In this chapter, the Warden's in denial about his father's ghost, his father's ghost says some nasty stuff about him, and Val meets the Doctor. Need I say more?

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Chapter Five: Gorey Drawing

The Warden was completely silent. He blinked a few times as though trying to comprehend what was going on, and then took on a scowl. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Um, as far as I can tell, your father came back from the dead for some reason," Val said, glancing over at the specter.

"That's impossible – can't happen," the Warden tried to rationalize.

"Well, he's right in front of you."

"It does sort of… look like him," Jared said.

"No, no; I don't know what that is, but it's not him."

"Huh, maybe you'd like to take over, Warden senior," Val recommended.

The ghost nodded to her, giving his son a very cold look. "You sicken me."

"Haha, yeah, me too," Val added with a laugh.

"For some insane reason I thought you would actually do a halfway decent job when you took over this prison, but in life I amazingly failed to realize that you are not only an incredibly cruel excuse for a human being, but also that your level of intelligence rivals that of a lemming. You make a Special Education student look like a super-scientist."

Val couldn't help but laugh hysterically at this.

"Of course, I take responsibility for being so blind that I didn't realize these things in life, but I must say I am appalled. I thought that I raised you better than that, but evidently I ended up with a brainless executioner. Given your overall performance thus far, you should be called 'Spongebob the oafish dictator'."

At this point, Val was laughing so hard that she was doubled over, holding her sides.

"I've come back because, not only do I find you to be a horrific, insufferable creature that I can't bear to call human, but you also have no respect for anyone or anything – least of which, me. In life, I may not have been one to take revenge, but in death, I have nothing left to lose."

The Warden, obviously still not coming to terms with the reality he was now facing, settled for some Nightmare on Elmstreet logic. "Nope, you're not real and I don't believe in you. And if I don't believe in you, you can't hurt me."

"In all honesty, I can't directly harm anyone – but I can manipulate other things to do it for me," the ghost explained with a little less eloquence.

The Warden stood up, giving his father an irritated glare. "Come on, Jared, we're going to take Val to the Doctor now." He completely ignored the ghost as he put an arm around Val and led her forcibly towards the door.

"The literal definition of denial," Val observed, looking over her shoulder to the Warden Sr., "A pleasure to serve you, my liege. If you need anything else, I'll happily help."

He tipped an invisible hat to her, and as they entered the corridor, his haunting voice echoed after them. "Do not think this is over just because you walk away."

In the hall, the Warden's mood seemed to improve immensely, though turning to Val, he took on a somber tone. "I want you to stay away from that thing."

"You mean your father? Why?"

"That thing," he emphasized on a very sour note, "May pose a threat."

"Yeah, to you. He doesn't have a problem with me."

"Val," he stretched out her name, "Just do as I say. Please, for me?"

She just stared at him with an indifferent expression, and he smiled.

"Good girl," the Warden said and she rolled her eyes. "Now, where is Alice?"

"Do we really need her? Being examined by a doctor with you two in the room is creepy enough."

"You're right – we should bring Jailbot, too!"

Val ran a hand down her face, "Can this get any more messed up?"

It didn't take long for them to track down Alice and Jailbot, who were investigating an odd scene where it appeared that ten inmates killed each other – except that theory didn't add up since they all were disemboweled in a fashion resembling an attack by a carnivorous animal. Of course, none of them really cared, except Val, who couldn't bring herself to even glance at the carnage.

"Alice, Jailbot, would you join us? We're taking Val to see the Doctor."

"Why? She seems fine to me," Alice replied, and Val nodded.

"That's exactly what I told him."

"She might have internal injuries," the Warden said in the motherly tone he'd donned earlier.

"Please, someone, kill me now," Val grumbled.

"Gladly," Alice said, and Val inched away from her.

The Warden laughed. "Oh, you two. Okay, off we go!"

A moment later…

Val could not put into words exactly how disturbing the Doctor's office was when they entered. But, looking at the strange and even more stress-inducing version of a place that she found scary to begin with, there was one thing she could think to say…

"Well, I believe we've just stumbled upon the birthplace of all medical malpractice throughout history…" When the Doctor came in, Val immediately turned to leave. "I'm gone."

"Val," the Warden said soothingly, turning her back around, "You don't have to be afraid. The Doctor is a highly trained professional."

"I seriously, seriously doubt that."

"Ah, so you're the new girl. What can I do for you today?" the Doctor asked, giving Val an eerie smile.

"Val here got into a fight. I'd like you to examine her and make sure she's okay."

"With pleasure."

Val shuddered.

"Come over here, Miss, and take a seat on this table."

She reluctantly did just that, trying to ignore the bloodstains all over the place.

"Can I ask you to undress?"

"No fucking way in hell, you perv! I don't care if you are a doctor!"

"Okay, okay, no need for hostility," he said, looking over the obvious wounds to her face and arms.

"Hm, no serious injuries as far as I can tell. Any pain anywhere?"

"No."

"Any nausea, dizziness or discomfort of any sort?"

"No. If I had any complaints, I would have said something by now."

"You're certainly a ray of sunshine," he said, checking quickly for loss of motor skills. "Okay, let's try a word association test."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like it," he explained. "Dark."

"Light."

"Cloud."

"Soft."

"Mountain."

"Dew."

"Fraud."

"You."

The Doctor gave her a less than pleased frown. "Idiot."

"Him." She pointed to the Warden.

"Hideous."

"Your mother."

"Guess I set myself up for that one," the Doctor said, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, "Okay, enough of that. Draw the first thing that comes to mind."

She did a quick sketch and held it up – a drawing of the Warden, dead, with an axe stuck in his head.

"Gorey," the Doctor said with interest.

The Warden seemed to find it amusing, turning to his colleagues with a grin. "She's such a card!"

"And can be crushed just as easily," Alice added.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with her, except her bad attitude," the Doctor said and Val became indignant.

"If you were stuck in a place you hated, wouldn't you have a bad attitude too, douchebag?"

"See what I mean?" he said, pulling the Warden aside. "Has she been causing any problems lately?"

"Yes, actually," the Warden replied, "She tried to run away twice, but we luckily caught her in the act before she got very far."

"Classic acting out," the Doctor said thoughtfully.

"What should we do about it?" the Warden asked, the tenor of his voice suggesting he was worried it would happen again.

"Hm," the doctor thought, "Well, you could always do something to make her feel a little more at home, spend some time together to strengthen your bond as coworkers, like going fishing, or something."

"Ha, I've got it! We'll go on an employee fishing trip!" the Warden said happily, and the Doctor gave him a blank look.

"I just suggested that." He shook his head. "Anyway, that or you could always hand her over to me and I'll make her not want to try escaping again," he suggested evilly.

"No, that's alright – I think my plan is just the ticket!" He cheerfully rounded up his coworkers. "We're going fishing!"

"Fishing?" Jared sounded nervous.

"How the hell did we go from doctor visit to fishing?" Val questioned, then giving the Doctor a dirty look as she hopped off the table and went to follow the group out. "I worked in the healthcare field and I know you type – try studying up on the Nuremberg Code, will you?"

He watched them depart, and then commented to himself, "What a bitch."

Out of nowhere, there was a sound like a Gregorian chant and one of the light fixtures fell out of the ceiling and landed on his head.

"Damn it! What the hell was that about?"

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Lol, I love the way the Warden's father describes him – horrible, yet strangely satisfying. That Gregorian chant thing at the end is part of what he does, for the record – it doesn't come up much until… well, whenever I get around to writing about it.

The idea of that many people watching someone get examined is kind of creepy – especially when the "Doctor" is a Godless butcher with no ethics. I kinda like the way he sort of acts like a psychologist there, though – and the word association thing lol.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!