Fire.

There was fire all around me. Everywhere I looked.

Furious heat scalded my skin and black smoke filled my lungs.

I couldn't breathe.

I started to run, but my legs felt heavy.

Left. Right. Straight ahead. There was no way out…

The flames ate me alive.

I opened my eyes.

…That was only a nightmare, but it felt so real.

A layer of sticky cold sweat had covered my body and I was certain I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, so I decided to get up.

17 days have passed since my arrival at the asylum.

This experience has been nothing like my normal life, sometimes I even forget that I'd eventually have to return to my boring routine...

I washed up and got dressed, but since I had woken up early, there was still a lot of free time left before my second session with Jeff.

I made myself comfortable in the bed and thought about what happened yesterday.

Once Jeff had been dragged away by the nurses, Mr Owen began praising me.

He jokingly commented that perhaps it should've been me tied to the chair instead and that Jeff has never expressed such strong opinions on people before.

He said our discussion had gone really well, but I disagreed.

I had gotten too emotional and acted like an immature brat. I screamed and cried and tried to force my opinions on him.

I was supposed to be there to help him...and yet I didn't even try to understand his point of view. How could I possibly expect him to accept mine then?

It was selfish. I was selfish.

In the end, all my actions did was prove him right.

Ha!

I bet if he hadn't been bound to that chair, I would've been as quiet as a mouse...or dead.

How frustrating!

I had gotten so angry and embarrassed that I even considered refusing any further discussions, but fortunately I told Mr Owen that I'd do it, only as long as Jeff agrees to it too. To my surprise, that same evening Mr Owen informed me that Jeff had in fact agreed to see me again.

This time things would be different though.

I will not let him get under my skin!

3 hours later.

I sat in the discussion room fiddling with my pen.

Jeff would be arriving any minute and I had no idea how our exchange would turn out, but I had devised a small plan to try and get information out of him.

I heard noise outside the room.

The door opened and he appeared.

I quickly rose from the chair and greeted the nurses who'd brought him. Just like before, they strapped him to the chair and then left the room.

I was ready.

He sat in front of me, simply staring at me with a smile on his face, though I doubt it was a happy smile...

I noticed how wide his shoulders were.

He was quite a bit older than me too and yet here I was, a mere student who thinks she has any right to scream at an adult man and tell him what's right and wrong.

I didn't even have any qualifications for this…but I had to at least give it a try.

''Before we begin, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I had no right to act the way I did, however you are obviously not stupid so you must understand why others would get upset over what you said. Tell me, do you enjoy being here? Was hurting people worth it?'' I got straight to the point.

I will no longer avoid the deep questions , that is the reason I'm here after all.

''Are you fucking serious?'' his voice resembled a growl.

He lifted his head up and grinned down at me ''you know…I met a girl once. A pathetic little goody-two shoes who thought the world was all rainbows and butterflies. I hated her and yet, I have to admit even she looked beautiful with her face split open.''

''She's a human being! You're insane!''

''And you're pointing out the obviouusss~'' he chuckled.

''So you are saying you don't regret what you've done then'' I stated rather than asked.

''Oooh~ we've got a bloody genius over here!'' he laughed.

This was funny to him!

He was finding this humorous!

I felt sick.

I decided it was time to try out my plan.

I placed the notepad down on the table and leaned in closer.

''Ok…obviously I don't share your fascination, so will you tell me in detail what it is that you find so enjoyable about hurting others? I simply can't understand it'' I asked in all seriousness.

It was a horrible question, but one that I needed to find an answer to.

I needed to understand his thoughts, not mine.

''. . .'' Jeff appeared to be considering my words until I heard a knock.

I leaned back and glared at the door...not that I felt interrupted or anything…¬_¬

Mr Owen's head peeked through a gap.

''OC, could I borrow you for a moment?'' he beckoned me over.

I politely excused myself and left the room.

He closed the door behind me.

''Is something wrong?'' I asked.

''No, not at all. We just noticed you weren't following the steps provided. Patients like Jeff are very sensitive and easily get out of control, are you sure you know what you're doing?'' he asked and I felt slightly insulted.

''Well…last time, when I asked him pre-set questions, I gave him an opening to take control of the conversation. I thought asking him something that he can't twist his way out of might be better, but if it doesn't work out I'll get back to the original questions'' I explained.

Mr Owen nodded with a smile on his face.

''I understand. You will make a fine psychologist one day'' he complimented and then ushered me back into the room.

I clumsily took a seat.

His compliment had left me feeling extremely embarrassed.

''Your face looks stupid'' I heard Jeff comment, but I ignored it and got back to the topic at hand.

''Will you answer my question now?''

''You wanted to know why I enjoy killing people? …It's because I just do. I love seeing their repulsive faces twist in fear. I love the feeling I get when I plunge my fucking knife into their throat...colour red is my favourite after all!'' he spoke and gave a low sinister laugh.

He meant every single word…

I quickly grabbed for the notepad.

Mr Owen was right! I can't handle conversations like these just yet.

It scared me... . .

I located the question I'd stopped at previously.

Step 5 – Ask him/her….what their favourite colour is.

It's red…next.

Step 6 – Ask what their favourite smell is.

I imagined it'd be something like 'the smell of fear' or 'the smell of blood in the morning' either way...I had a bad feeling about this one. Neeext!

Step 7 – Ask him/her if they prefer sweet or sugary food.

WHAT?

I skimmed through the rest of the questions until I found one that caught my attention.

Step 23 – Ask if he/she has ever been in a romantic relationship.

I ogled at the question.

They actually ask stuff like this!?

I couldn't deny, I was curious...but perhaps it's a bit too early for questions like these?

I looked up at Jeff who was silently watching me.

His eyes were unsettling...almost as if they could see right through me.

I glanced down at the stitches on his cheeks.

I wonder what he looked like without them...

Anyway!

We were getting nowhere by just staring at each other and time was running out, so I decided I'd just go for it.

''H-have y-you e-ever-*COUGH*'' I full-on stammered.

Thankfully I somewhat covered my fail with a smooth cough.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Finding out about his past relationships is vital, it's not like I'm asking him on a date or anything!

I managed to recollect myself and tried again ''have you ever been in…in….in a…'' this was turning out to be much harder than it was supposed to be ''...in a relationship?'' I finally managed to squeeze the words out.

''Depends on what is meant by relationship...'' he replied with a sly smirk.

''I mean, have you ever shared romantic feelings with someone else. Cared about their safety and well-being?''

He started laughing.

''I have little interest in stupid shit like that. Why should I care about worthless bags of flesh when I can CUT THEM UP INSTEAD!?''

I kind of expected to hear that…

''So you've never loved anyone? What do you associate with the word 'love' anyway?'' I pressed on.

The smile on his lips faded for a moment and he looked me straight in the eyes.

''Lies.''

. . .

For some reason...

My heart skipped a beat.

. . .