Psychotic

Chapter 9

  "N...no....it's not." I agreed. I tried to put on my most serious face. "Do you or do you not know whathappened to my father?" I asked monotonously. 

"Finally, you learned to ask the right questions." Heformed a tent with his hands and put them to his lips, acting as if he's thinking deeply. "Let me answer witha question: Why do you want to know?" Why? 

"My dad died twelve years ago without an explanation. Theleast I could do is find out why." 

"Alright. So, this story starts....yeah, a few years ago. Thirteen years, to beexact." 

"Hang on. That's not right. Patrick said that you went crazy about nine years ago, now. How wouldthat be possible?" He laughed. 

"He never was good with time. It's just something that's always been. I'mnot twenty-two now. I'm twenty-seven. But of course, he doesn't know that. He wouldn't need to care,anyway. But he does still care about you, Alice." 

"How the hell would you know?! You haven't seen him in ayear." 

"Don't be so sure." he said darkly. I shut up. How..... "So, I came to this asylum. And, apparently, atthat time, they had roommates, as you'd call it. And me, a fourteen-year-old, who'd just been shipped fromhis country to this dark hole, the guy who shared with me was a pretty sick man. He told me he wasthirty....thirty........thirty-four, yes! He was in there for killing his brother. He'd been visiting a pretty annoyingold therapist lady. He really did hate her, from the way he spoke. He told me he had found a passageway out of the asylum. It's right there...." He pointed to a corner in theroom that had old wooden boards covering it. "It was covered by his bed during the time. Pretty muchbusted the system here. And he said he'd been continuing a little hobby of his in secret. Was it baking?Was it knitting? Nope. It was following. Following people around. Stalking, as you'd call it. He, at one point,started following a nice little girl, with black hair, pale skin, and bright green eyes." I gasped. "Yes, Alice. Hewas following you. She was four, at the time. He'd offered her a treat once, but she declined. Politely, ofcourse. She had manners back then." My hands balled up. Son of a bitch. I remembered something faintly.A taller man, with weird clothes. Offering me a shiny red apple. I didn't like apples a lot. It's just a thing. "So,he followed her until she joined her parents. She didn't tell them anything about him. Little Alice's parents. And, as it seemed, he started following him a lot. His job was....." 

"--working at an antiquity shop." Ifinished. This guys friend stalked my dad? Bad luck runs in the family, I guess. But.........why........why didn't hetell anyone? Then I remembered my mother. How much I could have scared her if I had told her. I decidednot to because.....I thought it was best for her. Why didn't I tell her? If I had, I could be living in a nice littlehouse in Mexico under the name María Gonzales. Why not? 

"But generally, the little girl's dad noticed. And,instead of curling up into a ball and crying about it, he confronted my friend. Tried to kill him, actually. Lateone night, after the patrols had long passed here, he was still following her dad, despite all of the risks. Andyour dad was prepared. He'd actually taken a gun with him. And he shot. Once. One bullet, and my friendcould have been history. But he missed. Your dad fatally missed, which cost him his sad little life. Of course,my friend felt no guilt in killing him. I mean, people die every day right? The death of one person amongbillions isn't a huge loss, is it?" Is it?! I spent almost my entire life fatherless because of this idiot's insanefriend? The rage balled up inside me, but I couldn't let loose. Not now......."My friend died that night, too. After he'd told me what happened, he suddenly just.....passed out. Just died.As I told you, he was sick. The sickness was eating him up on the inside. I remembered his stories. Iremembered all of his descriptions, and that night. Remember that night, Alice? The night you first sawme?" I cringed at the memory. That night was all it took for my life to just trip and fall and sink. "The policefinally put two and two together, and realized what was happening at the asylum. They gave up, though. Iguess they couldn't handle us." He grinned. A stupid-ass shitty grin. Oh, he will pay. He definitely will. "AndI just ran far enough to find someone. Find someone I can just press a blade against until I have a goodhead start. And look whom I found. The famous Alice! I followed you. I wasn't quite sure. You sure lookedlike his description, though, so I had high hopes. And when I knew it was you, I was overjoyed! And youwanna know why?" I shook my head, not wanting to hear more, but he ignored it. "Because, before he died,my old friend said something. 'You know what? I may have killed that idiot, but it's not stopping there. Wifeand girl? They'll all end. Why? Because they're all just an unlucky bunch, the lot of them. Some people justhave to die sooner or later. Why not sooner?' " I stood there, not able to see. The intense anger inside mewas boiling, blurring my vision. David was about to walk out past me when I asked him,

"Why didn't I endyet?" David turned to me, raising an eyebrow. Without another word, he just walked away.