EVERYTHING BUT A TIN FOIL HAT

A few hours after they arrived home, Maddie sat on the couch with an evil look on her face. When she was discussing her experience with Gordon Freeman, it brought on her desire to kill again. She had not had the urge in a long time and she needed to fulfill it.

When Maddie and Tim were eating dinner, a news report came on. It was about the Stonebridge Heights Asylum.

"…That's when Dr. Garrison took a lead pipe and struck Janice Carter repeatedly in the head, causing blunt force trauma. Dr. Garrison apparently has been acting rather strangely for reasons unknown. Police eventually found him, laughing and with blood on his lips as if he was trying to create a smile much like the murders that occurred a few years ago."

Maddie laughed and Tim stared at her.

"Maddie, did you have anything to do with this?" Tim asked.

Maddie continued laughing.

"Maddie, I'm still glad you went over there."

"He wanted to keep me there. I had other plans."

Tim smiled at her.

Nighttime had come and Maddie was in bed, waiting for Tim. He walked in and sat on her bed. He rubbed his hand on her cheek.

"Madeline, I'm so glad you're home," he said, "I was so worried about you being in that place. But I'm so glad it's over now."

"I'm glad to be home too," she replied.

"You're not going to run away like that again, right?"

"Never."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good. Because if you run away again, they could lock you inside there for a long time. I hear they use some kind of mind altering methods to create soldiers so they can fight for the government. They also use patients there who are not too insane to carry out the most dangerous assignments. It's because they are expendable. They don't want to risk the lives of any military or police force. I don't want that to be you."

Maddie enjoyed listening to Tim's crackpot conspiracy theories. She did not have the slightest clue as to what he meant or if it was even true or not. She realized Tim was paranoid and had everything but a tin foil hat.

After Tim left, she waited for him to fall asleep. She got out of bed and changed from her pajamas to her half red and half black out fit and put on her boots. Tim had sown a black hood to the shirt. Next, Maddie applied her face paint and packed her dagger. Next, she climbed out of her window and into the night. She closed the window and used a nearby tree to descend to the ground. Taking advantage of the night, she used it to hide as she made her way towards the city.

Her vigorous training had paid off. She was able to climb the buildings, using the window sills, pipes, and ladders. She hadn't mastered climbing buildings too high yet, so she stuck to the smaller ones. She remained out of sight, but close enough to hear the street noise below. Police sirens were heard in the distance and she made her way across the rooftops using her excellent parkour skills. She ran across the rooftops while making sure she was careful and when she landed, she slightly stumbled. Despite this, she remained focus as the police sirens were becoming louder.

Maddie watched from above as the police cars were chasing a silver car. She jumped across the nearby rooftops, following the chase. Then, she came across a large gap and realized she would not make it. She quickly descended to the street and ran into a nearby park where the chase was. She saw the flashing lights ahead and saw that the chase had ended. The suspect abandoned his car and fled the scene. Maddie moved with stealth behind the trees. She saw the suspect a distance from her and proceeded to follow. She followed him out of the park and he ran along a walkway. He was carrying a large bag and was easy to spot due to the street lights above. Maddie realized the police had lost track of him and she stalked him in the darkness.

The suspect ran under a bridge to catch his breath. He was a young man with a brown beard and was wearing a black hoodie and black pants. He opened the bag and looked at the money inside. Then, an evil laugh was heard. He took out his knife and frantically looked around. The laugh was heard again. He wiped the sweat away and was getting nervous. He walked out from under the bridge and looked around. Then, Maddie appeared behind him. She laughed and he turned around, throwing his knife. Maddie had disappeared. He picked up the knife.

"Stupid little bitch," he said.

Maddie appeared behind him and laughed. He was startled and fell to the ground. He saw Maddie and was visibly shaken by her appearance. She smiled at him.

"You're a bad man," she said.

"What the fuck are you? A clown?" He said.

"I hate bad people."

The man got up and pointed his knife at her.

"But I love when people fear me," she continued.

"I ain't scared of no little girl."

"Yes you are. I can feel it."

Maddie stepped forward.

"Come closer and I'll kill you," he said with a nervous voice.

Maddie moved closer. The man threw the knife at her, but Maddie caught it and laughed. She took out her dagger. The man ran away back towards the bridge. When he came out the other end, Maddie jumped down in front of him and stabbed him in the leg with his own knife. She left it in there as he screamed and fell to the ground.

"Screams," she said, "Sound so beautiful."

"You fucking psycho," he said.

Maddie walked towards him as he tried to back away.

"Now you die!" She said.

Maddie repeatedly stabbed him, and enjoyed the knife penetrating him and the blood spurting out as she pulled out the knife. Then, she licked the blood off the knife as he watched with his dying breath. Next, she slit his throat. With the blood from the knife, she smeared a smile on his face. Before the police arrived, she fled into the night.

On her way home, she decided to take a shortcut through a yard. As she got close to the fence, a large black dog barked and growled at her. She was startled at first and then remembered that dogs could sense fear. She stared back at the dog with an evil stare. The dog continued to growl. Maddie thought about going another route but decided to test the dog.

"Nice doggie," she said in a cheerful tone.

Maddie growled back at the dog and the dog stopped growling. The dog backed away while still fixing its eyes on her. Maddie giggled and climbed the fence. She was now standing in front of the dog and stared into its eyes. The dog laid on the ground and now had sad eyes.

"Aww, you're such a cute doggie," Maddie said.

She walked up to it and patted it on the head. Then, she scratched the dog behind the ears. She started to skip away across the yard and realized the dog was still lying there.

"Come on doggie," she said.

The dog got up and ran alongside her as she skipped to the other side. She kissed the dog on the head and then climbed the fence. Maddie ran back to her house, snuck back into her room, and changed out of her clothes. She stared out of the window knowing there was far more evil in the world.