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

Hollowed Goodbye

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018

"Good afternoon, Michael, I'm sorry I'm late-" Mia sighed, entering his room for the first session of the week. As usual, he had been sitting at his desk, his back towards her. She smiled lightly as she saw him put his mask on over his face as it was the one gesture she recognized as that was his way of greeting her. He stood up slowly before turning towards her. He had been more than happy to see the one person who brought his chaotic mind at ease.

She smiled, opening her arms at him as he was still hesitant to approach her for physical contact. "It's so good to see you, Michael," She said into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist, gently tugging her towards him before letting her go. "Have you been drawing?" She asked, looking around to see his gifted journal opened to a fresh page. "May I see?"

He nodded his head slightly, his eyes following her every move, waiting on her to cross the boundary he had set, wanting desperately to hurt her, but the last cell of humanity he had in his heart talked him out of it.

Every time.

"These are fantastic, Michael," She encouraged, flipping through the pages slowly, seeing a portrait drawing of one of her horses, that was well drawn after the first one she had seen, which was a doodle. There was also a woman with long, brown hair that was worn curly carrying a small child. "Is this your mother?" She asked, seeing his now sad eyes looking down as she could tell he was frowning behind his mask. "I'm so sorry, Michael. I can tell you loved her."

He nodded slightly as a response, bowing his head as he had hoped she didn't continue with looking through his drawings. He watched as she flipped to the next page, seeing a sketched oval and long tresses - a drawing he had just started. "You're so talented, Michael. These are so-"

Her words were stopped by how he grabbed her, forcing her to look at him. His eyes staring holes into her. She felt slightly afraid of him by his strong grip as his breathing sounded of arousal - strong, hesitant, and blunt. "Michael, I-I-"

"Let me in there! Let me in!" She heard Dr. Sartain shout from outside, letting her know that he had been eavesdropping on them during their session.

"Fuck," Mia grumbled, looking up at Michael. "He's going to take what I gave you." He didn't respond, just stared. She could tell by the gleam in his eye that he was conjuring something in his mind. What it was - she was unaware.

"Ms. Harris, did he hurt you?" Dr. Sartain asked, looking as if he were in a panic.

"No."

"Then why was he grabbing you like that?"

"Because I touched his things." She replied.

"What things?" He questioned, looking over at his desk. "Ah, things you have brought him from the outside. I'm afraid we have to confiscate these, Michael." He said, referring to the photo album and journal.

"They're not bothering anything. It's no different than him having supplies to make his masks in here-"

"But you did not ask permission-"

"I also told you I did things my way and trying to constantly force a reaction out of someone is not the way to do it."

Dr. Sartain scoffed, marching over to the desk to retrieve the small journal Mia had gifted him, sighing as he thumbed through the three pages he had drawn on. "Looks like you've made more than a connection. Perhaps an attraction."

At those words, Mia hesitantly looked at Michael, seeing his sharp stare on Dr. Sartain, his fists clenched. She knew he was wanting to kill him, no questions asked as he had a built up aggression towards Sartain. "Meet me in my office."

"Whatever you say," She grumbled, watching him leave the room and shutting the door behind him. "Michael? I'm going to get your things back, okay? He seems pretty mad, so if he tries to take me off of your case, I'll be sure to tell you and bring your things back, okay?" She assured him, watching him come closer to her, opening his hands slightly for another embrace as he let himself fully trust her.

Roughly two hours later, the unfortunate news of Mia's dismissal from Michael's case was confirmed due to an apparent physical attraction between patient and licensed physician, which was claimed to be untrue, but was denied.

"I'd at least like to tell him goodbye. He doesn't know what's going on-"

"He doesn't care what's going on, Ms. Harris. He has no emotion, nor is he capable of feeling emotion, especially love." Dr. Sartain explained.

"That's not true-"

"I will allow you to make your dismissal with him, but your services will no longer be needed as I have two reporters coming in tomorrow to interview Michael."

"Why?"

"To study his case. They're very knowledgeable. Nothing to intrude your work, but they're very thorough."

"We'll see about that." She scoffed, dismissing herself from his office to find Allen, the security guard that tended to the same wing Michael was on for the last ten years.

Michael stood facing the door to his room after hearing her soft voice from the other side. Adjusting his mask on his face, he took a deep breath as he watched her slowly enter the room with a frown on her face, knowing what she was about to say before she even said the first word. "Michael? I-I've come to say my goodbyes. He took me off of your case, but I managed to get these back for you. He told me to take them with me, but they're yours," She presented a half-smile to him, frowning even more that it was the last time she were to see him. She handed him the small journal and photo album she gifted him, watching him slowly take it from her hands. "I'm going to miss you, Michael."

She embraced him, his grasp tightening on the items she had returned to him, desperately not wanting to let them down in fear of losing them. His stance stayed stable, wanting desperately to grasp her and keep her close, but instead, he stayed there. A slight smirk played at the corner of his lips as he felt her stand on her toes to come close to his height. "I'll try my best to keep in touch, okay?" She whispered, pushing her cheek against his masked one, lightly pressing a loving kiss to his cheek, not feeling his skin get hot from her touch.