Tiffany walked up to the front door, having to take off from work early. She was not happy having to do this after receiving the distressing phone call from Audrey.
"Hey." she said, greeting the ex-party girl.
"Finally! It's about time you showed up."
"Audrey..." she said, not in the mood for her sass. "Just wait out here while I talk to him."
"Fine..." she said, taking a cigarette out. After what she had just witnessed, she needed a good smoke.
The blonde nurse went inside, seeing her boyfriend, still looking down at the floor.
"Babe, what were you thinking?"
"I don't belong here..." Justin said, mumbling to himself.
"Don't belong here? What are you even saying right now?"
Tiffany walked up to him, realizing that he seemed to be in some sort of trance. He was unresponsive, mumbling things that didn't make much sense.
"Hey." she said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Once he felt her touch him, he flinched.
"What the fuck?" he said, sounding a bit different.
"Babe, what is wrong with you? Why did you try to drown yourself in the bathtub?"
"What do you think?"
"What do I think? I think, you were trying to kill yourself again. I also think you might need to be committed." the blondie said, sounding overwhelmed with this.
Committed? We are committed!
"Look, just because Howard isn't here doesn't mean-"
"FUCK BECKMAN! Alright? That fucker's gonna double-cross me. The moment you get sick of having me around, you're gonna dump me for his fat ass."
"J-Justin... I wouldn't do that to you. Please, get a grip on yourself."
Tiffany was obviously hurt by his sudden shift in tone. He went from depressed, to sexual, to depressed again, to rather violent.
He got up, feeling vengeful for everything. His body language said it all.
"Justin, calm down."
"You don't know me, Tiffany Maye. None of you know me!"
Oh God... I didn't sign up for this! This is insane. My boyfriend's gone off the deep end.
"Please, settle down. What do you want from me?"
He sat back down, going back into his trance-like state. There was more to this man than anyone could've imagined.
I think I should talk to Audrey now...
Tiffany headed outside, seeing her friend still puffing on a cigarette.
"Okay, so I talked to him and... I'm at a loss." she said, looking down.
"Tiffany, I think you need to dump his scrawny ass."
"AUDREY!" the blonde nurse yelled, not wanting to even think about that.
She shook her head, thinking she was pretty clueless.
"Tiff, look at what he's been doing. He's attempted to off himself twice in the last month, he's been acting like a maniac. He's clearly lost his shit. I think you should get outta here while you still have a chance."
"Audrey, no. I am not doing that to him. I'll consider getting him into a psych ward, I'll consider getting him medications, but I will NEVER consider leaving him. I think there's something wrong with him that none of us even know about."
The ex-party girl looked at her, not knowing what else there could be, besides a severe mental disorder.
"What else do you think could possibly be wrong with him? It's pretty obvious he's just a psychopath."
"No." she stated. "I think there's something psychologically wrong with him. Something must've happened while he was in Greenseed. Howard mentioned something during our first therapy session. Something called 'MKUltra'?"
MKUltra? What the hell is even that?
"Tiffany, do you hear what you're saying right now? MKUltra? Come on, now! What the hell is that?"
"I don't know. But whatever it is, I think I should call Dr. Beckman and ask him about it. Maybe he'll know what to do."
Audrey shook her head once again. "Bestie, I'm telling you: he's a lost cause. Let it go."
"No." she replied. "He's not. Look, I'm gonna call Beckman and see what he thinks I should do. I'm not gonna have him committed, not yet at least. But if he says I should, then I will."
"Fine." the ex-party girl said, crossing her arms. "Still, he's clearly not stable enough for you. I think you should give him an ultimatum, at the very least."
"What kind of ultimatum?" she asked, not knowing what the decision would be.
"Well..." she said. "I think you should give him a choice: Either get committed to a psych ward, or you leave him. I really think he needs to be sent to an institution somewhere for a serious mental cleansing."
She nodded, understanding that would be a slightly better option. With the amount of stunts he's been pulling lately, he probably needs to be in a mental institution for a few weeks.
"I'll look into it." Tiffany said.
"Good. Well, I've gotta get going. Me and Nikki are planning on hanging out at Lusties later tonight, so we won't have time for this psycho shit."
"Cool. Have a good evening. And listen, I am VERY sorry you had to witness that. I never thought he'd go that far with attempting suicide."
"Y-Yeah." she replied, feeling a bit uneasy. "No problem. Just keep an eye on him, okay?"
Audrey left the front of Justin's house. The blonde nurse sighed, not knowing what to do.
Is she right? Is Justin really a lost cause? No... No, he's not. I've gotta call Beckman and see if he knows what to do. God, I wish he wasn't on vacation right now.
She brought out her phone and dialed the number.
"Hello?" an older English-sounding man's voice answered.
"Howard? It's Tiffany."
"Ah, Nurse Maye. What a surprise. How is everything?"
"sigh Not too good since you're not here to give Justin therapy sessions."
"Ah." he said. "I know, it's a shame. But trust me, this vacation will pay off when I return."
Huh? What does he mean by that? Whatever, that's not important right now.
"Right. But, I need some advice."
"Go on..." the doctor said.
"So, during our first session, you had mentioned something called MKUltra. What is that, exactly?"
"Ah, that's the question I've been waiting for you to ask. Well, Nurse Maye, MKUltra was a series of inhumane experiments run on disabled humans back in the 1950's. It mostly consisted of psychological torture, brainwashing, and many other disturbing tests which resulted in the invention of truth serum."
Woah, that's a mouthful. Why is he telling me all of this?
"Why did you mention it to Justin then? Do you think he might be a victim?"
"I don't think, Tiffany Maye. I know. MKUltra was ultimately shut down in the early 60's once the public made the gruesome discovery. However, it is also rumored that MKUltra continued underneath the CIA's noses. From what my resources have informed me, Greenseed was also established in the early 60's. I think your boyfriend may have been one of their victims behind closed doors."
Tiffany nodded, starting to get an understanding of this. With the trauma he had, combined with his current cyberbully situation, there wasn't any doubt that it took a destructive toll on his mind. Still, there was a lot of conflict happening and she didn't know how to handle it.
"Well, he's been pretty out of control lately, and since you're on vacation, he has no therapist to see. What do you think I should do?"
"Out of control? In what capacity?"
"Like, he had just tried to drown himself in our bathtub. Audrey had to pull him out. He sat on the couch and started mumbling to himself, like he's hypnotized or something."
"Hmm... That sounds less than ideal. I should tell Rick about this. But honestly, the best option for you as of now is to schedule an intervention with him. Invite some of his closest friends to come over and try to get to the bottom of his current rampage. There's obviously a bigger entity here that we may not be aware of."
"Really? Are you sure about that?" the blondie asked, feeling a bit hesitant scheduling an intervention with him.
"Sure? Not entirely, but I think that's the best thing you can do until I return."
"Okay, I guess I can do that. Thanks, Howard."
"No problem, Nurse Maye. I'll be back on November 1st. Come into my office that day ASAP."
"Hey, question. Where are you at for your vacation? And why is it lasting two months?"
"It's confidential, but trust me. The pieces will all start to fall into place before you know it."
That's pretty weird. But, I'll take his word for it.
They both hung up. Tiffany went back inside, seeing her boyfriend now looking at the TV.
Oh good, I think he's calmed down.
"Hey, babe? Can we talk for a moment?"
He turned his head.
"Are you talking to me?" he asked, not aware of what she was saying.
"Yeah. I just wanted to ask you something."
He shut off the TV, ready to have another conversation with the blonde girl he's been committed to for over nine months.
"Listen, I'm not mad about what just happened. But, I have to ask: What was going through your head? What made you wanna do that to yourself?"
He frowned, not entirely sure himself. "I think... I think in that moment, the only thing going through my head was freedom."
"Freedom?" she asked, not exactly sure what he meant.
"Yeah." he said. "Freedom. Freedom from this everlasting nightmare, my abyss of trauma, my fears, my insanity. I thought me drowning would set me free, give me more control."
She shook her head. "Babe, that's not how it works. You've been worrying me and everyone else as of late. Audrey told me that I should look into getting you committed."
"I am committed. I'm committed to you." he said, sounding a bit clueless as to what that actually meant.
She shook her head. "No, not like that. Getting you committed as in sending you to a psychiatric hospital, or even an asylum. And after what she told me, I'm definitely considering it."
Ugh, fuck. I don't need that shit. I've already dealt with enough whack-jobs in my life. No need to add to the body count.
"What good would that do?" he asked.
"It would clear your mind a bit, that's for sure. It would also give you a chance to stay off of social media. Since those Waffeslam guys started coming after you, you've been much more depressed. You even started drinking more, which you've never done excessively."
She has a point, I guess. But they keep coming at me. I can't just ignore them. Alcohol helps me cope with it.
"Since we're on the topic, can I ask YOU something?" he said.
"Of course, JD. Anything."
He shrugged, letting out a rather serious yet vague question.
"Would you accept me if I'm not who I say I am?"
She looked at him completely confused. This was a rather ominous question.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Like, if you see me as some kind of maniac, or you see me as someone that had a rough childhood, would you still accept me? Would you accept a freak of nature?"
She hugged him, knowing he was having some sort of identity crisis, on top of everything else.
"Babe, I'll love you no matter who you are. As long as he's still the sweet and caring guy I fell in love with, then that's all that matters."
He patted her on the back, feeling a bit uneasy.
She doesn't know me... And maybe that's a good thing.
"Let's just settle down for the night and forget this happened. I'll make you your favorite dish, we can watch a movie, or play a game or even cuddle. Whatever you want."
"We don't have to do that. No need to spoil me, alright? I'm a grown man."
She nodded, realizing that she may be going too easy on him. Then again, she didn't want him to feel any tension in their relationship. She loved him so much, but his actions have raised a lot of concern.
October was approaching, so no doubt Halloween would be exciting this year. That was one of his favorite holidays, which he unfortunately neglected to celebrate last year, as him and Aiko were busy with other life situations. Maybe now, he can find something fun to do.