Behind Asylum Walls

A Hopeless Gift

"No this can't be right...nothing to be rid of...nothing vulgar...no work to be done." Eddie's voice wakes Susan from a haze.

Nothing but shadows linger over her and a nearby window gleams light over her frail body. Strangely her hands grasp a silk fabric at her sides and she opens her eyes to a wooden ceiling. She raises her hands and in them containing a silk nightwear of elegance. It's white yet grey stained edges make her shiver. Her breath stops and she lays her arms back down after hearing footsteps edge their way near her. She closes her eyes softly to seem at peace. Regretting so, two muscular arms soon wrap under her at the bend of her knees and her upper back across her shoulder blades. The hard surface soon leaves her, nothing but the feel of the gown draping under her accompanies her along with Eddie's now grasping arms. His hands holding tightly onto her right upper arm and knee.

"You...you shall be my bride. You are perfect and deserved to be untainted by the evils of the world! You will be my bride...my one and only...and your eyes, they carry hope...they too are beautiful like..." he brushes her left cheek with his lips and lets a warm breath haze over it. The odd touch and the words etched into her mind. Panic rises in her making her scream for freedom.

"No let me go!" she yells and his left arm slips letting her lower body swing down and her feet touch the floor. Next thing she knows she is being deeply held by him. His strong arms wrapped around her waist. His nose and lips pressed deeply against the right of her neck.

"I don't want to lose you again." his voice whimpers the vibrations tingle her neck.

Her eyes wide from shock and astonishment makes her think. 'This...man...this victim...this criminal. His life was worsened. He thought we were helping him in reality we didn't...they didn't.' his arms tighten then loosen giving her room to breathe.

He backs away to gaze upon her, most of all at her eyes. Her auburn hair shining and dirty from sweat. Her eyes calm and grey under a light he decided to stop under. The grey of her eyes some what enchants him to be calm and collective. The rich pale blue eyes grasps her attention and the blood around them making them more visible to her gives her a sorrow she never thought existed in her. Being a psychiatrist taught her to be unemotional and at ease to not only be their for patients in need, but to also think of solutions and nothing more. Most of all to not get attached to patients. The files she read, the background she knew of Eddie Gluskin, all of it made her feel worried of what she could do to help him.

"Give him comfort." the voice returned, the Walrider's snake like voice returned to her thoughts. "The ten percent of your mind...use it and erase memories...use it. Give him a peace of mind in order for you to be free."

Susan was never a fighter always into studies and silence within a reading place. She always used words in a sticky situation, but she could not, this time, for a mad man would not listen. An untamed one, one that has been tormented by his childhood. Being raped while his mother stood by and watched. That had developed his hate for women leading him through his murderous background, but somehow being stuck here erased that hate. The hate for men develop by the actions of his father and his uncle only increased by the treatment Murkoff gave him. All the history Susan knew would engulf pain upon him if she asked questions to help, so indeed she needed to use the gift the Walrider bestowed upon her.

"Place your hands on him...the sides of his face will do. Erase what has brought him pain. You too will feel his suffering." the voice whispers in her conscious state.

She watches Eddie kneel before her as she stands a few feet away. Her lips part and words do not form nothing but a breath comes.

"Darling? Is everything...?" he pauses as she smoothly makes her way to him overcoming what fear was left because of him.