I am perfect.” He brings his hand to his chest and snootily tosses his head a little. Mackenzie raised an eyebrow at the males reaction to her. “Who the fuck am i? Who the fuck are you?” She asked before letting out a long sigh, running a hand through her knotted hair. “Everyone knows who i am. What, did you get here yesterday or something?” Kenz asked before narrowing her eyes. “Cool the attitude. It was a simple question.”

“I’m Austin, bitch. That’s who the fuck I am.” He contained a laugh that was working its way into his throat. He rolled his eyes and looked away “Apparently everyone fucking don’t know who you are. I don’t know who you are, and I am part of everyone, am I not?” He narrowed his eyes, challenging her. Looking away he chuckled “Yeah, flew on a broom. Why in the fuck is that important?! Maybe I have been here my whole life and you just aren’t as important as you want to believe?” Nathan laughed and pulled the knife out of the pocket on his hoodie “Step the fuck away.” He hissed, pointing the blade at her. Then something occurred to him. Isn’t this- Didn’t he kill her? Narrowing his eyes in confusion he twists the blade in his hand “Zombie?” Is this the same Mackenzie? “are you sure?” she questioned, her tone filled with concern. her hues watched him carefully, trying to figure out if he was truly okay. “we can go inside and i can make you some soup? you can use my fuzzy blanket? or we can go to a coffee shop and i can buy you some coffee?” teeth sinking into her lower lip, she glanced down at her feet then back at the male, “i don’t think you want to get a cold..”

“Yesss.” He mumbled turning his head away from her. She was blocking his view. When the other went on he glared for a moment at the ground. Then looked at her “You do not seriously mean that do you. A fuzzy blanket and soup? You can not possibly be that trusting of someone who looks like me.” It felt like this was a ploy, he must have been being tricked into getting off the campus by the police before they could arrest him. Nathan swallowed and looked around “No, I am staying right here.” Mackenzie tapped her nails against her arms as she kept herself collected. It was what her the Mayor taught her to do since she was his daughter. She was always in the public eye. If she did something, it spread around Town like a wildfire, so she always kept on a mask. “No, no. If you were here your whole life, i would be able to recognize you.” Kenzie said before groaning softly as he pulled out the knife. “What, do you think this is my first rodeo with a weapon pointed at me? Put it away before someone see’s you. The jail here sucks.” Her tone was nonchalant before raising an eyebrow. “Okay, i know i dont look good with my ripped clothes and shit. But i didnt know i looked bad enough to resemble a zombie.”

Nathan started to feel a bit dizzy as he stared at her, his thoughts going a bit haywire after realizing she was in fact the same person. His eyes shift quickly as thought after thought pass his mind. Her words muffling for a moment as a ringing entered his ears. She’s not really here, this isn’t possible. I’m imagining this. I- when did that happen? I don’t- I don’t have hallucinations. Lifting his hand up, pressing his palm into the side of his head his eyes water a bit. It’s all pretend, this isn’t- She’s dead! He- was he lying? Feeling angry suddenly he brought his focus back on the woman standing in front of him “Y-you are- but, then… I don’t- She’s dead. I don’t understand.” It’s not real. She’s not real. You are dreaming! She can’t be here! nibbling on her lower lip, charity knew she was rambling. “sorry.. i, uh, i have a habit of rambling.” the look on the male’s face was anything but friendly. she could definitely see it. with his dark comments, she didn’t think she would want to push any more of his buttons. clearing her throat, she glanced around the woods for a moment, “more cautious.. got it. i suppose you haven’t countered any of these wolves have you?”

With a sigh Nathan dropped his hand away from his chest and stuck it in the pocket of his hoodie with his other hand “Were you rambling?” He asked, not having noticed her rambling. There were plenty of people who would say Nathan was not the most friendly person. And they were absolutely right. Charity didn’t seem to offer him anything that helped him with his plans. She was not involved in all his lies. So putting on the act and letting out some stress on her seemed to be a great idea, to him. Rolling his eyes as she sounded quite skeptic to his warning he looked to one side as she asked her question.

With a small laugh he removed his hands from his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest “Oh yes, I have seen at least one wolf. A vicious, dark thing, with glowing golden eyes and fur as black as the bottom of a dark pit.” Tilting his head in a bit of amusement he grinned “Might have been a ghost wolf. Don’t you know the legends of these woods.” Nathan had no information on anything about the town, let alone the woods. He just wanted to fuck with Charity. Which had been a typical thing for him to do when he was locked up in the ward. He gave her a little smirk before backing away from her and continued on his own walk through the woods. Emily recognized the student; he was enrolled in her class. She was delighted that he stopped to help her, so that she could get to know her students. The creative writing class was still relatively new and she was still placing names to faces. “That’s Mrs.Wentworth,” she corrected, politely. “No, I was just in a rush is all. I’m still grading papers. In fact, I was in the middle of grading yours, Mr.Douglas.” A small smile curled to her lips. “Just a little bit, but I’ll be fine. Thank you for helping me. That doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically get a good grade, though. How are your other classes?”

Nathan had to stop himself from making a snarky remark to her correction. He had not made a mistake. Looking up at her he smiles, I’ll call you what I whatever the hell I want. “Well-” He scooped up some papers and tapped them on the floor, straightening them out “It was no problem, losing papers could be a real bi- problem.” Blinking he glanced at the page on top of the stack in his hands before handing it over to Emily “Oh darn, I was really trying to get some extra points.” He gave her a goofy little smile and rubbed his left hand against the back of his head, tilting his head slightly. Thinking over the rest of his class he nods “Well, the sudden change in interests as well as classes has been a bit rocky. But I think I am managing it all very well.” Nathan nods lightly. Mackenzie frowned when he seemed to go into a deep thought. Why was everyone acting so strange? Why were there people that she didnt know? “Hey, you okay? Looks like you’re going through a mid-life crisis.” She said before shaking her head. Kenzie had no idea what was going on with this town lately. Its like she woke up in another time zone or something. “What? Who’s dead?” She asked, placing her hands on her hips. “It would be great it someone could explain to me whats going on!”

This isn’t a side effect of what I have. How can she be here? It’s not possible. You aren’t this crazy! Or are you? I- am I? When did I start seeing things? Nathan continued to rub his right hand against his head, the ringing in his ears continuing “Damn.” Did they do something? Is this all just in my head? What if this isn’t really happening- it makes sense. Nathan looked at Mackenzie his eyes narrowing on her. This is something they did to you, they are fucking with you. All of them think this is funny. I told you they were laughing at you. At her question he slashed the knife at Mackenzie and jumped back away from her “Stay over there, or you are dead! You aren’t real! They- they are just fucking with me. Heh.” He laughed a bit and turned away looking up at the sky “Is that what you want, Prescott? Is this how you are going to ‘help’ me!? -You only want to help yourself, asshole.” Mackenzie narrowed her eyes at the boy. “I would appreciate it if you told me what in the hell is going on.” Tone obviously frustrated before he slashed the knife at her. Kenzie held her hands up and took a step back. “What? Do you think im going to strangle you with my bare hands or give you a foreign disease or something? Cuz you’re acting like im infected or some shit.” She explained before raising an eyebrow. “Who the fuck are you talking to? And why am i not real? I feel pretty real. I dont think im a ghost.”

Be normal, just be normal Nathan. Whatever game Prescott is playing at, you can’t be sure. You need to not look completely out of your damn mind right now. Nathan could feel his breathing had picked up, growing heavier and quicker after a few seconds. It was like he was back in that tiny room again, their voices whispering through the walls. Bringing his hand from his head then, the ringing in his ears continuing he nods “You might, you look like you crawled out a pile of trash.” He snapped back at her. Nathan continued holding the knife up. With her question he laughed, shaking his head and sucking in a breath. Just calm down. Act like you aren’t about to lose your shit “I’m not talking to anyone.” Tilting his head slightly he looked her over again, more critically this time “You do appear to be real. But that’s not possible.” Inching closer to her, keeping the knife held up he spoke “ You were all over the news. I remember.” Chloe had been walking towards campus, she’d decided to take a short cut through the park and when she saw the figure sitting on the bench. She took a deep breath and made a b- line for him. She pushed his legs off the bench to give her a place to sit. “Who are you after?” She spoke sternly, she was in the mood of wanting to get answers.

As she came stomping her way over to him, Nathan just stared with a slight interest. She looked like she was on a mission. And he could just see that it was going to involve him. I don’t have time for this shit! He narrowed his eyes as she approached him and then pushed his legs off the bench “ Rude.” Nathan turned his head toward her “It is like we are friends now.” Blinking tiredly he glances away, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, because I am going to tell you who I am after, so you can warn them. Do you think I am that fucking stupid?” Camille ignored his comment towards her, “Friends? What would you call me being trapped and tied up in your cabin? An extended slumber party?” She witted back to him. She pulled out her phone and showed him an email she’d already pre-written. “Fine.” she sighed then reading out the letter. “Dear Killbourne Police department section 112 Seattle Washington. I am writing this email to inform you there if a male suspect, responsible for kidnapping, torture, and is a textbook definition of a dangerous unstable physcopath…” She looked up. “Shall I continue, or should I just click send?” She spoke, putting her phone back in her pocket.

Clicking at her words he nods “Hey, I really wanted to have a slumber party growing up. Daddy wouldn’t let me though…” He huffed and raised his eyebrows, his tone very heavy with sarcasm. When she brought out her phone he narrowed his eyes. Though as she continued to read out her note his eyes widen. A moment later his pupils shrink, his eyes becoming dark, his left eye twitching as she went on. Something popped in his nose at the end and a moment later blood began to drip from his right nostril “I am not…I am not. They are lies. They are lying to you.” Turning his eyes away the world around the park shifts for a moment into a white hallway. Why wont you listen to me?! I’m not crazy! MOOM! Mooom! Please don’t leave me here! Hesitantly he brought his eyes back to Camille as she finished “What? When did you get here?” She is just like the others, unable to understand where I am coming from. Nathan closed his eyes, trying to keep his anger at bay. But her attitude was so severely annoying it was making it all very difficult to keep a handle on. Lifting a hand up to his forehead he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration “That’s because you hit me! I told you what happened!” He snapped, pulling his hand from his face and continued to glare at her “Practice on him?” He looked confused for a moment before hissing at her “That’s not what I said! I am telling you, that you are going to die here, if you do not comply with what I am telling you? Shut up, and nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Grumbling he smacks his hand against his face “That’s all you have to do, until- well, you’ll see it. You will know once you see it. Just shut up until then.” She’d be completely quiet if you just stabbed her! -I’m not going to stab her, she’s just being difficult, she thinks this is a joke, I think- Kill her! She’s just like them! She will never understand! She doesn’t care about you, no one will save you, you can only save yourself.

milliexinger

“You deserved that. You were a total dick.” She spat her words at him. She listened to him, “I’m saying, is right now I won’t go to anyone. But, you don’t have the upper hand.” She spoke, which wasn’t necessarily true, because he could kill her. He had the strength, he could, she wanted to feel strong she wanted to prove herself that she could be strong. When he told her to shut up, she shook her head. “You don’t own me. So don’t think you have control over what I choose to say.” She spoke before starting to walk away from behind the tent.

Mackenzie watched the guy in front of her, sure he was about to have a panic attack anytime now. His statement caused her to shrug her shoulders. “I know. I woke up in the middle of nowhere, so…” She said before raising an eyebrow at him. “Do you really have to keep holding the knife up? Its not like I’m going to pounce and claw your eyes out.” Kenzie scoffed before creasing her eyebrows at what he said. “Why wouldn’t I be real? And I’m the Mayors daughter. You’re going to have to be more specific about which time you saw me on the news.”

Originally posted by lori-em

Well, doesn’t that sound kind of familiar.- No! I-i woke up near the hospital. They put me there. Nathan sucked in another deep breath trying to calm himself down, his heart just kept slamming in his chest as his mind jumped from one thought to another. At her question concerning the knife he looks at it, contemplates for a moment. It’s going to get you caught, but you already fucked up, Nathan. What’s stopping you, you should just slit her throat, go on. Closing his eyes he drops the knife away and slips it back into the pocket “I will kill you another time, when it will not interfere with my plans.” Nathan tilts his head “Because this has to be some sick fucking joke they are playing on me. Because I know what he’s up to. Yeah. And he is going to pay for what he did.”

Prescott, all of the bastards working at the ward are going to burn for what they have done. Swallowing, he takes another few deep breaths “Being the mayor’s daughter means absolutely shit to me.- But that is not why you were on the news. See-” He paused, and begins to circle around her, a smirk spreading over his lips “The ward let this be seen for how significant it was. Your death, princess, was big news. Epic. But here you stand. And that cannot be possible.” Reaching out he grabs onto her hair and lets it fall away from his hand “But you say you woke up near a lake, where your bloated body was found, floating and left miserably bruised.” Leaning in closer, he whispers “I know your killer, we have spoken to one another quite extensively.” “Thank you, Mr.Douglas,” Emily thanked, a grateful smile curled to her lips. She grabbed the stack of papers, shuffling them to the order she was grading them in. Even with class beginning in a few minutes, she still hadn’t finished grading. She wanted to give each assignment the intricateness her students deserved. “Well, judging by your assignment, you won’t need extra points.” She was quite impressed with his paper. With his permission, she would present it to the class. “Oh, have you changed your major? I changed my major once in college and it was the best thing that I ever did.” Initially, she was studying to be a nurse before realizing her queeziness when it came to handling blood.

College is a lot easier than I originally thought, honestly. Especially since I never gave a shit about school and never graduated. What’s the point, when you are locked up in a ward year round and have no prospects. Nathan smiled at her and nods slowly as if he were listening to what she was saying , with his full attention “Oh? I will not need any? Well, okay.” He flashed her some teeth for a split second before looking away “Yeah, the classes I had been taking before just weren’t interesting. I have recently awakened my artistic side, and wanted to explore that more.” Raising an eyebrow he decides to pretend to be invested in this even more “So, mind if I ask, what were you doing before deciding to be, well, this?” “someone who looks like you?” she questioned, hues narrowed in confusion. “i don’t see anything wrong with you.” charity wasn’t going to force him to go inside, but she wasn’t going to let him sit in the rain and end up getting sick. “then i guess i’m staying with you.” the short girl then sat next to the male. not too close since it seemed he would want his space, and held the umbrella above the two so they wouldn’t get hit by the rain. “do you like the rain?”

Nathan let out bit of a laugh and shook his head “No, I do not suppose you would. Normies only care about what they see. Until it becomes uncomfortable or inconvenient for them.” They don’t always care about what they can’t. Nathan shook his head, irritated by this fact. When she declared she was going to sit there with him, he exhaled heavily from his nose “Do whatever you want.” Just don’t stand in my fucking view. Austin might show up any minute and then I’m going to fucking stab him, or kidnap him. What was I originally planning on doing? Nathan made a face as he thought about what he was actually going to do. When she spoke again, asking her question he looked up at the sky “ Rain? No. It makes everything wet, and cold. Storms are too noisy and chaotic.” He continued to stare ahead, watching out for his twin “Do you like the rain?” Mackenzie kept her hands on her hips with a roll of her eyes. “Yeah yeah, sure bud.” She said sarcastically about him saying he was going to kill her. No way in hell did she believe he would ever get the chance to do that, even if he meant it. Which he might. This guy was really strange. “I dont even know what type of joke you mean. Sorry to say, but you arent making any sense.”

Kenzie raised an eyebrow as she watch him move closer to her. “Ah, you’re from the ward. That explains it. Has anyone told you you’re a little creepy?” She asked before smacking his hand away from her. “Death? Yeah right. If im dead i wouldnt even be here. But cute joke.” She told him with a snort. “Maybe you should go back to the Ward. Making up deaths for other people is a little weird.” Kenz shook her head. “I dont have a killer.”

At her dismissive attitude toward his threat he felt an eye twitch as a surge of anger began to rise. He had to remain calm. Don’t screw this up, Nathan. You can’t kill your family from a jail cell, now can you? He cracked his neck a bit as a nerve began to spasm in it from his trying to restrain himself from doing anything to the other. With her comments about what he was saying he shakes his head “Don’t worry about it. It is apparently of no importance to you right at this moment.” Nathan rolled his eyes “Occasionally, yes. They also say I have no soul and that I deserve to burn in hell. But it is going to be pretty hard to burn when I am sitting on the throne that is waiting for me down there.” He narrowed his eyes on her.

Nathan was a nightmare at the ward. He didn’t think he should be less so while outside of it. He just had to avoid getting arrested or killed before he could murder his entire family. Outside of that, he was free to do what he liked “No, it actually doesn’t explain anything. But I see how it is.” He smiled and pulled his hand away “It is not a joke, you died.” When she suggested he go back to the ward his limit had been reached. Rage spilled over him as he began to lose his control without a thought or any ability to stop himself his leg moved and he stomped on her foot angrily, digging his heel into it, to make sure she had trouble getting away “Excuse me? Go back to the ward?! Bitch, you do not know anything about me!” Nathan narrowed his eyes on her, not caring about whatever else she had said, his mind locked in on everything else that was irritating him. He pulled his right arm up to his neck quickly before sending it right toward her face, aiming to smash his elbow into it. Which she could easily dodge if she ducked. Mackenzie slowly nodded at what he said. Maybe he was one of those crazy runaways that dug a hole through the ground with a spoon he stole from the kitchen. “Okay Satan. Calm down.” She scoffed as he started to lose control and his foot fell down on hers. Thank god for the thick combat boots she had on. They looked really cute with her outfit too, so that was definitely a plus. “You really think i dont know anything about you? Obviously you’re a little crazy in the head and fresh out the psych ward. And you really need to chill the fuck out or ill make a little call with your description.” She warned before easily ducking and moving out of his grasp. Her father made sure to teach her self defense. “But i wont if you stop trying to fucking kill me. You going back or staying out of that place doesnt matter to me one bit. But dont mess with me or it will.” A lot of people have tried to use her, scare her, and anything you could think of because of who she was. She knew how to handle herself, and she sure as hell will.

Nathan knew she didn’t know anything about him. No one could have possibly known anything about him. Especially someone who was Mackenzie’s age. Nathan’s hand began to ball into fists. His fingernails cutting into his skin “You don’t! You don’t know a fucking thing! How would you? Huh?!” He spat, growing more annoyed by her. But he couldn’t kill her. He knew that, but he had to let the anger out on something. His body was shaking and twitching from the lack of release. He wanted to hurt her. But she’ll definitely ruin your plan, she’ll go to the police, just like that other girl. They are both going to get you sent back. His breathing had become heavy again over their interaction, Nathan knew he was going to explode soon. Turning away from her he began to pace. Release. Deciding to leave, then he had to release the build up on someone, but not her “I am going to go now. Goodbye.” Turning abruptly he started walking away from Mackenzie to go find a place away from people. Camille looked at him as he’d faded away from her words, she was floored since this was the last.. no, she didn’t even think this reaction would have happened. He was off in his own world, when he spoke about lies and then lying she only furrowed her eyebrows. “What?” She questioned him, though it still didn’t get his attention, she finally pushed his shoulder slightly which brought him back down to earth. When he’d asked how long she’d been there, she leaned back out of confusion, “Five minutes ago.” she answered honestly.

Narrowing his eyes as his mind started to focus in more, realizing who he was talking to. Nathan looked at her phone “Five minutes ago? And what happened?” He asked before looking at her again. But before she could answer his mind filled in the momentary blind spot and he reached out, standing as he swiped her phone swiftly from Camille’s hand and dropped it on the sidewalk. A second later he brought his foot down and started smashing her phone “You aren’t telling anyone!” Dropping over her, his hands moving to either side of her on the bench “You are going to pretend nothing happened. You are going to continue your daily life like nothing even happened.” Angrily his nose twitched a bit as he focused his eyes on hers “Do you understand?! Call me a monster, bitch about me to your friends. Do what ever you have to do to vilify me, I don’t care about what happens to me. But don’t fucking ruin this. I need to do this. All you have to do. Is stay away from the police.” Mason stretched his arms out infront of him, looking at the mound of papers he had sifted through. “Okay. I need a break.” A long sigh emitted from his mouth. Mason pushed himself from the chair, taking his coat and wallet with him. Running down the stairs, Mason pushed the door open, a little too hard knocking whoever was walking by at the time. “Shi- i am so sorry!” Mason turned to give a hand to the one he knocked over. “Are you okay?”

Holding up a piece of paper his eyes ran down the page. Pulling his hand away he looked around “Damn it. Where is that street?” As he went to lift the paper back up a strong gust of wind blew it from his hand. Nathan quickly moved to chase after it, when it blew up against a door before sliding to the side of the building the door belonged to “Shit- shit - shit!” He reached out just as the door opened and hit him, sending him to the ground. A moment later he was staring up at some one as they asked if he were okay “Did you just hit me with a door??” He asked pushing himself up and bringing his hands to the sides of his head. Letting out a few tiny pained noise, he answered the other “Yes. I- I am fine.” Nathan’s eyes moved to where the paper had been, just in time to see the wind blow it up the side of the building and then onto the top of it “Ugh.” Pacing back and forth, Nathan was whispering under his breath, his body shaking with how angry and full of rage he had become. His left hand rubbing against the side of his head. If he were being honest with himself, he felt like he was losing his damn mind. But he couldn’t begin to figure out why. He knew his stress levels were absolutely through the roof. He knew he had never had hallucinations before. Nathan knew if he were stressing out that badly, things wouldn’t go well for him. He knew he needed to keep out of town for a few days. Without any proper medicine to keep himself in check he was more prone to acting out of character. The staff had told him at one point about the latest in his illnesses, surfacing. At the moment he was drawing a blank on what they mentioned it being, though.

Angry he dropped to the ground slamming his fists into the ground, until growing tired. He dropped onto his hands, leaning on them as he let out a few heavy breathes “Fuck! What the hell am I doing?!” He shouts, gasping for air as he looks up “Why can’t I fucking just kill them already!” Tilting away he sat down on the ground, bringing his reddened hands up to his face and pressing his fingers into. Tears welled into his eyes “It’s not your fault. It’s theirs! They made you this way, Nathan. They left you there, they drove you to do this!” Slipping his hands down his face, his arms move to wrap around him a moment later as he continued to shake “I can’t do this, right now. I can’t actually be going crazy, right now! Fuck!” Shaking his head he curled into himself “It’s because of them. They made you this way. They all need to pay. All those times they left you in there, you were just a child. You didn’t deserve being left in there for days!”

Nathan turned his head to the right, sobbing for a moment as his nails raked against his bare back, tearing at his flesh. There were scars all over his back from this exact same action. Whenever Nathan couldn’t take out his frustrations on other people, he took it out on himself. He thought it help him self medicate, in a way. Though after some years of this the staff finally had to start cutting his nails down and often times make him wear mittens bound to his hand to prevent him from hurting himself. But since waking up in the woods his nails had grown back, and he was fucking pissed. He hated himself. Hated that he had not been able to locate and get rid of his family. Pissed that he couldn’t burn down the building that had fostered his madness. Tears spilled over his face as he mumbled “Why me, why me. I never asked for this. I just wanted to go home. Why did they choose me….”

Because you are worthless and unwanted, your parents told us they didn’t love you, they wanted nothing to do with you, a heartless thing. You can’t honestly believe they ever had loved you, can you? You were one too many, twins can be easier to manage if one is believed to have never exited, or dies. We saved you. You should know that by now. They never loved you. No one could ever love a monster like you. You just needed to give them a reason to get rid of you. You don’t deserve them, such good people. Threatening their lives and the lives of their children. Look at you, even willing to tear yourself apart, for what? Because you got mad? Boo hoo. No one cares if you live, or die, but me, your mind was perfect to mold any way I wished to reshape it, Nathan. You belong to us. You always will. Nathan narrowed his eyes “I am tired of playing this game! I just want to fucking kill them. So I can be free, that’s all I want! ” You can never be free, you are not something that has freedoms, don’t be stupid, Nathan. We are going to find you. Mason panicked for a moment, thinking the boy may have been angry with him. After all that he’d been through, this was the last thing he needed. “Urm, yeah i did. Sorry about that.” Mason reached up to scratch the back of his neck, looking down a little with a ‘sort-of’ pained smile. Mason looked back up to see the expression on the boys face, instead following where his eyes had traced, only just catching the paper flying over the buildings roof. “Oh man,” his attention quickly turning back to the boy. “Was that important? I can try help-recreate what was on it? Was it an essay too the school? I can talk to my wife-” he coughed. “Mrs Wentworth, she can talk to someone about it, get you pardoned or something?” He shrugged a little, furrowing his brow.

“A sorry does not make it not have happened.” He muttered staring at the other “It just makes you think you are excused from whatever you are supposedly sorry about.” Realizing he might have been thinking a bit too hard on the apology, and to a complete stranger he toned it down a bit. Clearing his throat he gave the other a cheeky little smile and nods “But do not worry about it. I am alive!” A moment later he resisted the urge to let out an irritated sigh at the others question about the paper “No! No. It is… Ah, all right. It was not really important.” He frowned a bit though, a sign that it indeed was important. Before looking away from the other “OH! I am in her creative writing class.” He exclaimed, bringing his hands up and clapping them together “She’s a fantastic teacher.” I want to die. Bitch makes me wish I were fucking deaf, and maybe blind. Waving his hands then he pushed himself up and placed his hands on his hips “ I do not need any help, these assignments are always a piece of cake!” Besides, I don’t imagine you would like to help with this assignment, it involves murder. For some reason the normies have a problem with killing people, huh. Fools. “Yes, between you and me, your paper was very well-written. There were a few grammatical errors, but we will go over that in class,” she smiled. Emily would reiterate some of the grammar rules to the whole class. There were so many to memorize that they were easily forgotten. “That’s understandable. I took a pottery class my senior year and I loved it, so I now I do that on weekends.” She hadn’t touched her pottery supplies ever since Melanie died, and she wasn’t sure if she ever would again. “I was going to be a nurse because I wanted an occupation that would help people, but when I had to shadow a hospital, I wasn’t a fan of blood, so I opted to be a teacher.”

“Oh? Nice.” That’s fucking great, where’s my god damn award then? I should have one for being able to figure this shit out. Smiling a bit at her then he nods when she continued on talking. Man, do I love learning. Doesn’t irritate me one god damn bit. It’s like, yes, please. Teach me. Heelllllooo Teacher. I wonder if animaniacs is still on t.v. Glancing up as his mind wandered for a moment, he grins at his thoughts. Then looks back toward Emily again “Pottery is not bad either.” Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. As she explained why she was in the position she was in, currently. Well, I was a bit sick at the sight of blood once, too. But I got used to it. Blood is such a normal thing for me see, now. Nathan tossed his head a bit at these thoughts, thinking back to one particularly bloody day in the ward when he was nine. Checking back into the conversion he adds “Aww. Well, I am glad you ended up here. You are one great teacher, Wentworth.” Mason held his tongue, unsure of how to act to the teenager who stood in front of him, opening and closing his mouth like a codfish. It wasn’t until the boy smiled at him that he relaxed. The boys cheeky demeanor took away the suspicion he had originally felt towards him. Mason turned around, looking over his shoulder one last time at were the paper had disappeared over the building. “I can’t believe i was clumsy enough to do that.” Mason sighed at himself, returning his attention to the boy. “If it’s anything you need printing, i can let you into my office to use my printer if you need?” It eased his conscience a little knowing he’d done all he could for the boy before getting his coffee. Mason smiled at his words. Fantastic. She was so much more than that. His mind wandered too all the great times they had had over the years, not taking him long to think of the moment she found out his brother had killed their daughter. The anger on her face, the frustration, the tears. He’d let his mind wander all too much, returning back to the current situation he was in. “That’s great, i always hated assignments in high school, they made me want to claw my eyes out. Glad someone understand them.” Mason shrugged once more, pushing his hound out slightly as he referenced to the boy.

Blinking as he watched the other turn around, he glanced toward the building as well for a moment before looking back at the other. Nathan kept on his pleasant act and shrugged lightly at the others words “Accidents happen.” Waving a hand he smiled “No. No need for that.” Nathan guessed that the paper itself was not very incriminating. Not as much as what that paper would later help him do. Well, at least Nathan had hoped that the paper would lead him to his goals. After a moment he noticed a look come over the other. If he could place it anywhere else, he would say it were similar to something he had noticed his mother looking, once. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes as a spike of anger struck him, he turned his eyes up and then glanced to the side.

The bitch will pay, just like the rest of my fucking family. Half listening to what the other said next, Nathan’s full attention was brought to them as they gestured their hand toward him “Claw your eyes out?” He questioned, giving the other a look of concern. Though he couldn’t say he had wanted to do worse during his classes in the ward. The woman assigned to him was absolutely insufferable. Nathan smirked at a memory of the last day he had seen the woman “I used to have problems with my teachers. But school itself? It just comes easy to me.” As long as I’m not being forced into doing the work. “College seems a bit more difficult. But still nothing I have not been able to handle, so far.” “Yes, I believe the whole class could brush up on their grammar.” With texting and Facebook, she could understand why students grammar would slack. But she wouldn’t accept defeat. As an English and Literature teacher, she found grammar to be very important, especially when communicating. “No, it really isn’t. It’s quite a fun hobby, actually. I suggest the class, if you haven’t chosen one already.” A soft sigh escaped after she spoke. When she was doing pottery, she was happy. When her daughter was alive, she was happy. Happiness seemed like a dream that couldn’t be reached at this point. “Thank you, Mr.Douglas,” she smiled.

Nathan grinned at that, “Yes. Grammar is very important.” Sighing a bit at that Nathan glanced away from Emily for a moment before looking back “Hm, I may think about it. I believe I have still got a few extra slots open.” Because it’s not like you have a couple murders to plan. Go on, Nathan, waste you entire day at this fucking college. Because you absolutely are going to use what you learn here, later on. You know, after you’re dead. Sucking in a breath Nathan nods “Well, I should probably get to class, only so many tardy’s until I can not come to your wonderful class anymore.” He stepped back from her before turning away and continuing toward his class. “Wonderful!” Emily smiled. “You should definitely look into it then!” she encouraged. The pottery class she took in college allowed her to destress and unwind. She was positive that class was the reason she graduated with a 4.0 GPA. “Of course, Mr.Douglas. I didn’t mean to keep you for so long. I will see you in class.” The blonde continued to walk to her class, grading the remainder of her papers.

Nathan didn’t care much about actually looking into the pottery class. It was definitely something he would immediately forget to do by the end of the day. After a few minutes, and a brief stop somewhere inconspicuous, Nathan finally did end up in the creative writing class. Yanking out a chair he loudly drops into the seat and brings his legs up to sit in a lotus position before pulling himself in closer to the table. Nathan of course had no supplies, because he was homeless and absolutely poor. All he really had to call his own was the knife he managed to salvage from the house in the woods that he had been keeping Camille, and the clothes on his back. Entangling his hands he dropped his head onto them, elbows resting on the table and waited for the class to begin. turning to face him, she was slightly confused. “not everyone cares about what they see.” her hues studied the rain fall as they collided into the now damp concrete. taking in the sounds of the droplets. “yeah, i like the rain. i don’t know, there’s something beautiful about it.”

“Maybe. But you have only just met me. My mask tells you I am normal, for now.” He raised an eyebrow, looking back at her. Turning his eyes away in the next moment, water dripping off the tip of his hood he nods. Sitting in silence next to the other, Nathan wondered how long the rain would last “Is there? I have not noticed it then.” Adam stared absently at the photo of him as a child, his past memories swirling around in his head and ultimately blending together. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate and quickly crumpled the photo before shoving it in the back pocket of his jeans. As he turned to walk away, he was met by the sight of another person. He hesitated, his balance shifting backwards slightly.

“S-Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Adam stuttered, trying to cover his tracks.

Having been keeping out of the main populace of Killbourne for several days after his meltdown, Nathan couldn’t put it off any longer. He needed to find some cash and get some food. As he walked he came across someone and stopped to stare at them, tilting his head a bit. His dried pale lips parting a bit as he feels a pang of hunger. You could kill him, I’m sure he has things on him worth something. Swallowing, Nathan smirked at the other when they took notice of his standing near them “I did not know I was asking for you to see me. Can I not just stand here?” Well, you are staring at him. It’s probably creeping him out. Glancing away, Nathan rolled his jaw. His eyes scanning over the area, there had to be wealthier looking people around here that he could rob and get even more cash from “Where is this? What is the name of the street?”

Adam suppressed the urge to furrow his brow when he caught a glimpse of the other male’s smirk. Tripping over himself to think of a way to avoid a possibly oncoming conflict, he spoke, “Of course, you can stand wherever you want. It’s my bad that I nearly ran into you.” He noted each abnormal twitch displayed from the guy across from him, trying his best not to make his deductions obvious. Adam looked around for a street sign, realizing that he didn’t really know where they were himself. “Well, I’m pretty sure that Todd Street is about 4 blocks North of here… But, I could be wrong.”

Tilting his head a bit at that, he continued to smirk. Nathan hadn’t really noticed the other almost running into him. Then again, his mind was a little bit fuzzy from the lack of food and water “Sure.” His said, void cracking as he looked the other over. Watching the other his eyes narrow. When they answered his questions he gave the other a friendly smile and nods “Thanks. You probably are. But I’ll find out eventually. Hey!- This is weird, but do you by any chance have spare cash? I am sort of lost. If you could not tell.” And starving to death, I’d rather not have to fucking kill you. Again, Nathan looked the other over. There was something about the guy “Hm. You look like shit.”

The current look on his face was one of deep unrest; ever since he had wandered back into town after waking up unknowingly in a field, everything had been different. Just… different, in a way that he couldn’t entirely put a finger on. Not to mention almost everyone he had known before ( was convinced that he had only spoken to them yesterday or maybe last week ) were acting incredibly strange with him, and distant. Even whispering to one another behind his back when they thought he couldn’t hear. Not to mention he couldn’t find his wife. Stephen left the bar abruptly, convinced he was going mad as he leaned his head on the wall outside. Only to be interrupted by a slight shuffling sound as he turned towards it, and felt inclined to lie to whoever it was. “Had too much to drink.”

Nearing the bar, Nathan let out a sigh. He wished he had money to actually get anything. Or that he wasn’t on a very important mission. The establishment served as another place of disdain for him. It was a remind of something he had missed out on growing up. The privileges he was denied for being declared unfit for society. As he walked he didn’t take notice of Stephen until the other spoke. Smirking at what the other said he turned and walked up toward them his hands in the pocket of his hoodie “Oh, are you?” Looking the other over, he could sense that this was a lie. But he didn’t care enough to be bothered to be told the truth. Why did he have to. Maybe he’d be easier to rob, Nathan. Nathan smiled at the other “Are you lost, little boy? You seem like you are very confused.” Maybe if I stab him in the chest, I can at least avoid killing him. The police won’t be as persistent, right? Stephen stood, trying to get in order all of the possibilities as to why everything seemed to be so strange around him. Maybe he was having a breakdown, but why him? He had always been so well put-together, it just seemed far too uncharacteristic. There was only so many reasons he could come up with, and many sounded like a bit of a far stretch for someone like him to get involved in. There had to be some simple explanation, somewhere… he was just going to have to find it. Considering the bar he had spent the majority of his life in didn’t have any clear answers, he was going to have to look a little further. Eventually he turned towards the young man, giving him a look at the ‘little boy’ comment. He had to be joking, right? “No, I’ve lived here my whole life. But yeah, I’m confused.” He muttered. Eying the other as they seemed to react toward his little taunt, Nathan huffed a bit, laughing at the other. Glancing away as his tongue clicked, listening to the others words. He found himself thinking about all the weird stuff apparently going on in this town. Of what little he had picked up from gossipers and old thrown out news papers from trash cans. Nathan cracked his neck a bit, twisting his head a little then looked back toward Stephen “Your whole life? Well isn’t that fucking interesting.” Giving the other a tired glance his eyes flutter halfheartedly as a wave a tiredness hit him “You and everyone else.- you got a Job? Cash?” Nathan takes a step closer to the other. Dropping back against the outside wall of a building, Nathan slid down and let out a sigh as he sat on the ground. Glaring from the shadows that the building cast over him, as a few people walked by, Nathan knew he was going to have to hurry up with his plans. Closing his eyes he leaned his head back. He was debating whether he was up for going to the creative writing class today or not. What’s the point. It’s all for show anyway. It won’t mean anything. It’s all going to be fucked when I kill my family. Adam couldn’t help but pick up bad vibes from the male across from him. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he nodded in response to the other’s inquiry. “I’m sure I’ve got some.” He reached into his pocket, taking out a few bills from his wallet. Way to be a pushover, Adam. He extended the money to the other male before frowning slightly. “Do I?” Adam chuckled dryly. “You’re probably right. Lack of sleep does wonders for the complexion, as my sister would say.”

Watching the other reach into their pockets he tilted his head. Nathan was sure that wouldn’t work. Just asking for things had never worked, for him. Narrowing his eyes on the other he felt like they were a bit weak. A certain type of person he often preyed on in the ward he lived in. Smiling at Adam as he held out the money, Nathan snagged the cash from the other and counted it before slipping them into the pocket of his hoodie “Thanks.” He said, his tone having a hint of amusement. Glancing away when the other responded to his previous comment, he rolled his eyes “Right. I am sure your sister is just full of gems like that.” Stephen had no idea what could be going on. He was already immensely puzzled before this very seemingly odd stranger had shown up. All he knew was that he felt rather uncomfortable under the others gaze, and reached out a hand to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly. Was this guy homeless or something? “I’m a guitar teacher.” The man had only tried to go back to his house when he had realized it was no longer the day of his wedding. He’d changed just to see that his fiance wasn’t even home and ran back out to find her. At the bar, he had spent the very little cash he had took out with him. Thankfully, because he was sure now that he would have been robbed. Not that anything else bad couldn’t still happen. “No, man. I don’t have anything on me.”

A guitar teacher? That so fucking lame! I bet he gets paid in pennies. Nathan blinked quickly before his eyes trailed off to the side. I don’t know, maybe he is actually a really good musician. He might get paid pretty well. Nathan snorted softly at that thought. Then looked back to the other “Fan-fucking-tastic. A guitar teacher.” Bringing his hands to his hips he tilted his head a little bit as he listen to the others next answer “ You must not be a very good guitar teacher, then.” I knew it! Just look at him, I guess I shouldn’t of been expecting anything- “Well- Bye.” Without another moments hesitation Nathan started off down the sidewalk. Willa was that person who was always never quite sure what to do in between classes, but luckily for her, pottery and creative writing were never together and so she could go to both separately without waiting around. She had a headache that didn’t seem to be going away with aspirin, and to be honest for once she was kind of not in the mood for her class. Though she really couldn’t afford missing any this early on, so maybe she should just battle through it. Pondering over her options, the girl spotted a familiar figure leaning against a wall in the shadows and slowly wandered over. “Hey, Austin. Not going to class, huh?”

Tired, Nathan rolled his head against the wall. His mind felt clouded for the last few days. You smell like dirt. Nathan looked up slightly at the thought that invaded his mind. Of course I smell like dirt, I was sleeping in mud last night. Blinking after that a voice entering his ears. He didn’t seem to have taken notice to it, or even recognize it for a moment. But as Willa neared, he nods slowly “ Aaahh… I- I am-” Taking a deep breath, he thought about how he was going to deal with class “I was just enjoying the surrounding of the campus, for a moment, before class.” He said before pushing himself up. How about you actually felt the immense weight of all your depression suddenly and needed to sit down for a second. “Is that where you are heading?” He asked.

Lia almost didn’t know what possessed her to walk around the campus today. For sometime, she had kept her distance, watching as all the little ants scurried to their designated rooms for the same lecture that has been taught for god-knows how long. Lia never liked school, but she understood it’s where people made themselves into better people–or at least that was the intention she hoped these institutions had. A familiar face caught Lia’s attention. He looked–down, and it wasn’t because he was literally on the floor or anything, Lia just had an urge to talk go talk to him and the impulsive girl simply followed her feet. “Hey, friend,” Lia smiled as she crouched beside him, “’member me?”

You should have rested earlier. You are running out of steam. No one is going to help you out, Nathan. Just go kill them already so we can end this. Nathan felt a pang of hunger in his gut as he rest against the wall. He didn’t think he would ever find life in the ward to be something he had kind of wanted. But over the course of the last few weeks with all his supplies running on empty and nowhere to go and call shelter. He was left thinking about how much more fun it would have been to just end up with this all being a fever dream, or something, and he would wake up at any moment strapped to a bed in the ward’s isolation room after some meltdown he’d had. But no, this all had felt real. And he knew he was really going to starve to death if he didn’t hurry things up. As a voice entered his ears he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the other, before watching them crouch beside him, eyes dropping down as they had. Nathan smiled “Oh yeah, you are the girl…with the um… cigarettes and the cool clothes.” He grinned, nodding lightly before shifting a little “What are you doing here? You have classes?”

Willa had to admit that the other seemed a little distracted, but the girl pretended she hadn’t noticed anything because it wasn’t really her business. If it started becoming concerning, she could always bring it up later. “Right,” She responded to his reply, trying not to make her tone sound too accusatory. Fingering a wayward strand of red hair for a second, she pushed it behind one ear. Of course he would be expecting her to show up; she loved the classes and could never stop talking about each one after they ended. The young woman just felt quite scattered today, for some reason unknown to her. “Maybe – I don’t know? I was actually thinking of skipping as I feel kind of weird, but don’t know if I should just pull myself through it.”

Raising an eyebrow at Willa, Nathan had to keep in mind that he was pretending to be Austin. But with his not knowing who Austin was, as a person, it was difficult to keep the act up. He had this sudden need to just stop caring about the performance entirely. But, on the other hand knew it was helping him with his ultimate mission, getting to his family. As Willa spoke of feeling kind of weird he smirked a little bit “Oh? Yeah. I guess you look a little under the weather.” Tilting his head slightly he looked her over “You did not get caught in that rain a couple of days back, hm?” This was said as more of a tease, rather than his actually knowing she was indeed, out in the rain. Nathan straightened his neck then, bringing his arms up to cross them under his chest “Maybe you should really pull yourself through it. Unless you feel like you are going to vomit.” Says the idiot who was just debating whether he would be going to class, or not.

Lia finally took a good look at him, causing an awkward silence between the pair of them for a moment. When she finally opened her mouth, her eyes spoke of concern while her actual words dropped like bombs. “You look like shit, bud,” Lia adjusted her feet so she was actually sitting beside him, “and yeah, that’s me. Lia also works if you wanna be more formal.” It was as if his mentioning of the word caused Lia’s hand to instinctively reach for her pack. Pulling out two, one for herself and one, Lia pointed toward Nathan as a sort of peace offering–or tuck behind her ear if rejected. “Nah. I mean, I might? But that’s a lot of money and it seems as long as you look like a possible student they don’t really care if you hang around outside. College is weird,” Lia chuckled as she also began to light her cigarette. “You have classes though right? I’ve seen you around here a few times, because, as you’ve probably noticed, I’m a creep.”

“Yeah.” Nathan muttered, airily. It wasn’t much of a surprise, he’d always looked like shit. Maybe it was just that he looked more like it. Nathan ran his tongue over his left canine as he watched Lia sit beside him. It was odd, she seemed more concerned about him. It was always odd to see someone look at him like that. He hadn’t been completely without some bit of concern in the ward. It just happened that those in the ward who looked at the patients with concern were very small in number. As her hand moved he watched her, tiredly. When she offered he lifted his left hand up and sluggishly took the offering from her.

As he couldn’t afford any on his own, he was not going to turn her down on the offer. Nodding as she spoke of college being expensive, Nathan was just lucky he had a twin “Yeah. They really don’t.” Making a face his eyes shift to look around the campus for a moment before returning to Lia “I was never a big fan of school. But so far it seems that college is a lot more fun, at least in some areas.” Taking a deep breath he listen to the next thing Lia said, and laughed lightly “Are you a creep? I have been called a creep also. In certain circles, that is.” Pulling his head away from the wall he lifts his right hand up to rub against his head “But yeah, I do have a creative writing class to get to here in a couple of minutes or so.-Anyway, can I get a lite?”

“You’re insane.. this is the best pizza ever.”

Okay, so now you have gone from murderous psychotic to,- Stalking your own brother. Hows that doing for you, Nathan? Behind the pair of sunglasses he had on, Nathan narrowed his eyes a bit at the voice and tapped on the table he was sitting at several tables away from Austin. The hood of his hoodie was up, casting the rest of his face in shadows of the dark corner he’d been seated at. Lifting the neck of his shirt up over his mouth as he watched Austin with a friend. Fuck him.

Austin looked at his girlfriend and shook his head as she tried to tell him he was wrong. “No you’re insane. This is better than the pizza we had at your dads birthday!” He pleaded, shaking his head and taking another bite. He looked up at her and laughed lightly, not knowing that he was being watched.

Taking out a few bills he had managed to beg off of a couple of people, he counts them as he places them on the table. As the waitress brought his order of tea and a muffin over, he continued to watch Austin. The waitress taking notice smiled at Nathan and spoke loudly about if that would be all he’d like “Yeah, sure.” Lifting the muffin up he stared at Kristine, he figured she must have told him about the strange encounter she’d had with the other several weeks ago. Fuck him. Austin looked at his girlfriend as she wasn’t the same since the debacle, they still don’t know who it was she could have seen. The brother that he didn’t know about was dead, so it didn’t make sense. Though as much as it freaked him out, he was mainly worried for her. “Hey.. you’re okay.” He smiled lightly, as she ate her meal in silence. Because she didn’t have answers, she was feeling scared for her own thoughts and central nervous system. Austin looked at her and reached out to hold her hand, he didn’t know what else to do, he’d been feeling helpless.

It was literally making him ill, watching the two from where he sat. His brother looking different from how he built the other up in his head. His brother not seeming to be effected by anything sixteen years ago. But, rather, sitting like a normal person with their girlfriend in a restaurant. It was pissing him off! His appetite was slipping from him as he watched the pair, jealous of Austin. He deserved that sort of life too, why was he the one singled out. Drumming his fingers, he wanted nothing more than to stab Austin right then and there. But he had to contain himself, it was hard, holding back his much-needed outburst. Fuck him. FUCK HIM! Fucking bitch ass mother fucker. Asshole. Bastard! Austin looked at the girl he loved and smiled at her hoping to get her to not feel so bad. He wanted to do something, he watched as she shook her head and announced that she wanted to go home alone. He looked at her with sad eyes and then just nodded, “Okay sure.. lie down. Call me if you need anything.” He spoke looking at her, his head hurting ever so slightly because there was nothing he could do, yet at the same time he felt he was to blame. He watched as she got up and walked out of the restaurant. He sighed and looked down at his pizza and eating it finding it not to be as good as it was a couple minutes ago.

Continuing to watch Austin, Nathan smirked as conversation with Kristine seemed to breakdown. He stared in amusement as the woman stood up and started to walk out of the place. Nathan’s eyes followed her for a moment before returning to Austin. What a little bitch, can’t even keep his emotional girlfriend around. Bringing his left hand up he rests head in his palm as he stares, absentmindedly bringing his right hand over to grab the cup of tea, which was still hot. He lifted it for a moment before hissing and dropping the glass cup onto the table, tipping it over and spilling hot tea onto his lap and the table. Pushing away from the table, as he wiped his pants off, hissing still as the hot water-soaked into them.

Austin sighed as he looked down at the previously incredibly delicious pizza, he heard a drop of a drug and a real cause of destruction on the other side of the restaurant. As he and a lot of the rest of the customers turned their head to see what had happened. He looked and saw the male, with his hoodie up, he stared at him since he looked familiar. His body shake looked.. like him? Wanting to see a face, or something, when he finally got a look he looked with his eyes wide. It was him. He looked and a million thoughts and questions came to mind.

The waitress from before rushed over and tried to help him, but Nathan shoved her away “It’s fine, stop touching me.” He hissed under his breath before realizing how silent it had gotten in the establishment. Turning his gaze he looked around him, seeing people staring at him. A couple of them seemed a bit amused by the accident. The waitress started dabbing napkins on the table and asking if he were alright. Nathan looked at her and then looked over see Austin staring at him. Standing then he cleared his throat and nods, before grabbing his money and turning away suddenly, running for the door. Quickly making his way outside he pulled the hood closer around his head “Shit! Did he see me?” Nathan stopped as cars passed by him, wishing the traffic would let up so he could flee the scene.

Austin stared at the male as the waitress just tried to help, he couldn’t hear his voice. Catching his eye with he male made everything almost all too real. he watched as the male grabbed his money and ran out the door. He ignored the waitress yelling as he’d just ran out without paying, Austin sat for a second watching before he couldn’t see the man anything. At that moment he got up, put a twenty on the table and ran after him, he ran in the direction of where he’d gone. He saw the hoodie across the street, “HEY!” He yelled needing to get his attention.

Fidgeting a bit, feeling nervous at the display of stupidity a moment before “I got to hasty. I was being fucking stupid. Dammit!” He whispered, bouncing the tip of his left foot off the pavement a little bit behind him. He lifts his left hand up and starts biting on his nails “He definitely seen, I was too fucking loud.” At the ‘Hey’ shouted his way he turned his head to look, staring at Austin through his shades before turning and stepping into traffic. Throwing away his caution in order to get away from the other. He just barely missed being hit by one car the moment he stepped across the street, only to have the another in the next lane skid to a stop, hitting him. Nathan dropped to the ground letting out a small gasp of pain , before pushing himself back up and continuing across the road, looking back toward Austin. I have to get the hell away from him, it’s not time yet! Dammit! I fucked up. Stay the fuck away from me, asshole! Austin looked watched as the man had run into the street after calling for his attention. Hearing the horn and then seeing him get hit, he stood kind of frozen not really knowing how to act. Though when he got to the other side of the street, he looked up to see the cross walk going. He ran across the street and chasing after him. He needed to know who the hell this was. “Hey!” He yelled again, and his athletic ability was in his advantage of being able to run pretty far. He ran after him before seeing him run around the corner, he followed him seeing that he’d cornered him into an alley. “Who are you?”

Stumbling for a moment Nathan managed to break out in a run. There was no time for him to stop and recover. He slipped around a corner, dropping to the ground a bit as he twisted around it. Sprinting for a split second before he noticed that he was blocked in “Son of a bitch!” This wouldn’t have happened if you studied the map a little more, Nathan. Now look you are trapped. Glaring at the fence in front of him he walked up and placed his hand on it, his fingers poking through to the other side. Tugging lightly he debated what he would do next, he had to think quick. But when he heard Austins voice again he looked over his shoulder at the other “No one of importance.” With that he started to pull himself up the fence. Austin looked at him as he cursed, when he started to climb the fence. “No.” He spoke before running and pulling his sweater down. He pulled him and turned him around pushing him against the fence. During the spin the glasses came off and the hood came off. He looked at him and it was looking in a mirror. “Who the fuck are you?!”

Not a moment after he started to climb he’d felt the other grab onto him and pull him from the fence. Nathan felt hard onto the concrete as his hood fell back and the glasses flung off. Glaring at Austin he tilted his head as the other asked the question. Who am I? Don’t fucking tell me he forgot… Rolling his eyes at this he looked away “I am a hallucination. You are having a psychotic break. I don’t really exist, Austin.” If he falls for that, I’m stabbing him. Eh, I’ll stab him etiher way.

Austin narrowed his eyes “Bullshit. How do you know my name?!” He yelled at him, staring at him. He didn’t and couldn’t believe who this person was. Nathan is dead. Nate is dead. Nathan is. dead. He thought to himself over and over. “Who are you?!”

Nathan sighed at the others shouting. Trying to not let his already nervous mind make him pull back. Smirking still at Austin he held his mouth open “But, I do know your name. So you must be going crazy. Right? I can not possibly be here. Unless you made me up inside your head.” Let’s see how he likes being called crazy, for a change. Pushing himself up he laughed “I am here to help you cope with something you couldn’t process before, right? That is what that is, isn’t it? Your mind fucked up, Austin, and I am here to help you fill in the gaps left behind.” Biting on his bottom lip, he tried not to laugh. “No! I’m not going crazy! So who the hell are you? And what the hell were you doing in my girlfriend’s apartment!” He yelled, looking at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He spoke looking at him. “Oh for the love of god.” He rolled his eyes and punched this guy in the face.

As it sunk in he frowned at the other. They were really going to stand in front of him and not even recognize him. Trying to keep his calm he laughed and brought a hand up to his mouth, rubbing it against his face “You know the answer to that, Austin.” But a moment later Austin had punched him, which hurt a lot. As Nathan under all the baggy clothes and weeks of being on the brink of starvation had drained him. Dropping to the ground he let out a few coughs, a cut on the inside of his mouth had formed when the other punched him “You should not have done that.” He mumbled, his voice cracking as he let blood build up in his mouth before spitting it out. Nathan honestly didn’t know how to answer Austin’s question. Who was he, really? Pushing himself over, his right leg suddenly shot out, kicking Austin in the groin “ All those god damn years in that fucking place, you should fucking know who I am! I did not suffer, for you to blank me! Say. my. name!“

Austin looked at him and groaned and leaned down grabbing his groin. He looked at him, and it clicked. “Fuck you!” He yelled before straightening out and pushing his shoulders against the wall. “You’re dead!” He yelled. “Nate is dead! So who the hell are you?!”

Watching the other in pain gave him a certain, sad, but also happy little feeling. It’s not like he had wanted to hurt Austin, before. He just wanted Austin to be dead. Much like he wanted the rest of his family to be dead. But he also wanted them to suffer, for all his suffering. As the other cursed at him and he stood up, Nathan stumbled back as the other shoved him into a wall. Wincing, he turned his head away and laughed “Dead? Is that what mommy and daddy told you every night before bedtime, Austin? Because the truth would have been soooo terrifying for a seven year old.”

But they forgot, you were only seven years old, too. When they let you rot in there, Nathan. They hated you. Narrowing his eyes he looked Austin over “I. am. free.” Lifting his right hand up, distracting Austin with it as his left hand moved into the pocket of his hoodie “Was it easy, to forget about me? It must have been. It was not like you were in pain for sixteen years.” He pressed a finger against Austin’s forehead, pushing the other off of him “Don’t. Fucking. Touch me.” Kill him, Nathan! He’s not your family anymore! Your family died sixteen years ago when they left you in that hellhole! Just kill him!

Austin looked at the boy, squinting. “No. They didn’t tell me anything!” He yelled shaking his head Austin was feeling a little crazy because he was dead. “Mom cried for two weeks because of Nathan. After Nathan killed himself, she didn’t get out of bed, then was diagnosed with depression!” He yelled at him, shaking his head. “I didn’t know the truth until after you died! Get it Nate! You Died!” He yelled staring at him, realizing what he’d just said. Then he stood back as everything was becoming a little too real. If he died, how was he here. Seeing him, “Sixteen..” He couldn’t even finish the sentence. Austin didn’t know how to react, how to feel. “You.. you almost killed our sister. You were dangerous! A kid with no remorse, they were protecting you!” he didn’t know what he was saying or why he was saying it. His mother had told him the story after they found old pictures of the two of them, but he felt crazy and stupid talking to him like this was normal because this was not normal. After he had a few quiet second to think. “You can’t be him… because he killed himself in the ward two months ago.”

They didn’t tell him anything. Nathan tilted his head, trying to make reason out of that. It wasn’t hard actually. Because for years he had known they hated him. The others words only further made his assumption possible, in his head. Looking the other over he made a noise with his tongue when the other mentioned their mother “Oh wah. Like she’s the only person to ever have depression. So sad, too bad.” Rolling his eyes he looked away “Oh, yeah, because I was so forgettable. I see.” Glaring at the other he hissed and took a step closer. It was bad enough he’d spent sixteen years being told he was damaged and unwanted, he would not stand for being called dead, too. Clearly he wasn’t. Nathan looked the other up and down as they seemed to have a moment of processing, before Austin again started yelling at him “I was just-” You don’t have to explain to him. You did what you did. They will never believe your reasons. They never have, Nathan. You are just a sick fucking kid who can’t be helped. A psychopath, nothing more. Act like one.

Nathan continued to glare at Austin “Fuck her, and fuck you and the other two! Fuck you all! They did a real shitty fucking job at protecting me!” They let them abuse you. They abused you as well, they rejected you, neglected you. Believed every word they were told to get you the help you needed. Those ‘parents’ of yours. Those people were never parents. You never needed them, Nathan. Don’t let Austin leave, if you do, he will tell everyone. And you will be sent back to the ward. His body began to tremble after a moment as his anger spiked, he brought his right hand to his head as a sharp ringing started to penetrate his ears, his heart was slamming in his chest. Nathan letting out a animalistic growl “I am going to cut you open like a fucking animal and decorate this fucking alley with your entrails.” He seethed as he charged at the other, yanking his left hand out from the pocket of his hoodie and pulling the knife he’d hidden there out.

Don’t let him confuse you. For years you tried to do everything that was asked of you. And they all still abandoned you there! Make them pay, Nathan. That’s all you can do now! If you want to be free from them, and that hell. You have to kill him! Kill every last one of them. Nathan slashed Austin across the chest before sending his right hand slamming into the others chest, trying to push the other over onto the ground, where he could get a better advantage and stab Austin.

Austin looked at him, his brother. “What the fuck is your problem?!” He yelled at him, shaking his head. “She was fine while you were alive!” He yelled still feeling really crazy and stupid to be yelling at a dead man. “I didn’t know you existed?! What the hell did you expect! There was no way for me to know!” He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he shrugged his shoulders. Not understanding what he was supposed to do about the past that he had no control of. “You almost killed my sister! What the fuck else did you expect them to do?!” Austin looked at him, as he stood. When he looked at the knife that had surprised him from wherever he’d taken it from. “Whoa..” He spoke with his hands up. He was slashed across and he fell back in pain, and landed on the ground. He placed his hand on his chest as he felt blood coming from the split skin. He looked up to his brother, shaking his head. “Why the hell are you doing this?” He spoke looking at him, “I never did anything to you?”

Shrugging his right shoulder, he trails the knife down Austin’s chest. His eyes catching the mark he’d made. It would scar, definitely. Frowning a bit as he felt his chest grow heavy at the sight of the wound he created on his own twin. Bringing his eyes away he blinks a few times, trying to bat away the feeling. With their last question he tilted the knife in toward them, pressing in “That is exactly it. You never did anything. I have to do everything by myself, like always. I am doing this, because I can not go back there, Austin. I will not be punished for the one single mistake I made, when I was a child. I refuse to pay for that misunderstanding any longer. And you are in the way of me getting that freedom. All of you are. I am sorry. I never wanted to hurt any of you. But waking up in the woods, it all clicked for me. No one was saving me, so I have to save myself. None of you deserve to be spared. Maybe this time I’ll just drown you, since you want to make a point of it about your sister. She’s not dead. But I am?” 8th Birthday

“Nathan, your mother is here.”

Looking up from his picture, Nathan shot up. He couldn’t contain an excited smile. He had been waiting several months for this day. For one, he was expecting cake, of course, and gifts, like a normal birthday. But he was most excited to see if Austin and Bethany had come. Walking up to the nurse she bent down to adjust the sling on his arm, a stern look on her face “It doesn’t hurt as much today. I’m going to see my brother and sister! Can you believe that? Do you think they miss me a lot?” Nathan asked, the Nurse gave him a smile as she stood up. Then reached over and grabbed his left hand. The cast on his right arm reaching all the way up to his shoulder, which made doing things a lot more difficult for him. Squirming a bit as he was guided down the hallway by his nurse, Nathan looked up “Itches.”

The nurse looked down at him “I can’t do anything about that, Nathan.” A moment later she opened the door to a room “Try not to get too emotional. You can do that, can’t you?” With that she guides Nathan over to his mother.

As soon as the door opened up Nathan ran over to the table and grinned, looking around. But after a moment he just realized it was just his mother, sitting there. She smiled at him and stood up. A moment later she was on Nathan’s side of the table, arms wrapping around him in a hug. Nathan looked confused for a moment before obligatorily returning the hug.

Taking notice of his hesitation his mother pulled away and brought a hand to his chin, looking him over before asking if he was feeling okay.

“Fine.” He jerked his head out of her hand and smiled at her “Where are Bee and Tin?” He asked, looking passed the other as if the other two would just magically appear.

“I’m sorry Nathan. Austin had school today and-…Beth is with your father.” She seemed to be upset for a moment as she pet the top of his head.

Nathan swallowed, feeling a lump form in his throat “Okay.” Pressing on another smile he watched his mother take a seat before asking “Do I get cake? I’m eight today! - Did you get me anything?” He asked walking over and taking a seat in the chair next to her, but leaned in on his left arm, on the arm of the chair, to be closer to her “ ‘member, I wanted the new game boy advanced?” He questioned. Tilting his head a bit “And Batman: Vengeance! Oh- oh and did you get- Golden Sun! That looked fun- one of the other boys gots it. And Spyro: Season of Ice! OH! And X-Men Reign of Apocalypse. Kyle says that one is fun too! Is there a pokemon out?” He asked.

His mother smiled faintly before cupping his face in her hand “Yes, Nathan. But they don’t want you to have those things in here. In case something happens to them. As soon as you get better you can have them, okay?”

Nodding, Nathan shifts excitedly in his chair “Okay! In a few months?!” He wondered what Austin would be getting. After a few minutes of talking about his broken arm Nathan decided to go back to the cake “So I- don’t get cake either?”

“No Nathan, I’m sorry. They asked that I not bring any. When you get out of here, you can have as much cake as you want. I promise.”

Pulling away he sighed “Austin gets cake. Austin gets everything.” Just as he said this the nurse came back, signalling that the conversation was coming to an end.

“Nathan, you know that’s not true. Austin is just-”

“Louder. - and not here. Not broken. Like me.” Standing up, Nathan, looking absolutely put off, walked over to the nurse, refusing his mother a hug.

“I-I’ll see you in a few weeks, okay? I’ll try to get them to let me give you something.” She knew she was just saying things to him now, to cheer him up.

Nathan looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a half-hearted smile “Okay.” Before the door closed. Nathan walked with the nurse for a moment before she stopped him and held out a cup with a pill in it “Take this, it will make you feel better.” She crouched down as Nathan took the cup “You know she’s lying, right, Kid? She’s not going to bring you anything. Ever. Get used to that disappointment.” Slipping the pill into his mouth, Nathan swallows it and glared at the nurse.

A few minutes later he was taken to his room after denying the nurses suggestion to go to the common room with the other children. He just wanted to be alone. Stepping over to his bed he looked back at the nurse who nodded and then stepped away from the door and went on to tend to other patients. Nathan pulled himself up onto the bed and pulled the blanket down. Dropping onto his side he curled up, his left arm hooking around his legs as he brought them up to his chest. He began to sniffle a bit, his chest started feeling heavy. Before long he just felt numb and was staring at the wall with a blank stare, feeling and thinking about absolutely nothing.

Willa shuffled hesitantly on her feet as she shouldered the bag she was holding, and sighed a little. Unsurprisingly, she was currently going through all the pros and cons of not going to class that day. She was quite a quick learner, or at least fancied herself one, so it wouldn’t be too hard to catch up. If she was getting some kind of flu, it would probably be better to head home and just rest. Then again she couldn’t stand the thought of missing out on a good lecture. “I did, actually. Totally my fault. I should’ve looked at the forecast and worn a coat like a normal person.” Right now she wasn’t exactly seeing herself as a normal person. What was that, anyway? All people were rather strange in their individuality. “Yeah,” The girl had visibly paled a slight since she had begun speaking to him. “Suppose I can just run out if I do think I’m gonna be sick, right?”

Letting out a few heavy breathes he closed his eyes. Nathan thought about what Willa said before opening his eyes again and smiling a bit. He leaned forward “Well, it just seems to be the sort of season that you maybe should remember your coat. It’s going to be getting pretty cold here in a month, isn’t it?” Normal people, Nathan could tell that, as far as normal people could be labeled, the other was certainly more normal than most others he’d met in his life. Then again, he had the distinct advantage of growing up with completely strange individuals. Nathan ignored thinking about normalcy any farther at that moment. His eyes moving over Willa, cold and emotionless as he took in the look on her face. Nodding at her question though he smiled “Yeah, sure. If that is what you wish to do. I am not exactly a doctor.” He laughed “You would probably have a better chance ignoring what I have to say. I’m not as smart as I look.” Austin looked up at his brother and focused on his words, trying his best to ignore the pain in his chest.“There was nothing I could do!” He yelled. “What do you want Nathan? Overall? You want to come home?” He yelled looking up at him, “You don’t want to go back?!” He yelled, “Look at what you’re doing! This is the shit that will get you back ther!” He yelled shaking his head, “I’m not.. I’m not in the way.” He spoke pleading for his safety really. “You think mom and dad purposely threw you in there?” He looked at his brother, he stood up on his fight gently wincing as he did so because he was in pain from the stinging along his chest. “Nate listen to me. Bethany isn’t dead and we didn’t kill you. If it was a mistake, and a whole misunderstanding prove it. Prove it to mom and dad that you are not this person.” He spoke looking at him.

“I know there was nothing you could do. But you didn’t have to forget about me, Austin. We are fucking twins! How could you forget seven years!?” He shouted. Nathan sucked in a deep breath, the pain in his head growing stronger as the ringing went on “Home?! Do I- No… I don’t want to go home, Austin! I wanted to be free! Are you listening to me? No- of course you aren’t. Dad didn’t then, mom wouldn’t for sixteen years. And you aren’t now.” Nathan grabbed Austin by the jaw “This is not about going home, Austin. It is too late to go home, for me. Do you know what sixteen years in a place with a bunch of crazy people can actually do to someone. I’ve changed. There is no home for me to go back to. Not anymore. No family. Once, maybe. But not now. I lost everyone I ever cared about far too long ago.”

His eyes watered for a moment before he forced the pressing sadness back down. He had to keep his hate. This was more important, hissing he yanks his hand away from Austin’s face “Of course you didn’t kill me, idiot. I am not dead.- Even if I wanted to die for such a long time…” Glancing away he thought for a moment “I could never explain enough, to have them believe me for sixteen years. - To the point that I was willing to kill myself to just- I do not know- for once be noticed? And- I could not do it. I could not do that. You will always try to send me back. I can’t live, in there. I will not - Why does my own family hate me that much? Th-that I would- They would do that to me? Lock me away, pretend I do not exist- for just wanting their attention. Just once, I wanted them to stop ignoring me. I existed, too.”

Austin looked at his brother, “I was a kid! I was.. told differently… a kid can’t stand up for what they believe..” He shook his head knowing that his argument wouldn’t help anything. “Okay! You’re free now! What are you gonna do? Kill all of us?!” He yelled, with fear in his voice. “Nathan.. I don’t know you, and i’m sorry about that.. but this.. this..” He spoke sort of waving around this situation. “Isn’t going to help anyone..” He shook his head, “No.. I don’t know what it’s like.” He looked at him, “Is it?” He spoke as his brother spoke about how it was too late to go home.

Austin looked at him, “N-no.. Nate.. you did kill yourself..” He spoke looking at him, “I went to your funeral.. I went with mom..” He spoke softly looking at him. “Nate.. I’m not making this up.. “ He spoke looking at him.

He was just becoming more irritated by the other. They were actually not going to stop playing this game with him? Nathan hissed and punched the other in the face as they finished talking “STOP LYING TO ME!!” He shoved the other again “You actually believe that I am dead?!” Punching Austin in the face, again. Nathan seethed “All of you are always lying to me! Just admit it, Austin.” Grabbing the others shirt, he pulled Austin closer to him “Admit that you hate me! You wanted to say it, I know you did! Because I tried to kill your sister. You hate me. Just say it! You like the idea of me being dead. Is that what you want?” Jerking away from Austin sudden, his hands moving to his head. Nathan whimpered for a moment as his head throbbed and he became dizzy.

Austin looked at his brother and groaned when he felt his fist against his face. He was shoved against the wall yelling out in pain from the pain the brick wall has against his back. Feeling his brothers knuckles his his face once more, he fell to the ground again. Coughing and spitting the blood from his split lip. “I’m.. I’m not lying!” He yelled as he was on all fours slowly getting up once more. Then having his shirt pulled, “I don’t hate you..” He spoke gently. “I don’t hate you!” He yelled this time, “I don’t hate you and you are not crazy ! You’re here, you’re alive and it’s confusing. But You were dead. You’re not now.. but you were dead! You killed yourself at the ward. I went to your funeral! I had to carry our mother! She stayed in bed for three weeks. She barely ate, or talked to anyone because she was heartbroken about losing you!”

Holding his head he dropped down as the other spoke. Shaking his head as Austin spit out words. He knew it was only because the other just wanted to stop him. To distract him. To get a chance to send him back to that place “Ooooh NOW I am NOT crazy! Your telling me that is very convincing. It is not like I spent sixteen years in a ward, becoming crazy.” Lifting his head, he glared at Austin “You will say anything to stay alive!” Rolling his eyes then he lets out a breath, his jaw unhinging. It was back to telling him how he had hurt their mother. Nathan shook his head “What about what she did to me? What your father did to me?! She spent a few month crying about losing me? I spent YEARS, crying about losing my entire family! But I did not kill myself! I- I was-”

He was drawing a blank. He remembered the four days in isolation, and then everything was hazy from then on. The next thing he remembered was waking up in the woods “-I got mad, I was protecting her. He was killing her. After the four days, she was dead. I wanted to kill him! But-” Shaking his head he had to stay on track. Standing he walked over to Austin and kicked the other in the side “Just shut up! You are distracting me! Do you think if you keep me talking you will get out of this!? You should not have followed me! Then you would have been spared a few more days!” Austin looked at his brother, and shook his head. “Nathan!” He yelled trying to get his attention to hopefully talk this out. “I am not out to get you!” He spoke looking at him, “Of course I would, but I am telling you the truth!” Austin looked at his brother, he didn’t know what to say. He knew that his parents fighting was always about Nathan, a lot of that was coming back to him since Nathan’s funeral. “And I’m sorry for what they decided! I’m sorry!” He yelled looking at him as he seemed to draw a blank memory of the night he took his own life.

Austin furrowed his eyebrows when he started using feminine pronouns, “Who?” He spoke looking at him, “Who was dead? Who are you talking about?” He questioned looking right through him. “I’m not distracting you, i’m trying to get answers!” He spoke looking at him. “I need answers! We both need answers!”

Austin was stressing him out. He couldn’t really believe what the other was saying. But he had nothing to literally back up the idea that Austin could of been lying. Hearing a light pop coming from his nose he moved his right hand over it, blood trickling down onto his palm. When Austin started questioning him, he blinked and looked back up from his hand “None of your fucking business! Don’t ask me about it!” He shouted, slashing the knife toward Austin again before turning his head. It was becoming hard to focus, his thoughts were taking a lot more energy to form. Gripping his right hand on the side of his head Nathan muttered under his breath.

Shaking his head “No! You don’t need to know anything! Stay out of it! Stay away from him-there, Austin! ” Pointing the knife at the other he spoke through clenched teeth “You will not go looking for answers, do you understand?! - Not that you could, seeing as I am going to kill you. I-” He was cut off by the sounds of police sirens as a cop car pulled into the alley. Glaring over his shoulder at the police as they stepped out and started yelling at him to put drop the knife “Or what?! You are going to shoot me?” He shouted at them, before turning away from Austin, his attention moving onto the police “Why do you not just, get back in your car, and let me and my brother finish our nice little conversation. hm?!” Austin was trying to help the other male, although at first it was really for him to wonder what he was doing in Kristine’s apartment. He now found himself wanting, or needing to get to know his own brother and help him in any way he could. When he was trying to be calm and get through to the other male, he screamed and fell backwards when he slashed him yet again with the knife. He fell to the ground when Nathan’s fist hit his face.

Austin looked up at him as the knife was close to his face, “O-Okay..” He spoke feeling a lot less energy than he had at the beginning of their conversation. When the police showed up, he looked at him. His face bloody, and the blood from the knife slashed seeping through his shirt. Austin tried sitting up, to do something. Though his little energy had come at an inconvenient time, he looked up and saw that the police had their guns pointed at him. “N-no.. stop.” Though no one could hear him over the screaming, “Nate.. “ He called out still nothing. The next thing he saw was the police yell at Nathan more, then he heard a shooting and popped his eyes open to see his brother getting hit with a taser. Then manhandled and handcuffed. While being led back to the car, paramedics had come to his aid to look at the lashes across his chest. “Wait.. where’s.. where’s my brother..?”

Nathan stared down at his brother, disappointed that this is what he had to deal with. Who even was this person? Why was he not defending himself!? Nathan would have felt a lot better of other was not seemingly giving up so easily! They had already punched him, did they suddenly get scared after being cut. Nathan almost laughed at the other.

As he stared at the cops he smirked a bit as they yelled at him, cold black eyes shifting from one to the other. The anger in him making his skin feel as though ants were crawling over it, as the tiny hairs on his arms stood up “Go on! Shoot me!” He taunted, looking back over his shoulder toward Austin, he smiled at the other before tilting his head down a little “Sit tight. I will get back to you in a minute!” Nathan was being a little bit too cocky. He was also becoming a little manic. Taking a step toward one of the officers he flicked up the blade, making a face “What, you gonna zap me? You think that’s going to stop me from ripping your throat out? With my teeth!?”

The taser hitting him didn’t seem to knock him down. Nathan felt numb toward the pain part of it. Mostly because he, by this point, was running on pure rage. And another part of him enjoyed the pain. This did not make him invulnerable to it. Just more capable of withstanding it, at the moment. Freezing up, Nathan tilted his head, a shaking breath escaping him as he reached his shaky right hand up and grabbed onto the power-lines. Yanking the cords out of him he smirked and tossed them to the side “You think you can stop me!?” He continued walking toward the first cop, the other stepping behind him and shooting their taser, hitting him in the back. Nathan dropped to his knees after a moment, the knife falling to the ground. Shaking, Nathan looked up at the first cop, smirking weakly before being shoved to the ground and a knee smashed into his back as handcuffs were placed on him.

With a bit of thrashing and shouting coming from Nathan the cops eventually got him into the back of their car. Where Nathan continued throwing a fit and kicking his feet against the door, shouting about not wanting to be taken back to the ward. It was all pretty unintelligible from the inside of the car combined with his shouting. The cop Austin was talking to stopped and looked at the other “He’s in that car, we have to take him to the station.” Looking the other male over before he then went on “Will you be pressing charges?” After finishing up with Austin the cops eventually left, taking Nathan with them to the police station. Once there, he was placed in a cell for the night. Having calmed down during the ride to the police station, more than likely it was that Nathan had run out of the energy his anger had been able to give him to kick a car door. As well, he wasn’t as high in energy as he could have been, from starvation. One of the cops pulled him into the police station while the other went to go get things ready for him to be placed in a cell. Nathan was told he would be held until he had to make an appearance in court, or if he had his bail paid for. He smirked weakly and shrugged as the police spoke to him further. He could not have cared less about any of what was being said to him. After all, it was not like the moment they had read any files on him, say from his attempt to apparently murder his sister. They would send him back to the ward, after that.

Nathan continued to be handcuffed as they processed him and then put him in his cell. Once there he leaned his head against the wall as he took a seat on one of the benches “Well, this just fucks everything.” Of course, I just could not let my emotions get in the way of it. Could I? I had to waste time. What would it of hurt to just slit his fucking throat? Honestly, I am going to have to get better at being the person everyone thought I was. Or I am never going to have any freedom. Nathan glanced to the side, before bursting out laughing to himself, his hands moving up to cover his mouth, still cuffed together. Shaking his head he closed his eyes “It was so much easier when I wasn’t related to anyone! To beat the shit out of someone who hit me!” Laughing still he turns and brings his legs up to his chest, before pressing against the wall “But he didn’t even know me. If only it were that easy for me to forget.” With a sigh, then, he dropped his head in his hands, strands of his hair falling down passed his wrists.

After a few minutes he brought his head up and leaned his head against the wall. He felt sick, thinking back to Austin on the ground, staring up at him with that cut across his chest. It felt so good, to see the other bleeding. To see how weakened they become. Watching them surrender to him after just a few punches to the face. Scrunching his face a bit, he hated that. He hated liking it. Nathan closed his eyes as he continued to play the moment over in his head, his body shaking against the wall each time he could of sworn he had seen Austin losing more and more blood. Eventually he passed out from his current exhausted state, his mind shutting down as a more terrifying feeling washed over him. But he couldn’t wake himself up, just like the last time in Kristine’s apartment.

A couple of hours passed before someone pushed his shoulder and shouted at him about shutting up. Apparently he had been muttering in his sleep. Glaring at the personas they stepped back from him and sat on the other side of the cell, Nathan wondered what they had done to end up here. Then turned his attention to something else “What time is it?” He hissed. The other shrugged and told him it was about three in the morning. Grumbling, Nathan turned away from the wall, feeling a bit better now that he had fallen asleep for a few hours. Lifting his hand up to his head, the ringing had completely stopped and but his head continued to feel a bit clouded “Ugh.” His cellmate laughed and made a comment about him drinking a bit too much “Yeah, I wish.”

She pursed her lips a little, taking into account his words. “Yeah, I guess it is,” Willa replied, smiling softly back at him. The redhead was the exact kind of ditz that would forget her coat, or umbrella, or whatever it happened to be she was missing that day. “Winter will be here soon, so I better get my act together on that front.” At least in the winter, either one of her adoptive parents would suggest to pick her up from work on the later shifts – so that she wouldn’t have to stick around with her creepy boss. She had to tell herself that things would be looking up soon enough, in order not to scare herself to death. A low chuckle made its way past her lips as she glanced at him. “Oh, don’t underestimate yourself. If I always went by what I wanted to do and didn’t listen to others opinions, I probably wouldn’t get anywhere.” She shrugged, not even realizing at that point that she was talking to ultimately put off going to class.

Nathan nods slowly, taking in her answer almost just as slow. As she went on his eyes widen just slightly at what she had said. Winter, he would have to hurry up. If he didn’t have things finished by the time the weather really turned for the worst. He would freeze. And he couldn’t allow himself to die without at the very least killing his family. Nathan smiled awkwardly back at the other “I always liked winter.” He said, looking a bit disconnected from the conversation for a moment as he got lost in some of his thoughts. He of course had no real experience out in the weather, in the last sixteen years. But he liked the bitterness, the cold, the fact that plenty of things seemed to die this time of year. It reminded him of himself. If he was to compare himself to any of the seasons, it would be winter. Focusing back on Willa as she seemed to go on, he smiled “Oh? So you are more of the obedient sort of person?” His tone said he was teasing. But Nathan knew he perhaps, was not.

After spending the night at the hospital, he knew that his brother would still be in jail. It took him a slower time to get there, from his broken rib but he made it as is. He walked to the window and asked for his twin, then pulled out his credit card and paid for his bail. He then sat in the waiting room, waiting for the brother he barely knows to come out the doors. Once he heard the door open he looked up as his brother was being uncuffed from a police officer. “Thanks..” He spoke politely to the police officer.

As he stepped with the officer, the pressure on his left leg sending a shock of pain up to his shoulder as he walked with them, making him limp slightly. When he caught Austin he narrowed his eyes on the other as he held up his hands and the cuffs were removed. Rubbing his wrists he takes a step toward Austin then starts walking quickly toward the other and gets right into Austins face “You are an idiot.” He shoved passed the other then and started making his way toward the exit.

Pressing the button on a water fountain Nathan cupped his hand, filling it with water. Lifting his hoodie up with his left hand, he winced a bit, before pressing his wet hand against his left side, smearing the water on the badly bruised skin. Sucking in a shaky breath, he moved his hand to press the button again. Way to go. You didn’t kill your brother, and now you could barely even run, if you tried. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to look both ways before crossing the street? Rolling his eyes, Nathan shakes his head, his jaw jutting out a little “Fuck.”

Austin watched as the twin walked toward him and spoke directly in his face then stormed off. He rolled his eyes before turning to follow him, “I’m the idiot?” He retorted, “Right okay. So let’s just put into perspective that without this idiot, your ass would be rotting in that cell and hey maybe they would have sent you back to the ward.” He spoke a small part of him knowing that he shouldn’t have said that, though it was true. “So thanks to this idiot. You’re out.”

“Oh, yes, thank you, idiot. For letting me back out onto the streets.” He stuck his tongue into the cut on the inside of his mouth and continued walking, moving his right hand to hold his side. Lifting his left hand up he covered his eyes as he suddenly felt light headed. Nathan had gone several shades paler over night and the dark circles around his eyes had gone several shades darker. Turning then he starts making his way down the steps. But Nathan paused as his stomach growled painfully. I bet they already know you are back, they will probably send someone to look for you, and then drag you back to the ward. “ Of course they will, they had to get my name last night. -They wont get me, they wont.” Austin furrowed his eyebrows, “Wait.. you’re mad because I let you out?” The male didn’t understand what he was to do. He knew that, a lot of people in his life would want him to get to know the other twin. Though he didn’t know how to do that when he was so complicated to understand. "Hold on. Nathan, you’re forgetting that they think your dead. Which.. I still don’t get how.. this.. I mean.. you.. are.. but they think your dead.. so.. they won’t go searching for a dead guy?”

At the others question he clicked his tongue, agitated that he even would have to answer it. Nathan looked toward Austin “Yes, Austin. Because you let me out. I still want to kill you, that has not changed in the last few hours!” Though he no longer had a weapon to do anything at the moment. And no where he could easily get something to finish the other off. As Austin went on he stopped, then shifts, turning to face Austin as he spoke “Oh, my god. You know what, I did not know you were the one that was in the fucking mental hospital for sixteen years. You obviously know more about them than I do.” Throwing a hand out, he waved the other off “I am not dead! You are mistaken, this is all something they set up. Do you not get that, still?” Austin was a little stunned to hear Nathan’s words, he wanted to kill him. How was that not clear twelve hours ago. “You.. uh..” He didn’t want to exactly ask another question, he didn’t even know what to do other than be terrified in this very moment. “Wait.. uh.. just backing up here.. why do you want me dead?” He looked at him as he spoke in a higher tone because of his quick nerves that had come into conversation. Austin felt like a slap in the face when Nathan retorted with serious sarcasm. “This is something they set up? Who? Mom and Dad? The staff at the ward? Why would they set up your funeral? Then because you’re ‘dead’ they wouldn’t be getting the monthly hefty checks from dad? Why would they do that?”

“Nooo, I just normally enjoy attacking my siblings with knives after not seeing them in sixteen years. It is a hobby of mine…Been practicing it for years.- I want you dead, because I- I don’t need to explain.” Raising an eyebrow at this he blinks, trying to restrain an eye roll. Tapping his foot as the other continued, he brings his arms up to cross over his chest “Of course it is. It is the only thing that makes sense. How can I be dead, if I am standing in front of you?” Sticking his neck out he eyes widening a bit before he tossed his head slightly “No, mom and dad got played, idiot. They refused to listen to me. Mom thought they were helping. -Because they are sick fucking bastards! -Anyway, what the fuck do you care? It is not like it gets in your way what so ever, this is my problem. And I am going to deal with it.” The brunette stared at the other as he’d oh so casually spoke about attacking him just hours before. Austin was starting regret his decision of letting him out now as well. When Nathan moved on to trying to explain the million dollar question, Austin again found himself at a loss for words. “I don’t know..” He just spoke shaking his head, when Nathan spoke about why he should care? And how essentially none of this information should effect him, he’d finally found his words again. “None if this gets in my way? You’re fucking joking right? You think i’m going to stand by as you go ahead on some killing spree for the family who just tried to help you? You’re wrong. This does get in my way, because if you were gonna kill me who was next? Beth? Mom? Dad? Was that your big plan? You’re going to kill us all out of what? Revenge?” He spoke narrowing his eyes. “None of us are out to get you!” He yelled. “What are you not getting!”

His eyes dulled as Austin spoke. Nathan hardly thought it was his family who would come after him. It was more to do with, when they did. Eventually he would be hunted down and taken back to the ward. That is just how it seemed to work, in Nathan’s mind. He would continue to be denied his freedom. His family had always helped the ward keep him locked up. So they had to go. Turning his gaze down, he pouts for a moment, then talks “You say that now. But as soon as it becomes inconvenient for you guys. You will send me back. You will never accept me. Not like this, not for what I am, or was, or what I have become because of what they did to me.” He looked up at Austin “I will never be free, as long as other people hold a leash at my throat, threatening to lock me up for any slip ups I may have in the future. You will always be a threat to me. All of you…My problems don’t get in your way, Austin. Only my being. your. problem, does. My existence has always been our whole family’s problem. I used to think I could fix it, if only I could run away, or-” Nathan cut himself of, thinking for a brief moment, then went on “ -You would never understand, you have always been free.” 11 years old

Sitting across from his mother, Nathan rapped the fingers of his left hand as they just stare at each other. He didn’t know what to say to her. For the last few years it seemed like he was just being talked down to. Instead of actually being listen to. Frowning a bit he turns his right hand a little, then brushes away some invisible dust. His mother wouldn’t tell him much about what was going on outside the ward. It made him feel even more detached from the outside world. The last few years had been all about the ward, and nothing else. Constantly seeing therapist. Having to go to go to the group activities wasn’t as fun as remembering doing some of the activities with Austin. Letting out a sigh he looks to the side, and starts to twist an index finger against the table between his mother and him.

The uncomfortable silence seemed to get the better of the older woman though. As she cleared her throat and reached out to grab Nathan’s fidgeting hands “Nathan, why don’t you tell me how things have been going?”

Pulling his hands just out of reach Nathan shrugged “Nothing at all.”

“Oh, uh…” Her hand pulled away “Are you sure? You must have been doing something fun since the last time I talked to you.” She tilted her head and gave a concerning look.

Nathan slammed his left hand against the table “No! I do not doing anything!” He was becoming irritated. Something told him that she knew what was going on at the ward “Do I get to go home? I am so bored- Mom- I want to go home.”

His mother just frowned, then looked to the side seeming to think of her next excuse. Nathan glared at her. That was all his mother apparently seemed to do. She couldn’t tell him the truth! He guessed he was never getting out of the ward. Nathan looked away, thinking about all the things that had happened since he had come to the ward. All the times he had been locked up in isolation. All the times he had gotten in a fight with one of the other patients. He didn’t think he should be feeling the way he was feeling at this age. The more he thought about his situation the more his anger built itself up.

“Nathan, you know you can’t leave until you are better. The doctors don’t want to take the risk of you hurting anyone.”

Another lie, Nathan slammed his fists one the table. His face puffing up and becoming red as he stood up “You are lying!” He shouted before sitting back down and kicking his feet back and forth, trying to calm down, but the more he tried the angry he started to become.

“Nathan! I’m not going to let them keep you here! I promise. You just need to let the doctors help. Your brother and sister want you to come back hom-”

“OH! Do they? I have not seen them! They never come here! And dad does not even want me! That is why I am here! You all hate me!” His mother had tried to cut him off again but he was standing in the chair shouting at her before suddenly jumping across the table and grabbing onto the older woman’s arm as she tried to pull away from him. Pausing at this his eyes darken “You hate me.” Nathan hissed before standing and walking toward her, jumping off the table onto the floor.

As he stood once more he starts walking closer “None of you want me back!” Nathan screamed,a ringing suddenly entering his mind. His glare lightened up as his just stared dully at his mother then moved suddenly, punching the taller woman in the face. Just as she stumbled away from him the wards staff entered the room “I. Hate. You.” He spat, his voice cold as his stared, emotionless, at his fallen mother, fists clenched at his side “I will get out of here by myself. I will do everything on my own.” His tone made his words sound like a promise.

An orderly grabbed him from behind then and started pulling him away. This made Nathan completely lose his mind. Thrashing around in the orderlies arms, kicking and screaming, his right hand slamming into one of the nurses face as they went to inject him with a needle, making her fall to the ground holding her hands to her nose as blood spilled out. Nathan’s shouting filled the entire room as he continued flailing, hitting anyone else who tried to get close to him. His mother including, trying to calm him down, this caused her to receive a vicious scratch on her arm and a nurse to tell her to stand back and let them take care of Nathan.

Nathan kicked the other nurse off of him before racking his nails across her face and shouting at her in a blood curdling growl. Suddenly he sinks his teeth into the orderlies arm, ripping out a chunk of skin when the older male tossed Nathan to the floor. Letting out a gasp Nathan curled up, wrapping his arms around his legs and buried his face into his knees. hyperventilating against his knee’s he mumbled something, before moving his left hand up to grip onto his head as the ringing and pain sliced through it “S-stop.” He whispered under his breath.

But the orderly recovered from the shock of their bite and were lifting him up again, setting Nathan back off. Reaching out he grabbed onto the table as the orderly started to remove him from the room. Reaching out he shouts toward his mother “I’m sorry! MOM! Please!” The table screeched as it was dragged across the floor toward the door leading to the exist “Don’t leave me here! Mom!” Nathan could only stare at his mother, and the way she was looking back at him with that look. It was one he was never going to forget. She was afraid of him “Mom…” He whispered, just as one of the nurses stabbed him with the needle. The orderly managed to get him to let go of the table and through the door a moment later.

After some time he woke up in the isolation room, his body covered in newly forming bruise marks from all the twisting around he had been doing. He was redressed in clean white clothing, the others he was wearing having been splattered with blood. For a moment he couldn’t remember why he was there, or what had happened. He mostly remember getting really angry with his mother, then everything from then on was a little hazy. But this haze had only last for a few moments. Once he was fully awake all those memories came flooding back to him. His hands reaching up to his head as he dropped to the ground. Tearing up as he remembered hurting his mother he shook his head.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Nathan wiped his hand over his face “Don’t cry.” He told himself. He was angry. He didn’t want to cry. It was easy to shut off that part of him. It had always been. Sucking a breath, the tears dried up. Lifting his hands up he stares at his nails. His mind replayed the incident over and over, each drop of blood he could bring up into memory making him feel even better. The pain in the nurse that had her nose busted made him smirk as he thought about it. But the smirk dropped away a moment later. He didn’t think he actually really enjoyed that as much as he would like to pretend he did. Rubbing one hand against his head he felt so confused. Did he really enjoyed seeing the pain he inflicted on others? Or not.

Stewing on this for a while, his chest clenching just as much as his heart pound at the memories. He had hurt his mother, he had tried to kill his sister. Didn’t he? That’s what everyone was saying. But had he really wanted her dead? Nathan paused in the middle of his pacing suddenly, tilting his head, dark empty black eyes shifting as his head tilted a bit. He felt so confused about everything. The doctors voices kept telling him that he was just a bad person. Maybe he really was, maybe there really had been no helping him. Nathan felt like it was pointless to try to be something else. When what he was a monster.

Feeling that the longer he put off accepting that fact, the more painful it was going to be for him in the end. He was much better off just giving into his impulses. Nathan nodded then, straightening out his head and let out a deep sigh. Nathan swallowed and turned toward the bed in the room. Climbing onto it he stood up and started to jump up and down. This stupid little moment had actually started to cheer him up “I do not need them.” He gasped, then giggled as he jumped into the air again, twisting a bit. He had been wanting to jump on a bed for a long time. But felt to frightened by the staff before to even try.

But before he could enjoy this freeing moment of resolution for too long, someone came into the room. Nathan did not stop jumping. He just went on as the nurse approached “What do you think you are doing, Nathan?” He asked, watching the boy jump.

“I give up.” Nathan said, plainly “ Mom hates me. They all hate me. I give up.” The Nurse gave him a slow nod “What’s the point?! Hm? They gave up, I give up. Everyone’s happier for it! Right?!” The Nurse grabbed him by the leg suddenly and jerked the others feet out from under him, making him sit on the bed.

“Alright. So you give up. What are you going to do now?”

“I do not know! Maybe bite Gavin. He was being a cunt to me the other day during exercising.” Scooting over to the edge of the bed he smirked up at the nurse as they took a seat. Nathan was curious for a moment about why they had been there. But decided he didn’t care. Turning his dark eyes away he looked around the room with a smile.

The nurse reached over and lift up one side of his shirt, showing a few fresh scars on his left arm, that looked like scratch marks. But the farther Nathan’s shirt was raised up, bandages were revealed on his shoulder “So you are going to hurt Gavin, and throw away all the good points you have?” The nurse questioned, peeling away the old bandages which had becoming stained, especially during the incident with his mother.

“Nope! I am kidding!” He looked to the nurse “Gavin is my best friend!” Narrowing his eyes on the nurse, he was lying. Nathan had definitely been coming up with a plan to hurt another patient, Gavin, bad. He was planning on doing it in the common area, where plenty of other patients could see him. And become afraid.

Patting the bloody patch on Nathan’s shoulder the nurse let out a sigh “You can’t possibly think that I believe that, do you? Gavin will be released in a couple of days. He, unlike you, has been making great progress.” Lifting a bloody cotton ball up from the wound on Nathan’s shoulder he laughed “And I don’t think you will be doing a whole lot with this bite mark in your shoulder. Henry really got you good.” The nurse laughed, teasing Nathan.

Beginning to grind his teeth Nathan glares for a moment, then puts on another little smile “I was only jokin’. Gavin and me is fine with ourselves.” Nathan looked toward his shoulder “Eh, it don hurt so bad. I like the sting.” He shrugged, making his shoulder sting.

After a moment the nurse was done and had redressed Nathan’s shoulder and started to leave “You know I am going to have to tell the others you plan on attacking Gavin, Nathan.” Then the nurse left.

Kicking his feet then, he decided he was just going to have to go for another target. Someone bigger than Gavin. Smirking as the person who would be his new target came to mind, Nathan dropped back onto the bed. Closing his eyes he to lull into sleep after a few moments, the look on his face going from sinister to a more serene one. She nodded gently at his words, noticing the odd reactions here and there to some of the things she said. Maybe he was just tired; he kind of looked that way when she’d first walked over to him to say hello. It was in her nature to show concern, and wonder whether people were alright. If Willa were to compare herself to any of the seasons, it would be the spring. She almost felt like she was blooming like a growing flower all the time, or at least she should have been. Starting anew, like nature did. The girl was silent for a moment at his question. Obedient? Well, she wouldn’t have exactly put it that way, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. “Um well, I’m no rebel that’s for sure.”

Nathan continued to watch Willa before slowly nodding at her as she answered him. It was easy for him to pick out different sorts of people. Those who usually fell under the obedient category usually weren’t messed with, other than the occasional emotional abuse and such. Nathan wasn’t interested in praying on those sorts, if he could help it. He was more interested in domination. Mostly of those who also liked to be dominant. It was much more amusing to him, to fight with someone who could (and would) fight back. It definitely served to pass time in the ward, more so than being made to watch Mary Poppins or any other Disney movie in the common room, again. Nathan dropped his head down, bringing his hand up to the back of his head “I would say I am definitely a rebel.” He laughed. Lifting his head up then, he smirked “ I guess we have missed going to class, by now.” confused. it was the only word that melanie could find that described how she was feeling. she had stopped running after she had gotten a few blocks away from the gas station that had left her feeling uncomfortable, and instead focused on the soccer uniform that covered her body. it was muddy and she had scrapes all over her, a clear sign of a good game. did they win? she couldn’t remember playing. her thoughts were interrupted as she bumped into someone, falling to the ground. embarrassed, she stood up quickly, wiping the dirt off her legs. “sorry, should’ve been watching where i was going!!”

Nathan was furiously wiping his hands on his black hoodie. He had been trying to clean his hands off. So he really had not been paying any attention to his surroundings. Once his hands were cleared, he looked them over to make sure. But as he was looking someone bumped into him. Hissing, he quickly turns to stare at the girl. Watching her rise from where she had fallen his eyes narrowed on her, giving her a slight sneer. Then he rolled his eyes at her apology “Sure.” Camille was standing outside the psychiatric ward, where she’d just stolen some files. She’d felt a little on edge when she’d left, suddenly feeling someone’s eyes on her. “Hello?” She called out, as she’d hid the files in her purse.

Nathan was just curious to see what Camille was up to, after the interaction at the fair some weeks ago he couldn’t just let her walk around and potentially ruin his plans. Though he had done quite a lot of damage to his own plans so far. Stepping out as Camille called out he walked toward her, smirking “Now how did you manage that, little bird? Breaking into a ward I could not even break out of.- And stealing files, no less. Yes, I did see you hiding them… Give them to me. Now!“ “No you’re joking, that couldn’t have really happened.”

Nathan clicked his tongue at the man standing in front of him, then blinks, looking disinterested “I am not joking. I really did see one guy bite another guy’s ear off when I was nine.” Camille turned her head quickly as she heard the voice, “What the hell are you doing here?!” She yelled, staring at him with a death glare. “Over my dead body.” She threatened. “Stay the hell away from me.”

“Well…” He paused, feeling a bit disgusted by what he was actually about to say. If the feeling he had was right, this girl was soon going to be in some major trouble. And he really didn’t want another passenger on his ride to hell “At this point, I am protecting you.-Also, you do not think I would just ignore you, you are a threat to my plans.” At her next comment he snorted lightly “Well, that may be the issue if you have the wrong files, you will be a dead body.” Andrew raised his eyebrows before nodding. “Okay, okay I believe you, Nathan. Now is there a reason you came to the hospital?”

“Yes, I was hit by a fucking car. Now give me some of your shit hospital food so I can go get hit by one, better next time. Hoping it will kill me.” Austin was getting offended for his family, mainly himself and his sister, since the accusations he was instigating applied the two of them. “Really? What makes you say that? Because you know me and Beth so well.” He rolled his eyes, on his way to giving up on his brother. “Get a grip Nathan, there’s no leash, there’s no collar, there’s no grip.” He spoke trying to get that point across. Austin didn’t quite understand what he’d said, he’d thought about it to decode it. “I haven’t been as free as you think. I was the one who had to live with our father. If he had the power to keep you in, you can’t seriously believe he was any different with us..”

“That is the thing. I do not know any of you at all.” Nathan shot back “And why? Why do I not get to know my own family?!” Sucking in a breath, he straightened up a bit. Looking away he shakes his head a little “You will. I am unwanted, garbage. I did not exist to you until yesterday. Once I become too much for any of you to manage It is back to that ward.” Taking another few heavy breaths, he glanced around quickly as Austin went on “It is an invisible one you fucking moron.” He slapped his left hand to his head, which was the worst idea. The moment his hand-made contact with his head he started to feel sick.

While Austin continued talking he laughed “What, now you are turning thi-this in-in t-to a ah-um… My abuse s-st-story is wor-worse than your abuse story?” Nathan’s eyes started to roll as the world around him seemed to shift. Continuing to walk he made his way down the stairs and onto the sidewalk, looking back up toward Austin. His stomach twist making him grip onto it “You do not know anything about abuse, you pampered brat!” He spat “Oh! Pity me for not being sent to a mental hospital. I had it so god damn rough! I was not told I was crazy! Or that I am a fucking monster every day for trying to kill my sister! But! I did scrape my knee once on the sidewalk!” Nathan screamed at the other before suddenly cutting off, his eyes emptying. For a moment he just stares silently at Austin before dropping to his knees and then onto his side, blacking out.

Several Months Ago Blinking, Nathan's mind started to check back into the situation. His eyes shift up as he started to recognize where he was. Where he always was, in the same place he would be until he died. There were specks of red on his face and smeared all along his chest as well as dripping down his left arm. But he couldn't see, and did not notice this. His mind was still a haze, trying to figure out what had happened in the last few minutes. His eyes dropped down a little bit, staring straight ahead of him as an orderly approached him cautiously. He could not make out what was being said, all he could hear was his heart beating in his chest and his blood rushing passed his ears.

When his arm is grabbed he pulls away from the orderly, stumbling back. Quickly he looks around, feeling like he needed to get out of there, right now. He needed to run away. Turning his eyes back to the orderly, he glared " H-He d-de-deserved it! I-i-i N-needed to- needed to stop him. H-” The orderly was not interested in what he was saying. All they saw was a deranged patient, that had just attacked a staff member. Pressing against the hallway wall, Nathan pants, his breathes shorter now “I have to kill him!” He shouted, dropping out of the way as the orderly tried to grab him again, but this time smacked their head against the wall. Nathan stood up, stumbling back. Not having the time to think of something to remind the orderly of how stupid they were. His own head was currently working on other tasks.

Turning Nathan took off down the hallway. All he could think about was getting away from here, away from these people. He could not live here anymore. They would not let him go home, they would not let him die. It was torture! Tripping, Nathan drops to his hands and knee's choking up a bit. They had taken the only person that ever cared about him. He took her away from him, and now he was truly alone in this place. They took everyone away from him. A sharp pain pulsed into his head. Lifting his hand up, shaking, as it pressed against his forehead he sat there for a moment mumbling to himself and trembling. He had not heard anyone approaching, by the time he had they were already wrapping their arms around his scrawny frame and lifting him up.

Nathan, thinking quickly in his current state of mind waited for them to turn and at just the right moment kicked his feet into the nearest wall, sending the orderly that had a hold of him slamming into the wall behind them, making them release him.

Dropping to the floor Nathan hurried up to his feet and kicked the orderly in the head. Hissing as he stomped on their head a moment later, knocking them out cold. He stomped once more before a voice cut him off. His eyes turn toward the voice, cold black eyes narrowing on them “I'm leaving.” Turning the other way he darts down the hallway, back the way he came slamming into a nurse as they tried to stop him, sending them crashing to the ground.

He had to get to one of the doors. Sliding onto the ground he crouched over the doctor he had left before, quickly grabbing up their ID cards. As the orderly was waking up he took that moment to kick them in the back of the head, sending them to the ground again before taking off down another hallway. He was thinking that he should have done something like this a long time ago. Instead of wasting all his time figuring out how to pick locks. Technology had not been on his side. Spotting the doors leading to the exit, to his freedom, he tried to pick up his speed. When something smashed into him, sending him slamming into a wall. His head bounced off it before being grabbed under his jaw.

One of the older orderlies had been able to predict Nathan's actions and after seeing him slipping out of the other orderlies grasp knew what Nathan had in mind. Nathan had made it clear to them that he wanted out. And seeing where Nathan was going when he back tracked had the orderly one step ahead of the other “Did you forget about the camera's, Nathan? You don't think you could really get away that easily. Though I will say, this attempt is your best so far. Hurting a doctor, you’re getting creative again.”

Nathan gasped, the back of his head feeling sore, but his glare remained on the orderly, hiding his pain “The bastard deserved it.- Why can't you just die already, Pole....” With that his head was smacked against the stone wall again.

“Because, it's patients like you that give me life, Douglas. You are entertaining to watch, I like to watch all that hope die.”

Moving suddenly, Nathan went to punch the other, but his wrist was grabbed and he was suddenly thrown to the ground. His other arm was then grabbed and held behind his back as he was bound by another orderly that was present. Nathan squirmed and thrashed a little as they had tried to restrain him.

A few minutes later he was being pulled onto his feet, Pole pulling him along with them as they made their way to his punishment. They were going to leave him in confinement for four days. Nathan smirked “Fun.” The orderly jerked him away from the nursing station then. Nathan nods at Nina as they walk by her “I guess we will not be talking tomorrow.” Nathan laughed, that was probably one of the promising things about being put into solitary, he did not have to have Nina trying to pry and figure him out.

Three days later Nathan was curled up in a ball in the corner of the small room, sobbing into his knee's. Rocking a bit, he mumbled under his breath. A nurse that had been keeping an eye on him the last few days frowned “He hasn't eaten in the last three days. All he's done is sit in that corner talking to himself and crying about someone named Beth.” She says, looking at another nurse “Yeah, he's done that for as long as I have been working here. Apparently Beth is his sister, he killed her.” The nurse looked back into the room, then closed the window and smiled at the other nurse “Then he's right where he should be.”

After the fourth day, Nathan had shifted from crying to staring at the floor, expressionless, his eyes darkened from the lack of sleep and food. He just felt nothing at all. An orderly walked into the room and he didn't even bother to look up as they walked over to him, throwing down an outfit in front of him “There's your new pair of clothing. Put them on and I will escort you to your counselor.” Nathan's eyes slowly moved over toward the pile of clothing, before shifting back to staring at the wall. He didn't want to go, he didn't want to be here, or anywhere. Letting out a sigh, he ignored the orderly's next command.

“Your punishment is up, you have to leave. We can't keep you in here any longer, as much as some of us would like to let you just rot in here.” Walking over they grabbed Nathan by the arm and pulled him away from the wall, and started to forcibly remove his dirty bloody shirt “Don't be difficult, you know that this doesn't do anything for you. As long as your parents keep throwing money at us to fix you, you are going to do as you are told.” Tossing the shirt to the side he stands “Now get dressed and let's go.”

Staring up at the other for a long moment before letting out a sigh, he stood up slowly. Lifting up the shirt on the clean pile of clothing he starts to put it on “My parents are idiots. Of course, but I do not get why they are wasting all that money on a wound that no amount of money could cure. I wish they would stop and let me die already.” The orderly smirked at that as Nathan moved to slip on the rest of his clean outfit. Then slammed a hand against Nathan's frail body as he shoved the other toward the door.

“You are a funny guy, Nathan. This is why I like you a lot.” They grabbed his jaw jerked his head from side to side, lightly “It's fun to watch you just utterly fail at life in general.” Then they grabbed onto his arm and started to harshly pull him along to Nathan's destination.

Willa on the other hand didn’t much like messing with people at all. She preferred just staying in the background, which was probably why a lot of people saw her as the perfect target. She never wanted to make a fuss over anything, making people take advantage of her without even thinking about it. The girl wanted to become stronger, but she wasn’t sure how to do so without going completely against her nature. “Yeah?” She smiled a little bit. “I probably need more rebellion in my life, if I’m being honest.” Nodding, the young woman pointed down to the empty space next to him, intending to drop herself down and rest but wanted to check if it was alright first. “Do you mind?”

Taking a few more deep breaths, Nathan watched her. He was not sure what to make of her. He of course had trust issues. But more than most anyone else she had not tried to hurt him. Maybe he was slacking on his own ability to annoy people, though. He gave her a weakened smile and nods “Yeah. You should have seen me a couple of months ago.” He snorts a little bit at this, like what he had said was a joke. Though for him it probably was a joke. His stomach started to twist a little bit, his hunger coming back. Swallowing, he glanced to the side “Well, I might be able to help you there. Maybe.” Nathan was not absolutely sure about this. He had a lot of other things on his plate. First of all, killing his family. As she gestured to the space next to him, he gave a tired shrug “Sure, sit there. Though it is a bit chilly, are you sure you want to be outside for too much longer?” Camille stared through him as if he was nothing to her, which was a lie. Though the more these two interacted, the less she feared him. “Protecting me? Well aren’t you a knight in shining armour.” She shook her head, crossing her arms making sure she had a good grip on her bag which contained the files. “What files?” She played dumb.

As she just seemed to look right through him he felt extremely irritated. He hated that! As she spoke he laughed “No, no knights here. Just, this is my thing, and I would like to keep it that fucking way, you know?” He sneered a bit as she grips her bag and tries to play dumb “What bag?” Walking toward her suddenly “Oh, let us see what bag!” Nathan shouts, letting his anger get the best of him, and he decided he owed her for her previous slap to the face. So he did just that and went to smack Camille in the side of the head. Austin shook his head as the male before him was playing the victim when he himself never received the love that Nathan claims he had. “That’s not my fault!” He yelled, “I’m trying to give you a lifeline here! You can get to know us now!” He yelled louder than his first sentence. “You’re underestimating people you barely know.” He spoke softer than his previous yelling. He didn’t bother replying to the obvious statement of an invisible leash.

Austin was just getting frustrated with the male, though his anger slipped when he’d noticed a change in his brother’s demeanour. He stayed silent as he watched the other start to mumble, and stutter. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You think I lived this fantastic life? You know nothing. So you can’t blame me.” He spat back from the initial accusation. When his brother fell to the ground, he went to his side and noticed his eyes were open though nothing was there. “Nathan?” He spoke shaking him slightly, he reached for his phone and called 9-1-1. In seven minutes, the twins were escorted to the hospital where Nathan was looked upon.

After a doctor asked Nathan a few questions about when he last had eaten anything proper, or the last time he had anything to drink and if he was taking any of his medication. Which of course they would have known about from the ward files. Of course they had to keep him for some tests. Nathan watched the doctor leave before looking over to find Austin “Ugh, you look so ugly. Why are you here?” Closing his eyes he was silent for another few moments. Clearing his throat he started talking again “You know, I thought about you guys every day, while I was there. -”

“At least allow me to be angry for you forgetting about me, this one time, to your stupid face.” Of course, this one time he was angry at them, he also wanted them dead. He had about sixteen years of words he wanted to say, and times he wanted to hurt them “ I guess we just do not know anything about each other, but at least you had your family, Austin. So, tell me about your family…” It was not as though he would be going anywhere, so he figured he could kill the time by learning more about his brother. Willa pondered over asking him about what he was like a few months ago, but didn’t. She was terrified about doing the wrong thing; that if she overstepped any boundaries he would end up not liking her, and she was rather paranoid about that happening. It wasn’t like she had too many people to speak to in the first place. She raised her eyebrows a little at his words, intrigued but also a little frightened by them. The redhead wondered what helping her become more rebellious included. Finally the young woman sat down beside him, tucking her legs up against her chest. “Maybe we could try it,” She commented with a little smile playing along her lips before shrugging. “I don’t think it will make my cold worse, but I won’t stay out too long.”

Nathan figured that she probably wouldn’t like any story he might of come up with for what ‘Austin’ was doing a few months ago. He had no idea what Austin had been doing in the last sixteen years, and even less about this moment. His brother was a ghost to him, and as much as that stung, his anger toward this only fueled his feelings toward murdering his family. He had already successfully made Austin an artistic sort of person, in his head. Because Nathan was artistic, not because Austin ever seemed to be, in any of his early memories of the other. As she spoke he leaned his head back and closed his eyes “Nothing wrong with trying.” He had tried a lot of things. Most of those being escapes from the ward, and all of them failing. Smiling a little bit then, he nods lightly as Willa says she will stay “Pretty rebellious, against your cold, there.” Austin sat in a chair that was in his brothers room, he thanked the doctor before leaning back and staring at Nathan. He let out a laugh shaking his head, “Back at you.” He spoke, not answering his question. Hearing what he had to say made him hurt, it felt like something about it was his fault. For not remembering maybe? It wasn’t until he and Josephine had found the picture of the two brothers together as kids, that he truly knew he had a brother.

“You-… fine.” He spoke nodding his head. “Be mad at me.” He spoke and when he’d made the obvious statement he nodded his head. “Yea.. you’re right.” He spoke staring down at his fingers before looking up at him. “Sure, I had Mom, and Beth.” He stated and when he’d asked to hear about their family though referring to it as his family he sighed before gathering up a reply. “Well… we have a Mom, a little sister and a father who doesn’t really care for anyone..” He spoke, “I’m in University, Beth is in high school. Mom and Dad are both working.” He spoke blatantly, “What do you want to know?”

Figuring it was probably best to not continue talking about himself anymore, Nathan decided he wouldn’t, if he could help it. He understood just how important his life was, in or out of the ward, to the other. So, he would not designate any more of what little time he had left, to gifting this knowledge on the other. They would have to pry it from him. That was just the sort of person he had become. Sixteen years of going ignored or his words treated as if they were some sort of party to gain pity had made him numb…er. Nathan shrugged at the others attempt to tease. Though for him he knew that he was ugly, if not in body, but in mind.

“Fine…” He muttered back weakly. He would be mad at the other, but he had to bite down on a bit of it, for now. The other was too close, had heard him say he wanted to kill them, their family. Nathan had to bring it back in, focus on the goal and less about how he felt. Feelings had always been useless to him. To Nathan, Austin was far too agreeable with him. He wanted Austin to hate him, after all, Nathan had left Austin with their father. Though he smiled realizing the other at least did not like him, after what happened before he blacked out “I know you have a mom, and a sister, and a father… Who does not care about anyone.” He lifted a hand up, weakly gesturing to himself, and then reminded himself that Austin was talking, and quickly changed the gesture toward Austin, with an annoyed twist of his wrist.

“Oh good, you are in a university. That is really awesome, Austin. I figured she would be. They both still have jobs?! Wow, sixteen years and they both still have jobs. Good for them.” He paused a moment, feeling too tired to think of what to say next, then he went on “I want to know what your dad did to make you the way you are, tell me every tragic detail. Try not to leave the worst parts out, my remorselessness tends to make me not feel bad if there is not enough pain to your words. It comes with the territory of what is wrong with me, I guess.”

“I can’t believe it’s already December!” Josephine exclaimed. “I will be so upset if it doesn’t snow for Christmas this year.”

Nathan had walked up as Josephine was talking to someone else about the month. He had no interest in the month, himself, it had proven to be a consistent disappointment. “Hey! You should shut up.” Willa lets out a soft laugh, shaking her head and leaning back against the wall. “I guess so, well I have to start somewhere.” She honestly couldn’t recall the last time she had ever rebelled in any meaning of the word, even if she ever had. Maybe back when she was a kid and having a tantrum or something like it, but she couldn’t even remember that. “Step one; going against what is right for a cold. So badass.”

Nathan nods lightly, he guessed that was true. Maybe I can start somewhere else, and not have to kill them-…No. I- they have to die- they need to die. They need to pay for what they have done to me. Spare no one. Blinking, he fought back and urge to yawn. Turning his head away from Willa after a moment he let out a sigh. “Mmmmm.” His eyes slowly shut as he started to fall asleep. Austin…once I catch you…you are going to die. Austin looked up at the male in the hospital bed, he couldn’t decipher whether or not he was being sarcastic or not. He just sat back and thought it over assuming he was being sarcastic. “Look, I don’t know what you want to know, but if you’re just going to make fun, then there’s no point.” He spoke, and then when he’d started to question about their father, he looked down and played with his finger nails.

He couldn’t even think of what to say, because he didn’t know where to start, he looked up a little concerned with this guys love of gory details. “Right..” He spoke, before shaking his head. “I don’t.. I don’t know where to start. All I know is that… he’s never been there like a father should, he never cared like a father should. He was harsh, borderline mean at times and I never knew why. I just assumed i’d failed him. No matter how hard I work, or how well I do in school or on the team.. I just.. never can impress him.” He spoke straightening his mouth into a flatline, “So that’s me I guess..”

The other males inability to say what exactly was so horrible about their father was unimpressive to Nathan. He felt his eyes slack a bit, drooping as the other spoke. He felt like the other was crying over spilled milk, compared to Nathan’s spilled blood. How much blood had he lost due to being trapped in a place with a bunch of other psychotic dangerous people. And the worst thing Austin apparently had, was a father that he could not for the life of him, impress. With a laugh Nathan looked away from his brother “I am sorry. It is my fault. I failed him. He blames you because of me, Austin. You just have my face, that is all. You do not have my mind. - I can remember vaguely this one time, when I was really little, he almost smacked me when he was trying to teach me a game… And I would not obey him.” Turning his head away from the other he sighed “It is not you, Austin. That is nowhere near sixteen years of information…” Austin looked at him, when he’d laughed though brought a very good point. All these years, Austin was trying to figure out what was wrong with him, why his father always acted to stone cold around him. It was because of Nathan, the years that went by, he reminded him of Nathan. “Yea.. that sure sounds like him.” he spoke with a sigh. “So he looks at me and sees you..” He repeated tying the pieces together.

Nathan wanted to rage, but he knew he had to keep his calm. The others acceptance of his words bugged him. His left eye twitched for a moment before he clenched his eyes closed and let out a noise in aggravation “Yeah, you probably were never going to be as good as me, in his mind. So, when I tried to kill our sister, when I rejected his attempt to ‘bond’ with me, he turned to you. Then when he was given the chance, sent me away.” Nathan had no idea if that was the case, he was just going off whatever his mind could conjure up at the moment “ Hah. Hahah! I knew it. I knew I was not ill. He just wanted to get rid of me.” Nathan laughed, a bit maniacal as he reached his hands up, dropping his head into them and gripping onto his head, giggling a bit. I ruined our family, that’s great! Tears started to to form in his eyes before spilling out onto his arms and the hospital blanket. Willa sat in silence with him for a couple of moments until eventually she turned her head and saw that his eyes were closed and that he was breathing heavily. Sighing, she stood up and nudged him as softly as she possibly could. “Austin, you’re exhausted. Go home, get some rest.”

That was exactly it, he was completely exhausted, but with his sleeping outside and in the rain and other kind of weather in the city lately, he really couldn’t help just passing out. As the other stood up and tried to wake him up he did not react.

“Nathan, it’s time to wake up. You have a session scheduled.”

Curling farther into his blanket Nathan let out a small groan of protest to the voice. Before suddenly being jerked out of the bed and into the darkness that surrounded him, then sinking into as if it were water.

Letting out a gasp Nathan flinched in his sleep, violently. His back pressing against the wall of the building he and Willa had been sitting against.

Slowly stepping down a long hallway that lead to nothing but darkness on either side, Nathan’s eyes darted around “Hmmm.” Narrowing his eyes he glanced around before hearing the sounds of a chain being dragged somewhere in the darkness “Hell-” A chain suddenly shot out of the darkness and pierced into his chest. Coughing, his hand hesitantly reached up, gripping onto the chain. Though he did not have a long time to wonder what was going on as several more chains shot out from the darkness and pierced into his body, before twisting him around in them, making him drop to the floor and then suddenly get dragged right into the darkness.

His breathes picked up and he started to mumbled protests against something. Nathan’s entire body was shaking “Please, don- I do not want to do this.”

Waking up again, Nathan jerked his head up, his hands and feet were cuffed to a chair this time, pulling on his hands he let out a small cry “Don’t, I didn’t…. You made me do that. I had no choice, you- you-yo-…. Why are you doing this?!” A hand slithered out of the darkness that was surrounding the chair, grasping at his neck before jerking Nathan back against the back of the chair. Closing his eyes Nathan gripped onto the chair as the sound of a drill went off somewhere behind him and a dark figure stepped somewhat out of the darkness, placing a hand on top of his head. Their fingers spreading over his skull before gripping suddenly.

“What’s inside you head, hm? They say it’s darkness. Have you seen passed it, yet, Nathan? Stop holding back, embrace it, it’s what you are. You are a killer, accept your darkness. Let it feed off the blood of those who have ever wronged you.”

After the voice finished, Nathan heard the sound of bone cutting before cracking. The figure standing behind him reached their hand up and poked down on the darkness made from his hair covering his head. The figures hands poked into the darkness.

“What a wonderful mind, breaking it was the best sixteen years of my life, Nathan. Did you know that, you patients are a lot more fun, when you are screaming and in pain. Why did you have to die, I wasn’t done playing with you yet.” With another gory twist of their hand blood spilled out of Nathan’s mouth.

Suddenly waking up Nathan jerked away from the building and looked around in a panic before looking up at Willa, not recognizing her for a moment he pulled up from where he was sitting and stepped away from the building, hyperventilating. His hand smacking into his head as a sharp pain hit him “Where is he? Where is he?” Nathan gasped, before his mind finally caught up to the current time and reality. Still breathing heavily he coughed “How long was I asleep…” Did I miss Austin?! Austin looked up at him as he saw Nathan start to freak out. “Nathan.” He spoke calmly trying to get his attention though he was in his own word of pitty. “Nathan.” He said more sternly. He was about to yell before seeing him recoil himself. “Nathan, can I ask you something?”

Finishing up with his giggling fit after a moment, he moved his hand up to press under his nose, wiping his face off a bit. Looking away he let out a small laugh as Austin seemed to be thinking of anything else but the current conversation, or moment. Nathan found that just entirely amusing to him. It was confirming all the things he had conjured up in his head over the last sixteen years, more or less. He was a problem, one that Austin was incapable of understanding. This was why they had all needed to die.

None of them would ever understand, they would continue to lock him up in one hospital after another. To wash their hands of him. Sniffling a bit Nathan picked his head back up and looked at his brother, he then smiled at the other “Yeah sure, not like I am going anywhere…” Nathan slipped his hands under the hospital blankets while he waited for Austin to say whatever it was that the other needed to say. He worked on removing the morphine drip from his hand and quirked an eyebrow, blinking as his eyes shifted to the other side of the room, thinking about what he would do next. Austin sighed as the twin in the bed was laughing, it not only made Austin uncomfortable, though it also got him a little worried about where all his efforts were going. He was starting to regret trying to help this guy, or trying to get to know him. For the first time since they’d met, he wondered if he was too far gone to help or to save.

“Did. I mean. Why did you want to kill Beth?” He questions looking up at him. As he let the words float in space. He wondered how this question would affect him if he’s even ever been asked this question. As it’s under his impression that everyone in his life, including his parents, just pushed him out without any understanding of why.

Looking down at the blankets where his hands were he nods at the others question “Hey, Austin, do you hate me?” He asked, before watching a doctor come in and walk over to the machines he had been attached to.

“We have called your emergency contact. They have updated us on what has been going on with you.” The doctor then sticks a needle into one of the tubes connected to Nathan, not knowing he had removed it.

Nathan smirked “Okay.” With a bitter look, Nathan watched the doctor then turn to leave after reminding him about the tests. Flicking the needle with his thumb Nathan moved his eyes over to Austin and gave a mischievous little grin “Anyway-” Pulling the blankets off he stands up and aims the needle at Austin “Back the fuck off me, Bro, or I will stick this in your god damn neck.”

Nathan pulled away then, dragging the needle with him as he started searching through stuff. Walking toward the door he walked outside and peaked around it, there were no nurses or doctors paying any attention to him.

Stepping out Nathan made his way to a storage closet and started to dig through some things before grabbing some stuff and walking back out into the hallway. A nurse walked up toward him then and grabbed his arm, demanding to know what he was doing in there. To which Nathan promptly replied by stabbing them in the neck with a scalpel. Yanking it out he turned to look around, flipping the scalpel around in his fingers “I am not going back.”

“Damn, it’s a lot colder than I thought it was.”

Pulling his hoodie down to cover his face, Nathan bumped into the other “Watch it!” He hissed.

Liz stared at the speaker in the diner. luckily, it was close enough to her that her reaching over and resting her hand against it wouldn’t be too noticeable to anyone. The girl loved feeling music. If she couldn’t hear it anymore, the vibrations would have to do. The brunette was waiting for her mother. Her real mother. The thought alone made her tongue feel weird, almost as if it wasn’t right to call her though. She got up, deciding that she wanted some coffee while she waited for her, and bump right into someone. She quickly turned to look at them, a bit of fear in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” Liz said quickly.

Walking into the diner, Nathan glanced around the room. He was so hungry, he just had no money and nowhere else to get any for free. But he liked the smell of the food that was being cooked, and for now he could imagine he was eating it. Walking over toward a table he stumbled a bit as someone bumped into him. Looking over toward the girl as she started her apology he nods “Maybe you should watch where you are going, more closely.” His tone was bitter as he spoke to the other. “Wow.” Emily staggered and looked at the male with a frown. “Easy there, kiddo.”

As the woman spoke to him, Nathan stopped and turned to look at her. Cold black eyes peered out from under the pulled down hood of his hoodie “I am not a ‘kiddo’. Do I look like a fucking child to you?” An unnerving feeling passed through her, it were his eyes, they had something.. unnatural about them. Tightening her folded arms before her chest she shrugged. “You’re like what.. twenty-two, twenty-three? You may think you’re not a kid now, but just try saying that when you pass your thirties and look back.” Emily smiled at the male. “‘M Emily, if you tell me your name I don’t have to call you kiddo anymore.”

Sniffling, Nathan rolled his eyes up as she spoke. He then let out a breath. Nathan had not felt like a kid since he had been seven years old “And what are you, passed your thirties?” He mocked, callously. As she introduced herself he snorts lightly “Oh, you can call me Niel. If you must call me something, anything, but that.” “Very bold.. asking a woman for her age.” The blonde retorted and then refused to go any further on the topic. “Fine, you’ll be Niel.” Emily decided and unfolded her arms. “Well since it’s freezing out here I was planning on buying some hot coco at the diner, you want some, Niel?”

Nathan gave a wry little grin at her, then glanced away, clicking his tongue. He felt like he had at least accomplished something. But he was also not interested in finding out Emily’s exact age, either. Mostly because it was not of any importance to him. It would not bring him any closer to his current goals. But he realized he actually had no goals anymore, there was no point. Blinking he let out a huff when she offered coco “What kind of offer is this? What do you get out of it?” Giving her a suspicious look, he wanted to know her reasoning behind the offer. He knew he did not come off as someone you meet and then five seconds later ask to go get coco. And he certainly did not act that way. She tried to figure the kid out, but it seemed he had no intensions of letting her get to know him. And that made her grow even more curious, so maybe the offer was a way of prolonging their meeting, of course she wouldn’t tell him that. “Well.. I don’t like drinking alone. And you look like you could use some company as well. Besides the next time you run into someone and bite their head off, you might not get away with it and I don’t want you fighting anyone.” Thinking of her own daughter, Emily’s heart ached for the boy who seemed a little out of place.

Her answer had actually left him confused, pulling away from Emily, he blinked. His eyes shift quickly, trying to find something to pick at. Something to make him think she was up to something. She had to of been. His chest started to clench then. There was something about this woman who was reminding him of Tasmin. Unfortunately, Tasmin was not his mother. Which the reminder of such a thing only made the feeling in his chest feel all the more worse. Narrowing his eyes a bit he crossed his arms and begrudgingly spoke “I do not have money.” Carefully she watched him, narrowing her eyes a little in concern. But as he spoke she couldn’t help but let out a soft, light laugh. “That’s why I was offering, kiddo.” Sticking to the nickname anyway. “I just took an extra shift at the bar, I’m buying. C’mon you.” She gave him another smile and nudged her head in the direction of the diner. Walking towards it without hesitation. She had faith that he would follow.

She was defying him, and honestly, he did not think he was honestly that mad about the nickname, knowing that now she was doing it on purpose. Blinking, his eyes dropped down at the confirmation that this was an actual offer for the coco,and not just her inviting him with to join her. When she started to walk away, he hesitated for a moment. But it was hot coco, and he was freezing cold. He could not even remember the last time he had any hot coco. He took a step forward and paused, then started walking after her. He was watching her suspiciously, waiting for the trap to spring. There had to be a reason, most people were not just nice to him, especially not after he snapped at them “So I do not have to repay you? Are you sure? Do you mean that?” He questioned as he followed, almost like a baby duck, behind the other. Josephine’s smile faded from her lips as she saw Nathan. “Ha ha, very funny, Austin.” Josie replied sarcastically, plastering a fake smile on her face. She couldn’t let the person she was talking to know about Nathan. “Anyways, I’ll talk to you later, girl!” She said as her friend walked away and Nathan approached. “Sorry, you don’t get to play your game anymore, Nathan.” Josephine said his name with venom.

Picking up on the girls tone, he smirks at her. Then watched as their friend made off down the street. When Josephine then went on he raised his eyebrows at her. The tone she had taken seemed a bit unreasonable. He also did not move any closer to her, fearing she would try to make out with him again or take him back to her place. And his brother was probably going to end up being there and he was just not at all interested in that situation “Game? Did you tell him what you did, then? ” He questioned, thinking it would be amusing if he some how had been involved in a little lovers spat between his brother and this girl. “You sound so mad, girl. Do you need some chocolate?” “What I did?” Josephine replied, taken aback. How dare he imply that she did it on purpose. “I thought you were Austin! And you let me!” Josie took a deep breath. “And of course I told him, just like he told me who you are.” It took everything Josie had to not blow up on Nathan, for two reasons: one is they were in public, where everyone would think it was just Josie talking to Austin. The second reason was a little more pressing: she didn’t know what he was capable of.

“What you did.” He threw back at her. He crossed his arms defensively over his chest and scoured at Josephine. But she had a point, one that he was definitely going to clear up “I was pretending to be Austin. Not to make out with you, or sleep in your bed.” Narrowing his eyes on her, he smirks “If you want to put significant blame, place it on the right person, Josephine.” He wondered then what Austin had told her “Austin did not tell you, and I have plans, bitch. You were not going to ruin them.” Nathan paused for a moment, and then he sneezed. “Oh, my bad, I should have known my boyfriend has some creepy twin that he just found out about who likes to play mind games. Believe me, I wouldn’t have kissed you or brought you to my home if I had known who you were. I was just treating you like I would treat my boyfriend, who I thought you were!” Josephine angrily whispered the last part so that no passerby’s could overhear. “I am putting significant blame on the right person, he just happens to not be a significant person. And yes he did. Austin tells me everything. He and I are a family, not you.”

“That is not what I was meaning to say. But sure, go with that if it makes you feel better about what you did. Blame me, call me names. It is nothing I have never had to deal with.” He looked at her with another smirk and shook his head. As she went on he locked up, his eyes emptying as his mind repeated her words a few times. He wasn’t a significant person. That had hurt a lot, but he was not going to let her know. That was the last thing he was going to do, break. He smiled then “Not me… I know. I am- not….” Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took a step back from Josephine and let out a little cackle “And I do not actually give a fuck what you two are to each other. I am my own family. ” He had to pause again as his chest clenched too tightly, making it hard to form words “But you are still blaming the wrong person, for your confusion. - And Austin is the one who forgot me…” Reading his lips, Liz nodded, unable to hear his tone. “I know, I just, have difficulty doing so.” She admitted with a small laugh. “Is there anyway I could make it up to you? I could buy you a burger. I’ve loved the ones they make here. They’re extremely juicy with the cheese melted on top. It’s honestly the best one you’ll ever have.” Liz tried to convince the boy. She hated when things like this happened, and always tried her best to make up for them because she knew it was her fault.

Raising an eyebrow when she did not seem to be offended by his tone, Nathan tilted his head curiously. Then waved his hand as she answered him, not really all that bothered. There had been so much more going on lately, that being bumped into was losing its initial irritation. It was almost like being back at the ward, if he lost his cool every time someone touched him or bumped into him he would have spent all his time in isolation. As she made her offer, and then started to make him crave it, he could not control his stomach from letting out a large growl as his mouth watered. Giving her a smile then he nods “Alright, a burger sounds like a good apology to me.” A smile came to her lips at his answer. “Great! Any special requests? I know they let you pick the cheese you want on top and if you’d rather have fries or onion rings, so if you have a preference..?” Elizabeth asked, getting her purse and digging out her wallet, making sure to glance at him every now and again to make sure he hadn’t started talking and he’d have to repeat himself if she missed even one word.

He had no idea what she meant by special requests. He was not as up to date with the world outside the ward as he would have liked to be. Everything was a lot more new to him, then old. Looking away for a moment he tried to find some place to give him a hint about any specials that may have been on the menu. But everything that had words on it was too far away for him to read. Blinking he brought his hands up to pinch the bridge of his nose “Ah.” Thinking, he shakes his head and then looks at Elizabeth again “Just a cheeseburger and fries, that is fine, really.” Josephine narrowed her eyes at Nathan, watching him stutter. Had something she said to him really had an affect on him? No, she didn’t believe that. As he took a step back, she relaxed. Having him near her made Josephine uncomfortable. “If you’re your own family, leave us alone.” Austin forgot him? That’s something he didn’t tell Josie. In fact, he hadn’t told her much. “Too bad it’s too late for us to forget you now.” She shot back.

As she spoke, he listen carefully. She was absolutely horrible. Of course, Nathan never gave many people much reason to not speak to him the way she was. He wanted to be used to it, honestly. But the only thing he was used to was pretending that it did not get to him. But it would, it would feed his mind, his doubts, feed his depression and doubt more “I have to-to d-do - do ah- um… S-something- this! ” He glanced away, lifting hand up to his hair and started to play with a few strands. He bites on his lips, shutting himself up. His mind was becoming hazy. Shaking his head he whispered under his breath. At her last comment he shot his head back to look at Josephine “Was it Austin, did Austin tell you to act like this when you saw me? It was- I knew it. He really does not want to be a ‘life line’ or whatever the hell he was talking about. He just wants to send me back to that place. Am I right?!” Fuck, Josephine thought to herself. She had gone too far. Whenever she feels like she or someone she loves is in danger, Josephine has a hard time keeping her mouth shut. She uses the skills she learned from her mother’s law office in a negative way. Typically, she immediately regrets it and broods on it for days. This time was no different. In fact, it was worse. She was watching someone who looked exactly like the most important person in her world break down. Josephine had to do something. Immediately, her face changed from anger to concern and she approached Nathan. Tentatively, she reached out to touch his wrists. She almost pulled back, but she didn’t. Josephine gently wrapped her hands around his wrists and attempted to bring them away from his hair and back down to his side. “No, Nathan, he has no idea what’s happening right now. To be honest with you, Austin actually only told me that you exist. I have no idea where you were before, or what ‘that place’ means. Please.” Josephine pleaded.

It had to be Austin. Nathan had to sit through the others conversation about their father being unloving and down right cold to them. And to have Austin turn around and tell people to act like Josephine was acting. Like he had just kicked a puppy, Nathan couldn’t figure it out. Why was Austin lying to him- He didn’t want to help at all. He just wanted to look like a decent person. Nathan’s breathing started to pick up, becoming jagged. But this was his fault. It was his fault that things were the way they were, he knew that now. Closing his eyes, Nathan continued toying with his hair, a static like feeling entering his mind “I-i -not his fault. I did th-this.” He was the reason for why his family had become so fucked up. Nathan knew that if he would have just did what their father wanted, things would have been different. As Josephine grabbed his wrists he jumped a bit, but didn’t really acknowledge her at that moment, still trying to sort his mind out. Sniffling a little, he shakes his head back and forth “No- no-no- no! Stop touching me…stop-Stop touching me…” Austin furrowed his eyebrows as his brother ignored his question and responded with his own question. “N-no. No Nathan I don’t.” He spoke firmly. “I can’t hate someone I barely know.” He spoke calmly in a way that would suggest he wanted to get to know him. Austin looked up at the doctor as he came into the room to check on his twin. He furrowed his eyebrows, finding it confusing. ‘Who was his emergency contact?’ he thought to himself. ‘He’d been away for so many years, who could it have been?’ in the middle of his thought was when his brother decided to act.

Soon after the doctor left, he was about to ask the questions he’d just thought. Though before he got the chance Austin was up on his feet when his brother revealed the needle, his hands were by his head as a surrender. “Nathan.. what are you doing?” He asked calmly. “Nathan. Stop this.” He tried to convince him as he peeked his head out the door. “Nathan!” He whispers yelled as he left the room. He didn’t want to cause a scene amongst the other doctors because that would do more harm than good.

When he left the door Austin turned and grabbed his jacket and bag, making sure he didn’t leave anything behind. He stepped out the door though couldn’t find his brother. While trying to act casual he kept his eyes open searching for his brother. “Well, this is just great..” He spoke to himself, coming close to the conclusion that he lost him.

Nathan was far passed listening to, or even hearing Austin. He was in survival mode. He was out of the ward, and he was never going back to that place. That was the last thing he was ever going to do. He would die before he went back there. With his eyes glazed over and his mind completely locked on getting out and staying out of the wards clutches he stood there in the closet as the nurse dropped to the ground, coughing and grabbing at their neck.

After another moment his eyes traveled down to see the red pool forming under the others downed body. With a slight tilted of his head, his empty black eyes lock onto the crimson liquid. Suddenly he was bending down to inspect the scene more closely. He couldn’t help himself. He didn’t know how to control his curiosity. It made him feel elated, but also sick to his stomach, absolutely confused. Reaching out his right hand, his fingers twitching as they play with the blood for a moment “Shhhh…”

Though this did not last long as his mind finally sped up with his actions. Jerking his hand away in disgust, he swallowed, pulling away and stepping back. What did I do? I didn’t mean to! Sucking in a few deep breaths he turned and looked around. Then started to make his way out of the closet. Shaking, he gripped onto the scalpel in his left hand “ Sorry, you wanted to know why I tried to kill your sister?” He questioned briefly before somberly looking away from the other “The truth is, I did not want her dead. I just- wanted to test out something, that was wrong with me.” Turning he starts to walk away then, giving no more explanation as he walked. When he was far enough away another nurse happened upon the first and shrieked out.

“I am sorry, I am so sorry. I- I can not help it, I am the sick one Austin. I always was… You are lucky. I did not ask to be this way. But I am. I am glad you are not though. I could not sit by and watch you or your mind destroy you. You are a lot stronger than I am. You could probably fight this better than I can.” Then he just started running. Nathan turned a corner sharply before booking it down several hallways, making his way toward the exit. “Please, please, I’m sorry,” Josie kept repeating over and over again. Nathan was spiraling downward and she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to help, to calm him down. “Whatever it is isn’t your fault, Nathan. I shouldn’t have said those things, I’m sorry. I was just so mad at you for letting me think you were Austin.” She saw Nathan jump at her touch, but he didn’t pull away and neither did she. When he began to protest, it took everything she had not to wrap her arms around the man who had once intimidated her, but was now crumbling into a scared boy. Josie didn’t know what had happened to him, but she knew it was bad. “Let me help you!” The girl exclaimed, no longer able to hold back the tears that had begun to grow in her eyes. Even though this was basically the first time they had met, she felt like she needed to help. Maybe it was the fact that he looked exactly like Austin, or the fact that his once-scary facade had broken. “Let me help you, I’m sorry, please…” Her voice was softer than before as she repeated those three phrases over and over.

“Shut up, just shut up- ssh-shutup!” Nathan pressed his hands to his head, his chest rising and falling quickly. Her voice was grating. He wanted the noises to stop! Closing his eyes, he tried to block the other out. But she was insistent “I h-had to! I have to…To get them to stop!” Nathan would give anything to have the other be quiet so he could collect himself again. Though he did not think that would calm him down either. His breathing only became worse the more she spoke “St-stop-stopstop-stop-stop-stop! I do-do n-nn-not need help! I can do it myself!” After just getting out of the hospital, without actually being helped, Nathan’s exhaustion was quickly catching back up with him. Keeping his eyes closed he moved his hands over his ears, in an attempt to block Josephine’s voice out of his head. But a migraine had already started to work itself up, making his head throb “Please sh-shut up! Please. They are going to hear you-they will hurt you too, get away fro-” Wavering a little, Nathan dropped to the ground, gasping heavily and completely zoning out as he was sucked into his own little world. It took a few minutes of trying to shake him awake before the girl started to panic. Scratch exhausted. Nobody could go about their daily activites when they were that tired. How much sleep had he actually gotten? Had he been sleeping at all? He certainly hadn’t looked this tired her first few meetings with him, and now that she really thought about it Willa could say that weary look in his eyes and posture had been growing every time she saw him. What was going on? She wanted to help, but didn’t want to seem like she was crowding in on him and his personal life. If the redhead hadn’t been concerned before, now she definitely was. He gave a terrible flinch in his sleep and suddenly she became frightened he was going to crack his head off of the brick wall. His heavy breathing almost made her believe he was having a panic attack, which she was actually familiar with, but the fact that he was asleep and the words he muttered made it clear that it was a nightmare. Just when she was about to go and find some kind of authority figure, he woke up, seeming completely disoriented. Her eyes were wide with shock as she took in his current state. “Like ten minutes.” Though it had seemed much longer to her. “Where’s who?”

“Ten minutes?” Swallowing, he tried to figure out what he had even had a nightmare about this time. It was probably something similar to what he had been having nightmares about his entire life. First his father, and then- Looking around, still dazed, Nathan nods “I have bad nightmares.” He laughed, trying to play it off as nothing. Lifting a hand to the back of his head he rubbed a hand against it before looking away “Oh! Just someone I met, they go here. I guess since I was not going to class, I was thinking I would run into him.” Laughing weakly he nods “Nothing to worry about, honestly, Willa. I am fine. You look like I about gave you a heart attack.” After losing his brother at the hospital, he wanted to try to find him. Though he didn’t have a clue where to even start looking. He’d hoped he’d find him later, he knew he needed to meet his girlfriend. While he was on route to his girlfriend, he’d stared down at his phone. He was mid-text to his Josephine when he heard the familiar voice. He heard his brother yelling, he looked up and looked around following the sound of the voice.

As he approached the corner his voice became clearer, he’d walked in when his brother’s hands were over his ear in an attempt to ignore or block something out. Without a second thought he ran to the scene, he looked at his girlfriend, pulling her hand away from his brother. “Josie, stop.. just stop. he needs his space.” He then quickly turning to his brother. “Nathan? Nathan hey. Nate, it’s me, man… It’s Austin..” He spoke to him as his brother was trying to calm down.

Austin watched his brother fall to the ground and he caught him before he could do any real damage. He slowly placed his brother on the ground, before shaking him gently. “Nathan?” He spoke and tried to get him to look at him. “Nathan? Hey… talk to me.”

“Austin!” Josephine yelled to her boyfriend, grateful that he was here. Surely he know how to handle the situation. “I’m so sorry, Austin, I don’t know what happened, I shouldn’t have said those things to him.” She couldn’t help all the guilt that she was feeling. She should have been more in control of her emotions. She should have held her tongue. She should have done too many things, but now it was too late. The tears kept rolling down her face as she watched her boyfriend gingerly approach his twin. “This is all my fault,” Josie muttered to herself and backed away from the scene. “I broke him.”

The world around him felt like it was shrinking as he tried to control his breathing after being placed on the ground. He obviously did not realize Austin had shown up just before losing his balance. Mostly because he was concentrated on the pain that was busting his head open as Austin spoke to him. Holding his hands to his chest, he continued to breathe heavily. His lungs felt like someone had reached inside his chest and were clutching them in their fists “They are coming.” He mumbled in between gasps, then repeated that three or four more times, without any change. Like a broken record. His eyes searched around as Austin went on, still remaining off in his world “I am dying. I- he is-” He stopped talking and just went on focusing on his breathing, before Josephine spoke “Not me. N-not me. I- I did not try-It- Please. Mom-mom- I want to go-go h-hh-Please. Please-please-please- I am dying- I am dying. He is going to kill us. I do not matter. S-s-st-Just leav-” His stomach twist and then flipped suddenly, making him twist suddenly and vomit on the ground, the pain in his head easing up suddenly, then. Elizabeth smiled at him once again. “I’ll be right back.” She replied, before making her way up to the counter and putting in for two orders of cheeseburgers with fries. She handed the woman the money before walking back over and placing her wallet in her bag again. “She said the order will be out in about ten minutes.” The brunette hummed, before slipping back into the booth. “If you’d like, you could sit with me or I could tell her to send the plate wherever you sit if you don’t want any company.” The girl offered, gesturing towards the seat in front of her. Liz wouldn’t mind the company. She hadn’t talked to the one friend she had in a few days, and she was starting to feel a bit lonely, but she didn’t want this stranger to feel she was pushing him.

Watching the girl walk away he gave a slow nod. Nathan began to think maybe he was judging the normies far too harshly. But, it could have all been a set up. So he was still going to keep a suspicious eye out on these ‘generous’ sorts, just in case. Waited the few minutes it took for her to order and then come back to inspect his damp clothes. The rain and freezing cold nights did not make a great mixture for his body. But smelling like dirty cold rain water was not half bad, in his book. He felt he could have smelled a whole lot worse, since he had not had an actual bath in months. And still, this also did not seem to chase some people off. Though the smell of rain seemed to do something for the brain. As Elizabeth returned and offered a seat he thought it over before deciding he could try to be nice back, she was buying him a meal “Okay.” Slipping into the seat across from her and sitting back against the booth he gave her a nervous smile before looking away, so he didn’t seem so creepy. Austin looked at his girlfriend, though really focused on his ill brother. “No, Josie you didn’t break him.” He spoke to her trying to soothe her while taking care of his brother. “Nate..” He spoke the nickname he remembers giving him as a kid. “Nate, listen to me. Take a deep breath okay? Can you hear me?” He asked his brother trying to get his brain back to our world. When he called for their mother he listened carefully hoping to get something from this boy. As he started to throw up, he turned and looked up at his girlfriend “Call 911. We need to get him back to the hospital.” He spoke and then staring at his brother. “Nathan? Can you hear me?”

Josephine was surprised that Austin had acknowledged her at all. She knew that she was not important in this situation and that the main thing was to get Nathan well, but she couldn’t help her emotions. She was completely overwhelmed with guilt and regret. It was consuming her and distracting her from the situation at hand. She continued backing away until her back hit a wall. Austin’s voice almost didn’t make it through to the girl. She stood shaking for a moment, before processing what Austin had said. Josephine pulled her phone out; it immediately slipped through her trembling fingers. After finally picking it up, she attempted to dial 911 in between her racking sobs.

His eyes rolled in his head as he started processing Austin’s voice through all the haze and static filling his head. Hearing his old nickname made the world stabilize, only slightly. Gasping, his hands started to shake against his chest, before his body trembled. “Tin. Don’t leave me. I’m your family, too, right?” He whispered, his voice slipping in strength. Wheezing, Nathan tried to slow his breathing. But it was hard, his mind kept reeling, sending him into an unstable state. His hands clenched at his hoodie “I am not significant, I know….I am sorry. I am- remember me. I am trying. Why- why….Why did she say that… Austin, Austin…” Nathan looked up at his brother, before looking away, wheezing still. He was having trouble slowing his breathing, but it was apparent that he was trying to “Don’t ignore me.” Nathan’s eyes closed as he continued to mumble under his breath. After another moment his breathing started to normalize, but he continued to shake and grab at his chest. Austin looked at his brother as his eyes rolled. “Josie hurry!” He pressured her, during a time that she probably couldn’t handle though he was afraid to loose his brother. He listened to his brother, and as his hand was shaking he grabbed it. After he’d asked his whispered question, he heard the shortened name he hadn’t heard in years, Beth didn’t even pick up on the nickname it was just Nathan who called him Tin. He remembers it sticking because they’re was an on going joke about being compared to Tin-Tin after pool obsessed summer that dyed his hair from the chlorine. “I’m not leaving you, Nate. Yea, you’re my family. You’re my brother.” He spoke, squeezing his brother’s hand gently. Austin was losing faith on how to talk to his brother, “Nate, listen to me. You need to calm down okay? I’m right here, I’m not leaving you, I’m not going to ignore you.” He spoke affirmatively, hoping to get his brother to relax. When his breathing started to normalise, “Josie wait.. stop.. don’t call, I think he’ll be okay.” He spoke, as his eyes stayed on his brother. “Nathan, look at me.” He spoke not saying another word until his brother’s eyes were on him. “Look at me.” He spoke getting his attention. “Nate, I’m not leaving. Okay?”

Josephine watched as Austin soothed Nathan. He had always been good at reading people and figuring out what to do. Josie sighed in relief as Austin managed to calm down his brother. This is all my fault, the girl thought. She hated herself for what she had done to Nathan. She didn’t know the harsh words would set him off like that or else she never would have said them. She thought Nathan was cold-hearted and manipulative, but now she saw he wasn’t. Though her chest felt tight and her throat was raw, she squeezed out in a whisper, “Let’s take him home.”

To be honest, it was not entirely Josephine’s fault, for how Nathan had started to react. She had just hit the wrong cord. Her words hit too close to him. Waking up violently old memories from one of the staff members at the mental ward. As a child one of the people examining him had scared him by telling Nathan that Austin, and the rest of his family, did not want him. And that was why they had sent him away. Of course, it was much more horrible to remember. Taking a few deep breaths as Austin spoke, he swallowed hard. His eyes wandering off for a moment “They said you hated me…. Austin. I never saw you… They-” He paused, taking a few deep breaths “He said you all hated me… I was so scared…I needed you.- Don’t leave… Please, Austin…Don’t leave me with him.” Nathan whispered, his voice becoming softer and fainter “I’m scared…He’s going to hurt me… I can’t go back.” Austin looked at his brother clearly, and when his eyes started to wander he shook his head. “Nate, Focus.” He spoke just before his brother started speaking. When he would use the term ‘they’ he knew automatically that his brother meant the ward. “Nate, listen, listen, listen.” He spoke getting his brother to stare in his eyes as he spoke the following. “I don’t hate you, I wouldn’t be here if I hated you. Okay?” He spoke shaking his head. “I’m not leaving. I won’t leave you with anyone.” He spoke, “You’re not going anywhere. I’m here for you. I believe you. I’m on

your side.” He spoke looking at his brother. “We’re family. I’ll always be on my family’s side.” He spoke to him. “Okay?” He wanted to get a clarification from his brother before taking on Josephine’s offer to get him back to their apartment.

Josephine had calmed down for the most part. Her sobs had turned into silent tears, but she was still trembling and biting her nails. She inched closer to the two brothers slowly, until she was right behind Austin, so that he was in between her and Nathan. Knowing there was nothing she could do at this point, she placed a gentle hand on Austin’s shoulder so that he would know that he wasn’t alone in this battle, even if she couldn’t do anything to help. “Let’s go, babe, he should rest.”

Austin’s requests for him to focus, and listen had him trying to focus and listen to the other. It was hard though, his mind protesting. It was like asking him to move a mountain, honestly. Especially without the proper medication to balance out the imbalance in his head. Sucking in a few deep breaths he nods as the other spoke. His eyes rolled tiredly in his head for a moment as he fought the urge to let his mind wander again. The shaking in his hands had almost stopped, but his hands were freezing cold “O-okay.” Nathan whispered, blinking slowly before closing his eyes. His entire body felt cold and heavy as he started to doze off, he couldn’t keep himself awake any longer. As his girlfriend offered their apartment again, he nodded and hearing his brother confirm helped. When Nathan began to doze off, he sighed knowing that this was just him being tired. He looked at his girlfriend, “Can you call an Uber?” He questioned with a sigh. He stayed crouched down while his brother slept before their uber arrived at their street corner. “C’mon Nate..” He spoke as his hand wrapped under his brother’s back. “Josie could you help me? Just.. allow him to lean on you. His other side I mean.” He spoke.

Initially, Josie was worried about Nathan’s state. Austin, however, seemed to know what to do, which calmed her down. Before going over to help, she called an Uber. When their Uber arrived, Josephine hesitated to help. “O-okay,” she said tentatively. She had learned that Nathan didn’t like to be touched, and he definitely didn’t like Josephine. She was afraid that he would wake up at any moment and see that Josephine was helping him and that he would have another episode. But she pushed those thoughts aside and approached the twins, ducking under Nathan’s arm and pulling it around her shoulders.

“What is a Uber?” He asked, his confusion over the word far too great to let his being tired stop him. As he was helped to sit up and made to stand he felt a wave of nausea hit him. His tongue lifted up onto the roof of his mouth. Closing his eyes, he shivered. He felt like he was going to be sick again. His head felt too heavy to try to hold up as they moved. His mind was too fuzzy to focus on much else but wanting to sleep, and trying to stay awake. For all he knew they were going to dump him off somewhere and leave. That was just his overactive mind for the most part. Where was his anger when he really needed it? How could he let himself be this vulnerable. Once inside the Uber he leaned back, wrapping his arms around his stomach and letting his head drop, falling asleep again. Liz eyed the boy as he sat down, force of habit for her. She noticed his clothes and the earthy smell, but it didn’t bother her. Most smells didn’t. From the time she became death it was sort of a gift. How all her senses became heightened like she was some kind of superhero. So when she could practically pick out every individual scent in any perfume, or out of a parking garage if need be, it made her grateful for it. She smiled at him, moving a piece of hair from her face. “I’m Elizabeth by the way, but you can call me Liz if you’d like. Sorry it’s taken me so long to tell you that. I just like getting a feel of people before I do.. It’s probably a weird trait I have, but..” She shrugged softly.”So are you from around here?”

When she decided to give him her name he turned to look at her again. Picking up on a few things, he had watched how intently she had been staring at everyone’s faces that she had spoken to since he had been pumped into. More so, how she was looking at the mouths of other people. “It is all right.” He affirmed before introducing himself “Just call me Niel.” He could have been using his normal name, by this point. But he hated the way it sounded, even from new people. After recent events, he wanted to have that name be thrown at him even less than his brothers. Shaking his head at her question then “Not really. I guess you can say. I am from nearby, though.” Nathan was not completely quiet the entire five hours he was asleep. His mind still did quite a lot of work to make sure that sleep, when it came, was difficult as well. He had a hard time waking up, though. A few times he started sobbing out of no where as he slept, about someone chasing him. Or being trapped. Or just things that were in general terrifying to dream about. He turned from one side to the other on occasion, eventually ending up on his left side, his arms brought close to his head and chest. Nathan suddenly shot up then scrambling around the bed before dropping out of it with a crash on the floor, his body still feeling heavy and hard to control. With little bit of issue he started to push himself up and managed to lay his arms and head back on the bed. Wheezing for a moment, he still felt extremely exhausted. He was also very confused about where he was, having completely forgotten about Austin and Josephine “Hello?” Austin and Josephine, exhausted by the day’s events, had drifted off on the couch after talking about what had happened for a few hours. However, when Josie woke up, she was alone on the couch. She stretched and looked around for Austin, until she saw a note with his handwriting. Gone to get coffee. Love you. -A. Josie smiled to herself, a wave of love and appreciation coming over her. Austin was going through so much, but he was still thoughtful as ever-he knew Josephine didn’t function well without any caffeine. Suddenly, Josephine was pulled from her thoughts by a crash coming from their bedroom. “Shit,” she muttered to herself. Josephine rushed into their bedroom, where she saw Nathan kneeling beside the bed, struggling to breathe. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re not alone.” Josephine said gently, kneeling beside Nathan but careful not to touch him. “It’s me, Josephine. Austin went to go get some coffee. You’re safe.”

Tugging on the blankets he coughed lightly, his throat a bit scratchy after he spoke. When Josephine came into the room he jumped a little bit his eyes following her as she made her way over around the bed and toward him. Giving her a dull look, he blinks “Of course I am not alone, now. You came into the room.” He muttered, looking away from Josephine. He wondered why she was talking to him like he was stupid. Maybe she just thought it was fun to treat him like he was. Nathan did not have the energy to try to figure it out, honestly. Clearing his throat as she finished he pressed the bottom half of his face into the edge of the bed “Do you interact with a lot of mentally ill people, Josephine? Are you sure you want to be left alone with me?” She continued her path, not once looking back, but she couldn’t hide the smile playing on her lips when she heard his footsteps behind her. Victory. At his words she slowed her pace a little, wanting to walk next to him now. She figured it’d be ‘safe’ to do that now. Shaking her head at his question, then nodding slowly at the once after. “No.” Her happiness audible in every single word she spoke. “I’m pretty sure. Unless you really want to of course. I mean I could always use someone to scare away kids and cute animals.” The woman teased, glancing at him sideways. A playful smirk on her face.

When the other started to slow down and keep her pace slow enough so that she were walking beside him he gave her a curious look. But did not find it important enough to think anything else of it. It seemed like a reasonable and normal thing for people to do, obviously. After Emily said he did not need to repay her he nodded lightly “Okay.” He really did not know what he wanted. He had no plans on doing anything to attain money the normal way, like getting a job. Nathan never had to think about something like that. Frowning a little bit at the next thing she said, he glanced away, before smirking “I guess I could fill that role well enough, then.” “Well, it’s my pleasure to meet you, Niel.” She smiled at him. “Oh? That must be nice. So you like it here then?” She asked curiously before shaking her head. “Sorry, I don’t mean to bombard you with questions like that. I haven’t had a conversation with anyone in a while.” She laughed softly, before noticing the waitress walking over with their burgers. The brunette smiled at the woman, thanking her as she slid the plates in front of them. “So Neil, do you attend the university as well?”

Nathan tossed his head a bit. He would not say that he liked it here, honestly. He could not say he liked it anywhere. Nathan liked only a few things, and any place ward, or otherwise, was just another place. He gave a light grin “It is-ah, not bad? I guess.” Looking away for a moment as the plats were placed down he shook his head as Elizabeth went on “It is fine, I guess. They are not difficult questions to answer…” Pulling his gaze back over to the girl he nods “Yeah, I go to some creative writing class, and a couple of others, too.” Geez, Josephine thought to herself. She was just trying to help. “Right. And no, I don’t, but if you had wanted to hurt me, you would’ve done it already.” Josephine countered, standing up and sitting on the side of the bed. “I just said those things because they’re things that comfort me, and I don’t know you well enough to know what comforts you. In fact, I don’t know you at all.” Josie sighed, then reached for the water she had previously placed on the bedside and handed it to Nathan. “You should probably drink this. Does your head hurt? Do you want some advil?”

Frowning at that he turned his head away from her, deciding whether to actually answer her response or not. Of course, a normie would not understand him. He was sure that conversation was going to break down quickly. Taking a deep breath, he turned his head back to Josephine “Of course, sounds like a normal thing. It is something I have not commonly been exposed to, Josephine. Mostly because the previous methods to calming me down have been chemical based or being trapped in a small room for days. I don’t exactly have any that i know of, personally.” He continued to stare at her “I do not know, I’m tired, I know that.” His body just felt heavy and numb “ Does my head hurt?” Josie was grateful that Nathan wasn’t completely ignoring her. “Well, Austin and I don’t plan to drug you or lock you in the bedroom or bathroom. So, we should figure out a different method. Do you like tea? Chamomile tea always helps me.” She nodded along as he talked. “I’m not surprised. And yes, you were grabbing your head during the…” Josie didn’t know what to call it. “So I thought maybe your head was hurting.”

With a small yawn as she spoke, he nodded. Nathan was still really tired, but he did not feel like he could sleep. Which was confusing. At the ward it was really easy for him to just go off and take a nap any time he had wanted. Though this had usually meant he would have a nightmare. The ward often took this into account and drugged him, each night. Looking at the drink then, his eyes did not move from the cup until Josephine finished talking about the drink. Tilting his head a little bit. He did not know what Chamomile Tea even was “Sorry, we do not get a lot of tea where I was at.”

He wondered if she thought he was at some resort the last sixteen years of his life. Pushing himself up onto his elbows he reached over and finally took the drink from her, and stared at it. Lifting it up to his mouth he takes a cautious sip from it “Hmm, it is good, I guess, at least.” Glancing back up at her, he continued to sip “Oh, it is really just a little bit uhm, fuzzy, at the moment, I think.” Nathan swallowed “Do not worry about it though.” “You only say that because I haven’t gotten to the hard ones yet.” Liz mused, chuckling a bit. She tilted her head a little at his answer, a little shocked. “Creative writing? I don’t know why, but I wasn’t expecting that. Are you wanting to be a writer?” She asked curiously, taking a bite of one of her fries. “I’m kind of doing the same, but it’s not for writing alone.” She chuckled softly, moving a piece of hair from her face.

Nathan gave her a grin, then screwed his lips a little bit to one side before talking again “Ah, so I guess they are going to be here soon.” With a small laugh he stared down at the food and swallowed after his mouth started to water. It had smelled really good, and he could not keep himself patient enough. At any moment he was going to just switch off and become completely savage. He would probably stuff his mouth, scarf down everything in seconds. Closing his eyes, he slowly reached a hand over the plate, plucking up a few fries off it and bringing them to his mouth. Chewing as she seemed to be in disbelief about what he had said, he frowned a bit “Ah, yeah, I guess that would be fun…” Nathan had never thought about it. He did not see the point in having a career or a job. Eating a few more fries, quickly, he nods “So-” Swallowing hard “What else do you do?” “Oh, okay.” Josephine said, nodding. She didn’t quite understand what he was talking about, but she desperately wanted to make some sort of connection with Nathan. She smiled as he sipped the tea. “If you want me to make it sweeter, I can.” When he began to talk about his head, she furrowed her eyebrows together. “I think I know what you’re talking about.” She then decided to bring up a topic that she really didn’t want to. “So, um, Nathan…about earlier, I really am sorry. I was scared of you and I just lashed out. None of it is true, and it never will be. I think it would be great if you stuck around so maybe Austin and I could get to know you.” Josie smiled gently.

Slowly pulling away from the bed, finding it horribly straining to sit up the way he had been, he sat on the floor, lotus style and continued to sip tamely at the tea he was given. He did not know if it would need sugar or not. At the moment, anything to drink was good in his book. Lifting his head up from the cup, he stared at her. He wondered what she was implying when she said she knew what he was talking about “Do you?” He asked, then, an eyebrow rising. As Josephine had gone on, he looked away. He really did not want to talk about what happened before. Nathan only nodded as she spoke, having no idea what to say at first. With a saddened look he suddenly glanced to the side holding the tea in his hands “If I stuck around? You say that like I plan on going anywhere…” Where, he wondered, did she think he had to go? Nathan let out a sigh “ You do not want to get to know me. You will not like what you will learn.” Liz giggled softly. “Well, I can’t promise they won’t be.” She teased, taking another bite of her fry. She watched him, a smile spreading on her lips as she watched him. His eyes said it all, the moment he looked at the food. They dilated a bit, and she could tell he must have been starving. “You know, most people would probably be completely thrown off if someone just started ‘pigging out’ so to say, but if you want to, I promise not to judge you too much for it.” She said honestly, trying to coax him into being more comfortable. “Have you never thought about doing that? Or was it just a couple classes to pass the time?” She shook her head once again, laughing at herself. “Okay, I promise, starting right now, I’m not going to ask so many questions.” She swore, laughing a little again, before popping a fry in her mouth. She chewed for a moment, before biting her lip. “Well, I also have a few general classes, and I also take a class in body communication.” She admitted, popping another fry in her mouth.

“Heh.” Nathan nods, then gives a childish little shrug “Do your worst.” As he was chewing, containing himself he listen to the other, still. When they brought attention to how he was looking at the food, or what he could assumed was what she was reading from him, he gave a light nod. Still, he did not want to just start scarfing anything down right away, it was better he take it slow. If he ate to quickly, with how hungry it was, he knew it would be bad. In the ward, plenty of patience would starve themselves. Giving them food after these fasts would have to be slow.

Nathan had experienced this sort of situation after one particularly stressful altercation with another patient at the ward. He had wanted nothing more to do then to die, at the time. But starving himself was the only thing he was allowed to do. Even though he did not die, at that time “I have not, it has never seemed important to me. Or anything else I have ever been interested in.” Taking a bite out of the burger, he chewed silently for a moment before continuing “I am just taking the class to pass the time.” Chewing on some more fries he blinked, thinking about what Elizabeth had said next “Body communication? There is a class for that?” Josephine was pleased that he was drinking the tea. However, she couldn’t imagine it was comfortable on the floor. She scooted back against the headboard on her side of the bed, and patted Austin’s side. “You can sit on the bed, if you want. I won’t touch you. And to an extent, I think I know what you mean about having your mind go fuzzy. For me, it’s kind of like the static on the TV, loud and all. But I don’t doubt these are very different scenarios.” Josephine chuckled lightly. “I’m just saying you’re always welcome here. And hey,” she said the following gently, “don’t tell me what I don’t want or what I won’t like. Let me decide that for myself.”

Watching her scoot into position and invite him onto the bed he gave her a confused look. He did not think it was a good idea to join her. Austin had seemed to be upset by the idea of Nathan just being in the apartment with this woman, alone. Now she was inviting him onto the bed with her “Uh, no. I am comfortable here.” He said, giving her a sideways glance. Nathan could not see why he should start trusting her now, honestly. Not after what had happened earlier. “Oh, huh… Interesting. I guess that does seem familiar.” As she went on, explaining herself, he nods. His eyes moved to the tea as he mulled what she had said over. Of course she was saying that now. She knew nothing. Smiling a bit, he nods “Okay.- But if you are not prepared for what you might learn, do not get mad at me. You have no idea what I have had to do, or become, in order to survive.- And what I can become, to stay alive.” Josephine shrugged at his response and stretched her legs out on the bed. More room for her. Listening intently to him talk, Josephine’s interest was piqued. When he smiled, Josephine beamed. She felt like they were making improvement. She really did feel terrible about all the things she had said. She thought that by pushing him away maybe she could keep Austin safe. She saw now that he may not be as dangerous to others as she initially thought. If he was, he probably would have hurt her a few hours ago. “Okay, I promise I won’t get mad at you. If it’s really bad, I may be slightly appalled, but I won’t blame you if it’s what you had to do. I would do anything to stay safe, and even more to keep Austin safe.”

Nathan just watch her take up space and slowly looked away, as if he were looking into a hidden camera. Dropping his eyes down to the floor he wondered if Josephine was not as normal as she seemed. For the most part, she fit the typical normie, who roamed the world outside the ward. But upon closer inspection, he was noticing something….off. Looking back to Josephine as she finished he swallowed. To him, she seemed like she had an unhealthy obsession with his brother. Of course, Nathan might have been one to talk. But Austin was his twin, they were in the womb together, and are very much the same person in a lot of ways, and were also both very different people, too. Lifting his head up he nods “Right, even more, you would like to keep Austin safe, more than yourself.” Maybe she was just super clinging, Nathan surmised, shrugging off his initial thoughts than and deciding he did not care what type of weird relationship Josephine and Austin had with one another, for all he knew they were really heavy into Master and Slave stuff. This thought made him spit up some tea he just sipped, and start to cough and laugh at the same time.

“Yeah. Except sometimes our interests conflict, because he tries to keep me safer than himself. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but, yeah.” All of a sudden, Nathan bust out laughing. It was strange, but it lifted a weight off her shoulders. She even giggled, too. “What’s so funny?” She asked between laughter.

When Josephine tried to explain, and then defend herself he nodded. Riiiight. Nathan was sure that there was nothing inherently bad about that. But it still seemed a little weird to him. Clearing his throat at her next question he tilted his head “Oh, I was just thinking about something a friend of mine back at that place I was, had said. He was really into some kinky shit and it just popped into my head all of a sudden.” Looking away from her, he looked toward the door “Does Austin normally take this long to get back?”

Josephine’s eyebrows furrowed when Nathan explained why he was laughing. And what place was he at? Where could he meet a person like that? She pushed the questions out of her mind for the moment to answer Nathan’s question. “He’s probably talking to the owner. Austin and I are regulars at this little cafe around the corner, so we’ve made friends with the owner.” She explained with a smile, remembering all the dates and fun times they had had at the cafe.

His eyes slacked for a moment as she explained. Nathan blinked, slightly irritated, he did not know if it was really okay to be stuck with Josephine for too long. She had made it clear that she did not like him only a few hours ago. And now she was just saving face. Nathan finished the rest of the tea and dropped the cup and his hands down to rest in his lap. Letting out a few breaths, he had to remind himself not to overreact and assume that the other was just pretending to be nice. Maybe they were actually being honest “Even though he knows he left us alone together, after all that happened?” He was fairly certain that was the last thing either of them would want to be, left alone with him in a small apartment, with plenty of things he could kill them with, in it. Especially since Nathan had told Austin he wanted to kill him. If the two were so protective of one another, he did not get why Austin would just leave him with Josephine, alone. Especially after what he did just hours before to a nurse, even. Who was just as much of a stranger to Nathan, as Josephine was, and had either of them even checked to see if he had any of the items he took from the supply closet on him still? No, they had not, Nathan wanted to laugh at this lack of attention to detail, on the twos part “ I have to pee.” Austin woke up that morning and left his girlfriend on their couch with a note letting her know his whereabouts in case she woke up while he was out. He didn’t plan on being out as long as he had, though he’d run into a friend who was filling him in on some notes about their upcoming exam which took longer than he’d expected. Finally, he received his coffee and muffins, getting all the flavours not having a clue what his brother preferred. He finally made his way home, he walked in his apartment while his brother had just popped into the bathroom. After closing the door behind him, he walked to the kitchen counter which wasn’t far from the door and placed down the two bags full of muffins and the tray of coffee. He didn’t see his girlfriend on the couch, “Babe?” He questioned wondering where she was. “Nate?”

At the sound of her boyfriend’s voice, Josie bounded out of the bedroom. “Hey,” She said, giving him a quick peck. “Nathan’s in the bathroom. I made him laugh!” Josie smiled widely at Austin, unaware of the real reason Nathan had laughed. “I hope he doesn’t hold what happened earlier against me. I apologized to him and told him he was welcome here and that we wanted to get to know him.” Josie grabbed the chocolate muffin, her favorite, and took a massive bite. “Thanks for grabbing these, by the way, you’re the best.” Josephine said, trying not to spew crumbs everywhere.

Walking into the bathroom, Nathan looked back from where he had just came from and then closed the door behind him. He was having trouble keeping himself upright, being as exhausted as he was, so he dropped the toilet seat down and then sat on it, panting from how much energy he had just used up to walk that far. Moving his left hand into the pocket of his hoodie, he slowly starts to pull a scalpel that had dried blood on it, out. Twisting the object in his fingers, he let out a sigh. There was one other method he had to help him keep his focus. Placing the scalpel onto the bathroom sink, then moved his hands to wrap around himself, grabbing on the bottom of his hoodie he pulls it off and puts it in his lap. Moving his right hand up he traced it down his chest, his fingers running over several visible vicious scars. Reaching out his left hand he snags the scalpel up once more and brings the blade to his hip.

As he exits the bathroom, Nathan smiled and stretched, holding his hands up in the are as he extends his arms “That feels a fuck load better! I have been holding that all day!” He squeaked and walked over to the counter, slamming his hands on the counter and looked at the muffins “Yum! Are there anymore chocolate ones?” He didn’t know what any of the other might have tasted like. And was too worried about whether they would taste gross to want to pick up anything unfamiliar. Austin smiled as he heard his girlfriends voice, seeing her so happy put a smile on his face. “Hey, You, you did?” He spoke looking at her, “So you guys talked?” He looked at the clock and realised he’d been gone for almost an hour. He didn’t know how he felt about the two talking, “Yea, no that would suck.. let’s hope not.” He chuckled lightly, and his thoughts were interrupted when a somewhat big personality of a brother came into the room. He wasn’t expecting him to act like they’d known each other like the should have. Maybe it’s because he got chatting with Josie that he was so chipper.

“Oh yea? Feel better?” He spoke looking at him and then nodding and pulling out a second choclate muffin. “Here,” He offers it by putting it on the counter. “You passed out pretty fast last night. When was the last time you really slept”

“Chocolate’s my favorite, too!” Josie said to Nathan when he requested the muffin. Then she grabbed her coffee and took a big gulp. She was pleasantly surprised at Nathan’s attitude. Sure, they had had what Josie thought was a good talk, but she didn’t know if he had seen it that way. She really hoped that they could put their fight behind them. Josie wanted to show Nathan that she really was a good person. “Yeah, you did.” The girl agreed with her boyfriend. She then grabbed the last cup of coffee and held it out to him. “I know you just had some tea, but this’ll give you more energy. Well, you know how coffee works.”

Tapping excitedly on the counter he nods at his brother “Well, compared to pissing out in the woods, yeah!” He looked at the muffin then and reached over, taking it off the counter. As his brother went on to ask his question Nathan was peeling the paper from the muffin and biting into it. He did not stop chewing on it until the entire thing was gone. Then he started to lick the paper “Chocolate is fairly good. But it is the only kind I have ever had, so I am biased.” He informed the other. When she then held out the remaining coffee cup he nodded and took it from her “I did.” Staring at the cup for a moment, he realized he never took any opportunity to actually drink coffee before.

Nathan was more of the early morning fuck and a smoke kind of guy. But there was nothing to fuck at the moment, and he was all out of cigarettes. It had been months since he had one of those things. He nods though at Josephine’s trying to familiarize her world with his “I guess I do?” Then he started to chug the entire coffee until it was gone, no matter how much it might have burned. Slamming the cup on the table he let out a sigh, and gave the two a light grin “I have not really slept well, for as long as I can remember. But more so I have not really slept at all in the last few months.” He pointed to the dark circles around his eyes “This is not some fashion statement.- Is there anymore coffee?”

“Don’t do that, otherwise you might just regret it. I’ll probably find out how many hairs you have on your head if you let me run wild with it.” She joked, only half kidding. She watched him after his nod, taking a bite of her own burger. She smiled at him. she chewed for a few minutes before swallowing, and eating another fry. “So, if I can do my worst, may I ask why you’re so hungry? If it’s too personal, you don’t have to answer. I just want to make sure you have a warm roof over your head and a place to sleep at night.” She hummed, taking another bite of her food.

Liz furrowed her eyebrows at the comment. “Nothing you’ve been interested in seemed important to you? Well, I think if you’re taking classes for something, there might be more behind it than just passing time. When I started tutoring back in school, I never thought I was doing it because I wanted to be a teacher. I thought it was just giving me a few more credits every semester.” She chuckled. “I think you should look into it. Then again this is coming from a stranger and you don’t know me from adam, but.. I just have a feeling you’d be good at it.” The brunette mused before nodding her head. “There is, but it’s for people like me who want to become a teacher.” She shrugged, forgetting the boy in front of her didn’t know about her disability.

Nathan made a disdained face as the apparent demand, to him. He narrowed his eyes slightly on the other before sniffing and looking away from her, giving himself time to compose and settle down the sudden spike of irritation. Understanding the other was just trying to joke, he saw no reason to be so sensitive, but could not help himself. When she smiled he just tried to look like he was not a psycho. Though he imagined this was hard for him to do, even if he was as positive as he had once inspired to be, a long time ago. With her question on why he was so hungry he sucked on his bottom lip for a second “I just have a pretty big appetite. I think it is a genetic thing, like food just goes right through me, and I am always hungry.” He lied, giving her a smile at the end.

Stuffing a few more fries into his mouth, he chewed quickly, and then swallowed “I also do not manage my money well, you can say.” He had to laugh at himself, because this was the truth. The money he had been able to get had not exactly been spent entirely on food. A lot of it was spent on cigarettes at first. Because he needed them to calm his nerves and not outright murder people who bumped into him. Drumming the fingers of his right hand he nods a few times, eating some more of his burger. Nathan thought for a moment, he just did not see anything special about him. Working had never seemed like a possibility. He was just Nathan, the psycho kid who tried, and failed, to kill his little sister. Ward patient number so on and so forth. He was nobody. He was nothing. And he was pissed about it.

Nathan smiled then and looked away “It is mostly because someone suggested the class to me.” He states with a shrug. Nathan nodded though, but he did not see any point in looking into something he could not see being part of his future. Nathan never really thought he had a future, and that it was quickly going to come to an end soon enough. He honestly was looking forward to it. Just as soon as he was finished with his plans. Lifting his right hand up to his head, he could feel a migraine forming at how much he was thinking about things they were talking about. With a light laugh he dropped his hand from his head and swallowed “You might be right, anyway.” As she finished, he raised an eyebrow at her “People like you?” Mikaela grabbed her coffee from the counter, “Thank you very much,” She couldn’t stop thinking about how the date with Caleb had gone. Distractedly,, she turned around, bumping into and spilling her coffee all over someone behind her. “Oh my goodness I’m so sorry,” She crouched to her knees with a handful of napkins, attempting to clean up the hot coffee.

Nathan was zoned out as he stood in the cafe. He could not really remember what he was doing before he got there, maybe just simply looking for the cafe. After his latest run in with his brother and his brothers girlfriend, he was craving coffee, which was still a pretty new experience to him. But about half way through the line he started getting distracted by things, and perhaps was a bit paranoid. He could have sworn people were watching him, and waiting to pounce. His eyes flicked from one side to the other before he was suddenly splashed with something. The heat from the others coffee did not bother him, despite burning his skin a bit “You stupid bitch-You are sorry!? Are you?!” “What the fuck--” Erik’s face screwed up in disgust as his fingers ran over the chewing gum that the old occupant of the chair he was currently sat on had left behind. “Ohhh, seriously?! Fuck– aww, man, c’mon! That’s disgusting!” He exclaimed as he pulled his hand quickly away from the underneath of the chair, a string of sticky white gum attached to his fingers.

Getting lost in his own head, Nathan was not really tuned into anyone around him until someone started making a lot of noise. Slowly he looked over at the male that was apparently disgusted and snorted lightly at what they were actually freaking out about. This was a situation he had often come across in the ward, discarded gum attached to objects. Then unsuspecting victims touching those objects. Nathan leaned over and chomped down on the gum and whatever it was attached to “Stop being a baby, jeez…” He spit the gum across the room then and went back to thinking about something else entirely, not realizing (or caring) how much of a weirdo he must have seemed like. “C’mon, you fuckin’–” Erik muttered under his breath as he shook his hand around in un-achieving hope to rid himself of the white substance. The worst part about the whole situation was that the gum was literally still warm, like fresh out the mouth warm. The law student dry heaved as tendons tore in the gum, part of it snapping off and flying past his face, inches from his mouth. Then something unexpected and extremely– bizarre– happened; another guy came along and used his teeth to get rid of the gum. Erik looked at him, a mixture of confusion, disgust and relief set into his expression. “Dude…” He breathed. “Dude– that shit could’ve been in any fuckers mouth, are you– like, did you seriously just–?”

The others sputtering had again pulled him from his trance. People outside the ward were always so chatty, if they were not busy bumping into people, that was. Nathan gave a dull look, his eyes closing partially before he clicked his tongue and looked toward Erik “It most likely was, Dude- But I do not really give a flying fuck. Hopefully I will catch a cold strong enough it kills me.” His tone said he was joking, but Nathan was suicidal, so he most certainly was now wishing he would get a cold vicious enough to kill him. Not knowing he was already dead and any cold that could kill him would be a disappointment. Tapping on his legs nervously, before playing with the fabric he let out a long sigh and dropped his head back against his own chair “At least it is gone now, fuck.”

You're Great! Nathan darted around the corner, he had been with his dad just a few minutes before. The older Douglas was wanting to teach Nathan a game, and Nathan was having none of that. He hated playing sports with his dad. He hated doing a lot of things with the older male. As he was running, something came soaring passed his head, and crashed onto the floor in front of him. Skidding to a stop he fell to the ground, gasping for air “Get back here, Nathan!” Boomed a voice, a figure appearing behind him and then suddenly grabbing him “We aren't finished yet. Come here!”

Squirming in the older males arms, Nathan protested, pushing against his fathers chest and kicked his legs, begging the other to let him go. As the other ignored him and walked back down the hallway “I'm am not even hitting you, stop freaking out!” Demanded the older male, shaking Nathan once before walking back outside. Nathan was sniffling as his father placed him back on the ground. His left hand moved up to wipe away a few tears. As his father crouched in front of him and cooed at him, but in a demanding tone was asking him to calm down, so they could finish the game. Rubbing his palm into his head, Nathan shook his head, silently protesting again before his dad grabbed his shoulders and shook him to get him to focus “Nathan, stop crying! Be a big boy! It didn't hit you that hard, stop being a baby!”

Figuring that being forceful with his son was not calming him down Nathan's father put on a gentle smile and pat the small boy on the top of the head “Shh, shh, daddy is sorry, Nat. Don't cry, I was just upset. It is not your fault. Come on, cheer up, don't you want to play with Austin? He's going to be really upset if you stop playing now. Come on Natty, don't be mean to Austin.” Nathan hiccuped, but started to calm down. His dad grabbed onto his shoulder “Good boy. See, are we feeling better now?” Nathan stared at the other, feeling too scared then to even tell the other he was not feeling any better. As his hand was grabbed and he was lead back over to where the three were playing catch, before a stray ball tossed from his dad hit him in the shoulder.

Walking back over, Nathan continued to rub his eyes as Austin said something to him, but he did not really want to answer. As their father picked up a soft ball and walked over, tossing the ball to Austin, he then asked the other to throw it back to them. Nathan whispered to himself from where he had been standing, waiting for his dad to throw the ball. When it came toward him he flinched and turned away from the ball. Which dropped to the ground behind him and rolled. His father shouted at him again and walked over, smacking him on the top of the head “I have told you four times, it's not going to hurt you, just catch it! That's all you have to do!”

Nathan hiccuped, watching the older male walk passed him and toward the ball. He sniffled, not knowing what to do next. Turning he ran over as his father turned back from lifting the ball up, and started yelling toward the both of them again. Nathan ducked behind Austin and peeked over his brothers shoulder as he watched their dad move toward them both, again repeating to them what they should be doing. Critiquing them, before calling them both a name. Then points at Nathan “You need to stop being a wimp, it's just a ball!” Nathan stared up at the other before turning his eyes away, lifting his left hand up then he started to play with his hair “I'm sorry.” Nathan whispered, his eyes dull as he shifted, and looked toward the ground. With a defeated sigh their father waved the two off and turned away from them both and walked away.

Grabbing onto Austin's arm, Nathan tugged on it lightly and continued to frown at the ground. He did not want to upset his brother. Nathan grinned at the other, faintly. He was sure the other was just as scared of their dad as he had been “Hey! I can tell you a story, hm?” Nathan suggested softly. Grabbing onto Austin's hand he lead the other across the backyard, staring back at his brother for a few seconds, as Austin was even more upset than he was. Nathan just felt numb at the moment, he would make sure his father would not get off free for upsetting Austin.

Once they were in their room, Nathan walked around trying to find ways to cheer Austin up. He grabbed a stuffed animal off Austin's bed and bopped it's nose gently against his brothers before speaking in a silly voice “Hey, you throw that ball great. Mean ol' dad don't know, you are grrrr-eat!” He bopped Austin in the forehead with the stuffed lion and then let the other take it away from him before turning and walking away. Nathan looked around the room “How about Barenstain Bears? I know, I will read your favorite!” Dropping to the floor, Nathan pointed at a few books on the bottom of the shelf and hummed to himself as he waited for Austin to finish talking. Nathan put on a smile for the other and looked over “He is just a bastard.” Nathan said as innocently as he could and pulled Austin's favorite book from the shelf “Got it!”

Nathan scooted over toward his brother than and pat the ground next to him “ Siiit!” He squeaked before tickling the other suddenly and pushing them down onto the ground “Stay! Good Austin!” Pulling himself away from his brother he scooted back and sat on his legs “Oookay, now that you are giggly, we are gonna read this one!” Nathan pulled the book open and started to read out loud, though he was not very good and his voice was almost too much of a whisper. But he forced himself to read loud enough for the other to hear him. Mikaela stood there for a few minutes blinking, stunned into silence, “I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” She said, still stunned and barely able to catch her breath. She had never been called a stupid bitch… at least, not in a serious way. Especially no one else but Speck. She grabbed a bunch of napkins and started patting him down softly, trying to get the coffee off of his shirt, “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to… you just snuck up behind me I couldve swore no one was behind me,”

“I called you a stupid bitch.” He rolled his jaw, a bit, displeased that he had to repeat himself. A moment later when she again apologized as she was patting napkins against him Nathan seethed, sucking in a few deep breaths. His eyes narrowed on her, his teeth grinding as he tried to contain his emotions. Nathan then suddenly shoved the other off of him “Stop touching me! I fucking clean it off myself!” Pulling on his hoodie he grumbled and turned away “I can not believe this fucking shit- this is the only one I have.” Turning his eyes back to Mikaela his nose scrunched a bit “Maybe you should not turn around so quickly then!” While Austin and Josephine had been up to something about the apartment Nathan had wandered off while they were both distracted, not caring about any of what was going on. Some minutes later he had to take a break from his wandering and sat under a tree, where he was currently still sitting, trying to figure out just what his plans were now. He could not kill his brother with Josephine in the way. Not that he was scared of her, just, she was not on his Kill List. She was just his brothers girlfriend, and she had so far done practically nothing to earn her a spot on his kill list. Letting out a frustrated sigh he starts plucking up pieces of grass “What am I going to do now…”

Austin watched as Nathan and Josie were getting along, it was so odd for him. He stared at either one of them, “Well why not try something new? These will be here, so you can just try a bit of one or two. You don’t need the whole thing.” He suggested to his brother, though not pressuring him either. Austin looked at the two of them and nodded, “Well, hopefully it’ll change now.” He spoke looking at him with a light smile.

He stared noticed his brother probably needed clothes. “Uh.. we can go out and buy you some new clothes.. so you’re not in your scrub.. or.. uniform?” He questioned staring at the shirt that had ‘Nathan Douglas’ stitched on the side.

At Nathan’s request, Josie turned and popped a cup in the Keurig to make another mug. She listened as the two brothers talked. It was weird having someone else in their apartment, but Josie was starting to like it. They could be a weird little family. Just then, she heard Austin suggest shopping.Turning around she said, “Yes! Shopping! And we can get you a haircut!” Josie clapped her hands together. Sometimes her girly side got the best of her. “Also, Nathan, do you want cream or sugar?” Then, realizing he probably didn’t know what they tasted like, she rephrased. “Do you want your coffee to be bitter, semi-sweet, or really sweet?”

“New?” He questioned, of course to people who were all well and good in the mental health department, it seemed like such a minuscule concept. To Nathan, who had been on a tight schedule for sixteen years, and it hardly changing in that time, it was like skydiving without a parachute. Nathan had grown to expect that this would be hard to understand, for normal people. Tilting his head a little he sighed “Suuure, I guess I could.” What, was Austin going to poison him or something? Nathan eyed Austin as he thought this, hesitating a little and slowly reaching out to grab another muffin.

At the suggestion of shopping he had been slowly peeling away the paper on the muffin he had grabbed and licked it, trying to taste possible infected points where poison might be “Shopping.” He repeated, as thought it were a new word he was testing out. For him it was a new concept. When the ward supplied his clothing the last sixteen years, he had no reason to shop. Turning the muffin around in his fingers he looked up at the two “Shop-ping… That would be interesting.” Pulling his right hand away, muffin in it, he looked down at his shirt and frowned as he picked at it with his left hand “New clothes.” His current outfit was absolutely filthy with all manner of filth, and probably stunk not only of rainwater and earth, but probably other things.

Though Josephine’s excited reaction to the request made him jump a little bit and look at her, a little nervously. He then reached up to play with his hair, which was longer than Austins. Nathan was not a big fan of haircuts while he was in the ward, especially since he enjoyed playing with his hair as he was thinking. Making a bit of a face he nods “Sure? I guess it can be a bit shorter…” As she asked another question he frustratingly picked at the muffin in his hands “Sugar or cream?-Bitter- I do not know, I guess bitter.” He remembered then that he had coffee some other time, recently, it was with Willa. Lifting his hand back up he rubbed it against the side of his head.

Carson smiled over at the person waiting in line behind him, doing his best to hold back a chuckle “You know, I don’t usually give advice freely.” He paused, “but I wouldn’t change a thing on your face.”

Nathan glowered for a moment, trying to process what the other had just said to him. But, he then remembered he was bisexual, and this opportunity to fuck with this guy could not go by without him at least trying. Nathan put on a flirty little grin and walked over to the other, his right hand reaching up and pressing against Carson’s chest “Oh, is that right? Well are you not just the most adorable little boy. Are you looking for a new daddy?” He asked, biting a little on his bottom lip before leaning in closer, sniffing the others aura, you can say. Then Nathan bit suggestively at Carson, letting out a purr. Carson took a step back quick. Nathan was purring, but Carson was the one with lighting fast feline reflexes, “what are you?” he said with slight disdain and whole lot of confusion.

As the other quickly pulled back Nathan gave a smirk. But the others question had him tilting his head “I-i am a perso-” He paused trying to think if this was right, frowning a little bit. Then he narrowed his eyes, glaring suddenly “I am a person.” Nathan was a bit hurt that he had to even confirm that, it was starting to make him think that maybe he was not a person at all. He smiled “ Maybe I am an alien, and i am here to probe you.” Mikaela was shocked. How could this man be so rude to her? Maybe it was her naivety and youthfulness that made her see the best in people. He was probably just having a horrible day and she had just made it so much worse. She felt horrible. “I can wash the hoodie for you. I’m a master at getting out stains. I promise when I’m done with it it will be better than new.” Since her mom had her so young, they had grown up poor. Vivian taught Mikaela to take care of her things, and fix everything until it held on only by a thread. She also taught Mikaela that it was important to make things right. Mikaela hated messing up, and she knew the guilt of this accident would eat her alive. “You know, a wet hoodie will hardly do it’s job and I don’t want you getting sick. Please let me wash it for you, it’s really no problem at all”

Nathan looked the girl over in suspicion. He did not know why she felt comfortable washing a strangers clothing, and he honestly did not want to stick around to figure it out. Something suddenly struck him as odd. Or maybe he was already feeling like things were odd. It was not right, why were there so many nice people? It did not make any sense to him. He was purposely being an ass, without regard to how he was treating people, and they still offered to do nice things for him. As the girl continued he narrowed his eyes on her and turned his head away a little before pulling his eyes from her “It does not matter, if I get sick, or if it dries without you cleaning it…” Though a part of his neck where some of the hot coffee had splashed had started turning a bright red as they were talking. Lifting a hand up Nathan started to scratch at the area “Why do you not go take your fucking charity and politeness elsewhere?! I will clean it!” Mikaela locked eyes with him for a moment and then looked at the skin where she had burned him. Her cheeks turned bright red out of embarrassment and concern, “it’s not charity!please just let me do something to help. I feel horrible about it and oh my goodness… if my mom knew that I hurt someone… again” she whispered the word under her breath. “Just trust me. It’s my mistake. Can I get you some ice? Another coffee? A donut?” She knew she was talking too quickly and way too much but this man intrigued yet intimidated her. And when she was nervous, she tended to word vomit.

“Yeah, right.” He hissed, thinking that most of these people just believed that they had to act a certain way, in public. Nathan guessed that she might have been being honest though, or she was sent by someone to watch him and wait for him to trust her and get him alone before trying to take him back to the ward. Nathan was not sure. He frowned as it was brought up that this was not the only time she had hurt some one “You hurt people often?” He questioned curiously, an eyebrow rising. She was proving to be quite persistent though.

At the offering of a donut his mouth watered and his looked up thinking about how sweet it would be to eat one. Catching himself he steeled his face once more and grumbled “Ugh, fine! If it is so damn important! Just shut up already. Jeez! If I did not already drink, I would.” Her quickened up words had also slightly confused him, in his current state it was hard for him to keep track of people talking to him in a normal pace. Any other variation just made him irritated and confused, as his brain worked overtime to process what was being said, and the meaning behind the words, and a million other things his paranoid mind could conjure up for what those meanings ultimately meant, and the persons motives.

Carson took a deep breath, suddenly feeling more at ease knowing that this was probably just one of the psych wing’s kids. “Hey buddy, I’m sorry. I was just a bit startled is all. You get lost? Do you need help getting back to your floor?”

As Carson spoke to him in a patronizing way, Nathan decided he was going to allow one fair warning, and then he was going to stab Carson in the neck with the scalpel he had hidden in his hoodie “Huh, Hey, buddy. I just want to clear something up.” Nathan took a step forward, glaring at Carson. His pitch black eyes draining of any hint of their previous playfulness “Whatever ‘floor’ you think I am on. - Let me just be clear with you, It does not make me stupid, to be on that floor.” Nathan suddenly grabbed Carson by the neck “And it wont always keep you safe, this 'floor’ so watch your tongue, or I will cut it out and make you eat it.” Shoving Carson away, Nathan laughed at the other “ NT’s, always so superior. The reality is, you are almost always just as sick, if not sicker. You just have not been caught yet.” “I never said you were stupid–” Carson was startled once again when Nathan grabbed hold of his neck, trying to signal anyone that there was a dangerous patient loose, “Listen, kid.” he pushed Carson off, “you’re the only one who’s not only one who’s passing judgements on your own case without me saying anything of the sort. I’m just trying to help you, but be my guest and go around wild until you snap because someone giggled and you think they must be laughing at you, or something equally unrelated. Then you can go ahead and pass the rest of your life locked up in a nice padded room with nobody to call daddy.” he stepped back, “it’s too damn early for this shit.”

Nathan became more confused when the other tried to play off their patronizing tone just a few minutes ago “Right, you did not say it. It sounded like you were hinting toward it, Buddy.” As Carson tried to then turn the situation toward him Nathan shrugged no caring about how the other wanted to twist it. He would have been willing to stab this guy for plenty less than being talked down to. As they continued talking he crossed his arms over his chest “Can I call you stupid,- because what you just said sounded pretty fucking stupid.” Nathan laughed at Carson with a huff and looked away “I would not snap at someone giggling- Are you trying to pick at some implied sense of paranoia? You think I am mental, and now you want to piss me off? How stupid are you?”

Though he had to muse at the end of what Carson said “I do not call people daddy. People end up calling me daddy, trust me, if you push me, you would call me daddy before I am through with you, too.” At the end of the day, Nathan didn’t care about threats from unessential people, that he bumped into. Carson was just trash waiting to be used and discarded as Nathan saw fit, if he should see fit that Carson ever be useful. At the moment, Carson was nothing to him “It is never too damn early for this shit. Especially since you are the fucking idiot hitting on random people.” “Thought so.” Emily smiled at the boy, hoping he did get that she was only joking. As they neared the diner, the woman quickly stepped inside, holding the door for the other. “Ah that’s better.” She breathed, glad to be out of the cold. Gesturing toward an empty table she took a seat. Shrugging off her coat to let it rest behind her. It didn’t take long before a waitress showed up. Emily gave her a smile and greeted her politely. “Uhm.. Two hot coco, one with cream and cinnamon and the other…” Looking at ‘Niel’ expectantly, not knowing how he liked his drink.

Nathan continued to walk with Emily until they were finally inside and sitting at a table. He wondered how it was that he could be so paranoid of people, yet so trusting as well. It must have been the madness, or he was desperate and starving/thirsty. He was going to do anything that brought him closer to completing his ultimate goal. Though to be honest, he didn’t know what that was now. Did he really want his family dead, or was he just angry? Should he kill everyone at the ward that had ever hurt him and anyone else there. Or was he supposed to solve things a different way. When it came time to order he was momentarily lost in his thoughts. Bringing his eyes over he blinked before jumping to answer “O-oh! Um, … Same as her!” He pointed at Emily, though he honestly had no idea what she had ordered. It had been a long time since he had actually had hot cocoa so he was weary of the entire thing. Mikaela shook her head, “No of course I don’t hurt people a lot… it’s just that when I do it’s monumental. I mean I don’t mean to hurt people. Things just get out of hand sometimes…. especially back in Michigan. Things got pretty bad in Michigan.” She said and turned towards the cashier, ordering a new iced coffee and a half dozen donuts. “Oh wow… now I sound like I try and hurt people! i just occasionally… like to pull a few pranks. I’m so good at them that I’m bad at them,” She ran her hand through her hair and stared at him again.

Nathan just lifted his head up slightly, in a half nod, toward the other. He didn’t get why she wouldn’t hurt people a lot. He liked to hurt people a lot. It made them understand that he was the boss. Because the environment he grew up in was the sort of place that The Hunger Games would admire. It was either kill or be killed, fight or flight. The group Nathan was trapped with were not the softies that got to go home every couple of weeks. The staff would also work against the patients. Nathan shook his head, this girl would have been eaten alive “Oh I bet they got fucking terrible in where ever the fuck Michigan…” Making a face at Mikaela, Nathan continue to nod at her “Wow, you feel bad for your pranks.- Maybe do not pull them then.” Mikaela giggled, “Well duh that would be the obvious answer,” She shook her head, “But like… imagine your mom going downstairs and opening up her purse to find a frog in it. It’s hilarious! I mean, you have to be careful. I like to pull the kind of tricks that no one ever knows that it was me… unfortunately thats usually when people get hurt. If you ever hear about the Great Michigan Blackout… it totally wasn’t me.” She sat down at a table and grabbed a donut and took a big bite, smiling up at the boy.

Nathan’s jaw unhinged a bit at her reply. He was irritated by it. But he closed his eyes and tried to let it go. Which was hard, obviously, and he knew that this irritation was going to fester until he exploded, as usual. At the mentioning of imagining his mother Nathan zoned out for a moment, actually trying to imagine his mother. But only could conjure up an image of him crying in the hall when he was eight years old because his mother would not take him home from the ward. Turning his head down a little, he sniffled and shook his head, turning his mind to the one woman he could imagine as his mother was Tasmin. Tasmin had raised him more than Angelica, his real mother. By the time Mikaela had finished talking Nathan had checked back into the conversation “What? You caused a black out of the entirety of Michigan?” He was so confused, had he missed something in the conversation…”Oh, right, because you are a- Uh… Prankster?” To say Erik was a little thrown by Nathan’s sudden spout of honesty about wishing to be dead would not be a lie. The law student fell short of words (for once) and just stared at the other for a moment. “Well– I’m not gonna lie, I’m kinda stumped for what the say to that…” Erik admitted, widening his eyes briefly. “Yeah… Thanks… Are you, like– alright?”

The others question about his wellness had him confused for a moment. But he then realized just why the other was asking, and he sighed. He had not meant to say that last part out loud, if he were being really honest. Sometimes it just slipped, he had grown used to just saying whatever came to mind at the ward, that most things he often meant to think, he did not. Nathan gave the other a sweet little laugh and tossed his head a little bit, getting a few strands of hair out of his face “I was only joking. You know. I do not really want a cold to kill me.” Nathan glanced away - Though I would surely not mind if something fucking would already. “You should see the look on your face. Please do not take me that seriously.” Carson closed his eyes slowly and tried to regulate his breath. Count to ten, he told himself. Nathan was was definitely a loose cannon, and one that he definitely should not spend his energy on. It was like arguing with a kid about ponies, it just wasn’t going to go anywhere. Opening his eyes, he reminded himself of who he was, and who Nathan was, and simply smiled. “You are right Nathan. You are right, and I am wrong. Thank you for letting me see your point of view, I am glad to have been able to have this opportunity. Have a blessed day.”

Rolling his eyes, Nathan was nearing the point where he was just going to say fuck it and actually lose any sense of control he actually had. He could feel his anger bubbling up over the top now, just having to listen to Carson talking to him like that was enough to make him go ballistic. If they were in the ward. Thankfully for the other male, they were not, and Nathan had plans that doing anything to Carson would happen to get in the way of. But realizing that Carson knew his name, then, he glared “How do you know my name? Are you working with them?” He asked, suspicious of the other. Of course a guy like this would probably be working for the ward, but, there was a problem in this. Nathan was fairly certain that Carson was simply just being an idiot. Lifting his left hand up to the pocket of his hoodie, he slipped it inside, grabbing the scalpel.

Erik inhaled as he nodded in understanding of the ‘joke’, though, a little confusion did still pester his face. After all, it wasn’t common practice to hear that kind of thing from someone you’ve only just met. He wasn’t unhappy about it, just a little shocked. His tongue darted out over his lips before he swallowed and offered a forced chuckle. “Right, sure… So, do you, like, do you work here or something?” Erik asked, glancing over at the other young adult.

Nathan thought for a moment about the others question. Of course he knew he could not say he worked there, the other could easily find out he actually did not. Nathan shrugged “No, not really. I just remembered someone I know works here. Camille?” He suggested, putting down a lure to see if this guy had known the other. Nathan did not know her at all, other than the time he kidnapped her and cut her face. Nathan gave a suggestive nod “I have to talk to her about some business.” The frazzled woman had been waiting for what seemed like forever. Finally, Katya nabbed a table in a cafe not too far from campus. It wasn’t her usual table but it had an outlet so she would settle for the cramped, crumb-coated spot.

After settling in by answering a text or two and scrolling through her various apps that had been neglected she should have pulled out her textbooks and headphones and gotten to work. Over her shoulder Kat could hear a couple on a very bad date. Captivated – she had to start tweeting the bits their conversation to her followers. Content in her own world she didn’t notice the person approaching her table.

Nathan was already sitting at a table, his head resting on it as his arms hid his face. He had to get away from Josephine and Austin again. They were a bit much for him, at times. Or maybe he was just simply far too difficult and did not want them to become frustrated with him. But as it quickly turned out, he could not get away from couples even at the cafe. Peeking from a slit between his right arm and the table, Nathan looked over at the same arguing couple that Katya was watching. After what Nathan deemed to be a perfectly fine amount of bitching, he slammed his hand on the table and lifted his head up, letting out a few heavy breathes “ Shut up.” You should just walk over there and stab the both of them, Nathan. It will be fun. “I uh.. right yea. This is.. sure I don’t have exams or anything..”

Nathan suddenly appeared out of nowhere, disregarding what the other was saying“AUstin, Augustine! Tin? My main bro-ther. My favorite brother!- Look, I need a pencil.” Nathan holds out his hand, expectantly. “Also, what do you even go to college for?” “Jesus!” Austin jumped at the voice of his brother before turning and seeing him. “Holy crap, Nathan..” He sighed, before furrowing his eyebrows, “My main brother?” He repeated chuckling lightly, “Your only brother.” He commented, “A pencil? Uh.. I might.” He spoke swinging his backpack, and searching in his bag, finally finding it then handing it to his brother. “Uh, I'm taking communications.”

Laughing a little bit, forced, Nathan nods “Yes, well, how do I know that. Your mom and dad could have had about fifteen other kids by now.” He said, bitterly. Then he reached over to take the pencil, guessing the other had no interest in what he needed it for, or why he was at the college. Good. Nathan forced on a smile “Oh, Communications, why do you want to take that? What do you do in that?” He tapped Austin on the head with the pencil then. Erik furrowed his brow a little at the name Nathan suggested. “Camille Singer?” He asked for clarification, unsure if that was who the other meant because Erik was pretty sure his law-intern friend didn’t also have a part-time job in the ward. He’d certainly not seen her here before. If she did, he was definitely going to have to find a new Doctor. “That sounds– ominous…” He probed.

He nodded, after spending three full days with one another Nathan was able to learn quite a lot about the other girl. Though he knew that no one outside of the ward knew who he was, or that he was from there, unless they themselves had worked there. Nathan had managed to keep that mystery intact through out his session with Camille. Narrowing his eyes a little on Erik he tilted his head “Can not imagine why that would sound ominous, she offered to help me with something a while back. I was just busy at the time. - Did she tell you something?” Of course, it was hard to say something about him, Nathan had not given Erik his name, and for the majority of people who knew him, they would see him more as Austin, if they had even known his twin. “About that, yeah.” Her eyes were narrowed and her expression morphed into one of concern entirely on its own volition. How could she not be worried about him after witnessing whatever that had been? Bad nightmares, he said. “Oh,” She muttered, not thinking he was lying but the words also not easing her tension either. “Because you almost did!” Willa responded as dramatically as she felt at that moment. “You’d tell me if something was up, right?” She knew that some people weren’t as trustworthy as she was, but she hoped that he was someone she could call a friend by now. “I’m not the judging type, I promise.”

With her worried expression Nathan swallowed hard, he was sure she would not care. Normally no one did. The ward did not have staff that acted like anything the patients did phased them. The only thing that concerned them was a patient trying to kill one of them or another patient. Because having someone die in the ward would be troublesome. Nathan thought about Tasmin and frowned a bit, he wondered how they handled her murder. As Willa spoke he nods a little “-Ah-ah… Well. You do not need to worry, okay?” He stepped closer to her grinning as he got on her eye level “Oh, yeah, of course. I am just super tired I guess. I had not noticed.” Nathan stood straight again and thought for a moment, lifting a hand up to toy with his ear as he laughed a little “ These uh, exams? Yeah, they have my head a little-” He pulled the hand that was toying with his ear away from his head and twirled it an inch from his skull “Fractured.” Stephen entered the room; instantly shot with the fact that he didn’t think he was supposed to be there. “Uh, I’m sorry. I can leave.”

Nathan slowly looked up as Stephen burst into the room, then quickly looked down and away from his project he had been studying in one of his artsy classes. Bringing a hand up to his head he tried to hide his face. Shit, it’s that guy I fucking robbed a while ago. Mikaela thought that he might be irritated but she looked past it, not even thinking that he could be upset at her. It was probably something else, she thought. No one could be upset that someone was nice to them, “Yeah actually, funny story, My friend Harrison and I snuck into the power company in Lansing in an attempt to cause a blackout in our high school so that we wouldn’t have to take our finals. Anyways, I wasn’t as good with computers as I am now and I accidentally shut down the whole state,” She shrugged and finished her donut. She hadn’t had that many friends in Lansing, even so they were mostly guys. A group of them had gotten really good at hacking into things, if only to relieve their boredom. Now, she mostly used her hacking skills to make money on the side.

“Oh, you and your friend Harrison?” He slowly sat down, still not knowing whether to trust her or not. He did not know when, or if he could trust anyone, let alone anyone attempting to be nice to him. Though he understood that he had to keep his cool, or he would certainly get found by someone from the ward and taken back. Even though it was difficult to control his actions. If he could even control them at all. Sometimes something just hit him, a mood, usually anger, just over took him. And the last few months it felt like he was even more out of control. Sometimes he felt better, other times he would feel like kicking a puppy for no reason “Huh. I do not know how to use a computer.” He states tapping on the table nervously before glancing around. Austin looked at his brother, and as he’d questioned the aspect of something new, was something he’d sort of expect. When Nathan was open to it, he nodded and then lifted the cup to his lips and drank his coffee. “I mean.. Yea.” He spoke nodding with a genuine smile. When his girlfriend jumped and got really excited, he raised his eyebrows hoping it wouldn’t freak out his brother. At the mention of a haircut, he was expecting something more of a reaction.

Austin shook his head, “You don’t need to get a haircut Nathan.” He tried to relax him, he then spoke up. “Babe, grab both and he can start small with the sweetness and keep adding as he goes.” He spoke nodding lightly with a nod. “So, Nate do you want to shower or anything?”

After remembering how Nathan had reacted to being touched by Josephine, she backtracked. “Yeah, you don’t really need a haircut.” She imagined that when Nathan actually needed a haircut, she or Austin would have to do it themselves at home. Josie then turned and handed Nathan both the coffee mug and the creamer. “Just add in the creamer to make it sweeter.” She explained. “It’s peppermint flavor, because December and all.” Josie laughed a little awkwardly. Josephine was amazed at how Austin was able to handle Nathan so well. “A shower is a good idea. They make everything better. Austin can show you everything and I’ll lay out some clothes on the bed.”

Staring at Austin for a long moment, Nathan rolled his eyes a little bit as the other spoke then gave him a smile. Turning his head away he continued to pick at the muffin in his hands, letting crumbs fall onto the counter top “I said it was fine.” He says, this time his tone a lot more bold. He really hated to repeat himself, sometimes. As Austin tried again to be accommodating, while also seemingly ignoring what Nathan had just say he clenched his jaw. Closing his eyes for a second he exhaled a breath and nods “Sure, I can-” As the cup was placed in front of him along with the creamer he started to bite on his tongue and then placed the muffin down “Okaaaay.”

He grabbed the cup and creamer, pulling it closer he stared down at the blackened pool of liquid, his eyes glazing over as he got lost in them before lifting the cup up and chugging it. Slamming the cup back down he stood up “All right, I am going to go shower. Do either of you want to scrub my back, or am I quite capable of that?” He hissed a bit before turning abruptly and walking back toward the bathroom, rolling his eyes again. Perhaps he was just imagining it, but he felt like he was being treated like a clueless child. If he were being honest, he wasn’t as angry as he was acting, he also wouldn’t know how to treat himself, or anyone like him, in this situation, either. Mikaela smiled at the fact that he was finally sitting down with her, “Yeah, Harrison’s really awesome. I’ve known him since kindergarten and I’ve always been his friend. Even when everyone thought he was weird and crazy, I always saw the good in him,” She shrugged, “I visited him every day when he was hospitalized,” her voice dropped and slowed. She took a deep breath, “Wait you don’t know how to use a computer?” She giggled “I can give you lessons if you’d like,” she pulled out a pen from her pen and wrote her name and number on the donut box, “there. now you know who i am.” She was hoping he would give her his name, but she wasn’t going to push him. A few of her friends in Lansing had the same far away stare that he did, and she didn’t want to lose his trust

Nathan nodded a bit before shrugging. He had never had any one he could honestly consider a friend. Most of the patients at the ward made for horrible company, and even worse friends. Most relationships were often doomed from the start. Nathan had continued to listen to Mikaela. Growing curious, and not really having much to add to the conversation on his part he gave a light smile “Oh, he was hospitalized, for what?” Nathan asked, still looking for an easy way out of the building if something did happen to go down. When he was offered lessons he slowly nods “Ah- sure? I guess that would be okay.”

Nathan had no clue about what he would need to do on a computer. Not being exposed to one in the last sixteen years had made such technology that he was denied that entire time seemingly useless to him. When Mikaela turned the donut box toward him he squints at the squiggle’s, leaning forward a little before reading “Mika-ela.-Mikaela? That is an interesting name.” Nathan looked up at her, supposing it would be good to give a name to her, if she was going to teach him how to use a computer she would need something to call him “Call me Niel.” “Oh he tried to um… hurt himself… once or twice,” It was hard to think that anyone could be so desperate that they would go that far. She shrugged, “I visited him every day and brought him ice cream,” She grinned and pulled up a picture of her and Harrison on her phone, “See that’s me… and here’s Harrison”

“I haven’t seen him since my mom forced us to move. I haven’t seen him since. He was a really good friend.” Unfortunately Harrison had always wanted them to to be more. Mikaela had never dated anyone and that didn’t bother her much. She grew up without a dad and even though all of her friends were boys, they all usually saw her as a sister. Unfortunately, after puberty hit, more boys started to have an interest in her that she had never experienced before. “Yeah, it’s Mikaela. A lot of my friends from home called me Mika, so if that’s easier for you that would be okay.” she opened the box and grabbed another donut, “Sorry I have a sweet tooth. Niel, huh? That’s a cool name.”

At Mikaela’s somewhat vague, but obvious explanation of her friend Harrison’s hospitalization he nodded. He knew about all about that sort of thing, himself. He had often tried to hurt himself as well. On plenty more occasions than just once or twice. He had grown sick of the ward, and wanted to die. He wanted out of that place, and no one was helping him. The anger and pain and everything else just built up over the years and he had cracked. Nathan gave a faint smile and lift his left hand up, toying with a few strands of hair as his mind started to backtrack a little “That- really sucks, I guess. Why did he want to hurt himself?” He asked, curious still, as he looked at the picture she showed him.

Nathan smiled “He is cute.” As the other went on about having to move and such he nodded. He also knew how that felt, to an extent “Yeah, my mom and dad forced me to move once. I did not handle it well at all.” As she went on with her name he swallowed “Actually, I can not really read very well, because I am partially blind.” He admitted, waving a hand in front of his face “Getting punched in the face a lot of times can be a lot of fun, but not for your head, I guess.” He laughed and then nods “Yeah? It is something I am trying out.“ Since hearing ‘Nathan’ made him a bit angry, he figured telling people a name he did not associate with people at the ward, would be a lot easier for him to be less guarded. Mikaela played with a strand of her own hair as well, “Well, Harrison is just… hard. It’s hard for him to get up in the mornings. I didn’t ever really ask questions… I was just there for him.” She smiled at the memories, “Oh, I mean I guess he’s cute. I don’t know I just always think of him as a goof ball.” She looked at Niel, “Yeah when my mom forced us to move I couldn’t stop crying. Wait… you can’t see? I mean I have like… astigmatism… so I have to wear glasses. I’ve never been in a fight but a lot of my friends get in fights. Omg, you don’t have any friends yet here, right? And I don’t have any friends… we can be friends! I can teach you about computers and you can teach me how to fight,”

Lifting his head up before nodding slightly, he guessed he could understand the feeling, too. He hated that he had to go kill everyone who had ever helped in wronging him. Getting up and doing things just seemed so pointless, at times. Nathan dropped his head into his right hand, resting his elbow on the table as he watched the other, twirling a finger from his left hand in his hair. No one was ever there for him, his mother would try to tell him she was. But it was nothing special when he would go months without seeing her. He needed her always, not just sometimes. Nathan grinned a bit “I cried for two years straight, when it happened to me. I was seven at the time. Then I quickly realized that no one cared about my tears.”

Letting out a small sigh he glanced to the side “ Yeah, it started when my dad shoved me when I was seven, I hit my head pretty hard.” Nathan confessed. Bringing his eyes back toward Mikaela then he tilts his head a little “No, not really. People generally get tired of having to deal with me, or I instantly rub them the wrong way.” Actually, Nathan figured had probably made at the very least one friend “Well, I do have a friend, I guess. Her name is Willa. She is really nice- you remind me of her, a bit.” Nathan looked down blinking, then gave a light huff of a laugh “If you want to be, sure.- I guess I could teach you how to fight. It would be fun, I find that hitting something helps with my stress.- But anyway, I will teach you everything I have learned. But. be warned, it is not pretty.” Austin looked at his brother when he’d made it clear that he would be okay to get a haircut, he nodded to his twin. “Alright then. Good.” He spoke firmly, not quite knowing how to comment or what to say. Interacting with his brother was hard, he was walking on egg shells though didn’t want to treat him like a child. As he watched his brother’s expression turn from acting normal, then suddenly sarcastic and annoyed, he knew he’d failed. He put the coffee down as he watched his brother roll his eyes and walk for the bathroom.

Once his brother was out of the room, he sighed, as he leaned down to rest his elbows on the island counter and put his head in his hands. He didn’t know, how to do this. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted his Mom, he wanted to go home and ask advice from his Mom. That’s all he wanted to do. Though he knew he couldn’t, or.. he shouldn’t? He was forgetting the reason why he couldn’t or shouldn’t go to his parents. “I don’t know what I’m doing..” He whispered as he looked to his girlfriend. His outing this morning gave him a chance to reflect on his own what had happened. During his reflection the one thing that continued to repeat in his mind was the simple fact that, ‘Nathan was dead. He died. It’s the reason his mother was diagnosed with depression in the last six months. It was the reason his father was somewhat more open to many things in Austin’s life. It was the reason for so many things. All in all. He died, he was dead. All Austin could think was, “How is he here?”

Josephine recoiled at the harshness of Nathan’s word. Just as they thought they were getting somewhere. She watched as Nathan stormed out, causing Austin’s sweet and hopeful smile to fall. “Hey, you’re doing your best.” She said to her boyfriend, gently approaching him and rubbing his back soothingly. “I shouldn’t have gotten so excited or treated him like he was so fragile. But hey, we’re figuring this out one day at a time. We’ll get there together.”

Leaving the bathroom door open a crack, Nathan listen to the other two. Picking up on what they were saying, though it was hard to do. He let out a sigh and looked down. Nathan knew he could not stay here for long. When he woke up in the woods his only thought was killing his family, and then people at the ward. Not playing house with his brother and his brothers girlfriend. Glancing to the side he slowly pulled the door closed as he walked. Nathan was glad to see Austin was trying, but he just did not figure anyone had it in them to actually help take care of him. Not that Nathan thought he needed much help at all, which he really did need.

Turning the shower on he let the cold water run out until it steamed over into extremely hot water. Holding his hand under the falling water he watched his pale skin start to grow red and sting. Blinking, he decided it was hot enough and stepped into the shower fully clothed and crouched down under it as he closed the shower off and let the small space fill with steam. The small area reminded him of isolation. Curling into himself he wrapped his arms around his knees and dropped his head down, and zoned out. Mika shook her head, “Oh I doubt that, I care about you and I’ve only known you for a minute!” She patted him on the arm gently, “I’m sorry that your dad hurt you… I can’t imagine. I never had a dad,” She shrugged, “Oh my goodness is Willa your girlfriend?” She grinned and slid her laptop out of her bag. She needed to learn how to fight if she was going to make a career out of her computer hacking skills. She opened it up and hit a bunch of buttons rapidly, almost frantically, but she knew exactly what she was doing. Her computer unlocked and she turned it towards Niel, “See, my job is kind of… risky right now, so I need to be able to protect myself. So here’s my computer.” It looked like a typical girls computer on the outside. No one would know that at the moment there was a program running in the background that had the capacity to reveal passwords.

“Give it more time, you will eventually see why people do not like me.” Nathan mumbled, bluntly. His eyes quickly shift to her hand as it pat his arm, and he raised an eyebrow. Glancing away from her hand he tugged on a couple of strands of hair. Nathan forced on a smile “My dad was-is, a piece of work. Always wanting me to learn something he liked. Thought that my left-handedness gave me some sort of edge.” Which made him wonder how Austin’s right-handedness just tore at his dads narcissism. Nathan smirked thinking about how his dad must have really hated him. As Mikaela asked if Willa was his girlfriend he shook his head “No, I kind of have a boyfriend-am into guys, right now, honesty. Sort of, well, not really.- Well, Willa is just another girl I met recently.” As Mikaela went on to explain herself he started nodding in understanding. Then looked at the laptop, not knowing what more to say or do at that point. Mikaela grinned, “Oh my goodness that’s so freaking cool, I’ve never known someone who was bisexual. Or a lesbian, for that matter… and the gay guy I do know hasn’t come out yet but I’m pretty darn sure of it.” She nodded and turned her computer back towards herself, “You’ll probably get this computer stuff easily. You have a smartphone at least, right? Facebook, instagram, email?”

Nathan frowned at the name “Yes, bisexual, that is me. I guess.” He shrugged, it really did not matter. He was never really in love with anyone in that sort of way. Most people he had gotten close enough to call a boyfriend or a girlfriend were just there for a quick fuck and maybe a fist fight or two. Since Nathan was mostly into pain. He wanted to be hurt for what he did to his sister, and for every time his mother visit and gave him ‘that look’. Dropping his left hand down to the table, he drums. Nathan had no idea what any of those things that she was talking about was “I actually do not know what any of those are. Why do we not just assume I have basically been under a rock my entire life.” The bickering had been going on for long minutes now. Katya didn’t mind it. She was getting tons of likes and retweets, having a grand time telling her version of the story happening behind her. Needless to say, the young woman was too engaged too notice the man brewing across the room from her. He wasn’t the only one visibly annoyed by the couple but was the most obvious. Place settings rattled against the table when his hand slammed down and Katya was jolted from her own world back into the bustle of the lunch rush. When her head lifted from the small screen she was looking directly at Nathan — suddenly acutely aware of his aggravation.

As someone walked over to him and placed a cup of tea on his table, Nathan continued to stare down at the table. Nathan wondered how it was that he walked into such a situation. As more people started to have their attention pulled over to the arguing couple he rolled his jaw. He wondered if Austin and Josephine ever had moments like this. Obviously he did not see Josephine freaking out the night they brought him back to their place, because he had been asleep at the time. Moving his eyes across the onlookers, Nathan found someone was looking at him. Narrowing his eyes on them he bit his tongue for a moment before saying anything “ What?” Nathan’s tone was ice-cold. He did not like that she was staring at him, of course. It made him feel watched, which messed with his paranoia even more than the fighting going on. Austin gave Nate a look before shaking his head, “No, our parents had only the four of us.” He spoke, watching as his brother took the pencil. “I.. uh.. I don’t know.” He spoke thinking it over, “Wait.. what are you doing here?”

“Oh right, four of us. Well…” He glanced to the side and shrugged “Though I guess your mom gave birth to me, good for her.” Nathan laughed and framed his face “ One of us had to be the hot one, after all. ” Not that he was crediting himself as hot by any means, he had seen his face, and his body. He looked like he had just rose from the grave. Compared to Austin that was more of a mess than something anyone could ever consider ‘hot’. As Austin asked about why he was here he stabbed the tip of the pencil into his index finger “Aaahh- just, um, signed you up for some classes, art classes- creative writing…Nothing special. I have also been attending these classes.” Mika looked at him in disbelief, something was off with this dude but she shrugged it off, “Okay… so, computers are a great way to figure out information. For example, I can run background checks on people, I can find out what the weather will be like tomorrow, and I can communicate with my friends from across the country,” She grinned and pulled up her Facebook page, “See? This is my Facebook. I use it to keep in touch with my family and friends back in Lansing, especially my aunt.” She did some more configuring and pulled up the ‘People near me’ button. “See, this is a map of all the people around us, now, without even talking to them, I can pull up there page and now I know that that guy over there is 36, married, and has four kids,” she shook her head, “that’s a lot of kids,”

Giving a curious tilt of his head he made a face “Oh, backgrounds? That would be helpful.” He smirked a bit, already having some ideas. As she showed him her facebook he looked it over, taking in every thing he could about it “I do not have family, not any that would put me on their facebook.” He said and laughed lightly. Looking at the information on the screen he nod. But didn’t really care about the thirty-six year olds information “Cool.” Of course Nathan had no interest in anyone besides the people he had planned to kill, for being responsible for trapping him all those years in a mental hospital “Well that would be helpful to some people, I guess, anyway.” He didn’t know why, though there was something about Nate not including himself in their family that really irritated him. Saying ‘your’ instead of ‘our’ there was something about it that irked him. Austin didn’t laugh alone, purely because he didn’t understand the joke, if there even was one? “Are you claiming that status?” He questioned, and when Nathan spoke about classes he knew it was a lie. “Nate, you can’t enroll for classes. So what are you doing here?” He asked again, really wanting to get somewhere with his brother and not walk around eggshells anymore, or pretend that he didn’t rise from the dead.

Nathan would not accept a family who willing gave up on him, and forgot him. He felt betrayed. He was neglected, and mistreated. And part of him, no, all of him felt that accepting those people as his family, when they were little less than acquaintances to him, was something he could not live with. It felt like a betrayal to that small 7-year-old boy, crying in the mental ward, for his mother, who never came. For the brother, who had forgotten him. For the father, who ripped him from all of them. Nathan tilted his head “No, I am not. I am quite hideous, inside and out, Austin.” He grinned lightly, hiding the pang of sadness. Rolling his eyes at his brothers next statement he rolled his jaw “Of course Iii can not, Austin. But you could. And I was pretending to be you. Creative writing has been fun, by the way. Did you know that I wrote to you every day. I also wrote in a shit ton of journals, not that it is important. - But that is really what I am doing here.” Austin looked at his brother as he spoke in a negative way of himself. He didn’t even know what to say. “What?” He spoke, before remembering the couple times he’s had awkward encounters with others. “Oh.. yea right. About that, you gotta stop doing that. Be yourself, be Nathan. What’s wrong with that?” He questioned before totally stopping in his tracks as Nate just let a bomb drop. “Oh.. I didn’t know. Did you write to Bethany or Grace?”

“Well my pretending to be you preceded my running into you at that cafe.” He corrected the other “So I can not stop doing something I was doing before, but am not obviously doing much of now. It is mostly here, and to keep up appearances with people I met while pretending to be you.” Nathan informed with a casual shrug. He looked away then “To be me, is to be someone who belongs in a mental hospital, Austin. Nathan is sick, remember? It is a lot easier pretending to be someone else.” He shot himself in the head with a finger and grinned “ I can be me all you like, but I get the feeling you do not really like it.” At Austin’s next question he nods “Yup, everyone. I had a lot of spare time there. It helped me remember you guys still existed, in the last sixteen years.” Austin looked at the other with furrowed eyebrows, “What? Nate that doesn’t make any sense?” He spoke shaking his head with a sigh “Keep up appearances? What appearances? With who?” He had so many questions about how his brother was living his life. He looked at him, “Not anymore.” He persuaded, “You’re not in the hospital anymore, you’re also not going back. So you don’t need to be other people.” Austin looked at him, “Well I’d like to know more of the real you then a fake you?” He spoke not knowing if it really made sense. “Everyone? Oh…” Austin had no idea what to say, how does he respond to that. “Uh… well I’m sorry, for not.. I don’t know.”

“Why does is not make sense, Austin. I just told you what I was doing.” He stared at his brother like he was a foreign object. Then he looked away and shook his head “Well, people, Austin, just people. So I guess I made you some new friends?” Nathan laughed a little bit at that. as the other tried to tell him he wasn’t in the hospital anymore he rolled his eyes, starting to become irritated by the others incessant need to seemingly downplay the severity of having been in the hospital to begin with. Nathan let out a sigh “Sure, Austin. I am not at the hospital now. And I do not plan to go back, either.” Nathan smiled helplessly at the others last sentence “Okay, that is easy for you to say.” Crossing his arms over his chest he shook his head

“Austin,- You, it is hard to be me, when I have had to be someone else, to survive, Austin. I had to do things. And I-” He scrunched his face a bit “I do not know what me you want.” Stepping passed the other he turned around to face the other and started walking backward “Well yeah, Nathan loved you guys! In his own way…” Nathan paused, realizing he had talked about himself in a third person. Perhaps it was appropriate. Nathan did not believe that Nathan was the same Nathan walking with Austin now, not exactly. Nathan stopped and looked up, his eyes glazing over for a moment “Uuuhh, No, do not apologize for that. You are just as innocent as I was for being sent there, just- not so much for forgetting about me.” “As much as I would love to help you out with that Nathan I don’t bring you your food. Is there a reason why you would want to be hit by a car? I can contact another doctor for you.”

“Right. Of course you do not. So then, why the fuck are you here?” Nathan blinked, then looked away with a small roll of his eyes “Well, if you should not be here, why the hell do you need to know why I would want to be hit by a car. No, I do not need a doctor, never mind, it was a stupid idea to come here. Fucking useless. That is what you are.” Erik shifted in his seat a little, letting out a small exhale as he did so. The law student matched Nathan’s head tilt, interested by the other young adult’s vibe. Erik shrugged his shoulders. “Well, when you put it that way it sounds fine but usually when I hear something along the lines of ‘unfinished business’, it’s never good for the other party,” He chuckled. “Maybe I’ve just watched too many gangster films,” The student smirked. “And even if she had, I wouldn’t know because you’re a total stranger mate,”

At Eriks head tilt he straightened his head on his shoulders and glanced to the side. Nathan felt like he would be getting no where with the other. It seemed that even though he was speaking simple English to the other, they were still either suspicious with him, or confused by him. Which Nathan was noticing as a certain quirk a few other citizen of Killbourne had shared. Maybe it was because he was sick, maybe it was because they got a strange vibe off of him. Either way it made him feel irritated. Smiling lightly at the other then “Well, I did not mean it that way.” Looking toward Erik now, he let out a sigh “Do you get that vibe from many people? ” Nathan then asked, suspicious of the other “Mate? -Well, I guess that is a good thing. Anyway, call me Niel if you want. Also, you should probably clean your hand off, you do not want to catch something.” Erik scratched the back of his head with his clean hand and glanced up at the walkway towards the Doctor’s rooms. He never understood how Doctors were always, always running behind on schedule. He’d had an 8am slot before and even then he was sat around waiting for half an hour. At least this time around he wasn’t sat in a room full of people staring at each other. Erik scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. “I work in law so I guess I’m always cautious of other people… It’s nothing personal,” he admitted before nodding. “Niel,” the student confirmed. “I’m Erik and that’s a good shout, do you know where the bathroom is in this place?”

“Right, I guessed that.” Nathan comments. He did not know anything about being a law student. But of those he had managed to meet so far, it seemed to be a somewhat boring way to spend ones life. Laughing, Nathan shook his head lightly “No, it is cool. You can say I am used to people being cautious around me.” Sniffing he glanced up for a moment as he thought, then looked back at Erik “No. I do not know where a bathroom is in this place.” “You did?” Erik asked, wondering what gave him away. He didn’t think he looked or acted like a typical lawyer, but then again he wasn’t a typical law student. Not anymore. He swallowed as Nathan laughed, the awkward vibe still somewhat in the air. Erik could deal with pretty much every single situation and turn every moment into an opportunity to flirt so he was able to hide his small concern. “Yeah? Why’s that then?” He inquired, raising his eyebrows briefly. “I guess I’ll just wait until I’m called then use the sink in the Doc’s office,” Erik shrugged.

“Yeah. If you know Camille, then you either have to be a friend of hers from school, or someone she’s probably worked with. With a minor variation of your possibly just being a random friend, that narrowed down what you do for a life quite a bit.” Nathan muttered before glancing away as he thought about this “ Or maybe I am just insane-ly intuitive?” He smirked playfully and glanced back at the other “I am a bit- well, uh, edgy-Jagged- rough around the edges?” When Erik relayed his plans to Nathan he choked up a bit, turning his head away as he started to break down in laughter, a hand moving up to hide his face “That is fucking gross.”

“Yeah the facial recognition software is helpful,” she snapped his picture quickly before he could move. She pulled up the software but didn’t press enter yet. She could almost feel that the backlash from Niel was going to be bad. She shouldn’t have done that. But… she was so curious. And even if he didn’t let her search him now, she’d do it eventually, when she was away from him.

Nathan had no idea what facial recognition was for a moment, before nodding “ Oh, right.” What the hell does that do? Nathan wondered, making a confused face. As she took a picture of him he narrowed his eyes on her “What did you just do?!” He hissed then, standing up suddenly and slamming his hands on the table, hard. The objects on the table jumping. Again he was growing suspicious of her. Austin wiped his mouth, as he heard his girlfriend try to cheer him up. He shook his head, feeling lost in this situation. “No, no.. It’s not you.” He spoke, sighing gently before standing up. “I don’t know how to talk to him the way he wants to be talked to.. I just..” He shook his head, “It’s complicated.” Austin spoke before turning away from his girlfriend and walking to the couch. His elbows resting on his knees as his hands held together and Austin stared at the blank television as he thought. He didn’t know if he should tell her, he knew it was the truth, but this would make him seem crazy. How can he properly tell her that the guy who’s in the shower died? He can’t do it. He can’t tell anyone.

Josephine’s heart ached at the fact that she couldn’t soothe her boyfriend at all. She felt like there was nothing she could do to make the situation any better. Solemnly, she approached Austin on the couch and kneeled before him, grabbing his hands. “Talk to me, babe. What can I do?”

Nathan just continued to let the shower water pour over him, off in his own little world as the two outside talked to one another. Turning his eyes onto the dirty water that swirled down into the drain he let out a sigh. Nathan had a feeling that most of this ‘family’ thing was going to go to shit. He was going to have to leave. If he could not kill anyone one he planned to kill, he would have to get away from them. He figured he was being completely silly. Was he really going to play house with his brother. He was twenty-three years old, and an emotional wreck. No one had any sort of patience for him. Nathan guessed that Austin was going to try though, to form some sort of bond. I can’t do that to him- He has his own life, I’m just going to get in the way. Noah shook his head at the study guide in front of him. He only had twenty minutes to study before his break was over, and he couldn’t focus at all. The laws and amendments just made no sense and his mind kept wandering. He took a swig of black coffee and locked eyes with someone across the room, “Can I help you?” He asked with a smile.

Nathan stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He was standing somewhere off to the side behind the other male. Watching as they spoke to someone for a moment, Nathan tilted his head, narrowing his dark eyes on the back of Noahs head. Reaching over he grabbed a big red book off the table he was planning on sitting at and started moving toward Noah’s table as they finished talking with their friend. But before Noah could move away Nathan slammed his book on the table and smirked down at Noah as he finished his turn toward the table and sat down in front of Noah “No-ah, No ah no ah Noah- what a coincidence!” Bringing his left hand to the book he tapped his fingers on the title “I thought you were dead?” Mikaela jumped back, fear racing across her face, “Sorry… I uh was just trying to show you how to background check someone without a name. See?” She searched the data base, but the only things that popped up were Austin’s profile, “Austin Douglas?” She raised an eyebrow at him, “I thought your name was Niel?” She shrugged it off, and then took a selfie. The facial recognition software immediately pulled up her mugshot, “Wow, I really wish they would have let me take a re-do,” She rolled her eyes. She would have to remember to hack into the system and remove her criminal record.

Narrowing his eyes on Mikaela, Nathan turned his head slightly. He was sure there was more to it than that. As he moved to look over at the screen he didn’t feel any less paranoid about what she was doing. But seeing that it was Austin and not him made him relax, if only slightly “Right. Well, I did not want you to know my real name. Guess I failed.” Nathan swallowed “Just call me Niel for now, anyway.” At least he knew that if she could access his actual profile, she would not get much. The ward was very good at keeping the important stuff on paper, and the legal stuff on data. As she went on about something he really didn’t care about he nodded, trying to seem like he did Noah’s breath caught in his throat. He recognized this man from the ward. Noah looked side to side, trying to find an escape. He couldn’t help but be afraid of the man, even though he couldn’t place his name, “Oh, you’re from Damari. You’re one of the chronic patients… How’d you get released? Last I heard you weren’t doing too well on your recovery plan,” Noah decided to ignore the part about him being dead. Even he couldn’t explain how he was alive, but he knew that he was because his heart kept beating out of his chest with fear and excitement.

Smiling at the others reaction he glanced around, as well. Nathan was sure a guard wouldn’t run away from him. They were a guard, right? Waving his right hand at the thought Nathan laughed it off. But when Noah pointed out where he was from he shrugged “Not exactly!” Pointing at Noah, he clicked his tongue “- As for why I was released, I was a good boy. Daddy let me out.” Smirking at that he swirled his middle finger against the book under his hand “Last I seen of you, they were scooping parts of your brain off the floor.- You know, you are a shit guard.” Mila had been walking down the sidewalk, completely bundled up. Since she had little fat stored in her body, she was more susceptible to the cold than others. Shivering, she continued to move somewhat slowly until she saw something flutter down to the pavement. “Hey,” she said to the person in front of her, her voice cracking, “You dropped this.”

Walking behind the person Mila was given the paper too he sighed and ripped off this hood from off his head “Hey! This is a fucking sidewalk, not a talk walk, get out of my fucking way. Going to freeze my tits off.” He double taked as he finally started noticing Mila there, seeing that he knew her from the ward he frowned “Hey, gum girl, what a surprise, they let you out? How tragic, I thought you would definitely die…” Sticking his hands in his hoodie he tilted his head before shrugging and turning to walk around the other person “Weird.” Noah looked at the other intently, “Nathan Douglas,” he said angrily and stood up to face Nathan, standing a few inches taller than him. “You’ve never been good for a day in your life. That’s it, I’m calling the ward,” Noah bluffed. He knew he couldn’t actually do that because they still thought he was dead… his brains off of the floor… the thought unsettled his stomach. “I’m a great guard,” he finished. He thought that he might be able to ask about Mila, but the thought quickly left his mind. If Nathan knew about what had happened to her, he definitely wouldn’t tell him.

“You guessed it! Wow, that took a minute, you really are as stupid as I thought, right?” Rolling his eyes lightly he turned his head away “Uh huh.”Nathan shrugged “I have never had a reason to be good. I was born bad, my blood is black and I come from hell. Right?” He smirked up at the other “Oh, I am so scared. Call them then, bitch.” He laughed, seemingly unfettered by the others threat. He would be gone long before they arrived. Tapping on the book again he smirked “Do it, Go on, call them right now, big guy.” Rolling his eyes again he shook his head “Suuure you are. And My family loves me.” He laughed then, and muttered “ I am sure daddy can not wait to have me back home.” Though if Noah called them, they would just think it was a prank, and tell Noah that Nathan Douglas was dead. Mika smiled and made sure to save the search, “Alright, Neil. So you don’t mind that you’re talking to a criminal?” She smirked and pulled up a coding page. She typed in an encryption that opened up her file and she removed her misdemeanor from the internet. It happened a few months ago when she got a little to close to what was happening in Killbourne. She knew that she was getting close because the government cracked down on her encryption. She would find out what the government knew.

Nathan blinked, then glanced to the side, trying to care about whether she was a criminal. But he found that he couldn’t. Nathan sighed and sat back down “I do not give a shit what you are. I do not even trust authority figures, anyway.” He informed her. Drumming his fingers on the table as he watched her, he waited for her to either explain what she had done to become a criminal, or carry on about something else. Not caring either way. Nathan looked away. Noah tried to turn the situation back in his hands, and he shoved his phone back in his pocket “Look, I won’t call the ward if you can tell me what happened to someone in the ward,” Noah had called the ward to check in on Mila but they had told him that she wasn’t there anymore. He was terrified that it meant that she was long dead, her disease finally consuming her. The thought of her dead kept him up at night and he couldn’t bear to even google her name. “Mila.. Mila Reddington. Is she still…” he couldn’t say the word ‘alive,’. His heart caught in his throat, but on the outside he was still and unafraid.

Narrowing his eyes as the other relent, he then burst out laughing for a second before slamming his hand on the book and collecting his focus once again. Staring at Noah, Nathan tilts his head as the other male moved the conversation onto Mila Reddington. Raising an eyebrow as Noah asked, he huffed “Mila? Is she a therapist or something?” He says, toying with Noah for a moment, then rolled his jaw and looked away. He was sure he had run into Mila off and on in the last few years “Is she still a whore? I guess man, I do not know. I guess? I will tell you after I find her.” He smirked, hinting at something more than just finding Mila. Glancing away then he shrugged. He honestly didn’t care about talking about Mila, with Noah. Mikaela noticed that she was losing his interest, “Niel, can I tell you something?” She didn’t even wait for a reply before continuing. “Something really weird is going on in this town. People that should be dead are coming back and it’s happening everywhere. I think that the government knows more than they’re letting on. I’m trying to figure that out,”

As she addressed him he blinked and glanced to the side “Sure?” He answered, but she was already talking. Sighing as she spoke he pushed the seat out “I am leaving. That is bullshit. You are trying to fuck with me. Fuck you.” Nathan swallowed, feeling uneasy about what she had said. “That sounds fucking insane, you know? And trust me, I know insane. - The dead cannot really come back. The doctors in this city obviously suck. They need a new batch.” His stomach started to twist then, sharply. Nathan gasped, the color leaving his face as he started feeling extremely ill. Mika gently pulled him back down in his seat, not wanting him to faint because he looked so pale. “It’s not that crazy…” Mikaela suddenly felt like she had misread the man. She felt vulnerable and childish. Maybe she had picked the wrong person to confide in.

Jerking away from Mikaela as she touched him, his left hand moving up to his forehead “ It is- that makes no sense!” Nathan didn’t get why people were apparently obsessed with that idea. How could the dead come back to life, that wasn’t possible. Leaning in closer to Mikaela he shook his head “You cannot think I would believe something so stupid, a government conspiracy about dead people coming back to life.” He suddenly smacks her hand away from me “You are out of your fucking mind.” Noah’s jaw clenched, “Don’t mess with her. She’s not a whore and she definitely doesn’t need someone like you poking around in her life and bringing her down,” Noah sat back down and looked at his study guide, not focusing and just trying to calm down while looking at the pages. He needed to be level headed about this.

That had only made Nathan want to do something. And the fact that Noah hadn’t known that was also laughable, to Nathan. He chuckled a little, despite being a bit hurt by what the other had said at the end. He glanced down for a moment in mild sadness, before putting on a winning smile and slapped the table, leaning toward Noah “Now why on earth would I listen to you now, come now. When have I ever listen to any of you, silly boy.” Pushing himself up a bit he reached over and shook Noah’s head “ Do not think I will not go and do something now, though.” Mikaela was stunned, she sat silently for a while with her hands folded in her lap, “you’re right, it’s just a conspiracy theory. It’s stupid… look will you still teach me how to fight, though? Even if there aren’t zombies around here, it would still be nice to know how to defend myself,”

Staring at the girl for another long moment, Nathan decided that he was taking a little too much time talking to her. But what she had said left him a little too curious. Of course he wasn’t going to act on this particular bout of curiousness. He couldn’t be linked to anymore crazy than he was already in. He still had a goal, after all. One that getting him sent back to the madhouse would pretty much destroy. Nathan sighs and sits back down “Look, you offered to help me with computers, for me helping you learn how to fight. Not conspiracies.” Nathan paused, thinking “But if, IF, it happens to be true, what you said. Then that is wrong, on so many levels. Something should be done about that.” “Hm? Nothing..” she mouthed. The semi-familiar looking man had startled Kat from her unintentional trance. This was all a misunderstanding and still, she was feeling that familiar rush of awkward embarrassment. It’s always more intense than it has ever been — just like now. Katya wanted to shrink in her chair but resisted the urge. From a distance she could still feel the agitated energy that came from Nathan. Her closest friends knew her as the sensitive, maybe a little too empathic one. Instead she flagged down one of the weight staff and sent two of the cafe’s fresh chocolate chip cookies over to his table with a note torn from her notebook she wrote a note: ‘America’s fckn sweetheart’s, right?’ was the first line referencing the annoying couple. Then, smaller beneath was “hope your day gets better! - K”

She was busy finishing her salad when sweets made it to the table, engaged in her notes now that she had cracked the thing open once and for all.

Narrowing his eyes, he was not quite convinced that it was ‘nothing’. She must have been sent to watch him. When she went to call a someone over he looked away, tapping a middle finger on the table impatiently as he tried to keep calm. There was no reason for him to be so annoyed, was there? He could control this. He had to. Nathan’s right leg started to bounce lightly, as he was trying to force the energy elsewhere, distract himself by moving. Bringing his left hand to his lips he started sucking on the tip of his index finger and kept his eyes down on the table. Nathan did not even notice the waiter coming over till the plate clanked onto the table.

Jumping a little he looked up, and stared his eyes widening slightly before relaxing again “Huh?” As he reached his right hand out to grab the plate and the note he tilts his head and brings it up to his face, squinting a little bit as he read it. Then suddenly starts laughing loudly before covering his mouth to keep quiet. It had taken a moment for him to calm down, but eventually he did. Why would she assume my day is bad? My day is better just because I’m free. Nathan looked over at Katya and nods, giving her a small smile before nervously looking away and staring at the cookies, debating whether they were poisoned or not. Mikaela sighed, “I agree. It’s so messed up. Look, how about we start out with an email account for you?” She asked and began typing on her computer. She’d be able to prove this conspiracy soon enough. But it was a two person job… she needed help

Drumming on the table, he supposed having the ability to use a computer, which was denied to him in the hospital, would be of use to him. Nathan grinned a bit, still weary of Mikaela though “Sure, we will start with a email account.” Noah hated that he had stooped to Nathan’s level, but he needed to know what happened to Mila, “What do you want, Douglas? What do I need to do for you to leave her the fuck alone and get on with your pathetic life.” Noah growled.

There he goes, Noah was speaking Nathan’s language now. What would Nathan like in return to leave Mila alone, such a common bribe he had with plenty, but not all, staff of the ward. Pulling away he leaned back and pushed his legs farther under the table to the point they were invading Noah’s own leg space. Nathan crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned comfortably in the chair “What will I have you do, that is a good question. I need-…Huh, perhaps you could be a decent confidant”. Nathan raised an eyebrow questioningly “You keep me in the loop on certain Things. And I will not find your Mila and throw her off the tallest building and make you watch it.” He smirked then, wickedly “Not that her face does not need a little realignment…- Nothing that becoming a pancake will not fix though.” Mikaela grinned and started setting up his email, “Okay so you have to have a username. What about [email protected] ?” she joked and looked over at him. She slid her laptop over to him slowly so he could pick his own username and password.

His brows furrowed when she said that name, he didn’t imagine he was that mysterious. It had never occurred to him. Nathan got the feeling that the word mysterious meant he was a mystery that someone would want to solve. He knew that it was impossible for that to be. Nathan did not feel like he was someone who was so important. Just a monster waiting to quench its own thirst for blood lust. As she turned the laptop over toward him he started poking at some letters “ [email protected].” Nathan said then smiled and turned the laptop back toward Mikaela. Mikaela looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, “Okay…” She let him pick his own password and then started setting up th account, “Okay so basically every account you have on the internet from now on will be attached to this account. If you decide to have a Facebook, tumblr, instagram, any other social media, you’ll need this account.” She explained “This would be a lot easier if you had a phone, but I guess we’ll just have to do on the computer. So what would you like to be able to do? OOO WE CAN SET YOU UP A TINDER,” she squealed and clapped her hands excitedly.

He got the feeling she didn’t get what the email had meant. A coy little smirk worked its way over his lips. Because he knew what it meant. As a reader of books and someone who had, even in the last few months since his death, visited the library. In that library had been a new book called Scythe. He had been leafing through it on odd days when he had nothing to do. As Mikaela was off in her own thoughts, listing off sites that Nathan had just no clue about he nodded. As she brought up a phone he frowned, the never allowed anyone phones at the ward. He did not also want to ask Austin, fearing that it would be weird, asking for the purchase. As well, it did not seem important, he had no one he wanted to call, at all. Blinking he bites on his lips “Uh- I do not know what any of those are, I lived under a rock, remember.” He winced at her yelling and made a concerned face “Tinder?” Noah’s nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fist, “Don’t you dare hurt her. She hasn’t done anything wrong! Look, I’ll tell you whatever you need to know but you have to leave her out of this. I don’t even know if she’s even still alive,” Noah shook his head “And she’s beautiful… even you can’t deny that,”

“Well that would depend on you, now, do you not think?” Rolling his eyes, Nathan was tired of that excuse “No, she has done something wrong. She was in a mental hospital, you moron. She did something.” Nathan narrowed his eyes on Noah then, giving a playful smirk “How about this, if I am negotiating with you right now about not messing with her, so that you will do stuff for me. It might be fair to say she is probably alive.” Twisting his right hand then, he shrugged “Or I could just be fucking with your head.” Sighing then as the other tried to force their opinion of Mila on him, he shook his head “Matter of opinion. The bitch is sick. I do not want to catch whatever mental illness she might be having, via hysteria or some shit.” Waving the other off then “Take your idiotic notions somewhere else and go fuck yourself.” Noah stared at him, “So, she’s alive? She made it out of the ward?” The relief almost made him smile, “Look, why can’t this just be a mutually… beneficial situation. You don’t want anything to do with Mila, I don’t want you to have anything to do with her. You want information, I have information,” Noah swirled the stirrer in his coffee, hoping that thus would work. He most of all hoped that Nathan had a way for him to get in touch with her. He didn’t have her number, and she wasn’t on social media. He knew they couldn’t be together. but he at least wanted to make sure that he was okay. Ever since he woke up, he had been thinking of her.

Nathan blanked out for a moment, checking out of the conversation as the other tried to renegotiate their position. Nathan did not like that. He didn’t like the ability it would eventually grant the other, should they see the opportunity in the foreseeable future. Nathan letting out the breath he was holding and nodded “How about no. I want this leverage over you, at the very least. If you do not do as I ask. If you betray me. I will kill her. Or worse.” He stared into the others eyes “I will. So you want to make this more mutual. Fine. But that is your stake in it. Also, you do not need my stakes. I will kill myself If I hurt her without you doing anything to make me do it.” Nathan blinked, thinking this over and then nodded, holding out his hand “Is that a deal, Noah? Your precious Mila- for whatever I can use you for.” He liked the idea of having someone strong and tactile to back him up. And Noah had some clearance in places, he bet, which would be useful. Pulling his hand back he frowned “I would not say she made it out. The ward changes people, Noah. They are never ‘out’, not really.” Mikaela smiled at his innocence of the computer world, “Tinder is a dating site. Well, kind of dating. I mean it’s rumored to be a hookup site, however it would probably be a fun place for you to meet people and get out from under your rock,” Mikaela messed with her computer again.

“Right.” Who was going to date him? Had she not seen his face, he looked fucking dead. The dark circles around his eyes that wouldn’t go away being the most noticeable. He felt like a god damn raccoon. Shaking his head he glanced away “I guess, maybe.” He did not have much confidence in that. Being The Lettuce of his family, someone to be forgotten and disregarded, he felt like Austin would have been a better candidate for ‘hookups’ with normal people “So then, uh, let us get started on joining those site then?” Austin shook his head, “Nate I don’t want new friends, I want you to make new friends.” He spoke looking at him, “Listen, I don’t know what you went through. I can’t relate, I really can’t, but… what I can do, is help you with things out here… things, outside of the ward. Get you on your feet, on your feet.” He emphasised, with a half smile, then shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Alright, well how about you be someone else. Make up someone new. You’re not Nathan with the mental disorder, who grew up in the ward. You can be Nate, the twin who lived with our aunt and uncle because you were a kid genius! Or you went to boarding school because you were a kid genius!” He tried to get his brother to understand his point. Austin furrowed his eyebrows as he’d mentioned himself in a third person. “I didn’t want to..” He muttered at the topic of forgetting his brother. Austin didn’t want to talk negatively about his father, which he would have to prove his point that he didn’t want to forget his brother, and he didn’t want him to be sent away. Though Austin is hoping for an endgame that will bring the Douglas family back together as a whole and even knowing the little he does about his brother. He knew that making his parents the excuse and explaining his reasons, would make the happy family image only a dream.

Nathan laughed “Me? I- Uh, have friends. They are trapped in a ward because they are little- yah know.” He knocked his head and continued to listen to Austin, closely. He wanted to laugh at Austin’s optimism. Nathan knew there was nothing for him. He had long come to terms with that. But Nathan figured that it was never going to get through to the other that Nathan felt like Nothing, and never thought about the outside being something in his future, even now, while he was out in it “Okay, Austin.” He said, giving up.

Lightly punching a fist into the palm of his hand a few times as Austin went on he forced himself to give a light laugh “Um, alright, yeah. Just pretend none of that happened. It sounds so easy. How come I never thought about it.” Nathan said, but he knew that just because he wanted something, didn’t make it possible. No matter how much he could pretend he was anything, he still had all the memories of what he really was. Cracking his knuckles he laughed and dropped his head “A genius, wow, Tin, you are really selling that to me? I can not even fucking use a computer. I would not go so far as to call myself a genius.” Waving the others muttering off then, Nathan shook his head “Look, I get it, dad fucked with your head…Do not worry about it.” Reaching over then he pats Austin on the head, before giving it a light shove “It is whatever. I am fine about it all, Austin. Do not worry.” Austin chuckled lightly then shrugged, “Alright, so we’ll come up with another backstory.” He spoke really hoping to get this idea over to his brother, though he was sure it wasn’t sold. “We can get you living like a regular 23-year-old.” He spoke chuckling, before shaking his head. Then looking up at his brother again, and enjoying the final acknowledgement of their own father was in facttheir father. He didn’t say those words, though it was a step forward, even if he was reading into this. “Alright.” He spoke with a genuine small smile, “So Josie and I were thinking in getting a bigger place. That way you can have your own room… instead of crashing on the couch every night. What do you think?”

“Sure!” He encouraged, knowing full well that it was not going to do anything for him. But if Austin wanted to roleplay, who was he to dash the others hopes? Just the long-lost evil twin. Nathan forced on a little smile at the next thing Austin had to say. He knew that it was never in the cards for him to be ‘normal’ at age any age. He wondered why Austin, a supposed normal person, didn’t seem to understand that. Nathan knew and understood he was mentally ill. Now, the severity of it was lost on him, but there had to be something wrong with him. He just knew it “I am mentally ill, Austin. I think it is fair to say the normal ship sailed without me a while ago. Unless you also stab nurses in the neck, play with blood, and lose your fucking shit about minor things? ” He said, trying to sound joking. Glancing to the side as the other made their proposition he sucked in a breath. Nathan did not like that “No, Austin. You cannot do that. I do not want you to do that.” Noah knew he couldn’t get anything better out of Nathan. “Fine, Douglas. I won’t go against you. I’m a man of my word,” Noah grimaced at the thought of Nathan killing Mila. “Now what do you want from me?” Noah began packing up his study guides and laptop. He’d never get any work done now.

“That is wonderful to hear, Noah. But I have to see it.” He grinned a cocky little grin and shifted around in his seat “I believe in you though, you know what I am capable of when I get mad.” Not that he had any intention to hurt Mila. This entire chat had just been to get Noah to believe he would. Nathan only hurt people who he thought deserved to be hurt. And for the most part that was people who had hurt him, or someone he cared about. Nathan thought the others last question over as they started to pack up “We will cross that bridge when we get there, Noah. For now, just keep in contact.” Mikaela didn’t notice his lack of confidence and began typing away, in just half an hour, creating an entire identity for Niel online. “Okay, we need some pictures to put up of you,”

Leaning toward the computer Nathan watched her intently, taking in all the movements and quickly reading over everything he could see. He was thankful for all the free time he had to read at the ward, it had helped him out a lot. As she brought up pictures he glanced away “I do not have pictures.” Erik nodded along with Nathan’s explanation of his deduction as to Erik’s profession. It certainly became clear how easy it was to link him and Camille together. “Sounds like you’ve got the deduction to be a good lawyer,” Erik complimented and chuckled at his joke. “Yeah, well– everyone’s rough around the edges if you give them the right conditions,” the lawyer-intern commented with a slight shrug of his shoulders. When Nathan burst out with laughter, Erik rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna fuckin’ clean it, what else can I do unless you can magically make some anti-bacterial shit appear,” Erik retorted.

“Oh? You think so? Maybe. I just chalk it down to growing up in a place where you have to pay attention to whats going on. My brothers and sisters were absolutely terrible, stealing, lying, whatever else. It paid to pay attention.” Because you never knew when you’d have to throat punch someone attempting to stab you, at the ward. When crazy was so common place with murderous. Thinking about what people had told him, he was either a genius, potentially a good lawyer, or maybe he should write a book. Nathan never thought about being anything. His only plans had ever been dying at the ward “Guess I learned how to play the piano for no reason, if I could be a good lawyer instead, it seems easier. What do you think?”

Nathan nods at Erik’s comment “I suppose that would be true, definitely of myself.” Nathan figured his conditions of living in the ward had left him with very sharp edges. Nathan looked away and made a face “ Now that would be interesting. - That reminds me, I remember my brother and I practicing some magic tricks when we were younger- Uh, not that you needed to know that. I just thought it would have been great to add to the conversation that it would be nice if someone could conjure up something like anti-bacteria. Just imagine how chaotic everything would be if some of us had magic at our disposal.” Erik chuckled a little, thinking about his older Brother. “Siblings, eh?” He smirked, though he did have a feeling that Nathan was hinting at something a little more than just sibling rivalry. Erik was lucky as well, even though they had their differences, he did get on alright with Karl. He certainly never felt the need to have to pay attention to what he was doing. “You play piano?” Erik raised his eyebrows in interest. The melodies the black and white keys of the instrument could create were always pleasing to Erik’s ears. Even though he would not admit it to anyone, he actually preferred a piano piece to a bass-heavy club dancefloor.

“You ever get any good at any of the tricks?” Erik asked, figuring that there was still quite the waiting time for the Doctor. He nodded. “Yeah, the world would go to shit if some people could do magic,”

“Cannot live with them.” Nathan laughed, knowing the other didn’t get that Nathan was not referring to the siblings he was actually related to. Because he had obviously never grown up with any of them. Nathan had actually been speaking of other patients at the ward. Which he felt much closer to, regretfully closer to. At the question he blinked, almost not realizing he had said that out loud “ Ah, yeah, kind of, I guess. I dabbled in it.” Being at the ward he was able to take some classes in several things, as staff encouraged he find a way to keep his mind calm by keeping it focused on other tasks. That did not in any way spare them from his wrath, should he feel so inclined to punch any one of them in the face in a burst of rage.

Nathan hadn’t meant to bring it up, in case he sounded like he was bragging. Nathan shrugged “I had a lot of spare time, growing up. I guess you can say I am not much of a team player. My brother was the sports kid, much to my fathers delight.” At Erik’s last question he shook his head “ Unfortunately after one particularly messy trick, my mother had enough. She banned it.” Nathan laughed at the memory “But it was my father who sealed our fates, he has a temper problem the size of a planet, if you can imagine.” Looking toward Erik he fidgeted with his pants, pulling on the fabric anxiously “ But it would keep things lively!” “Good choice.” The woman commented, as she watched the waitress walk away. Focusing on the boy again. What was it she wanted? Sure, it was in her nature to be kind to people, to anyone. Yet it seemed she’d taken her kindness to a whole different level today. And she wondered what it was that had her so damn curious that she’d taken the mysterious male for a hot cocoa. She knew what it was though. It just hadn’t properly occurred to her until now. His eyes. They were.. different. And maybe she recognized a little bit of herself in them. They seemed lost. Emily had made it her secret mission to make them shine again, though maybe she wasn’t fully aware of that right now.

“So.. what is it you do, hm? You go to school? Work?” She asked him curiously. Taking the hot cocoa from the waitress who set their cups silently on their table.

Nathan smiled a little bit, then looked down toward the table, remembering the last time he had hot cocoa with his real family. It was during the last winter he was with them, of course. Bringing his gaze up from the table as he pulled himself from the not quite forgotten memory, he spots Emily staring at him. Giving her a confused look as he tried to think of why she would be staring at him the way she was. Nathan sucking in a breath and held it for a moment. When she asked her question he let it out and drumming his fingers onto table, before grabbing a pack of sugar and playing with it between his fingers “Ah, No. I do not do anything, actually. I sort of just walk around all day. Looking at stuff, over, and over, and over.” He smiled “Not exciting, I know.” Hesitating a little, Nathan reached over and grabbed his cup and pulled it toward him, leaning down toward the table he took a sip, ignoring the burn. Austin looked at him while he’d mentioned about the ‘normal ship’, he looked at his brother for a quick second and then laughed nervously. Not truly believing if he was joking or not. “Right.. Funny.” He chuckled lightly, hoping that wasn’t the truth. Though it would explain the sudden disappearance when they were at the hospital. Personally, he didn’t want to to think onit, or know the real truth. When his brother was very against the thought of moving in with him and Josephine it did something. It offended him, in a way. “What? Why?” He questioned, “Where are you going to stay? On the couch for the rest of your life?”

At the hollow laugh he got from the other Nathan just eyed his brother, laughing just as fake, back. Glancing away then he grumbled as Austin said it was funny “Yeah, funny.” He cleared his throat then and tossed his head moving a few strands of hair out his face. Holding his breath he started to pick at his hoodie when the other started questioning him. Looking down he twist the fabric between his fingers, looking like a five-year old being interrogated for sneaking out a cookie, almost. Nathan looked to the side “Well. I am fine with that. I do not think you should spend any money on me, Austin. That would be- strange. I- I mean, you really do not need to. I will be just fine. You should worry more about taking care of you and Josephine.” “What do you mean you don’t have pictures? Oh, right, the rock thing. Living life under it,” She smiled. “Well smile?” She pointed her phone at him, but didn’t take the picture this time. She waited until he posed.

Nodding as she seemed to catch herself, he was sure that most people who hadn’t lived in the ward for a long time, like he had, wouldn’t understand being deprived of all their technology. Tilting his head a little bit he tried to give her a smile, but it came off looking a little too nervous. He felt idiotic.

Noah punched the desk angrily. He knew how Nathan was and how he acted towards staff back at the ward. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself, “How am I supposed to keep in contact with you? I don’t have your number,” He growled.

When Noah started to become aggressive toward him he pushed himself up, sitting properly in the seat. Reaching over then he slapped Noah across the face “You will never do that again, do you understand?” His dark eyes cut right into the other males. Just because he had no intentions of killing Mila now, did not mean that he would never kill her. If Noah danced on the edge of a sword that was Nathan, Noah would likely be impaled on it with Mila. Because Nathan was heartless, and willing to kill, he simply just had not yet. Nathan smirked then “Of course you do not have my number, I do not have a phone, silly boy.” Tapping a finger on the table then he tilted his head “Until I can get one, every Thursday you will meet me at the park, at Three in the morning. If I have something I need you to do, then you will be informed. Or if you have any information I might need.”

Noah rubbed his face where it stung from the blow, “Three AM?” He asked. He didn’t know how he was going to manage to work that into his already hectic schedule. He already had to work most nights until two thirty am in the bar, plus classes, plus he was planning on trying to pick up shifts at the ward again. He groaned.

When the other repeated his instructions Nathan rolled his eyes “Yes, Noah. three AM. Do you understand why I picked that time? Not to inconvenience you. But it is the most optimal of times. Who is up between three and five in the morning? Better, who is up and will care what two men are chatting about in the park at that time in the morning?” He asked. Then smiled “Unless you really think you want to risk changing time that is optimal for you. Which I will warn you, all those times are filled, for me. Also, it is one day a week, I am not asking you to sacrifice your unborn child or blood, as well as the rest of the days of the week. Jeez.” “Hey, try to focus less.” She grinned and tried to fix his long and messy hair. “The trick is to not think so hard about smiling, and instead think back on a happy memory,” She had the uncanny ability to make herself smile and act happy even if she wasn’t.

Nathan gave her a look that said he was becoming annoyed. He didn’t know what she wanted. She had told him to smile, so he tried, and now he was trying too much. With a frown he looked away letting out a small breath as she brought up happy memories. He did not actually have a whole list to choose from. Even from before he was sent to the ward, a lot of the things he could remember were no memories he considered entirely ‘happy’ ones. People had always seemed to treat him differently, and that had always left any happy memories he could have had, sprinkled with little bits of depression in them “Ahh, right.” Noah glared at him. He felt defeated. He didn’t know what to do now. He just looked up at Nathan and nodded, “Okay,” He knew he couldn’t do anything else to try and get out of this situation without risking Mila. All he wanted was to know how she was doing. If Nathan knew, he wouldn’t tell him

Rolling his eyes at the defeated look on the other males face, Nathan could not believe this man had and probably still was a guard at a mental hospital. But, Nathan had long known that most of the staff were undeserving of their positions there. At least Noah was not someone he wanted dead. He enjoyed every interaction he had with the other, honestly. Nathan took into account the others ignorance of Mila being there, and his friendliness toward her, even when she was doing her worst. Sucking in a breath he gave the other a genuine smile “Okay, Noah. You do not need to be scared of me. You know what I am capable of, but you also know me just a little bit more than that by now, I hope. I would rather we be friends, than enemies. At the very least, on good terms.” Even though he found it tiring to maintain a sincere friendship, especially from someone who probably chose to see him as ill, and not a person. Mikaela put her hand on his gently, “Hey don’t worry about it. We’ll take a candid,” She snapped a few pictures and picked one that he didn’t look super sad in, “See, it’s perfect.” She showed him the picture. There was a few minutes of silence, “You know… I guess the conspiracy theory thing is because… ya know how I said Harrison tried to uh, hurt himself. Well… it worked. Last summer. I went to his funeral. But… Niel… he called me.” She looked in his eyes, for the first time showing how hurt she was on the inside.

As she reached out to touch him again he tried to resist the urge to jump and pull his hands back from her. Settling on just giving her an odd look then “Right, candid, maybe that is better.” So he was a terrible picture taker, he laughed lightly at that. As she showed him one she had managed to take, that was anywhere near decent he nods “I guess that looks fine?” He looked over toward Mikaela then, thinking as she started in on talking about her friend. As she revealed Harrison had died he nodded “Oh.” Nathan narrowed his eyes then “After summer, or before?” He questioned, a little distractedly. He was caught on thinking about the times he had tried to kill himself. Which was amazingly hard to do when you had someone watching you twenty four hours a day, to specifically not do that. Nathan brought his attention back to her “Well at least he is not suffering anymore. I bet no one would really listen, or try to understand him when he tried to explain his pain.- So he called you, what did he say?” Austin looked at his brother as his brother reacted the way he did, it gave him a good feeling that he from all this time. His brother wasn’t the type to use people. The older twin nodded to his brother, “Fine, then you can help pay for it. One step to that normal life, is getting a job.” he shook his head, “Why? Josie and I are fine.”

With a bit of a laugh at Austin’s tone he nods “Austin I was in a mental hospital. Who the hell is desperate enough that they would hire me?” Nathan supposed that was going to come up eventually. But he nodded again “But hey, we can try, right?” As Austin went on he twirled the pencil around in his hands, thinking. After a moment of silence he laughed “You two are twenty-three, right? Equally? I figure you both go to the local college, I know you do. Which had to of cost a pretty penny.” His free hand rose, making typing motions as he thought “You both live in one apartment. And- Where do you guys work? Do either of you have well-paying jobs, while you are in college? I doubt it, you are not out of college yet. Even then, I had read that the chances of both, if either of you get anything that pays decently in a city like this, it would be hard. Do not worry though, Austin. I would love to help out.” Austin shrugged to his brother, “Hey. People are always looking for help.” He spoke to his brother, and give a half smile when he’d decided to go for it. “Exactly, that’s the spirit.” He joked, rolling his eyes though genuinely happy his brother was willing to try this. “Yes?” He questioned wondering where he was going with this, “Also correct.” He nodded, still curious where is brother was going with these facts. “We work part-time jobs.” He commented, “Okay so I get that, but we’ve been saving up a while before we actually moved in together? So neither of us are starting from scratch like you are.” He spoke, “Look, Josie and I work at a restaurant, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind some extra help.”

“Okay, it is good that you get that. I was just trying to sort it out in my head. And pick up the loose strands of facts that I did not know previously.” Nathan spared a small grin before looking away as Austin started to explain Josephine and his situation. Nathan nodded taking it all in and filing it all away. With a sigh, he guessed he couldn’t find a clink in their castle “Fine.” Though he did not know if he could tolerate being in a restaurant, if it were loud and he had to attend to people. And he had no interest in being a bus boy “I do not want to wash dishes. Peoples food are on those plates, and I imagine other kinds of germs. My body would not handle the germs well, my immune system has taken quite a beating the last sixteen years.” Austin nodded his head, “Yea that’s cool/” He spoke matching his brother’s small grin. Hearing his brothers demands, he nodded. “Alright, well how do you feel about preparing the food?” He questioned staring at him. “Or hey if that doesn’t work, you could host people from the front door to the table? Totally away from food.”

Nathan thought for a moment, it was food, he had read plenty about food. But in the ward he had mostly just baked cookies. It was mindbogglingly bland, but he wasn’t half bad, when it came to the final product. The staff really liked it. Nathan was upset he couldn’t poison them occasionally. But he had read plenty of cooking books, for no other reason that to numb his mind during off days “Ah, Sure? I guess I could try making other people’s food. What harm could that do, no one would really bug me. What kind of restaurant is it?” Though he figured that if things got too hectic, without something to keep his mind stable, he would quickly have an episode “ Is it a fancy place?” Mikaela frowned, thinking about Harrison. “He died in the middle of summer… June 10.” She said and started messing around on her computer again, “He asked me where I was… He didn’t know that I had moved away. I listened to him. I tried, Niel. I really tried to listen and understand,” She turned away from him, the pain of Harrison’s death smacking her in the chest. She didn’t talk about Harrison often, and was unsure of why she was talking about it now. She guessed that it was because she knew that Niel didn’t really care about her or about anything but himself.

“Oh he did?” As the girl went on talking about her strange interaction with Harrison he gave her a confused look. There were plenty of reasons he could come up for something like that happening. Though he guessed she wouldn’t like to hear them. Glancing away briefly Nathan had no idea what to say on the matter “Well, maybe he just missed you when you were gone, and got really drunk that he might have gotten lost in the woods or something? And so his parents thought he died?” He tried to reason. Then with a shrug he looked back toward the computer “So how will these sites help me?” Noah gave a little bit of a smile, “You know, I tried to get the other guards to go easier on you a few times. Not because I felt bad for you, but because I knew that you were tired. You grew up there. You didn’t deserve that. They wouldn’t listen to me… they only saw you as bad. But I didn’t. Even though you were a pain in my ass and triggered violent patients, I knew that you weren’t bad. Not inherently anyways.” Noah took a breath. “But don’t get me wrong, I hated you sometimes… but I knew that there was some good in you.” He looked Nathan in the eyes “I was only scared for Mila. Fine, friends it is.” Noah said tentatively, knowing that he wanted to be on Nathan’s good side.

As the other spoke Nathan just stared blankly, blinking once. He didn’t give a shit about if, or how the other tried to help him. Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the chair as Noah went on, he smiled “That is cool that you think that, Noah. But do not be fooled. I am truly, unabashedly, evil. I am entirely bad. Rotten to my core.” He waved his hand “It is cute that you would like to think I am redeemable, though.” Nathan looked to the side and let out a breath “Good, I do not mind being hated, honestly. I get it.” Nathan laughed out loud as Noah said the last part about him being good “You must be joking. Do not get ahead of yourself, Noah. I really am no good.” Nathan lifted his left hand up to his mouth and ran his tongue along the palm before holding it out “Friends then!” “Am I drunk?” he questioned trying to keep a straight face. Though just broke out laughing, alcohol seeping from his breath. He was incredibly intoxicated, it was his last day of his exams and he was gonna celebrate.

As Austin spoke to him Nathan paused in his path. He was trying to avoid interacting with anyone. He had several snack foods and such in his arms, because he was starving. Peeking over a bag of chips he frowned at Austin “Sure, I guess, why not?” He mumbled before moving to go back to the bedroom. Dropping the items in his arms onto the bed he quickly made his way back to the door and closed it till it was only a crack open “Why are you asking me?” Knocking his head he looked at Josephine “Ask her, or someone else, Austin.” Nathan was mostly excited to start playing a video game on the tv in the bedroom, not in anything else that was going on around him at the moment. Austin didn’t know what to say to his girlfriend because he didn’t even know what he was thinking. Austin stood there and realized his brother had been in the shower for a long time. “I’m gonna go check up on Nathan.” He spoke before getting up from the couch and walking over to their bathroom. He knocked on the door, “Nate? You-” the door opened from the pressure of the knock and there was so much steam. “Nate, what the hell are you doing?” He spoke reaching over and turning the water off.

Josie watched as Austin walked out of the room. Something was wrong with him. He wasn’t telling her everything. The thought worried her, but Josephine trusted Austin implicitly, so she left it alone. He would tell her eventually, when he was ready. Then, Josie heard him yelling. She ran into the bathroom after him, finding the whole room filled with steam. “Oh, god, is he okay?”

But, you are a monster, you shouldn’t care what they think. They deserve nothing from you. They sent you away, rejected you even existed! Nathan swallowed at the voice, then glanced to the side “But they are still my family-” Family does not do what they did to you Nathan! You wanted them dead, that’s why you are out. Do not let his lies fool you, that’s all they are. He just wants you to think he’s safe, and you can open up to him. Then when you are least expecting it he will take you back to the ward. They never wanted you, we have gone over this. Nathan grabbed onto his head, letting out a small whine as he winced. But when the water suddenly shut off he looked up, squinting before turning to look at Austin “I was taking a shower, duh.” Nathan sighed as Josephine came in “Man, I am really glad I did not take my clothes off. Is this what you two perverts do when you have guests over, walk in on them in the bathroom?” Nathan averted his eyes then and laughed. After becoming soaked with the hot water he felt a bit better. Mika, “No, he was dead. I saw him in the casket.” She couldn’t look at him, “I’m sure it was just a sick prank call,” she shook her head as if to shake away the painful thoughts, “Okay, so Facebook is good for finding your friends and reconnecting with them.” She looked over at him “Do you have any friends we can add? Maybe from your rock?” She half smiled at her little joke.

Nathan frowned at that, Austin had said the same thing about him a while back. But it was hard to imagine that he was dead, when he felt very much alive. So Nathan just chose to wave Mikaela’s words off again in favor of staving off the slight pain it brought to his head to have to think about it. With a nod he agreed with her, in the end “Yes, probably so.” As she went on to helping him with whatever ‘Facebook’ was, he looked intently “It is ugly, you know that right? Tell me you notice how ugly it looks…” He muttered before glancing over at Mikaela “Yes, but my friends also have been living under rocks, too.” He smiled a little, at her joke. Was she overreacting slightly? It didn’t even matter if they were a stranger or not; it was in her blood to worry about others, and she was definitely worried about him. “Okay,” She responded to him softly, even though she knew that she was going to be concerned whatever he said. Willa nodded a little, shaking her head but not disapprovingly. The exams were stressing her out too, along with her awkward shifts at work. “Yeah, I get that. Just know that you can talk to me if you ever need to.”

Nathan could only offer her a smile for the moment. He didn’t know if she was someone he could actually trust with most of the things he needed to talk about. Nathan also didn’t figure she would handle most of it well. He also didn’t want to bring up that he was sleeping outside in this horrible weather every night. Which he was just as sure going to make her become even more worried about him. Nathan didn’t feel comfortable with others worrying about him. He was okay with deal with things by himself “I will do that, Willa. But I swear, it there’s nothing going on that I need to talk about. Trust me.” Shivering then as the cold air sent a chill through he curled up a bit “Alright, we should probably go inside or something, it is so cold out here.” Stephen recognized the guy as soon as they looked up at him, and took a few steps into the study room. He needed somewhere to practice before starting classes again, and this room seemed as good as any. The fact that he was purposely trying to avoid him only solidified his certainty that it was him who had robbed him. The man wasn’t really the type to get into conflict if he could avoid it so he took a chair right across the room.

Looking over his shoulder a few minutes after he had looked from Stephan, he noticed the other had taken a seat. Narrowing his eyes a little before looking away again, he started to scribble on a piece of paper. Then he crushed it in his hands, then Nathan balled the paper it up and suddenly threw it at Stephan’s head. Nathan watched long enough to see the paper bounce off the back of Stephan’s head before looking away. On the note Nathan wrote:

Someone needs you by the door.

Me. Get out of my class.

Mikaela shook her head, “You are not ugly,” she snapped another picture while he was half smiling, “Look, this one is perfect.” She uploaded it into his account and made the cover photo a picture of the galaxy. She thought it looked cool with the picture. She showed him how to make a status and add pictures. She brought up the search bar, “here you go, search away.” She added, looking up at him. She was curious to see which person he’d add as a friend first.

“Oh, and I forgot to tell you. I have an older laptop that you can have if you want. I just got this new one and I wiped it clean so it’s brand new on the inside. It still works pretty well, this one is just more powerful. And it has pink paint on the cover… and my name in glitter. That’s why I can’t sell it. But, you can just have it if you want,”

Nathan shrugged at that, he had nothing to say to it. He knew what he was. But he had a feeling she was only going to continue to encourage him positively, which only made him feel a bit nauseous. Blinking as she tried to show him another picture he nods “Oh, cool.- I was talking about This site being ugly though, not me.” He corrected. Then stared at the galaxy background for a moment “Uh, can we make it butterflies and flowers?” He asked. Nathan just stared at the search bar then as she told him to search for something. He had no idea what to look for at first. Then he just started poking at letters, typing in the word ‘Willa’.

Looking over as Mikaela brought up her older laptop he nods “Oh? Are you sure you want to give me that? I would not know how to use it.” He figured he would have it messed up in twenty-four hours of getting the device. He laughed a bit “ Pink and has your name in glitter? That is pretty cool.” Nathan had to deal with a lot of glitter in the ward, he was sure he still had some in his hair from the last incident he had with a bottle of glitter and one of the orderlies. He nodded though “Ah, sure.” Noah shook his head. He knew that deep down Nathan was still a hurt little boy, confused about why he was in the ward. He had never heard Nathan’s story, what with patient confidentiality and all that, but he knew that he was different. Nathan wasn’t as… crazy as the others in the ward. He didn’t hear voices or go off randomly. Everything he did was out of boredom and rebellion, and everything was thought through. Crazy people don’t think things through and calculate as much as Nathan did. Noah related with him because he knew that if he was in his position, he would act that way too. Noah knew crazy all too well at home, and he knew that Nathan wasn’t inherently crazy, Noah looked down at Nathan’s hand “No, that’s okay, we don’t have to shake on it,” , deciding to keep his thoughts on Nathan to himself. “You know, I really liked working at the ward. I learned a lot about what it means to be a man and a cop..” He didn’t remember why he didn’t work there anymore, but he needed the job back. His life was slowing down and getting a bit too boring for him.

Watching Noah for a long moment, he got the feeling the other was thinking about him. When the other rejected his handshake he gave a mock frown “Aww, why not. Spit makes the best deals, Noah. You do not want to solidify our new-found friendship? I mean, there is another way. But it involves a bit of blood swapping. Which is a lot more gross.” Nathan pulled his hand away and wiped it on his hoodie as Noah started talking about the ward. Well, more like working at the ward. Nathan frowned a little as he tried to avoid having to think about ward certain ward staff members. Looking up from his hoodie he made a face “The ward, where mentally ill people are held captive, often times against their will?“ Nathan’s eyes shift to the side “You know what made me a man? Being seven years old, and getting called a monster for sixteen following years.” His nose curled a bit. Moving on then Nathan thought “So what are your hours at the ward?” Noah looked from side to side, not commenting on what Nathan had said previously, “I don’t have any as of right now. I’m trying to get my job back”

Nodding at the other he guessed that seemed legit, if Noah hadn’t been showing up to work he would have been fired. But Nathan was still a little iffy if this guy who had his head smashed in had actually ended up dying, or hadn’t just been comatose in a hospital bed somewhere. While he was still alive, Nathan had trouble getting much information about the outside world. And the event surrounding Noah was almost just as mysterious. How he wished he could have witnessed the attack, and not just the mess after. But that day he had a session with Breccan “You should really go apply for a job there, it would be really useful, I think.” Mikaela shook her head, “Duh of course that’s what you meant,” she said and nodded to the butterflies and flowers “Yeah, of course we can,” she smiled at the name Willa. There was only one girl that could be her on the list. She nodded again about the laptop, “Yeah, it’s all yours. I have no use for it anyways,”

“Heh, yeah.” He gave her a look before looking away “ All right, that would be nice.” He mumbled looking over Willa’s profile. Turning to look at Mikaela again he nodded “So, is the laptop with you, or will I have to meet you somewhere to get it?” Noah nodded for a while and then realized, “For just you… or both of us? Because I really miss that job. I actually felt like I was making a difference for once. And it was helping me get into the career that I want to be in,” Noah played with the string on his jacket as he thought about Mila again. She was the first girl that Noah had ever felt anything for. Right now, he was just sleeping with a few girls, but there was nothing serious.

“For me.” Nathan answered honestly “But do not let me stop you, if you want to do it for you, by all means, go for it.” Nathan would like to keep as far away from the place as humanly possible. He hated it. Not really caring about the others small talk about it helping them out Nathan looked away, disinterested “Yeah.” Once Noah was done with that he looked back and caught a look on the others face, grinning a little bit at it. Shaking his head though he decided he would say something “You can absolutely make even more of a change if you help me. You must know who Prescott is, right? Your first mission is to get your job back, and find me evidence about Prescott murdering Tasmin. You would certainly make the ward a much better place if you help me get him arrested.” Austin looked to the voice and heard his brother, “Perfect.” He laughed lightly, staring at his brother who then leaned his head back laughing lightly. “I was asking to the whole world, my brother!” He laughed feeling the alcohol really go through his system. “Nate, I’m… I’m gonna ask you a question. And I want you to be, 100% honest with me. Do you like her?” He asked drunk. “Do you like me?”

Nathan grinned a bit “Okay, you know that is terrible for you, right?” He says, trying to be snobby. As the other addressed him that way he rolled his eyes a little “That sounded really corny, Austin.” Nathan bites on his lips, holding back an amused grin. But when Austin attempted to be serious, asking those questions, Nathan narrowed his eyes “Well is that not a self-interest check.” He muttered under his breath before looking down “Ah, Austin, I hate you both right now. Maybe because there are so many strangers in your fucking apartment right now, that I am internally losing my shit. But, hey… It is totally cool. I will like you both tomorrow, maybe.” Thinking this over he glanced away “Maybe I do like you, Austin, maybe I have never stopped. You are my brother. If I remembered you over sixteen years of pure agony.- I either really hate you or I really like you. It depends on the day. -Are we going to go out on a date if I answer yes?” He smooched teasingly at Austin then before backing away from the door and moving back to the middle of the room. Andrew was taken aback by the response he got from Nathan. Blinking he laughed and shook his head. “I have no idea what I did to you to make you respond to me in that way? I’m trying to help you and you’re pushing me away Nathan, why?”

Running his tongue over his teeth Nathan shook his head at the others reaction, annoyed still by this man. When they started asking what they did to warrant such a response he just stared at them “Are you fucking serious? You just said you cannot help me get food. I just told you I was hit by a car. Are you asking me to also do whatever it is you do around here? I bet you are a fucking janitor, with this much incompetence.” Crossing his arms over his chest he looked away, like a pouting child almost “I am not pushing you away, I just want proper fucking assistance, god damn.” Noah racked his brain trying to remember who Prescott was, “The doctor? He’s kind of a douche but are you sure he killed someone? I don’t remember Tasmin… I mean I’ll see what I can do. If Prescott really killed someone he deserves to go down. Then, we’ll report it to the police and he’ll do life in prison.” Noah nodded. He liked the idea of justice being served.

Nathan grinned at that “Yes, a douche.” Nathan laughed, Noah had to remember Tasmin, but Nathan was not going to bring it up at the moment “Well Tasmin had been there for years Noah, she and I were really close, like mother and son.” He reminded. Nathan drummed on the table “He did something to her, and she died. You have to get in there, Noah.” Nathan looked at the other “I tried to punish him- but I was sent to isolation, unfortunately.” Nathan felt like it was his fault for letting it get that far. For being too stupid to notice what had been going on sooner. For allowing Tasmin to die because of his stupidity “Get the job, we can figure out what else to do after that.” Mikaela smacked herself in the head gently, “Duh, sorry I’m such a blonde sometimes. Harrison used to say that I was so smart that I was stupid,” she giggled and took out her backpack. “It’s weird, I actually brought it with me today. I was going to donate it to the youth center but, here ya go,” She pulled out a slim laptop. Other than the colorful top, it was pristine. “Ta-Da!” She grinned. She didn’t know why, but she trusted Nathan. She liked that he wasn’t normal and that he was a little crazy. Her Aunt was crazy, and she was used to it. She felt like her and Nathan would be good friends. “Now, we just have to get you a phone!” She smiled and then added herself as a friend on his facebook and changed his background so that it had flowers and butterflies.

Giving a light laugh Nathan nodded at Mikaela as she seemed to make a joke about the joke about being a blonde. He looked at her hair and narrowed his eyes. No way someones hair can be that color, it’s freaky. His attention then moved back to Mikaela as she pulled out the laptop “Oh, good. Fate must of been on your side, huh? Or maybe mine.” He laughed. He nodded then and thought about how often people were just handing him things. He was even allowed to rob someone with basically no incident. “Yeah, I might be getting one of those soon enough. I do not imagine my brother would like the idea of my not having on. It makes it hard to keep track of me when I leave for an entire day without warning. Hah.” “What’s terrible? Getting drunk? It’s great for me.” he laughed lightly. “Self-what?” He questioned looking at him, he looked at the closed door that separated them from everyone else who attended their apartment. “How about Josie? You like Josie?” He spoke, shaking his head. “No, we’re not going out on a date, but I just want to know…” He laughed and then waved his hand. “Man stoppit. He laughed grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him.

“Not so much for your body, though.” Nathan pointed out eying the other than sighed, deciding he really did not care in the end. “Self-interest, Austin.” He was sure Austin understood just fine, he was just being difficult. Nathan smiled “She told me I was not important and that I was better off disappearing again, pretty much.” Nathan stuck his neck out “Little hard to just drop something like that. Especially since I just met her, unlike you. But if you are asking if I hate her, no. I have heard people say that to me on multiple occasions. I am used to being treated like that.” Lifting his hand up he caught the pillow and smirked dropping it down a bit “Aww. I hear that people dig twins. Josie might be into it.” He teased again, pulling his arm back before throwing the pillow at Austin “Why is it important that I like you both, right now? I do not know anything about you. And you sure as shit know nothing about me, other than the fact I scare you both. Anyway- what does that have to do with a- whatever the you have going on in your apartment at the moment?”

“Well fuck my body. I’m having fun.” He laughed, “Sh-she what?” He questioned looking at him. “When?” He spoke, “Was that before? I mean.. after you stayed at my house pretending to be me?” He raised his eyebrows laughing shaking his head, then when he’d heard a good answer he nodded. “Good. I don’t want you hating her.” He looked at his brother, then making a face. “Oh God!” She shook his head and waved his hand in front of his face, then catching the pillow. He grabbed his beer and took a sip, “You’re my brother. Over all of that. You’re my brother.” He spoke, resting his beer on his lap. “Family above all.” He blutered. “It’s a party, it’s where you meet friends!”

“Right.” He rolled his eyes “I guess that is cool.” Maybe he had just forgotten how to have fun sense waking up in the woods sometime ago. But these people weren’t ward staff, or patients he had mostly grown up with. The people at this party were Austin’s friends, more or less. Scrunching up one side of his nose he clicked his tongue “That was after, Austin, remember? You were there.” Glancing away he reached over to grab a marshmallow from one of the items he dropped on the bed “Well, I would like to not hate her, then.” He muttered pushing the marshmallow into his mouth and continue listening to the other “What? Family above all?!” He laughed, not wanting to bring the other down he chose not to make any negative comment about that saying. After Nathan took it as including the rest of their family, their father. And Nathan didn’t think they liked him. Nodding as the other explained the party he smiled “I know.” Taking a sip out of a red cup full of something, he wasn’t really paying attention to what he poured into it, Nathan wandered across the room glancing around looking for someone to have a bit of fun with “Hmm. Austin and Josephine’s friends, I wonder-…” Nathan bites on his bottom lip then and continued looking around. Either Demetria’s tolerance level was upped since her return or the quality of booze was poor. The more she drank she couldn’t even get a proper buzz. Perhaps they were right, the ‘dead’ can’t get drunk. “This blows,” she huffed, then made her way to get something stronger.

Honestly, Nathan would never notice if he were drunk or not. At the ward it was hard to even get his hands on anything, especially enough of the thing to do anything to him. As someone spoke up he brought his eyes over, and grinned lightly in agreement. Though Nathan had thought that Demitria had been making a comment on the party, and not really her inability to get drunk. That was until she made her way over to the drinks. Walking over he started putting different drinks into his cup “I think this party stinks, as well as these drinks. I thought I would be drunk by now-” He points at Austin then, drunk and Josie, rubbing up against his twin “Those two, are they drunk? I have definitely drank more then them, I swear.” He laughed. To say that parties weren’t Milena’s scene would’ve been a massive understatement; for the good part of ten minutes she’d stared deep into the contents of her cup and sloshed the whirlpool of liquor around only to try and convince herself that she could do it. Still no luck. She jumped slightly at Nathan’s voice, granting him a side glance. “Looking for someone?”

As Milena spoke up his eyes moved over toward the sound. Narrowing them on her, he thought about how he would answer. Then smiled before glancing away “ I might be looking for someone. But I do not know anyone here.” Nathan smirked then and took another sip of his drink. Sucking on his teeth he looked down “ I am hoping to find someone who will be a little bit more fun than this party is so far.” That made two of them. It felt weird to hang out with anybody who wasn’t a law friend but she’d been trying to branch out— so much for that. At his answer her brow perked up though she said nothing, nodding thoughtfully over the rim of her solo cup. “That’s easy. Go find the person who jacked nearly every Corona from the cooler. You can bet they’re headed for disaster.”

Nathan tried really hard not to look confused. But in the end his confusion won out. He tilted his head trying to trace the word ‘Corona’. Giving a slow nod he laughed “Oh, right. Ah. Corona, sure. Yeah. Maybe I could. But I do not really care, I guess.” Shrugging Nathan glanced around “I am waiting for something disastrous to happen, actually. It might make this party more entertaining.” At his blatant confusion, she couldn’t suppress a laugh— brown eyes shined as they flitted over his face delicately. “Like, the beer brand? — You know, my mom always said not to wait for things to happen. Make them happen yourself.” A bashful smile followed the quote, fingers wound tight around her drink. “Maybe you should be the one doing something crazy.”

Swallowing hard as he noticed that she had seen his confusion, Nathan felt irritated. He hated that he was so clueless about things that seemed so common. He wondered if that would somehow take away from his trying to be intimidating. Though since he was staying with Austin, being intimidating had been hard to do. He felt his brother was grading him on his performance. If he did good, Austin would keep him around, if he did bad…He would be taken back to the ward. To some extent he felt like a dog. Bringing his gaze toward his brother and Josephine as they talked with their friends and drunkenly played with one another, he curled his nose “Yeah, I got that.” He said, answering Milena then. Taking drink from his cup he continued to listen to the other “Maybe I should.” Nathan’s eyes narrowed at nothing for a moment as he thought this over. “But what would be entertaining enough. Hmm.” In all honesty, she’d thought his confusion was the slightest bit endearing rather than hopeless. It seemed like everyone at school was talking about keg stands before the teacher could make an entrance and so to find someone who wasn’t ready to down six Coronas in a row was refreshing. “Well, if I told you that, then you wouldn’t have to do any work.” The hints of a teasing smile had began to curve up her lips as she finally brought herself to take a small sip of vodka.

With a light laugh at her comment back, Nathan knew that whatever he would end up doing was going to get him in trouble, and/or he would probably have to be pretty drunk for. unfortunately, even though he thought he had drunk plenty enough to be drunk, he was not feeling any different. But, fortunately for him, he was always able to find something while at the ward. Then, Nathan looked to Milena and smirked “So you are saying you do not want to be an accomplice?” He inquired before turning his eyes back toward the rest of the party, thinking still. His next question shouldn’t have come as a surprise but it did anyways; in fact she nearly gave a small choke on her drink as it went down on her throat. “Oh, no, I can’t— I’m— you know.” Milena gave an ambiguous wave of her hand gesturing toward herself. “Good girl. I’ve never gotten in trouble in my life.” She’d worked too hard to let all that crumble down.

As she explained he gave an awkward nod and looked around. Resisting the urge to laugh at her he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before addressing what she had said “A good girl? Hah. Right.” He took a drink “ Do those actually exist?” He asked, more to himself, than to her. Nathan grew up with the ‘bad’ boys and girls, at the ward. Someone was always doing something bad. Turning then, he eyed Milena for a moment as he made his way over to a few small cola bottles and pulled one from it’s plastic.

“All right, good girl. But do not get your tighty whities in a twist if you get lumped in with me.” He smirked, obviously trying to tease her as he stuck a hand in his pocket and pulled out a line of mentos. Placing the bottle on the table of drinks Nathan unscrewed the cap before biting a loose mentos in half and dropping it into the bottle, then he tilted it away from him just as it began to fuzz up and watched the bottle rocket off to the other side of the room, spraying party goers with soda “Hm.” But he figured that wasn’t the worst he could do, he could be more entertaining, couldn’t he. But this would be a great start. Nathan started lining up a few more bottles, opening them and biting mentos in half.

Seeds of Hatred Nathan had been being led down a hallway by a thin pushy nurse. It had been a six months since he had been brought to the children's ward in the hospital. Frowning up at the woman before looking over his shoulder, he mutters in a tiny voice “ Is mommy going to get me today? I've been good.” The nurse looked down to him and sighed “You ask me that every time we leave your ward, Nathan. You need to stop. You are a big boy. You can't leave here, we've told you.” Turning his head back he looked at his feet “But I have been good.” The nurse stopped and knelt down, grabbing his jaw to make him look at her “That doesn't mean that you are better. You are very sick. Now shut up.” Nathan pouts and turns his gaze to the side “I don’t feel sick.”

A few minutes later Nathan had been sitting in a room and given a few sheets of paper and some crayons as the nurse went to go get whoever was going to be holding Nathan’s examination and inform him that Nathan was ready for examination. Nathan was drawing away in full distraction by his creation. There were two figures on the paper at the moment, one he'd named Nathan and the other had the name Austin over it. He grinned and started working on another figure. Before he could finish the first line a male entered the room and smiled down at Nathan as he walked over and took a seat across from him. Kicking his feet under the chair Nathan looked up. His head tilting and gave the male a confused look before they spoke.

“Hello, Nathan, I am Mr. Prescott.” Prescott gave Nathan a smile and set some items down on the table “I understand that you have only been here a couple of months.” Nathan nods once “Yeaa.” Tapping the crayon in his hand on the table he listens as the older male continued “I want you to tell me what happened, that day. When you tried to drown your sister.” Nathan blinked, his eyes dulling for a moment before he shrugged “I wanted to give her a bath.” He dropped his head back down and continued coloring, picking up a blue crayon and shading in the sky over him and Austin. “You wanted to give her a bath? Why did you want to give your little sister a bath, Nathan?” Nathan paused and thought for a moment before saying “ Because.”

“Because why, Nathan?” Looking up then, Nathan sucked in a breath, pouting in annoyance “Well, she was hurt.” Prescott grinned, leaning in closer and started to write “How did she get hurt, Nathan?” Nathan sighed and turns his hands over on the table “She tripped? ” Brown eyes moved up to meet the others piercing blue ones “So you put her in the tub?” Nathan nodded with a smile “And where were your mother and father?” Nathan tried to think, then he just shrugged “They didn’t hear me.”

Prescott made a face “Oh, they didn’t?” Nathan gave a small nod. Prescott nods at this and jots something down “Nathan, tell me what happened in the bathroom.” Nathan let out a sigh “I told you!” He whined. “That's right, but what happened before that, before your sister tripped, Nathan.” Nathan froze for a moment his eyes stuck open for a long time before dulling “I don’t remember.”

Setting the journal down then, Prescott leaned over the picture “Is that your brother, Austin?” Nathan nods and Prescott watched the other for another moment “I spoke to him.” Nathan's head shot up then “You did?!” Prescott nodded his head “Yes.” Nathan perked up a bit “And, and?!” Leaning away then Prescott shrugged nonchalantly “And nothing. He sounded glad to have you gone.” Nathan frowned, clearly upset by this “No he didn't.” Nathan protested. Prescott nods “Yes he did. He told me that he was happy to never have to share another birthday with you again. Or your parent's affections. He was quite excited about all the gifts he was going to get now, without you around.” Nathan shot up and threw the crayon at the other “Stop it!” He shouted before Prescott moved and grabbed Nathan's arm and slammed it onto the table, earning a pained cry from Nathan.

Smiling, Prescott starts to twist Nathan's arm “That's right, get angry, Nathan. You were trying to kill her, weren’t you? Because you were mad at her, isn’t that right? ” Nathan shouts at Prescott, trying to free his arm, he clawed at the hand that held his arm against the table. But Prescott had stopped him slamming his freed arm into the table “Be angry. Your family is never going to come get you. They have probably already forgotten all about you. See, when children are broken just like you are, they are left here. Let your anger help you, Nathan. Rage is your power. You will die here without it.” Nathan tugged against the others grip, trying to break free from Prescott's hold on him “Don't say that! They love me! Don't say that!” Nathan cried out. Prescott laughed and looked down at the picture Nathan had been drawing on “If they loved you, than why haven't they come to take you home? They don't want you. -The nurses have asked me to help you see that. You will do as I tell you, Nathan! You belong to me, now.”

Thrashing now, Nathan shouts at Prescott, his face turning bright red “Good, let it all out. Let rage consume you. You know it's true, too, don't you Nathan? That's why you tried to drown her, isn't it!?” Nathan shrieked kicking his legs into the table and yanking on his arms. Prescott just watched in amusement, studying the outburst. This goading lasted another few minutes before he finally released Nathan and let the other throw himself out of the chair and slam onto the ground. Nathan continued to have a total meltdown kicking and screaming on the floor “Adorable, add him to the list. He will make a great candidate.” Breccan walked around the table then and reaching out he placed a hand on Nathan's head as the other seemed to finally be tiring out, a twisted smirk spreading over Breccan’s lips “Shhh, Nathan. I am going to help you get better. ” Nathan was gasping for air as he lay on the floor his entire body feeling sore and hot, pain had begun to shoot through his right arm after a few moments of calming down.

Prescott stood then and looked toward the mirror “Go clean him up. And put him back with the other children. My work is done here, for now.” He walked back over and started to pick up his items and walked out of the room. He had other patients to check on for a few other doctors in the building. Prescott couldn't wait for the days his internship would end and he could start having more personal time with his own patients. The ones who were like Nathan were like chew toys to him, he could picture the future he had in store. But Nathan was not his priority. Prescott knew the young Douglas was far too young to start doing anything besides planting the seeds of hatred in the boy's head.

A moment after Prescott had left the same nurse from before walked in and scoffed “Nathan, look what you've managed to do. You've upset Mr.Prescott is what you did, throwing things like that.” Walking over she picked up the practically catatonic child off the floor and grabs the papers off the table crushing them into a ball and throwing them in the trash near by. She leaves the room then slamming the door behind her as she carried Nathan down the hallway.

Days later Nathan was placed back with the other children in the ward, the majority of them were only going to be there for a short period of time. His arm was in a cast and a sling after dislocating his shoulder and breaking his arm in three places during his encounter with Mr.Prescott. Nathan glared at the children, his left hand balling into a fist after a moment as he watched the other kids having fun in front of him. Nathan promised himself on that day that he would break out and go back home. He would make his family understand that he didn't mean to hurt Bethany, they would have to listen to him!

Mikaela flipped her hair over her shoulder, “I hope you do. Then I can set up a snapchat for you! OMG we can have a streak,” Mika was getting excited about their friendship. She thought of Nathan as another Harrison.

“Ah- Snapchat? Streak?” He didn’t have a clue what she was saying, at all. Nathan laughed lightly at his own cluelessness. Though he started to realize that he probably didn’t have any reason to need those things, at all. He didn’t know how they were going to help this girl figure out if the government was really up to something “Well, okay?….What ever those are.” “The most important thing that I can teach you though is coding… but that’ll take time. I was going to ask this kid Michael but a I don’t know him that well. I’m thinking about asking him to fix a simple hard drive issue and see if he really knows his stuff,” Michaela played with a string on her backpack absentmindedly, “Anyways, to get into the governments computers…. we have to actually get into the wifi at the station… It will take at least two people to pull this off. It will require at least one distractor, and someone to run the software and download the files and possibly someone who can pick locks,” Mikaela looked at Niel, “Just let me know which part you’d be comfortable playing,”

“Oh, Coding?” He frowned, not sure he would get it. He didn’t feel he was smart enough to be of any use to this girl tilting his head a little he sniffed “Michael? Hm.” Raising an eyebrow he smiled at the other “Maybe you should just ask him outright about this thing you are up to?” Nathan suggested. Knowing that he would rather her be honest with him. But he figured that had more to do with the majority of people being dishonest with him his entire life. This Michael person probably did not have to deal with that, growing up. Nathan nods as she goes on “Right, the …ah. Station?” He decided he would play the distractor, he could do that. But then he realized that he wanted to do it because it sounded like the most dangerous “I can pick locks…” Nathan blurts out then, as it was brought up. Noah’s memory had never been good and lately it had been much worse. “Yeah, no problem. I’m actually expecting an email from them now. Let me check,” Noah opened his computer back up and searched through his email inbox. “Here it is,” He was too nervous to open it.

“Oh you are?” He gave Noah a confused look before shrugging. Drumming his fingers on the book he had with him he waits for Noah to finish with the computer. Yawning then he tiredly dropped his head into his hand and closed his eyes “What does it say?…” He mumbled softly. Katya often sat in this corner of the bookstore. She loved science-fiction. She also loved the mom & pop feel of the cramped, slightly musty, almost-on-trend store. When she saw a familiar face she closed her book. She recognized the man from last week. She’d seen him at lunch – then later her thread of tweets about that stupid couple had nearly gone viral.

“Hey,” she waited for him to meet her soft gaze before approaching any further. I just wanted to properly introduce myself. I’m Katya. – The awkward girl with the cookies from the other day.” Kat had to wonder if he would remember. She held out her hand, half bent at the elbow to shake his.

After spending some time with his brother and his brothers girlfriend, in their apartment, Nathan had known the place well enough he had grown bored. He had counted every item, practically made a list of everything inside the apartment, everything, to pass the time while he was there. Yet he had found nothing of any particular interest to him. Plus, Nathan had gotten his very first paycheck from the job his brother had managed to get him, somehow. Setting a large chunk of it on the kitchen island for his brother and Josephine he then took $120 for himself.

It had taken him until well after noon to stumble upon the little bookshop. But when he did his eyes lit up and he wandered inside, looking almost like a kid in a candy store, for a split second. Before he suddenly relaxed and started to search, a finger trailing along the spines of several books, delicately. Pulling one out every so often and flipping the pages, and sniffing them. Especially the older ones, they had smelled the sweetest. Eventually his eyes shifted over enough to land on Katya, the small smile on his face falling a little as she spoke to him. With his face still planted in a book he blinked as she approached, and almost stumbled away from her.

When she introduced herself he nods slowly, remembering her and the cookies “Cookies.” He mumbled pulling the book from his face and closing it before setting it back on it’s shelf. Smiling Nathan let out a small huff and shook his head as he pulled his hand from the book and brought it to her held out hand, grabbing onto it awkwardly ( He was left-handed) and giving it a small squeeze “Niel. The cookies were really good.” Austin furrowed looking at his brother as the alcohol swam around in his body causing him not nearly as much control. He shook his head, “No, I wasn’t here, that’s how she thought I was you and you were me.” He spoke without fully understanding that wasn’t the night his brother was speaking of. “Great. It’s settled then, you don’t hate Jose.” He laughed as he spoke his girlfriends name in a Mexican accent. When his brother laughed out loud at his drunk attempt to be positive. He furrowed his eyebrows, “Why are you laughing?” He spoke with offence in his tone. “Do you not want to be part of the family anymore?” This was a question he’s been trying to figure out sober, and wouldn’t nearly be as blunt. “What is it you want Nathan?” He spoke l, knowing he was rambling the questions but not caring because of his alcohol intake. “I want you back in the family. I want you to meet Bethany and see Grace and be ok with Mom and maybe actually start your own schooling? That’s what I want, and I thought I would made that clear, but your…” his hand moved as if representing a large wave. “I can’t follow, so brother, what do you want?”

Nathan was starting to become confused by the other, now. Squinting he felt his left hand twitched, preventing it from flying up to the side of his head and petting at his hair “Ah. R-Right I guess sooo?” He honestly wouldn’t have gotten how anyone would have confused the two of them, outside of just looking at them. Nathan was obviously way different from Austin, Nathan could see that. But it was way easier for him to see this difference, being one of the pair. Sucking in a breath as his brother went on, feeling a bit more tired as he had to listen to Austin’s attempt to be drunk, and funny, with him. He knew that he did not like Josephine, though. He did not know a single thing about her, aside from the fact that she had been so easily willing to just believe he were bad, for her mistake in not being able to identify the person she would assume to be her family.

Unless it were the fact that Nathan had been acting in someway just as Austin would act? Nathan felt a sharp pain in his head as he had been trying to sort it out “Well, I guess she’s lucky, because I do not like a lot of people, and I hate very easily. Perhaps it is because of you, that I am being more forgiving toward her. I am sure what she had said to me just days ago warrants my ire… But I guess that for you, I would let her misguided ignorance go, for now.” Nathan sneered, lightly. At the question about why he was laughing, he blinked “Because I was laughing.” He answered, simply. Not figuring the question warranted any semblance of an explanation as to why he should be laughing at all. As Austin had gone on his eyes slacked a bit, dulling. He had thought he had been clear before. He had no interest in being part of a family that had purposely abandoned him, or in the case of Austin, willfully had forgotten him. Was Austin honestly expecting that he just be all forgiving after the sixteen years of guilt and torture he had been through.

Placing his hands on his hips as Austin finished “What do I want, I would like the last sixteen years of my life back!” Which he understood was impossible. Looking away he laughed lightly, disappointingly “Having my own life would be pointless, Austin. Because I do not matter.” He said this with absolute casualty. It was obviously something he had said to himself plenty of times in the last sixteen years “You can want me back in the family all you want, Austin. But if you were to be truly honest with yourself-“ He stopped, realizing he was talking to a drunk right now and sucked in a deep breath, feeling anxious about the idea that the other would misunderstand, or forget what he was saying later. Smiling then he made a face “Never-mind. I am being silly. Ignore what I have said, it was just me being depressing. I would really like to see how I can have my own life, and be part of the family again.” He told the other, sounding absolutely sincere, even though he was faking it. Noah’s hand started shaking a little bit. “It says that I have my job back” he grinned at Nathan and his smile dropped as he realized that this was working perfectly for Nathan’s plan too.

Giving Noah a tired grin as the other finally had said they were going to be allowed back into their old job. Nathan was not very surprised by it. Even if the other had been dead, what had that changed about their previous credentials that allowed them to work there originally. Sluggishly Nathan continued to rest his head in his hand “Good, that will be of great use to you, one day. You will see.” He mumbled tiredly before starting to doze off completely. An image suddenly flashed into his mind after another moment making him jerk, his head shooting up from his hand and he glanced around wide-eyed for a moment before relaxing as he realized where he was “Okay. I am going to go take a nap somewhere, have fun at your job.” He playfully blew Noah a kiss and then stood, lazily sliding the book he had off the table and moving toward the exit. Micaela nodded “yeah coding. It’s basically programming computers. I think I’m going to go with my plan with Michael because I don’t want to clue him into my plan without knowing for sure that he knows his way around computers” micaela opened her old computer and started customizing it to Nathan on the inside. She made the startup screen colorful and his password “password” so that he could change it later. “Omg you know how to pick locks???!!” She was excited

“Right.” He was just going to nod at that. Of course it wasn’t a hard concept to wrap his head around. But what it was was something he didn’t think he would ever catch on to. Which made ‘coding’ seem infinitely more foreign to him. Nathan made a face at the next thing Mikaela had said, then decided to say something about it “But you just met me and are telling me all about it. - I do not understand.” He muttered at the end, glancing away. But he decided it really wasn’t anything important, so he was going to drop it “Anyway-Er… Yeah, I do.” He confirmed about the lock picking. Sticking his tongue out as a flake of snow fell gently down from the sky, he caught it and closed his mouth. Looking like he was debating the action, Nathan gave a small smirk “Well, that was fun…” He muttered to himself before lifting his left hand up to catch a few more falling snowflakes. It had been snowing for a while and only just a couple of minutes ago had he decided he was going to go enjoy it. Turning his hand, palm down, he watched several flakes fall onto his skin and then melt “I can build a snowman, I guess, now.” He muttered. Then looked around and noticed he would have to find a place with a yard. So Nathan set out to go look for a place to build a snowman. “Okay, I believe you,” Which was somewhat of a lie, honestly. What freaked her out the most was how she did trust him, though, even though they hadn’t known each other for too long. Was a month, maybe two months enough to be able to trust a person? Maybe the girl was just that desperate at the moment to have someone around that she could count on. She nodded. “We could go to the cafeteria? Or I don’t know, you could even come over my house for a bit if you’d like. I make a mean cup of tea.”

Giving the girl a frown, he became somewhat suspicious for a moment before putting on a smile “Good.” He wondered what Willa really would think about him. Then the idea that she had already known him, popped into his head. Maybe she was working for the ward. Staring at her with an empty gaze Nathan tried to discern what was real, or not. There couldn’t have been that many people from the ward hunting him down, if there were anyway. And Nathan knew he had to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspiciously toward him. Willa’s willingness to trust him was something Nathan knew was either going to be easy for him to use for his own means. Or, it was a lie, and she truly would probably despise him either way. Sucking in a breath, he decided to go with the option that would trick his mind into believe that he had one friend in the world. Nodding at Willa “All right, I could go for some tea right about now.” Nathan said, lifting his hands up and cupping them over his mouth letting his breath warm them up. He hadn’t purposely entered the class to start a fight or to do anything other than do his work, so he wasn’t sure what the problem would be. The paper bounced softly off the back of his head and Stephen bent down to take it in his hands and unfold it. It was a bit of a childish note, so the man decided to confront him. “I’m not going to beat you up for what you did, man. Just don’t do it again. There’s no other free spaces. I won’t bother you.”

“So you say. You could be lying. Maybe one day, if we continue running into one another like this. You might. Do not lie. I may have to make it a challenge.” He smirked, talking of ticking whoever this guy off so much he did want to beat him up. Nathan looked away then, clicking the clicky pencil in his hand anxiously, annoyingly “I might have to do it again, you never know. It all depends, now does it not?” Raising his eyebrows as he spoke, before suddenly giving a brief laugh “Good, do not bother me then.” He rushed at the end before suddenly sneezing a few times in a row, his hand covering his mouth. He could have sworn someone was talking about him somewhere, with all this sneezing he was doing. _________________Last Year___________________

Nathan let out a sigh, his head rest in his hand as he sat at a small table near a barred window. He had been watching the snow fall to the ground for the last two hours. Today was one of those days that the he was given a day to himself. Today was also a day he just felt like doing nothing but staring out of the window, dreaming of being on the other side of the bars. But as the many years he had been imprisoned within the hospital, he knew it was not something that he figured he would ever see, in his future. He wanted nothing more than to die. Smiling a bit as he imagined the many scenarios in which he wished he were able. But within the ward walls, there were so few ways to actually do it. If there were any at all that he could get away with. Being as staff was informed to strictly watch him. It seemed that those who were suffering suicidal thoughts and other such depressions and illness were on constant watch.

Drumming his fingers on a book laid out in front of him, one he had been reading before the snow started falling. It was a story about a princess doomed to be married to a total douche bag. But her 'prince' came and saved her. But it was no prince, just a mere farmer boy who became a famous pirate, who would be the one that eventually saved the princess. Nathan let out a sigh “I remember when I had a snowball fight with Aus-” He stopped himself as soon as a lump started to form in his throat. He felt stupid, conjuring up stupid memories of a stupid brother who still lived with his stupid family, not caring that he was here. Nathan cleared his throat and pushed himself back against the chair, bringing his left hand to his mouth as he tried to hide himself and become smaller against the wall he sat along. Nibbling on the tips of his fingers anxiously as he pushed back his feelings. What good had they ever done him?

Tilting his head a bit as several voices shouted out he looked over toward one person whose voice rose above all the others, in his ears. Only to have the sunlight shining from the window on the other side of the room block them out with light. Wincing he covered his eyes.

_________________Present___________________

Pulling his hands away from his eyes he was sitting in a college cafeteria, watching several of the campuses students start and proceed to have a full on snowball fight outside, Nathan wondered if he could get in on that fun. It wasn't as though he had much else to do. He knew that studying for anything would be pointless, as he was going to die soon, after killing his family. But he had dreamed about this for so long. The day he could finally play out in the snow again. He was well acquainted with several of the participants as well. Glancing down at his journal he tapped the eraser of a pencil he had bought on the paper he was in the middle of writing on. Closing the journal then he stood up and stuffed the kitten printed pencil into his messenger bag along with his journal, making sure they didn't get in the way of the laptop Mikaela had given him he sat the bag on the table.

Just as he was walking toward the door someone came running over toward him, covered in melting snow and stopped just before crashing into him. Panting they gave a breathless laugh “Dude, why are you in here. You should really go outside and enjoy this snow.” With that they flicked some snow onto Nathan's hoodie before turning to make a run for it. Nathan narrowed his eyes on the guy as they made their escape before giving a shy little smile and tilting his head down before taking a step toward the exit doors. Stalking right after the other male Nathan exited and walked out into the cold air, snow gently falling onto his hair and sticking there. Looking up Nathan let out a cocky little huff before a snowball hit him in the chest “You're dead!” He heard a voice from somewhere toward the left.

His eyes shift over the battlefield before him, identifying targets that he felt would be suitable to hit with a snowball. Nathan started walking before taking off in a sprint to a much more barren part of the opening in the middle of the campus. Scooping up several piles of snow he started to construct a snow fort. After finishing that up quickly he started getting offers for recruitment for 'teams' that had structured while he was building. Joining ones that had structures close to his fort he started forming snowballs in his hands and pelting them at people he could only have assumed were from some other team. Not that any of it mattered anyway.

After about another hour Nathan was freezing cold, but ignored it, the moving around and getting hit by other people's snowballs had been making him feel much warmer. As he was running toward another fort, several people were started to throw a few snowballs at him and a few other people heading the same way as he was. One hit him in the shoulder, making him stumble. Nathan quickly shifted and jumped throwing a snowball right at someones face before crashing to the ground which was almost bare of the snow it had once been covered with. Wincing as a short of pain ran up his and along his right arm Nathan laid on the ground for a moment breathing heavily before pushing himself back up just in time for another stray snowball to smack right into the side of his head and making him drop to the ground everything suddenly going black.

_________________Last Year___________________

After a moment the voice he picked out in the room had come closer to him. Feeling something trail up his arm, the hairs on this arm stuck up after each finger left before the hand they were attached to started to caress his jaw line “I wonder where Nathan has gone.” The voice muttered, before the person moved in closer to his ear, letting out a warm breath against his skin as they gave a wicked smirk to him, just inches from Nathan's ear “Can Nathan come out to play?” They whispered gently, their tongue gently flicking at the edges of his left ear.

“Proximity! Take a step back from Douglas, you know the rules, no contact!”

The person standing beside him turned then and laughed “Alright, fine. Don't loose your fucking shit. Bitch. I wasn't going to touch him, much. I swear. We are best friends after all. Right Nathan?!”

Spreading his fingers Nathan swallowed hard, still trying to recover from the chill that washed over him as the other male had touched him. His cheeks had turned a light red, bit in an instant he blinked it away. Light brown eyes moved over to meet with the nurse that yelled at them. This nurse had something to prove. He was new and wanted to show his dominance, Nathan guessed. Smirking then, Nathan brought his hand from his face and dropped it over the cover of 'The Princess Bride'.

Looking at the other patient he laughed “Oh yeah. We are absolutely the best of friends.” Dull light brown eyes stare into the others patients, as they stare back into his own. It was as if they were reading each others minds. Suddenly they moved, climbing onto the table. Their lips locking as their hands moved to rip at their clothing, before the nurse grabbed onto Nathan and jerked him away a moment later, as an orderly grabbed Nathan's friend and pulled him in the other direction “Noooo, please! Do not take him away! -------! Wait for me!” Nathan teased, dramatizing the whole thing before suddenly being thrown to the ground, hard.

------- laughed “As you wish." he said, teasing back and watching as the other patients in the room started to join in on the little show " How was that for a Christmas present, hm?!" ------ grinned, mischievously before glancing around as the room started to grow into around the four of them. ----- was yanked out of the room a moment later.

The nurse turned to Nathan as the other started to laugh “What, were you not waiting for something like that to happen, today of all days? It was far too quiet, would you not say?” Nathan said, his tone still teasing. The nurse, picking up on the idea that the two had seemingly planned the little outburst, suddenly punched Nathan in the side of the face, making Nathan's head jerk to the side. A moment later he coughed, blood splattering onto the carpet “You can hit harder than that, I know...- So why-” “Consider it a Christmas present, seeing as that bruise will be the only thing you get, again, for Christmas.”

The nurse reached down and grabbed him by his stretched out shirt and jerked him up to his feet, stretching the shirt out more “ I love it when you play rough, too.” Nathan said to the nurse as they started leading him toward the hallway that lead to his room. Laughing lightly as he continued to hear patients freaking out and shouting all the way down the hallway “Enjoy your isolation, Nathan.” The nurse said before shoving him in the small little room “You know me so well, how did you know this is what I wanted for Christmas?” The door slammed behind him then and he let out a sigh, the amused look on his face falling off as it returned to it's usual dull expression.

Listing his left hand up, he ran his thumb along the edge of his bottom lip and felt another chill run down his spine, his face lightly reddening again "--------. He is so fucking stupid." Nathan muttered before shaking his head and walking over toward the bed. Dropping onto the bed he closed his eyes, replaying the brief moment over in his head a few times. His lips were still tingling from the moment of contact. After a while Nathan fell asleep to replaying the recent memory.

_________________Present___________________

A hand caressed the side of his face before shaking his head “Nathan! Wake up!” Wincing lightly Nathan started to come to. The hand trailed along the reddened bump on the side of his head, making him wince more “Don't touch it!” Someone insisted before Nathan's eyes shot open and his head jerked up “See! he's fine!” The girl leaning over him says, glancing around at the others “I didn't kill him, anyway. But he sure is going to have a nasty ass bruise for a while.” Waving her hand in front of Nathan then she giggled “How many fingers am I holding up right now?”

Nathan narrowed his eyes for a moment ignored everyone before dropping his head back down and groaning “What kind of snowball was that?...” He asked, ignoring the girls question entirely and even smacking her hand away from his face.

“Oh, well, see- Er, a rock accidentally found it's ways into the outside of the ball, and well...that rock also found it's way into the side of your head.” She pointed to a somewhat small rock on the ground next to his head.

“Okay.” Was all he could say. He couldn't be mad at her. This was obviously not a slight against him. But then again, he was still mad. Pushing himself up he cupped a hand over the side of his head, over the red mark.

“Are you sure you should be getting up so soon, you should rest, dude.” The male from earlier said. Nathan just waved him off “Like, you don't have anyone to come get you and take you home, do you?”

“No. I do not. I will be fine. I have had to deal with worse.” Nathan put on a smile and a few people shrugged and dropped it, before realizing they had been having too much fun and had not really noticed how much time had passed. They excused themselves and Nathan found himself being followed by the girl who had thrown the rock and another few people wanting to coddle him “Look, I am fine.” Nathan reassured as he walked inside the cafeteria and grabbed his bag “I am really cold though so I am going to go home and maybe make some soup.” Saying home had felt weird to him. Because Austin and Josephine's apartment didn't actually feel like 'his' too. But he didn't want these people to try to find anything more about him out.

Turning he smiled at them before waving “See you later, I guess.” He then made his exit and started walking home. It was pretty late, he noticed, it was almost six o'clock. But as the apartment had not been too far away, he wasn't too worried about it. Reaching out toward the door he suddenly paused and pulled his hand away from the door. A couple of voices entering his mind. Looking around he had a sudden anxious feeling wash over him, and a wave of paranoia “I can't do this. I-” Turning away from the door he hurried back toward the steps and started to rush down them. His chest felt tight and he could hear his heart slamming in his chest.

Hurrying through the entryway to the building Nathan burst back outside into the cold air, gasping for air. Lifting his hand to his chest as a sharp pain struck him he winced “I- I can't- It's so- so...” Looking around he felt he needed to escape. Whatever he felt might have been causing his sudden panic, he wanted to get away from it, now. Turning he started running down the street, away from the apartment building stumbling as a constricted breathes prevented his lungs from taking in the proper amount of air to be running at full speed.

Eventually Nathan had run so far his feet and legs started to hurt. Tripping he came crashing down onto some sticks and leaves his head was throbbing by then as well. Pushing himself up off the ground he lift his left hand up to grip on the side of his head. The voices were whispering to him, again the panic started to wash over him. Rolling over he looked around “I don- I don't see them... I- Where are they?! They-” Pushing himself away he started to back up until he had pushed himself into some pushes and a stone wall. Curling up he wrapped his arms around his knee's and started rocking a little bit as he muttered under his breath about someone coming to get him. His eyes darting around at every single sound, that seemed as though they had been heightened up ten times more than normal. Willa thought she would have to be much more dumb than she actually was if she were to believe that everything was just hunky-dory after what she’d witnessed. There was no way that could be the truth. Exams and work were stressful for sure, but usually not to the point where it would give you paralyzing nightmares. “Great!” She replied, turning on one heel and heading for the campus gates. It was truly freezing, and she shuffled a hat out of her bag and pulled it down over her ears. Tea would do good for them both at this moment in time. “I bet you we’re gonna have quite a bit of homework when we go back to class next.” She was attempting to use small talk to take their minds off what had just happened.

Watching Willa still, he tried to read more into her. What was she thinking, really? Nathan smiled lightly at her seemingly divisiveness and nodded “Good.” Of course, he didn’t want her, or anyone else to worry about him. Or think he was weird, which he imagined would be what people would think when they interacted with him. As they started to walk he looked around one last time, hoping to finally see Austin walking around, but no such luck. Pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head then he walked along with Willa as she started talking again “Ah- Y-yeah. Maybe? I do not know.” He admitted, truly clueless about how all that worked “Maybe if we are lucky, they did not hand any out, Hm?” Sticking his hands into the hoodie’s pocket as he walked beside Willa. He decided to hear the young man out before frowning slightly. “What reason would I have to lie to you? We don’t even know each other.” Perhaps some people would take the opportunity, but Stephen wasn’t like that. “I don’t really care who you rob, as long as you don’t bother me.” He had his own shit going on; the last thing he needed was to get mixed up with somebody like this. It was easy enough to tell by the other’s words that he was somewhat messed up, so Stephen didn’t say anymore – just wrote some things down in his notepad.

“We may have to figure out.” He muttered glancing to the side. Sure that no one would just let getting rob off with a warning. Or whatever else reason Stephen seemed to have. Nathan narrowed his eyes a bit as he looked back at the other, then nodded slowly before turning away “Whatever.” Angrily he opened up his journal and crouched over it, giving another once over around the room before he started to write down on the paper, scribbling a bunch of words that all amounted to utter nonsense to most people who might read it. As his handwriting looked like that of a four-year olds, or in this case, someone who just didn’t give a shit about the neatness of what they were writing.

As with all his other journals that he had written within the ward, it was likely that anyone who would happen to read those would possibly need something like a decoder. Twisting the journal around upside down he continued to write, letting all his thoughts over the last few weeks flood onto several papers. Nathan had become absolutely absorbed in what, from an outside perspective, would appear to have been some intense ‘studying’. After about an hour of this he suddenly slammed his pencil down and closed the journal. Taking in a calming breath and then letting it out slowly he closed his eyes. He felt less tense after that.

All his annoyance and anger the last few weeks had been secured in his journal. Writing helped him keep him on his main focus. Which was murdering his entire family, and getting to pent-up would have been troublesome. Glancing over toward Stephen again he started to gather up his items and stuff them into a messenger bag “Hey I am sorr- Sure you are a weak bitch. Maybe if you did fight more people, you would not have gotten fucking robbed..” He stepped back from his table then, flipping Stephen off. “I’m confused…” Erik furrowed his brow as he paced around the room. “Start over, I keep zoning out– you’re what?”

Chewing his gum slowly as he watched the scene, apparently he hadn’t been noticed, when whoever was talking to Erik dropped some kind of bomb on the other male. It was familiar only in the fact that Nathan had seen his brother react quite a few times that way since they had run into one another at the cafe. Nathan glanced between the two that were having the conversation before leaning back against a wall and blowing a bubble until it popped “Ah-hah.” Nathan laughed lightly “I think they said they were a lizard person.” Nathan whispered, but just loud enough that either of the two, Erik or his friend, could hear him. With that he glanced away pretending not to be paying any attention and continued to blow another bubble.

Erik furrowed his brow further as he tried to pay attention to what his colleague was telling him. He didn’t understand why he just couldn’t keep concentration. There were so many things going around in his head at such a pace that it actually hurt. He thought he was getting somewhere with coming to terms with what had happened, but right now he felt like he was right back at square one. “I–” Erik went to respond but was cut off by the whisper of a somewhat familiar voice. The intern spun around on his heels and spotted the other male leaning against the wall. “Nice joke, Austin,” Erik retorted with a scoff before turning back around to no-one. “For fuck sake,” he groaned.

Nathan blinked twice after the other had mistaken him for Austin. Of course, he didn’t want to act like he minded, much. Austin was much more real to the other, than he was. Austin was a tangible person. He did not exist in a world outside of his ward. Though of course He knew he was real, obviously. He just didn’t feel real, in this ‘normal’ world. Nathan titled his head, then smiled lightly “I know, right? I can tell jokes, is that not just…ah may-zing!” He exclaimed and pushed away from the wall then watched as Erik whirled around to continue their chat with the other. But they had evaporated it seemed “See, a lizard, they knew they had been caught. So they, just, whooshed… Fuck you. Right?” “I managed to fall just right to cut my arm. I was as unimpressed with myself as you are. Were you the one who needed help with your computer? I’ll be right along if you were. I just thought it would be a bad idea to bleed all over the place.”

Zoning out for a moment as he stares at the cut, Nathan had completely forgotten what he was doing here. It had nothing to do with a computer, Mikaela seemed to have anything that the computer needed sorted out, sorted. Even though it seemed much more girly for him to have, what with the glitter name of the girl on its cover. But Nathan did not mind it at all, he thought it was cute “Ah, no… My-er, Laptop, is fine…” He says, finally, blinking once and glancing away from the other “I actually cannot remember why I came in here…” Or how he had gotten here in the first place, he could have sworn he was just talking with Austin, looking up he makes a face “Hey, stupid question, but, where are we right now?” Micaela shook her head “yeah but I get a good vibe off of you. I don’t know what to feel about Michael” she shrugged “this will be great, don’t worry I will totally show you the ropes of coding. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it”

Nathan bites his lips at that, he didn’t think he was someone who gave off good vibes. Maybe he was being a bit too pacified? Nathan knew he was focusing way too hard on his main goals, he forgot that he didn’t care about making friends. Or anything like that. But it would just be too telling to go around mistreating everyone, like he normally would. It would risk everything he was trying to accomplish. Glancing away he thought about his plans again. Maybe I am just being whiny. I probably deserved to be locked up for sixteen years. Look what that place has made me. I want to kill my family- Nathan looked at Mikaela again, a wicked smile spreading over his lips -And they deserve to die…

“Oh kay, well. I guess I am in. So it is not as though it really matters what you do with him.” We could kill him, for all I care. Laughing lightly at the thought he turned his head away from her, slightly. With a few nods then “All right, I have classes -” He scribbled down on a journal in front of him a few times, in messy handwriting “Any time between these hours is fine by me, if you would like to teach me coding during these times, anyway.” Francesco tilted his head as he stared at the other male. He seemed a bit out of it but he guessed that wasn’t too weird. For all he knew it was just a college student who had had too much to drink the night before. “Oh alright. That works for me. Laptops can be a pain sometimes. We’re in the music room right now. I guess technically we’re breaking into the music room right now since the professor isn’t here but I fell right outside so I just wandered in here. Since you don’t remember why you came in I guess you aren’t technically breaking in either. Which is good for us. It would be a hassle if we were doing something wrong. All that explaining ourselves and stuff would be pretty annoying.”

For another moment he tried to process what was even happening, especially with him, at that moment. Then he looked down at the laptop in his bag and nodded “Can they? I do not know anything about these things. I have never used a computer in my life actually. Someone just gave me this one. She seemed like she knew a lot about this kind of stuff though.” He brought his eyes back up to Francesco then “ So you are a techie?” Nathan question with an odd look of confusion. He was familiar with them only because when he was twelve the ward had brought in several to update and install new systems. Smiling then as he realized they were standing in what the other called a music room. He saw a few instruments that he had been familiar with, from the ward. Bringing his eyes quickly back toward Fran then he pulled out the laptop.

“It probably was not anything of importance. I was also probably just wandering around trying to find something to do to pass some time between classes.” Nathan nodded “Something wrong? I guess.” Smirking at the ideas that came to mind at what they could have been doing wrong, Nathan couldn’t help himself. But he shook his head, throwing several wicked thoughts from his mind “ I do not like to explain myself. Unfortunately it feels like I have also been doing that a lot lately.” Nathan muttered. “Well, I might need a bit of help with this. I do not like the background when I log in, it is bland. How do I change it to kittens, or something? Maybe a rottweiler, like Cujo, that would be terrifying, would it not? Kind of like a warning ‘Rawr, this is my property, back off!‘ can you possibly help me with something like that?” Erik narrowed his eyebrows a little as he scanned over the other male. He certainly looked like Austin, but he didn’t exactly sound like him and didn’t really say the kind of things Erik would have expected Austin to say. Then he remembered the first time he thought he’d met Austin at the clinic. “Wait–” Erik furrowed his brow. “You’re not Austin,” he pointed out. “You’re that guy from the clinic– the other week–”

Placing his hands on his hips he gives Erik a real smile, briefly as realization dawned on them. He liked that the other actually was able to figure that out with one the one mistake under his belt. Nathan lifted up a hand then and rubbed his nose before glancing away “Yeah, maybe. I am an Austin clone, he created me in his secret laboratory ten years ago. I finally escaped though, so its fine. Hm?” He smirked then, and lifted his hands up, wiggling his fingers creepily at Erik “What gave it away? The lizard people comments? Austin is not truly living until he starts talking about lizard people- Honestly.” Mikaela nodded and tore out a page of her notebook. She wrote down her number and slid it to him “Whenever you have a phone, be sure and text me! Have fun,” She had a little while before her class and wanted to drink her coffee and read a book for a little while.

Staring down at the paper she handed him, Nathan hesitated for a moment before taking it. Then he tore the page from his journal and folded it a few times “Uh, sure, yeah.” Stuffing the phone number into his hoodie pocket and picking up the laptop Nathan stood up “Well, I am leaving.” Then he turned and started walking toward the exit to leave. It was a weird interaction and he still needed to process it somewhere away from people. Lost in thought, Liz stared ahead. Watching lips move, but not registering what they were saying. Suddenly she snapped out of her weariness and blinked, finally making eye contact with someone. Were they talking to her? Had they said something? “H-Happy.. new year.” Elizabeth uttered in an attempt to safe herself from embarrassment.

Some how one of the idiotic towns people had managed to rope him into attending a New Years party. He wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. But he sure as hell wasn’t staying at Josephine and Austin’s apartment at the current moment. Every few days he found that he needed to just go off and be alone for a couple of days here and there, to reassess his situation. Currently though he was trying to get drunk, but despite the current beer in his hand being that of the seventh he would be drinking from, and he had yet to feel so much as a single tingle, let alone any sort of numbness to certain feelings.

Moving his arm he placed the bottle on the counter behind him and then started to rummage through the pocket of his hoodie, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter a moment later, lifting the filtered end up to his lips he flicked the lighter till it began to flame. After his cigarette was lit he turned to some girl as she apparently thought he had at some point been talking to her “Are you assuming that just because it is a new year that it is going to be a fucking happy one?” He questioned with a slight tone, and a raise of an eyebrow. Nathan shook his head and pulled the cigarette from his mouth “Fucking stupid, what is there to be happy about anyway…” As a balloon had come loose from somewhere in the room and floated toward him he jabbed the balloon with the cigarette, making it pop. Parties were never really her thing. But she’d made a resolution to be more out going and at least try to be more social. Well, more social than hanging out with Wyatt that is. So when she was asked for this New Years party, she hadn’t been able to say no. It would be disappointing for her to already give up on her resolution on the first day of the new year, right? Right. So here she was, talking to a man who didn’t seem to enjoy the party very much. A man who was already biting her head off.

“Eh..” Elizabeth was taken off guard by his question. The fact that he was absolutely right had her frowning as she pondered over why people said ‘happy new year’ anyway. “I was.. just being polite.” She pointed out to him. “I think it’s supposed to be like a wish.. like.. good luck, because.. luck is always pretty good, isn’t it? And yet we say that as well. So I.. I wish a happy new year.” The woman explained, giving him a smile, while he suddenly popped a balloon. If she were able to hear it pop she would have surely been surprised, now she just watched the red fabric fall down, catching it swiftly. “Not a fan of..” Elizabeth hesitated, staring at the balloon in her head, not confident in her pronunciation of the word. “them?” She finished.

Watching her reaction to him he smirked a little crookedly, running his eyes along her form, trying to read her. Of course it wasn’t that hard. There were plenty who gave off the same weak body language at the ward. Sniffing he looked away “Riiiight, ‘being polite’. So pointless.” He said, pausing then. They were polite… It was fake, all of it. Blinking a few times he continued to listen to the girl “I do not trust it.” He muttered before addressing the next thing she had said “No need, I do not expect to be here long enough to enjoy it after I have finished reaching my goal.” Smiling then he tilted his head a bit. After the balloon was popped be brought the cigarette back to his mouth and took a few puffs, before letting some smoke gently float from his parted lips. Staring up for a moment as he listen to her question.

Thinking over the answer he shrugged “It is not them exactly that I am not a fan of. Necessarily.” He admits, feeling as though it would mean nothing anyways. She would most likely brush him off as soon as they had parted. Nathan let out a breath “It is more to do with certain others in my life, that I am not a fan of, and these people are just reminders of an injustice that has been done.” What would my life would have been, if I hadn’t been locked up? Would I be enjoying this party? Would I have said Happy New Year back? Austin would have. Austin should have been the one she had run into. But she had the misfortune of it being me.

Nathan shrugged, then he stayed silent for a long moment before suddenly saying “ I think I will dye my hair neon pink, for the new year. Now would be a great time to do it, before time runs out. I have always wanted pink hair. I just have never gotten the chance until now. Maybe I will do that tomorrow.” Looking to Elizabeth then he squints “ What do you think about pink hair?” He was rude, she was sure of it. Although that was hard for her to pick up on. “Goal?” She repeated him questionably. “What’s your goal then? Wait-” Suddenly realizing what he was _exactly _saying. “Are you dying?” Concern in her voice, at least that’s what she hoped would be audible. What a grim subject to be talking about at a new years party. How on earth did she always end up in these kind of situations?

Now he was being vague, _again. _Talking in riddles and Elizabeth frowned deeper. Wondering if she should ask him to be more specific or if she should respect his privacy and leave it at that. At his shrug she didn’t know what to say and stayed quiet as well, playing with the deflated balloon.

Reading his lips with easy, she still wondered if she got it right. “What?” The woman asked him. “Pink.. hair? I- I think.. you should go for it if it makes you happy.. I guess. But I’m not sure you’d find an outfit to match it with.” She chuckled, imagining it already. “But.. what’s this about you running out ti-.” Apparently someone had been asking for her to move, but well.. she didn’t hear. So when she suddenly got a shove Elizabeth stumbled forward. Colliding with Nathan. “Ah. S-sorry..” She stammered, careful to look up to see what he was saying.

Giving a light nod as she repeated his word. His goal was an easy one for him to have. He was going to kill his entire family and perhaps some people at this ward. But mostly it was his family. Those were the ones that had let them abuse him for sixteen years. They were the ones that needed to know how much pain he suffered. And if they had to die then he was fine with that. Nathan swallowed at the question, a lump forming in his throat “Yes.” He answered “I am dying.” Looking at her he stares for a moment before he glanced away.

Nathan smiled at her opinion. Of course he was going to do it not matter what, whether it made him happy or not, he didn’t know. It was just something he suddenly felt like doing. Looking at his dark black hoodie and dirty pants he made a face “I do not have many clothes anyway. So whatever.” He muttered lifting his drink up from the counter and taking another meaningless drink from it. Looking away from her and bringing his attention entirely to a song that had come on, and zoned out as he felt like it was a good song for him. When she started asking a question he sighed and dropped his head rolling it on his neck his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Then she was shoved into him. Narrowing his eyes as his attention was brought back to her before shifting over to meet the guy that had shoved her. Placing a hand on the top of Elizabeth’s head he took another drink before slowly standing and gently moving Elizabeth out of his way, suddenly throwing the bottle at the head of the guy who had shoved her “Hey! Dick! Apologize!” He shouted as the guy cried out and then turned to look at him holding the back of their head. Nathan smirked at their questioning him “I said, fucking apologize, bitch.” Nathan said taking a step closer to the male just as they were marching over to him. They looked a lot stronger and larger than Nathan, but he stood his ground as they walked over shouting at him for throwing a bottle at them “Eeehh?” Nathan made a rude face at them, and stuck his tongue out as they got in his face, and then stabbed a finger into his chest. Dying. Her mind went into overdrive at his reply. She didn’t know him and the way he seemed to bring it meant he didn’t want pity from her. So she looked at him with a curious glance and nodded. “I’m sorry.” The woman apologized, for what she wasn’t sure. Just like she wasn’t sure why she said ‘good luck’ and ‘happy new year’. They were silly little words that no one really gave a damn about, they were meant to bring some sort of peacefulness or something, but everyone knew they never did. Some words really didn’t mean anything.

She looked him over when he did. With the right clothes he could be a real womanizer, Elizabeth could tell. Now he looked.. different, but he did play the part. And the thought made her smile.

Biting her lip when he put his hand on her head. The endearing gesture making her feel a bit better actually. Stepping aside when he moved her and then gasping in shock when she saw the bottle fly through the air. Hands covering her mouth. Quickly she looked over at Nathan catching just his last words. Her head shot from Nathan to the other male and back, not sure what they were going to do or when they were going to speak. Seeing Nathan make a face, Elizabeth stepped a little closer. “Wait. Don’t.. don’t fight.” She uttered, a little afraid. After years of bullying this little push was nothing to her and she knew how and when to pick her battles, this was not the time. “Please, it’s okay.” The brunette whispered so (hopefully) only Nathan would hear.

It wasn’t as though Nathan was truly lying about it. He had been wanting to die for a very long time. He had reserved the state as one that was always going to happen, sooner rather than later. And he knew he couldn’t live with himself after killing his own family. But he also just couldn’t let them get away with the crime they had committed against him. They stole his humanity and every right he ever had. They stole his childhood. They let him rot in that place. And as far as he was concerned, they were all playing a part in what his father had decided to do to him. They were the same guilty party. They deserved the same punishment, in Nathan’s mind.

At her apology he let out a little laugh. She felt sorry only because she didn’t know him. He could have murdered everyone at an orphanage and because she would not have knowing this, she would still apologize to him. Nathan shook his head as he thought about how she would view him after she found out he was actually planning on killing his family. He was sure his face would be all over the news, painting him a sick and twisted bastard. ‘A former murderous child who escaped a ward and killed his entire family, tonight on News5!’ Nathan had to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. The media would eat him alive and drag him right through the mud. But fuck them, he was going to do it. He knew his reasons, he understood why he was going to do it. He didn’t need their approval.

Staring down at the finger that jabbed into his chest he clicked his tongue and then looked back up at the other male as they were spouting out insults and cursing at him. The anger and excitement building up inside him as each jab sent a shot of pain through his chest and the others shouting sent his anger spiking. He liked conflict, it made him feel alive more than anything. Pain had always been something he registered, when he had felt so numb to everything else, at the ward. And as the beer wasn’t working, the prospects of an oncoming fight was the next best thing that would get him elevated. But when he heard Elizabeth whisper to him, he paused.

His hands that had been at his side balled into fists, his nails digging into his palms and shaking as he held himself back, a vein sprout over his forehead for a moment as he closed his eyes. Should he listen to her? Maybe it was a good idea. If he did something here and had the cops called on him, it would be bad for his plans. Sucking in few deep breaths he shut his mind down and blocked out all the noise that was around him, escaping for a brief moment into his head. A small pop was the only noise he heard for a moment. His nose started to bleed, the stress of having to hold back all that building rage and excitement being a bit more stressful when he had to call it back down.

Nathan sucked in a few more deep breaths, every chemical in his brain reacting rapid fire to call off the assault on the asshole in front of him. Nathan was not used to calming himself down, and it was usually not a good idea for him to do it. He would hurt himself later on for this. But he would not place his own well-being and fun over that of his goal. Suddenly he opened his eyes and stared at the male, then turned to Elizabeth absolutely brushing the male off “Okay. ” Nathan muttered. But the other male wasn’t having it. He shouted about being disrespected and then ignored by a ‘pipsqueak’ and then they suddenly shoved Nathan. Kat heard Nathan repeat the word. Still, she wasn’t positive if he remembered her. She shook his hand, her grip friendly. “They’re so good there,” the woman nodded. The cookies were her favorites for a just that reason. “It’s kind of a problem.”

She glanced at his book but found she couldn’t offer any worthy comment on the selection. “That was such a weird thing, right? Those people? — Funny, but dumb.” Katya spoke quietly so as not to disturb other patrons. It didn’t matter that there was only one other person in the small store besides the two of them.

Nathan was not one that was easy to forget something. He had held a grudge against his family since he was seven years old. So, he could remember a random encounter at a diner, giving him a cookie. Which was really odd and out of the norm for him to experience. Of course he didn’t remember if he had gotten her name or not, and so he just called her Cookies. As her identification to him, the girl who gave him cookies “Ah-yeah. I guess? I do not have much to compare to though.” He confessed with a light shrug of one shoulder.

“Humans are often funny, I guess.” He muttered back. Not knowing much about how humans acted outside of the ward. But given the fact that he had hated it all just the same, and that he could compare certain things to events that had happened in the ward. Glancing around he thought for a moment before saying something else “I have seen similar situations that ended up being more er-” He paused, narrowing his eyes on a book spine,- Bloody “Eventful.” He smiled a bit and looked back to Katya. Austin kept a wrapped box behind his back as he tried to find his brother in their medium yet small sized apartment. “Nate?” He’d asked out hoping he wouldn’t have to do much searching.

Nathan had found a closet to hide in at the moment while he messed around on the laptop Mikaela had given him. He didn’t want anyone to know about it right now. It seemed odd. He felt guilty for having it. But only because he thought he would be accused of stealing it, with it having Mikaela’s name on it, in glitter. He had originally thought himself to be alone, and the most comfortable place was in fact a small closet, for him. It felt more familiar. But when he heard his name he slammed the top of the laptop closed right in the middle of typing out his thoughts. Shoving the thing under a few blankets on the floor he then reached up to grab the knob and pushed the door open “What?” He mumbled as he pushed himself up and came out of the closet. Austin looked around the living room before hearing a door close not knowing where he’d come out of. “Hey.” He smiled lightly and then reach out and give him his gift. “Sorry it’s a little late, I needed to wait until yesterday to fully get it set up.” He smiled lightly as he waited for his brother to grab the box that held an iPhone he bought second hand with the box and everything inside.

Walking over to where the other was standing he crossed his arms over his chest. Wondering if they were going to try and ask him more questions. But when they said something else he became extremely confused, noticing that they were holding something behind them he took a step back, it was instinct really. You never trusted someone holding something behind their back, never. It could have been anything. And in his experience it was never anything good, it usually was something painful or disgusting. But as the box appeared he paused and looked surprised for a moment, the others smile seeming less terrifying at that moment “What?” He asked, still confused by what the other was saying to him.

His eyes moved from Austin’s face to the box then, still a bit suspicious. He guessed he was just being paranoid. Hesitantly he reached over to grab the box, pulling it from his brothers hand “ Did I miss something? What was late…” He asked pulling the top of the box off. As he saw the phone his eyes widened “ I did not ask you to get this…” He mumbled, but not ungrateful. It was in a surprised tone. He knew that he was meaning to ask his brother for one, after Mikaela had brought it up. But he had never gotten the chance, and now he had one. Not only that, a unfamiliar feeling suddenly hit him. A phone made it seem more real, that he wasn’t just some animal locked in a cage. That maybe someone did want to contact him. That someone really would want him. Sniffling a little bit he felt stupid, normal people didn’t react this way to getting a phone, Right? Maybe it was just the stupid fact Austin actually was giving him anything. Lifting the back of his hand up he covered his eyes.

FREAK Nathan was stomping through the snow talking to himself. He would have spoken with the other children, but most of them, if not all of them had no idea what X-Files even was. And he really loved it. The only other kid he knew watched it, if only because he had made them watch it, was Austin. But Nathan had no clue if his brother actually liked it anywhere as much as he did. Which he was currently having his own little X-Files adventure right now, during recess. While all the other kids were running around screaming and throwing balls at one another, he was off in his own world, mostly by himself in an open area caked in snow.

Of course Nathan never strayed too far away from Austin. He was afraid something might happen to the other if he did get too far away. So he was walking back and forth as his brother was playing with a few other boys on the black top. They were all playing a game of basketball. Nathan hadn't been interested, not that they had ever actually invited him to join them. They often had told him he was weird and would never give him the chance to have the ball. So Nathan learned real quick to go and do his own thing. And he didn't really mind that at all. Balling up a snowball he threw it at a tree “Got him! They won't do anything bad now. Nathan saved the world!” He cheered and jumped up from the snow before attempting to whistle the X-files theme song.

Letting out a huff then he lifted a gloved hand up to his nose and started to rub it, it had become red from all the snow he had been playing in. Hearing a noise his eyes darted over toward the group of boys running around. Seeing how much fun Austin was having he grinned and walked over only to have a little girl from his class step in front of him, a few giggles brought his attention to a few other girls that were watching their friend. Nathan blinked and looked at her “Ah-” “Austin! I-I w-was w-wondering-w-would you b-be my hu-husband, o-one day?” Nathan made a face. Her cheeks had turned a deep red. As she finally tilted her head up and he could get a good look at her, he recognized just who the girl was. Like most of the kids, she would often get him and Austin confused.

Nathan let her stand their for a moment before giving a sweet smile and a cute tilt of his head “Yeah! Okay! We can be married!” He pumped his fist and she blinked, bringing her hands to her mouth, shocked by his reply.

“R-really!? I-I-...I didn't think you would say yes! Y- we- we never h-talk!” She squealed cutely into her gloves and her friends also gave little squeals or cheers over encouragement to the shy girl. Nathan smiled at her “Austin- it-it makes m-me happy, kn-knowing you w-will be my-” Before she could finish another boy walked over, having heard the girl.

“That's not Austin! Austin is over there!" He corrected, pointing Austin out “This is Nathan!”

Nathan frowned a little bit but still tried to remain cheerful “Oh yeah, that's right! I am Nathan!” He said with a shrug.

The girl looked between Austin and him and then smiled sweetly “Th-that's alright. Nathan or Austin is fine, they are tw-twins. Th-they l-look exactly alike.”

Nathan felt a little more upset about that. He didn't like it. He hated that they were always judged as basically the same person by so many. Just because they looked the same. As the girl continued to smile at him after what she said, he started feeling ill “Well-” He started.

“My mom says Nathan is a creepy kid. And that writing with his left hand makes him bad!”

“That’s stupid!- My daddy said he was a special kid- I didn't think he was. But he told me what it meant.” A girl said to one of the others.

The other boy chimed in “My mom says he's a bed wetter. A couple of months ago he got scared while at a sleep over and had to go home with his dad that night. Austin must hate being his brother. Nathan is a crybaby.”

“My dad said he was gonna be a fay-gut! I don't know what that means! But it sounds bad. He says he saw him picking out make up with his mom at the store last week!”

“My dad says that his dad thinks he’s a crazy!!”

The girl who had asked him to be her husband frowned as she was thinking. Then she decided to throw her cards in with the group of kids and walked away from Nathan “I would hate to be confused for Nathan! Poor Austin-” She said, then “My older brother says he's got a artistic problem.” She whispered before a few kids gasped.

“He’s a freeeaak!”

Nathan dropped his head down and frowned as these things were said. He tried to process it all. The glasses on his face fogging up as he tried to hold back the tears building up. Sniffling then he unclenched his hands, not having realized they had balled into fists at his side “It's autistic-not artistic.” He corrected before turning suddenly and ran away from them. “Christmas Break? Sure yea, it was great.” The female spoke sarcastically, knowing full well that spending the holidays with her mother and step father wasn’t anything like it had used to be.

Nathan was not the person Naomi had been talking with. He was just in the immediate area of the conversation. Bright strands of pink hair poked out from the hoodie of his hoodie, that had been up on his head, after a moment’s pause from the girl he took a loud sip from the drink in his right hand and glanced up from the book in his hand glancing between Naomi and whoever she was talking to “Shut. up.” Was all he said before looking back down at the book. Mila grumbled at the comment the man had made, before turning around and realizing who it was. She rolled her eyes as he called her Gum Girl, something a few people on the ward had called her. “More surprising is that you’re here, lost boy.” Mila replied. “I thought you and your nurse actually died. Wait, why did you think I would die?”

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her comment and then repeated the end “Lost Boy? I never visited Neverland, this is not Peter Pan.” He smirked a bit though as Mila brought up what he guessed must have been Tasmin “She is not a nurse, and she sure as fuck was not my nurse.” His nurses were a lot more specialized then what Tasmin could have been “If you are referring to the woman I would call my mother. Then you are only half right. She is dead, I escaped.” Glancing away, clearly upset he had to think about it again. Looking back to Mila then he smirked again “You just seemed like you would. What with your little toy getting his brains bashed in.” Austin watched as the other twin was incredibly cautious the second he walked in the room. It was a little odd to see, though as he spoke he just ignored him figuring everything would be explained. “I know you didn’t, but I assumed you would need one to get in touch with me or Josephine if you ever needed to.” He shrugged, “You’re on our plan now.” He commented nodding his head, “It’s already got my phone number, the apartment landline, and Josephine’s cell phone number in it.” He smiled lightly, “Plus, if you were seriously thinking in getting a job like we’d talked about, you’re gonna need to give whoever a contact number, so it’s kind of hitting two birds with one stone.”

Clearing his throat as the other spoke he nods, already understanding. Reaching his left hand into the box he pulled the phone out and turned it in his hand “Your plan? What is that?” As Austin went on he slowly nods again. Blinking then he looked the phone over again. He didn’t know what to do with it at the moment, if everything was pretty much done for it at the moment, Nathan had no idea what else it was capable of other than making calls. Which he had no calls to make “So…that’s all? Some of the patients made it seem more like a life or death situation when theirs were taken away. I never got why the attachment was so strong.” And he still didn’t. Austin nodded as he’d questioned him, “Oh, right. Uh, just a basic texting and calling plan.” He shrugged his shoulders, “When you’re in wifi, you can browse the internet on it and maybe play a game or two if you download the applications.” Although these terms were second nature, he’d assumed it might be complicated or confusing so he added. “I can show you how to download things later if you want.” He chuckled lightly, “Uh, well these things seem to be the only way people talk anymore, and then there are some who are just obsessed with themselves and post pictures all over the place.”

While Austin spouted off terms he had no idea about Nathan just nodded like he was listening and gave the flimsiest smile he could muster “Right.” He said, glancing away briefly. When Austin seemed to realize that he had no idea what had just been said the smile dropped off his face “Okay.” He stared down at the phone, flipping it over a few times in his hand “That is stupid.” He didn’t like that, talking was a lot more face to face at the ward, and he liked that. Nathan looked up “But ah- I guess it is kind of cool, you can play games on it? That would be fun.” Naomi looked over to the male who’s spoken, “This isn’t the library. If you wanted quiet, you’d find the right place.” she spoke with an attitude, never enjoying when she was told to be quiet in a place that didn’t need it.

Nathan nods “Oh.” He said, though this had been more to himself then to her. As if he was realizing something about her. Which he had. In just the brief moment he had heard her talking “I can read my book just fine, here. Or anywhere the fuck else I please. I only found your tone to be obnoxious and I do not think anyone else here cares to hear about your horrible Christmas break, as I assume your sarcasm stems from.” Closing the book then “What, did your mommy and daddy get you socks or some shit? Poor spoiled brat.” He mocks her by pouting. Naomi looked over to the male who’s spoken, “This isn’t the library. If you wanted quiet, you’d find the right place.” she spoke with an attitude, never enjoying when she was told to be quiet in a place that didn’t need it.

Nathan nods “Oh.” He said, though this had been more to himself then to her. As if he was realizing something about her. Which he had. In just the brief moment he had heard her talking “I can read my book just fine, here. Or anywhere the fuck else I please. I only found your tone to be obnoxious and I do not think anyone else here cares to hear about your horrible Christmas break, as I assume your sarcasm stems from.” Closing the book then “What, did your mommy and daddy get you socks or some shit? Poor spoiled brat.” He mocks her by pouting. Unaware of Nathan’s thoughts and feelings, it was doubtful Elizabeth would ever understand them had she known them. To her family was everything. And even though she didn’t have the best one, she loved them. Yes, even if they weren’t truly hers either. No matter what they did in her mind, in her heart, those feelings would never change. Finding a positive light in absolutely everything, that was her strength. For happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

She watched him carefully, ignoring the male jabbing his chest. She didn’t care what he had to say, she only wanted Nathan to act responsible. It had been her pride, her name, he’d been wanting to protect and she appreciated it, but now she wanted him to protect himself. The moment he turned to her and agreed, she smiled. For a moment it was like it was only them and then he disappeared from her vision. “No!” Elizabeth yelled, watching the male fall back. Now it had become their fight. And the girl glared at the boy, fire nearly sprouting from her eyes. She too had her fists balded at her side, but she did not plan on using them. He wasn’t worth that much.

Moving her body in between the males she took a deep breath and then spoke. “I don’t know you. I don’t know what it is you’re after, what you think you will accomplish with this..” Swallowing the words ‘childish behavior’. “I also don’t know this man.” Glancing behind her at Nathan. “But I do know myself and I know that I don’t want any trouble. I’m sure you didn’t come to this party to fight. Just like the rest of us. So… let’s not spoil things for everyone else, yeah? I think you owe us an apology, and he will apologize to you about throwing that bottle. And then we’re all good, right?” She looked at the crowed that had formed. Not knowing what Nathan was doing or saying behind her, but right now she had to keep eye contact with the male in front of her.

Dropping to the ground after a few people stepped out of the way, Nathan let out a few strained breathes, and closed his eyes. It was stupid, he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off the man. Why would he be so careless. Blood rushed to his head, his thoughts had become hazy. Look at them, Nathan, staring at you. They can probably see you for what you really are. Nathan’s body grew tense as his eyes moved around the room, laughter drifting into the space, but only happening inside his head. His breathing hiked up, jumping as he sucked in a breath. They know you don’t belong here, Nathan. What are you even doing with yourself? Do you think you have time to play? Don’t be so ignorant! You have had your fun, drinking doesn’t stop what you are feeling! Only one thing can.

You are weak! You are clearly unable to kill your family! You can’t even ignore this girl you just met! How could you let her just get to you so easily!? Nathan twitched a bit, as his body trembled “-I-I am not. I-I can do this…I -I j-just ne-nnn-need ti-t-t-time…” He whispered. You have had enough time!-They are going to find you- you have to kill them. Flinching he dropped his head “I know. I am just- s-s-” Do you really think that anyone of them would really accept you? People like you will never belong! No matter how hard you try. You are always going to be nothing to them. You’ll crack, just wait, you can’t keep biting your tongue, Nathan. Once they see you for what you really are. The voice hissed. Nathan glared his eyes darkening before he slowly stood up and tuned back in as Elizabeth spoke. Cracking his neck then, Nathan adjusted his shoulders. He had no plans to apologize for anything.

Nathan tilt his head awkwardly as the other male narrowed their eyes on him and called him a bastard before one of their friends decided it was best to step in now and help Elizabeth. Then tried to tell both Nathan and Elizabeth that their friend was just drunk and really didn’t mean any harm. As the two walked away Nathan was already off in his own world, his hand absentmindedly moving to his nose as he dabbed at some of the blood under it, he zoned out, his eyes glazing over. Nathan had been absorbed by the smell of the blood as he played with it. She was glad at least some of the people understood that now it was their time to step in. Letting the two walk off without saying a word. This was tiresome, talking was, everything was. Finally she turned around, attention on the male who’d stood up for her. He seemed thoughtful, far, far away, hiding deep within his own mind. Elizabeth looked at the damage done to his face and bit her lip. Gingerly she reached out, touching his hands, enclosing them with hers. Hoping he wouldn’t mind the touch, hoping to reach him wherever he was.

Although she didn’t want to talk anymore, she thanked him softly. Besides she couldn’t bear the sight of him. He just looked so.. sad. Like a puppy. Like a sad little puppy. An maybe it wasn’t up to her to help him, she couldn’t get herself to just walk away from him.

“Hey..” She called out to him, softly, as if she was afraid to awaken the demon. “Do you.. want to go somewhere.. else?” The woman offered. “Somewhere you can get cleaned up?” Glancing around them, she grinned and said to him “I think you’re scaring people. Making them question whether it’s New Years or Halloween.” Elizabeth attempted a joke.

At the touch red signs lit up across his mind throwing him out of his safe place. A vision flashed in front of him, a nurse was standing in front of him, but she was oddly taller than him, but seemed short as well. Her hand reached out to caress his face, a venomously sweet smile spread over her lips before she opened them to speak, only to let out the sound of static. Glancing away Nathan had returned back to the party and jerked away from Elizabeth’s touch, his hands moving up to the sides of his head “Mmm…” Closing his eyes tightly he hummed loudly.

His fingers twisting in his hair as he toyed with several strands. Shaking his head as he tried to brush off the chill that ran down his spine when she touched him with out his permission. He knew it wasn’t her fault. It just really freaked him out. Not everyone, and the majority of almost everyone who ever had, almost always intentionally meant to hurt him in someway, after. Opening his eyes he stares at Elizabeth, his hair falling over one of his eyes.

When she spoke his iris’ shrunk at her ‘hey’, as if his mind had begun to prepare him for something horrible to exit her mouth. Like she had just spit a venomous snake out at him, or something. Narrowing his eyes then he wondered why should would ask that question before glancing around and seeing a few people looking at him. As she went on he nodded, “Ah…” But stopped as Elizabeth continued on. To be clear, he felt absolutely offended by what she had just said. Which made him a little more than irritated, but less than absolutely pissed off. Letting out a huff he pouted and straightened his back again “Sure.” He said coldly. Dropping his hands from the sides of his head then he continued to stare at Elizabeth, not amused by her joking.

SHADOW Nathan ran across the yard, giggling a little bit as he ducked behind a tree, crouching down and peeking out to see Grace running off somewhere else to hide. Grabbing onto his knee's he grinned as he spied Austin leaning his head into his arm and counted off to ten, slowly. Dull brown eyes shifted away then as the grin fell from his face and he tried to remain small and hide better against the background. After hearing Austin's shouting he pressed closer to the tree at the back of the yard. Austin ran right passed him, twice, before disappearing toward where Grace had run off to.

Dropping down onto his hands he watched the other boy run, dully. Before getting distracted by something else, he was sure Austin would be back eventually so he tried not to move. Leaning against the tree he spread his legs out and watched as a lady bug climbed onto his pant leg. Moving his left hand out he let it crawl onto the back of his hand before lifting his hand up to his face, watching the bug and getting absolutely lost in the moment of just watching the bug. Nathan had become so enthralled with this bug watching thing that he had almost forgot he was playing hide and seek. That was until Austin started shouting about how unfair he was being. Nathan turned his head to look around the tree. As he looked back to his hand the ladybug flew into the air and off somewhere “Hm.”

Nathan dropped onto his stomach then and started crawling toward Austin as he was looking into some part of the flower garden. Smirking cutely as he inched closer he started to push himself up, silently as Austin decided to look away, Nathan moved out of the others peripherals. He had to stop himself from giggling as Austin muttered how stupid it must have looked to be looking in the flowers for him. As Austin started walking Nathan walked after him, quietly, like a shadow. Holding his right hand in his left he made the right steps to blend in with Austin's own. As Austin shout his name again he shook his head. That had never worked. Nathan was insistent, they must find him, to the point he had almost spent and entire night stuck under their father's car.

But since that incident, Nathan had decided it was best to make it easier on his siblings. When Austin suddenly started to turn, Nathan stepped around, his heart jumping in his chest at the potential of being caught. When Austin started walking back toward the garden and muttered to himself in that sweet shy little tone Nathan grinned and reached out, plucking a sunflower from the garden. As they walked across the yard in sync, Nathan toyed with the flower. As they approached the tree he had been hiding behind before Nathan watched as Austin jumped and said 'Ah-hah- ah?!' Then went to look around the tree. Nathan stayed where he was and waited, holding out the flower as Austin walked around, waving it at the other, then poked his head out from behind the tree, giving a goofy tooth filled grin at the other before tossing the giant sunflower into their face and taking off running.

Nathan made a run for the front yard and slid on some rocks on the lot as he turned to run for the front door “I'm going to make it Home, Austin, Ooooh nooo! I might win!” He shouted back, teasing the other, before suddenly turning away and running out into the front yard. Keeping just out of Austin's reach as with a giggle when he twirled around and jumped back from Austin “Come on, Tin! You can catch me, can't you?” He blew a kiss at his brother before dashing across to the other side of the front yard. As the other five-year older seemed to get irritated at the taunting he only laughed “Don't be sour! Come and get me!” Running around the car a few times Nathan booked it back toward the front door “AUuuusstiiin! Almost there.” Turning he stopped just before reaching the door and held open his arms as Austin was charging right for him and let his brother tackle him, dropping back and hitting the front door hard with his body.

Letting out a laugh as Austin shouted at him about catching him “Yeah!” Nathan shouted back, baring his teeth playfully at the other. Just before they could get up their father pulled the door open and shouted “What the hell is going on out here? Austin! Get up! Nathan!- I should have known it would be you.” Nathan looked up, squinting at the older man. They then leaned down and grabbed him be his right shoulder and yanked him up to his feet “Get in here before you break something.” Robert said shoving Nathan into the house and then pushing Austin as he walked by him, before smacking him upside the head.

Nathan turned “Hey! Don't hit him.” Nathan said, his voice dropping off at the end. Robert glaring “Oh, it speaks!” He said walking over to Nathan “What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?” He smiled down at the other as Nathan blinked and started to shrink into himself, staring up at the older male, he bites on his lips “I thought so- Go get cleaned up.” Robert snapped at Austin and pointed toward the stairs before looking back at Nathan narrowing his eyes on him. Nathan didn't move as Austin had. The other was pretty good at listening to Robert. It was Nathan that was often his 'problem child' “Are you deaf now, too? Get cleaned up, your mother will be finishing super in thirty or so minutes.” Nathan stepped back, making Robert sigh and reach over and grab him by his upper arm and start dragging him toward the stairs.

A few minutes later Nathan was having a rag roughly rubbed against his face and anywhere else there was dirt on him “You must be stupid.” The male muttered throwing Nathan's arm down “ You don't talk, at least not to me. Can't take orders. Really, what good are you?” Poking Nathan in the forehead then he shoved the other, making him stumble back “There's definitely something not right about you.” Nathan just stared up at the other, eyes solid and cold. Robert suddenly grabbed his sons jaw “I will crack your code. You will learn to obey me.” Robert muttered coldly, eyes just as piercing as Nathan's. Then he grabbed the boy's arm and started to jerk them out of the room as his wife called up to them.

Robert pulled Nathan down the hallway by the top of his arm till they came across Austin, and then he shoved the other toward the other twin “Go.” He ordered. Nathan walked down the steps with his brother and gave a grin to Austin “I hope it's chicken.” He whispered into Austin's ear. A few minutes later he walked in with the other and pulled out his chair, Robert walking up behind him and helping him get in the chair. Angelica turned toward the kids and smiled as she started setting down plates “Did you guys have fun hanging at home today?” She asked them as she looked at Grace who started talking about her day.

Nathan stabbed into the chicken on his plate and slide it over to the edge, leaning over as he started to bite into the chicken while everyone else happily carried on a conversation around him. Not really caring to repeat what either Austin or Grace had said. He had done nothing by himself. He never really had ever had any alone time. Chewing he just sort of drifted off into his own world as conversation went on around him. Humming after a while as he ate and twist his right hand against the napkin, he was studying the way his fingers moved. Stabbing his fork into some mac n cheese he looked at Austin as he excitedly talked about something, and nods. His nose started to tickle after a moment and he started to sneeze violently, bringing his head away from his plate and lifting his right arm up to wrap around his head.

When he didn't stop after a minute Robert told Angelica to take care of him, before he got anymore germs on the food. Angelica stood up “He's hasn't got the plague, dear, calm down.” She walked over toward Nathan's side of the table “Were you playing near the flowers again?” Nathan gave her a grin and tilted his head a bit “Noooo.” He glanced away, then sneezed again, before rubbing his nose “Oh, you didn't? I bet a billion dollars you did, you little trouble maker!” Lifting her hand up then she sighed and poked his nose lightly “Goofball.”

Robert watched the two, not amused. Then glanced away just as a kitten hopped into Nathan's chair and then onto the table and started picking at the bones of the chicken that remained on the plate. Robert hissed and smacked the animal way “Someone forgot to lock that thing up before we ate.” Nathan frowned “Don't hurt Diogenes!” Nathan shouted before he could stop himself. Angelica set Nathan back down in his seat, as it was clear the sneezing was fixed by itself. Robert glares at Nathan who shrunk away again and tucked his hands into his lap. Looking toward his wife then Robert asked about dessert, just as the woman was bringing out a few slices, setting them down in front of the other kids and removing their finished plates “Hold your horses, Robert, you seem so irritable today. Did work not go well, again.” Robert glanced to Nathan “Yeah, it's been brutal.” He said before smiling at her “I'm sorry.” As Angelica went to place Nathan's dessert down Robert held out a hand “ No, Not him. He is in trouble.-” “For what?” “He knows what he did. Let's just leave it at that.”

Nathan pouts and drops back into the chair, but no one questioned the older Douglas. Diogenes jumped back into Nathan's chair, pawing at his lap then. Nathan ran a hand over the kittens back “Can I be e-excused t-then?” He whispered and Robert cut in before Angelica could say anything “No. The entire point is to make sure you don't do what you did, again. And if watching us enjoy this dessert helps, then-” Robert shrugged “So it will be. Now everyone eat.”

After dinner Grace and Austin were playing some game on the couch in the living room. Nathan was on the floor playing with some of Bethany's toys as Bethany had been. He grinned at the little girl “Bee! Look! Remember chewing on this thing!” He stuck the teething ring in his mouth and laughed “You were so whiny!” He grinned, his teeth lightly pressing into the rubber. Bethany reached over and started to pull on the ring, laughing as Nathan stumbled onto his hands “Bee! Don't do that! I will have to-” He suddenly pounced playfully over the giggling little girl, letting her take the ring out of his mouth and started to tickle her “Tickle you!” The girl squirmed and kicked her legs before throwing the teething ring at Nathan's head on accident, as her arms flailed a bit. Nathan pulled away, smiling “Wow. You got an arm on you! Baseball star in the making!” Dropping down next to the other Nathan laid on his back and let out a few breaths then closed his eyes. He was feeling tired all of a sudden.

A moment after Bethany sat up and dropped her head down onto his chest, listening for a heartbeat “Nae.” She mumbled, concerned “Dead?” Nathan held his breath, and resisted the urge to jumped up and hug her. As her tiny hands started to push against his still form and she shouted “No, Nae!" The cracking in her voice was just too much and he sat up and wrapped his arms around the girl “Nae's fine!” He laughed before pulling away and looking toward Grace and Austin as their father was talking to them about their game. Nathan blinked, his face becoming dull as he watched the older male, unimpressed by them. Then he looked at Bethany “Dad's bad, Bee.” Nathan whispered. At the tilt of her head, Nathan figured that she didn't understand what he was saying to her. Maybe that was for the best. But as Robert Douglas walked over to them a moment later she pointed at the older man and shouted “Dad's bad! Dad's bad!” Making Nathan laugh.

Nathan looked at his brother, staring at him as he was in his clothes on the floor. “This is how you take a shower? Nate you’re gonna kill yourself with water this hot?” Austin rolled his eyes at the ‘pervert’s comment. “Nate you’ve been in here for almost an hour?” He looked up at his girlfriend, “Babe, wait in the kitchen.”

Josephine was so caught off guard by what was happening that she just looked blankly at the twins for a second. She was snapped back to reality as she heard the familiar voice of her boyfriend telling her to return to the kitchen. She nodded and left, going to the room and grabbing some of Austin’s clothes that Nathan could wear.

Looking up at his brother, the look on the others face made him narrow his eyes. Who did Austin think he was, to stare at him like that? As Austin spoke Nathan made an indignant noise and dropped his head down “ No, idiot, this is not how I take showers. I am not getting naked in a strangers hou-Apartment.” He looked back up at the two of them, then glanced at Josephine “Especially when they interrupt me while I am taking a shower.” He said, bitterly. Looking back at Austin then “What, are you my monitor? I can not take as shower in peace finally? Do you need to keep track of how much time I am in here.” They really were a bunch of perverts. Nathan grinned a bit “You know, you asked if I were going to kill myself with water this hot. What if I told you it was not a question, but a definite?…” It was a test. Nathan wanted to see how the other would react. Austin nodded before saying “Or you could google it if you want to. Learn it yourself.” He spoke with a small smile. “Yea it’s pretty stupid.” He agreed before shaking his head lightly and adding a shrug, “Yea, once you figure out how to download an app you can play a bunch of games.” He spoke with a small smile, “Did you have any favourite games at Damari?” He spoke the Wards name casually hoping that it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Nathan glared at the other briefly “Oh, yeah, goo-gl-ing it… Right. I get it.” Nathan grinned lightly. Then resisted the urge to punch himself in the fucking face. Nathan swallowed as the other asked about his favorite games at the ward. With a brief moment of busting laughter he looked away “What?! There were not any video games, Austin. I was in an insane asylum, you-” He bit his tongue “No. Um. I guess I really liked monopoly. That is a legit answer, I guess…” The casualty in the others voice made him grip the phone as hard as he possibly could as a rush of anger washed over him “You have no idea what the place is, do not speak of it as if it were merely just a place to cross off as you pass by. You have never been there.” He felt disgusted suddenly by his bro-no, this man before him. It made his entire life feel like a fucking joke, just having it listen to Austin downplay everything that had ever happened to him, and to speak with causality of the place that had helped to do this to him. Loosening the grip on his phone he smiled at Austin “But hey, it is what it is. hm? It really was not that bad there.” Mila rolled her eyes. Though he understood the reference, Nathan seemed to be missing the implication. “Gotcha,” Mila said, “well, I’m sorry about that.” At his smirk and next sentence, a chill ran down Mila’s spine. “If you are referring to the guard, he was not my toy.” The frail redhead never knew how to respond when someone brought up Noah. It was prohibited for a staff member to be in a relationship with a patient.

“Oh please, Mila, don’t lie to me. It’s not very smart. You know that.” At least, from where Nathan stood, the guard was nothing more than a toy to Mila. Whether they saw it or not. Who else got gum? Nathan’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and got stuck there for a moment, his eyelids twitching before he blinked and looked to the side “Hey! How did you even get out this time, Mila?” Leaning toward her, he twist at the waist, slightly “You can tell me, I can keep a secret.” Willa held her coat tight around her frame as they walked, trying to keep in the heat. “Maybe, though they’re sure to give us some of what we missed.” It only took a ten to fifteen minute walk to get to her house, which she then unlocked the door to find it expectedly empty inside. Motioning for him to go in first, she then closed the door behind them and waved around the space. “Make yourself at home. I’ll go make the tea?”

Ignoring just the extent of how cold he was he continued to listen to Willa, smiling a bit as she answered “Well, that is good. It is not like we have made a habit of missing, anyway? Is there a point system to it? Or did I understand that wrong?” Nathan shrugged and walked with her to her home. Once inside he found the couch and made his way over “Ah- Okay?” He was sure that had been the plan the entire time, he didn’t know why she had needed to tell him again. As he sat on the couch he realized just how little he knew about how to make himself at home.

Yawning though, he blinked, his eyes slacking halfway as another wave of exhaustion washed over him. But he also felt really awkward, and anxious about the entire ‘making himself at home’ thing, what if he didn’t and she thought he was weird? Do normal people make themselves at home in other people’s homes? What if they didn’t?! What if he did something that made him 'feel like he was at home’ and she looked at him like he was weird for that. Freezing he took a few sharp breathes, and felt like dying was the best option, his eyes moved to the nearest window as he listen to the cars pass by on the nearest street. His breathes continued to pick up, short and sharp as he zoned out on his thoughts. Shit. Wrong move. After years of studying people’s body languages Elizabeth knew she had screwed up. Taking a step back to give him a little more space as he looked clearly uncomfortable after her touch. His staring made her utterly self conscious and she nervously played with the fabric of her skirt. “A-Alright.” The woman nodded slowly at his agreement, looking around for a place to go. “I know the girl who lives here.. I-I’m sure we can.. go to the upstairs bathroom.”

Giving him a glance, to make sure he was okay with it as well. Although she felt a bit anxious about going upstairs with a boy she just met. Not that she was afraid or didn’t trust him, but she knew what people would think if they were seen and she -even though she hates doing it- minds what people think about her. Her reputations isn’t the greatest as it is already. Still, upstairs was better than just ducking into a random bathroom downstairs.

“Let’s go?” She asked him, a nervous smile on her pink lips. “Oh!” Elizabeth exclaimed suddenly, just as she was about to head for the stairs. “Uhm.. if you want to say something to me.. don’t do it while I’m not looking I- I can’t read your lips then.” Not waiting for his response she threw herself into the crowd and maneuvered her way to the stairs and upwards.

Nathan blinked, feeling tired as Elizabeth spoke “Do you?” He asked glancing around them. He took a deep breath “Fine.” He grumbled. A moment later when she said to go he waved his hand “After you.” As he was going to walk after her and she suddenly spoke again he jumped and stepped back, again about to go on the defensive, his hands raising a bit in front of him, before he let out a breath as Elizabeth went on “Hm?” Raising an eyebrow at her he wondered for a moment why she would need him to talk to her face to face, to be understood. Then his eyes widened with realization “You are deaf.” He said, but she had already turned away from him by then.

Glancing around again, he spotted the guy that had shoved her, narrowing his eyes on him. Then started walking after Elizabeth again. As she entered the crowd he stood hesitantly outside of them. Swallowing as he froze in place. He didn’t want to go. Clenching his hands into fists at his side he sucked in a few deep breathes. He had been outside the fringe for this exact purpose. He didn’t want to be boxed in, and he sure as shit didn’t want to be touched, even if on accident. Shifting a little bit he dropped his eyes down before going on to look for a space he could make it toward the steps and catch up with Elizabeth. Finding one a few minutes later he walked up to the stairs and started to run up them, just catching up with Elizabeth in time right toward the top. He was completely out of breath though.

Stumbling he grabbed the railing his stomach twisting and sloshing with alcohol that wasn’t going anywhere. Nathan swallowed though and laughed a little bit as he walked after Elizabeth. Rubbing his hand against his stomach he walked passed the pictures on the wall and found himself staring at the family ones. “Alright fine, but this heat is going to melt your skin if you stand here too long?” He spoke shaking his head, “This is barely a shower Nate, you’re in your clothes, just soaking yourself. Have you used any soap at all?” He spoke shaking his head, “No, I’m not your monitor, but when steam starts flowing from under the door sorry I got a little worried.” When his brother furrowed his eyebrows at the words his brother spoke. “Nate that’s not funny.” He spoke assuming he was playing some kind of joke.

“Oh is it? I had not realized, I was just sort of enjoying it.” Looking up at Austin again he squints as he watched the other and listen to Austin as he spoke. Nathan made a weird face at the other before tilting his head “Am I wet?” Pointing at the drain “Is that dirt? Yes? Yes? So…Does a shower not clean?” Nathan asked. He then shook his head “No, I have not used the soap yet. I have only been in here in an hour, enjoying the shower.” Nathan looked away and continued to hug his knee’s too his chest “It was like a think tank. Get it, Tank, water.” Looking up at the other then he gave a crooked smile and poked at the shower door. At the others last comment he laughed “No. It is not.” He smiled then.

Rolling his eyes though he started to stand up, the hoodie sagging from how wet it was against his thin fragile appearing body. He stepped out of the shower then and pushed Austin back “Fine. If you insist, Brother. I will get naked. But only for you.” He winked, wanting to make Austin feel as uncomfortable as possible. Nathan then turned to walked a few paces away from the other. Dropping down he unzipped his boots and started to pull them off, sitting on the floor to do it. Standing again he narrowed his eyes on Austin and started lifting up his hoodie, moving it over and dropping it onto the floor. Underneath the hoodie was a ratty grey shirt that had a significant tear on the right side. Nathan paused, a moment as he grabbed the shirt. Then took it off, the vicious scars on his body standing out on his pale slightly greyed skin, stretching all the way down his back and some on his front and the one scar on the wrist of his right arm, the stabbing scar and the bite mark on his right shoulder obviously not looking self inflicted. The entire left side of his body was also severely bruised from when he was hit by a car just days earlier, when Austin was chasing him. There had also been two marks on his skin from when he was tasered in the alley. Dropping the shirt to the ground Nathan dropped his hands to his sweat pants “Are you going to leave now? Or do you want to see my junk, too?” “Who wants to fucking see me hold my breath for ten minutes?! Taking bets! $10 for ten! I need money!!” “What do you think you’re doing, young man?”

“Man? Are you talking to me? -I- I am gambling, solicitating, begging, selling my body for other people’s amusement- and money? I am sure it falls into something of that category. Anyway.- I will chop my own ear off for $50!” He shouts to several other people. Bailee gaped at the other. “I’ll have you know that at least two of those things are illegal.” Informing the older one matter-of-factly. “You-You will not! No matter how much you’re in need for money, harming yourself is not the solution. If you do not stop this right now, you will have to come with me to the station.”

Grinning he waved at someone as they looked at him, while Bailee was talking to him. When she pointed out that two of them were illegal he laughed and looked at her, his head tossing a bit “But did you see me actually do them? So far you have only see me offer to make a bet.” Lifting his head up sluggishly then he slipped his left hand into the pocket of his hoodie “Do not fucking tell me what to do.“ Gripping his fingers around the scalpel hidden in his hoodie he took a step closer to Bailee “I dare you.” “Yes, but betting in a public place is not allowed, so before I had to arrest you I came to warn you. Besides there have been.. complaints. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. I only came to see what was going on and I gave you a warning, I’m done here, unless you’re going to make things difficult and I’d advice you not to.” She spoke calmly, staying right where she was even when the other approached. Though her hand was slowly reaching for the pepper spray on her belt, just in case she’d need it.

Narrowing his eyes on her he snorted “Complaints, it is the park. The complainers can get the fuck over it. It is not like I was talking to their kids or anything.” Tossing his right hand up he tossed his head and rolled his eyes. Nathan grinned then, this was a cop. The last time he had run into them he got tasered. Even more of a reason to pay one of them back by stabbing her. His eyes traveled over to her hand then and he turned “I will let you kick my ass for $1!!“ He shouted, making a few people stop and encourage him. Why can’t things every be simple? Bailee sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “They would. If there wasn’t a suspicious person yelling at people and making them feel uncomfortable.” She mumbled. Were they on drugs? Placing her hands on her hips she eyed him. “Let’s take a walk, hm? You and me.” She tried one more time, she needed him to get away from all these people. “You can tell me why you need that money so badly..”

Now she was really beginning to bug him. Nathan wondered if this girl knew how to leave well enough alone. He had given her an opportunity. Running his thumb along the blade of the scalpel he looked back toward Bailee. Sucking on his tongue he nods “Okay, bitch! Just because I make people uncomfortable does not mean you need to fucking be here? I do not call the cops on my brother every time he or his girlfriend make me feel uncomfortable.” Throwing out his right hand he gestured toward her “So why do you not go take a walk, with yourself and get the hell away from me.” Smirking at her last statement though he tilted his head “I do not need money. That was a lie.” Was he trying to piss her off. She didn’t want to be here as much as he didn’t want her here. There were more important things for her to do that babysit some lunatic. Letting him finish she threw up her hands. “Fine. You want me gone. I’ll go. But I can’t go until you calm down. I need to know that you are okay. And you’re not doing a very good job of convincing me you are.” Bailee wet her lips as she thought. “The way I see it, you have two options right now. Either you calm down, meaning you stop shouting and preferable head home. Or you can come with me and we’ll talk things over at the station.” He had just insulted a police officer, he was disturbing people and he was provoking her. Bailee wasn’t taking his shit anymore, she was done being nice. All he had to do was take the first option and everything would blow over.

Calm down? He would not calm down! Nathan let out a small hiss and then pulled away, into himself as he seemed to realize the situation he was working himself into. But then his eyes dulled and he looked back at her as she continued to talk. His thumb pressed into the blade, drawing his blood now. She was trying to control him, she probably worked for those people! Home?! He didn’t have a home! I can’t. I can’t go home, you don’t understand! Nathan’s eyes shift, his pupils shrinking a bit as they quickly search for apparently some reasonable thought process. He could not find one. His eyes moved back to Bailee and he started to giggle under his breath “I know what you are doing. You are helping them!” Suddenly he charged forward, bringing his right hand up and then throwing it out, trying to smash it in to Bailee’s face and push her to the ground, a amused, twisted look on his face as he launched himself toward her. The older one seemed to quiet down after her speech. Though she didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing to happen right now. She stayed on alert, trying to prepare herself for anything. Tilting her head as he spoke, frowning at his words. “Them?” Bailee repeated confused, just when he swung at her. “What the-” Without thinking she tried to avoid his blow, he grazed her chin just slightly as she reached for the peper spray. While he launched himself at her, she pushed the button of the spray and just hoped it would do the trick.

Dropping away from her he cupped his hands over his eyes and hissed before curling up, his face turning red. His heart started to slam in his chest as the burning from the spray washed over his skin. Stomping his feet childishly Nathan let out a cry before dropping onto his knee’s shrieking as his chest tightened and his breathing constricted. Shaking his head and upper body violently from side to side, Nathan continued to cry before dropping onto his side and squirming for a moment before thrashing on the ground, laying on his side “Bitch! Fucking bitch! Fuck you!” He wheezed, curling into himself his body starting to tremble violently. She knew what it felt like. It was part of their training to experience it themselves, so they wouldn’t use it lightly. In her mind she was justifying her act. He wasn’t in a right state of mind, she was alone and this was the safest option since they were in a public area. Just for a moment she watched him squirm on the ground. Speaking into her radio about her current situation, before she took his arm, rolled him on his stomach and twisted it behind his back. Sitting on top of him as she reached for his other arm and tried to cuff him. “Please do not take any pictures and keep walking.” She said to the crowd that had formed.

Gasping, Nathan tried to collect his thoughts, but all he could focus on was how much pain he was in, at the moment. But that was slowly taking a back step to his mind as anger boiled to the top. He hated her. She was definitely working with the ward. As she moved him onto his stomach and sat on him he let out a cry “I can’t breathe! Please. It- You are hurting me.” He whispered against the ground, his eyes clenched shut. His panic continued rising along with his anger and he kicked his legs “GET OFF!” Nathan shouted before starting to cough. As she went to grab his free hand he twist violently to his left side, scrapping his body on the pavement carelessly, throwing her to the ground as he broke his other arm out of her hold. Sluggishly he pushed himself away from her, his right hand clenching at his chest as he seemed to struggle to catch his breath, his lips turning slightly blue “Do not fucking touch me.-” He paused his breathes short and sharp “I-ii- You are nn-not g-g-g-go-going to-to take -m-me back th-there!” A sharp ringing sound penetrated his head then, making him reach his left hand up, gripping onto his skull, letting out a ear piercing shout, he went limp suddenly, his body crumpling and his head cracking onto the sidewalk. Get out of my head! Rolling his head onto the sidewalk, Nathan tapped his head into the cement. Get out…Get out-I-i ha-ve to get out of here! “I know.” Bailee mumbled in reply. “Just breath, you’re going to be fine. Just keep breathing. It’ll wear off..” She tried to calm him, but right now she wasn’t even sure he could hear her. His unexpected movement had her unbalanced and she fell off of him. Glad he was moving away from her instead of towards her. Slowly she got up, holding her hands open and in front of her so he could see she meant no harm. Well.. not right now at least. If he attacked her again she wouldn’t hesitate. Shaking her head at his words. “No.. I- I won’t.. you’re alright. Just keep breathing.” Whatever place he was talking about it sounded horrible for him. “In and out, in -” Suddenly he collapsed and Bailee rushed forward, afraid that he might have a bad reaction to the spray. She stayed at a safe distance and watched him hit his head over and over again. “Hey.. Hey it’s okay. No one is going to touch you, okay? No one is going to take you back.. if you don’t want to go, alright? Just keep breathing, you’re fine. Calm down.” They might seem like empty promises, but Bailee would do everything in her power to keep them.

Digging his fingers into his head he shook his head as she tried to talk him down. He hated her, she did this to him. It was her fault this was happening. He had to keep reminding himself. Trembling violently still he gasped, trying to catch any sort of breath he could, but for the most part it was fruitless the pepper spray and the panic attack was making it near impossible. Continuing to keep his eyes shut, he could hear whispers inside his head, making him cry out for them to stop. As Bailee continued he shook his head “You are lying! Stop! They won’t stop till they have taken everything!” Nathan seethed, so bitterly. His mind drifting back till he was sitting alone in isolation again, holding his knee’s to his chest. Rocking back and forth, his back tapping against the wall in solid thuds. Whispers filling the isolation room. Pressing his head into the cement Nathan hissed “Just shut up!” He snapped at Bailee. “I am not fine! NOTHING IS FUCKING FINE!” The noise of thudding joined in with the whispering in his head. It won’t go away, Nathan. You can’t leave this place, the way you are. We will fix you.

Nathan’s eyes dart to the side under his closed eyelids. In the isolation room someone stepped toward his rocking body from the shadows. Just let me sleep, please. I just want a normal nights sleep. The shadow crouched down in front of him, their hand reaching out from the darkness and cupping his face before moving down to tilt Nathan’s head up, Sleep, Nathan, is for the sane. People become more disturbed the less they sleep, and the less interactions they have with people, the better. The shadow moved their hand from Nathan’s chin over to a tape machine, and more whispering began to emanate out into the room, bouncing off the walls, as Nathan continued to rock, hitting the wall with his back and sobbing. Breccan, please…please. Suddenly Nathan sat up again, his eyes opening into slits before he brought them over to Bailee, narrowing them on her. An almost animal look crossing his face before he bared his teeth at her. At his shouting she kept quiet, clearly her words weren’t working. And he was right, he was not fine. Not mentally at least. All she could do was stay with him, watch over him and make sure he did not hurt anyone until back up arrived, for which she’d called earlier. Motioning for people to keep walking, to stay away. This was such a mess. All this for just a disturbance complain. While Bailee was beating herself up over the incident, she suddenly noticed the look she was given. As she was crouched not too far from him, she held up her hands again. Making sure he could see they were empty, nothing there to antagonize him. Keeping quiet as well, so she wouldn’t upset him further. A worried look as she kept eye contact with him.

His hand slipped from his head as he watched her not do anything further, not say anything more. Nathan eyed her for a long moment, more to gain control over himself then anything else. This world was too hard. Nathan swallowed, still glaring at Bailee, anger taking over his body still. He hated the look on her face, everyone kept looking at him like there was something wrong with him. Standing suddenly he turned and took off away from the crowd of people, trying to escape. He ignored the pain in his chest as he ran, and Bailee was just out of reach to be able to catch him right away. Assessing the situation, Bailee was just about to say something when he upped and ran. “For the love of-” She was too late to stop him. Watching him run off, just as another police car pulled up. “Well there’s no need for you now, I lost him.” She admitted to her colleagues. Shaking her head as she told them what to do. “Please drive around to look for him, I’ll give you a detailed description on the way.” This was going to have a nasty tail, she just knew it. Not to mention all the paper work that was now waiting for her. With a grunt she got into the car and started looking.

Ducking into an alley Nathan glanced around, find a fenced off area. He felt like he should get higher. Not being on eye level would have an advantage. Quickly he tossed himself onto the fence and started to pull himself all the way up to the top and then climbed onto a pipe. Pulling himself up he started to scale the building it was attached to. Just reaching the top of it before a cop car drove by. Dropping down low to the ground he peeked over the top, then used the building for cover as he continued to get as far away from the park as he could. -You know they are going to keep looking for you till you are found. Who else has pink hair and looks like a loon? Nathan hissed “Shut up.” He muttered stepping over to the buildings edge when he saw no cop cars in eyesight. Standing on the edge he inhaled sharply, before jumping a couple of feet to the lower building below, rolling over the top of it and wincing as pain sprouted from the impact of the fall. Nathan continued moving, keeping an eye on the streets.

"UNICORN" Letting out a yawn, Nathan exited his room and stretched his arms up. Only to have someone come up and gently slap his flat stomach. Laughing they stepped in front of him “Hey , Nye.” They grinned. Nathan sighed, dropping his arms down and placing his right hand over the place on his stomach the other had hit. Dully he watched them as they spoke “What are you going to do today?” The other had asked. Nathan shrugged lamely. He had been having another bout of depression lately. Every so often he would just get fed up with this place, obviously. He was twenty-one, and his family didn't even visit him. His mother had tried, but it had become something that only served to stress him out. As though she were a constant reminder of a life he would never have.

Bringing his left hand to the back of his neck he dropped his head a little bit, his eyes closing as his hand rubbed up the back of his head, his hair had been cut short, and unlike plenty of other lazy patients that were the majority, it was cleaned and well kept. Nathan was usually given his medication in the morning, and for the beginning of the day his entire persona had been one of calm and numbness. Nothing really bothered him on these days. But they were often far and few between, as his doctor had often ordered him to not be given some medication on most days. Days they had liked to toy with the patients in the ward.

Walking with the other patient Nathan was glad he was allowed his medication today, everything just seemed a whole lot worse when he was left without it. Like the entire world was closing in around him, it all seemed darker, as well. He could hear things, echoes of things that had long been etched into his mind from 'treatments' he had been through while in the ward. Glancing toward the barred windows as they walked Nathan spoke “I don't know. I guess I'll probably just watch some Disney movies today and play Life.” He gave a halfhearted grin and reached his hand up absentmindedly touching the windows. He wanted to be outside these walls. Frowning lightly he turned his head away from the window and walked toward the common room with the other patient “Well, I am down for a game of Life, with you!” They had said. The way the other patient had said that had Nathan laughing a bit.

As he walked up to a table he glanced up at the tv screen “Mary Poppins. Always a good choice.” He muttered, half in sarcasm. He had seen the movie about three billion times since he had been shipped off to the place. He felt like if he really put the effort into it, he could repeat every line. Taking a seat then he wrapped one leg around the leg of his chair and hooked the other under the chair “I'm the blue car.” Nathan said as a girl joined them “You are always the blue car! I want to be the blue car.” Nathan threw the red car at her “Complainers don't get shit, but the shaft. Now take the car you get.” With that he quickly plucked the blue car up from the box just as the girl went to reach for it.

She stuck her tongue out at him then he and he winked " Why don't you come use that more appropriately, hm?" Leaning toward her he rest his head in his hand and she pushed his face away from her “Don't be a pervert.” She sighed and set the red car in place. Nathan leaned away and looked at his friend as they placed the green car on the board “Boom, bitches, Mean Green Machine. Gonna whoop both ya asses.” Nathan smirked and took the first roll, flicking the arrow and getting a nine. The other two had lower numbers then him, so he was allowed to go first. Nathan rolled again and landed on an eight. Moving eight squares “College for me.” He grinned, making the other two patients laugh at him “You choose that all the time...-But we can hope, huh?” Said the girl then, teasing him.

After a couple of Disney movies and a few board games later, Nathan was feeling bored. Nathan had lost most of them but Clue, because he would just give up half way through in the other games. Clue seemed a lot easier, it was just solving a murder. He found himself enjoying mysteries too much. It helped distract him from his other thoughts, solving things. But during one game they had ended up playing, the session had become even too stressful for him to keep a lid on his building anxiety and frustration “It's a fucking Giraffe, YOU idiot!” He shouted throwing a picture at some other guy that had joined them “Have you never been to the fucking zoo, you idiot?! Fucking moron!” Nathan snapped, an orderly grabbing him from behind and pulled him away from the table “A fucking giraffe! That's what it is! Go to the zoo you idiot!” Kicking his legs out he squirmed in the orderly's arms as they pulled him away from the situation.

A moment later he was slammed into a wall and the orderly lifted up some pills and shoved them in his mouth. Forcing him to swallow the orderly covered Nathan's mouth once again as he smacked his hand into their chest “It's okay, chill out, Nathan.” A few minutes later they removed their hand and Nathan slumped against the wall, his eyes dropping dully to the floor for the moment. The orderly stepped back from him “Feeling better now? Next time you will take those at the time you are asked. Getting that worked up over a picture, Nathan, that's not helping you.” They reached out and pat Nathan on the shoulder then “Come on, let's go calm down in the music room, huh?” Nathan's left hand reached up to the side of his face, stroking it lightly “O-okay.”

Walking Nathan toward the room in question the orderly and Nathan had a conversation about random things. Like Nathan's interests. Once Nathan gave him a halfhearted smile the orderly smiled back and said “See, the giraffe incident was silly, wasn't it?” Nathan shyly shook his head “Yes. But who doesn't take their kids to the zoo? Who doesn't know what a giraffe looks like, in this country? That's fucking stupid.” With a sigh Nathan entered the music room “Shit parents.” He guessed he honestly couldn't blame the guy, when he really thought about it. It wasn't his fault he had shit parents. Just like it wasn't Nathan's fault he had a shit family, Nathan had realized. But he also noticed how much he missed visiting the zoo and how fuzzy most animals had seemed to him. They were nothing like the pictures in the books he read. It was much more interactive to see them up close.

There had been other patients in the music room as well, several of them were professionals who has just seemed to crack under the pressure of all that 'fame' they had. Nathan wasn't entirely interested in playing a musical instrument, but over the course of the last sixteen years it had been a pastime he wouldn't have given up either. He found he could easily get lost in the act itself. His eyes scanned the room, finding a few instruments that were left untouched. Apparently the resident pianist had been let out of the ward a month before. Nathan had not noticed. Walking over he ran his fingers over the keys. Taking a seat then he adjusted his back, moved a foot over one of the peddles and started pressing his fingers into the keys. The noise that had come out was, what the others in the room liked to compare to that of a cat being run over. Nathan didn't care though, it was soothing to him, the disturbing noises of the messed up notes.

The orderly had left Nathan in the care of one of the monitors in the room and then left him to play. It was two hours till they had to get the patients ready to eat and then medicated and put to bed. After the two hours his own personal monitor showed up “Hey! Time to go.” They said closing the lid on the piano down just as Nathan removed his hands from the keys. Turning then Nathan leaned on the piano and smirked up at the other “Late again, you missed the entire day of events! I fucked that one girl that sleeps down the hall from me.” The other grinned “Oh, did you? You'll have to tell me all about your sexcapades during your shower.” Obviously the monitor knew Nathan was possibly lying. But it wasn't as though it was not something that had happened before. Because of course, Nathan was one of the better looking patients in the ward.

Standing then Nathan walked with his monitor toward the cafeteria “So what were you doing, anyway? Selling drugs again? Almost getting arreste-” An elbow into his gut made him shut up. His monitor laughed “Always the joker, aren't you?” They snapped, walking over to grab Nathan a tray and shoved it against the his chest “No, if you must know, My wife had our son today.” Nathan nods and makes a face, tapping his fingers against the back of his tray “A son, really? And who was she, a nurse here until she went on leave?” He questioned then, placing his tray in the hands of one of the people serving their food. The monitor nodded “So you do remember that far back?”

Nathan waved his fingers toward his head, rolling them “A little here and there. Everything is usually a blur. I can barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Or what my own brothers middle name is.” He had completely forgotten about who Grace was for an entire four years at one point. Walking down the line with his monitor he looked at the other “So what did you name the thing?” The monitor sighed “His name is Hunter.” Nathan grinned “Hunter? Interesting name.” Growing bored he grabbed his plate and started walking away from his monitor “She insisted on the name.”

Sitting at a table the monitor sat on the other side of him. Nathan brought his feet up, his legs moving into the lotus position “Weren't one of you two fucking sterile though.” Nathan said, taking a bite of his food and then pointing the fork at the other “You told me when I was fifteen that in your twenties you guys were trying to have a baby. But for some reason one of you just wasn't getting there.” Nathan smirked and the monitor narrowed his eyes on Nathan “Yes, well, obviously it's a miracle that whatever it was started working.” They said before looking at the food on Nathan's plate “That shit looks disgusting.” Nathan nodded “Yeah, well, no one asked you.” The monitor grinned then and tossed a bag of chips at Nathan “Don't say I never got you anything. Happy Birthday.” Nathan rolled his eyes “My birthday was four months ago...” He pointed out. Not that he was upset, no one else had gotten him anything.

“Ah, well, have them anyway.” Nathan and his monitor were friends, only because of the fact that one of them had seen the other naked and they often times could get along with one another. Opening the bag Nathan shoved his tray away from him and started eating the snack. He always felt ill after eating the food at the ward. So he rarely ate as much as he should have been eating. Stuffing his face full of chip the monitor laughed at him “Dude, calm down, they aren't going out of style! You are going to choke.” Chewing Nathan shook his head and then swallowed hard “Hey! I am in a mental hospital, let me have this.” Nathan grinned and then continued to stuff his face.

Some time later Nathan was getting undressed in his room, the monitor had his back toward the other “You know. If you ever get out of here, do you think you are going to be weirded out by the idea of no one being within five feet of you as you take a shower?” Nathan dropped to the ground and kicked his pants off “Huh. Never thought about it? I don't think it's normal for people to watch other people shower, right?” Standing up then Nathan walked over to the other and placed a playful kiss on their neck, his left hand grabbing onto their head to make them lean back so he could “If you are that jealous of the idea, I will make sure no one else watches me shower.” He grinned then shoved the others head away from him.

Nathan turned the knob on the shower to the heated option and waited for the cold water to drain off. Nathan stepped into the heated water a minute later and let it run over his body, running his hand over his neck he let out a sigh, it felt so good to be able to take a shower. Reaching over he grabbed the shampoo and squirt it in his hand. Slapping his hand onto his head he started soaping up his hair until it bubbled. Looking at the mirror in his shower he grinned and formed his hair into a Mohawk “I love you, you love me, we're a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too!? I love you! You love me. We're the best friends like friends should be. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. Won't you say you love me too?” Nathan sang, making his monitor laugh out loud.

After another minute Nathan reached his hand out and snapped at the monitor who dug out a shaver “Now, Nathan, don't go all suicidal on me.” They seemingly teased, but they were serious. Their eyes moved to the scar on Nathan's arm as they handed the razor over. Nathan shook the blade at them “Oh. Me? I would never even think about doing something like that...” Nathan said, sounding chipper, but his eyes zoned out for a moment as he contemplated several thoughts on the subject. Snapping out of it then, he brought the razor up to his soapy face and looked into the mirror as he started shaving off the facial hair that he had been letting grow out for the last week or so.

Shaking the razor off then he held it back out “There, blood free, just like you wanted.” Nathan grumbled sourly. His monitor rolling his eyes as he pulled out a pair of scissors and placed them in Nathan's held out hand “Again, try not to kill yourself.” They warned as Nathan pulled the scissors back into the shower with him. The monitor looked around the room then, distracting himself again as he took in the look of Nathan's room. There were piles of books that had been checked out from the library at the ward or given to the other. There was one on anatomy, the monitor was sure Nathan had actually stolen that one some how. Walking over he noticed on on Nathan's pillow, reaching over he turned it onto its back “Philosophy?” Bringing his eyes over to the table then he noticed another “Sociology? Nathan- Why are you reading these? Aren't these really complicated subjects?”

Nathan's head popped out of the shower and he narrowed his eyes “Oh, hah. I guess? I ran out of other books at the library a few months ago. So I decided to pick those up the other day. They are kind of lame.” Pulling his head back into the shower he yawned. He knew he was still going to read them, it's not like he had much else to do at night. Taking a look at several other new books the monitor shrugged “Well, have fun. I guess.” They glanced out of the window then, seeing several people coming or going from the ward. His attention was brought back to Nathan then when the other decided to say something “Do you think I would look good with pink hair? I have wanted to dye my hair for a while. I think I would look great with purple or pink hair.”

Walking back over to the shower as Nathan held out the scissors, the monitor listened as the water was shut off and handed Nathan a towel “Personally, I would go with purple.” Nathan stepped out and wrapped the towel around his waist, stuffing the extras into his waist “Ugh, purple would be too dark though, right? Would I be considered a witch? I want people to see me and think ' unicorn'.” His hand spread out, dramatically waving through the air. The monitor laughed a bit and closed the shower door as Nathan walked over to put on his night clothes. But his monitor moved away then “Alright, well, they should be here with your medicine soon enough.” They reached down and lifted up his dirty clothes “I'm going to take these to laundry, try not to fight with them about the dosage, Nathan.”

Nathan knocked his head toward them and then watched them leave. Turning then he lifted the book from his pillow up and flipped it to the last page he had been on. But only read for a moment before putting the book down and reaching under his pillow, pulling out a book on The Art of War. A book he had smuggled in by one of the orderly's. Now it just seemed to blend in with the rest of his books, that some of which had also been smuggled in by an orderly. He was able to read a few pages before someone came into the room. Closing the book then he set it down on one of the stacks, upside down and stared at the nurse as she walked over “Nathan. All this contraband is going to be too much eventually. We've already sent piles upon piles of your journals to your mother. We will need to sort this out tomorrow, understand?” She said before holding out a cup. Nathan took the cup and dropped his head back, dropping the pills in it into his mouth and swallowing them dry.

Crushing the cup in his hand he eyed the nurse “The books stay, like always. The journals need to go. I have been specific about this.” Nathan mumbled throwing the plastic cup into the little trash can near his the table by his bed “Someone might just find my ramblings interesting, one day?” He narrowed his eyes on the nurse, who just smiled and gave him a nod “Sure they will. If they can ever decipher your gibberish.” Nathan glanced to the side, knowing that it was going to be hard to pick out what he was trying to say by just glancing at the journals he wrote. One would need a keen eye to pick up his story. Nathan had realized that none of those journals would have left the ward, if Prescott noticed what was really written inside them. So Nathan had to make all his writings look as insane as possible.

A few minutes later he started to feel tired, his eyes drooping as the nurse crossed her arms, pulling her hand away from his mouth “All swallowed, seems like everything is in check. Rest now.” She turned and walked away then, closing the door behind her. Sluggishly Nathan crumpled at the waist and then fell onto his side before pushing himself up and onto dropping onto the pillow. Panting as his breathes constricted, which helped make the patients to make patients tired, causing their breathing to stress. On a few occasions this had accidentally triggered a panic attack for Nathan, as he thought that he might of been drowning or that the air was being sucked from the room, just paranoid thoughts like those. It didn't take much longer after this feeling before he was out cold and asleep for the rest of the night. It is cruel, to have all this time to learn what ever you like, and never be able to use it. Lifting his hand up to his neck Nathan scratched at a rash of blisters on his neck. He looked a little worse for ware at the moment, after being maced he had sort of gone out of his head for a couple of days, and hadn’t even been back to his Josephine’s or Austin. Currently he was curled up under a tree, snoozing in the winter sun that had sent streams down through the leaves onto his oddly comfortable looking form “…is mrs. white…she killed him…in the kitchen….candle stick…” Nathan whispered lightly in his sleep. Usually she came here to read, when she got bored at home and had to get out. Here she was sure no one would try to get her attention, no one would tease her, or ask her difficult questions. So with her book under her arms she sought out one of her favorite spots. And there he lay, asleep. At the sight she couldn’t hide her smile, his lips were moving and from what she could tell it wasn‘t making much sense, she had to giggle softly nonetheless. She imagined he must be cold and she shrugged off her coat to place it gently over him. Hiding a little more into her scarf she took a seat beside him and started reading.

Silently Nathan continued to sleep, obviously still dreaming about whatever nonsense was going on in his head at that moment, but not being very verbal about it. Had it not been almost as though he were cursed into a five-hour sleep, he might have been more aware of the other girls approaching, and even more so her dropping a coat onto him. But no, there he lay and there he continued to sleep. He had been off in his own little dream world- until he wasn’t. He could smell her sitting next to him, at first. She smelt different from the earth and snow, and him. She smelt a lot like plenty of others he had run into, clean and perhaps flowery. His eyes fluttered for a moment, but then stopped as he continued to doze. A few seconds later he slowly started to open his eyes, the light from the sun was bright. His eyes closed again, stinging slightly. Sitting up suddenly he pressed the bottom of his left hand against his forehead and winced “Wha…” He looked at Elizabeth, squinting “Oh, hey, a book… What’s the name of it…” Leaning down he tried to look at the cover. Losing herself within the pages of the book, she wasn’t aware how much time went by. Catching movement on her side, she watched as Nathan first slowly, than quickly returned to their world. Too slow to read his lips, but from his gestures she got what he wanted to know. Closing the book a little so he could read the title properly. “Did you win?” She asked him with a smirk. “The game of cluedo you played in your dream.”

As Elizabeth had closed the book to allow him to look he grinned “Oh. I have read that.” He had liked the story for a long time. It was one of his many favorites. Grinning lightly he sniffed a bit at her question and thought for a moment “Huh?” He didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, until she said the name of the game. With a shy smile he looked to the side “Ah! Yeah. I did? Hmmm.” He tried to remember it, but just couldn’t conjure anything up in his mind “Well, I hope I did. It would be one sad day if I lost at a game of clue.” “Are you serious? — Why… like, for what?”

“Uh…For what? I do not know. There is nothing I actually want, at all.” Besides to die, what’s the point of being alive if I suck at doing the one thing I swore to do, kill my family. What is my point now?! They won’t listen to me. They-“ Hey! You know what would be really cool right now? Getting hit by a fucking car…” Her body seemed to warm up a little as she continued walking. That or Willa was simply just getting used to the cold. By now she could barely wait for the spring and summer to rear their heads once again. There was so much more you could do in those months compared to the freezing ones. “Yeah, one lesson won’t do any harm.” She wasn’t too sure about point systems herself. The redhead wondered what their peers would think of them going missing together, if they would assume something or even notice.

Wandering into the kitchen, she switched on the heating and then the kettle – grabbing two mugs out of one of the cupboards. “Are you warm enough?” She shouted to him in the next room. “I’ve got plenty of blankets and hoodies if you aren’t.” It felt like she hadn’t had a friend over in such a long time, and she just wanted it to be enjoyable for both of them.

Frowning he continued to look around, feeling like he was learning more about the other by the items that she had placed around her living room. It was making him feel at least a little more comfortable. But not too much, he was still unreasonably stressing over such a simple task as getting comfortable. Which was starting to give him a little bit of a headache the more he agonized over it. Blinking, Nathan kept telling himself to focus on anything else, and not make such a big deal out of stupid, or small things. But it was really hard to do this, when he felt so out-of-place.

At the question his eyes shot up and he looked over toward the sound of Willa’s voice. He smiled, then stopped himself, frowning again. Why did he have to smile, she wasn’t there. Nathan let out a soft sigh, and picked at his pants before answering her “Ah, n- ye-I am!” He answered loudly. Then glanced to the side “I am fine, really. Do not worry about it. Hm.” He grinned, then chastised himself mentally again for it. He had been really cold before, but his body had done a fairly decent job of heating up once they entered Willa’s living space. It was actually the warmed place he had ever been. At the ward the temperature seemed to be just high enough to keep them from freezing, or in the summers, cool enough from overheating. It had a lot to do with the cost. Naomi furrowed her eyebrows at this guy, who the hell was he to talk to her that way. She scoffed before quickly jumping in, “And since when did you become power of the people and start deliberating where I can and cannot have a conversation with a friend?” She then furrowed her eyes even more and as he’d began to mock her, she’d scoffed and decided to really let it go. “Don’t pretend you know me or anything about me.” She spoke before leaning back in her chair.

Nodding his head he glanced away, sighing at her question. He found that he did not have the energy to debate her question with her. It seemed ignorant, to him. He wasn’t telling her not to talk to her friend. He was telling her not to be so loud that other people had to suffer her unbearable bitching. Leaning back he pushed his chair onto it’s back legs as she continued to run her mouth. Then he made a rude face at her “Bitch. I do not want to pretend to know your ugly skank ass. The fuck, you think I want to know your life? I just want you to tone it down or shut that fucking gaping hole in your head, that you are call a mouth.” Maybe if I stitched it shut…

Nathans eyes narrow on Naomi as he gave her a sickened smirk, envisioning himself stitching her mouth shut. But then he realized just how horrible all of that was and glanced away… Normal people don’t think about fucked up ways to shut other people up. Damn it! Just be fucking normal! But by now the throbbing in his head that had begun in the beginning of the conversation was already making him feel like his entire head was going to explode. He hated the sick feeling he got out of these thoughts. Turning his head away then he pressed his hand against his forehead and told himself to just ignore this person, and just be normal. They are going to send you back. If you start acting fucked up. -I am fucked up. -My head, it hurts so much! I can control this. I will. Austin looked up at his brother with wide eyes, as he started to yell at him. He shrugged his shoulders, “Yea.. I should have clarified sorry.” He spoke gently, not wanting his brother to freak out. “You’re right.. I’ve never been there, but I’m sorry… I just wanted to sort of get to know it.. I guess.” He spoke shrugging his shoulders, lightly with a shy grin. “You don’t have to lie about your time there…” He spoke looking at him. “I mean, obviously it wasn’t a good place, nor did you have a good experience there… so you don’t have to pretend. You can tell it how it is.. it’s fine.”

“No, you are just too stupid to know what you are saying half the time.” Nathan corrected, rather viciously, before he could correct himself and only realized how heartless he had sounded once the words had escaped his mouth. Looking down he froze for a solid moment taking in a deep breath as his eyes glazed over, he was thinking. Looking back up as he tuned back in while Austin was talking he shook his head “No, you do not need to get to know it.” A sudden wave of protectiveness had confusingly washed over him. He suddenly felt like he should not invite the others curiosity about such a hellish place, any farther than what had seemingly already stemmed “As you said, now is now, the past it the past. Best to not look into it, or know anything else about it. Austin, do not pursue it any farther.”

He would just have to not act like a total spazz, Nathan knew this would be difficult though. Looking away “Ah, can we not talk about it anymore. As I am sure you have noticed, things are very touchy for me, right now. Like I do not know if you know, but it is kind of like I have a gaping burning wound in my chest, and each time someone freaking brings that into the conversation, mostly you. It kind of feels like lemon juice is being freshly squeezed into the wound.” Nathan nods. Swallowing then he looked away, dropping his hands to his side “But instead, along with the stinging, it’s like my flesh gets more and more rotten.” Grinning then he shook the phone in his hand “Anyway, thanks for the phone, Austin. You are not going to make a habit of texting me if I just disappear again for a few days with no explanation, are you?” Nathan said, joking. Austin looked at his brother watching as he spoke about his version of a shower. He rolled his eyes as the guy in front of him, Austin was learning was the true king of sarcasm. He stared at the boy still on the floor of the shower, “Alright.. a think tank.. that makes sense.” He spoke staring at him, watching as the smile came to his lips after the his awful joke.

Austin rolled his eyes as he spoke about getting naked for him, “Nathan..” He spoke, “Dude come on..” He was trying to tell him that he didn’t need to do that, that he would just leave and he was about to, until he saw the scars against his skin. As he stared at the all the bruises and scares on his brothers body, when he spoke he looked up at Nate’s face. “Uh.. Yea.. I mean.. no, I’ll go.” He spoke, before giving his brother a sympathetic smile, “Just don’t be too much longer..” He spoke gently before leaving the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, and just stood there with his hand still on the doorknob as he took a minute to process what his brothers skin had looked like.

“Trust me, it is a great thing to have, like a mind palace. As my therapist once told me.” Nathan informed. When the other paused, Nathan had realized that this was the first time the other had actually seen the outside damage that his body had taken, being place in a building with people just as, or even more so, dangerous than himself. His eyebrows rise at Austin’s sympathetic smile “Okay? I was not inviting you to stay….So please go. So I can finish. What? Do you really think I am that sick that I want you to watch me get naked. Please.” Waving his hand at the other “Alright. Fine, just give me -ah…thirty- forty minutes.”

Once Austin had left though he dropped his gaze down to the floor “Hmmm. Right.” Taking his pants off then, he laughed… I wonder how I am going to dry off, if my clothes are wet… Nathan stepped back into the shower then and quickly washed his entire body from head to toe before just dropping back to the floor and hummed as he pulled his knees back to his chest and thought over every single thought that came to his mind. The water from the shower made his ability to think seemingly come to him much more clear. Naomi thought the conversation was over, though when he spoke up she just sat there with her jaw open. She gritted her teeth though she didn’t see the point in getting into a screaming match with a total stranger. She just scoffed and shook her head. She watched as he looked at her the way he did, and she her anger suddenly diminished into fear. Watching him stare at her with the smirk on his lips, made her re-adjust herself in her seat, but deciding she was too uncomfortable. She told her friend they should leave and as they were in the midst of packing up she’d noticed he’d recoiled himself and with his head in his hand.

Letting out a shaky breath he looked at the book in his hand and swallowed hard. He had to keep his mind focused on his tasks, it was the only thing keeping him from doing something stupid. He had no idea who this girl even was. But he knew that she was probably annoying as hell…. She is lucky she’s had a family to even spend time with…Nathan guessed this was the reason why she had sounded so sarcastic, usually people spending time with their family away from the ward had the same reaction, he was only assuming this was the case with Naomi, though. He had not meant to listen in on her conversation. But it had been hard to ignore, with how close she was sitting and how her tone just seemed to spark a bit of annoyance in him. Turning his head slowly he looked back to see if the girl and her friend had left, only to find the girl staring at him. Quickly he turned his head away, anger boiling up in him…. Stop staring at me like that! “That desperate, huh? Alright I’ll bite. Let’s see you in action.”

Nathan paused during another bout of shouting to get some kind of attention brought to him, as the girl seemed to actually want to see him hold his breath. Turning toward her he gave her a wild smile and let out an amused huff “Ah! A biter. How-Er, nice.” He narrowed his eyes briefly before glancing away with an optimistic look on his face - I think I love her-….No I don’t. Holding up three fingers Nathan counted down taking in a deep breath before he started holding his breath all together, and waited…..and waited… Zoning back into reality from his apparent trance, Nathan glanced around. Looking confused he frowned a bit as he tried to remember what he had been doing up until now. He could have sworn there was something important about today. Today was a day, no, it was The Day, but what day? Lifting his left hand up he scratched the back of his head “What was important about today?” Austin looked to his brother with a glare as he’d spoke so rudely, he didn’t let it bug him since he doesn’t know him well enough to let it bug him. “Listen, I’m begging you to tell me about it, but if you need to talk about it, all I’m saying is you don’t need to downplay it like it was a ride at Disney world.” He spoke shrugging his shoulders, hoping his point came across clearly.

He nodded, “Sure, yea no that’s fine.” He spoke with a small smile, “So have you given more thought to applying at the restaurant?” He’d changed the subject smoothly to a previous conversion. “It’s no problem,” He spoke and then looked floor, “I mean, I’d rather you didn’t just disappear for days at a time if I’m honest.”

Spotting Austin’s glare, Nathan narrowed his eyes back, after he was able to collect his unfocused mind. As Austin then spoke to him he crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at the other male “That is…Nice, Austin. I guess.” Nathan glanced away with a dull look on his face “I did not think I was downplaying it like that?” Glancing away, Nathan let out a sigh.

“Austin, do you think it would be wise for someone-er…Like me, to work at a restaurant?” He questioned, Nathan had no idea. But he was pretty sure that there would be blindingly apparent issues after he began working there “What if there are too many people? What if they are all talking, and there is a lot of noise, so much noise… And and…Uh, what if, they are all over the place, just people, everywhere.” His mind suddenly started filling his head with so many horrible scenarios “Crying kids…. Chatter, and clinking plates.” Sucking in a sharp breath his heart started to slam in his chest- Shut up. Stop it, it’s not that big of a deal! Nathan told himself, calming down then and letting another sigh “No, it- is a great idea, yeah… I can see what happens.” Nathan grinned, he liked the idea of actually making his own money. It seemed like it was a seal that proved he was a capable adult.

“Yeah, well, I guess I can try.” Nathan glanced away, nervous. He knew that lately these disappearances had been involuntary. But Nathan figured that if Austin knew about that fact, he would probably send him back to the ward, or put him on some sort of medication. Or maybe he wouldn’t. Nathan wasn’t going to take that risk “I just, really like the park, Austin.” Nathan gave his brother a goofy smile then. Austin shrugged his shoulders, “Well, I don’t know if you were downplaying much, but all I’m saying is you don’t need to..” He spoke kind of awkwardly not knowing there was any other way to truly explain what he was trying to say. As his brother began speaking about the problems of the restaurant, he somewhat understood how all those things could be a problem. “Nate, you don’t have to do it.” He spoke as his brother was listing all the problems with his idea. “Okay, you don’t have to do it. Though if you did, you’d be in the back of the kitchen where a lot of those things won’t really apply.”

When his brother changed his mind all of a sudden he furrowed his eyebrows, “Nathan I’m seirous you don’t need to do it if you don’t want to?” He’d reassured, “You like the park?” He questioned, “So you disappear to the park for days?” He questioned wondering if he was really telling him the truth.

“Well, I do not think it is a good idea to share my experience.” Sighing he glanced around, thinking. Nathan didn’t want to be pitied, honestly. Or anything else, he wasn’t used to being cared about. He was sure at that moment that if he had told anyone about his experiences for the last sixteen years, it would make things much more awkward. Nathan didn’t want to be treated like glass. And more, he didn’t want to be treated like a freak. Which he guessed would be difficult at the moment, since he couldn’t control himself. Nathan brought his eyes to Austin’s chest for a moment, a memory coming back to him of when he cut the others chest with a knife a while ago.

Zoning out for a moment Nathan nods as the other talks before shrugging “No. I think it is something I should give a shot. I have to learn how to do these things. I cannot be a shut in. It is part of being an adult, right?” Nathan points at the other, finger gunning. Then poked his finger to his lips and thinks “Yeah! The park is nice. I slept there for months. It is surprisingly peaceful. Depending on where you are.” Nathan nods a bit then tilted his head “Maybe? I guess. I know I wake up there.” Letting out an exhausted sigh, Nathan shrugged bringing his hands up. Camille walked over to him, “Well you don’t seem nearly as evil as the last time I saw you.”

Nathan yawned and watched as the girl made her way over to him and made that statement. He blinked, absolutely lost before smirking at her and then glancing away “Well, the day has not even begun, yet. Give me a couple of hours.” Austin walked into his apartment to see his brother sitting on the couch, “Hey..” He spoke with a small smile and then put the bag on the counter and pulled out the box. He opened the box wrapped cake, “Uh.. Happy Birthday.” He smiled waiting for a reaction.

Sat on the couch thinking about what the day could have possibly been he stared at the tv, the volume was low and it was an old cartoon. But when Austin spoke he glanced up and snapped his fingers “Ah hah! There we go. That was it.” He glanced back toward the tv then and nodded, satisfied but otherwise seemingly uninterested. Today was a day of constant disappointment for such a long time, he had long ago lost his excitement for it. But a moment he looked back toward his brother, seeing that he was expecting some sport of reaction “ What?” Then he looked at the cake and jumped up on the couch “That’s..A cake!” She nodded at him though only rolled his eyes slightly, she didn’t know if it was luck that always let her slip through his fingers, but she’d decided to stay strong when it came to him. “Right. Well care to share whatever is going on in your twisted brain?”

Nathan nodded and glanced away… Does she think I am a villain? I mean. Well. I am a …bad person… Sooo, what type of evil monologue should I give her? Nathan squinted “Well…” Nathan then cleared his throat and gave a wicked smirk and glanced away. Cracking his neck before he started, his tone dark and twisted, detached and cold as each word drift from out of his mouth "Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I am a dog chasing cars. I would not know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, everyone’s got plans. You know, they are schemers. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I am not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So, when I say that it was nothing personal, you know that I am telling the truth. It is the schemers that put you where you are. You were a schemer, you had plans, and uh, look where that got you. I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. You know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it is all, part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I am an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It is fair.“ Nathan stared at her for a long moment before grinning. I am so glad I watched that movie recently. “Um, its your birthday?” Josie replied with excitement filling her voice.

“Oh?” He made a face, then laughed lightly “Yeah! It is, that is right.” Austin furrowed his eyebrows as his brother forgot, “You forgot your own birthday?” He spoke looking at him. “Yea?!” He spoke enthusiastically, “Birthday’s get cake. So come on, I don’t know what you’re favorite flavour is, so I just got my favourite.”

“Can you blame me Austin?” He asked, not wanting to go into detail. But he would if he needed to. Dropping off the couch then he walked over toward the cake and stared down at it as he sat down “Riiiight. Birthdays DO get cake.” Nathan grinned at the other. Despite the fact that his birthday hadn’t had any cake in sixteen years “That is fine, I suppose.” Nathan shrugged, not caring. He didn’t have any idea what his favorite anything was. He liked chocolate. But he couldn’t really, definitely say that it was his favorite flavor. It was more a flavor that he had recognized mostly, that he liked. “Aren’t you excited?” Josie asked.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, Sure. I am totes excited. Yeah.” He laughed lightly. Josie couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but she decided to go along with it. “Birthdays are one of my favorite things to celebrate! I even got you a present.”

Running his eyes over the other, he nods lightly before glancing up. Grinning still he tilts his head and blinked “That is really cool to know.” Looking away he blinks then looks back at her “Nuh uh… Did you?… Shut. Up.” “Of course I did! You only turn 24 once.” Josephine chuckle. “Do you want it now or later?”

Thinking that over Nathan glanced away “What did you get Austin?” He asked before shrugging “I guess I could open it now.” “I got him a new guitar.” Josephine whispered. “I was hoping you would say now!” Josie giggled and pulled a journal with an envelope in it out of her bag. “Here you go!”

At her answer his eyes widened just a bit, in interest. Austin can play the guitar? He thought before glancing away. He liked this new fact about his brother, honestly. But then suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion as a flood of negative thoughts struck him “Nice.” He then said, seemingly disinterested altogether about Austin’s present from the other. When they then handed over a journal he tilted his head. Nathan figured that she must have caught him writing at some point. Tugging out the envelope he smiled “Oh! Hey, that is great! An IOU to be taken to Disneyland three times. Thanks so much!” How ever will I fit that into my schedule with my plot to murder soon, hm. “ I commend you on your knowing I liked to write things down.” Josephine was pleased with Nathan’s reaction. “I’m glad you like them! I remember hearing you sing Disney songs, and I figured you’ve never been, so I thought Austin and I could take you!”

Nathan laughed lightly at her excitement and nodded “Oh? I did not know anyone could hear me. That is- interesting, to know.” Nathan squinted in thought then “I would like that.” Then he just decided to wing it and ask something more serious of Josephine “Has Austin ever even told you why I have not been with my family in the last sixteen years.” Nathan wasn’t going to tell her, himself. He figured that was a duty to be left entirely to Austin. He wanted to see what the other would say, or how long they would skirt around the details. Smiling then at Josephine he waited. Mika walked down the street, angry metal playing loudly in her ears. She wasn’t in the mood for this. She had put on a pretty sapphire dress that she had bought especially for this event, a full face of makeup, and even stupid heels. She ripped the blue pump off of her right foot, and then her left and carried them in her hands, her tights getting ruined on the pavement but she didn’t care. It was dark out, and the street light was dim, but bright enough for her to se the figure standing ahead of her. She was too annoyed to be frightened. “Hello?” She said in a snarky tone.

Nathan was staring up at the sky, humming the song You Don’t Own Me loudly as he watched a couple of birds fly across the sky. At the voice he he slowly looked over at Mikaela and continued to hum with a smile spreading over his lip as he then looked away from her, debating what the best thing to do to her would be. Mikaela just kept walking, confident now that she recognized the person in front of her, not feeling like talking to Neil. She didn’t feel like talking to any man right now. She couldn’t hear anything but her music. It wasn’t even the kind of music she liked but it matched her mood so she kept listening.

Nathan glanced after the other as she walked passed him and continued on her way. He picked up on the vibe that she was a bit upset. And he really didn’t care at all. So he didn’t chase after her and continued to watch the sky. Austin turned twenty-four today and instead of hosting a big party, he really just wanting to spend some time the bar with his brother and girlfriend to celebrate. Though the more her drank, he kind of lost himself in the bar. “Hey, Barkeep!’ He yelled laughing, “A shot for me please!”

It had been a few hours since they had gotten there. Nathan had no idea how he was managed to be dragged all the way to the bar. It was noisy and gave him a splitting headache. And no matter how much he drank, as with the last time he was here, nothing seem to happen. Frustrated he had stood up and found someone to distract him from all the bullshit going on around him. About thirty to forty minutes later Nathan exited the bathroom and wiped his lips off, smirking as he watched a guy leave and wink at him as they made their way back into the crowd. Once he had his mind mostly back under control he walked over toward his brother. And sat down “How much longer are we going to be stuck here?” Austin waited for his shot, and as he waited he saw his brother come up to him. “Brother!” He yelled, “And another for my brother!” He yelled and the bartender nodded, then looking back at Nathan. “Aren’t you having just a little bit of fun? Come on, this is how we do it, we get a birthday, we get drunk.”

Nathan made a face “ Ah, you really like to point out the fact that I am your brother.” He scrunched his nose awkwardly before grinning at the other a bit and looking toward the bartender who went to get him a shot. As Austin asked if he were having just a bit of fun “Well, I suppose I am. It is just kind of noisy in here…. And-” The shot was placed down in front of him. Nathan reached over “Nothing I drink is kicking in right now, I must have a great tolerance.” He then down the drink and slammed the glass back onto the counter top “ Which, i guess, I wouldn’t even know what it is supposed to do.” Camille looked at him, as he had just went on a speech. After a moment she hummed, tilting her head lightly then beginning to clap. “Wow, nice.” She shook her head chuckling lightly. “You kind of nailed it, I mean the Joker does do it better cause, come on.. its’ the Joker. But not bad, definite A for effort.”

Nathan nods at her smugness and smiles, before talking “Yeah, You caught me.” Tilting his head then he narrowed his eyes on Millie and then started walking closer to her “Shame.” His smile got wider and more sadistic “What I was originally going to say was this-” Suddenly he reached his hand up, pretending as though he were going to reach out and grab her “I am planning on tying you to a chair and pouring gasoline on you. Then lighting you on fire! And as you screamed in pure agony, cackle and tent my fingers. BWahahaha. But The Joker is the man. Very hot. My. Hero.” His fingers curled into a fist then, and he pulled his hand away from her before turning to leave. Demetria grew suspicious when he actually agreed, and quite enthusiastically at that. The timer she had set on her phone prior to his countdown kept running as it should Remaining mum, she tilted her head, eyeing him just to see just how long he would actually last. Ten minutes? As if. However, doubts soon swirled when he passed the average 30 second mark, then kept on going, yet to give up or show any signs of difficulty. “This is a trick right? How are yo–”

Watching the look on the girls face go from suspicious to curious almost made Nathan grin. Of course he had no idea he was dead, this was purely and attempt to get some sort of sick fun out of passing out and possibly getting paid. But it also might of just been to get attention. He did, after all, pick a perfect spot for it. As eight minutes started to tick off he glanced around, not feeling like he needed to breath. But his lips had started turning blue. Placing a hand on his hip as she started to talk, he brought his free hand up to his lips, pressing a finger to them. Then he shook his head back and forth. As the time neared his goal of 10 minutes, she had to arch a brow at his tenacity. Blue lips hinted at just how much the body had endured. If it wasn’t for that sign she was going to question whether or not he was even human. “You’re willing to pass out for 10 dollars?” Demetria tsked, eyes glancing to the her phone as she began counting down the last 10 seconds. “Five, four, three…two, one!”

Bringing his hand up to his forehead as a wave of dizziness started to mess with his head. A headache was beginning after another moment. Nathan dropped his hand down from his head though and ignored it. At Demi’s question he grinned and gave a little nod. When she then went on counting down once she got to one and once he had counted to 60 for the 10th time he waited a few extra seconds before gasping and dropping down at the hip, his hands moving to his knees “Aww, that one hurt a bit… Ahhh…” Looking up at her he makes a face “Oh, man, I am willing to do a lot for even one dollar honestly…” Adam’s eyes shot open and he looked around, staring up at the starry sky. Immediately, his mind filled with questions. Where was he, what time was it, why was he on the ground? His mind was whirring, so much so that it took him almost a whole minute of laying there before he finally had the sense to stand up. Slowly, he headed out of the alley and out to the sidewalk, where the lights of the street lamps revealed the dried blood on his shirt. Once he realized, he stared at it for a moment, shocked, before zipping up his leather jacket to try and hide it. He didn’t realize that there was still a bit on his face. Tapping his pockets, he quickly figured out that his phone and wallet weren’t with him, so his only option was to ask a stranger. The first one he spotted, he walked up to, swallowing hard before speaking. “Sorry to bother you, but do you know what time it is?”

Standing up Nathan had pushed himself away from the bar. Even though coming to this place was a constant nightmare and could not solve any of his problems. Those problems being ‘Why in the hell can’t I just get drunk like a normal boy. This is not fair.’ and the disappointment that followed drinking the entire bars worth and his money’s worth of alcohol and just wishing he could step in front of a car. But no, he had to kill his family first. Stepping outside he started to dig into the hoodie of his pocket, past the scalpel and other sharp objects he had stolen. Grabbing the pack of cigarettes he pulls them out and removes one, digging out the lighter with his other hand as he brought the single cigarette to his lips.

After lighting the cigarette he stuffed the pack and lighter back into his pockets and watched the sky, his bandaged up left hand and wrist moving up to grab the cigarette after another moment as he let out a breath, smoke drifting into the air “It could be worse. I could still be trapped in that fucking place, ignored for the rest of my life. Who is that stupid? I am not dead. Who the hell does he even think he i-” Just then some random guy walked up to him and Nathan narrowed his eyes on them “Excuse you?” He muttered. Looking the guy over Nathan held the cigarette a few inches away from his face, bringing his right arm across his to grab onto his upper left arm as he noticed the blood “The time?” He gave a slightly smirk, dull black eyes focusing on the bloodied shirt “The time iiis…Night.” Nathan then suddenly stepped toward Adam, sniffing at the air a little bit “What have you been doing, little boy? Looks like you have been doing something very bad.” Adam wasn’t normally this hesitant, but he was just so confused. He didn’t even know what was happening, why he woke up in an alley… the last thing he remembered was wanting a granola bar from a convenience store, and he didn’t even know what was going on. “Sorry, I just don’t– it’s a long story, hard to explain, I need to know…” He trailed off, having been speaking too quickly. But then the other smirked and his lips parted, eyes scanning him. Sighing heavily, he pursed his lips before speaking again. “Can I use your phone? I need to call my family.” He needed to know what was going on, why he was covered in blood. But suddenly Nathan was moving towards him and he instinctively took a step back, memories flashing back to when he was a child. That paired with the words, anyway, were freaking him out. “I don’t know, I just woke up like this in the alley… can I please just borrow your phone?” He asked quickly, wanting to get away from the other as soon as he could. Something was putting him off.

Noticing the other backing up Nathan stopped, watching Adam. He titled his head then and wondered why the other had reacted that way. Nathan knew that of course walking toward someone, like he had, was intimidating, which is why he often did it. It seemed to make people even less likely to become a problem for him. But the look on the others face had interested him the most. Tapping the ash off his cigarette he moved his right hand off his left arm and nodded “Your family?” Nathan asked, curiously. He had never killed anyone, it would have been interesting to talk to someone who had, he figured. Blinking then he yanked the phone Austin had given him out of his pocket before slowly and a little hesitantly handing it over to Adam “Did someone hurt you?” He then asked, guessing that it might of also been Adams blood. He wouldn’t rule it out. Adam didn’t like how the other was treating this conversation. It was strange, but at least Nathan didn’t take another step towards him when Adam moved away. The brunet nodded as Nathan repeated his words and scanned his face, his own showing massive signs of relief when he agreed to lend him his phone. “Thank you.” He muttered and took the phone, pressing the unlock button and his eyes widening. “This is wrong, right? It’s not January, it’s April…” He said hesitantly, even more questions springing to mind. That explained why it was so much colder out than what he remembered it being, but it just didn’t make sense. How could it be January 2017? He completely ignored Nathan’s question, it having gone out of his mind as soon as he saw the time.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed at the other as he continued to watch them. The phone had seemed a lot more at ease in Adam’s hand, than Nathan’s. Still being clueless about most of what had happened in the last sixteen years outside the ward. Wondering then why the other didn’t have their phone, he frowned, guessing that this must have been some sort of mugging. Taking a drag from his cigarette then he sighed as the other asked their idiotic question “Heh, you are fucking kidding right? Are you drunk? It is definitely not April.” A bit more pissy then, because the other had ignored him, Nathan clenched his jaw for a moment. He then decided to move on “ Well do not just sit there like a fucking chicken staring up at the sky on a rainy night. Call your damn parents.” Adam rubbed his face at the other’s reaction, getting a little more panicked. “No, it’s… it’s Monday, April Fourth, 2016. I just got off the bus on the way home from class…” He stared down at the date and then looked back up at the other, more than confused. “Oh, right… okay.” He opened up the phone and started dialing the home number, figuring Adina would be home to answer it, if Genevieve hadn’t gotten home yet. He still didn’t believe that it was January. When he got the electronic voice telling him that the number had been discontinued, he hung up and frowned. Why would their phone number not be working. He started typing in his sister’s number, before pausing. “Fuck.” He never memorized the last two digits. “I… I guess… here.” He held the phone out for the other again, taking a deep breath.

“That is nice to think and all. But really, I think you should probably do a little less believing what you think, and more believing what you have heard.” Nathan glanced to the side “After all, you woke up in an alley covered in blood. With no idea why. I would say you are not the best voice of reason right now.” Watching the other try to make contact with someone they knew, and then fail, Nathan let out a loud sigh. Then reached over and took his phone back as it was given “Your family not answering? I can understand that. I am the family disappointment too.” He was assuming, he knew, but it was much more fun than to assume that the others family just hadn’t been near a phone. Looking at the phone then he noticed the other had forgotten to type in two numbers “Am I missing something here, or did phone numbers get two numbers shorter?” Laughing lightly he closed out of the dialing area. Putting the phone away then he looked away, guessing that would be the end of the interaction. “But why did I wake up in an alley covered in blood with no idea why!?” Adam raked his fingers through his hair, frustrated. It was when he pulled his hand from his head that he realized that was covered in dried blood too, stained red. After giving the phone back, he let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “It said the line was disconnected, but why…? I don’t know why they would disconnect the phone line.” He needed to just go home to find them, he supposed. It would probably scare the hell out of both of them, seeing him covered in blood, but that was just how it was going to have to be. He needed to ask them what was happening, maybe they would have an answer. Maybe he had clinical amnesia and he just couldn’t remember anything until now… and then… got blood all over him. “No, I can’t remember my sister’s full cell number. Or I’d have made two calls.” He admitted, pursing his lips when the other turned away. “Thanks.” He muttered, rubbing his face. He’d have to figure out a way home, but he wasn’t just going to ask a stranger for that.

At the others yelling he pulled back a bit ready for them to freak out. But then remembered that this guy was a normal guy. Not someone who seemed to have a break down just because they didn’t get the Monopoly piece they wanted. Sniffling Nathan nods as he listen to the other. His eyes moving to the blood, a small pinch of pain hitting his chest briefly. Confused by this feeling he ignored it as he continued trying to ignore Adam. Dropping the cigarette to the ground when Adam was done explaining he nods and rolled his eyes “Well, that just fucking sucks.” Looking back at Adam he stared at the other with a bored expression “Oh, do not thank me. You got absolutely no where. So I technically did not help you.” Nathan grinned and watched them begin to walk away “Do you think aliens kidnapped you?!” Nathan suddenly started to look excited and he let out a squeak he couldn’t quite control as the excitement of even the idea of aliens, grew. Embarrassed then, he brought his right hand up to his mouth and looked away, narrowing his eyes on the ground as he ignored that feeling too. Don’t be silly, aliens aren’t real, idiot!! “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Adam muttered after he’d raised his voice, getting more and more frustrated with every question that he couldn’t answer. He couldn’t remember what happened. He walked into the convenience store, headed for the aisle with the food, and then it all went blank. He couldn’t remember anything. “Well, thanks for letting me try.” He muttered, starting to walk away, but he froze at the other’s suggestion. “I think if aliens existed and didn’t want us to know they existed, they wouldn’t have sent me back down in super bloody clothes.” He pointed out, but when he looked back at him properly he winced. He didn’t realize the other had been so excited about the concept, and he didn’t mean to just burst the bubble, but no… he didn’t think that was possible.

Dropping his hand from his mouth Nathan looked back toward Adam. He suddenly felt irritated. Even though what he had said was stupid. Nathan let out a huff, his nose curling a bit as he lifted his head up slightly “ Well if they wiped your memory. It would not matter how they sent you back, would it? ” Raising an eyebrow then, he gestured toward Adam “ Bloody clothes would not be the most important thing here, if it were aliens. ” Smirking lightly he glanced toward the sky, squinting slightly “But maybe you are right. Maybe it is just that you might have a memory problem. The pills I once had been on used to give me the same problem. Days would just pass by, months, even years and I would not know what year it was sometimes - Or maybe you just snapped and killed someone.” His eyes widened as he remembered being in a small room back at the ward for days. His fist banging against the walls, fingers scratching until they were raw and bleeding, just for someone to hear him. The staff would often ignore patients that were placed in isolation rooms, for days. It was on one of those days when he was still a child that he remembered snapping and tearing the throat of a nurse open, with his teeth. Nathan had completely zoned out into his memories that he had forgotten about Adam for the moment. Austin looked at Nathan as he spoke, “Well you are.” He smiled lightly staring at him with drunk eyes. “Have you met anyone cool?” He spoke looking at Nate. “Well that’s two things, you have the best liver of all time, or you haven’t had enough.” He laughed lightly. He tilted his head back with his brother, “Make you relax!” He spoke as he grabbed his brothers shoulders and shaking them lightly.

“Yes.” Nathan didn’t know what that really meant. They hadn’t known each other for that long. Nathan was pretty sure that bringing this up to Austin would only upset the other though. So he just ignored it and glanced away “ No. I have not run into anyone cool. Should I have?” Resting his head in his hand he stared back at the other when they went on “Well, I did grow up in a contained environment that made it difficult to ruin my liver.” Nathan said, with a forced laugh. Glancing away from Austin then, he tried to think of what else to say about it “How I wish it were enough.” Nathan muttered. As his shoulders were grabbed he froze and narrowed his eyes on Austin as they started shaking him. A small wave of nausea came over him making him swallow hard “Ah- R-Right, sure. Relaxing- How much have you had?” Nathan asked with a grin. Adam pursed his lips as the other continued to speak, already quite convinced that it wasn’t an alien abduction that made him appear in an alley. “Why would they want me for nine months?” He asked, mostly humouring him. He didn’t know why, since he was the one that was all panicky. “I didn’t kill anyone, don’t say something like that.” He rubbed his face again, letting out a breath. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. He wouldn’t turn into his father, that had been what he was afraid of since he was a child. Whenever someone asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, his first thought was always ‘not my dad’. “And I’m not on pills.” Or at least, he wasn’t back in April. After getting lost in his own thoughts again, he snapped out of it and looked back at the other. “Oh, uh, are you okay?”

Nathan blinked “Does it look like I would know?” He could tell the other was just playing along now. The staff at the ward often did that, too. Rolling his eyes then he nods “Right. But you do not know that.” Nathan stated. Glancing the other over though he could tell the other was probably a weaker personality. There were plenty of those types in the ward, as well. Nathan smirked a little as he continued to form who this man was. Moments later while he was in his own little world he let out a few strained, anxious breathes before the other spoke to him. Looking to Adam then he blinked, and gave the other a light smile “Oh, yeah. I am very okay. I was just remembering something.” Shrugging then he waved his hand “Well what in the hell are you hanging around here for, you should go home and clean that blood off you before someone confuses you for a psycho murderer.” The house was a cosy one, in her opinion; not too big and not too small. The perfect family home that made you feel like you were part of it while there. Pretty curtains lining the windows, cushions thrown haphazardly about. She wondered if he was looking at the pictures on the mantlepiece, whether it was obvious that she was adopted with her striking red hair and features nothing like her parents. It was nothing to feel anxious about of course, but she pondered it regardlessly.

He didn’t sound so sure when she asked him if he was warm enough, but Willa decided not to push it. Why would he lie or feel ashamed to admit it? She was the one who’d asked, after all. “Do you take milk or sugar, and how much?” She asked, making hers first quickly.

At the question Nathan scrunched his nose to one side “I-Ah-” Stopping himself he didn’t have a clue how to answer. Of course in the end he just resigned to drinking whatever it was “Sugar sounds good. Umm, 9 spoons?” He wondered if that would be enough. He figured it would be pretty sweet, but that would be fine. The girl made a small face at his response initially, before shrugging and putting that amount in anyway. Finally she walked back into the living room with the steaming mugs, placing them on the coffee table and then sitting down on the couch next to him and crossing her legs beneath her. “Might be best to wait until they cool down a little.”

Continuing to look around the living room putting a few mental notes on a few things he thought he could ask her, for conversations sake, Nathan looked as though he were unimpressed by it all. But when Willa finally returned from the kitchen with the drinks he looked back to her the expression on his face lifting just slightly as she sat next to him “Yes. That would be smart.” He nods. Looking toward the cups then he swallowed “So uh, your living room is…nice? Your parents look like…Parents…” He guessed, but he had no idea. “I heard that he still is afraid of the dark, and pee’s in his bed.” Said some kid to a few of his friends as they corned another boy in the playroom. Nathan was nearby sitting by himself at a table flipping through a coloring book. At 11 years old he wouldn't have been able to imagine still using one of these things as a distraction. But something about it just made his mind at ease. The faint smell of the crayons as he dug through the box, or that had remained on his hand after using a color. Today he was coloring the image of Tinkerbell. She was a cool fairy, as far as Nathan was concerned. The other boys in the room had teased him about it for a few minutes before being distracted with other people to torment.

Not really caring about getting involved with any of the other children Nathan had been ignoring the increasing tension that was building up in the room between the more violent kids and those they sought to torment. Nathan was unpredictable so he was roughly left alone, most of the time. Staring expressionless at the paper he moved to change out one color for another as one of the boys from a moment ago when on after slapping the kid they had surrounded “Are you scared of me? So was my little brother.” They had leaned in closer to their victim, making them stumble back until they dropped onto the floor asking the older boy to stop. Nathan sucked in a breath and started to dig the crayon in his hand into the table.

As he heard a fist connect with the weaker boys face Nathan lifting his left hand up to run his fingers across a newly scared patch of skin along his neck. His hand was shaking as then noise in the room grew. Closing his eyes Nathan tried to ignore what was going on just a few feet away from him “Be good...I have to be good. They are waiting for me. I-I can't hurt anyone else...” Nathan whispered, then covered his ears. But the more it went on with no nurse in sight Nathan started to become more irritated. Slamming his fists into the table then he stood up and walked over as the leader of the group of boys was on top of the smaller boy, punching them repeatedly in the face.

Nathan's cold black eyes were locked on the old boy as he approached kids moving to get out of his way as he walked over, one of the older boys friends tried to warn them but had been too late by the time the boy was able to hear them Nathan had already kicked them in the head, making them drop to the ground and hold their hand to their face as a trickle of blood began to drop from the cut the impact had made on their eyebrow. Nathan narrowed his eyes down on the two boys. Then he looked to the smaller one “It's okay to be afraid of the dark.” He smiled before holding out his hand to the other. As they took his hand Nathan pulled them up and nodded as they gave a shy thanks. Something about the other suddenly reminded Nathan of his brother “Don't worry about that moron. He thinks he is so cool because he murdered his little brother.”

A hiss came from the kid Nathan had kicked before they shouted at him “At least I could finish the job, unlike you!” Nathan smirked and took a step closer to the boy he had kicked , staring down at them “Which means I might be getting out of here, and you won't, ever.” Nathan taunted “SO what, will you be murdering all your friends?” Nathan asked, before giving a wicked and brief laugh “Don't you get it? You fucked yourself, Gage.”

Suddenly Gage was pushing himself up and speared Nathan in the gut, sending them both to the ground. Nathan having the wind knocked out of him, which gave Gage an opening to start viciously punching Nathan in the face. After a moment of that Nathan was able to catch his breath enough to lifting his right hand up and block a few punched as he punched his right hand into Gage's side, and shoved them off of him. Wiggling out from under them Nathan started crawling away from the older boy only for one of his legs to be grabbed, making him turn and slam his freed foot into Gage's face “Get the fuck off of me!”

It was then that the nurses had finally decided to intervene, one of the orderlies grabbing Gage before they could bite into Nathan's leg and another orderly grabbing Nathan under the arms as a Nurse shouted at him “I should have known you would do something like this, Nathan!” Nathan squirmed in his orderlies arms “But Gage-”

“ I do not care, Nathan! How many times are you going to start fights before you get it?” The nurse smirked as she approached him “Throw him into isolation. Dr. Prescott will decide for how long. Hopefully you don't get let out.” The nurse sneered, crooking her head a bit, showing a fresh scar on her neck in the shape of a bite mark. The orderly holding Nathan nodded and started pulling him away from the playroom then. Nathan started shouting back toward the nurse, and pleading with the orderly to listen to him. But as usual he was ignored.

The Nurse turned to Gage then and glared at him “As for you, I expected better from you.” She reached over suddenly and slapped Gage across the face, making the other kids in the room wince. But they had already been scared stiff from Nathan's shouting which could still be heard, so none of them dared to move until the nurse brought her attention to them “Put Gage in his room and start a movie for these others.” The nurse order before then making her way out of the room. Only to stop when she noticed the reddening marks on the shy boys face “Christopher, come with me and I'll get you something for that.” She took Chris' hand then and lead him out of the playroom.

Being throwing into the isolation room Nathan stumble on his feet before dropping to the ground, wincing before turning to run toward the closing door. The orderly looking on him as Nathan reached the door when it clicked shut and started to bang on it “Please! You don't understand! Don't do this! Please! I want to go home!” Tearing up Nathan slammed his hand open on the door and then slid down onto his knee's crumpling a bit into himself as his head pressed against the door “Don't take them away from me again... Please. I want to go home. I want to see my family again... Please.” Nathan begged, a few tears and a couple of drops of blood dripping onto the floor and mixing into one another. Gemma rolled her eyes as she looked at the person in front of her. They were telling her some insane story, and she, as almost always, could find a million better things to do than to sit there and continue to listen to them. “Look, I don’t care. Lies will get you nowhere. If that’s all you have to say then can I go?” She shifted her weight on to her other foot as she waited to be dismissed.

Nathan took a bite out of a brownie as he walked down the sidewalk, and paused as Gemma was yelling at someone about some story they were telling her. He blinked a few times and chewed slower, before smirking “Wow. Bitchy much?” He mumbled before turning the brownie over in his hand and laughed “ But lies have gotten plenty of other people places…”Nathan mumbled, making a face “Hey, want a brownie? There is a really cute red head down the street handing them out. Maybe you can go chill the fuck out and get one? They are pretty good.” Gemma cut her head towards the boy who had interrupted her conversation, instantly wanting to lash out at him, but deciding against it. “Thanks for the suggestion, but I didn’t ask for it.” She couldn’t even stomach the thought of eating a brownie. She turned her head away from the boy, deciding that she should just keep her mouth shut because she always ended up saying something mean.

Tilting his head up a bit he grinned at her remark, then shrugged “And yet, you got it anyway, funny how that worked out. It is almost as if I could do what I wanted.” Narrowing his eyes a little bit then he looked away. She let out a soft sigh as her gaze turned back to him. She had already decided that arguing with him was not worth her time. “You’re right.” She shot him a soft smile. “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.” She turned back toward him before offering her hand to him. “Maybe we can start over?”

Nathan rolled his jaw for a moment as she seemed to be biting her tongue. He then grinned as she spoke, agreeing with him. “I do not imagine that is the case…” He muttered looking toward the sky before looking back toward Gemma a second later and letting out a sigh as he watched her hold out her hand toward him. Nathan thought to himself for a moment before reluctantly reaching out his left hand to shake her outstretched one briefly before pulling his hand back from hers “Sure?” he widely at him as he took her hand, though she was using her smile to mask what she was really feeling. She had no need to try to make new friends because she already had everyone fighting each other to get to her anyway. “You don’t seem too happy about that. Most people can’t wait to get my attention.”

Nathan blinked slowly and started to wipe his left hand off on his chest. When Gemma started talking and revealing just how big her head was Nathan made a face and looked down wondering just where he could take this little interaction and get the best result. His eyes flicked back up, lightening up just enough to convey a naive expression to the other. Trying to look clueless “Oh? I am so sorry about that. I was just thinking about something.” He grinned at Gemma “Oh, well then I feel honored to have it. Are you a princess?? A celebrity? Some really rich girl?” He asked, looking as though he were excited about meeting a person of reverence. Gemma refused the urge to roll her eyes at him, instead deciding that she was going to tone down her own self-absorption. “Okay, I’ll let you have that one,” she told him before taking a moment to calm herself down. She was full of herself, but she also knew to quit when she was ahead. “I’ll try my best to be nice now, but I can’t promise anything.” She knew that no matter how hard she tried that she could always lash back out.

“Let me have what?” He asked, looking confused. Nathan grinned slightly as she was silent for a moment. He wondered what the silence meant. Then he started to get off topic and think about why he was still here talking with this woman. He could have sworn he had something important to do. As Gemma was talking again he pulled out his phone and looked at the list of things he was supposed to buy at the store “Oh? Well, that would be nice.” I need rope. He thought as he flicked his thumb across the screen, over the list of items he needed to murder his entire family “Well, I guess it is a good thing I have plenty of experience with liars.” Slipping his phone back into his pocket along side the knife he had with him, Nathan forced a smile onto his face “Anyway, I guess I need to go buy some rope for my family reunion that is coming up. I may see you around.” He stepped around her then and started walking away from Gemma. Austin nodded his head as his brother confirmed that they were in fact brothers. He shrugged, “I don’t know, I mean there’s a bar full of people, I’m sure you could find someone to talk get to know.” He smiled tapping his brother on the shoulder. He raised his eyebrows drunkingly thinking about that theory, “You know that.. that makes a lot of sense.” He spoke laughing along with Nathan, Austin being in this state of mind he felt a voice, as he turned his head the bar tender gave him another shot. He cheered, grabbing it and turning back to his Nate. “I don’t know, but whatever number add one more!” He laughed before throwing the shot back and coughing a bit. He’d dropped his hand from his brothers shoulders during his coughing spat, that when he finally cought his breath, his hand went back to the shoulder in front of him. “Alright, let’s find some friends. Or maybe someone you could sleep with? What’s more relaxing than sex!” He yelled before something came to mind, and he whispered to his Nate. “You’ve had sex before right?”

Nathan didn’t like the idea of getting to know any of these people. He was only here to do one thing. Then once he was done with that he was also going to kill himself. So in the end Nathan figured that it would be entirely pointless to make friends, only to have to hurt them not long after. “No thanks.” Nathan muttered continuing to rest his head in his hand and look toward the bartender, motioning for them to bring him another drink. As the other went on he huffed, rolling his eyes a bit “Yeah. I bet it does.” Nathan made a face at Austin’s answer before laughing lightly and nodding as Austin coughed. Once the other had recovered though and went on about making friends “Ah… I do not think that is a good idea…” Blinking he glanced away “Someone to sleep with?” Nathan laughed at Austin “Oh, yeah… Uh, suuure.” But when Austin whispered to him. Nathan looked confused for a moment, then pulled away “Heh. You are a funny guy, Austin.-Of course I have had sex. Cannot watch Disney movies and play board games all the time.”

Austin furrowed his eyebrows as he’d responded so sarcastically to the suggestion of him getting laid. “Nate, come on.” Then as he pulled away and spoke, Austin listed his hands in surrender. “Can you blame me for assuming? You just said you were sheltered basically your entire life!” He spoke feeling that his excuse was fairly valid. He then shrugged it off and rubbed his hands together then held them up in a triangle like a director would. “Alright you look good, you just turned twenty-four if you wanted, you could milk the whole sheltered thing and could easily work with that to get someone to go home with.” He nodded at his brother then started to look around the bar, “Alright, see anyone around?”

Nathan just stared up at the older male before letting a sigh as they whined. When they seemed to surrender he nodded, eying Austin suspiciously. As the word ‘sheltered’ was dropped Nathan blinked a few times, and gave a look as if he were going to be sick “Sheltered?” He questioned before muttering something unintelligible under his breath and looked away from Austin as the bartender came back with his drink. Sheltered?! I wouldn’t say annual fucking beatings and other forms of abuse from mental patients and staff members alike is fucking sheltered! Nathan thought gripping onto the glass tightly before lifting it up to take a drink. As Austin continued to talk Nathan brought his attention back to the other “I look good?” He asked before reaching up a hand to pull on a strand of pink hair “Hm. All right?” He looked around before shrugging “I do not know… I guess maybe a few people- HEY… Austin… how would bringing someone ‘home’ work out?”

Sian looked up from her phone at the stranger, raising her eyebrow at him. “How the fuck should I know?” She rolled her eyes. “Do I look like your bloody secretary?”

Jumping slightly at the voice before he caught himself and turned to look at where it the voice had even come from. Narrowing his eyes on Sian he tilted his head a bit “No. You do not look like you would make a very good secretary anyway…” Smirking then, Nathan placed his right hand on his hip and looked Sian over “And I was not fucking asking you.”

Sian narrowed her eyes and tilted her head right back at the stranger, in near unison with the strange man. But instead of placing a hand on her hip, she folded her arms over her chest. “You seem to need one, though. You’ve heard of this thing called a phone, yeah? You put dates in it, so you don’t annoy everyone around you about how forgetful you are.”

Blinking, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him before shaking his head at her “That would be very stupid, you should know.” Pointing at her then, Nathan took a step closer to Sian “I do have a phone…” Blinking in confusion then he thought about what she said “I do not know how to do that.” Nathan mumbled then and shook his head “Look!- Shut the fuck up! I was not even fucking talking to you. So fuck off! And I do not give a fuck about anyone else around me, or if they find me annoying.”

The second Nathan repeated him, Austin got on his defense, “Hey your word not mine.” He spoke before even thinking about it, he nodded as he’d questioned it. “Yea, I mean the hair, isn’t as bright as it was before. But It’s still good.” He looked around the room, looking for girls being a narrow-minded person, to assume that his brother would be straight when really he didn’t know. He made a face, “Hm.. yea we’re all gonna have to share the bed.” He spoke staring at Nate seriously, before breaking out into laughter. “God, no. I’m kidding. As it actually happens, mom and dad are actually out of town right now. So… with Grace and Bethany out, I thought you could take the apartment.”

Thinking about it he nodded “I did? But I meant for it to be used loosely, I think?” He muttered playing with the rim of his drink and looking around. Austin continued to talk but Nathan blanked out for a moment trying to process the people in the room and which ones he’d find suitable for him. But at the bed comment he scrunched his nose and looked to Austin again “What?” He asked before the other burst out into laughter. Nathan only gave a blank look toward the other, then blinked and nodded “Right.” But his eyes widened as the other went on and his grip on the glass tightened “They do live here?!” He asked, his voice hiking up a bit before he shook his head “Ah…. R-Right. Yeah. I can take the apartment, yeah.” Forcing a smile then he tilted his head cutely “I am not very good at this, Austin.” He moved the conversation back toward the crowd “I guess there are too many options. There are a couple of pretty ones out there. I suppose. But I would not know what to say to any of them.”

Sian glared at his finger as he pointed it at her. She wasn’t quite sure what he was saying would be stupid. Was he saying getting a secretary would be stupid, or was he threatening her? The guy didn’t know how to use his phone? As he began to throw a fit, Sian continued to just watch him for a moment. “Are you finished, you bell end?”

Taking a deep breath Nathan closed his eyes, trying to calm down. He had to remember not to cause a scene. If he was arrested or something he wouldn’t be able to kill his family. Which was the only thing he needed to do. He needed to make them atone for the abuse he had been through. But when Sian spoke all his calm went right out the window “What the fuck did you just say to me, you bitch? What the hell is a bell …end?!” Waving his hand out then he decided to forgo what ever explanation she was going to give and stuck his hand in the pocket of his hoodie, grabbing the knife he had tucked in there and marched toward her “What other clever words do you have, cunt?”

Austin stared at Nathan as he’d taken his bed comment so seriously, “Oh my god, you should have seen the look on your face.” He mumbled, laughing then shaking his head. “What? Yea they live here. Where did you think they lived? We’re in the same house and everything.” He spoke kind of drunk and just mumbled information that just wasn’t necessary. He shook his head, “Listen forget about that, that’s not important. What’s important, is you have fun on your birthday!” He spoke, tapping his brother’s chest with his pointer on the words he’d emphasized. “Too many options is good!” He smiled, “Talk about something you’re interested in.”

Making a face at the other as they seemed to tease him for taking Austin so seriously Nathan felt stupid. But not because he actually believed the other, it wasn’t that he had. It was just that it had confused him. It was about how Austin spoke just then. Laughing nervously he nodded “Yeah. You got me for a minute, there…” There was something about Austin that was making him increasingly uncomfortable. As Austin answered his question about their parents he resisted the urge to snarl as anger began to spill out over him “Well. I thought you guys still lived back in our old town, still. Which is why you have not been visiting…” He narrowed his eyes a little on the other before forcing a grin over his lips “That is- interesting.” As Austin started to poke him in the chest Nathan continued to feel more agitated. This was one of those things that had been making him uncomfortable. Nathan wasn’t okay with just being touched, like that. Even if Austin was his brother “Right. My birthday. Ahhum.” He glanced around trying to focus on his plans, but not give Austin any inside onto what was really going on in his head “MMM. Something I am interested in.” He paused, trying to think.

But Nathan couldn’t think of something he was interested in, outside of getting his revenge everything else he had once enjoyed doing had died long ago when they became repetitive or he had started to just lose his enthusiasm. Sucking in a breathe then he stood and started to walk toward someone. As he walked the nervousness he was displaying before completely evaporated and he took a seat in a booth right next to some guy sitting by himself, and started casually talking to them about something. Nathan displayed a completely different persona for the other male, seemingly telling a joke that had the guy bursting out laughing after a few minutes of calm talking, when Nathan told a joke. Nathan grinned and watched the other carefully before glancing over toward Austin, before looking back over as the other male started to open up more and talk to Nathan. Then Nathan pulled out a coin and seemed to make a bet, after getting the information he wanted from the other. A moment later he bounced the coin off the table right into the others cup. Grinning then Nathan leaned over and started kissing them, which they surprisingly ended up reciprocating. Nathan had hated every moment of it, but continued to smile flirtily and laughed a bit as he broke the kiss, running his lips lightly over the other males playfully.

Mika walked a bit more and then turned around and walked back. She stood next to him in silence and looked at the sky too, with tears running down her face. She knew it was stupid that she was this upset over something so small. And she knew that Neil didn’t care about whether or not she was okay. But she was comforted by the familiar face and she just needed a friend, or an acquaintance, right now.

Humming to himself still as he watched Mika start to walk back over to him from his peripherals. Bringing his eyes down then he lifted his hands up and started to play with his nails. Staying silent as he tried to read the atmosphere coming from the other. Which took him a quite some time before he looked over and reached his hand over, pausing for a moment before patting the cloth of his long sleeve shirt against some of the tears running down her face.

Austin looked at his brother, his level of intoxication wasn’t reading the normal signs of Nathan being uncomfortable. Seeing his brother was deep in thought, he wasn’t sure he wanted to interrupt. As he saw Nate walk toward the empty booth, that he’d a male and female on either side. Austin noticed the girls beauty and thought to himself. ‘

good taste Nate.’ Though that thought left his mind when he’d started talking to the guy. At first, he’d thought it would be a move, ignore the girl then pay attention to her. Though that never happened. He watched intently as his brother continued to focus only on the male, then out of nowhere, he’d heard a big laugh. Which only but a look of serious confusion on Austins face. “What?” He’d questioned almost out loud. It was then, Austin had realized his brother maybe wasn’t straight.

When Nate glanced over at him, he’d straightened up and gave him a thumbs up, trying to act cool. As soon as his brother leaned and began to make out with the other male, Austin felt really weird to observe. “Okay..” He squinted and furrowed his eyebrows and stared in the other direction, and started looking around for his girlfriend. He stared back quickly to see if they were still going, though noticed it was just playfull-ness which still made Austin feel weird for watching.

A few minutes later Nathan walked back over to the bar and sat back down, grabbing his drink again and started to drink from it. He decided he wasn’t as interested in the guy as he was pretending to be. But did manage to get their number “I got a number…” He shrugged then and tossed the phone onto the counter “Eh. I do not think I am interested.” Yawning then he rest his head on the table and closed his eyes as he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him “Maybe next time, hm?”

Mika smiled a bit, “Thanks Niel,” she said softly and leaned her head against his shoulder. It was nice to be comforted by someone again. “How has your night been ?” she asked, still being quiet trying not to scare him off.

Pulling his hand away as she thanked him he shrugged and looked away. It didn’t seem that important to him. Maybe it was just because she was crying and in the many scenarios he had run in his mind over the last sixteen years of how he as a brother would have been, just sort of helped his hand move “Sure.” He mumbled staring at the tear stain on his shirt then, turning his hand a bit as he examined it. While Mika was talking he shrugged then spoke “Oh you know, just standing out here humming and watching the sky. Other than that it has been pretty tame.” Not like I can do anything till I find the rest of my god damn family “ Apparently birthdays are supposed to be fun and have cake, who knew?”

Sian smirked, almost glad for the second outburst. She knew it was wrong, and that she should stop pissing him off, but every time she told herself not to anger him more, she opened her mouth and more nastiness came out. And now that he was using sexist language at her, she couldn’t care less about holding back. Until she saw his hand go in his pocket. He was angry, getting closer to her, and was holding something she couldn’t see. As he asked her if she had anymore clever words, she knew that the best thing she could do was not react, but Sian had to have the last word. “You’re a real sore loser when your favorite sports team loses a big game, yeah?” Well, that probably wasn’t going to help.

Her comment made him stop, then look away as he tried to figure out what in the hell she had just said. Narrowing his eyes for a moment on her he shook his head “I never really got in to sports, actually. I am more into the finer arts, you see.” He stopped himself then and laughed “Well, no, you could not see that.” Glancing away he lift his right hand up to his mouth and stared nibbling on the tip of his thumb “I do not like losing? I guess. But who is a happy loser? You are lying to yourself if you actually take failing in stride.” Rolling his eyes then “Unless it were just two people playing a sport, then I guess jealousy would be important here.” Nathan rambled “But ah…It is in our DNA, from our primitive days, I guess. Because a loser does not get the girl, or ah…guy… Hm? -Sorry. What were we talking about?”

He looked back up then and then narrowed his eyes “OH! Right!” Pulling his left hand out from the hoodie he slashed the knife at Sian, aiming to cut her face open and closing the gap between them. When his brother came back in his direction, he just stared at him. Kind of waiting for some kind of explanation. “Yea sure..” He spoke nodding and spinning his beer gently on the bar top. “So, when I was looking around I thought.. I mean..” He didn’t know how to ask this, or say this, or even if he should say it and just take it in and be done. “What i’m trying to say is…” He found himself stuck everyway possible. “I mean..” He was stuck again. “So you’re gay.” He blurted out, without even thinking.

Turning his head over he sucked in a breath and stared at his brother as he blundered around trying to find the words to say. He opened one eye then and smirked before rolling his head on the counter top “I am not gay, Austin. I am also not picky. You would understand if you were me.” He scrunched his nose a bit “I guess you would call that being a bisexual? But I just really do not give much of a shit. It is not as if love ever played any factor on who I had sex with in that place.” Nathan swallowed “Feelings had no part to play there, emotions only made things more complicated. But yes. If you would like ,what I just did was pretty fucking gay. It does not matter- whatever. None of that fucking matters.”

Sian was good at reading people. She had to be, after all. But this guy was…off. He quickly switched gears, like an exaggerated version of what Sian was like sometimes. She was almost having trouble keeping up with him, but mostly because he was catching her off guard. Her eyes glanced at his right hand, but went back to his left hand in his pocket. If he tried anything, she wanted to know. But maybe if she could keep him distracted with this conversation, he would continue on his non-threatening train of thought he was currently on. So much for that. Sian felt herself take a step back before she registered there was a knife in her face. If her reflexes weren’t so good, she would have been cut open. Her first reaction was surprise, the fear hadn’t kicked in yet, and she could hear her mouth opening even though she wasn’t planning any words. “That wasn’t very nice.” Her tone was calm, but her face showed she wasn’t thrilled with the turn of events.

Slumping as he twist outward Nathan winced a little bit as his back cracked. But a moment later he brought his eyes up to hers, they had glazed over. His head tilted shakily on his shoulders as he let out an exhausted breath and then smirked “Now what told you I was nice?” Nathan sneered before pulling himself up straight once again. With a blank expression on his face, his eyes closing slightly, his skull had faintly begun to throb making him bring his right hand up to his head, his fingers pressed into his forehead and he giggled “You fucking people are so god damn exhausting.”

Lifting his left hand up he flicked the knife toward her before tilting it toward his face and then shaking his head. Sniffling he scratched the tip of the blade against the side of his head, moving a few pink strands of hair out of his face “Oh yeah! That is right, today is my birthday. - Why are you standing here still? You should run…”

When his brother announced he wasn’t gay he furrowed his eyebrows, “I don’t know about that.” He spoke shaking his head. “Uh.. right I guess that makes sense..” He didn’t bother to pry, cause he felt that’d be personal. For some reason his brain alerted him finally to not speak about something personal. “So what did you guys talk about? He seemed to find you pretty funny…”

Watching Austin he lift his head up from the counter and frowned a little bit as they spoke “Right. And you think you have some kind of authority of that? Or of my thoughts?” Nathan questioned accusingly. But when Austin went on he rolled his eyes and looked away before bringing his drink closer and taking a drink “Aaaahhhh…ppffffhhh…” Nathan shrugged “I honestly do not really know. I guess I just told him a few jokes and then bet him a kiss that I could get that coin into his cup.” Sipping then his eyes widen slightly for a moment and he looked away “Where do you think the alcohol from these drinks is going, if not into my system…”

Austin shook his head, “No, I mean, I don’t think I would understand if I were in your situation.” He spoke clarifying, “You have full ownership of your thoughts.” Austin leaned his elbow on the countertop with his head in his hand, “What was the joke? I wanna hear it.” He spoke and nodding, “That’s not a bad line.” He spoke staring at him, “I don’t know, maybe you have more cells or something that sucks it all up before you get the chance to get drunk? I don’t know, i’m not in science.”

“Mmm, no. You would not, at least for the moment. And I hope you never have to be in my situation.” Not that it matters, I am killing him anyway! He thought before swallowing hard and narrowing his eyes on the counter as the thought intruded on the rest of his thoughts. Clenching his eyes shut for a moment as another wave of nausea hit him “The joke…Hmm. One about an old man dying quietly, unlike the passengers in his car.” Nathan grinned before biting on his bottom lip. Then shrugged “One about seeing the sky from in your ceiling, because there is no roof. I cannot remember.” As Austin spoke he narrowed his eyes suspiciously before nodding slowly “Ah. Well, whatever. It does not seem to matter.” Smiling at Austin then he decided to ask something “What all did you end up getting today?”

Gemma felt as if she was lost. She couldn’t understand what was going on around her, why everyone seemed to be treating her so differently. She felt like she was all alone now, which was something that she had never had to deal with. She felt like she had to lay low because every time she was around someone they gave her strange looks, looks that she was also not use to.

She sat on the sidewalk now, her knees pulled tight to her chest. It was getting dark outside, the sun beginning to display colors of red and orange across the sky. She felt like she wasn’t accepted anywhere anymore and that hurt her more than anything. She just wanted to go back to her bed and have her old life back. She wanted to gossip with her friends again, but that was never going to happen again. She was going to have to try to make the best of this life, if that was even possible for her.

Standing over the girl Nathan stared down at her, then pulled the cigarette from his mouth and held it out over her, tapping it so the ashes fell off it onto Gemma “Get up urchin. No sense in moping about like a homeless person. You look like shit- Did the high school preps kick you out of their gang?” Crouching down he pushed her shoulder, smirking “Come ooon, we can go cut them, if you want. I am sure it will be fun, for one of us…”

Mika laughed assuming that he was joking, “Of course they do silly. When was your birthday?? I didn’t see any posts on Facebook about it! Oh, that must have been amazing,” She then remembered that she was upset “The sky calms me down sometimes. Hey, can I have your advice?” She didn’t even wait for him to say yes before continuing “I was supposed to go on a date with this guy… and when he got to the party… he was already drunk and tried to push my head down to his… ya know. I should stop talking to him, right?” She tucked her hair behind her ear. She wasn’t experienced with this kind of stuff.

So people had continued to tell him that was what was supposed to be the thing. Of course Nathan had known that kids usually got those sort of things. Since he could remember a few birthdays before being sent away. Staring at her in confusion Nathan tried to remember what Facebook even was “Ah.” He swallowed before grinning lightly and shrugging a shoulder “I did not think about it. Since it was just yesterday…Or was it today.” He paused to think for a long moment, retreating into his mind. Glancing up toward the sky then he blinked and stared blankly as the girl went on “Is today January 17th? Or was my birthday on the 18th? What is today?” Nathan muttered to himself. Tuning into Mikaela as she was talking then he felt his chest tighten suddenly his mind started to put up red flags on where the other was going. Focusing all his energy on trying to appear unfazed by the subject Nathan answered her “You probably should not speak with them again. Yeah.”

Austin nodded, and it seemed that the alcohol really put a huge wave of sleepyness over him. He leaned against the counter when, “You made a joke about death?” He questioned his speech incredibly slurred. “Well they sound great, they did the trick.” He spoke just as slurred as before. “Well it’s something you should keep in your back pocket.” He spoke nodding, “What do you mean? For our birthday?” He questioned.

Nodding slowly Nathan watched the older male and then blinked “Yeah, sure, why not? Is there something wrong with death jokes all of a sudden?” He questioned in confusion. Then shrugged and looked away as Austin spoke on “Of course they did! I try to read the room and people in it before taking that step into what could possibly damnable territory.” Drumming his fingers onto the counter he nods enthusiastically when Austin went on. Sucking in a breath he brought his cup to his mouth and took a drink. Pulling it away a bit then he swallowed “Ah, yes, that is what I am asking…”

Sian really didn’t know how to react to this guy. Even if she tried to look at him like a target, he wasn’t her usual mark. She would have read someone like him as being a high risk and gone for someone else. But, despite the danger, that was what made this fun. She couldn’t control the situation if she wanted to. And then there was the risk itself. It was why she originally got into stealing when she was younger. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

He continued to ramble, and she dropped her hands back to her sides as she kept her eye on the knife. She could walk away now, probably, but this was kind of fun now. “What would the point in slicing me be? Sure, it’s fun now, but you have to think more long term than that.”

Looking from side to side, his eyes unfocused for a moment as he tried to sort out the millions of thoughts and emotions going through him. Rage being the most distinctive of them all, of course. He looked at Sian then and continued to scratch the knife against his forehead “The point?” He asked before frowning a bit “There is no long-term, actually.” He smirked then winced and pulled away from Sian “Sorry-sorry- t-tha-that is not w-what I want-wanted…” His head was throbbing as a voice snapped at him from his right side. Looking over for a moment he froze “She does not know anything.- But I do not have to put up with her bullshit! She did not have to talk to me at all. She is up to something.” Turning his eyes back to Sian then Nathan glared “Are you working with them? Is this some sort of test?” Stepping back he hissed under his breath “Fuck. Off. Tell him I am never going back there. I will tell everyone what he did-What they did to us.”

Sian listened to him, trying to think of what to say to his words so far when he suddenly began talking to the space next to him. He was a little old for imaginary friends, so he was even more messed up than Sian originally thought. What was the ‘anything’ Sian didn’t know? Obviously this guy was insane, but now she was very curious. “A test?” If she convinced him it was a test, she could have him in the palm of her hand. But there probably wasn’t anything he could give her, and she wasn’t cruel enough to fuck with him anyways. She was interested in knowing who ‘they’ were and what happened, but she didn’t know how to con that information out of him. Maybe she could just ask. He wasn’t likely to answer her, but it couldn’t hurt…unless he pulled the knife on her again. “I’m not testing you.” Sian carefully said. “So, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

Suspiciously Nathan watched Sian. Curling his nose a bit at her question “No.” He answered “No tests. I have taken enough of those damn tests.” Looking away for a second he thought, his breathing growing heavier as he circled through the thoughts in his head. Dropping his hand down, Nathan slide the knife against his leg, lightly and stared blankly at Sian as she spoke “Oh? You just asked about it.” Nathan accused. He then turned slightly and started walking around Sian “I do not even fucking know you. Why in the hell do you want to know.” Nathan leaned in closer then “What do you care about it, if you are not working for them? And do not say you are interested in knowing more about me. Because that is insane. There is nothing to know, I technically do not exist. It must have been pretty expensive.”

Nathan pulled away then, an amused look on his face as he pointed the knife at Sian again “Erasing an entire person’s life, their future, their dreams, makes them murderers. Right? Heh.” Giggling lightly he looked up and rolled his eyes, his jaw rolled a bit before he went on“So, did he send you because he is finally afraid I will actually be heard for once, and he would no longer control the narrative anymore?”

“Protecting me?” She scoffed, raising her eyebrows. “A threat to your plans?” She shook her head. She stared at him, “I don’t have any files. So leave me alone.”

His nostrils flared at her response as a spike of anger drove itself into his skull “ Oh, all right. Okay! Fuck YOU!” He nodded curtly and then glanced away “I seen the file you cunt!” Agitated he clenched his hand into a fist and lifted it up to his forehead “J-Just hand it the fuck over.” He strained, mostly trying to control the building anger and need to beat the girl with in an inch of her life. He knew it wasn’t something he actually wanted to do, but it was hard to control the feeling to do so “Just, give it! Now!!!”

“Uh.. no.. I mean.. not.. I guess..” He just mumbled, still a little starstruck that his brain was teasing him. “I mean.. they..” He shook his head and couldn’t really formulate an answer. When he’d confirmed he’d asked about their birthday, “Well I got a gift from Josephine though I haven’t opened it yet. I’m sure she got you one too.” He spoke, then really feeling a wave of sickness and dizziness he squeezed his eyes shut. “H-hey.. let’s get out of here..”

“Right.” Nathan eyed his brother again, getting that something was off with Austin. Then again, Nathan hadn’t entirely felt comfortable around his brother, much less anyone else he had run into since his escape from the ward.

Everything had struck him as a bit off. Maybe the world wasn’t not as normal as he had dreamed about, from where he was stuck the last sixteen years of his life. And the people were just as bad outside it, too. As Austin went on he nods slowly, trying to take in whatever other clues he could get from the other “Yeah, a journal with an IOU to Disney land.” Resisting the urge to roll his eyes he squints at Austin when they suggest leaving “Sure. You look like you are going to throw up, you know.” Nathan said then stood up and started to walk toward the exit.

From her previous response she’d walked back slightly, when she’d noticed he began getting angrier. Sipping into an anger that was truly terrifying, she’d backed up again. “I don’t have a file!” She yelled, though when he yelled so loud it came out as a roar. She took her chances and turned around and ran for her life mainly to get to her car.

Hissing at her response and watching for a moment as she started running he forgot what he should do for a moment before taking off after her. Nathan shouted toward her after a moment “You cannot keep that file forever! It is mine! I need it!”

Austin looked at his brother as he spoke about what he got, “Oh nice, Disneyland is fun.” He commented though really was trying not to be sick. “Yea I feel it.” He spoke shaking his head to try to get rid of the nausea.

His left eye twitched a bit at the others confirming the fact that they had been to Disneyland. But he closed his eyes and smiled, trying to stop the twitching. As he was walking he nods “Ah. Yeah. Well, after drinking who knows how much of that stuff. I would not be surprised…I guess. I do not know how any of that works…Actually. Just ignore me.” It should be fucking easy for you to, you assholes ignored me for sixteen god damn years already!

Austin walked as the apartment wasn’t that far away from the bar, thankfully. He just tried to focus on moving one foot in front of the other. “N-no.. what is it you were gonna say?” He spoke as he began to hiccup, each little peep making his stomach feel a little more calm.

Blinking as the other asked him to continue, Nathan tilted his head. The other must not have been feeling well, honestly “Austin. I already said it. I just said it, I was telling you to dismiss what I had said, though.” Sucking in a breath he looked around “Are you not forgetting your girlfriend? Or did she leave already?” Nathan asked, now following his brother. Nathan watched the other intently, wanting to be ready just in case they did something.

“Oh.. fuck i’m sorry.” He admitted, “Well to answer you. I don’t know how this fucking stuff works either.” He spoke and when his brother had mentioned Josephine, he looked back at the bar. “Oh…” he trailed on before his memory caught up to him. “Oh. Yea, she left already… she’s staying with one of her friends.. or something.” He spoke, “I need a pizza or something.”

Nathan made a face at the other and nodded slowly “It is poison, right?” Shrugging then he listen as Austin went on, saying that Josephine had gone to a friends. He figured it must have been his fault. After all, nothing he had seen earlier between the two made him even begin to think that people could just go off and spend the night with a friend, and the fact that it seemed so sudden only added to this thought. Nathan stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and frowned a little from behind the other male “Okay.” When the other brought up needing pizza or something he frowned even more “But you look like you are about to vomit…”

Austin stared down at her, her eyes were filled with hope and passion. Something he truly loved about her, meanwhile he was loosing both of those things. Maybe it was just today because his had felt so long. “You’re right, you’re right.” He spoke, “I just feel bad.. that’s all.” He spoke, then with a sigh he smiled lightly and leaned down and gave her a proper kiss. “That’s for my dodgy one.”

Josie smiled up at the love of her life. She kissed him back, pouring her love into the kiss so he would know that he wasn’t alone. “That’s better,” she said as their lips parted. “I could do this all day, but I gotta get cooking. Now I have two hungry boys to feed!” Josie laughed, filling up the pot with water and putting it on the stove top.

Looking around the bathroom after stepping out of the shower, he let it run for a few more minutes longer. Stepping around the room without any clothes felt strange to him. Usually he at least had a towel. But in the last few months of his living in the nearby woods he had not had to use one, usually bathing in rain. Well, he would actually use term ‘bathing’ much more loosely. Since he had no choice but to sit outside in the rain and get soaked by it. Sniffling a bit he shivered and started looking for towels, eventually finding some and wrapping one around his waist.

Walking out of the bathroom he made his way down the hallway toward the kitchen, having no idea what else to do with himself, since his own clothes were wet. As he entered the same area as the other two he sneezed and began to rub his nose “What is up?” He mumbled awkwardly standing there in just a towel and giving a small wave of his other hand.

“Yes!” He exclaimed, pointing to his brother. “You’re right. I did know that.” He slurred slightly. As his brother was so quick to be okay with Josephine staying a friends house, Austin had smiled lightly and chuckled. “You gonna miss her?” He chuckled teasingly. “Like having her around?” He chuckled, though he really did kind of want to know. “Yes, you’re right. But from my experience with this poison, is that you need bread and/or pizza to soak up the poison inside to make you feel better.”

His eyelids grew heavy as a wave of exhaustion washed over him when Austin brought up missing someone he barely even knew. Or maybe it was a wave of annoyance. Staring blankly at Austin, Nathan swallowed and forced a slight smile “Sure.” When the other explained he scrunched one side of his face but concluded that this was reasonable. As bread was absorbent. And he really didn’t care. Austin could vomit up alcohol and bread all night, for all he cared at that moment. Taking in a deep breath he watched his brother with content as he spoke “So are you going to go get pizza?”

“Whatever,” Mila said, wanting to change the subject. She knew that Noah wasn’t a toy to her, and that’s all that mattered. It was in the past now, though. Noah was dead. She snapped out of her thoughts when Nathan asked her a question. “I just complied, gave them what they wanted.” She answered, shrugging her small frame. Or rather, Mila had let them see what they wanted. Mila had no intention of recovering, and she didn’t let the psych ward staff stop her. She only hid it better.

As Mila waved over the entire conversation of Noah he gave her a blank look as he decided that it wasn’t that important anyway. Nodding as she explained the obvious he slowly glanced to the side “Ah, right. Of course you did.” Nathan watched Mila, who seemed to have everything so much easier at that place. It was like she was wearing blinders. He guessed he must have been jealous of her, for actually getting out “Fascinating, honestly. It is a shame you were not a case of interest to anyone special there.” He paused, his mouth opened slightly as if it were meant to be for dramatics. Then he went on “Oh, you know, besides Noah. The poor boy-toy. But Noah is a few cookies short of a baker’s dozen, is he not? Certainly NOW he is anyway. And he was so cute, too.” Austin stared at Nathan’s reaction, the drunk boy inside him just laughed and shoved his brother lightly. “You totally like her. Keep your hands off though, she’s mine.” He laughed lightly, “And don’t be pretending to be me with her. I’ll fight you if you do that again.” He spoke laughing, at the questioned he straightened up slightly. “Well are you gonna eat it with me?”

At the light shove Nathan stepped away from the other and lifted a hand up pushing Austin’s arm off away from him suddenly. Blinking then as the other spoke his jaw clinched a bit “What?” He asked in confusion. What was Austin saying? Why was he even saying that? Nathan looked extremely confused as the other went on “Well, she is not yours. She is hers. You just have special access to her.” Nathan mumbled glancing away then and shaking his head “I was not pretending to be you, for that reason. She came up to me. It was just coincidence. Of course I can forgive you for not understanding why I chose to go home with ‘yours’ .” Nathan narrowed his eyes a bit, irritated still that this was still an issue that seemed to be on Austin’s mind. Being drunk had made it easily apparent that this case wasn’t just brought up as a joke, but a hidden thought that Austin must have truly not been able to cope with. Nathan looked away “I might.”

Austin shook his head, “Nate, man, relax. I’m kidding!” He spoke waving his hands gently with a chuckle, “I know you didn’t purposely want to sleep with Josie.” He spoke, though he’d still be a little upset about that day, and insecure and nervous that Nate would pull something like again. Although majority of him knew that his brother wouldn’t do that. It was still a fear of his deep, deep down. Austin shook his head not wanting to get into it anymore. “Pizza is good.” He nodded, “Alright it’s settled. We’re getting pizza.”

Narrowing his eyes at that he frowned, then he stopped walking and watched the other walk ahead of him. His head tilted down as he tried to think back to that day. Did Austin really think that had slept with Josephine? Or was he just misunderstanding what the other had said? Walking again after Austin he nodded slowly. But brought his left hand up to his mouth and started nervously chewing on the sleeve of his hoodie, looking completely zoned out of the moment. He must secretly hate me. Maybe he’s not actually getting pizza, but him and Josephine are trying to ditch me in the woods! Hah, Jokes on them! I have lived in the woods for several months! Tearing up a bit he sniffled into the sleeve. They will never understand why I have to do the things I am doing. Austin had been a little too intoxicated to notice that his brother had stopped walking. “So how’re you liking your phone?” He’d asked decided it would be a good idea to follow up about his recent Christmas present. He spoke then not hearing a reply, he turned his head to see his brother a little far away. “Hey, what’re you doing back there?” He laughed lightly, though he could tell something was wrong. “Whoa.. Nate are you okay?” As he got closer to his vision became a little more clear, he could see the boy was in fact not okay.

Agitated Nathan picked at the end of his sleeve and continued nodding as he heard the others muffled voice. Stop it! You are being absolutely ridiculous now. Look you are starting to cry! You are absolutely pathetic! Sucking in a shaky breath more emotions started to rush through him, making him shake his head. His body was starting to feel like it was overheating as thoughts continued to spill into his mind. Stop…please! Stop. -I’m okay! I am okay. Sucking in a few sharp breathes his eyes flicked to Austin as the other go closer to him “I-I-I-” He swallowed hard, his jaw feeling like it was locking up “F-fff-fine. J-just- too many th-thoughts…-emotions.”

Austin stared at his brother and nodded, “Alright.” He spoke and with a small smile, “You know, I don’t really need Pizza. I’ll be fine. Let’s just go home.” He smiled hopefully supportive. “I mean, I sure as hell could use some sleep.” He looked at his watch, “Cause I have to be up in like… 9 hours and that’s not nearly enough time to cure the probably hangover I’m going to have.” He laugehd lightly. Not realizing how much he spoke trying to justify his action to simply not getting pizza.

When Austin started to come up with some reason to not get pizza Nathan shook his head. Letting out a few more breaths “I am …Fine.” Nathan said, his voice weak and strained. Gulping he turned his head away from the other “Do not worry about it. It happens.” Taking a few deep breathes he started to calm down “A lot more often than you think. I just get kind of…” Swallowing hard Nathan twirled his right hand next to his head “Get overwhelmed…B-by stupid things. Sometimes I cannot control it.” Waving back toward the bar then “All that noise…and stimuli…Heh….heh.” Coughing Nathan covered his mouth. Clearing his throat after containing himself more he pressed his left hand against his chest, frowning before looking over at Austin “I am sorry. ” Embarrassed he looked away, still trying to catch his breath and stop himself from crying.

Austin stared at his brother and he didn’t like that he didn’t know how to help, so he stood there awkwardly. If he were sober he’d probably go up to him and get in his face, though right now. He wouldn’t. “Well.. do you know how to handle it? Like.. calm yourself down a bit. Like.. water! Water could probably help right.” He spoke and then just turned the other direction. “Yo!” He yelled at some guys don’t the street. “Do you have water!” He yelled though they replied back saying they didn’t. He looked back as he heard him apologize, “Don’t apologize, you’ve got nada to be sorry for.” He spoke, with a smile he walked over to his brother. “Do you need a hug or something?” He asked feeling like an idiot. “We can go home and watch a movie.. something to calm the night down..?”

This reaction had felt like it was a lot more intense, Nathan couldn’t tell the difference though. He was chalking it all up to the fact that usually when he started to get too out of control he was sedated. So, for him the increase in reaction was only because of the lack of being stopped by an orderly or anyone else, with medicine. At Austin’s question he shook his head “No. It…it i-is something t-…th-they usually stop.” Closing his eyes as another few waves washed over him, making him feel even more hot. A light coating of sweat started to show on his face after another moment. Shaking his head as the other suggested water, and then shouted at some other people about having water. Nathan knew that wasn’t going to help. At the others suggesting a hug Nathan laughed and shook his head slowly. A hug, it seemed ridiculous “No, Austin.” Though he was taking note of the others trying to help. Sniffling he lift his left hand up and rubbed his sleeve covered wrist under nose “Okay.-…This is is all new. I…” Searching he swallowed hard “Everything is so new and different, from that place.”

Austin had stepped in front of his brother and looked at him, “Dude, you’re like boiling hot..” He spoke after he’d pressed a hand against the others shoulders. “Listen.. Nate, I think you gotta take a deep breath.. or like.. four deep breathes.. just a lot of deep breathes. Close your eyes, focus on your own breathing..”

His brows furrowed and he lifted a hand up to his forehead “Yeah. I guess?” He shook his head then and rubbed his hand against his forehead “Austin…I am doing that.” But then he hissed, his head beginning to throb. He was feeling more and more frustrated and the other touching him was not really helping him at the moment. But more than that, Nathan did not like Austin trying to tell him what to do. So he shoved Austin off of him “Stop telling me what to do!” Flicking through his phone Nathan looked at a few ingredients on the screen and tilted his head “Flour…Eggs…” He mumbled as he started to move down the aisle he was in. Stopping then he looked at the rows of flour “Mmmmhmm.” Why are there so many types of different flours? Nathan sucked in a breath before reaching over to grab one, but stopped himself, thinking then that another one might be better “Which one…”

Austin didn’t know what to do, he needed Josephine. She would know what to do, she would know how to handle this, he doesn’t know. A large reason is because he was drunk. Feeling the shove, made him annoyed in his state. “Whoa!” He yelled as he shuffled back a couple steps. “I’m just trying to help!”

As the other started to yell and claim they were trying to help him he laughed and then stepped toward Austin, aggressively. His eyes lighting up as he got angrier “Trying to fucking help me?! Am I just some fucking charity case for you? You help me- and then I just accept what you assholes did and …DING it’s wiped from the fucking receipt! FUCK YOU!” Charging Austin, Nathan shoved the other more violently “God fuck yourself! I do not need your fucking help! I can handle this on my own! Back off! And stop fucking touching me! …You are pissing me off on purpose!”

Austin was getting angry now, it was something he normally wouldn’t do but alcohol affected him a little differently. When he was shoved yet again and cursed at so many times, “I had nothing to do with what happened to you! How many fucking times do I have to tell you that!” He yelled, “YOU GO FUCK YOURSELF. The second you got here, the second you showed up i’ve done everything I know how to do to make you feel comfortable!” When he’d blamed him for pissing him off on purpose, he made a face and shook his head. “The fuck? Why the fuck would I want to do that?”

“OH! Yeah, that is right!? Is it not? You were a little shithead when it happened! Let us just brush over the fucking fact that we were the same god damn age! I did not fucking start blaming you idiots until recently! Because you all failed me! I was just a kid, too!!” Nathan pointed stabbing a finger into Austin’s chest, now purposely trying to instigate Austin more. As he was in the mood to kick someones ass, and Austin was unfortunately the closest person. He glared then and threw his arms down, protesting “You forgot me! Just like everyone else! That was all you needed to do! I loved you and you fucking forgot me! We are twins you asshole!“ Hissing he stepped away suddenly and winced, his left hand moving up to cradle his head “You are so fucking stupid!!” Pausing he started to feel nauseous again as his body continued to get hotter the angrier he became as Austin was talking “You have done nothing but cry about how difficult I am! You think I cannot fucking hear you and that stupid bitch talking about me in that small fucking apartment? ‘Oh, Austin, everything will be rainbows and fucking kittens!’ WELL IT IS FUCKING NOT! Whispering is not a new fucking concept to me, Austin! I have spent years tuning into people whispering!!” At Austin’s last question he hissed “I do not fucking know!! Do I look like a god damn mind reader?!”

Listening to his brother in anger, his brain was spinning, his head was spinning but he was so angry. “You don’t think I fucking know that?!” He yelled back, “I know you were just a kid! I know that you didn’t deserve any of the bullshit that you went through! I know that!” He yelled, “But I was a kid too! I had no power or voice in bringing you back!” He yelled, though when his brother yelled him the truth. He stood there frozen, all the guilt he’d felt sober just tripled when Nathan expressed that he loved him, he felt the stab in his heart. He let his brother down, he let his best friend down, he couldn’t forgive himself. Thinking and feeling this brought tears to his eyes.

The feeling of sadness and guilt was still in his heart, though a majority of it was replaced with more anger as Nathan accused him of these things. He shook his head. Then he brought Josephine into the conversation and it pushed him over the edge. “You’re so full of bullshit Nathan! When have I bitched and complained about you?! Don’t you fucking dare call Josephine that. Take it back!” He yelled and shoved Nathan over, “She has been nothing but nice to you! Especially after you pretended to be me and make out with her!” Austin didn’t know what was coming over him, though he shoved Nathan again. “No, you look like a fucking Psyco!” He yelled. Assuming this would hurt him, though not as much as his next comment. “I should fucking call Damari, tell them exactly where you are before you truly go off the walls!”

Nathan watched the other, he had known that the Austin could not get him out of there as a kid. But Nathan’s anger toward Austin was mostly for the fact that they had completely forgotten him. Nathan thought it was unreasonable that Austin had not once gone to visit him. And he hadn’t thought it was because the other had forgotten him. No, that obviously came later. All those years he waited, and waited. And the fact for him during that time was that everyone had hated him for what their father accused him of trying to do “It is because you forgot me! ARE YOU DEAF?!”

He knew using Josephine in the argument would get Austin to react. Narrowing his eyes as Austin continue to scream at him he let out a huff, laughing lightly “Oh do not sit there and act like you fucking have not! You fucking asshole! -” When he was practically order to take that back Nathan shook his head “No! I will not!” Rolling his eyes then as the other professed Josephine’s niceness “It is only because I remind her of you! You were not there when she was fucking telling me off!! Telling me I don’t belong with my family! You did not hear what all she said to me! She is a fucking fake bit-” He was cut off when Austin shoved him down. Nathan landed on the ground hard, his arms scrapping against the sidewalk. Glaring up at Austin as the other continued to yell at him “I had to do that so I-!!?!?” He stopped when Austin called him a psycho “I am not a fucking psycho! Don’t say that!” His voice cracked then the anger breaking suddenly.

But everything just froze at the next thing Austin had said. Staring up at Austin he swallowed hard trying to keep his eyes from watering and failing “I knew it! I knew- That is what you all want! You want to lock me away! And - And - You refuse to hear what I have to say! Because you think I am insane! I am only as mad as you fucking pieces of shit have made me!” With that he suddenly kicked Austin in the gut before twisting away and clawing at the ground to push himself up off the sidewalk and started running. See, he hates you, and now he’s going to tell them everything, and you will be stuck there, rotting in your prison again! Nathan picked up his pace, disappearing down the sidewalk and around a corner.

Austin woke up that morning with a horrible hangover, he started off the morning not having any memory of the night prior, though as he ate breakfast and wondered where Nathan was, it all came back. Everything he’d said, everything Nathan said, he remembers seeing Nate run away. It all came back and Austin couldn’t express how he felt with one emotion. He was worried, upset, angry with himself, though most of all he felt guilty. Incredibly guilty. The second his memory flooded back, he dropped everything and got in his car and tried to find him. He called his brothers’ cell phone over and over. Finally, it was five in the afternoon, and Austin got into his car after checking the diner they’d gone to. He was started to get so angry with himself, he couldn’t handle it. “God… Dammit!” He yelled to himself, as he hit the steering wheel.

To say Nathan had only spent the night wallowing in self pity and crying would no be the best way to describe all of what he had done after running away from Austin. He had wanted to go back, he wanted to hurt the other. But he also didn’t. His mind conflicting the entire night. His delirium taking over. His head pound as the voices demanded for something. Some kind of release of the pain that was inside. Now that he had stolen a knife, and also had a scalpel with him he didn’t have to dig his nails into his skin. But that didn’t stop him from doing that either. It’s all your fault, you know. If you would have just killed them, killed him. You wouldn’t have to go through this. You deserve this. Gripping onto his head Nathan twist around, his sweat soaked hair clinging to his forehead and hands “Shut up! Shut up! I know. I fucked up! I fucked up…”

Pulling his hands away from his face, leaving smears of red on his sweaty skin as his bloody fingers dropped into his lap. Sniffling Nathan’s eyes rolled in his head and he looked around. What time was it, He had no idea. Pulling on the sleeves of his black hoodie he covered up his arms and sides “They wont understand. They never will…” Wincing Nathan shook his head. Hearing a noise at one point he dug into his pocket and pulled out the phone, having forgotten it was there entirely his bloody fingers smeared red on the screen as it was telling him the battery was dying. Angrily he threw the phone a few inches away from him before dropping onto his side and sobbing, rubbing a hand against the side of his head. I just want it to stop! Hearing the leaves above him blowing he sobbed “Shut up! Shut the fuck up…” They noise from the trees had seemingly started to sound like whispering, in Nathan’s current state of mind.

Austin sat in his car feeling utterly helpless, he tried calling Josephine though he knew she wouldn’t reply. She has been so busy lately, though he really neeed her. He needed her so much in this moment. After sitting there, letting a tear fall from his eyes he leaned his forehead against the steering wheel trying to think of something. “Come on Nate.. where are you?” He spoke to himself. The male sighed, trying to clear his mind though all he could think of was the horrible words he’d said. Words he didn’t mean, words he shouldn’t have said.

“Fuck!” He yelled again out of pure anger, he leaned back let his head fall back slightly and wiped his face down. He took another deep breath, as he thought of Nate, thought or their earlier conversations. It didn’t take that long for Austin to think of one more location he had yet to check. He quickly turned on the car and sped to the park. There were a couple in the city, so he’d travelled to each one. It took him close to forty-five minutes to finally reach the right one. He parked and slammed the door shut and began calling out his name yet again. “Nate!?” He yelled out looking around trying to spot his twin. “Nathan?!”

Laying on the grass in the part for he didn’t know how long, his eyes were almost perpetually stuck open as minutes ticked by, his gaze locked whatever was in front of him but he seemed unfocused on anything. Currently his mind was completely frozen on other things. You think you are going to be any better out there, Nathan? With people who think you are out of your damn mind? You will never be normal, this is where you belong. No one could ever love you. Not even your family. You are a lost cause, a monster. You can’t do anything right. You couldn’t even murder her! Blinking suddenly, Nathan started to pull out of his own mind, the halls of the ward stretching out before being ripped away and nothing but darkness filled his mind. But a moment later he was staring at a blade of grass in front of his face. Letting a few heavy breathes he pushed himself up as a few voices filled his ears.

Suddenly there was a face in his, a man was asking if he was alright, and a woman standing next to him looked at him concerned. When the guy reached over and touched his shoulder Nathan’s hand moved to his hoodie and yanked out the knife inside, lifting his right hand up then he went to bring it down only to have the male block his decent and fling Nathan off of him just enough to fall back before Nathan stood up again and let out a growl before jumping onto the male and trying to stab them, his mind mistaking them for someone else entirely “Don’t fucking touch me!” Being flipped over and punched in the face had stopped him for a moment long enough for the other to get up from the ground and move away from Nathan. Shaking Nathan stood up and cupped his left hand over his bruising eye, laughing lightly before turning and swaying as he looked around the park. It’s not safe here, they are coming here. His eyes rolled in his head and he started walking, stumbling as he moved away from the slightly bloodied spot on the ground where he woke up, leaving the bloodied phone behind.

Gripping onto the knife he stared up the sky “I can’t go back… Please. What do you want. I have done everything… You asked me to!” They don’t want you! What, have you not learned anything? You should kill them. Nathan swallowed, and walked out into the road then turning around as he continued to hear Prescott’s voice “Shut up!” Kill them. They don’t love you. What are you waiting for? A car came to a stop beside Nathan just as he walked in front of it, almost getting hit. Nathan continued to walk looking completely dazed “I- I’m- Ehn!?” His head was throbbed, making his hands move to the sides of his head and scream. Stop. Stopstopstop. This isn’t…What I wanted! - It’s you who should die, not them! You! This is all because of you! This is your fault! It always has been!

Austin got out of the car slamming it shut, he stared around and continued to yell out his brothers name. It wasn’t until he heard the screech of the tires that his head turned fast from where the sound had come from. He stood as he saw his twin standing in front of the car, it was evident that he’d almost been hit. He watched as the driver began to yell at Nathan. Austin didn’t wait a second before he started running at the scene. “Nathan!” He walked to the middle of the street then the guy, began to yell at him. “Shut the fuck up!” Austin yelled at the driver. He didn’t know what had gotten into him to say such a thing. Maybe it was the fact that he’d been stressing out all day about his brother who was now finally here.

He stared as the man clearly didn’t appreciate Austin’s reply, as he opened his car door. “Nate.. come on. We gotta go..” He spoke, seeing as the man was about to come out of his car and probably charge at the twins. “Nate come on.” he urged tapping his shoulder and began to walk in the direction of his car, not starting in a run until he knew his brother was behind him.

Hearing his name Nathan shook his head. Austin wouldn’t come back, he knew the other hated him. Nathan flinched as the yelling started. As Austin continued to talk he realized what they had said. He’s trying to get you to follow him so he can take you back to that place! At the shoulder tap Nathan turned quickly toward the other and stepped away from Austin. He was confused by the way the other was acting now. After last night’s incident it had been strange to see, it was not a reaction he was used to after something like that happening. Trembling he stumbled back from the other, his eyes narrowing on Austin’s back. What is he up to? Becoming distracted by Austin’s intentions Nathan wasn’t aware the guy had started moving toward him until they had grabbed him and roughly shook him while cursing at him. The motion that came with being shaken made Nathan disoriented, his left hand reached out to grab onto the driver of the car, in an attempt to stabilize the now spinning world around him.

This didn’t make the driver any happier as they dragged Nathan out from the road and told him not to touch him with his ‘nasty’ blood covered hands before they threw Nathan onto the sidewalk. Letting out a pained noise as he crashed to the ground Nathan started to gag. His stomach beginning to flip over violently while the throbbing in his head grew in intensity. A moment later he vomited, waves of more intense nausea washing over him “I’m sorry… mama…Don’t go…don’t leave me here…” Nathan mumbled in a small voice before catching himself and shaking his head at the momentary lapse in memory he was having. Jerking violently he sat up and grabbed onto his head his mind pulling back into a bad memory of one of the orderlies pulling him into their arms as a Nurse stabbed a needle into him before the memory skipped to him laying in a bed staring up at the same nurse as she forced him to take several pills while he was strapped to a bed in a small empty room.

Please don’t- Shh, Nathan, you know you have to take this medicine, it’s going to help you get better. But I don’t feel better! Well that is because they haven’t gotten into your system yet. NO! After I take them-please. Listen to me! They make me feel bad. Enough of this Nathan! Dr. Prescott is not trying to kill you. You are just a sick little boy. He wants to help you get better.

Austin hated what was happening, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty for this. He fucked up, he knew that. Though he didn’t expect his brother to look at him like Austin was out to get him. When he saw the driver grab his brother, Austin lunged forward and tried to pull the driver off of him. As he brought his brother to the sidewalk, and threw him to the ground. Austin got his attention quickly and swung his fist to his the driver straight in the cheek.

Austin could tell the driver was furious and the only reason he didn’t punch back was because the woman in the passenger side of the car began yelling. Austin could only assume it was his wife. The man turned around and got back in the car per his wifes request. When the car drove off, Austin’s first action was to check on Nathan. He turned and walked over to see blood all over his hands, “Nate… what happened..?” He spoke and sat down on the sidewalk. “I’m so so so sorry for what I said to you last night. I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean any of it. I don’t want you to go back to Damari, I wish you never went. And you’re right. I forgot about you, and I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have forgotten about my best friend. My brother.” He spoke, decided to not to justify the actions his parents forced on him. Convincing him Nate was an imaginary friend, taking him to therapy because of it, getting so many adults to convince him the man in front of him wasn’t real. “Nathan.. how can I help you? I know they probably forced medication down your throat all the time… but do you remember any that actually helped you?”

Pressing his hands to his head at all the screaming going on around him he shook his head violently. His ears began to ring as more whispers spilled into them, but he couldn’t pick up any one thing that made sense to him. Breathing heavily he jumped when Austin moved over and sat on the sidewalk. He didn’t really hear Austin’s question about what happened to make his hands be covered in blood, so he didn’t answer. Moving his hands down he wrapped his arms around himself and rocked lightly looking around as the world around him spun and fragmented from reality to memory and back. Nathan knew he was just having some sort of episode, but he couldn’t control it, or himself at all. Which was making him even more frustrated overall. Curling into himself a bit as Austin spoke, his head shaking in protest to what the other was saying, or what he managed to pick up of what the other was saying “It’s my fault. I did this. It’s all my fault. All of it.”

Jerking his head he glanced around before closing his eyes tightly “Don’t! They… They- It-i- I can’t st-stop them!” Dropping his head into his shoulders he rubbed on side of his face against one of them and mumbled incoherently for a moment before his head snapped back to look at Austin. Suddenly he grabbed onto Austin “You don’t know anything! That’s not everything they did! That’s… That’s torture. Austin. -” His eyes rolled a bit inside his head as he dropped his hands from the others chest“What they did to some of us, there… What he would do… You have no idea.” His eyes dulled then as a wave of exhaustion, combined with his nausea, washed over him and he started to collapse too tired to keep sitting up any longer “N-no…they wouldn’t tell me. I had to take so many- just a blur. -I want to die. I can’t live here, I can’t breathe in this place…It h-everything is, pointless.” Nathan mumbled, sounding absolutely detached from the situation around him for the most part.

Is that why you cut yourself, Nathan? You wanted to die, tell me, why did you think that was the answer?

Because, I am never getting out of here. I understand that. You will never let me leave this place. My parents don’t have any idea what you are doing here, do they? I don’t care. I can’t live here, like this, anymore.

Your parents only want me to help you, Nathan. I am surprised someone as intelligent as you can’t see that. But that is why you are here. You needed to be helped and so far we haven’t exactly found the right way to help you, yet. But I am sure we will be having a breakthrough soon. It may be barbaric, but I think electroconvulsive therapy will benefit you. I hear that is the most beneficial for cases like yours.

Stopping at the store after such a long journey back to Killbourne was the last thing Norah felt like doing. She knew her mother wouldn’t have done the shopping since her daughters had left for spring break, though. Getting it out of the way now was necessary if she wanted any hope of quieting the incessant growling of her stomach. All that was left on her mental list of necessities was sugar for her coffee and then she’d blessedly be finished. As she moved past the only other person in the baking aisle she heard him mutter to himself. “I think flour is mostly the same unless you need something other than all-purpose.” She offered quietly despite the fact that he clearly hadn’t intended to be overheard let alone answered. “What are you making? Maybe I can help.”

Squinting at the brand names when he heard the girl he made a quick turn to see her, a bit jumpy and on alert as he shifted. Though he nodded as he listen to what she was saying “Oh. Right.” He glanced back toward the row and nods a little bit. When she asked what he had been thinking of making and then offered to help he thought for a moment before answering “Aaaah, something- er. Dark Chocolate Cake?” Trailing off then he mumbled about store-bought already made cakes.

Norah caught his edgy reaction to her approach and gave a soft, semi-apologetic smile in response. She hadn’t meant to startle him but he’d looked lost staring up at the multiple rows of choices. Even on a day like today her natural instinct to help couldn’t be pushed aside. All she could hope was that the startled motion had been out of surprise and not because of her appearance. She hadn’t looked in the mirror lately but after several days of hitchhiking and walking she couldn’t imagine she made a decent first impression. Holding onto that thought she self-consciously tucked a messy curl behind the curve of her ear. “Right,” Nodding almost absently she scanned the bags for a moment and then lifted one in particular from the shelf. “I think this will be your best bet. Or at least I’ve been told using real cake flour makes all the difference.” As she handed it over Norah offered up another tentative smile. “So… what’s the occasion?”

Nathan stared at Norah for a moment, with a little but of suspicion as he listen to her again. Not that she had been doing anything to make him be suspicious of her. He had just been a bit on edge lately, after recent events. He had also not realized if anything might have been slightly off about her, as he also looked like he had carelessly just gotten out of bed and threw whatever was lying around the room on. Gripping onto the phone in his hand then he smiled slightly, then watched as she moved for one of the bags on the shelf. Staring at the brand he tilt his head curiously before then bringing her attention to Norah once again as she spoke “Ah.” Hesitantly he reached his right hand over and took the flour from her “Yes. I did not care much for the cake my brother got. There was something a bit lacking in it.” He muttered as he looked the flour over. It wasn’t that he didn’t entirely enjoy the birthday cake Austin had got, though. Blinking he glanced back up when the other asked her question “Well, my brother and I’s birthday was recently, and I wanted to make him a cake.”

His mention of a brother, or more so the fact that they shared a birthday, suddenly piqued her interest. If they shared a birthday then that had to mean– “Are you twins?” The half smile she’d been wearing for most of their conversation suddenly grew to full force. “I’m a twin, myself. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone else who is. Other than my sister, of course. She’s a twin, too, because… you know. She’s my sister.” Sometimes her mouth got ahead of her brain and this moment was one of them. A light flush of pink began to spread across her cheeks as she hurriedly looked down to her feet. Not for the first time she wished she’d been born with Naomi’s talent for witty banter. Her sister blossomed around other people, especially guys. Norah, on the other hand, could fumble her way through even the most simple discussions if she didn’t know the person well. “Anyways– happy belated birthday?” Managing a chuckle she peered back up at him through thick lashes and attempted to recover from her earlier rambling. “I think it’s sweet that you want to make him a cake. I bet he’ll really appreciate the gesture. I mean, who wouldn’t appreciate chocolate cake, right? I could probably eat an entire one all by myself right now.”

With her question he gave a sort of nervous nod of his head to confirm her question “I guess, yeah.” He couldn’t say he had felt the other was much of a twin. Nathan had felt more like a single child. Or never really a child, simply because he barely even had a childhood, family, or siblings, in anything but relationship to them, and not with them. As Norah was talking he continued to nod, taking in what the other was saying. So there were other twins in this city. He did find that interesting. Though he had met Naomi previously, he could not connect the two to one another “Ah. What was that like, growing up with your twin?” He let escape his lips before looking away “Sorry, do not answer that.” He then said before offering a grin and looking down at the flour “Thanks?”

Nathan didn’t know what else he could have said to that. It was all very strange to have someone say things like that to him. At the ward it was rare, if it were going to be said at all. Nathan nods as Norah goes on to comment on Austin appreciating the act “I am sure he will think I did not like the cake he bought.” Nathan said doubtfully. Recent events had made Austin a subject of suspicious for him. He didn’t know what to think of the other after they had threaten to send him back to Damari. Smiling at the last part Nathan nodded “Yeah. I think I understand that sort of hunger.” He then laughed lightly.

Stephen wasn’t quite sure how he had actually managed sneaking into confidential files at the hospital, but he had. He was there, rifling through names and searching for his own. His heart skipped a beat when the man noticed someone at the door, and he cursed underneath his breath. “Shut the damn door!”

Looking away as the doctor asked about punching anything else, or getting any more fights in general. Nathan shook his head and then winced at they bent his left hand up “OW! Fuck you! Stop!” Nathan said with a threatening tone and the doctor made a disapproving face as they continued to wrap up the bruised and stitched up arm in gauze. A few minutes later he was all prepped to leave, the doctor handed him more gauze to wrap himself with until the next appointment and let Nathan leave. Grumbling he took the roll and marched out and down the hallway. Eventually he ended at the doorway staring down Stephen “Well look what we have here? What is up?” Looking back he smirked “Oh, are we doing something we should not be? Maybe I should just scream-” He held his hand up and sucked in a breath then.

Feeling a tad awkward and not too sure what to say, Willa fiddled with her hands for a moment and stared at the wall in front of her. “Thank you,” She answered, nodding a little. She supposed it was nice? To her, it was just an average living room in a family home. At the comment on her parents, the girl couldn’t help but smile a little. Well, it seemed he was feeling as out of sorts as she was. “Uh, yeah. They’re lovely people.” Did she admit that they were her adoptive parents? How much was too much to tell him?

Picking at his pants he continued to look around, not knowing how to carry on a conversation. He could have sworn that by now most normal people would find something to say to someone. But Nathan was of course not like a lot of normal people. Especially since he was technically dead. Nodding at her comment on her parents he smiled lightly “Yes. Does red hair not run in your family that well?” He asked then pointing back toward the picture.

Austin looked at his brother, almost shocked when he suddenly felt his hands grip his shoulders. He stared at him, and although his eyes were alert he could see the exhaustion behind them. It was clear as day in his eyes, though also under his eyes as well. Austin just waited for a moment to speak, he listened to the thinks Nathan had been trying to tell him. Watching as his brother was forcing himself to stay awake. “Nate..” He spoke before his brother had mentioned anything about death and wanting to die. “Don’t say that..” He spoke, “I don’t want you to die, you’re out of that torturous place. You can live how you want. You can actually do things you want now. Don’t cut yourself short from being able to do things.” He spoke, seeing his brother almost not be in this conversation he had a feeling he should bring him home so he can get some rest. “Nate, do you want to come back to the apartment and get some sleep?” He asked, wondering if anything he was saying was getting through to him. Austin waited, and stared at Nathan. It looked like he was playing something over in his mind, like he was watching a movie in his brain, he was so focused. “Nate?”

Blinking quickly Nathan glanced around his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to gain any sense of control over himself. But he had let it get too far. Breathing heavily he looked up for a moment before shaking his head as a few of the things Austin had said managed to get to him. Dropping his head into his hands then, his body shook violently “I can’t! Austin! I can’t do anything…This is what they wanted.” His punched the ground hard, sending a shock of pain up his arm “Don’t do this…” Again he was dragged back into his mind. There’s nothing wrong with me! Stop! Wincing Nathan shook his head before freezing for a moment, looking as though the gears had just come to a full stop, in his head. Before looking up at the other tiredly and nodding “Okay. Sleep.” Lifting up a blood covered hand he pat it against Austin’s chest weakly before slowly moving to stand up.

“You guess? Don’t you know?” The sudden teasing gleam in her dark eyes proved she wasn’t asking seriously. Shoving another tangled lock of hair behind her ear she silently chewed on the interior of her cheek and considered his question. What was it like growing up with Naomi? “It was good most of the time.” Even though he’d told her not to answer she’d given him a mostly honest one anyways. “I guess growing up with a live in best friend has its perks. And then of course there was always the second closet to pick from.” Getting anything back that had been borrowed from her own closet was another story. In the end she really couldn’t complain, though. The girls had nursed a competitive streak with each other from an early age but most days Norah had been content to just let Naomi win. Living in her sister’s shadow had just become a way of life that she’d had grown content with.

Her eyes had drifted down to the battered rubber of her flip flops as her thoughts turned inward but now they lifted back to his face. “You’re welcome. I almost feel as if I should treat you to something of your own, all things considered.” Flashing a warm smile she gestured out toward the bag of flour still held within his hands. “Your brother gets the chocolate cake… I think you deserve to be taken out.” With her mind seemingly made up she turned and slowly began to walk toward the front of the store. “What do you say? Wanna let a complete stranger buy you a belated birthday lunch?”

“Aahh.” He didn’t know how to answer that. He could be honest of course and tell her that he in fact did not know what that it was like. But the look in her face made him move away from that idea. Nathan grinned a bit before shaking his head and looking away. When Norah then went on to answer his question, despite his telling her not to he sucked in a breath. It wasn’t as though he was displeased with what she had to say as she was talking. It was that it only made him feel bad for having never had much of an experience with his own twin. Swallowing hard he looked at his gauze wrapped hand and nodded “Well, yeah. My twin and I also had the same thing.” He forced himself to smile as he lied “Well, I cannot say we have shared the same wardrobes. But yeah, I get it.”

Nodding as Norah went on, but he froze as the girl brought up treating him to something. Blinking in confusion he had no idea what to really say to that. It didn’t seem right to him, to even accept such an offer. But had that ever stopped him from taking anyone else up on such offers before, since he had woken up in the woods that day? No. It had not “Okay!” He said, fairly easily and confidently. Pressing the flour to his chest then he looked down at his phone in his left hand and read of the next ingredient he had needed “Oh! And, my name is Niel. I figure it would be good to know each others names? At least that is what I have heard.” Nathan was perfectly fine with strangers, as long as they weren’t touching him. He had spent sixteen years in a mental hospital, that was more of a prison, full of strangers that he had to pretend to be nice to after all, sometimes.

Austin shook his head, before even getting a word in he saw his brother punch the ground. “Oh my god.” He spoke in shock, assuming that Nathan had just broke his hand. Austin stayed silent as his brother was fighting something internal, that was made clear in this very moment. It was bizarre yet truly astonishing, watching his brother totally come back to reality. Seeing him take control of himself, though it only lasted for a second since he could see the exhaustion seriously take over. As Nate lifted his hand, he didn’t know where it would go, seeing it come to his chest he stared down at the blood covering his shirt now. He didn’t care much for it, he really just wanted his brother to get some sleep. “Alright.” He got up with him and he walked beside Nate as they reached his car. The silence was kind of awkward, so he brought up his apology again seeing as before it wasn’t really taken in. “Nate.. I’m really sorry for yesterday.. I was drunk, though that’s no excuse.. I don’t know what came over me, but I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean any of the negative things.”

Slipping the knife back into the pocket of his hoodie Nathan slumped into the seat of the car and leaned back, absolutely exhausted before reaching over and pulling the door shut, leaving blood on the handle as he sluggishly pulled his arm back and rest it over his stomach. While Austin spoke he just let out a pained groan and turned away from the other, pressing his fevered head against the cool window. It felt like everything was spinning and the way his body kept becoming hot and then cold was distracting him, but he nodded weakly at Austin. His teeth chattering after a moment “Shut up.” It wasn’t that he had not appreciated it. It was just that he had so much going on in his head right now that Austin trying to talk to him was only making him feel stupider and more aggravated by his reaction to Austin’s actions.

Caylee couldn’t help but to hear the boy behind her taking what seemed like a little too long to pick out a bag of flour. She turned before glancing at the bags of flour that he was looking at. “What are you using it for?” she asked before deciding to move closer to him. She had already been snooping so she figured it wouldn’t hurt just to barge in on his thoughts. “I usually just get this one,” she told him before picking up one of the bags off of the shelf.

Nathan flinched slightly at the voice before turning his head to look at Caylee and then looking away as he tried to think of what to say. It wasn’t like it was difficult. He was just feeling a bit off and that was perhaps why he was wanting to take a minute before responding “Aaah.” Looking down at the phone in his left hand he shrugged then “Chocolate Lava Cake?” He squinted at the screen before looking back up at Caylee and blinking as she spoke and then moved to grab one of the bags of flour “Hm. But will it make it taste any different from this one?” He asked, gesturing to another brand. Not that he had known which one had made the better product overall.

Caylee shook her head as she looked over at him. “Not really. Though if you’re really worried about how it will taste I would go with this one.” She pointed to a completely different brand of flour before shaking her head. “But I don’t think you want to spend that much on flour.” She still held the bag of flour in her hands as she turned to face him, a little mesmerized by the fact that someone could get so caught up on something as simple as choosing a bag of flour. She had also never had such a long conversation about flour either, but she didn’t mind. It kept her distracted and now days she liked being distracted. It kept her from thinking about what was really on her mind. “Although I suppose if you’re a good cook then you can make the chocolate lava cake taste good no matter what ingredients you use.”

As she pointed to another bag he frowned a little bit as he thought between which bag to get, especially after she brought up the point that one was probably too expensive. And he did not have a lot of money. Nathan guessed he didn’t look like anyone who could afford to buy expensive flour. Sucking in a deep breath as he felt a bit agitated then. Looking toward Caylee when she had gone on. Swallowing hard he pouted a bit “I do not know how good of a cook I am.” He mumbled before looking at all the bags of flour “See, it is going to be a cake for my brother. I care about him liking it. So I do not want to mess it up.” Nathan then said to her “So I want to make sure everything is absolutely perfect.”

Austin didn’t start the car right away, he’d wanted his brother to truly hear his apology. As the other simply told him to shut up, Austin felt a pang of pain in his chest. All Austin did wasnod, and then start the car. He didn’t say a word to him, he strictly followed his orders of shutting up. As they pulled up to the apartment, “Do you wnat a shower?”

Opening his eyes a little as the car stopped and Austin asked about taking a shower, he slowly looked over at the other before letting out an exhausted mumble of something incoherent before he moved his hand to grab at the door handle clumsily and opening the door a moment later and slipping out of the seat “Yeah. Sure.” He then said loud enough for the other male to hear him before slamming the door closed and made his way toward the building. As soon as they were in the building and standing in Austin and Josephine’s apartment Nathan moved toward the bathroom.

Austin smiled as she’d commented this kiss was better, she really was the light of his life. How she was still here after everything they’ve been through is simply mind blowing to him. “I love you.” He spoke as he stared her go off to make dinner. He chuckled shaking his head, “Do we want fresh veggies in the pasta? Or just leave it to the noodles and the sauce?”

When his brother made his entrance with a sneeze, Austin looked up to see his brother shirtless. He forced himself to try to act normal as he noticed all the scars once more. “Not much we’re making dinner. Pasta good with you?” He spoke, looking up smiling lightly before realizing he didn’t have any clothes. He walked toward him, “Here, you can borrow some of my clothes. Gonna assume we’re the same size.” Austin was relieved to see his in one piece, though in the back of his mind a little curious if his brother had heard anything he’d said to Josephine.

“I love you too, babe, to the moon and back.” Josephine replied. She really did-there was nothing that Austin could do that would make her love him any less. She would love him for the rest of his life, or for as long as he would let her. “Veggies sound good. Will you start with the broccoli?” Josie asked, bumping Austin with her hip.

Then, Nathan sneezed. Josie jumped a bit, startled. She still wasn’t used to the fact that it was no longer just herself and Austin in the apartment anymore. Josie was more startled, though, by Nathan’s appearance. His skin was still red from the shower, and almost his whole torso was covered in scars. Instead of acknowledging it though, Josie just said, “Bless you. Would you prefer marinara or alfredo? Or pesto?”

Nathan made a face at that, he didn’t know about pasta. It wasn’t like he had a whole lot of it over the last few years. And certainly not something he would consider to be the end all be all of pasta, by no means. Squinting a bit he placed his hand on his stomach “Ah, yeah? Sure?” He answered, moving his hand up and down along his chest, before looking off to the side. Pasta… Suddenly looking to Austin he almost moved to step back as they walked up to him, but stopped himself before he could get anywhere “Right, because it would be really weird if I just borrowed her clothes.” Waving his hand then he mumble “Give or take.” he said, about being the same size as the other male. At Josephine’s question he looked extremely confused and then tilted his head awkwardly. Is this a game? “Toothpaste? Maple syrup? Hot sauce?” What the hell is she talking about?

She smiled and nodded in understanding before setting the bag of flour back on the shelf. “In that case I think you should go with whatever you think is best.” She gave him a soft smile as she looked up at him. She thought that it was nice that he would be baking a cake for his brother. “It’s all in preference, really.” She paused for a moment as she watched him. “I’m sure you’re going to be great at cooking. I’ve heard that as long as you make it with love then it will be good.”

With a small frown he watched as she placed the flour back down, feeling a bit more anxious. Looking back to Caylee as she suggested just going with what he thought was best. Glancing back toward the shelf he let out a frustrated sigh. I was trying to do that. There was just a few too many options, for him. When Caylee went on he opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly found he didn’t have anything to say for a moment. Taking a breath he looked around for a moment and thought “Maybe?…I-i-, well. I do not think so. For all you know this could be the first time I have ever tried to cook anything.” Looking confused he shifted slightly “Love? That is the stupidest thing I have heard in a long while .”

He had been avoiding talking for most of the night. It had come to his realization that one, it would help in him not being found out, which would also help aid to all the fun this night was supposed to be. Even though he didn’t think he really cared about playing along with all the rest of the people in the city, and their silly little party. It wasn’t like it would make him feel any better. Make him feel any less hateful or revenge seeking, and definitely any less sad about who he was, and the situation he was currently in, or in life in general. Secondly, he realized that he was stressing out, that each time he spoke, his voice gave off more and more just how anxious he was becoming. This was becoming overwhelming. The mask on his face did him no favors what so ever. Reaching up his left hand he pressed the bottom of his palm against the mask and shifted it around, trying to alleviate the feeling of being confined. Not that he wasn’t telling himself that he was okay in the first place.

After Austin had found Nathan and brought him back to the apartment. Even though he was extremely exhausted after spending the entire day and night before then doing who knows what, he still managed to wash the blood and dirt off of him. Once he was finally able to just go sleep Nathan was too tired to focus on or think about anything else. Once his head was on the pillow he was completely out. Over the next five hours he slept off and on, sometimes he would mumble in his sleep or cry for a brief moment before returning back to silence.

Around five hours later Nathan eyes shot open and he sat up suddenly, alert before slumping and his eyes emptying of its alertness. Zoning out for the next few minutes Nathan stared down at his lap, his fingers twitching at his sides. There was something completely off and dark about the way he was sitting, letting out rigged breathes. Suddenly his eyes shifted up and his head tilt slightly as he stared at apparently nothing in front of him.

Then Nathan stood and started walking toward the kitchen, the blanket he was previously wrapped in sliding off and onto the floor as he walked over. His eyes shift over the counters, looking for something. His cold empty eyes seemingly unfocused and slightly larger than usual. Standing for a moment with his neck craned to one side Nathan continued to let out uneven breathes, his mind totally elsewhere at that moment. His lips moved for a few seconds, seemingly talking to himself, but maybe he was talking to someone who only he could see? Blinking his eyes returned to normal for a brief moment as he jerked slightly, glancing around in confusion. A moment later his eyes began to water and tears spilled over down.

Again his eyes became empty and unfocused as he turned his head slightly to one side before he shifted and lift up his hand and hover it over the items littering the counter. Reaching out then he grabbed the handle of a knife and quickly yanked it out from its resting spot in the knife holder. Turning then he dropped his left hand down, the blade almost brushing his leg. Walking then Nathan moved toward the bedroom and quietly opened the door to Josephine and Austin's room. It was still early in the morning and the sun had not come up yet. All the lights had remained off as he moved around. Slipping into the room Nathan made his way over to the bed. For a moment he stood silently, watching the other sleeping comfortably.

Stepping over a wave of disorientation washed over him and he wobbled on his feet. Lifting his hand up to his head he felt sick suddenly. Dropping his head into his hand his eyes softened for a moment as a rush of thoughts and whispers flooded his mind. After a moment he straightened back up and continued to move closer to Austin. Standing over the other, he shifted the knife in his hand. He wants to send you back. He has to die. It's the only way you will finish this. Nathan, you don't think he really cares about you. Do you? He's just trying to get brownie points, don't you know? Nathan gripped hard onto the knife his eyes focusing and tearing up again as he continued listening to the voice in his ears. Austin wants nothing to do with you! You are more trouble then you have ever been worth! That's why they hate you. That's why they had sent you away! That's why he wants to send you away!

Nathan started to tremble as the voice went on, tearing him down like it always tried. You are being fucking stupid! You believe they would ever accept you back? After finding out what you are capable of? You think you deserve to be forgiven? You dumb fucking moron. You don't need to be forgiven for a crime you didn't commit. Your parents chose to do this to you. Nathan, you are almost there. You need to be the monster they wanted you to be! Nathan continued to stare at Austin before taking a step back. No. I- I will do it when the time is right. Not now. Glancing to the side then the knife dropped out of his hand and stabbed into the floor. Nathan didn't really take notice of it as he quickly moved to exit the room and move toward the bathroom, getting sick and throwing up into the toilet.

Letting out a few strained breathes Nathan shook his head as the voice continued. You are weak. Nathan shook his head and started to move back toward the living room. Sitting on the couch he curled up as he laid on his side, bringing his hands to his chest. Trying to regulate his head and breathing Nathan stared at the blank tv screen on the other side of the room. He had no idea what he was going to do, he couldn't keep going like this, it was making him feel completely insane and he hated it. Closing his eyes he spent the next few hours pretending to be asleep.

Mila walked into the ball with her hands in the pockets of her gown. Her parents, though they still were ignoring her, had kept Mila financially afloat with a steady income of too much money. She had allowed herself to splurge on a custom dress, and was very pleased with the results. Mila looked around for a familiar face, but found none. So instead, the frail girl approached the buffet, looking at all the food. In her mind, each food was associated with caloric content, and none of it was low enough for Mila to consume. Mila opted for a glass of champagne, sipping it as her eyes scanned the crowd.

Wanting to keep away from the larger collective of people Nathan kept toward the outer sides of the room. It seemed to make things a whole lot more easy on him, overall. Wondering over to the food because he was starving he stared at the few other people who were hovering around before moving his left hand out to grab a cookie. Lifting it up to his mask then he paused a moment before spotting a really thin girl standing near the table, drinking, but seemingly trying to avoid the food laid out. Lifting the mask up slightly with his right hand he started to eat the cookie and continued to watch the other. There was something about her mannerism’s that he felt familiar with. So now he was all the more curious as to who this person was, as he continued to eat random things off the table and watch the girl.

“Well that’s a pretty cool mask.” She’d walked up to the person she’d couldn’t identify which was the main reason for the event. It was nerve wracking to talk to something she either had met or hadn’t met before. Though majority of the event go-ers woke masks that covered at least half, it was interesting to see those who showed up with full covered masks.

His ears twitched as he heard the voice, and immediately place who it belong to. Turning as Camille walked up to him Nathan acted shyly and nodded awkwardly before locking his eyes on hers, briefly. “Mhmm.”He had figured he would run into her here. And he had to get something from her. But he doubted she would have it on her at the moment. So he didn’t want to give her the option to start her usual banter with him, either. Lifting his drink up then he lift the mask slightly and started to drink. I bet if I just ask her to hand it over, she won’t be a fucking bi Hearing as the male shut her out of the conversation so quickly kinda hurt, though she furrowed her eyebrows under the mask and leaned back against the bar slightly. She looked around for a moment, before trying again. “So.. I know it’s even rules not to reveal our identity… but maybe we could do 20 questions or something? Find a way to get us to guess who we are?”

Nathan blinked as he watched her reacted to what he had said. Obviously picking up that she didn’t enjoy his silence at all. Thinking for a moment he reached into his back pocket and grabbed onto his phone as she started to talk again. He had found it at the park only a couple of days earlier, where he had thrown it. Lucky him. Finding an app he clicked on it and started typing before showing Camille the screen and what he had typed out ‘We should!’ he ended up typing before showing the other, and shaking the phone enthusiastically, to add to the exclamation. tch about it. I doubt she will just hand it over. I don’t get why she wants it.

#Archive #Para #The Italizations and Bolds where they need to be aren't there because I took this from a doc

0 notes