Paranoia

Chapter 2

It hurt. Everything hurt so bad. They didn't trust him. They didn't believe in him. Was everything they said before a lie? He had told them his name because he had hoped things could get better, but he was wrong. He had tried to be more honest with Thomas and it failed. He was back to where he was before. He looked at the purple jacket he was in and cringed. He didn't deserve this. "You fit right in" Thomas had told him that once and Virgil had almost believed him, but it was a lie. It was all a lie. But Virgil was done being lied to. He wasn't going to live the lie anymore. He wasn't one of them. He ripped his jacket from his body and threw it at a wall. He even tore off the purple shirt. He chucked it into a similar heap as his jacket. He stared at the discarded clothing for a minute, before he felt something snap. Literally. He let out a scream of pain. As he crumpled to the ground. He felt like something was being torn from his body as he screamed. It felt as though his heart was actually cracking. It was. If he had the X-ray from the Grinch he would see the spider webbing crack that spread across it like glass.

Virgil was hysterical as he folded in on himself. He was broken.

________

The main trio had been working to fix Roman up after being hit in the head with Remus's morning star. Patton had immediately wanted to wrap Roman's head in a bunch of bandages and while he meant well he didn't really know what he was doing. Logan was actually doing productive things such as checking for a concussion and giving Roman an icepack trying to minimize the swelling. Afterward, they all sat and watched some calming TV to unwind after such an eventful day.

"Hey, have you guys seen Virgil since the vid?" Roman asked after a while. Normally Virgil would have come down at least once. Roman knew that while Virgil acted tough he really cared and he was surprised that the storm cloud hadn't come down to check on him. Not that he disappointed or anything. It definitely didn't hurt Roman's feelings. (Sure Roman) He was just concerned about Virgil.

"Huh, no kiddo I haven't," Patton said looking kind of concerned.

"Perhaps we should go check on him," Logan stated.

They were all making there way to Virgil's room when they heard a piercing scream. They all looked at each other in a panic look crossed their face. They then bolted towards the room that it came from. They were about to burst in but stilled. The door that had recently been changed to purple had faded to grey. That is not good.

Patton was about to knock on the door, but another blood-curdling scream came through the door and Roman pushed Patton to the side. He tried the door, but it was locked he took a step back and kicked the door hinge creaked and Roman tried again and the door gave way. They all rushed into the room and were devastated by what they found. Patton gasped and covered his mouth tears brimming his eyes, and Roman let out a slur of curses. Logan just stood there frozen.

Virgil was cowering in the corner. His skin wasn't just pale it was grey like that of a dead man. His hair was no longer milk chocolate brown like the rest it was black. His eyes are what scared the trio the most. They were completely black with the only white being the eyeshine from light from the hall. His eyeshadow was dark and smeared down his whole check. He was backed into the corner of the room. His eyes darting around the room like something was going to jump down and attack him. He was also back in his grey clothing. Not a spec of his signature purple anywhere.

"Oh, kiddo..." Patton said remorsefully.

"What could have happened?" Logan said trying to make any sense of this. "To cause him to revert back to... to..." Logan could bring himself to say it. If he said it then it would become real.

"Paranoia." Roman finished for Logan.