Maniac

Madman

Suzette's POV

"She doesn't remember how to talk," Alec says.

"What?" I ask in surprise.

She's a dumb idiot then, maybe even a vegetable if she couldn't move as much.

I look back at Lizette, only to find the color of her skin completely drained away.

"Alec, what--"

"Lizette, can you understand me?" Alec questions.

Lizette removes her hands from the gray bars and stares at me.

"Lizette?" Alec calls out.

I hold her stare with those hazel eyes--my same hazel eyes. She spins away from my gaze and falls to the ground, screaming incoherent words, but the wails are of such a frequency that you can tell they're from pain. The screams, though without form of words, pierces through the thick walls so that you would be able to hear it from a distance--that blood-curdling scream that forces even the strongest to their knees. Then come the words, words unspoken from a voice so long unheard that they have been forgotten.

"Help me!" she cries. "Somebody help me! HELP ME!"

I stare in silence as Alec covers his ears.

She remembers.

A warden comes by, dressed in uniform white, and opens the cell. He holds a piece of cloth up to her mouth until she stops screaming, to the point she is panting and struggling for air, then... silence.

Lizette's body relaxes as she goes to sleep in the warden's arms. He places her gently in the floor.

He walks up to me and locks the cell.

"I apologize, Majesty," he apologizes. "If you want, we can... shut her off permanently--"

"No," I say, my voice breathy and my throat sore as if I was the one screaming.

The warden and Alec stare at me.

"It's obvious this girl needs help," I explain. "As the ruler of this kingdom, I must see to it that all my subjects are taken care of to the best of my ability."

"That is highly responsible of you, Madam, but where would you place her? ...She's crazy!" the warden insists.

"At the high tower," I reply before walking off, knowing if I stared at Lizette any longer, I would faint.

There's only one room in the tower, so I should be safe... right?