It was silent, and the walls of the corridors were echoing. Everything was deteriorating, and the paint was chipping off of his desk. In the life of his solitude, he remained alone. Zippy's soul tracing the side of the rails and the gates of what remained on the entrance to the Asylum. His syringe fingers lingered over the aged pages of his journal. Hundreds upon thousands of different notes and pages were written and kept in tune. Even the side notes and love letters of his once beloved, Lily.
"Lily, I am so sorry."
His screen flickered as the static rumbled across it. Images and memories played back on the screen of the good times they had together. He rested his hand on a part of his television screen, as he could hear her voice and the soft humming of the songs she sang down the corridor. His synthetic heart ached, as he flipped his desk over. He never asked to be this way, and he never wanted to lose her.
The asylum now abandoned, and the patients gone, he left his office to travel down the hall. All of the bodies corroded on the floor, and the same operation room held the dismembered body of what used to be Zippy. He repeated the song that Lily used to sing to him, as his vocal valves chimed along. The sound of his boots hitting the floor echoed down the hallway, and the blood was stained along the walls. He learned to live the life of solitude, as his body never aged. He was now over 100 years old, but his mind and spirit held the life of a 25 year old. He traveled to the kitchen to find himself food and supplies to keep himself sane. As his body weakened throughout the years, he found another way to keep himself sustained. His body was upgraded, and had many different valves with different meanings to them; one that was meant for breaking down of food, and another for breathing. He shuffled through all of the cabinets and the drawers, to find that he had no food once again. Not satisfied, he grunted and tore through a couple of empty cereal boxes.
Nothing.
He loathed going to the store to purchase food, he never like the sight of people looking at him and staring him down like he was some sort of disease. But if he didn't there would be a possibility that he would perish. Regardless, he muttered up the courage and grabbed all of the money he had to spare. Even though he was the only one to ever be inside of the asylum, he locked the gate to the entrance before he walked out. He did not want anyone to walk into the asylum without him noticing. No one ever had the audacity to at the time anyway, as it was intimidating to look at from the outside as it is on the inside. As he walked, the nearest store was 2 to 3 miles away, or at least.. that is what he remembered.
Only the footsteps and the sound of his synthetic heart beat was the only thing heard from a distance. As he started to get close to the hustle of the busy streets, everyone stopped and stared at him. They all looked at him with dead and furious eyes, as if he did not belong there. He did not care, and continued forward to the store. Although the tension was fierce, and many people called him several different names… He continued forward. He started to sink himself into his coat, even though he could not hide his face.
"FREAK." "COWARD." "MONSTER."
He could not let the words shroud him, but he continued forward with all of his courage. As he entered the store, it was completely silent. His syringe hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he hurried into the closest aisle, being untraced and unnoticed. As he sighed in relief, a woman that was near him stared at him curiously as if she was not frightened, but interested. He grabbed what he needed, and left the aisle onto the next one. The woman continued to follow him around to the next corner, but he did not notice nor did he seem to care. He was only focusing to get what he needed and to get out of there as soon as possible. With a basket filled with food and eager to go back to eat, he made it to the cash register. The cashier stood and stared at him with horror in her eyes. As soon as he took his hand out of his pocket, the cashier screamed.
"BLOODY MURDER, BLOODY MURDER!"
even was shocked by the sudden emotion that the human shrieked out not even knowing that humans can reach that high of a pitch, and forgotten about his syringe like hands. His sudden movement, and his realization of his hands flew at him. He dropped the money on the register, and ran out the door with his basket clung to him.
"I am never going back there again.."
With all of the food he had, he knew that it would only last him so long. He sighed, and started to walk back to the Asylum, but with him not even noticing someone was traveling close behind him.
The woman from the store.
With his basket and his screen looking around, watching and making sure no one was following him. His synthetic heart was beating fast, as his emotions were twisted and tied. The only way for him to calm down, was the songs that him and Lily sang together. He stopped, and dead in his tracks he looked down and realized, that he will never be accepted into society.
"I will never be welcomed…"
He sat down casually, and looked at his hands.
"Look at what I have become…"
His screen flickered, and a scene of a rainy day was shown. The only way he could truly show his emotions anymore, was through the sight of his television screen. The woman was still following him, as she had plenty of groceries within her hand as well. He could hear something in the distance, but it was faint.
"Whom goes there?"
He thought he heard something, but the woman hid and was not noticed by the television man. He turned around carefully, and sighed getting back up to his feet. As he unlocked the gate, he went back into the asylum. He shuffled down the corridor, and his senses were still very cautious. He felt as if someone was watching him.
With the woman not very far behind, she came across the asylum's entrance. With a bright red dress coat and her blowing hair softly within the wind, she stopped at the gate of the asylum. She was very weary of the presence of this new character that she has never seen before. She was brave and she was ready for anything that lied ahead of her. With her courage, she stepped forward into the gate of the asylum. Meanwhile, was cleaning up the mess he made in his office, all of his paperwork and his journals went flying off the desk when he had his tantrum earlier. As soon as he was done cleaning the mess in his office, he heard something.
The sound of heels hitting the corridor.
He continued to listen again to be sure, and stopped all of movement he was making.
Yes, it was the sound of heels trailing down the corridor.
He sat down at his desk, as he thought it was just a phase or an illusion that ran across his mind, but then the sound got louder, and louder. Before he could stand it any longer, a woman was in his office staring directly at him. He could feel his body sinking, as it was over decades before he saw anyone in the asylum. He was startled and frightened for the first moment, as he got up and tripped over a chair that was by his desk. He fell into the file cabinet, but his screen was still fixated on the woman that appeared before him. He observed her, as her hair was long and red, like the color of fall leaves brushing against the deceased grass. Her lips were pure and red like roses, and her face was sculpted so magnificently.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you!"
The words she spoke to him were so soft and care-free as if it was grazing against fine velvet. She was beautiful, as her dainty hands traveled along his desk.
"You…. You are not frightened of me, Miss?"
She shook her head and smiled, looking down at him on the floor.
"Why would I be afraid of such a handsome man that sits before me?"
His synthetic heart was beating fast, as his body continued to shake. He watched her hand reach out to him to help him up, but he was afraid to grab her hand.
"Madame, I cannot grab your hand…"
He showed her his hands, as she pondered along them. She looked at his hands carefully, as each of the fingers were made out of syringes.
"Nonsense, I will help you up."
She did not even mind that his hands were made out of syringes. He reached for her hand, and made sure he did not hurt her with any of his fingers poking her. As he stood up, he towered over her. His vest was bright and silver, and his scarf was tucked ever so neatly into the top part of his vest. He looked down at her, as she was very petit' and small. Her smile was enchanting, as he never seen someone smile like that towards him in such a long time.
"Why…. Why have you come here? Why are you not afraid of me?"
The woman looked down at his feet, and slowly studied the features of his posture. She admired his stance, and his gentle and caring voice.
"Because people can't see what lies in front of them, and I see more of that when I look at you."
His lifeless heart sprung back, as his memories were flooding towards him. He had a feeling he had not had in such a long time. He had the feeling that he was starting to be loved again. He approached her carefully, almost as if he was a scared child. He was afraid he was going to hurt her, or scare her away like the others.
"It's okay, I won't run off."
He backed his hands into his chest, and then slowly brought them forward. He wanted to touch her face, but he knew he would hurt her. She grabbed his hand, and brought it up to her face, letting his hand run across it. She did not mind the pain of his needles, but he knew as soon as blood was drawn. He let go of her face, and stood idly, looking curiously at her features. He backed away, bringing his fingers towards his chest.
" I am terribly sorry, I did not mean to hurt you." He backed into the corner, trying to stay away from her as much as possible so he would not hurt her again.
"What is your name, Miss?"
She smiled up towards him, and looked into his screen. She did not mind the blood that was dripping down her face from the scratches that he endured on her.
"My name is Elise."
Elise. What a beautiful name, he thought. Fate twisted along his lines as he continued to look at her. Her eyes met his screen, wondering and pondering why he was wearing a Television over his head.
"I am a monster…. I do not see why you bother your time with me."
He continued, as he turned away from her. Her crystal blue eyes looked down, as she looked at his shoes. They were scuffled, and broken in a couple of places. She looked around the room as it was dirty and disoriented. He watched her curiously since she was the first person to actually understand him and not be frightened. As he nervously watched her, he sat down at the desk.
She looked around the room, and then back at him. She approached him warmly, and touched a finger onto his screen. His Screen was also dusty as well, but he was bashful. His screen flickered, as it turned into a peaceful garden. She giggled as she watched his features change. Although she enjoyed his emotions, she realized that the place was wrecked and he must have been staying there for centuries.
As much as she enjoyed his company, she soon realized that she needed to go back home. It was late, and she needed to make dinner for herself and go to work in the morning. She sighed, and turned around looking out the door. Sorrow was brought towards 's body as he watched her curiously look around the corridor.
"Do you need to leave, Miss Elise?"
She nodded and looked at him with sorrow. "Don't you worry, I will be back again tomorrow!" She said with a heavy heart.
Although he did not want her to leave, he walked her out to the front of the asylum.
"Before I leave, I'd like to know what your name is." She looked up to him and tugged on his coat carefully.
"My name is Victor Statichi, but you can call me if you want." She smiled, and despite his dusty screen, she kissed his screen lightly. A red lipstick mark was left on the screen as his synthetic heart melted into his circuits.
"I will await for your return."
He watched her walk away from the asylum, hoping that she will return soon enough.
