Experiment Scarecrow

Chapter 22

The door pushed open with a pleading squeak as Brooke entered the natural lit home.

"I-What? What do you mean that I was 'right?'" Olivia asked, the faint breeze managing to echo through the phone with her voice.

Closing the door behind her, she hovered near the door, pacing on the small rug to continue the conversation with her friend.

"T-There was a doctor, I-I think he may have been another psychologist, I'm not sure, but he-he kept calling Scarecrow, 'Experiment Scarecrow.' And the doctor kept trying to cover up the entire operation." She shook her head.

"Experiment?  What the actual hell... no, no, this makes sense though, as to why he looks so messed up," she affirmed, the own door of her home creaking open.

Brooke narrowed her eyes, leaning back against the door. "Messed up?  He-He's not messed up. He-"

"Brooke. He is messed up. And you know it."

A frown drew across her lips, eyes casting down to the beige wooly rug. "You may be right, but still! I-I need you to take me to Rosston--to the Maple Ridge Psychiatric Hospital."

"Woah, woah, woah," her friend scoffed. "Hold up. It's like one o'clock right now, and it takes us an hour to get there. Besides, what are you even going to do when we get there? Try to break him out? That's not exactly legal.  Especially since you said they were trying to cover it up--it just sounds really dangerous, Brooke."

"I-I know, but my mom definitely won't let me go to Rosston by myself, and especially not with her  car. So, I'm begging you, please."

A long pause followed, the only sound filling the silence being Olivia's faint breaths. 

"I-I... Why should I?" she suddenly asked; the response almost a punch to the gut. "You have been flipping one-eighties on me this entire time. Ever since we-we encountered HIM. You've been lying, and just... you've been really turning on me-us... your friends. And you expect us to want to continue helping you?"

The fingers of her free hand curled into a fist, shaking her head in irritation. "Olivia, I-I know. I have been a really... shitty  friend to all of you, especially you. And I know my apologies won't quite cut it, but, we're talking about a person possibly being a tormented experiment, for-for what I thought was a mad doctor. I-I just don't think that's fair to him..." she explained solemnly.

An elongated sigh followed to her explanation. "If he's even human..." Olivia muttered. "But all right, I'll drive you there, that's it. I'm not getting involved in your madness. I swear, you're just as insane as he is..."

Brooke laughed quietly, nodding. "At this point, possibly. But thank you. I-I promise, when this is all over, I'll working on being a better friend to you, and Melanie."

"That means a lot to me, Brooke. Thank you. I'll be over in about five minutes, ok?" she answered, the jingling of keys following as confirmation of her soon-to be arrival.

"Ok, thank you, Olivia! Thank you!"

Soon, the phone call ended, allowing her to slip the phone back into her pocket, just as the familiar hum of her mother's vehicle reverberated on the other side of the door behind her.

The recognizable footsteps followed shortly up the stairs, forcing Brooke to step away as the doorknob turned, opening to reveal her mother.

Instead of the usual smile her mother greeted her with, a disappointed glare replaced it, forcing her daughter to step back.

"Um... mom? What's wrong?" she asked, watching her mother kick off her shoes and storm past to the couch.

"You. That's what's wrong. Or maybe it's me! Maybe I did something wrong."