Apologies for the long update. Laptop problems and the events of the season three finale threw me off balance for a little while. Thank you to those who have read and reviewed, i really appreciate your thoughts. In this chapter, Elizabeth makes a life changing discovery and Mitchell has a decision to make. As always, errors while unintentional, are my own. Love to hear your thoughts :)
Lucky.
She pauses when she sees George in the corridor. He looks shocked to see her and that she's there in front of him instead of being locked away with Mitchell as he'd instructed her.
"What…" he takes a couple of steps towards her and then halts. If she's standing here, that only means that...
Oh God…
"He's in his room" she tells him quietly. His sag of relief is visible.
"Oh thank Christ for that. Is…is he okay?" she just nods and he watches her take something from beneath her scrub top. He realises what it is; clean scrubs and at the same time he understands who they're for. He walks towards her, his hand out.
"Let me deal with this" he takes them out of her hands before she has a chance to argue and she has to admit that she's secretly relieved that he's volunteered to do this. In truth she's a little too scared to deal with Daniel and his werewolf issues right now.
"Is your shift over yet?" he enquires.
"Another hour" she replies.
"How about we meet in the cafeteria afterwards?" he suggests. She stares at him and she's feeling all trembly all of a sudden. He seems to notice and he regards her sympathetically. Then she nods.
"I can do that" she replies. He lifts the clothing and she watches him walk away.
George's heart is thumping in his chest as he takes the stairs down into the basement. It's quiet at this time of the morning and he's glad for it. He doesn't want to be asked about what he's doing here when the answer could very well terrify. He's going down to unlock a werewolf, that revelation could put him in the room next to Mitchell.
He quickly gets to where he's going and it's quiet. As he walks along the corridor, he sees the discarded straitjacket and he pauses when he sees the battered door. He cautiously approaches it and he listens. He can't hear anything.
"Hello?" he enquires. There's no response. He approaches the battered door and peers through the spy hole.
He's lying on the ground. He's naked and dirty. George pulls the bar back across the door and opens it.
"Daniel?" Slowly he approaches him and immediately he smells it and he stops in his tracks.
"Come on, you need to get up" he tells him. He takes a couple more experimental steps towards him. He can smell blood and it's strong. He circles around Daniel and he sees the small drying pool of blood surrounding his head.
"Oh no" he mutters and gets closer. He crouches down and touches his neck. As he expected, he feels nothing and his skin is cold to the touch.
"Shit" he sighs. He turns his head and sees the heavy looking chain nearby and he notices the bloodstained padlock. He looks back to Daniel and he wonders what the hell he's going to do.
He dresses Daniel in the clean scrubs which isn't the easiest thing to do with a dead body. He straightens up and sighs. Obviously someone has brained him with the padlock and the only person responsible for that is Elizabeth. Mitchell was wearing the strait jacket that he found in the corridor outside so he assumes that she took it off him once she'd gotten him out.
He has to admire her bravery. It would've been easy to just crumble in the face of something so extraordinarily horrifying but she seems reasonably calm. Okay, a little pale and shocky looking but she wasn't freaking out. He'll have to tell her about Daniel, she'd realise the moment he doesn't return to work, or alternatively he could tell her that he had gone by the time he'd arrived and she would construe his absence from the ward as shame at being discovered. It still doesn't tell him how to dispose of his body. It was under circumstances such as this one that Mitchell proved to be useful, he always knew someone who knew someone and the problem was dealt with.
Elizabeth checks on Mitchell before she leaves. He's awake, sitting on the side of his bed and staring at his hands. He looks up as she unlocks the door. She walks over to him and then sits down beside him.
"I spoke to George, he's happy to know that you're safe. I'm sure you'll talk to him soon"
"How do you know George?" he asks her and she looks at him.
"We made friends in the cafeteria. He's someone to talk to. I didn't realise that he knew you til Callie mentioned he visited yesterday, you should be thanking him for saving your life" she keeps her tone quiet and confidential. He looks at her and he just nods.
"He's a good friend to have" he tells her. She stands up and looks at him.
"Stay out of trouble" she tells him and walks out. He watches her leave.
I try. I really try, but trouble always seems to find me.
George is waiting for her in the canteen and there's a cup of tea waiting for her. He watches her walk towards him and slide into the seat opposite.
"How's Mitchell doing?" he asks. He watched as she wraps her hands around her cup.
"He's okay, quite calm actually considering last night he came this close to being ripped apart by something that turned into something…unbelievable before my eyes" she replies. He sees the blank look of shock cross her face for the briefest of moments before she seems to shake herself out of it and look at him again.
"Mitchell said it was a…"
"A werewolf?" He watches her eyes widen and her mouth fall open in shock.
"You know?" she breathes. He seems to pause before nodding just the once.
"Yes. I know" He watches her frown.
"But how?" He looks down at his own cup and seems to pause for a moment or two.
"You'd be amazed to know what walks and crawls in the shadows Elizabeth. You'd be shocked to learn what exists" he confides quietly.
"Well I know about werewolves now" though her intelligence is screaming at her that it simply can't be, she know what she saw. He looks at her and his expression is very serious.
"Why did that…why did he target Mitchell? He kept telling me to always keep my guard up, that I had no idea what he was" she frowns.
"Some people just take a dislike to other people; mostly it's down to prejudice" He waits for her to begin to connect the dots.
"Wait a minute…if werewolves exist like you say…what else is there out there?" she asks and he takes a deep breath and removes his glasses.
"Ghosts, ghouls, zombies and…vampires" He watches her eyes widen.
"You've seen them?" He just nods. Her eyes go wide and she goes a little pale.
"Are you all right?" he asks when she doesn't say anything. She shrugs untidily.
"I don't know…you just told me that there are such things as monsters, actual proper monsters and not a phrase used to describe the morally corrupt" she tells him.
"You can't tell anyone about what you saw last night" he tells her in a quiet voice and she rolls her eyes.
"Do you think anyone would believe me George?" she whispers back.
"Actually you'd be surprised what people believe" he answers. She watches as he drains his cup and gets to his feet.
"I have to start my shift in about five minutes. You're tired Elizabeth, you've had one hell of a night so I suggest you go home, get some sleep and think on things" he suggests. She sighs and just nods, too tired to argue.
Mitchell sees George appear on the ward at lunchtime. He's wearing his blue scrubs so he's at work. Mitchell is sitting alone in his armchair but this time he's more watchful, more aware, he hasn't seen the dog yet. He watches him walk over to him and sit down opposite. His smile is friendly which is kind of a shock to Mitchell, considering his last words to him back at the house had been brutal.
"Hey Mitchell, want to take a walk with me?" he suggests in a quiet voice and he frowns back at him.
"Why?" he asks and George blinks, a little taken aback that he's actually spoken to him.
"Because I asked?" he replies instead and he stands up. Mitchell slowly copies him and rises to his feet. Mitchell stares into his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" he asks. George regards him.
"You're more with it today so you haven't been taking your pills like a good boy" he tells him and Mitchell frowns again.
"Come on" he tells him and walks ahead of him. Mitchell has no option but to follow.
George slows down in the emptier corridor and waits for him to catch up.
"I spoke to Elizabeth earlier; she's a bit…shocked"
"About the dog?"
"Wouldn't you be? She's starting to question other…things" he pauses.
"It's only a matter of time before she realises that you're…different too"
"Have you told her?" He watches his eyes widen.
"Of course I haven't but she's a bright girl, she'll make the connection…she's seen your eyes change remember but right now she just thinks she's imagined it…both times" Mitchell looks away.
"In the meantime, we need to get you out of here and soon before she asks the wrong people the right questions…or is that the right people the wrong questions…." He shakes his head as he confuses himself.
"Where would I go?"
"Well you can't stay here anymore" They begin to walk again. Neither of them speak for a little while. They pause outside of his room.
"See you again soon, eh?" George asks. The look Mitchell sends him is long. He turns and goes into his room. George watches him for a second more before turning back the way he came.
Elizabeth doesn't see Daniel when she returns to work the following evening. She finds it hard to come to terms with what she witnessed, with what George divulged but she's also very curious to know more.
Mitchell is watchful, he's waiting for the dog to make his appearance, because he will and because he was thwarted, this time he'll make sure that he'll be successful. It's late but he can't sleep. Nothing really new there but he's more afraid to close his eyes just in case. He sees Elizabeth but they don't speak.
His head snaps up when he hears his door unlock. He tenses, ready to bolt if he has to. Nerves roll in his stomach. If he has to, then the dog will see the side of him that he's been craving. The door eventually opens and he relaxes marginally when he sees Elizabeth. She's carrying two more cups of tea. He watches her approach him and she hands one of the cups to him which he takes.
"This is getting to be a habit" he tells her as he takes a sip. She sits down beside him.
"Do you want me to stop?" she asks and he glances sideways at her. He shakes his head. He's missed drinking tea like this.
"No" he admits.
"Then I won't" she tells him and takes a sip from her own cup.
Nina looks up when George comes into the kitchen. He's a little pale and she can see his preoccupation.
"What's wrong?" she asks him. He looks at her and sighs raggedly.
"Mitchell is okay. Elizabeth managed to get to him in time, he was in the isolation ward and she also managed to get him back up to his room" he tells her.
"That was brave of her" she watches him shrug off his jacket and hang it up.
"She also now knows that Daniel was a werewolf" he adds and her eyes widen.
"What do you mean was?" she demands and he looks at her, his expression is sad.
"He's dead. He received a head injury. I found a chain in the room with him with a bloodied padlock"
"You think it was Mitchell?" she breathes and he shakes his head.
"The bastard had him in a straitjacket. It must've been Elizabeth" Nina's eyes widen.
"Oh my God"
"I dealt with it but Elizabeth mustn't know, she's still in a state of shock about what she saw, this might just push her completely over the edge"
"Excuse me, but you dealt with it?" she demands and he just stares at her. His expression is unapologetic.
"What did you expect me to do Nina? Leave him there where he could be discovered and have the police crawling everywhere and asking unwelcome questions?" he shakes his head and then rubs his hands over his face.
"I'm tired, I'm going to bed" he mumbles and she watches him leave.
He feels himself tense when he sees her standing in the doorway. She doesn't wait for an invitation and he watches her come into his room.
"Nina" he murmurs.
"Mitchell" she responds neutrally. He watches her drag a chair across and she sits opposite him. He looks away, feigning interest in the floor, his feet, in anything but her.
"How are you doing?" she asks and he shrugs awkwardly. He wants to know what she's doing here; he thought that he would be the last person she'd want to be anywhere near.
"George doesn't know that I'm here" she informs him. Slowly he lifts his head and he looks at her.
"Then why are you?" he asks.
"To see you for myself, and to…ask…you to …not get him involved…again" her voice is quiet and hesitant.
"I didn't" He didn't ask him to visit both times. Nina sighs.
"I know you didn't. He told me that you were…umm…out of it….but seeing you…now"
"Lucid?" he adds.
"Yeah. It worries me. He feels responsible for you…still and I can see him getting wrapped up in you again" she leans back slightly and he watches her scratch the back of her head. She pauses when he frowns darkly.
"You've never tried to understand our relationship did you? Not once" he keeps his voice low.
"He's loyal to you"
"Not all the time. When you were…what happened…afterwards…he told me that I didn't exist anymore, that he wasn't my friend…."
"And yet he was the one who put you in here. He didn't tell me that he had, I thought you'd just…left" she takes a deep breath.
"You were right…about Herrick. You tried to save me, the baby…you tried to warn us but we didn't want to listen" she looks uncomfortable.
She was lying at the bottom of the stairs, a wound in her side pulsing blood. I see him standing at the top, the dripping knife in his hand. I watch him lift the blade to his lips and take a taste. The expression on his face blissful. I remember how he smiled.
"Ahh…revenge…so cold...so bloody" he sighs melodramatically and I feel the rage swell inside of me.
I don't remember killing him.
"All George saw was me" and that was enough for him to lose all sense of clarity. His utter rejection was the main reason why he was here, his reappearance now confusing him. He remembers how George had rushed at him, a mixture of rage and panic in his eyes. He had pushed him, pushed him so hard that he'd been knocked clear of his feet. Mitchell looks at Nina.
"You can come back to the house…" she begins to tell him but he shakes his head.
"I can't go back there" he knows that. There are ghosts of a different kind haunting him there.
"Where will you go?"
"Somewhere. I've managed this long, I don't want you to worry, tell George not to visit me again"
Nina's eyes widen.
"He won't accept that, you know he won't"
"He's going to have to. I need to get away, far away from here and the fewer people who know where I am, the better"
"And how are you going to do that? You have no money, no job"
"It's not your problem"
"Mitchell. You're on a psychiatric ward, you just can't walk out of here" she argues in a low voice.
"I'm not going to" he tells her and she frowns in confusion.
"It's none of your concern Nina; I'd appreciate it if you'd leave now"
