MADMAN'S DEMISE

3

The long night passed, and I was still at work. I couldn't leave Brandon alone in the night, not after what had just happened. He was way too destroyed and overrushed with panic attack after panic attack, I just couldn't abandon him.

When the anodyne pills lastly seemed to do what they were meant to, Brandon could finally fall asleep in my arms. I didn't try to make him talk at all about what happened, all I wanted was for him to find a moment of comfort to be able to rest his exhausted self.

I realized he was in for a long ride if he decided to come out and declare himself innocent and thereafter apply for a retrial. I was terrified of the outcome. I already knew Brandon was guilty of all the murderers, he told me everything about them. About the victims, about the reasons, about the details. This was just something his father came up with from out of nowhere. But I couldn't possibly understand why. Did he want Brandon to go through it all over again because he missed it the last time and now wanted to be a part of the chaotic process? Maybe he did it because he wanted to remind his kid of what he'd done. Maybe it was out of genuine care and he made a whole plan to get himself behind bars and Brandon out to freedom.

The word wrested my gut like a knife.
Freedom.

During my year at this hospital and all the time spent together with Brandon, I never even spelled that word to myself once. After committing six graphic homicides and receiving the diagnosis of psychopathy, there was no way for Brandon to ever get out of imprisonment and I was aware of that from the very beginning.

But now, as the diagnosis was deprecated and Arthur Barlowe emerged from out of nowhere, my brain couldn't help but form that word carefully, letter by letter, since there was a slight possibility that it could come true to Brandon within the reaching future.

Since the shock kept me from sleeping, I was stuck inside my brain which was currently overflowed in messy thoughts. I was longing for the moment Brandon would speak to me. But as the hours passed with him peacefully sleeping by my side, I managed to process the information and gather my own conclusions.

Today was July 31st. Exactly ten years since Brandon found his mother and siblings slaughtered in his home. Dorothy told me Arthur called right at the second the clock turned midnight, which made me realize the dreadful anniversary had to have something to do with it.

I knew Arthur Barlowe was a mean, outright evil man after what Brandon told me about him. And I couldn't keep myself from thinking this was just a loathsome joke to remind Brandon of his chaotic past. What other reason would a man like him do this for?

I clenched my nervously sweating fists in anger. I felt so furious with the way Brandon didn't deserve more disruption and heartache in his life. My chest rose and sunk rapidly, my teeth gritting, eyes burning.

If I turned out to be right about Arthur Barlowe, I would do everything in my power to find something that could destroy his failed, cold-hearted self and turn to his downfall...

As the morning hours arrived, I carefully left Brandon sleeping in his room to check on Jacob and Grace. I wanted Brandon to rest as much as he needed. And since his routines were already messed up by this unexpected event, I found no reason to wake him up at his usual hour.

My body was aching from the lack of sleep, still, my head didn't feel tired at all due to all the thoughts keeping me fully awake. I didn't know if I would be able to sleep at all until Brandon would make his decision about this.

With a cuticle placed between my teeth, I walked towards Ward 3 to finally get back to Brandon. Hopefully he was still sleeping. I didn't want him to feel lonely or get another mental debacle as I was absent. Also I didn't want him to believe I left him all alone the second he fell asleep against my chest last night.