nightshift //minizerk//

23

Josh's POV:

I can practically feel my heart leaping into my throat as the footsteps draw nearer. All of us look around wildly, but at this point there's no way to escape the inevitable. The footsteps stop, and I hear a snicker. ''What's on, boys?''

Oh.

We all glare up at JJ, and I'm pretty sure all of us are cursing him for scaring us so much. Tobi rises to his feet. ''Don't do that again, bro...'' he says, but he's smiling. ''I've already told JJ about the plan,'' he says, and the boy on the other side of the cell nods. ''You get everything, Simon?'' Tobi turns to the blonde boy, who nods slowly. ''We should probably go then,'' I sigh, but Tobi nods in agreement. ''Someone wake those two,'' he gestures to Vik and Ethan. Simon shakes them awake, and we quickly return them to their own cells. ''Night...'' I mutter to Harry and Tobi before the head off. I lock Simon's cell and rest my head on the bars. ''See you tomorrow,'' he says with a small smile. I nod, returning the smile before wandering off down the hall.

By the time I get home, it's almost two in the morning. I don't waste time in climbing into bed, trying my hardest to push myself into sleep. It takes around half an hour, but I do eventually drift off. And that's when it happens again.

Once more, I feel the strange familiarity of a gun barrel pressed to my left temple and the weight of a gun in my left hand. It's a weird moment, because this time I know I'm dreaming. But it still doesn't make any more sense. I try to put the gun down, but I can't. And then, something new happens. I pull the trigger. I can feel the bullet ripping through my head and out the other side. But it doesn't hurt. Not much. And there's no blood. Not until I wake up.

I keep my nose pinched tight, trying my best to stem the heavy flow of blood. Fuck, I haven't had a nose bleed this bad in years. Certainly not an unprovoked one. I cover my nose with a tissue and slump down in my bed, confusion washing over me. I haven't had that dream since I was in hospital. But that one made a bit of sense. I'd been shot, so I had a dream about a gun. But I'm over it now. So why would I dream about it again? I'm not suicidal. I never have been. At least, I don't think I have... I have no desire whatsoever to kill myself, nor for someone else to kill me. Fuck death. None of this makes any sense.

I decide to keep the whole thing quiet as I pull up outside the asylum, blood no longer gushing from my nose. Maybe I will mention that to Harry. I make my way inside, determined to speak to Simon. But he isn't in his cell. I whip around as I hear a quiet voice. Vik. He hurries to the front of his cell, speaking quietly and urgently. ''Some guys came to fetch Simon. I think it's for his evaluation thing. They were being a bit harsh and Simon didn't like it so he freaked out a little- and... well, they tased him... Tobi had a massive go at them... I think they went down to the isolation block. Tobi said to tell you to bring Harry when you come down...'' the boy trailed off, looking distressed. ''Go! Quick!'' he said suddenly, pushing me lightly through the bars. I bite the inside of my cheek and hastily make my way to the medical block. Way to spring shit on me.

After retrieving an utterly furious Harry, we both make out way down to the isolation block. I hear the boy mutter, ''They're probably in D-Block...'' and I frown. He glances at me briefly. ''It's below the iso-block. They've got all sorts down there. The ones who are never leaving. I guess it has other uses too...'' he trails off, and I decide not to ask any more. I let Harry lead the way through the eerily silent isolation block, and into the deafening block below. I try to pick apart the sounds, but it's tricky. All I hear is a terrible mixture of shouting and screaming. It's not nice. At all. Harry looks pale. ''Come on,'' he mutters hoarsely, cupping his hands over his ears. I copy his actions, and we keep walking until the sound grows quieter. As soon as Tobi comes into view, we rush over to him. He looks angry.

''Come in, quick...'' he says, opening the door behind him. The two of us hurry in, followed closely by Tobi. There's a strange tension in the air as we enter the large, white room. It looks unbelievably sterile compared to the rest of the asylum. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as my eyes land on Simon. We both take a step towards each other, but Tobi clears his throat and we take the hint. I glance around once more. There aren't many of us. Just me, Harry, Tobi, Simon, and three people I don't recognise- a very smartly dressed woman and two men in a uniform I've never seen before. No one looks happy. I back up so I'm beside Tobi. ''What are we doing and why am I here?'' I ask quietly, and Tobi shakes his head. ''We're waiting for Simon to speak. He's refusing. And we need you here because you're the only member of staff he actually trusts, besides Harry,'' he tells me, also in a hushed voice. ''Mr Minter, do you understand?'' the woman opposite us presses. Simon doesn't say a word. He smiles at me. I frown. Simon raises an eyebrow and drops the smile. I glance at Harry, but he just shrugs. I look to Simon, and he smiles again. I let out a dry laugh and return the smile. ''Yes, I understand,'' the blonde boy says suddenly. ''Can you take these off me?'' he asks, turning sharply to face the woman and offering out his handcuffed wrists. ''No. Follow me,'' she snaps, clearly annoyed at the fact that I managed to get Simon to speak simply by smiling at him. As we follow the woman down a hallway just as clean as the previous room, Simon speaks up again. ''I love your smile, Josh.''

Harry has grin etched onto his face. ''What?'' I ask quietly, but he shakes his head and doesn't say a word. The hallway seems to have widened out and it's lined with various doors. I have no idea where we are, but Simon seems familiar to it. ''Mr Lewis, if you could stop giggling and do your job, that would be great,'' the woman we've been following says monotonously. Harry silences himself and enters the room the lady is gesturing to, followed closely by Simon and the two guards. The woman busies herself with reading through sheets of what I can only assume is Simon's details.

I lean close to Tobi. ''What's with her?'' I ask quietly. He shrugs, and leans in to my ear. ''It's her job to find reasons for him to be sent away. At the moment, he's showing quite a lot of signs of being perfectly sane. He's evidently capable of romantic attraction, and he's showing a lot of evidence that he's a very intelligent boy. I read her notes,'' he whispers, and I nod. ''Okay,'' we spend the next few minutes in total silence, only looking up when the door is pushed open and Harry, Simon and the guards walk through. Harry is still smiling. ''All good. Lacerations on his wrists are looking much better, and he's rather underweight, but y'know... that's to be expected...'' he trails off, exchanging an unreadable look with Simon. I don't like the way things are going. It feels like I'm missing one very important detail. Like everyone knows something that I don't. But Simon looks happy. He looks like he knows what he's doing. So I guess that's enough for me.

a/n: idk where this is going. might end it early and make a sequel so i can sorta start a fresh. xx