In Too Deep

8

Penelope Young knocks on the door, determined to get to the bottom of the words of the mad man that have drove her up the wall this entire weekend.

Don't act like you're not in the loop. You know Strange likes to play with his food. Injecting us with chemicals to see how far he can push us. Ripping us apart and putting us back together for the fun of it.

She knows how insane it is to accuse such a highly respected doctor of such evil doings. But she has to ask. It's the only way to get past this nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

The door opens as she comes face to face with the man of the hour. Professor Hugo Strange.

"Ms. Young what are you doing here? Isn't it your day off?" Hugo asks her as he opens up the door to his office more. He stands in the middle of the doorway with one hand on the wall. He already had a feeling of the nature of her visit. But still, he needed to hear it before further action was taken.

"I need to ask you a question. One that could possibly get me fired but I have to ask" she says steadily.

"Oh come on Ms. Young. It can't be that bad if you're willing to stand right in front of me" he chuckles and crosses his arms. He watches her as she straightens up before taking a deep breath.

"Are you..using unorthodox methods of treatment on the patients here in Arkham?" she asks, voice wavering. For a moment his face drops but in a second it's replaced with an eerie smile.

"You mean am I torturing my patients?" Professor Strange asks and Penelope coughs.

"I wouldn't put it so harshly but, yes" she answers. Professor Strange walks out of the confines of his office and into the hallway to join Penelope. He shuts the door behind him and locks it. He turns to face her and she holds her breath for his answer.

"Would my answer affect your ability to do your job?" he questions her. Which isn't the first thing she expected him to say.

"It depends on what your answer is" she says and he nods.

"Follow me" without another word he begins to walk down the hall. Penelope swallows thickly, she's usually not one for confrontation.

Confusion is clear as day in her features as they begin to walk into the severe patients ward. Professor Strange taps his key card against the machine and the red light flashes to green as they both walk through the doorway.

The security on the other side is approached by the pair as Strange notifies him to alert an officer to prepare his patient.

They walk away from his desk and walk further into the hallway.

"Where are we going?" asks Penelope. An unsettling feeling settles in her stomach and she fixes her coat.

"You'll see" he says before continuing on his merry way. They twist and turn throughout the pathways and slowly begin to head into the cells where all of the severe orients are held. The dangerous ones.

"I've never been here before" she says out loud as she looks through the glass to see all sorts of familiar faces.

"That's because you've never been curious. Until now" Strange says before he stops in front of a large metal door.

"We only keep a few patients down in the basement. The ones who are the most threat to us rest below. Do not trail off somewhere unknown. Just follow behind me" she swallows thickly before nodding and following him down the rabbit hole.

He opens the obviously very heavy door and her heels click against the metal ground. Strange begins to walk down a few steps and her nose scrunches up in disgust.