Psychosis

1.

"Matilda Matthews." booms the woman's voice through the loud speaker. "Ready for your tour?" she asks quite politely as I make my way to the front desk and hand her my finished paperwork. "Call me Tilly, everyone does" I say and smile at her as she stands from her chair gesturing for me to follow.

Cliffton, the largest asylum in the United States. People say you go crazy just from stepping foot in this place, and by the looks of the employees the rumors must be true. So why in the hell would I want to work here? Since I was ten years old I loved helping people, making them feel better and loved, so i became a psychiatrist. I think helping murderers and crazy people would not only benefit the patient but everyone else. Helping people is my passion and I intend to change every psychotic maniac in this hell hole.

"This is the lobby, we let the healed patients lounge in this area during the day, it's still in high security though so don't worry." she points to the cameras in the room and the burly security guard in the corner. We walk down a hallway and pass some rooms for patients. "This is where we like to keep the less... disturbed patients. We strongly believe that they are influenced by other people so we like to keep the ones with better minds as far away from the red room as possible." The patients in the rooms were either sleeping or staring blankly into a tv screen, cafeteria trays still filled with mashed potatoes and Jell-o near them. "Lunch time is at 11:00 everyday, you just missed it." We walk past a few patients, I wave politely but they look past me and continue walking. "Friendly bunch." I say sarcastically to the lady. She chuckles and shows me the cafeteria, restrooms, and finally we get to my office. "Here is where you'll be doing all of your work. You'll get your patient list tomorrow." I sit in the chair at my desk, This is it, Til, you're gonna make a difference. She is still in the room when I turn around. "One last place," she says. "It will only take a minute."

As we walk to this last place she uses her walkie talkie to call for a few security guards to come with us and for the man to unlock the Red Room. "This room is hell on earth," she says and turns to look me dead in the eyes, "do not speak to anyone, do not look at anyone for too long, and do not open any cages." I quickly nod my head in compliance, chills going down my spine. Cages? Where am I? The door clicks and cold air escapes and hits me like a truck making me shiver even more. "I've only been in here twice." she says, I think she was trying to make me feel better but that really only made me even more freaked out.

The room was dark red, hence it's name. Supposedly the color red calms the brain or whatever but let me tell you, these patients were anything but calm. The moment the door opened people were screaming and yelling, locked behind see through glass walls with a small chair and a small bed and a few books. This is a zoo. "Kill me, fucking kill me!" a man screamed at us as we passed by, his skin cut deeply open by his own teeth and finger nails. A woman blankly staring at us, her head tilted to the right creeped the heck out of me. "Don't pay any attention to these nuts, they are gonna be here for a long time." says my guide. "Why are they in here? What makes them different from the others?" I ask, staring back at the creepy woman in the cage. "A number of things really. They could be murderers, rapists, criminals of all sorts who are too crazy for prison, so they come here," she laughs which catches me off guard and I jump a bit. "It actually takes a lot to make it to this room, their psych test scores were all off the charts. The shivering in my spine comes back. "For instance, the woman you are looking at right now killed her husband and served his organs to her unknowing children, this man," she turns and gestures to a large man rocking back and forth on the floor. "Threw his two month old baby out of a tenth floor window and shot his wife soon afterwards." she keeps walking and tells me the horror story of each of these people finally reaching the end of the room. "And this man," she looks into the cage and I look with her. A surprisingly handsome man with vibrant orange hair looks up from his book. "murdered 30 civilians in less than 10 ten days." she turns and looks at me. "His psych test scored higher than all of these people, every single maniac in here put together isn't as crazy as this man right here." He winks at me and I step back a bit tripping on the guides shoe. I keep staring at him, my breathing getting heavier and heavier. He kept staring at me as well, he was so calm and quiet, this man who was seen as a total psycho seemed like the calmest person in the room, me included. He was very handsome as well, his dark eyes not moving from mine, his book still in his hand. To Kill a Mockingbird. I smirk at his choice of books and he smirks back. "Tilly, did you hear me?" I snap back into reality and turn to the voice speaking to me. "M'am?" I ask her out of breath. Get a grip Til this man's a murderer. He's disgusting, a freak. I look back at him, he had his face back in the book, his bright hair falling into his face. "Don't come back in here without permission, Tilly, it's extremely dangerous. Tilly..? Tilly!" "I understand." Finally turning from the man and walking out behind the woman.