Chapter 10.
Jessica's Point of view.
I finally got home after the long shopping trip. I had so many things I needed to buy Michael but I was happy to do that for him. It must have been over fifteen years since he had gotten anything. So I brought him some things that he would like. The list included three new overalls, which were blue of course, razor blades, toothbrush, a new knife, some men's body wash and some other things he would need. I also brought some black T-shirts and boxers but I also found boxers that had cat pictures on them and I couldn't help but buy them for him. A little smile widens on my face at the thought that he would see all the things that I brought for him. I also got some groceries so I wouldn't have to leave the house for a while . I got some candy for him because he seems to like sweet things.
I walk over to the front door and open it, taking the first bags inside. The first thing I hear was screaming and I feel my heart sink. I quickly put the bags down and run to the living room to see what the hell he was doing. I stop at the doorway and see that Michael was watching some horror film and I sigh out in relief. He turns his head to look at me when I put my hand over my chest. I let out a little giggle when the adrenaline wears off and Michael tilts his head as he was still looking at me. "I thought something happened." I say to him as I walk back to get the bags. "Would you be sweet and empty the bags for me please." I say to him as I put the bags on the kitchen counter. I hear him huff but he still gets up. I give him a little smile and go to get the rest of the bags from the car. When I get back with the rest of the stuff, I lock the door behind me and walk to the kitchen. When I get there I can see that Michael has just emptied the bags by pouring everything from there on the counter and the floor beneath it. He was looking at the mess but turned to look at me when he noticed that I had appeared in the kitchen. "I didn't mean like that!" I say to him and walk over to the mess. Thank goodness there wasn't anything broken by his rough handling. "Why would you do something like this?" I ask him but he just looks at me without doing anything. I huff at him and start picking up the things that he has dropped. When I was leaning down to get something from the floor and then he suddenly takes a hold of my neck and, I yelp from the pain as he pushes me to the counter. "Michael! what the hell?!" I yell at him, getting more anxious by the minute as he keeps holding me down. He tilts his head side to side and brushes some hair away from my face. I look into his blue eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He leans towards me and I feel the masks lips on my temple and after that, he lets go of me. He takes a step back and huffs out loudly. I get up and turn to look at him as he makes his way back to the living room. I look after him feeling a little dumbfounded. Was that some sort of power play? I quietly start putting the groceries away, feeling confused. I was scared because I didn't know what he was thinking and if he truly wanted to hurt me after all. I put the final groceries away and turn to look at the chocolate that I brought for him. I take a deep breath in and take it in my hands. I walk back to the living room and see that he was already looking back at the TV. Timmy was sitting at the window, looking outside probably at the birds. I look at Michael but he seems to be comfortable on the couch. He must know that I wasn't a threat to him. He knows that I would never hurt him that bad. I walk over and stop next to him but he doesn't even look at me. "Michael. I got you some chocolate." I say to him and his eyes slowly turn to look at me. I offer him the chocolate but he just looks at it for a while. He take it from me and rolls the mask away from his mouth. He starts to eat it while I sit on the couch next to him. The horror movie was still on and his attention was on that, making me feel a little relieved. I really wanted to speak with him but the fact he is mute now is difficult. I don't know if he knows or even remembers how to write. He was so young when he went to that hospital. My thought were interrupted when I hear a faint chuckle from him. I turn to look at him and see that he had a little smile on his lips. I feel a little happier not that I know that he still has some other emotions in him so I know that the old Michael was still in there somewhere deep down. I feel a little smile force it's way onto my lips at the thought that maybe he could be freed from the voices he hears, I really wanted to help him, but until then I'm going to make sure that he would be safe here. "Do you like it?" I ask him and he gives me a little nod. "I'm glad! I brought you some other treats too, but you shouldn't eat them all at once so you have some for later too." I say to him but he just looks at the TV. I felt somewhat normal with him right now. I didn't even miss my sister that much when I was with him, he was giving me emotional support without even knowing it. "I brought you some new clothes too. They are in the back that is still on the kitchen counter." I didn't get a reaction from him but I know that he heard me.
I try to get up from the couch but he put his hand on my shoulder and keeps me in place. I look at him but his hold tightens around my shoulder. "Fine, I'll stay here." I say to him, wishing that he would let go of my shoulder. The hold was starting to hurt and I was afraid that he would leave a mark on me. If my parents saw that there was some bruising on my body they would drag me back to their home faster than I could ever imagine. He rubs my shoulder and then lets go of me, his hand returning to his side. I look at my shoulder and see that there was some bruising forming on it. "You can't leave bruises on me. My parents will freak." He turns to look at me and takes his knife. I look at him horrified when he brings the knife to my throat and keeps it there. I could feel my heart slam against my ribcage. I don't know what he was thinking but it was getting scarier by the minute. "Michael, please. Stop." I say to him, trying to get him to snap out of it. He tilts his head as he gently presses the blade to my neck. I close my eyes, not wanting to see what he was going to do to me. I feel the knife leave my neck but I stay still for a while. I slowly open my eyes to see that he was watching the TV again, the mask covering his face completely. I look at him for a while, not knowing what I should do. I just sit there awkwardly not knowing if I should try to leave again. He was sitting still, without a care in the world. I look around my own living room, trying to find something to take my mind off of his scary impulses. I know he can't help it but it was scary. Suddenly he gets up and walks to the kitchen. I look after him but then turn to look at Timmy who was still sitting at the window. He was facing me now, looking at me with wide eyes. When he notices that I finally saw him staring at me, he runs over to me and jumps on my lap and lays down. I start to pet his back gently, letting the soft fur run against my skin. "Hi baby. Have you been nice?" I ask him, making him meow as a response. I give his head a little kiss and he starts to purr happily. "I love you." I say to him as he meows again. I suddenly feel the feeling of being watched and I turn to look in the kitchen. I could see that Michael was watching me silently while he was trying to hide behind the doorway. I shake my head with a little smile and turn away from him. I don't know what was going on inside of his head right now but it's best to leave him be. I pet Timmy's head while looking at the TV and try to get rid of the feeling of being watched. I jump when the phone starts ringing. I walk to Michael. "Take that off." I say to him and walk over to the bag that has new overalls inside. I pick one up and turn back around to see that he was watching me with his tilted to the side. I point at the blood stains on the fabric. "I'm going to wash that one. I got you new ones so you can change into a new clean one." I say to him and hand him the overalls. He looks at it for a while and then takes it. He starts to take off his outfit but I quickly stop him. "you don't need to undress here! You can go to the bathroom." I say to him as I feel my cheeks burn. He stops and the he leaves to go to the bathroom and I let out a deep sigh. I don't know what kind of routine he had at the hospital but I guess he could have a new one here. I just hope that he doesn't go all crazy about his routine changing but maybe he is just enjoying his newfound freedom. I wait for a while and then hear the bathroom door open and I nervously wait for him to come back. I just hope that the new clothes fit him. I brought the same size but you never know. He come back into view, wearing the new pair. I smile at him as I look at him. He was all clean and didn't look so scary. "You look clean. Are they a good fit?" He looks at me for a while and then slowly nods. I smile at him and nod. "That's good! I'll go and get the dirty one. You should look through the bag where your new clothes are." I say to him and walk past him to the bathroom. He had just left the dirty overalls on the floor so I just pick it up. It smelled like him but there was also a strong odour of death and blood. I turn my head away from it, feeling a little disgusted. How was he able to wear this thing without throwing up? I take it to the laundry room and throw it into a washing machine. I put detergent in the machine that smelled like vanilla. I turn the machine on and turn around to see Michael looking at me. I almost jump at that but then watch him a little annoyed. "If you keep sneaking up on me all the time, I'm going to put a bell on you." I say to him and try to squeeze past him but he stops me again by putting his hand on my shoulder. I look up at him as he points at the machine. I lift my other brow in confusion. "They will be clean a little later." He just looks at the machine for a while but then he started to push me back towards the living room. He pushes me on to the couch roughly, making me lay on it on my side. I look up at him a little angrily. "What." I ask him but he huffs angrily at me. I don't know why he was angry at me or why he was acting like this now. "Your clothes will be fine." I say to him but when I look into his eyes, they were lifeless again. I feel fear form in my gut again. His breathing sounded like it was laboured, like he couldn't breath at all. He suddenly seemed to be much scarier than before. "Michael." I whisper to him, trying to snap him out of it. He tilts his head to the side at my voice. I sit up straight as his dull eyes watch me closely. My heart was pounding against my ribcage. "It's okay Michael." I whisper to him. His head tilts to the other side at my words. I cant keep eye contact with his lifeless eyes any more. I turn to look at Timmy who was watching us from the window but he didn't seem worried. Suddenly I feel strong arms wrap themselves around my arms and push me on my back on the couch. I scream from the surprise as he gets on top of me, making it hard for me to breath. I push against his shoulder, trying to push him off when I feel the masks lips on my neck and I hear his breathing louder now. I can hear Timmy hiss from the window but I couldn't see him. I feel tears run down my cheeks as I try to push him off. I don't know what the voices were telling him but I don't think it's anything good. His other hand leaves my shoulder and takes a hold of my throat. He starts squeezing it, cutting off my air completely. I start to gasp for air as he lifts his gaze to look at me. I put my hands on his wrists again, trying to get him to let go. My other hand pushes against his stomach but then I feel the knife next to me. I feel my vision turn darker from the lack of air and I don't know if he is really going to kill me now. The look in his eyes was the same as before so he doesn't give me any other choice. I take his knife and with the last energy that I have I use to stab him in his abdomen. His eyes widen and he lets go of my throat, making me gasp for air. He turns his eyes to look at the knife that was now sticking out from his stomach. I feel warm liquid travel down my arm and I turn my head to look at the knife. I could see that his blood was covering my arm and I feel panic rise in me. I scream as he gets up but then he falls down on the floor. I get up from the couch to look at him horrified. "Michael!" I say to him with a little hoarse voice while he was laying on his back. I get on my knees next to him and look at the knife. Should I take it out?! I put my hand on his neck to see if he was still alive. I feel his heartbeat o my fingertips and I sigh out in relief. His blood was covering my arm and some of his blood was on my shirt. "Michael. Please wake up." I whisper to him. I don't know why I didn't leave or call for help but I couldn't do that to him. I look at the knife, taking a hold of the handle. I pull it out from his stomach and see that he wasn't bleeding as much as I thought he was. I press my hand over his wound to keep his bleeding as minimal as I could. He suddenly sits up without any trouble. I look up into his eyes to see that they were looking normal again. I smile and throw my arms around him. "Thank. God you are alive!" I say to him and feel a little smile force it's way across my lips. He just sat there, probably a little confused. "You scared me! I thought you were doing to kill me so I had to stab you!" I say to him as o squeeze him harder. I hear that his breathing was normal again. I let go of him and look at him. He looked to be a little confused and I see that his outfit had blood on it again but I don't care. I was happy that he was alive and acting somewhat normal. I know that he will have episodes in the future and I have to find a way for us both to be safe. I get up from the floor and quickly walk to the bathroom to get the first aid kit. I walk back to him and open his overalls. He looks at me without doing anything as I roll his T-shirt up to look at his wound. It was still bleeding but not as much any more. He didn't look like he was going to die, so there may not be too much internal damage. "I'll stitch this wound up. Just stay still." I say to him as I start to stitch his wound. He doesn't even flinch when the needle pierces his pale skin. His hand suddenly touches my neck gently and he gives it a little rub. I feel the burning pain on my neck as he rubbed it. I finish stitching him and look at my handy work. It seemed to be good enough and I turn my gaze to look at him. He was looking at my neck and I put my hand on his. His gaze turns to look at my eyes as I rub his hand. "It's okay Michael. I'm not angry." I whisper to him as he turns his eyes back to look at my neck.
I walk over to the bathroom where I look at my reflection in the mirror. I see that there were red bruises on my neck. I look at them with a little huff. I could wear a scarf to hide them. No one would suspect anything if I wear them at this time of year. I walk back to the living room only to see that Michael was still sitting on the floor but his shirt was rolled back down, his overalls were still open. His eyes were glued on the knife that was right next to him. I walk over to him and offer him my hand. "Come on. Let's get you up on the couch so you can rest there." he looks at my hand for a moment but then he takes it. I help him get up and help him to the couch. He just sits down and I pick the knife up off the floor. I give it to him and he takes it, putting it on his lap. "I'm really sorry that I stabbed you." I say to him as I sit next to him. Thank goodness I brought couch covers, so if they caught any more stain, they wouldn't be on the cushions. I look up at Michael but he looked to be thinking about something. "Listen, I'm not mad at you, I know that you can't help it but you need to resist them the best you can." I say to him and lift my hand on his shoulder. I knew that he was extra work but I didn't expect these kinds of episodes. He was mentally ill but he was still my friend. I give his shoulder a little rub as he still kept his eyes on the knife. Was he regretting that he attacked me or was he thinking that I hurt him? I get up from the couch and turn on the TV for him. Maybe looking for a show for him may cheer him up. I get a blanket that was resting in the armchair. I put it around his shoulders when he seems to be still in thought. "I'll make some hot coco. Would you like to have some too?" I ask him and he gives me a little nod. I smile at him and walk to the kitchen. I was glad that he wanted something hot to drink. Thankfully I have some whipped cream so I could give him a little sweeter drink. I look at Timmy who was now sitting by the kitchen table. His fur was a little puffed but that maybe because he got scared from my scream. He was looking outside to see all the people walking up and down the street. I walk up to him and give his head a little rub. When did he leave the living room? I walk over to the fridge and start making the drinks. I hope that this would cheer Michael up a little.