PSYCHOTIC

N i n e

Chapter 9:

"We're going to the community room." She states , leaving the door open for Caleb and steps back out of the room, hoping he follows her.

He hesitates of course. He certainly doesn't know how to play this particular game. He could stay in his room and continue to with his drawing but Alexa is annoying and persistent.

So to her surprise, and even his, Caleb puts away his paper and pencils and Lexi hears the his footsteps behind her, easily catching up to her.

Lexi smirks, not bothering to hide it as they walk the white, clinical looking hallways that lead up to the community room silently.

The murmurs of other patients can be heard from inside the large room and it's evident that it's busy in there being lunch hour.

Lexi steps in first, holding the door open for Caleb who is hesitant to walk in.

The walk up to the community room was intriguingly weird to him, he had never seen the white walls around the sanatorium apart from his own room.

It feels strange, being in the presence of others who aren't Lexi, his therapist or the nurse that provides him with medication.

He doesn't even know why he followed Lexi out of his room, not thinking properly and acting in the spur of the moment.

"Caleb?" Lexi calls out when she realises his hesitance. "It's okay, come on in."

After a beat, he walks into the loud room, passing Lexi's short frame, inwardly smiling at her height.

The chatter in the room is almost nonexistent when Caleb walks in. The patients in there had heard rumours of the guy who had brutally killed many but never shows his face around the sanatorium.

Sure, some of the patients in there had also killed people, but it usually wasn't as brutally as Caleb had done. And they usually felt guilt, remorse or sadness. Caleb didn't.

Caleb glares at Lexi when almost every patient in the room gawks at him. He doesn't want to be here. He likes being alone. It's safer that way.

Lexi looks around the room and finally meets Caleb's glare, not at all fazed by his reaction. "What haven't any of you seen a tall guy with a beard before?" She asks in annoyance to the people around the room. "That guy over there looks like that. Stare at him."

They all awkwardly stare for a little while longer before getting back to what they were doing, leaving Caleb and Lexi standing by the door.

Caleb won't admit it, but he's thankful for Lexi being in there with him.

"Let's go and sit over there." Lexi suggests, motioning over to the only empty place in the large room, where a black love seat is placed against the white wall.

Lexi leads the way, weaving through a few people who whisper as Caleb follows. "I heard he cut up one of his victims and saved the head for last, gouging out the eyes." One woman whispers.

Caleb just keeps his head down and takes a seat on the left side of the love seat, followed by Lexi on the right. "Don't...listen to them." She whispers hesitantly to comfort the man as she looks at him until she realises it could potentially be true and that makes her feel nauseous.

Caleb doesn't say anything, instead glaring at her in clear annoyance for making him come here. "Why are we here?" He questions, nose scrunching at the word 'here' in obvious distaste for the place.