He was led into a room, bright with white lights and white walls. Everything around him was white and it hurt his eyes. What was he doing here? He didn't belong in a mental institution. Or did he? He liked pain, he liked taking risks, he liked wowing himself and his fans with his crazy stunts. So why the fucking hell was he here? Was all that a problem? He sighed to himself as the police officer beside him thrust him into an empty chair. He looked up, and gave him a "wtf?" look. The officer just looked at him, readjusted his position and looked forward, looking experienced. He sighed and leaned on the arm of his chair while another officer walked up to the reception desk. He watched the officer and the young woman at the desk talk for a while, then he noticed the woman looking at him curiously. The officer glanced back at him, and he gave a little wave at the woman. He smirked as he watched her cheeks flood with colour and she looked away flustered and started stuttering. She nodded at the officer and disappeared. The officer walked back to him and stood beside her partner. She looked at him with a hard expression and he looked back. Finally he got irritated with her looking at him;
"How would you like it if I kept on talking to your breasts and not your face?" He asked.
The officer didn't answer and he noticed her male partner steal a glance at him out of the corner of his eye.
"What, you gonna keep watching me? What if I have to go? Are you gonna follow me in?"
A man reading the paper a few seats away looked up.
"I bet you are. I bet you wanna screw me like that little minx at the desk wants to."
The officer blinked and her male partner looked at him in disgust. The female looked like she was going to argue but her partner intervened. He sighed and smirked to himself. This was going to be an interesting stay.
The receptionist from before walked up to the desk, and looked down at a clipboard before saying, "Luke Blade? We're ready for you. If you would come with me…"
Luke got up and the male officer threw his arm out in front of him. He looked at the officer, tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow.
"Do you really think that I would try to pull a stunt in front of such an attractive young lady?"
The receptionist blushed again brightly. The officer didn't respond and Luke looked at him then followed the woman. She led them down the hallway, through a large oak door, down a long white hall where they made several turns; they went up 3 flights of stairs and walked down another white hallway. They finally came to a heavy wooden door with bars on it. Luke looked at it curiously, while the officer looked smug.
"Don't count on escaping while you're here Blade, they've got this place in complete lockdown," the officer said.
The woman gave them a glance out of the corner of her and saw Luke looking at her; self- consciously, she rolled her lips and looked at the floor before opening the heavy door.
Inside was a light blue corridor lined with doors. Men and women aging from at least 20 to 40 roamed randomly around the hallway. A skinny blonde girl, probably about 20 stood, leaned against her doorway, smoking a cigarette. She eyed him, crossed her legs and blew her second hand smoke his way. Luke smirked to himself.
"You allow them to smoke inside? What about safety regulations?" asked the officer.
"We got permission from the government as some of the patients were… becoming out of hand. We have a non-smoking therapy session every Thursday and Sunday to help our residents quit…but barley anybody comes to those."
Luke nodded but wasn't interested. He looked around almost disappointed. He was somewhat pissed off at his new surroundings but even more pissed off that he was here. His mind wandered back to his near revenge on his "unconventional family". He had murdered 2 out of 3 of his family's members; both had been Luke's closest friends… They had tried to pull away, but they just got burned. It's like turning running away from an angry dog; it'll bite you anyways.
He could still remember the fury he had felt when the police burst in during his final act: Houdini's infamous performance of wearing a straight jacket while trying to escape from drowning in a giant tank full water. Only it was not Luke performing this stunt; it was his mother.
[Flash Back]
BAM! The door went flying open and several shots were fired. Before he could even identify what was happening, the glass tank shattered, spilling water and glass aspew everywhere.
"No! No! NOO! NO! NO NOOOOOOO! NOOO!" Luke screamed as he jumped onto the stage.
"Freeze! Freeze. put you hands behind your back!" yelled a police officer. A gun was pointed at him and an officer grabbed his hands and twisted them behind his back and forced him down on his knees.
"No! No! You! No! What are you doing! NOO! NO!" he shouted as an officer rushed over to help Luke's mother. He removed the tape from her mouth and she coughed out water.
Luke trembled with rage and anger, his breathing laboured, the hate in his eyes terrifyingly disturbing that Mac looked at him with a nervous eye, expecting him to just disappear…
[Flash Back End]
How could they do that? Didn't they know how much pain and misery that woman caused him? 25 years of it. 25 fucking years. How could they just ruin his revenge? All of them had betrayed him and violated the sacred trust. And they expected to just walk away, leaving Luke alone and scared? He had the right to do what he did. He shouldn't be punished for their mistakes!
"…And this is Dr. Lore, the Head of the Section C ward," the young receptionist said, breaking Luke's train of thoughts. She looked back at briefly, her blue eyes looking curiously at him before turning her head back to the doctor who was standing in front of him.
He was a tall, gruff looking man with fading brown hair and beard. He had thick glasses and wore a dark suit. The impression Luke got from him was an abusive grandfather and he didn't like it.
"Hello, son," he said in a surprisingly high voice. Dr. Lore stuck his large hand out and Luke put his hand out absentmindedly, not really noticing what he was doing. The chill from the Doctors hand brought Luke back to reality. He noticed many faces were gathering and looking at him inquisitively, whispering.
"I'm not your son," Luke said, looking back at the Doctor. The older man raised his eyebrows and his small eyes darkened slightly. Luke squeezed the mans hand and dropped it and put it back into his pocket. It was tense for a moment and the receptionist looked very nervous.
"Yes, ahem, well, Carrie, I'm sure you've shown this young man around?" he inquired to the receptionist. She brushed her blonde hair back, nervously as Dr. Lore gave her a hard look.
"Almost, sir," she said, not meeting his eyes.
"Very well. Good day, Mr. Blade." And the doctor continued on down the hallway. Carrie watching him almost nervously then looked back down at her clipboard, trying to reorganize her thoughts. She seemed less tense when she spoke this time.
"I'll show you to your room," she said directing them to the right of the hallway until they came to a wooden door labelled B12. Carrie knocked on before opening the door, revealing a small room with 2 single beds and a dresser. There was a door in the corner that led to the bathroom. A young man sat on one of the beds, flipping through a magazine, and by the looks of it, a pretty violent magazine. A small glipse showed guns, explosives, knives, and bear traps, but that was all that he saw before the receptionist snatched it away.
"Terry, you're not allowed to read these! You know that. They effect your recovery."
Recovery? Luke doubted that. Once insane in any way, there's no full recovery.
"Terry, this is your new room mate, Luke. Luke, this is Terry. Terry is a exceptional room mate." Even Terry could tell that this was a forced statement to give Luke a false sense of security. "I'll let you get settled then..." She exited the room quickly, and the police followed but not before glaring at him warningly. Finally the door was closed and Luke and Terry were the only ones left in the room.
End of Chapter 1
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