Insanity [Patrick Stump Fanfiction]

II

I peered through the cell bars at a short man with sandy colored hair swooping across his forehead. He caught my gaze. He stood up, slowly walked over to the bars with a smile and wrapped his fingers around them. I slowly backed away.

"Hi," Patrick said curiously. A gentle smile softened his features.

"Uh, hi," I muttered. I was a bit confused considering Maria had made him out to be a monster.

"I'm Trick." He extended a hand through the bars waiting for me to shake it. I cautiously looked over at Maria whose face revealed her nerves. I took his hand in mine and shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you!"

"You too, Trick. I'm Jordan."

"Are you the new helper around here?" Patrick asked. He slightly tilted his head and engaged all of his attention on me.

"Yeah I am. Actually, today's my first day."

"Welcome!" Patrick smiled warmly. I didn't understand how this short man with fluffy hair could be capable of the murder of three of his friends. But then I remembered it wasn't him that killed them. It was his other side. His inescapable demon.

"Thank you," I said gently.

Maria tapped my shoulder and whispered, "we need to leave. He could snap any second."

"The bars will hold him back," I argued.

"We need to feed them. It's," Maria checked her watch. "It's 9:04. We're late."

"It's okay if you need to go, come and visit me sometime?" Patrick pleaded.

"Of course. I'll see you later, Trick!" I promised. Patrick nodded in relief and I followed Maria to the kitchen.

"So the way the feeding process goes is you slide the tray under the door. Make sure they stay back because they get vicious sometimes," Maria explained.

"You describe them like animals," I muttered. Maria shot me a glare out of the corner of her eye. Other than that, she ignored the comment.

"You can help out by making toast. Put the bread in the toaster then the butter on the toast and then put the toast on the tray," Maria explained.

"I know how to make toast," I grumbled.

Maria ignored me. "Trays go on the cart when you're finished."I did as I was told and began to put slices of bread into the toaster. There was another woman, and older woman, was scrambling eggs. Her soft white curls were hanging over her eyes, obstructing my view. She was in a green apron and a white shirt.

I looked around for a knife and came up with a plastic spoon instead. Apparently, the facility doesn't allow metal silverware for fear of the patients causing harm to themselves or others and they only allowed knives for the cooks.

I took out the crispy bread slices and put them on a plate, replacing them with another couple slices into the toaster.

Nobody said a word the entire cooking process and it was quite awkward. I hated every second of it. Finally, Maria broke the silence.

"Patrick seemed to take a liking to you, why don't you go give him that tray," she murmured. She handed me a tray with one slice of toast, a few scrambled eggs, and a pathetic looking sausage link. It seemed like she was trying to get rid of me. I didn't mind though, Patrick is the only one of the patients who really cares about the people trying to help him. All the others are the type who want to do everything for themselves.