Scene 4
Jade's shoulders slumped, the fire in her eyes extinguished by a weary sadness. "Dr. Sawyer asked everyone in the cafeteria what happened," she said, her voice trembling. "He pulled me aside and asked what I saw. I told him... everything." Her gaze dropped to the floor, as if she couldn't bear to look at him. "He told me you were suffering from a mental illness... well everyone is, in this place but yours... if you didn't take your pills, it would get worse. It would lead to... to certain death."
A thick silence fell between them. The only sound was the faint hum of the room's ventilation and their heavy breathing. The words hung in the air, heavy and dark.
"No... No, he's lying," Matthew said, the words a shaky, disbelieving whisper. He reached out and grabbed her arms, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her forearms. His own hands trembled. "Jade, you have to listen to me. He's lying. I'm not sick. I'm not dying!" He looked into her eyes, pleading with her to believe him. "Nothing is killing me."
Jade looked at him, not with the sympathy she had a moment ago, but with a growing terror. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Her gaze drifted from his face to his hands, and her eyes widened in a silent plea.
"You're hurting me," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
The words shocked him out of his frantic state. Matthew looked down at his own hands, his knuckles white as they dug into her skin. He let go as if her arms were on fire, taking a step back and holding his hands out in front of him, staring at them in horror. "I'm so sorry, Jade. I didn't... I didn't mean to..."
Jade took another step back, her eyes fixed on his hands. A new, more profound fear had replaced the terror. It was a fear that didn't just see a patient, but something else entirely. She stared at him, her voice barely above a whisper. "Did you enjoy it?"
Matthew looked at her, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"Did you enjoy hurting Seth?" Jade's voice was a plea, a trembling question that cut through the silence. A single tear tracked a clean path through the dirt on her cheek.
Matthew's shoulders slumped, his gaze dropping to the floor. The rage and confusion drained out of him, leaving a hollow ache in their place. "I... No," he said, his voice flat.
A new tear fell from Jade's eye, a fresh silver line on her face. Her head shook slowly. "You're lying."
"What?" Matthew's head snapped up, a jolt of disbelief and hurt coursing through him. He couldn't believe she would say that.
"Dr. Sawyer," she began, her voice cracking, "he showed me the footage. I saw it, Matthew. I saw the excitement in your eyes. And how you kept going... everyone else was begging you to stop, but you didn't."
Matthew's head began to pound, a frantic drumbeat that drowned out her words. He shook his head, a sickening lurch of confusion in his stomach. "Wait, what?" His mind reeled, sifting through the chaotic, violent images of the memory. The cheers. The roar of the crowd. Was that it? The ringing in his ears intensified, a high-pitched whine that blotted out everything. He could see her mouth moving, saying something, but all he could hear was the ringing, and the panicked voice in his head questioning what he truly remembered.
"You're not even listening to me!" Jade's voice rose, cutting through the ringing and snapping Matthew back to the present.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his eyes wide and pleading. "I just... my head is..."
Jade's expression shifted. The fear remained, but now it was tinged with a desperate pity. She took another step back, her eyes flicking nervously between him and the discarded pills on the floor. "Please, Matthew. Just... take them. For me. For your wellbeing." She reached for a fallen pill, her hand trembling. "I promise, they will make you and I fine again."
Matthew's gaze followed her hand to the pills, then up to the desperate plea in her eyes. His heart, which had been a frantic drumbeat, now slowed to a heavy, painful thud. He looked from the pills to Jade, a dawning realization spreading across his face.
He looked down at the pills, then back at her. Her hand was now extended, palm up, with the pills resting in the center. She grabbed his hand and placed the pills onto his palm. He felt the roughness of her rubber gloves as they made contact with his skin.
"They can help you, Matthew. You just have to believe that they do," she said. He stared at the two pills, then looked up at her and shook his head.
Jade took off one of her rubber gloves and placed her palm on his cheek. The soft warmth of her skin made his heart beat faster. "Please take them," she whispered, her voice a soft, fragile plea. "For me. For your wellbeing. I promise they will make you and I fine again."
Matthew looked at her, at the raw emotion on her face, and his resolve began to crumble. He didn't want to lose her trust. He didn't want her to be afraid of him. He gave a reluctant nod. "Okay."
A relieved smile spread across Jade's face. It was a beautiful, genuine smile that made his breath catch in his throat. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. The touch was a quick, light pressure, and then she pulled away, the warmth lingering on his skin.
"I hope you enjoy your day," she said, her voice filled with a gentle sweetness. She turned and walked out of the room.
Matthew touched the spot where her lips had been, watching her until she disappeared from view. "You too," he whispered to the empty doorway.
He looked down at the two small blue pills in his hand. They looked so innocent, so harmless. He glanced up at the tiny camera in the corner of the ceiling. He didn't need to see the red light to know it was on. He brought the pills to his mouth, his jaw set in a determined line, and swallowed them both instantly. Then, he knelt and began to pick up the spilled food and the tray. He put the sandwich back together and picked up the now empty cup.
In the surveillance room, the operator behind the desk watched as Matthew cleaned up the mess. He picked up his walkie-talkie. "Sir, he's taken the pills," he said, his voice flat. He put the device back on the desk and watched as Matthew walked into his room and shut the door.
Matthew sighed, a heavy, tired sound that held all the weight of the last few minutes. The door clicked shut, and he was alone again, the silence of the sterile room suddenly deafening. He stared at the spot where Jade had been, the lingering warmth of her kiss on his cheek feeling both comforting and deeply unsettling. The pills were in his stomach, a cold, hard lump of betrayal and desperate hope. He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture. What had he done? What was he giving up?
Shutting the door behind him, Matthew turned to the door and leaned forward, his forehead against the door with his eyes shut as he recalls the scared expression on Jade's face, the questionable cheers from the cafeteria when he brutally beat Seth, and finally the words of Doctor Sawyer himself, "How many more people were going to get hurt?" "Why... Why did i stop?" He asks himself before turning around and that's when he saw him.
Standing in the center of the room, a few feet from the mess on the floor, was a boy. He had pale skin and was dripping wet, as if he had just emerged from a pool. His eyes were vacant and unblinking, fixed on Matthew. It was the same boy from yesterday, the one who had stood silently as the syringe was brought to his neck.
A cold, primal terror seized Matthew. His throat tightened, and he took a shaky step back. The boy didn't move. He didn't blink. He just stood there, dripping water onto the sterile white floor.
Then, the boy opened his mouth and spoke, his voice a clear, high-pitched whisper that cut through the silence like a knife.
"Will... Will you be my friend?"
Matthew's mouth opened, a gasp of confusion and terror escaping him. His eyes widened, and he stared at the apparition, his mind scrambling to make sense of what he was seeing.
What... the fuck? He thought, the words a frantic scream in his head.