Caged, Chapter 8: Threats

-Shi-

"So, how are you feeling today, Shi?" an overly polite woman asked. The pink of her two-piece suit reminded me of Pepto Bismal and the way-too-cheerful smile she wore nearly drove me insane; it was no wonder the people in here were crazy. Her name tag read: Mrs. Penelope.

I turned my eyes downward and toyed with a loose thread on the hem of my snow white Meadow Brook blouse. "I'm not crazy,"

"I never said you were," Mrs. Penelope replied calmly, her deep blue eyes searching my face. In order to maintain my sanity - or what was left of it - I trained myself to remain stoic and as emotionless as I possibly could, which was surprisingly easy. I took a breath and remained impassive. "but, you wouldn't be here if there wasn't something wrong."

"Actually, I would," I corrected her. I locked my jaw as Sasuke crept into my mind for the millionth time in the past forty-eight hours. He went so far as to arrange this whole thing just to get me out of his family's lives. Bastard. "I'm only here because my friend's brother hates me."

Mrs. Penelope's thin lips curled up into a fraction of a smirk and I knew I'd given her just what she'd been waiting for; I let my composure slip for half a second and she was latching on. "Or maybe he's worried about you,"

"Are you kidding?" I howled with laughter. "He wanted me out so badly, he called you guys and told them I wanted to kill myself. Does that sound like worry to you?"

"Do you want to kill yourself?"

"No!" I nearly screamed in her face. I'd already let my emotions slip through, so why not cut loose? "If I wanted to, I'd be dead already!"

"Then why do you cut yourself?"

I paused for a second, taken aback by her directness. "Because I get sad a lot," I sighed finally, shoving my emotions back and allowing myself to fall back into my impassive façade. "I can stop any time I want," I added impulsively, the words leaving my mouth before I could process them.

Mrs. Penelope raised a bleached brow at me and reached into the top drawer of her desk, placing a pair of scissors in front of me. She was silent for a minute before she spoke. "Tell me that you don't want to cut right now, then."

"What?"

"Look at those nice, sharp blades and tell me that you don't want to dig them into your arms. Only then will I believe that you can stop." she challenged, leaning back in her chair as if she knew I couldn't.

I narrowed my eyes at her and reluctantly turned my gaze to the scissors. My eyes traveled along the sleek handles and lingered on the bolt that held the blades together, hesitant to move to the blades themselves. I swallowed around the lump in my throat and forced myself to look at the sharp twin blades. An overwhelming sense of longing washed over me like a tidal wave, tempting me to snatch the scissors up and allow them to tear into my skin. I swallowed hard again and tore my eyes from the blades and focused on the ugly carpeting. "This is stupid,"

Mrs. Penelope sighed and replaced the scissors in her desk. "You may go."

After my less-than productive counseling session, I wandered aimlessly down the pure white halls of Meadow Brook despite the strict house rule of having an escort with you at all times. I passed the 'solitary enjoyment' rooms, which were essentially small cells with a Plexiglas front wall so the occupants could be monitored easily. A girl about my age occupied one of them and had her back to me while she concentrated on the canvas she was painting. Blues, violets, reds, oranges, and whites swirled together to form a vivid image of Meadow Brook burning to the ground with a starry night as the backdrop. I immediately stopped in my tracks and was drawn in by the morbid painting.

I walked up to the glass and watched as her brush moved gracefully across the canvas, marrying the colors in the most beautiful way. Itachi automatically came to mind accompanied by the memory of him painting for me, the amazing way he manipulates the paint to create something beautiful was being mimicked by this girl. My trance was broken suddenly when the girl's hand froze and she was staring at me over her shoulder. Her vivid, emerald irises pierced me like knives; she did not appreciate my company. I smiled sheepishly and hurried down the hall until the Plexiglas rooms were out of sight. Even though I was a good distance away from her, I couldn't shake the feeling that that girl was somehow watching me.

…

-Sasuke-

"No way in hell," I protested firmly. "There's no way I'm going there."

"Yes, you are," Itachi insisted, his tone deathly serious. The look in his eyes was chilling and almost scared me - almost. "You got her into this mess and now, you're getting her out."

"And what are you going to do?" I spat hotly. "You can't expect me to do everything."

"I'll be organizing the get away once you two are out," he said as if to prove to me that he'd be doing something productive.

"And how am I supposed to tell you that we got out?"

"You'll figure something out," was all he said before he turned to retreat to his room. "And Sasuke," he cast me a dark glare. "if anything happens to her, I will kill you."

"I'm sure you will," I rolled my eyes despite the chill that danced up my spine.

"So am I,"

…

"Ma'am! Ma'am!" Itachi yelled frantically to the woman at the front desk of Meadow Brook. His clothes were ripped and smeared with what looked like blood. "Ma'am, please help me!"

I stood outside of the building and peered in through the small windows in the front doors, waiting for Itachi to give me my cue to burst in and try to kill him. As I watched his surprisingly convincing performance, I seriously debated bailing out on our plan. This stupid girl meant virtually nothing to me, and here I am trying to break her out of an insane asylum that I put her in; what am I doing here? Just as I decided to make a run for it, Itachi pointed at the doors, giving me my cue. I sighed and mustered up all the fury and hate I could manage before I tore the doors open and plunged inside. There was no turning back now.

The inside of Meadow Brook was so bright and cheery, I honestly felt like vomiting. The counselors and staff were even worse with their fake smiles and cheesy quotes that were supposed to be uplifting, but really made you want to make a noose out of your bed sheets. The boys and girls had no contact at all, so I had to wait until recreation hour after lunch, which was the only time boys and girls could associate with each other. It was harder than I thought it'd be to find Shi considering nearly every girl here had black hair and was sickly pale, but she didn't waste any time finding me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed, glancing around so no one could hear us. The expression she wore was divided between shock, confusion, and anger. Right now, she focused on anger. "Haven't you done enough?"

"Apparently not since Itachi wants me to do even more," I retorted sourly.

She shifted to confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Itachi wants me to pretend to be crazy so I can help you break out," I explained as quietly as I could; curious eyes were already turning our way.

Then came the shock. "You're here to break me out?"

I sighed and nodded. "Now that we've established the obvious, can we move on?"

"To what?"

"Planning our escape."