Insanity

Chapter 2

"So, why is she here?" Joshua asked after a few moments of silence.

"Oh, I'm not one to say. It'd be better if she told you herself," Kyle said.

"I don't want to ask her...isn't she, like, a psychopath?"

"Well, she was transferred from the south wing of Shepherd." Kyle crossed his arms.

The south wing? That's where murderers and psychopaths stay. What did Annalie do? She looks a bit too weak to be capable of murder, so what then?

"Let's just ask her." I started walking over to the table she was sitting at. I wanted to know about her, what she did, and why.

"Whoa, Michael, you can't just straight up ask her why she's in this place," Joshua gripped my shoulder and turned me around to face him.

"Who said that I was going to ask her right away?" I brushed his hand off my shoulder.

One of the cafeteria doors opened with a bang, revealing the warden of our floor, Mrs. Wares. She looked around the room for a bit before her wrinkly eyes settled on me. She walked over to us and stood in front me. I towered over her by a few inches.

"Mr. Shires, I-" she began.

"Michael," I cut her off.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Michael. You don't have to call me 'Mr. Shires'." I explained.

"Oh," she nodded before continuing, "I came to tell you that you will be Ms. Hamers new personal guard."

"Mrs. Hamers?"

"Annalie Hamers, the patient who just transferred," she said, pointing to Annalie. "Mr. Sanders," gesturing to Kyle, "will resume his guarding in the south wing. That is all." Mrs. Wares began walking away and soon she was outside of the cafeteria.

"Yes! I don't have to watch over Annalie anymore!" Kyle cheered, throwing his fists in the air. He handed me Annalie's cell key. Joshua and I laughed as we said goodbye to Kyle. He was going back to the south wing now.

"Okay, Joshua, I'm going to go meet my new patient." I patted his shoulder and began walking back to her table.

"Alright, dude. Don't get into any funny business." I nodded.

I reached her table and sat across from her. She was picking at her food with a fork and looked up. God, her eyes were beautiful. I felt like I could just stare at them forever until a hand waved in front of my face.

"Hey," she kept waving, "Earth to dude? Are you there?" I blinked and was once again looking into those beautiful eyes. "You were staring."

"Huh?" My eyebrows knitted together.

"You were staring at me. You kind of zoned out as soon as you sat down," she said. She looked back down an picked at her food again.

"Oh," I felt a slight blush cover my cheeks. I bet she already thinks I'm a weirdo. "Sorry."

She nodded and kept poking at the slop on her plate.

There was silence for about a minute before she spoke up. Her voice was quiet and gentle, "Why are you sitting here?"

I looked at her in surprise, not because of the question, but because of the sudden voice. "Oh, well, I'm your new personal guard," I held out my hand in front of her, "Michael Shires."

She flinched a little as I raised my hand. She hesitated before grasping it with her small hand and shook it gently. "Annalie."

"So, Annalie, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

She stayed quiet. Her hands were now under the table and she kept her head down.

"...Alright. I'll tell you about myself first," I said. I exhaled and looked up at the ceiling. What am I suppose to say?

"Well, uh, I'm nineteen, I started working here about a month and a half ago, I live in an apartment, my favorite color is red, and, uh, that's about it, I guess." I folded my hands on the table. She nodded. I moved my chair closer to the table and rested my elbows on it. "Your turn."

She looked up, she had a loss for words. Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Uh... I'm eighteen. I have been here since I was fourteen, and my favorite color is grey,' she said, all while looking down at her hands.

"Since you were fourteen?" I was really shocked. She must have commited a really heinous crime to end up here at fourteen.

"Yeah," she glanced up for a moment. I could see sadness in her eyes.

"What did you do?"

She looked up and straight at me. Here eyes were now filled with hatred and anger instead of sadness. "I'll tell you what I was accused of: I tortured and murdered my older sister and murdered a man that saw the whole thing." Her hands formed into fists and her knucles were turning white.

This girl was crazy. Torturing and murdering her own sister and then murdering a witness?! No wonder Kyle was so happy not having to be her guard anymore. "Wow," that was all I could say. I'm actually kind of scared of her.

She somehow looked different. Her eyes looked even darker and she had a sly grin. "You're scared of me, aren't you?" I stayed quiet. "You are!" amusement could be heard in her voice. "Don't be."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because things aren't always what they seem." The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

She stood from her chair and began walking to the cafeteria doors. I stood up and jogged up to her. I hesitated before grabbing her arm gently. She directed me to her cell. I took out the key and unlocked the door. She walked in and I closed and locked the door. She turned and wrapped her hands around the bars in the window of the door. She looked at me and opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it.

I stepped closer to the door. I was curious to know what she wanted to say. "What is it, Annalie?"

She opened her mouth and tried to find the words she wanted to come out. After a few moments, she spoke, "You're different from them."

"Them?"

"The past guards I've had." She smiled. "You seem nice."

I smiled back at her. "Thanks, you seem nice, too." She nodded and stepped away from the door. She walked to her bed and lied down on it.

I walked away from the door and down the long corridor. Annalie's interesting. Crap, I forgot to ask her about her episodes. I want to know how exactly she acts or what to expect. But I guess I'll find out sooner or later.