Halloween: Returns

4- Insight

Ellen paused outside of the door. This one wasn't state-of-the-art, high-security like the one for the room she'd first met Michael in. Instead, this one was a simple wooden door, with a classic lock-and-key mechanism. She turned and looked at Barney, who stood with his arms folded at the one-way-mirror. He gave her a reassuring nod, and looked back through the glass. She took a deep breath, and retrieved the battered keychain from her pocket. Fumbling around it, she finally came across a key that looked like it could fit in the lock. Sliding it in and turning it, she pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

The door wasn't the only downgrade from the previous examination room, Ellen noticed. Gone were the empty white walls, and in their place was simple grey concrete. Windows bolted shut lined the back wall, letting the sun be the main source of light for the room. The bright, luminescent lights of the previous room had been replaced by simple unimpressive bulbs.

Hill sat down at the dark brown table, the chair creaking as she sat opposing the patient. Once more, he sat staring past her. She carefully placed her folder on the table, took another deep breath, and smiled.

"Hello Michael. Did you sleep well last night?" She asked. He did not return the smile, his eyes did not falter from their grip on the wall- his entire body made not one adjustment. He was completely still. Despite this, Ellie pressed on with her smile. "Well, I thought maybe I'd try something different from what you'd normally be asked. I simply want to show you some pictures. Don't worry, it won't be the ink blot tests again..." she let out a small laugh, in the slight hope that he would perk up. He did not. She straightened up.

"Michael, I'm going to show you some pictures," she repeated, "and I want you to... tell me your thoughts on them, in whatever way you want." With no reaction, Ellen gingerly opened the file, and drew out of small collection of photographs. She picked out the first one and turned it to him. It was of a rather large remote-controlled race car. "Do you recognise it? I believe your parents bought you one for your birthday once. Was this... one of your favourites when you were younger?"

Once again, Myers showed no response. Even though she held the photograph in his direct eyeline, he still looked straight through it- beyond the photograph, beyond Ellen, beyond the wall itself. Seeing this, Ellen's smile dropped slightly. She placed the photograph down, and picked up another one.

"Okay, so... this one is a lot more gruesome, Michael." The picture depicted an almost naked teenage girl, stab wounds littering her body. She lay in a small pool of her own blood. Around her were glass fragments from a dropped vanity mirror she had been holding. "This... this is your sister, Michael. Judith Myers. A mere hour after... what happened. I know this has likely been asked before, but... do you feel remorse? For what happened?" To this, he still yielded no response. Ellen's persona had now cracked; she carelessly dropped the picture back onto the table and lazily picked up another one.

"How about this one?" She asked, sighing. To her surprise, Michael's eyes finally drifted down to the photograph. His eyes locked onto it. Suddenly, Hill's heart began pumping rapidly again. The hairs on the her arms stood up and she had to visibly contain her glee. "You... you recognise it, don't you? Haddonfield's park. This is your home, Michael..." continuing on the train of thought, she dropped the photograph of the street and began flicking through the dozen other photographs in the small stack until she came across what she was looking for.

"And this, Michael- this is your home." She said, holding up a photograph of a suburban house. "Your home, in Lampkin Lane, Haddonfield." Once more, Michael looked at this photograph- no emotion in his eyes, just pure focus. She placed the photograph down on the table, Myers' eyes still following it. Eventually, his eyes left it, and returned to the wall. Ellen stood up, still excited from what had just happened. "I'll be right back, Michael."

As she exited the room, she quickly turned to Barney at the glass. He still stood with his arms folded. "You see what just happened?" Hill asked excitedly. "I got a reaction from him!"

"No, you got him to look at a couple of photographs. A reaction would be a change in... anything." He replied.

"Okay, so how about a response then?"

"Barely." He retorted.

"But listen- he only looked at the pictures relating to Haddonfield. That proves there's something there- he misses home. That's pretty big, Barney." Ellen explained.

"And why do you think he misses home, Doctor Hill?" Barney asked her. "You think he just wants to go back there, see the sights?"

"I'm not sure, Barney, but..."

"He misses home because he wants to go back killing again, Ellen. That's where it began for him. Why wouldn't he want to go back?" He said.

"You're never gonna take that attitude regarding Michael away, are you? You still think he's just... evil?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Ellen, this is great for you- I'll admit it, it's a response. But this guy, he isn't just a mentally damaged man in need of help. This is so far beyond that."

"If he just thinks about murder, then why did he ignore the photograph of his sister?" She asked him. He pondered on this for a few seconds.

"Maybe because that simply doesn't interest him anymore. That was fifteen years ago- he wants to get back home to do it again, but he doesn't care about what he's already done. Trust me, the amount of times Shaye tried to evoke a reaction from him through just the name 'Judith' was astonishing." He explained. "Nevertheless... this is a good result for you, this early on. Now, it looks like our friend is back to his old act again, so if you don't mind me I'm going to go and run a few errands... it's fascinating, watching this guy look at photos of houses, but..." Ellen rolled her eyes as Barney walked away.

As she was about to walk back in, she turned back to the glass. Michael once again sat motionless, staring at the wall opposing him- completely motionless once more.