The Guy from the Insane Asylum

Chapter 12

I heard that if you vote on this specific chapter, the karma fairy will bless you with all of its good that's left :) And we all know good karma is the best kind of karma.

"Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all." —DirkGently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams.

Chapter 12

"I don't know why I'm here." Bethany told Bristol after walking into the Asylum. After her confrontation with Mason she wanted to not-exist. And as she thought she was driving home, she ended up at Dared.

Bristol gave her a confused stare. "I don't either?"

"I think it's Zach." Bethany blurted. She regretted it when Bristol brows rose.

"Zachary Jaxston?"

His full name gave Bethany chills, if this were a cheesy horror story, maybe there would be thunder every time it was pronounced. "Yes," she replied, standing still.

"He's nice." Said Bristol, very cautiously. She was confused as to why Bethany was acting so on edge. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"No," B said. Then she corrected herself and said, "yes." She didn't mean it though. So she settled for, "I'm fine."

Bristol nodded. "Okay, I can call Zach down for you if you'd like to speak with him." She had seen the both of them become very close. And she had always only seen Zach hide out in his room, only coming out when he really had to. But ever since Bethany, he found any excuse to come downstairs, to the library most often.

"Actually, can I go up to his room?" Bethany knew it wasn't allowed.

The front desk lady at first wanted to say no, but she liked Bethany and trusted her so she ended up saying yes. Then she prayed and hoped she wouldn't get fired, but she quit when she realized it wouldn't be the worst of things. "You'll need my pass, I'll tell the guards you're there in my place. That way you won't get sent back." Something about Bethany's lost look in her eyes convinced Bristol. She had no idea if Zach would be her answer, but besides what she was trained to believe about all the patients, she knew Zach was harmless. Especially towards Bethany.

Beth took the pass. "Thank you," she murmured.

Why was there such a sudden urge for her to see Zach? She had no idea. Except that there was some kind of weird connection they shared. And she ended up at the asylum without even realizing it. She never judged him for being institutionalized, and he never judged her for her facade of a perfect life.

She took the stairs to reach the second floor, Zach's floor. She passed the guards no problem with Bristol's pass. Finding Zach's room was a little more difficult. She had never been on the second floor longer than three minutes. She didn't know how the rooms were aligned or in what order.

~

Zach never practiced his strange abilities, at least not in public. So, every chance he had to explore them, he took.

Stretching his hand out, he recalled a memory of his mother making him pancakes. Floating replicas of his mother and himself appeared in his palm, like tiny action figures with fog for legs. In his palm, there was his kitchen from back home, the bottom of it being smokey looking.

It was one of his happy memories. His mothers breakfast was the best. Zachary would always be mad at himself for causing her death.

His dad was an alcoholic, a bad one. When Zach's mom found out about his abilities, she tried her best to keep it a secret because she knew that her husband would take advantage of their kid. To rob a bank, or to steal a car or to simply get free booze. The guy was a scumbag. Zach was glad he called him Toby instead of dad for more than half of his life. He was never a true father figure anyway.