I have been trying to write this exact chapter for ages so hopefully everyone likes it, thanks for all the reviews, they really helped me keep writing this. Enjoy! ...Or not, lol...
'This'= Jack's thoughts.
Note: For the next chapter or so (Sigh... seems to have gone on for slightly longer than that, lol!), the story SCHIZOPHRENIA is being taken back a few years to better explain the background behind the first, and possible further chapters.
Side note: I've stayed awake till 5:30 to finish this , so you'd better enjoy or else I'll... (Snore!)...
If anyone's wondering, I personally think the song 'Heaven's not enough' goes great with the end third of this chap, but thats probably only if you tend to like listening and readin... (Snore!)...
Warning: Many bad spelling and grammar errors.
He ran the pencil along under his left eye and back-. "Jack! Your 10 minutes are nearly up, you're gonna be late!". Jack jumped as he heard her voice, the hand holding the pencil accidently running halfway down his cheek.
"Alright... thank-you!" He shouted back, he turned to look at the failed zombie look, and actually liked what he saw. After all, in the stories, the 'male' red indians had used warpaint to fight and protect themselves in battle. And that was just it... he 'was' in a battle and 'this' would be his warpaint, he hid the pencil and sharpener under the sink, in a small hole in the wall he'd previously found.
Before leaving, he turned to the mirror, pulling a face at himself and silently mimicing an red indian battle cry before going out to meet with Diana.
Both Joe and Diana had given Jack confused and somewhat bewildered looks when they'd first seen his 'war paint'. Diana, unlike Joe, never asked why, deciding to wait until his appointment with the psychiatrist to find why Jack had choosen to start wearing makeup.
At the psychiatrist's office:
"You've been in a lot of trouble as of late I see Jack", the psychiatrist said as he flicked through a file which Jack guessed was his own. "I take it that at one point you even hit out at your supervisor- Diana. Would you be able to tell me why you felt the need to do so?". Jack bit his lip, as the psychiatrist and Diana loomed over him, trying to think of a better reason than 'that crazy bitch was trying to drug me'. Jack shrugged, "I guess everything was just getting worse, all my thoughts seemed to attack each other, I just wasn't coping well...".
Psychiatrist seemed suprised, "You admitt that your schizophrenic thoughts may have led you to act unpredictably towards Diana?". "...Yes", Jack bregrudingly answered. Diana began to smile brightly as the psychiatrist continued, "This is good progress Jack, admitting your problem is the very first step to learning to manage it".
The psychiatrist took a deep breath in, "Now I have one more thing to ask you Jack, as Diana has pointed out, you have begun to wear eye makeup. I was wondering if you would tell me why you have taken it upon yourself to start applying such a thing?".
Jack was quiet for a moment, Joe seemed to understand what he meant when he'd called it war paint, but would they?...Probably not...
Jack racked his brain for a more plausable excuse, but none sprang to mind. "I guess I sometimes I still feel scared... the 'makeup' (Jack sneered slightly at the word) is kinda like protection, it helps me feel safe... I don't know why though...".
The psychiatrist nodded, "Thankyou for being honest with me... I guess you wouldn't tell me where you're getting this makeup from?". Jack smiled slightly and shook his head. Jack and the psychiatrist continued to talk for a while after, until Jack was finally dismissed, told to go to his room and wait for Diana to collect him for dinner.
Jack stepped out of the psychiatrist's office, and walked down the empty corridor, smiling slightly when Joe appeared, walking by his side. Jack told Joe how the meeting had gone.
"That's great!", Joe exclaimed, as they continued the walk to Jack's room, "Now the only thing left to do is apologise". Jack gave Joe a strange look, "What did I do to you?". Joe laughed slightly, "No not to me!... To Diana...". "WHAT!" Jack half shouted as they turned a corner.
Joe held his hands up, "Hey, keep your voice down- and yes, you do need to apologise to her". Jack stood still in the middle of the corridor, giving Joe a 'and-they-say-I'm-'crazy' look. Joe continued to walk, prompting Jack to follow him, "Diana keeps notes on you right? She hands them into her supervisors, if you apologise she's bound to tell her supervisors, and you'll be one step closer to being let out of this place".
Jack gave a defeated sigh as he walked up to and stood by his open door (the doors were only usually locked at 'curfew'), "Yeah, I guess... thanks Joe". Joe grinned as Jack headed off into his room, "No worries Jack, I'll see ya later yeah?".
"Later?", Jack questioned, he turned to look at Joe (no one was there) and sighed, he wished he could just disappear like that.
Later that day:
"Did you apologise?". Jack made a face and continued to walk, Joe at his left, Diana at his right. Joe continued to try to persuade him, "Jack come on you're gonna have to... do you really wanna stay here forever?".
Knowing Joe had a point, Jack sighed and walked slightly closer to Diana as they entered the cafeteria, "Hey Diana... I'm sorry". Diana's suprised face turned his way, "What for?".
"For hurting you, I shouldn't have... I'm just really sorry...". Diana smiled, "I'm glad you apologised, why don't you line up to get your food, I'll go find you a table".
Jack watched her until she was a safe distance away before turning to Joe, "I'm 'not' sorry...". Joe just laughed and followed Jack to the cafeteria que.
Around four to five months later:
Around four to five months had passed now, thanks to Joe's hints, both the psychiatrist and Diana had said that he was well on the way to recovery, Jack was even convinced he'd heard one or two of the staff talking about his 'release date'.
Jack collected some food from the canteen and sat on a table with a group of kids he'd kinda made friends with (kinda in the sense that few actually noticed he was there anyway, so he was tolerated to sit at their table). Jack wasn't really all too bothered that they basically ignored him, even being tolerated/ignored was a step up from what he'd had in school.
Jack glanced around the table as he munched his food, all in all there were about 4 others, two in deep (if not slightly argumentative) conversation over... something... Another was repeatly stabbing his food with his plastic fork and muttering.
Jack glanced to either side of himself, to his right stood Joe (it would have looked kinda strange if he'd gotten a chair for 'a figment of his imagination'). To his left sat the rigid blonde boy that Jack met a while ago, (chapter 4) who'd screamed like hell when Jack had tried to 'borrow' a crayon.
The blonde haired boy was called Noah and Jack probably enjoyed his company the most, he wasn't much of a talker but on the other hand, he didn't seem to mind (or at least care about) Jack talking non-stop to him.
Joe said that it was important Jack was seen being social with the other patients, so that the staff could see how well he would cope on the outside.
Jack figured it made sense, even though it seemed a bit of a lost cause, as only the 'not so awake' patients would generally tolerate being around him. Unknowing that he was being watched closely by staff, Jack talked 'nonsense' with Noah, "I'm kinda bored of toast for breakfast ya know? It's pity they don't a full bacon/eggs breakfast... you think maybe if I asked? There again maybe not, I saw Oliver Twist and I don't wanna end up like- hey have you ever seen Oliver Twist?", Noah shrugged his shoulder and Jack went off into a long explation of what it was about.
Jack walked out the cafeteria with Noah, holding the boy's shoulder to keep him walking, (Noah was near catatonic at times and usually wouldn't move at all unless someone persuaded him) anywhere else Jack would have felt werid constanly holding another by the shoulder, but this place had helped him to re-evaluate his take on werid.
"Hey Jack, could I have a moment?" Diana asked, appearing out of nowhere and putting her hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack looked from her to Noah with a 'what-about-him' look. Diana nodded and another staff member went in place of Jack to guide Noah back to his room.
"Bye Noah", Jack called after him- Noah didn't respond so Jack called slightly louder, "Bye!". "Bye", came Noah's monotoneous reply, Jack wasn't too sure if Noah was replying or just repeating, but was happy all the same that Noah had heard him.
Jack turned to Diana, "So what did you want to talk about?".
In an empty therapy room:
Diana sat in a red armchair in the middle of the over-furnished room, while Jack sat on a green bean bag, far enough away from her to watch her every move but close enough for it not to look a bit werid-(even though he hadn't been physically hurt by any staff since his 'quiet room' incident, he was still kinda wary of them being too close).
"Jack", Diana murmered to get his attention before continuing, "Jack, I called you in here to chat about your departure from this institution back to your parent's home, we believe you're ready for it".
"Really?", asked a suddenly interested Jack, finding it difficult to keep a (wary but excited nontheless) smile off his face. Diana nodded and continued, "We've talked about it and you really do seem to be coping a lot better with everything-you're socialising more and, as it's nearly time for your age group to start attending high school, we believe it would be the perfect time to intergrate you back into mainstream society".
Diana shifted in her seat slightly and shuffled some paperwork before continuing,"Now, we've already phoned up your parents, their willing to collect you within 2 days, that should hopefully give you time to tie up any loose ends you have within this institution and get ready for going home... and don't worry, we're not going to throw you in at the deep end, we've organised a special supervisor to take care of you for the first year of your new school alright?".
Jack wasn't too sure he was happy about that last supervisor part, but vigourously nodded his head anyway, thanking Diana, the 'chat' continued on for a further ten minutes before he was sent out to go back to his room and sleep.
Jack stepped into his room, waited until he heard the locks on his door click, and smirked to himself, he was finally going home! It was the best feeling in the world, he was finally gonna be able to control his own life, do what he wanted when he wanted. Jack continued to think excitedly to himself as he sat down on the edge of his bed and grinned.
"Good news huh?", said a very appathetic voice, Jack jumped slightly and turned to see Joe sitting ridgidly on the other side of the bed. "Yeah!", Jack replied, too happy to notice Joe's mood, "Leaving in just two days... isn't that great! Oh I can't wait to get back! Let's see, first I'll eat as much ice cream as I possibly can... then I'll play all my old video games... then admittedly I'll probably chuck up, but that'll just mean I can just eat some more and...".
Joe laid his back on the bed and turned his head to the side, eyeing Jack with a look of (almost) slight annoyance as Jack continued to blab on about what he'd do when he 'finally' got back 'home'. "Yeah...", Joe unenthusiastically muttered, loud enough for Jack to hear, "Awesome...".
Jack paused in mid-sentence, "You okay Joe?", Joe opened his mouth looking as if he was about to say something, but closed it again. "Fine and dandy!", Came his purposefully fake reply, "...Enjoy your ice cream(!)". Without a further word from either of them, Joe got up and 'walked through' the door, leaving a very confused Jack alone to his thoughts.
The next day:
As usual Jack got up, got dressed (into an outfit exactly like the one he'd worn to bed- white short sleeve shirt and trousers), was taken to the cafeteria by Diana, ate breakfast with the other 4, and a very standoffish Joe. Guided Noah to their first lesson (maths), did the second lesson (english), then went to lunch to basically do the same as he had done at breakfast.
However, it was only at lunch that Joe actually bothered to talk to Jack again since last night.
Jack sat, blabbing on about how he was going to 'finally' leave, to a barely responsive Noah that Jack wasn't even sure truly heard all he was saying.
"Oh sure! Just rub it in! You're going home and he's not, woo hoo!", Joe finally said, glaring slightly as he interrupted Jack. Jack quickly glanced around the table and cafeteria to make sure no one was watching, before returning the glare and answering in a hushed yell, "Seriously! What is up with you? You spend all this time telling and helping me to get out of here, and then all the sudden you're getting angry with me cuz all your 'helpful hints' finally paid off- Why are you being like this?".
Joe sighed angrily, not having to lower his yell since no one else seemed to hear him anyway, "Because YOU get to leave!". Jack shot back a confused look. Joe continued, "I've been here a long time- around 30 years ... I was about 11 when I came here, that means I'm at least 41, 42, 43?. ...Look, you get to go on with your life, go to school, make friends, maybe even have a family- who knows! But me, I'm immortal, I don't age, I don't change and I can't leave... And once you leave, maybe no one will see me- I'll be on my own again! Don't you see? Nothing ever changes, not for me... it's always the same! ALWAYS!...".
Jack looked to Joe, "You could always come with me...". Joe laughed hoarsley, tears almost seeming to form at the sides of eyes, "Didn't you hear me before?", his form slowly began to fade, "I... can't...".
Jack didn't see Joe for the next two lessons (back to back winding down lessons- painting, drawing, music, e.t.c), and figured he might not for the rest of the day at this rate.
Time was running out before he would be leaving, Jack had literally just come up with a plan that would either help both him and Joe or just fall flat on it's face. Either way, he didn't have much time left, he would have to work fast...
It was dinnertime, Jack munched his potato and bacon as he talked random topics with Noah, his eyes flickered occasionally to the clock and back- most all staff went on their lunchbreak at 7:15, but the patient's dinners finished at 7:25... this was going to be a real close cut...
Jack's eyes flickered back to the clock, 7:10... perfect... Jack got up, made his excuses to Noah and walked over to Diana, "Can I got to the toilet?". Diana glanced at him, "Yeah sure, I'll take y-". "No Di-", Jack began and then changed his tone, "I wanna go by myself, I'm leaving tomorrow so...". Diana thought it over and nodded slowly, Jack smiled his thanks and walked briskly out the cafeteria doors, going the exact opposite way to the toilets.
Finally (after what he hoped was just 5 minutes) he'd made it to the main nurse's office, the door had been left wide open, he glanced feverishly around for any witnesses before sneaking into the room.
Joe had told him about this place and where the hidden item was kept (3rd draw to the left)- as if by pure luck the draw was open. It was quite big and difficult to open, Jack shoved his hand into it, nothing, papers, papers and more papers- that draw was ridiculously deep though, it could be at the bottom...
So saying he pushed his arm as far into the draw as the immobile thing would allow- his hand closed on something round with a metallic feel to it- "Hey do you think I should do overtime, I mean it's no real rise in wages but...". Jack's eyes widened, he could hear two nurses talking outside the room he was in... If they found him in here he was done for, he tried to pull his arm out of the draw, it wouldn't budge! The draw had somehow clamped down on his arm and he was now stuck!
He glanced from the door to his arm and back again, what was he going to do? He continued to struggle, heart pounding, the door began to slowly open as the nurses continued to chat. Pure adrenaline shooting through his system, Jack, with a much more frantic (and lucky) pull was free. Wasting no time on celebrating his freed arm, Jack quickly hid under the nearby desk. He watched, not even daring to breathe, as the two pairs of sensibles shoes walked around the room, constantly stopping and starting as they gathered different papers and such (shaving more and more time off of what little time he actually had left).
Finally they went and he was glad to see the door was still left open, taking another careful glance around, he darted back to cafeteria, trying to make as little noise as possible on the floorboards.
He finally got to the cafeteria- but it was locked and empty, damn! How long had he been away? He ran towards the 'dorm' area where he saw Diana waiting.
Not having time to really look at it- he quickly fit the round metal item he still held, between the elastic of his white trousers and his bareskin (a good substitute for pockets as long as the object doesn't accidentally lose it's footing and fall out the leg end...). "Hey Diana", Jack greeted, "Sorry I'm late, I just...".
"No, no, that's fine Jack", Diana replied, seeming more impatient than bothered that he taken so long, "Just step inside... Great, goodnight Jack!". Jack didn't really get a chance to respond before his door was closed and locked, he shrugged to himself and sat down on his bed, pulling out the metal object to get a better look...
No joke... This was really it! Silver, slightly cracked glass on the face, mysteriously no longer working... this was it, it was Joe's watch!
So Joe really was real?... Jack couldn't believe it! That meant maybe not everything was a lie... didn't it? Jack couldn't wait to tell Joe but unfortunately for him, he would have to wait as Joe didn't choose to visit Jack's room that night.
The next morning (leaving day):
Jack had breakfast with the four others, talking to all of them, even if they didn't seem interested in talking to him. Jack made a special effort to talk to Noah, he wanted to explain to Noah that he was leaving, hoping that Noah would give at least some indication that he understood, but he didn't.
All too soon, breakfast was finished and Diana was beckoning Jack over to go to the locker room with her to get his belongings. Nodding to Diana, Jack turned Noah who, as always, didn't even look his way. Jack smiled slightly at the boy though, he'd spent a long time around Noah, he was gonna miss him- even if it 'didn't' work vice versa.
Carefully Jack placed his arms around Noah's still sitting form and hugged him, "I'll write and I'll, I'll try and visit sometime I promise, just don't forget about me yeah?". Jack stepped back from the unresponsive boy (He wished he had some kind of momento he could leave Noah with- but there wasn't anything) and nodded to him, "I'll see ya sometime soon huh Noah?", Jack gave Noah another small smile, before running over to go with Diana.
The staff began to clear the cafeteria and guide the patients to where they should go, as Noah was guided up and out of the cafeteria, his right hand twitched as if attempting to re-grasp something, he muttered quietly "Bye Jack...".
Jack followed Diana through a labrinyth of corridors, nearly at the locker room when he heard a very recognisable voice, "You forgot yer 'makeup'!". Jack glanced around, he could see Joe, but he had a pretty good idea where he would be, "Hey Diana, can I just go to the toilet... I gotta...". Diana nodded and Jack walked briskley back through the labrinyth to the toilets.
But there was no Joe to be seen... Exasperated, Jack stepped over to the wall with the crack in it (where he kept his eyeliner and sharperner). He collected them up and heard a noise, he swung around to see Joe standing a little distance from him, his arms folded and his face indifferent.
"Joe!", Jack exclaimed, "I'm glad I found you!". "Just say your goodbyes and go...", Joe muttered. "Your watch, I found it!", Jack said, ignoring Joe's bitter words, and pulling out the consealed watch to show Joe.
Joe's eyes instantly widened and he smiled slightly (forgetting his previous anger), "Huh, I'd almost forgotten what that looked like...", Joe reached out to grasp the watch from Jack's grasp, but his hand merely filtered straight through it.
Jack gave Joe a sad smile, but Joe shook his head and grinned, "Listen Jack, you take it, it's not like I could hold onto it anyway. Just try to figure out someway of using it to ID me if you can, maybe take it to my dad if can find him... but if you can't- well, at least one of us got out safe enough".
Jack and Joe awkwardly embraced each other and then found they couldn't let go, "You take care Jack!", Joe muttered. "Yeah...", Jack whispered, "You too".
"Jack!", came Diana's impatient voice, "It's time to go!". Jack and Joe both jumped away from each other as if the fire alarms had just gone off. They laughed at each other's suprise and Joe gave a more cheerful grin, "I'll walk with you to the exit".
Dressed in the clothes Jack had originally gone to the mental ward in, Jack realised he'd definetly grown, since his clothes were now no longer baggy and his favorite (though a tad small) black cloak no longer actually fit him and he'd had to put it in the white ward-supplied backpack which he was carrying on his back.
They walked to the exit doors, then waited while Diana found and used her card key (more easier to get in than out).
"Hey this isn't goodbye ya know?", Jack whispered so hopefully Diana wouldn't hear- she didn't. "Yeah," Joe muttered softly as he watched Jack walk to the (now open) exit door, "I know...".
Staying in step with Diana, Jack followed her through the big glass automatic doors.
He'd forgotten how bright a morning sun could be...
I don't think it's ever taken this long to create just one chapter, but anyways... hope you enjoyed it, and now some responses to reviewers (because I just simply like reponding, lol):
Question Sleep -Nakita: Lol, glad you enjoyed the story, plz continue to read and review!
foxlover101: You're glad I updated, I'm glad you reviewed... everyone's a winner, lol.
Randomnessgirl1: Your wish has been granted- another chapter! Lol...
Karmahitme66543: Glad for the review and would be thankfull for the cookies... if Jack hadn't just run off with them all instead! (redhead dot on the horizon laughs and eats all the cookies) Lol.
Light Ebony Dark Ivory: Lol, thnx didn't know my chapter was that scary though... (re-reads own chapter and runs out the room screaming).
Zayn noob: Lol, yeah, hearing analog clocks at night can be creepy, especially if the room doesn't actually contain an analog clock...
kisshufan4ever: You are awesome! I've never had one same person review that much, so thnx, hope you enjoyed the chapter and plz continue to read and review, lol.
Story Thief: I'm glad you enjoyed the story so much, and thnx for the review, as for whether the Xiaolin dragons find out about Jack... you'll just have to wait and see, lol.
Soul Sonata: Cool, thanks for the review, I'm gonna have to look into that whole 'Johnny the homicidal manic' thing, lol... So is that cartoon series or what?
Zarth-Krayt: Lol, I think Jack's gonna keeping getting in trouble, or trouble's gonna keep finding him anyways... plz keep readin and reviewin, lol.
Ritsuka189: I've finally updated! So I hope you enjoyed it, as you can see there'll probably be no need to clone any of the ward staff for further story use... 'probably', lol.
xxxemo-princess666xx: Glad you liked the history of the eyeliner lol, Diana didn't seem to take that part quite as well as Joe did...
