The Corpse And The Crazy

Chapter 16 - 19

~*Corpse*~

I'm not cut out to be a babysitter for an adult woman. Especially not a mentally ill adult woman. 

Not so long ago, she asked me where I went, which wouldn't be that weird of a question, if I had actually gone somewhere. But that was not the case. In fact, we had been sitting next to each other in silence for thirty minutes when she asked that. Peculiar. 

After that, she'd refused to wear a petticoat over her hospital gown. Her reason? Something with goats, if I heard correctly. I almost had to rethink my whole plan, as I didn't have any other clothing for her laying around. But then she just accepted it for some reason, and we were good to go. 

But that wasn't the last of my obstacles. She thought that the guard standing in front of the hotel was trying to kidnap her, the floor was too clean to stand on ('Why ruin it when it's so clean?'), elevators were not to be trusted, and she didn't like the colour green. 

I couldn't match that last one to anything in our surroundings, so I don't know why she wouldn't move after she said that. 

Luckily, the receptionist seemed too busy with my pecs to notice any of those things. I guess that's an advantage of being a supernatural being with accelerated healing, you get swole. 

You would think that once we arrived in the suite, I would be able to relax. But that's a rookie mistake. 

Many victims make that mistake, the mistake of letting their guard down at unfortunate times. Because when you arrive at a hotel, it's exactly this moment that you're the most vulnerable. You're too busy unpacking your suitcase or crashing into your bed to notice the man hiding in your closet, laying under the bed, hanging from the balcony. 

I tell Julia to wait in the hallway so I can quickly scan the penthouse. Naturally, I would've probably already sensed another presence if there really was someone here. Another advantage of being supernatural is that I can hear, see and feel better than any ordinary human. 

When I return from my routine check, Julia says, 'was that you?'

I frown, I'm sure I didn't make any noise other than my footsteps, yet her tone is serious. 'What do you mean?'

She looks up to the ceiling, losing all of the seriousness, 'tiny, little, skies, crawling across the sky, forming another... sky...'

I relax, it was just one of her... stranger thoughts. I go to lock the door, and she toddles through the apartment. I watch her as she lets her hand run over the walls, only slightly paying attention. 

It reminds me of those videos of the deceased wife/mother/girlfriend that show the woman before her death in films. Julia would fit right in, the only thing missing was her running through a field of wheat with a wide-brimmed hat and blonde, wavy hair. 

She freezes. She slowly turns her head, towards the wall. As if it just told her that her mother was a llama. Without any warning, she slams her body into the wall, like the main character in an action movie would do to a locked door. But this wasn't a door, it was a massive wall, and she wasn't a movie character, she was real. Or at least, that's what I think. 

'Woah, what are you doing?' I step towards her, but I don't dare to touch her. It's usually not a good idea to try and physically restrain anyone fresh out of the mental hospital. It usually results in bite and scratch marks. Besides, I don't want to immediately resort to violence, I have to earn her trust. 

But she doesn't respond, throwing herself against the wall again. 

'Hey, stop that!' I say, but she doesn't seem to hear me, 'you'll hurt yourself!'