shattered | f.w, d.m

ten years

Fred.
2 years later - October, 2008.

—

The water streamed down his body and droplets ran down his freckled skin.

He allowed his eyes to fall shut as he sought for the cold water to wake him up by hitting him directly in the face. Ice-cold showers stopped working its magic a while ago, but sometimes he liked to give it another try when he needed to feel something or awake himself.

It was barely seven in the morning and he was already up. His work shifts solely depended on the case they were solving, but in spite of not having a current case, he got home late last night due to extra paperwork he was completing in the office at the station.

It had been ten years since everything had gone to shit back at Hogwarts. Funnily enough, this day officially marked two years since Keziah's been at Dot Asylum.

Ishaan was the one who checked in two to three days a week on Keziah's treatment and her overall progress. Sometimes Fred visited her because she had kept requesting to see him whenever Ishaan had gone to see her. So now Fred tried to visit at least twice a week to keep her grounded in there.

Visiting Keziah at Dot Asylum was both painful and pleasurable. It was painful because whenever he looked at her, he found himself not knowing who the person on the other side of the screen divider was.

It was pleasurable because sometimes the way she spoke was just like how she sounded before everything had gone to shit. When they were both still at Hogwarts, dating, happy, balanced, and with only a mere pinch of horror from her.

They didn't talk about anything deep. Even though he knew she was doing good there and couldn't care less about anything else, he watched what he mentioned and talked about with her. They often discussed her progress, the people that were also in Dot Asylum, what they ate for meals, some movies and other activities they did.

She enjoyed hearing about Fred's daily life and what he did when he wasn't working, which wasn't much since he worked a deathly amount of hours. She liked hearing him tell her how he became a detective as well. Oftentimes, she would tell him about what breathtaking sights she saw when she'd been on the run around the world.

These simple conversations were an important part in Keziah's treatment. Her caretaker had said it himself. He'd told Ishaan that Fred was the one thing Keziah looked forward to when a new week started, which granted her to be docile for that week. Obviously it didn't stop her sarcastic and blunt remarks, but she didn't cause any serious trouble.

In fact, she was sort of feared in Dot Asylum by the other patients. Fred didn't know if this was because she was a psychopath, or because she murdered over two dozen people while on the run for eight years without getting caught, and was calm and collected at all times, which meant she could snap at any moment. There were other psychopaths in there, so it was probably the latter.

The other patients watched themselves around her. Ensured not to upset her or cross her in any way possible, like taking the last tapioca pudding cup or speaking to her in a tone too bitter for her liking.

The worst part about all this was that Keziah actually had fans. Admirers, actually. Packages and letters always got sent out to Dot Asylum, addressed to the one and only Black Rose Killer.

Word had gotten around a few months after Keziah was first signed into the asylum, and so the gifts and letters came. She wasn't allowed any of these letters or gifts—not that she wanted them—so her caretaker just got rid of them.

Upon finishing his shower, Fred pushed open the glass door and stepped out onto the rug. He wrapped a towel around his hips and proceeded to get ready for work.