Split- The Company She Keeps

Chapter 2- The Brush

The jumper Casey had been told to wear was larger than she thought. Being used to seeing it so tight on Dennis, it just emphasised the size of him over her. The sleeves covered her hands and then some and the torso fell to just below her rear. After the lock-hole incident, Dennis had not returned, none of them had. Casey had finished in the shower and dried herself with the towel and was sitting on the bed in the jumper and nothing else, covering her legs with the blanket. She had draped her dripping hair over the back of the headboard so it did not make Dennis' jumper 'messy'. He would not have appreciated that. While she had the time to herself, Casey pulled out the playing cards and slowly flicked through them, looking at each image.

Some of them were pictures of Hedwig himself, in his yellow topped jacket with a crudely drawn smile on his face, sometimes waving, sometimes just looking. Others were of Patricia and Barry, with his signature hat on and a navy blue scarf. There were some people on there that Casey didn't recognise, but thought they might be some of Hedwig's other... Friends. There was lot of animals, easy to spot crocodiles and hard to decipher deer that looked more like dogs with long necks. It was oddly comforting, the innocent drawings of a child, even in a place of such darkness and densely thick walls. Casey was near the end of the pack when she found the joker card, only noticeable by the contrasting dark scribbles covering it instead of the colourful animals and people she had grown quite fond of. Hedwig had drawn over the jokers body to make it large, dark and foreboding with red eyes. She held the card closer to try and read the messy handwriting in the dark light but simply couldn't make it out. She would have to ask Hedwig what it said, if he ever came back.

There outer door opened and shut making Casey jump, stuffing the cards back under the pillow before pulling the blanket higher up her waist. The footsteps were very sure and confident. It couldn't be Hedwig, he tended to either make no noise at all or scurry around. And he didn't wear hard shoes, only trainers. Anyone else was a sorry sight for sure. She didn't want any of them to come in. None would bring good news or even good company.

Her heart sank as Patricia walked in, though she took some comfort in knowing who it was, not ready to meet someone new. She carried a hairbrush with her and gave Casey a smile as she entered.
"Dennis said you had showered." She said in her strangely soft voice that crawled over Casey's skin. The teen nodded but didn't move as she was approached. "Come now, lets get those knots out before your hair dries, lord knows it will be much harder later with your hair being so thick." Casey shuffled forwards on the bed, wrapping the sheet around her back to keep herself decent from man who lay beneath the person she was seeing. Patricia sat behind her and started to brush her hair from the ends, working her way up, rambling on about something she had read in the bible. Casey let her eyes close. She had never had somebody brush her hair before and she had to admit, it was intoxicating. Patricia followed each stroke of the brush through with her fingers, the small knots tugging at such tiny spots on Casey's head. Each tug felt like an electric shock, though it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

Patricia worked higher and higher until she was at the base of Casey's skull, separating her hair at the back and letting it fall over the front of the teens shoulders.
"Is that... Are you wearing Dennis' jumper?" Patricia asked slowly, sounding a bit more serious than before. Casey didn't want to turn around and look for fear of the woman's reaction.
"Yes, it's what he gave me in replacement of my clothes when I showered." Her captor put her hand on Casey's shoulder and huffed, standing.
"He was in here wasn't he? When you showered?" Casey just nodded, keeping her face hidden behind her hair. "He isn't allowed to do that. He knows. He knows he mustn't be in here when you're indecent. He's not allowed to touch you."
"I was in the bathroom, I-I was wearing a towel. Nothing happened." Casey stuttered, not wanting to get herself or Dennis in trouble, finding Patricia more frightening than any other person she had met at that moment.

Her captor stood for a while saying nothing, simply thinking before heading to the door. "He will punish you for telling me. And I cannot stop him. Not that I would, you should not have been such a silly girl." Patricia's lips puckered and her eyebrows raised. "I will talk to him. Don't you worry." The sound of the door closing and those shoes growing quieter until the outer door closed brought little relief.

Casey was worried. Punish? How would he punish her? How could she possibly be any more punished than she already was? After Patricia had walked out and locked the door, Casey went to lay down in the bed, finding herself burying her face in the warm soft fabric of the jumper, smelling the smallest hint of aftershave on it and admitting to herself that it smelt nice. Sleep did not come easily like it does when you can see the night sky, or even a clock. There was no concept of time in the small room, not even a chiming clock outside the door. Her visitors came in whenever they pleased without routine which did not help her work out the time of day either. Her stay seemed endless, but she finally drifted off to a restless sleep, uneasy about what was to come when her next visitor arrived, picturing the dark shape on the black card.