Mental (Slow updates)

Chapter 14

Light filtered through her eyelids, dragging her back to consciousness. Katrina groaned. She felt someone lightly squeeze her hand. "Katrina?" A hopeful voice queried. Her eyes flickered open in response. A shadow leaned over her. She blinked a few times and the shadow morphed into Mitch's concerned face. She moved against the will of her aching muscles and tried to sit up. Mitch placed a hand on her shoulder gently forcing her to remain lying down. "Take it easy," Mitch whispered. "What happened?" Katrina croaked, weakly. Mitch looked away a haunted expression on his features. Katrina was about to repeat her question, when Mitch bowed his head and whispered, "what do you remember?"
Quietly Katrina responded, "you in pain. The doctor injecting that," Katrina shuddered. Mitch finished her sentence for her, "torture drug. They've used it on you before, haven't they?" Katrina gave a tiny nod.
"Then I just remember pain and then nothing," Katrina finished with a shiver. Mitch nodded. Katrina looked at him expectantly. Mitch caught her expectant look and sighed, "you're just as stubborn as him, aren't you?" Katrina screwed up her face at the mention of Ash, before returning to her expectant look. Mitch sighed again before he spoke, "you passed out, at least I hoped you'd only passed out. You went limp in my arms and your breathing became so shallow I was worried you had stopped. I guessed you were still alive as your body continued to shake, but I didn't know if you would pull through." Mitch paused his expression haunted, as if he was reliving what he spoke about. Tears had formed in the corners of his eyes. Katrina squeezed his hand reassuringly. He seemed to have not felt it, as his voice dropped to a whisper, "it was just like what happened to her." Katrina struggled to pick up what he had whispered. "What?" She asked. The sound of her voice seemed to jolt Mitch out of his thoughts. He shook his head as if trying to banish his previous thoughts. "Nothing," he replied, then cleared his throat and continued, "anyway, I couldn't just leave you there, so I brought you over here, laid you on the couch and hoped you'd wake up." Katrina narrowed her eyes, knowing once again there was something Mitch was hiding from her. However, the moment was brief, as her brain processed his last sentence. She looked away as her cheeks turned pink as she thought of Mitch carrying her away in front of the others. "When you finally stopped shaking, I thought you'd wake up, but you remained motionless. I feared the masters would come in, declare you dead and take you away." His grip on her hand tightened. Katrina looked back to him. A hard, determined look had appeared in his eyes as he glared at the doors across the room.

"How long was I out?" Katrina asked quietly. Mitch startled at the sound of her voice. He turned back to face her. She repeated her question. "A few hours I guess. It's hard to know exactly as no one here has access to the time," Mitch responded lightly, before his mood darkened and he growled, "I'm surprised the masters didn't come to at least check if you were dead, I doubt they'd want a corpse stinking up the place." Katrina suppressed a shudder as an unwelcome image of her dead body entered her mind and she realised just how close to death she must have been. A fire danced dangerously in Mitch's eyes. His body tensed as if preparing for a fight, Katrina feared what would happen if a master happened to enter the room. All traces of the gentle boy she knew had vanished. Ash's words echoed in her head, "I am what they made me." Suddenly Katrina could see he was not the only one changed by the masters. A blazing anger burned inside Mitch forged over the many years he had been held here, the perfect balance to Ash's coldness. Though she would never admit it, she wished Ash was here to calm Mitch down. Seeing as Ash was nowhere to be found, she attempted to calm Mitch down. "Mitch, please, it's okay. The masters knew I was still alive. That's why they never came to check on me," she whispered. His anger began to dissipate as he looked at her in confusion. Katrina hesitated, unsure of how much to tell Mitch, especially in this state. Wordlessly she pulled down the collar of her top to expose the bandage on her chest. Mitch's mouth formed an 'o' as the last of the fight left him. Katrina now looked at him confused. Seeing her confusion, Mitch explained, "they installed a device that monitors your vitals, didn't they? They did the same thing to Ash. But why would they install one in you?" Mitch looked at her suspiciously. Katrina glared back. She opened her mouth to tell him to mind his own business, when a thought struck her. Maybe it might be good to have someone to talk to about it. Her glare softened. "You promise not tell anyone? Not even Ash?" She whispered. Mitch looked conflicted, before nodding and crossing his heart. Katrina took a deep breath and began, "when they were testing me the other day, something happened and all of a sudden I was in pain and screaming before passing out. They have no idea why it happened or if it was a one time thing, so they installed the monitor to keep an eye on me, and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Mitch bowed his head, "that's why you didn't come back that night. They had you under observation." Katrina nodded. "I was so angry when I found out that they had installed it, it is a complete invasion of privacy," Mitch interrupted her with a humourless laugh.
"Privacy, what is that?" Mitch mumbled.
Katrina gave him a weak smile, before continuing, "but Doc told me he'd rather have me hate him for invading my privacy than have me die, so I guess I'll forgive him at least."
"You met Doc?" Mitch asked. Katrina nodded.
"I think he's the only decent human being here."
Mitch nodded, "you'd be right on that one. Although there seems to be another one, a newbie who works under Doc. He seems alright, we've taken to calling him Master Young Doc. I'll point him out to you next time I see him."
"Master Young Doc? What are you telling me you name all the masters?" Katrina laughed. Mitch looked at her with a frown and nodded. Katrina stifled her laugher. "You're serious?" Mitch nodded again. Katrina looked at him in shock. Mitch's cheeks reddened. "Ash and I come up with names for all the masters so we can identify them," he mumbled.
"That's actually not a bad idea. Does everyone use the names you make up?" Katrina asked, suddenly intrigued. Mitch shook his head, "only Ash and I know the names and we only use them in private. If the masters ever found out... I wouldn't want to find out how they would react," his hand trailed to the back of his neck. Once he realised what he was doing, he removed his hand and cleared his throat, before adding, "Only Doc knows about the names."
"So what are the names, are they really that bad?"
Mitch nodded. Quietly, he leaned in as a conspiratorial smirk grew on his face, "promise not to tell anyone?" Katrina smiled and crossed her heart. Mitch's smile widened. "So the one that Ash tried to stop from zapping everyone this morning."
"The evil doctor," Katrina interrupted. Mitch looked at her funny and stifled a laugh.
"And you were laughing at me for making up names, you hypocrite," Mitch laughed. Katrina pretended to look innocent. Mitch continued, "anyway we have a slightly less generic name for him, we call him Master Malicious Smile, after his creepy smile he always smiles." Katrina thought the name suited him very well as she thought about the man's infamous smile and shuddered. "The one that always follows him around, which you called the orderly, is Master Lap Dog, because he follows Master Malicious Smile around like a puppy desperate for appraisal." Katrina burst out laughing. Mitch's description was both accurate and hilarious. "Then there's Master Cold Hands, who you might not have met yet as he usually deals with Ash, Master Sunburn, who always looks like he spent too much time in the sun, Master Shrink, she's kind of the resident psychologist, Master Beady Eyes, Master Silent, Master Brainiac, Master Grovels, Master Butt Kisser," Mitch listed causing Katrina's laughter to increase.