The Devil Walks Among Us; Book l - Completed 4/21/22

The Shape is Monumental

The following morning, Mia replayed the events that occurred the day prior - her first session with Michael. She felt hopeless, doubting herself for making any progress with a patient that chose not to speak or express any type of communication, unless he was running things his way, which was loose to mow down anyone he chose. Sipping on the cheap hotel coffee, she stirred in the powdered creamer lazily, irritated that the coffee wasn't hot enough to dissolve the powder, leaving a few chunks floating on the surface. 

Putting her brunette tresses into a loose bun, she retrieved her blank notebook from her bag, which was intended to attend the sessions with her, but at the last minute, she felt that it was unnecessary as she knew Michael was used to this type of pressure before, which surely, after forty years, was not going to change just because his new supervisor was the opposite gender. 

10-2-18

Patient: A-2201; M. Myers

Session Time: One hour, six minutes.

My first visit with Michael was not unexpected. The individual has chosen to be completely mute, focusing surely on the events in his own mind.

Very observant and has the capability to show emotion, but chooses not to.

Patient kept his back facing me and turned his head to look over his shoulder briefly if I were to make a short movement. Judging by his body language, he looked miserable having to be cuffed by the ankles and wrists every time the wrought iron door opened. 

Reminds me of a young boy trapped in an older man's body - thirsting for a comfortable environment whilst not understanding why he is where he is. Perhaps he does understand, but thinks his actions are not wrong. 

I believe the only way to start communication with him is to compare it as like having a dog or cat - you know how they feel based on the look on their face or how they act towards you while also respecting one another's boundaries. 

He is known as The Shape, previously based from his first overseer. He is monumental - standing tall like an oak with the compassion of a young man, simply seeking someone, or something, to understand him and treat him for what he is, although he is already treated for what he is, Smith's Grove has failed to focus surely on the way to understand him for what he is. 

Writing her signature on the bottom of the page, she dated the top left corner of her page, re-reading her cursive handwriting over again to ensure that it was long enough and detailed enough for Dr. Sartain. 

Staring blankly out the window to see the true beginning of fall, she became startled at the vibrating of her phone on the table next to her. Seeing it was only a text from one of her friends, she breathed in relief that it wasn't Dr. Sartain begging to take her to lunch. She vowed to be relentless in her search of studying Michael. Out of all of her recent patients, Michael was the first to choose to be mute and not show any type of communication, except for keeping his back facing her, surely not out of fear, but out of irritation that another person was breathing within a ten foot radius of him. Having enough of sitting in silence, she decided to check out of her hotel early to make another trip to Smith's Grove on her way home in hopes of having another session with Michael. 

The familiar smell of ivory soap and disinfectants loomed into her nostrils as she walked through the front door of the sanitarium, showing her badge to the security guard as she walked towards Dr. Sartain's office, seeing him flipping pages in a file folder, seeming to study the pages for a longer moment than usual. 

"Dr. Sartain?" She announced quietly, knocking on his door before opening it slightly. 

"Ah, Mia, I thought you'd be heading home for the week?" 

"Well, you know me, once I get started on something, I'm too impatient to wait a few days to do it again." She replied sarcastically, forcing a chuckle. 

"What can I do for you?" 

"Well, I was hoping I could probably have another session with Michael before I made my drive home." 

"I'll see if I can work something out. Where it's still early, we usually don't bring him out for sessions until noon after they give him his breakfast." Dr. Sartain explained. 

"That's fine." She nodded. 

"Excuse me. If you'll just wait here, I'll go and check to see if they have taken him his breakfast yet." He said, standing to his feet, hastily putting the file he had been skimming through on the organizer on his desk, immediately sparking curiosity within her. 

The ticking of the clock broke the silence of the empty room. Looking up to see that it read a quarter past ten a.m., Mia became curious about the file Dr. Sartain had been reading. Looking over her shoulder to make sure he was not around, she stood quietly, walking behind his desk to look at the tab. 

Mia Harris - Emp. I.D: 52609