Saviour's Hell (Completed)

Altered

"Elijah, I'm very surprised that you had managed to get Ryan out of his room today." Dr. Saunders said when I was called into his office soon after I had walked Ryan back to his room when we finished lunch. "What did you say to him?"

"I wasn't the one that got him out of there. He just showed up after our...discussion about my nightmare."

"Did you say anything to him prior to that moment?"

"Nothing that would make him want to leave his room."

"Well, whatever happened between you two after he left solitary certainly changed something in him."

"What do you mean?"

"He seems different since he met you. I think you might have sparked something in him that triggered this subtle change."

"How is he changing?"

"He seems much less hostile and, well...insane, to say the least."

The same two sentences replayed in my head like a broken record for the tenth time that night: "He seems different since he met you. I think you might have sparked something in him that triggered this subtle change."

Was Ryan really changing? I thought. And is it really that noticeable?

I thought about the day I first met him.

"Well, well, well..." a maniacal but calm voice started.

I wheeled from the door to see a silhouette appear against the covered window; only messy hair and narrow shoulders were visible.

"If it isn't the notorious Elijah Winters." He finished.

"Ryan?" I forced out.

"I've heard about you and your little stunt the other night. Did you think I wouldn't find out? Or better yet...how did it feel?"

"W-what?"

He disappeared from the window, blending in with the rest of the dark room. "How did it feel to kill that woman?" His words snaked around me.

"Um..."

"Don't you remember?"

I thought for a second. "N-not really,"

"You're nervous,"

I didn't reply.

"Is it me that does this to you?"

I wasn't really sure at this point.

"Relax; I won't hurt you...yet."

"W-why do you want to hurt me?"

"I don't, so don't make me."

He seemed completely psychotic that day, and now he seemed completely normal.

Could it have been the amount of time he was locked up in solitary?

After a moment, I remembered how long I've actually known him.

He can't possibly change that much in just five days, could he? (A/N: Yes, it's actually only been five days since I introduced Ryan. I even went back through the last few chapters and counted the days.) How could anyone change that much in just a few days?

Then again, this is Ryan I'm talking about.

Am I really changing him? And if so...how am I doing that?

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I can't tell you how many hours I spent just lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling after the sunlight faded that night.