Psychosis

The Statement

Five minutes after the officer called the New York Police Department for back up, Kali could hear the shrieking of sirens from where she sat in Dr. Taylor's blood stained office. She was sitting slumped in the chair where not too long ago Gwain had tried to take advantage of her. Outside the room, Gwain's escort was talking to the head psychiatrist about what happened. Kali couldn't hear what they were saying, but judging from the volume of the two voices neither one was happy. The familiar ding of the elevator told Kali that the NYPD had arrived. They briefly spoke to the two men outside before entering the room. There were three of them standing in the doorway, clad in uniform. They surveyed the scene, their eyes landing on Kali last.

"I didn't do this," she stated, "Well," she looked at Gwain, "not both of them anyway."

One of the officer's approached her, kneeling to look her in the eyes, "My name is Officer James Gordon. May I ask yours?"

"Kali."

"And how old are you Kali?"

"Seventeen."

Officer Gordon turned to look at his partner, whose response was to look at his feet. Gordon turned back to Kali, "We're going to have to ask you to come down to the station so we can get your statement."

"Gentlemen," said the third officer who had busied himself examining Gwain's body, "this one isn't dead."

Kali laughed, "Guess I should've worn higher heels."

____________________________________________________________________________________

Officer Gordon and his partner, Officer Bullock, sat across from Kali in the small grey interrogation cell, twiddling their thumbs. Though they both mad many questions to ask, they both remained quiet.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Kali stated, finally breaking the ice.

"We're not accusing you of anything," Officer Bullock responded, "We just want you to tell us what happened."

Kali sucked in a deep breath and shrugged, "I was shadowing Dr. Taylor today. I arrived at her office around after nine, and she met me in the lobby. I arrived early so we still had about five minutes to spare before her patient arrived. She asked me if I wanted to review  her patient's case. The patient was escorted in by an officer around ten. Not long into the evaluation, Gwain got up from his chair and took the pencil from Dr. Taylor. He then proceeded to shove the pencil through her hand. She didn't scream, well, she didn't get the chance to anyway. Gwain took away that chance by snapping her neck."

Officer Gordon nodded, "and then what?"

"Then he came at me. Since I was in shock and therefore hadn't moved from my chair, he sat on me. I managed to push him off of me, but before I could escape he grabbed my leg. I shook my leg to loosen his grip on me, but he was already coming to his bearings. Once he was up, he shoved me against the wall and," she paused, "he tried to remove my shirt. Somehow I was able to twist my body in a way that freed me from his grasp. I ended up on the floor and he lowered himself on top of me. At some point in the struggle one of my heels had fallen off. The heel was within my reach, so I grabbed it and shoved it in his eye. He screamed and toppled off of me. I got up, started kicking him, and that's when the police officer stationed by the door finally intervened. The officer pulled me off of him; apparently even though I had incapacitated him I just kept kicking."

As she finished, there came a knock at the door. Without waiting for a response, Mr. Nygma—the third officer from earlier—burst into the room clutching a clipboard to his chest. He smiled as he whipped the clipboard around, revealing a picture of what looked like two crossed swords.

"Guess what this is," Nygma ordered.

"Ed, what did we say about asking and not telling?" Officer Bullock replied.

"Humor me," Officer Nygma insisted.

Kali could tell neither Officer Bullock nor Officer Gordon were going to, so, she did.

"It's a tattoo."

"Of what?" Nygma questioned.

"Ed, we're not symbol readers. Just tell us," Officer Bullock replied.

"It's the sigil of the gang Knights of the Round Table, which our murder suspect has tattooed on the back of his neck."

Officer Gordon frowned, "you're telling me Miss Faye just impaired a member of an elite gang?"

"I didn't tell you that. You used context to figure it out. And," he added, "look what else I found," he pulled a small grey electronic device out of his suit pocket.

"Officer Taylor's recorder," Kali said aloud yet to no one in particular.

Officer Bullock held out his hand for the recorder. The corner of Nygma's mouth slightly dipped as he handed it to him. If Officer Bullock noticed the dark change in Officer Nygma's disposition, he didn't do anything to cheer him up. Instead, he hit play on the recorder.

"I like to record my sessions."

Kali was overwhelmed with a feeling of deja-vu.

"We still have a few minutes before my patient gets here. Would you like to review the case?"

"Um, am I allowed?"

Hearing her own voice on the recording startled her. The recorder made her voice sound distant and robotic. Kali's static voice was replaced with the sound of shuffling papers.

"Have you been treating Mr. Green for a while?" Kali asked.

"This will be his first session with me."

"It says here that he's a rapist."

"Sometimes I have to treat people that have done inexcusable things. A lot of times felons will plead insanity, and it will be up to people like me to diagnose them. If they are insane, I personally recommend any mentally unstable felon be sent straight to Arkham Asylum. Just because someone is diseased doesn't mean they can get away with murder. They should still be locked up."

An intense pain thrummed through Kali's head. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands to prevent herself from crying out in pain. The sound of the recorder became dull, as if she was listening to it underwater.

"Miss Faye." someone was calling out to her, but all she could hear was the sound of Gwain's husky voice emitted from the recorder.

"Miss Faye?" the voice was more urgent this time.

The sound of Gwain's voice transported her back into the office. Her heart beat ponderously in her chest. Was it hot in there?

"Like water..."

"Turn it off," she choked. Why were her hands so wet?

"Miss Faye!"

"...on a calm day."

"I said turn it off!" she shouted, withdrawing her fingernails from the flesh of her skin so she could slam them down on the table

She watched as the blood dripped from her hand to the floor below. That's why here hands were so wet. Officer Gordon stopped the recording, which in turn brought a tense hush upon the room. Kali curled her fingers into fists to hide the damage she had done. She could feel her heart beating, no, threatening to beat right out of her chest. The three officers were staring directly at her. Though she wanted to, Kali couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily, Mr. Nygma could,

"What breaks when you say it?" he queried.

"Ed," Gordon started.

"Silence," Kali answered, "silence breaks when you say it."

Officer Nygma gave Gordon a satisfied grin.

"May I ask you a question now, Mr. Nygma?" Kali asked.

"You just did, but I'm assuming you have another one in mind."

"May I go to the hospital now?"

His grin faded, "I'll drive you there myself."