16 days since his last treatment and he still felt a haze over his mind, though it was clearing with each rising thought and idea. His body had emaciated so far that almost ever bone holding it together poked out, begging for food. His ribs expanded against the thin shirt, making their deep valleys in his white skin. His white-blonde hair had grown past his jaw and was matted and curled in a mess that made him look even more haphazard.

I need books. They won't give me books. The man of god says my knowledge is unholy and my books should be burned. Don't they see?! They know nothing, they cling to the one book that will continue to give them nothing! The Bible was created to keep man stupid. Hahaha! That robed fool says that he is praying for me, that he will ask his god to free me from this bondage of insanity. He knows nothing! The only bondage I'm in is these chains!

"They know nothing!"

Infuriated, he shook the chains violently, pulling at them. They wailed and rattled, but didn't give way. He screamed then, hoarsely and exasperated. Surely this must be hell. A place where control his had over what they don't understand.

"I am a genius!"

His voice shook, screaming at no one. He punched at the air, ignoring the pain it caused his wrists. The chains clattered and squeeked tight, the slack being tugged away. He didn't honestly believe he'd brake them, but it was the only thing he could do. Did they expect him to stay obedient forever?

"Benjamin!"

He started, looking up. His eyes widened, and he gasped.

"Marie? Marie?!"

His sister stood outside of his cell, accompanied by a nurse and two guards. She had grown prettier since the last time he had seen her, which was at his trial. Her dark blonde hair was tied up into a neat braid, and she wore a green dress that fit the new styles coming in with the new century. Marie had, like Benjamin, been blessed with never-ending knowledge and brain so quick it frightened most. She hid it well though, and instead of killing 56 people like Benjamin had, she smiled and nodded her way through medical school and became one of the first female doctors. She, of course, already had the capacity for the occupation by the age of 10. She also, unlike Ben, knew that intelligence scared people. She said only what she must, and hid the rest of her knowledge away, bringing it back out only in a situation where it was absolutely necessary. Ben had flaunted it, publicly equating dense mathmatical problems in his mind like a machine. It amazed people; it scared people.

And when Benjamin performed murders so complex, each subliminally linked to the next; when there were just enough clues to lead a frustrated Homes to the next crime scene; when at victim 56 he sat calmly at the scene, giving himself up explaining that his only motive was "ridding the world of the hopelessly dumb", there was nothing to do but label him insane. He was 16 at the time. Now after a year and a half in the asylum, now of all times, Marie chose to visit him.