A Shadow Of A Man

Part One ~ Crimes Of Passion

There were always those opportunities in life that could either make or break you, when you took on a challenge you were looking it in the eye and vowing to break it down, half the time it worked, the other half- it broke you.

Zoya Siddiqui had always had an interest in the darker side of the world, she had always wondered what made the innocent, hard working man snap, what made the woman classed as friendly and big hearted decide to slip poison into her husband's food. It was these questions that she wanted answers for, crimes of passion was but a mere title for a mass group of activities deemed as criminal.

The human mind in itself had always intrigued her, as strange as her classmates had found her obsession for the misunderstood she didn't care. Somewhere deep down she felt as if she had a job to do, a life to save, like somehow she understood what made someone tick.

Staten Island's correctional facility was small, housed only sixty inmates of the sane and insane variety, any normal person would be fearful of what would come her way, but she was excited. The thrill made her heart jump and her body walk faster until she had reached the stairs. This was a placement of a lifetime and coming first in her class had made sure she had gotten the place, along with two other students who were now classed as her competition, if she wanted a permanent job she had to do better.

A tall woman with dark black hair smiled over at her "You must be Zoya Siddiqui, my name is Allison Rowlan, i'm the head doctor here, I hope you aren't too nervous" her smile was friendly and her hand warm and sturdy as she shook it

"Just a little, it's so great to meet you, i've heard so much about you" she grinned and took the folder handed out to her

"In that folder are three cases, cases classed unofficially as impossible, many a doctor has tried to get through to them only to fail, as the top of your class you get first pick, on page one we have Anita Basset, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder after she murdered her three housemates because she believed they were" she held two fingers up on each hand, bending and straightening them as she spoke "Out to get her, she is on antipsychotic medication but still suffers from hallucinations and can become very depressed without warning, the aim with her is to get her to realise her mistakes and change them, but the likelihood of her believing you are also out to get her is high" she smiled again, the emerald green of her eyes bright beneath the light "Come with me" she beckoned her forward, heels clicking against the tiles on the floor

Zoya glanced up at the office with her name on it "This is my office"? Her eyes were wide

"We believe in setting a good working environment, the point of this placement is not only for you to learn and achieve but for the patients and prisoners here to also achieve, you cannot help someone if you aren't set up, patient number two is more of a show rather than tell case" the friendly air around her made Zoya feel a lot more relaxed but still slightly dubious of what was to come. "This here is the patient on page two, let me inroduce you to Aemelius, he had antisocial personality disorder, was found with a collection of bodies he claims he has no idea where they came from, he's a master at manipulation and hasn't been able to make a connection with a therapist without somehow making them cry or making them feel sorry for him"

Looking through the small window at the tall, muscular man she smiled when he waved at her. "I'm guessing the looks are the deceiving part"?

"Oh of course" Allison laughed "He seems like a kind man, sadly he is far from it, I guess you're probably wondering why we wish to set you all up on the hardest cases possible, it's simply because if you have to work with the hardest people you'll never underestimate anyone again, we aren't expecting success and you will also have a chance to work beside another colleague to get a first hand view on the prisoners, from their daily timetable to their counselling sessions, but as you are majoring in the psychological side of things, it's best to start here" rubbing her shoulder she smiled sweetly again "Relax, honestly, you'll come to find that this place isn't anywhere as daunting as it first seems, do you have any questions yet"?

"I don't think so, just processing at the moment" looking back at the file she turned the page "Patient three"?

"Patient three is Aditya Hooda, moved from the prisoner ward to here a month after his sentence when he stopped speaking to anyone, he pled not guilty to his sentence just like the rest, apparently his wife had Stockholm syndrome and was treated much like a victim of kidnap, she fell in love with him and when she finally realised the relationship was controllive he murdered her, went as far as calling the police to say she was missing, probably one of the more dangerous patients, but as he doesn't talk and has been in isolation, he could probably do with company right now, in easy terms if you pick him, I want you to become his friend, the majority of the public still believe in his innocence, i'll allow you to decide your own views on him of course, so what will it be, patient one, two or three"?

Zoya clicked her brown heels together and undid the top button of her cream white shirt "Patient number three, if i'm going to achieve anything it's most likely to be with him, he can't manipulate me if he doesn't talk and he won't believe i'm out to get him if I become his friend and maybe the world needs a reason to believe in good again, and if he's innocent then maybe he could be-"

"I'll interrupt you there lovey, he doesn't want an out, he won't be an easy case, but if you still want him he's yours" Allison reached behind her "Patient three's files, take a look through, make a strategic plan for your first few sessions and most importantly, say hello to your new patient, i'll be in this room if you need me"

Carrying the files to her desk she shut the door, tightened her hair in the band and sat down "Aditya Hooda, male, thirty four years old" sitting down she pulled the lid off of her pen with her teeth and huffed as she typed his name into the database, "Why does everyone believe you're innocent"? Listing the previously tried methods down she tapped her nails on the table, it seemed every usual method had been tried effortlessly but none had worked, if she didn't make a difference now she was sure he'd be left alone to suffer. Standing up she moved to Allison's office "Hi, sorry to disturb you, but surely keeping him in isolation adds to his suffering, can I have him moved, atleast for sessions"

"Sure, if you can convince him to agree, he prefers the loneliness, we've tried and failed to get him out of there, but he never comes" sighing she stood up "It's okay if you achieve nothing with him, he made his bed now he has to lie in it"

"It's not okay though Allison, he is achieving nothing by being in there, even if he killed his wife, surely keeping him in there means he will never be rehabilitated" the passion flared up in her soul making her eyes darken in such a way that it was hard to remain eye contact with her "I won't give up on him"

"You know, I had a feeling you'd say that, that's exactly the kind of people we need around here, any idea what method you're going to try"?

"I think i'll just speak to him, tell him about me, if he wants to talk he can, but maybe i'll just sit on the other side of the door, if he wants to say no he can knock twice and if he wants to say yes he can knock once, isn't a good therapist and patient relationship based on communicating in a way that best suits the patients needs, talking isn't for him so i'll try that way, if that's okay"?

Allison nodded "That's more than okay, just one last thing, tell him your name, he may be more suited to speaking to you if you do"

"My name, why"? Zoya laughed uncomfortably

[~~~]

Hobbling forward Aditya lifted a piece of paper attached to the wall and ran his fingers across the drawing, his eyes glistened with tears he would not shed, instead he closed his eyes and tried to remember just what it felt like to have her hands on his body once again. When luck was on his side he'd hear her laugh chiming in his ears or see her smile in the midst of nightmares that corrupted his soul to a point of no return. And it was okay because atleast he had his pencil and paper, she was never really gone if he was drawing her back to life.

Sitting on the floor he brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on the bends of his legs, his long beard tickled his hands and he was thankful for the sensation of something on his skin, forever had surely passed since he had any physical feeling, it was the senses that kept you alive, yet he never smelt anything other than the food slipped beneath his door, all he saw was his drawings and the shadows that fell upon them. Maybe this was the life of a monster, because surely no man would survive the silence, indeed it was the silence he had become.

So choice one: Does Allison tell Zoya the truth about why her name may be useful or does she lie?

Any idea on the links yet?