Out of Their Minds

The reporter threw accusing glances towards Brenda. Some intelligent ones cried for a doctor. Brenda clenched her fists as she saw Gregor's suddenly bleeding leg which had caught an infection.

"Why do you have to be this way?"
She thought to herself and back away as the reporters asked her angrily:
"Is it true that you have ignored the treatment of this young man?"
"Where is Dr. Francine, Miss. Stives?"
"If this accident happened days ago, this man is threatened by death! How can you be so careless?"
"What are your motives in this brutal behavior, Dr. Stives?"
Brenda plugged her ears, trying to kill the voices around her. A suddenly boom was heard and she spun to see a policeman with a gun in his hand.

"It is the government's order that you evacuate this building and cancel transmission. NOW!"
He looked over Gregor who was limping, and watched reporters close their shows with an overview of what had happened. No doubt, the message had been spread. Brenda was still relieved since her misery had been soothed.
"Thanks George."
She whispered, hugging the policeman.
"Anything for you. But there's a teensy problem."
She glared at Gregor.
"Him."
Brenda nodded and silently let the policemen leave, making sure no reporter stayed behind.

"Gregor," Brenda started, and then kicked his wounds. "You faker! Just when the situation was being overwhelming, you decide to bluff the media. How...how could you!"

 

As the last reporter filed out Gregor stood up. He suddenly appeared slightly taller than normal. "How many chances did I give you? How many?! You forget who you are dealing with. Did you really think Klesps and I would allow you to just take Francine unchallenged. She's been a fool, but she's an innocent fool. Besides there is still the matter of Skye's limbs - John owes her two and the price hasn't been paid yet."

Gregor turned to George. "I suggest you leave now ... before things get ugly."

 

*****************************************************************************

 

George looked back at Brenda, as though asking her permission to leave.
"It's alright George. You can leave."
George shot another glare towards Gregor, and then whispered to Brenda:
"Just scream - I'm standing outside."
Brenda nodded, and watched him go, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed.
"Look, Gregor, I have no idea what you're talking about. I suggest that you stop interfering with my job!"
Somehow, she wasn't sure what her job was anymore.

 

"Stop the act. Did you really think I would keep giving you chance after chance? Even you know this is wrong, but you continue. You ignore that little voice in the back of your head. Pretty soon you'll be as bad as Calipto."

 

Brenda felt anger boil out of her contains. She bit her lower lip and then shouted:
"Orderlies! Orderlies!"
Quite a few orderlies surrounded Gregor.
"I've had enough of his babbling. Get him locked up in a room no one would ever go to!"
They nodded, and grabbed Gregor. Brenda prayed that the strength of the five orderlies was enough to overwhelm Gregor. Moreover, the cell would be enough to keep him in.

 

Gregor struggled against the orderlies. Straining as they forced him to the ground and cruelly twisted his arms behind his back. He glared at Brenda as they dragged him away. "Tog ti elstai SKye. Ti elstai!"

Brenda shivered as she alone understood what the orderlies took to be babbling. Translated Belleth words mean "You owe Skye two limbs. Two limbs."

 

Brenda twisted the papers on the table and threw them in the bin. In one Sunday, she had locked up two very important people. Francine, someone who was going to be preyed by Calipto and Gregor, someone who threatened everyone around him. Perhaps, it was worth it.
She turned off the lights and walked down the hallway. She stopped before leaving, however.

"Francine?"
She whispered into Francine's cell, waiting for a reply. When none came, she sighed and walked away.

Francine lay in her bed, her eyes open. She felt a weird feeling envelope her. As though something was happening to her organs. Her skin felt itchy and would swell like a ball atop her, and sometimes it felt clammy and at other times, hard. She coughed and then vomited something on the floor. She had no light to investigate the color - but in some light coming from the holes in the cell door - the color was bright red.

 

Niel could hear all of the noise outside of his room. He hears Chaos say, "Give me control so that I can check things out." Niel's eyes grow dark. Chaos leaves his room and looks around just in time to see the reporters leave. He sees Gregor being taken away by the orderlies and watches Brenda leave. "Dr. Francine should know about this." Chaos thinks to himself. He goes to Francine's office and knocks on the door. There is no answer. He opens the door and sees that she isn't there. Chaos walks around the asylum searching for Francine but can't find her. "Brenda must have made her disappear." he says to himself "With both Belleth and Francine gone, I'm probably the only one left that can get any information out of her."

 

Skye woke up feverishly. She shot up, yelling in pain. Her entire body throbbed, and her head was cloudier then ever. She looked at the ibuprofen at her side, quickly taking a big sip from it. She lay down, waiting for the orderlies as she called for them. She looked up at Jason as he ran in. His face was filled with worry, as he gave her the shot of morphine.

“Thanks Jason.” She said with a smile. The pain quickly gave way, as she attempted to get herself into her wheelchair. She was still in her nice summer dress, and the interview from last night still brought a smile to her face. If they published what she said, she would screw her enemies over. She leaned over, giving Jason a soft peck on the nose. She gave him a smile, and he patted her on the head.

“Take me to Gregor Jason. I want to see Gregor.” She pleaded. She wanted to see how he was doing, she hadn’t talked to him since he had told her what had happened. She looked up at Jason who eyed her, regret seemed to fill his eyes. He pushed her out the door, not saying much. He stopped in the middle of the hall, looking at her with big eyes.

“Miss Skye…” he started, “Gregor’s been locked up. No one can see him.”

Skye felt a pang of worry hit her. She looked up at him angrily, ready to snap, when she stopped. She knew it wasn’t his fault. It was Brenda’s. She didn’t have to hear the story to know. She growled under her breath. She would get that woman, no matter what it took.

“Take me to the nurse’s station.” She said. He pushed her onward.

 

A stranger stood on the other side of the locked metal door. "Dr." Handel was on the other side of the locked door. The looked at the reflection in the polished metal handle. The reflection twisted and changed until it became John Francs. It wasn't exact - a child or lover wouldn't be fooled, but everyone would. The fake John walked down the corridor, leaving Gregor locked inside.

 

Fake John strolled down the hall and grabbed an orderly. "Do you know who I am?!"

The orderly nodded. "Yes ...yes sir ... you're the military guy."

"John" smiled. "Yes I am. I want you to do something for me."

"I can't do that sir!"

"John" shook his head. "Did you see what I did to Gregor?"

The orderly nodded. "OK, I'll do it."

An hour later the halls of the hospital were covered with grafitti. Someone had spray painted the same phrase over and over. Brenda's office door was no exception. In bright red letters were the words, "two limbs".

 

After waking up Chaos decided that today would be a good day to interrogate Brenda. While walking through the hallway, he came across Skye and the orderly that was pushing her.

Chaos kneels down beside the chair and asks "Were are you headed off to this morning, Miss Skye?"

 

Skye gave Neil a smile as he motioned for Jason to slow down.

“I’m off to have a chat with the staff.” She said jovially, “I have a story to tell them.”

Jason looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. She looked up at him, sticking out her tongue.

“I’ll tell you too Jason.”

She looked back and Neil, “What about you?”

 

Fake "John's" body changed shape again, now he looked like a janitor. He grabbed a mop and put it over a shoulder. Sudenly no one gave him a sceond look. No one paid attention to the janitors. The janitor emptied a squeeze bottle of floor wax, tossed a match, and disappeared. As the liquid ignited, the flames formed the same words that were written on the walls.

 

Brenda walked into the hospital, a smile on her face. She had had a complete night's rest, something which she had yearned for in a long while. However, when she accustomed her eyes with the walls, which were being investigated by doctors and orderlies, she dropped her purse and stared worriedly.
Two limbs
"Oh, Dr. Brenda! Dr. Francine is missing, I heard. You two are good friends, any idea? Anyway, look what some patient did to the walls! And what a stupid thing to write. Two limbs. Hmmph."
Dr. Monica commented as she greeted the awestruck Brenda. Brenda ignored her and rushed to her room, where it was written in a much larger font. She felt a shiver run down her spine, and then she spun around instinctively. For one, Gregor was not going to leave her in one piece. And worse...he could get out of the cell. But why hadn't he come out? Or was he waiting to strike...

"Miss. Brenda!"
She heard Skye's voice, and shrieked, dropping down her files. She jumped up as flames flickered near her. She struck the fire alarm, but relatively late. Who could be fast when the flames flickering by her read 'two limbs'?

 

Gregor looked up at the security camera in his room. A blinking red light confirmed it was recoding. He hadn't moved from it's field of view since the orderlies threw him in. He smiled and waved.

 

"What about you?"

"I'm off to have a little chat with our friend Brenda. She locked up Gregor and I think she also made Francine disappear. I'm guessing that she is the one that you want to talk to." says Chaos.

He sees some smoke coming from area around Brenda's office. He stands up and says "Looks like someone else has already paid her a little visit."

 

Extinguishing the fire was no issue. Brenda screamed enough times to convince the janitors of her terrified state. She was crying and screaming, something which made her sound pretty crazy.
"Now I want that paint OFF! Or else you're fired!"
The janitors and orderlies nodded, and then Brenda clicked open her office and locked it.
"I don't think I want to die yet."
She shivered, finding her otherwise cozy office rather cold.

 

Skye looked over at Brenda, giving her a wave.

“Hello Miss Brenda. You seem a bit busy, I’ll have to chat with you later.” She then looked back at Niel.

“I actually do, but for the time being, it’s story time.” She leaned in, giving him a hug.

“I’ll be seeing you soon.” She said with a smile.

She motioned for Jason to continue onward.He continued on until they arrived at the Nurse’s station. She gave them all a bright smile.

“I thought I’d share something.” She said.

 

The nurse looked at her with wide eyes, as an orderly ran off to gossip with the others. She tried to keep the tears in her eyes as she looked up at Jason.

“See, she’s not a good person.” She said as she let more tears fall, “She’s the one that hurt me, as you can plainly see.” She pointed at the graffiti on the wall, “I bet she even started that fire in her office, because she felt guilty on the inside.”

She looked away, motioning for him again.

“Take me to the café. I’m sure we’ll have lots of patients eating there this morning. I’d like to have a little chat.”

 

The stranger's appearance shifted again. Fake John had returned. He reached the nurses station and grabbed the phone. The stranger's vocal chords stretched until the formed John's voice. He dialed Brenda's extension.

"Hello?" said Brenda.

"Two limbs," said fake John before hanging up and walking away. He turned a corner and was gone again.

 

Brenda had just started to cool down, when her phone rang. She hesitantly picked it up, and said:
"Hello?"
"Two limbs."
John's voice hit her ears, at which she groaned and screamed:
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
She shut the phone and then cuddled herself up. Gregor was just being mean.

 

After Brenda got off of the phone, Chaos looks at her and says, "Seems like your having an interesting morning. We need to have a little chat about Gregor and Francine. Why did you lock them up? And just so you know, you're not leaving this office until you answer me."

 

Brenda received another shock when Chaos got into her room.
"So I didn't lock the door right. Hmmph."
She thought to herself as she looked around, seeing how neat her prestigious room looked. It would be awful to have it burned.
"I'm not answerable to you, Niel. You should mind your own business. Also, I have nothing to do with them or their disappearance."