Second Sight

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Doctor Eve Clavnik sat at her desk and tried to sift through the mountain of files. Truth be told she hated her job especially when she was stuck on the nightshift. She stole a glance at her watch.

7:25 pm.

Rob would call soon telling her that Maddie would not go to sleep before she had said goodnight to her. Her husband did it every night at seven-thirty sharp. At first she had thought that it was quite cute but soon, with the pressures of work it became harder every day to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"Come on Eve, don't let the job get you down," she told herself as she smiled down at the picture of her husband and daughter in the silver frame on her desk.

Eve picked a folder from near the top of the pile and opened it. Attached with a paper clip to the profile page there was a photograph of a young boy. His deep blue eyes stared straight out at Eve as if he knew that she was looking at him and a shiver passed through her. He had the look of an angel about him but for those piercing eyes. The doctor turned the picture face down, so that she didn't have to look at them any longer, and started to read the profile.

Name:              Stephen Clarke.      

Age:                  Fifteen.

Height:              Five feet eight inches.

Yes, that's all very interesting but why is he here?

Eve flipped through a few more pages before she came to the information she was after. She skimmed her eyes over the page picking out the important parts.

'Sentenced to the Rockwell Institution for the criminally insane indefinitely...

'Refuses to accept responsibility for the brutal crimes...

'Shows no signs of remorse...

'Victims were the patient's own parents...

'They were stabbed multiple times leading to cause of death, severe blood loss.'

Eve turned the photo over again and looked into the dead eyes. He had been at Rockwell for two years and most of that time he had spent in isolation in a medicated state according to the notes. She wanted to tear her eyes away from those in the photograph but this time she couldn't.

"What made you do it Stephen?" she asked the picture. "Why did you kill your own parents?"               The ring of the office phone shocked her, making her drop the picture onto the desk. Thankfully it landed face down. On the third ring she lifted the receiver and put it to her ear.

"Hello Rob, do you have Maddie there with you?"

"Sorry Doctor Clavnik, this is Bernie Henshall over at the isolation block," said the gravelly voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh, hi Bernie - what can I do for you?" Eve asked looking at her watch again. 7:35 pm. Maybe Rob's finally managed to get Maddie off to sleep all by himself she thought.

"I think you'd better get down here right away!"

She could hear the worry in his voice and automatically wished she was not the one in charge that night.

"What's the problem Bernie?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line before the man spoke again.

"Sorry ma'am, I haven't got a clue how..." he broke off.

"Bernie, what's happened?" she closed her eyes, unable to shut out the worst possibility.

"We've had a break out. Stephen Clarke's missing!"