Author's Note (Monster): Hi guys! I am working damn hard on this fic and will continue to do so but my updates will most likely slow down a bit so I can refine some of the chapters. I've written up until chapter 20. Enjoy.
Previously on American Tragedy;
Danny worked out a thorough argument for cancelling planned experiments on Da Kurlzz and wonders why so much has changed since his internship last decade. He finds out the 4C prison was sold to Book Technologies 7 years ago.
Danny shifted in this seat.
Nothing.
Silence.
He swallowed and felt like it made the most noise in the world. "I saw Charlie Scene yesterday."
"Charlie", he croaked in response. It was the first word he had spoken since Danny had entered the cell. Johnny 3 Tears was not what he expected him to be. He had expected a monstrous human to taunt him, bully him and to drive him crazy but instead, he had found a tall, broad man with a '3' tattooed in his neck and a blue mask covering his face. The mask held the same '3' and a butterfly pattern. Danny wondered if the number '3' held a significant meaning to him.
He wouldn't know, of course, because his file was completely lost in the fire.
"Charlie", Danny repeated. "Or does he go by Jordon for you?"
Johnny rolled his eyes behind the mask. "That name ain't dick so keep it out of your mouth. No need for full names or real names. Just Charlie."
Danny was taken aback by the snarky remark and gave a shaky nod. It would be easier if he could catch onto Johnny's expressions but the mask revealed nothing. "Charlie told me to ask you about his crime. Said you tell the story a lot better than he does."
It was unnerving Danny couldn't see any facial expressions at all. He didn't even know what Johnny's face looked like, but his body language spoke volumes. Johnny folded his arms more tightly around himself in his position leaning against the wall while he sat on his bed. He was back to giving Danny the silent treatment.
Danny tried his best to keep a sigh in his throat. "Do I only get a response from you if I'm wrong about Charlie?"
Another eye roll. Danny could start keeping score of the eye rolls on a sheet and he would fill an entire page with it. Johnny's unresponsive behaviour was the opposite of what Danny had expected from a man who carried the name of the 'most difficult patient to deal with'. Danny kept an eye out at all times for possible modifications but it was hard to spot any at this rate.
Maybe Charlie was the master mind behind the reputation of the duo? Danny had dealt with quiet patients before so this was nothing new. Though given Johnny's situation, it was new because Johnny did not want to ease the struggles of his mind. He did not come to doctor Murillo willingly. "Do you have anything you want to say? If not, I'll come back next week."
Johnny lifted his head. "It was nice to meet you, doctor, watch your back when you walk these corridors."
Danny didn't know what that was supposed to mean but he wasn't going to let it get to him so he gave the patient a nod before he got up. "Until next time, Johnny 3 Tears."
"Just Johnny", Johnny muttered.
"Just Johnny", Danny repeated. He walked out of the cell to ms. Wilma. She looked up at him, said nothing but held a plush object in her hands. Danny had noticed the young lady had tried to explain it was for comfort. Tried, because her understanding of the English language was a lot better than her speaking. Danny followed her to the door to the stairs. She opened the door and Danny paused. He glanced back at the cells. Wilma said nothing but waited patiently. She didn't understand what Danny was waiting for, but neither did Danny. He just… He was waiting for something.
"Charlie?"
There it was.
"What's up?"
Johnny held a moment of silence before he spoke. "You told Murillo to ask about your crime."
"Snitch", Charlie huffed. "Yeah?"
Danny pursed his lips. He felt anxious to know what was coming next. Johnny sighed. "What else did you talk about?"
"Nothing important", Charlie hushed him. Neither of the two appeared in the cell window to look at each other for this conversation. They freely spoke across cells. It was a strange interaction to witness. Danny could hear Charlie's smile: "I scared him a little, I think. You?"
"Nothing at all", Johnny mused. "I wanted to observe him first. Get a grip on his personality."
"And?"
"AH! Good afternoon, ms. Wilma, doctor Murillo!"
Danny nearly jumped out of his skin when Theil snuck up behind him on the stairs while Wilma still held the door open. Danny could've smacked himself for letting Theil blow his cover. It was too late to hush him now. The subjects heard the doctor was still there and now he'd never know the answer to Charlie's question. The hallway of the fifth floor was quiet again. No more talking between them.
Danny nodded at Theil. "Hello, Martin."
There was a sound of shuffling that made Danny look over his shoulder at the fifth floor. Charlie's sunglasses and bandana appeared in the window of his cell. He grabbed the bars and cocked his head. "Hello, doctor, listening in, are we?"
Danny didn't say anything so Charlie chuckled. "Oh don't worry, I'll hear your thoughts later when I see Funny Man."
God fucking damn it, Charlie. Is it too late to ask Funny Man to keep his mouth shut? Danny thought to himself.
He excused himself with Theil and Wilma and walked downstairs to head back to his office. He bumped into Diamond when he opened the door to the second floor.
"Oh! Sorry!" She called out when she bounced back and she looked up. "Oh, hey Danny. Haven't seen you all day. How are things going?"
"They're going", Danny awkwardly smiled. "I mean… You know what they're like."
"Yeah", she turned serious. "How was Johnny?"
"Well, he didn't say much."
"He never does", she shook her head. "Aside from snide remarks, he likes to analyse us instead. What about the rest of the subjects?"
"I saw Trickster and Ignited Imposter aside from the five. They're different."
Different – read; cooperative.
"Good", she said but Danny noticed she shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Trickster. "But how are you dealing with it?"
"Not", Danny chuckled. "I'm going back to my office. It's been an exhausting week."
"It'll get better", she promised before Danny walked past her to head to his office. He sat down and had a look at his documents.
Johnny is everything to me.
…
That name ain't dick so keep it out of your mouth
Danny knitted his eyebrows together tightly. There was definitely a lot to unpack with those two. There was an obvious barrier between the two of them and the outer world. The unapproachable duo, the modified pair that liked to mess with the doctor and then there was Da Kurlzz, who resented him for his job. Oh and Da Kurlzz really wanted to eat him. Great.
And of course, Funny Man was most likely listening in on all of these thoughts. Danny checked the clock. It was 4pm. On a Friday.
Yeah, he was out of there.
Danny packed his bag and looked into the file drawer. Maybe he should take home some files to see if he could learn something from doctor Michaels' old notes. Some weekend preparations to make sure he wouldn't look like a fool in front of them anymore.
Stop caring what you look like to them. You are their psychiatrist, not their friend.
He shrugged and took several files before locking up and leaving his office to cross the second floor and head downstairs to the ground floor.
Olivia was sitting at her desk when Danny entered. "Hi doctor Murillo."
"Hi Olivia. Call me Danny", Danny called out before he entered the locker room downstairs to stuff his lab coat into locker #3. He put the files into his backpack, put on his jacket and walked back upstairs to the ground floor.
He was about to leave when he heard Olivia. "Uh, Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"You need to register all files leaving the premise. Since they contain confidential information of the 4C and all. We need to be able to trace back our information to keep employees from selling information about the test subjects to the media. Our department is already under fire."
Danny blinked. "Oh. I never even thought of it like that. Of course, where do I register them?"
He walked closer to the counter. Olivia shoved a sheet of paper towards him under the glass window. It stated the test subject's number and the reason for it leaving the building. Danny filled in the numbers quickly; 5, 40, 80 and 99. As a reason, he drew a line and wrote "familiarising with the patients' files" for them all. He handed the sheet with the pen back to Olivia. She gave it a onceover. "Lots of work this weekend, huh?"
"I wanna be prepared for next week", Danny assured her. She gave a satisfied nod. "Good idea. Have a nice weekend, Danny."
"You, too", he called out before he left the building and returned to the normal world.
Please Review, they're our heavy fuel! TEST SUBJECTS SUBMISSIONS HAVE RE-OPENED.
OC's featured;
Alfie Wilma by Alias
Martin Theil by HUShipper
Airia Diamond by AiriaMurillo
Trickster (mentioned) by Danneh
Ignited Imposter (mentioned) by (unknown, lost the submission message)
Olivia by Monstro (me)
Subject 5 (Miss Jackson, mentioned) by Danny's roommate
Subject 40 (Doctor Madness, mentioned) by HatefulRaptorLovesTOP
Subject 80 (Putricide, mentioned) by Kelkel12
If you wanna add an OC. Please provide the following;
name:
age (must be 18+):
gender:
Occupation:
- Test Subject: as a test subject, your OC committed an unspeakable crime that you may specify (optional), sentenced to death – or worse, test subject. Since the subject undergoes experiments on a daily basis, they may be disfigured, mutilated or modified to your choosing.
- doctor: There are 3 types of doctors needed in this story; infirmary (treats injured/modified subjects and inmates), test tinker (designs and carries out the experiments performed on the subjects) or psychiatry department (regularly evaluates the mental health of the subjects)
- warden: As a warden, your OC keeps an eye on everyone and everything. They are to keep the doctors safe when a doctor enters the cell, walks the hallway, the courtyard etc.
- special force: The special forces are the snipers surrounding the towers of the courtyard, the heavily armed people to break apart riots and separate fights between inmates, subjects or both.
- inmate: inmates are the preys of test subjects. The Subjects envy their potential freedom once they get out since the Subjects are sentenced for a lifetime. Subjects give the inmates HELL.
(optional) anything you wanna add (personality, appearance, ...):
Thanks again for all the OC's currently present in this story (30! Okay fine, 4 of them are mine)