Chapter Six
"Miss Tassel, I hope you finished before you fell asleep," came Jonathan's voice form next to me. I opened my eyes and picked my head up off the table from where I fell asleep. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before looking at him.
"I called you to tell I finished but you never answered so I was kind of stuck down here. There was nothing else to do beside take a nap," I said shrugging and running a hand through my hair.
"Very well, so you say you finished it?" he asked looking around on the table.
"Yep, but I don't know for sure because it needs to be tested, and I wasn't going to try on myself," I said taking the aerosol can that had the drug in it.
"No, of course not. I have a test subject," he said and we both left the basement and headed up to where the patients' rooms were. We came to a stop outside of one room.
"Aren't we going in?" I asked.
"I am, you're not. I don't know how he'll react when I give him the drug, and to be safe, and so that you don't sustain anymore injuries, you will remain out here," he ordered.
"Fair enough," I said, "and what happens if you get hurt?"
"There is a nurses' station at the end of this hallway go get someone there," he said and then walked into the cell. I watched as he greeted the patient who was sitting on his bed staring at the wall. They had a bit of a conversation and that is when I noticed that the patient didn't act insane at all. This was one of Carmine Falcone's thugs too. Rachel was always complaining about them and a doctor, that doctor must Jonathan Crane.
He sprayed the drug and almost immediately the patient started screaming in terror and rolling around on his bed before he fell off slamming his head on the hard floor. He continued to scream and tried to wipe something off of him. Crane watched for a bit before pulling out a sedative that knocked the man unconscious. He ran a hand through his hair and put the can into his briefcase before walking out.
"So?" he asked.
"Musophobia," I said as we started to walk away.
"Interesting. Well I think you did a good job," he said.
"Thanks. What time is it?" I asked as we walked back to his office.
"A little after seven," he said after checking the small watch on his left wrist.
"I should probably stop by my bakery, I don't trust the others to lock up," I said.
"Mind if I come with you. I usually leave now," he said holding his office door open for me to walk through and he followed after.
"If you want to, just don't forget your treat," I said as I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. He put away a few files and turned a light off before grabbing his brief case and the box that had the piece of pie in it.
"Ready?" I asked.
"After you," he said. I walked out of the office and he locked the door before walking beside me. We passed and receptionist and out the front doors. We remained silent all the way back to my bakery. It was still open since it closes at eight, and we both went in.
"Why aren't you at home?" asked the cashier who looked up when I entered. I ignored her and walked to the back with Jonathan following behind me. A few bakers were cleaning up for the day and just nodded to me as I came in.
"You can put your brief case over here," I said putting my bag down in a small cupboard area. He put his case down next to my bag.
"Does this need to be chilled?" he asked holding the box up with the pie I gave him.
"No, it needs to be eaten. You can sit right here and eat it while I clean up a bit," I said patting the stool that was in there and then walking out to the front of the store. They were just closing the store and sweeping up the floor. The bakers then came out and waved good-bye to me before leaving.
"Did you even go home?" asked the cashier bringing me the bag that kept the day's money in it.
"I went to Arkham, you be the judge if that is home or not," I said with a smile before looking at the day's total. It wasn't bad at all. She remained silent and wide-eyed. I then walked to the back and put the bag into my messenger bag securely. I then looked around the kitchen to see it very clean, except for Jonathan still sitting there eating his piece of pie.
"I'm going to head home now," said the cashier walking in and grabbing her jacket and purse. She took a long look at Jonathan before walking over to me. "Nice catch," she whispered.
"What do you mean? He's the director of Arkham, I can't be out without supervision," I said going along with my earlier story. She glanced at him and then rushed out. I laughed a bit.
"What was that about?" Jonathan asked, clearly just witnessing our scene.
"Oh, just a little fun with the staff. So how did you like it?" I asked indicating his now empty box.
"It was very good, and I appreciate the thought, even though you really didn't have to," he said throwing the box away.
"Good," I said, "I came up with this idea while I was working on the toxin of how to make it all the more powerful."
"Oh?" he asked curiously, "and what might that be?"
"If you somehow wore something that was scary so that whatever visions they see would centre around you and increase the fear."
"Interesting theory. And what do you suggest?" he asked now very intrigued.
"Well it would have to be something that you can remove easily and fit in you brief case or something, so a mask maybe," I said and that's when my eyes landed on the burlap sack that contained the apples I got from local farmers just outside the city.
"Yes it would," said Jonathan.
"I have the perfect idea, but I want it to be a surprise for you," I said turning to face him.
"Okay," he said after a while of thinking, "I trust you."
"Great," I said with a smirk. That night I did some research and worked on the mask. I had already drew up a design for my cake competition tomorrow so I was more than ready for that.
The next morning I had gotten a good five and half hours of sleep and I was at the studio prepping my kitchen with my assistant helping me. It wasn't the strawberry tart girl, it was Gabriel another very strong worker. He was good at applying fondant and I needed that now since I'd be working on my chocolate and sugar figures. You get more points with the more techniques you do.
The other classic stories being covered were the Exorcist, Poltergeist, and IT. They were all very strong competitors but I was confident.
"Competitors, get to baking," said the host. Gabriel immediately started rolling out fondant while I started cutting the cake. Our design was the horse and base being made out of cake. The figure of the headless horse man is made from modelling chocolate, as well as the character of Icabod. The trees were going to be made of chocolate, and the pumpkin head is made of sugar and has an LED light inside to make it light up. All of it was going to spin, so it was challenging but I'm keeping a level head.
Half way through the competition I on track, I only had a few chocolate issues, but so far everything was going according to plan.
"How is this horse?" asked Gabriel. I looked at it and it looked realistic and evil at the same time. As I walked back to the sugar and caught Jonathan in the crowd. He nodded to me and I nodded back before working with the sugar.
The contest ended and I finished just in time. I looked at the other pieces for the first time and saw that the Exorcist and IT cakes were the only ones in the same level as mine. We moved out cake with no problem at all and soon came judging. They liked it and said I represented the characters well. I had a few rough areas, but overall I did well and reached my goal. The results were always evil. Because it is a TV show so they had to stall a long time to say the winner, it was the unwritten law of reality TV.
"And the winner of the gold medal and 10,000 dollars is…" said the host, "Katrina Tassel!" I smiled and high-fived Gabriel. They put the medals around out necks and handed us the big check. I had a small TV interview about winning before Gabriel took the check back to the bakery. I felt a tap on my back and turned around and saw Jonathan standing there.
"Congratulations," he said handing me some flowers.
"Thank you," I said taking the flowers.
"It really was an amazing cake," he said glancing over at it.
"Isn't it?" I said looking at it, "well I have to head back to the bakery, but you can come with me if you want."
"Sure," he said. We somehow made our way outside of the studio and back to my bakery. When I walked in it was immediate chaos.
"Congratulations!" yelled my employees.
"Oh, wow, what were you going to do if I lost?" I asked setting my bag down on a chair. I noticed the chek hanging up on the wall already.
"Just enjoy the party," said the strawberry tart girl, "and I see you brought a date."
"Sure, everyone this is my neighbour Jonathan Crane, he was here yesterday," I said introducing him.
"About time you found someone," said Gabriel.
"He is my neighbour, not my boyfriend," I said grabbing a piece of cake and handing one to Jonathan.
"Well enjoy the party," said the cashier as music was started.
"I wonder what your customers are thinking," said Jonathan.
"Who cares," I said with a shrug.