Page 16 of Straightjacket

I hear the wobble in her voice, but that fire that lives inside her overthrows it. “You sick... fucking cunt,” she barks. “I’ll kill you for this, I’ll peel your skin away from your bones. You have no idea who you’re fucking with.”

Thorne simply laughs at her threat but there’s truth in every single word. The woman I love is a deadly weapon, a force to be reckoned with and she knows it. We both know it, and I think deep down, Thorne knows it too. He’s captured an animal that isn’t meant to be chained down, and her bite is vicious.

Stepping over the spew that coats the floor, I slip out my phone and send a quick message to the guards stationed outside to tranquilise both Silas and Iris, then move them to the cells.

As soon as I send the message, both rooms are swarmed and they waste no time in sedating my patients, even my boy doesn’t put up a fight. Iris on the other hand, well, she clearly isn’t taking her treatment well and the more she continues to fight me, the more I want to wring her fragile neck but without her, Silas isn’t malleable.

It would be incredibly easy for me to get rid of her, remove her from existence but she’s a vital piece. She’ll help me break Silas completely, without even knowing she had a part in it.

You see, love is a weakness. It doesn’t belong in a place like this because it makes you soft. You quickly become an easy target.

The Silent Killer failed the moment he fell in love, and I simply can’t have that. I won’t allow him to become soft. It isn’t in his nature. He’s a killer, and I expect him to thrive in that subject.

“Clean this mess up.” I order to one of the medical staff before leaving the room and striding down the hallway towards my office. My shoes click against the polished floor and the ceiling lights above flicker on as I move swiftly down the hallway. Once I reach my office, I push open the heavy door and round the desk before slumping into the chair. Exhaustion sits heavy on my shoulders, like the weight of a train, and I lift my glasses to run my hands down my face, blowing out a heavy breath into my palms. Tingles continue to spread across my legs from the aftermath of my orgasm, and I can still feel the phantom sensations of Silas's mouth wrapped around me.

I think that’s one of the things that I miss the most about him, he always knew how to please me just right and don’t get me wrong, in his absence I’ve tried with other patients, but they’re nothing like him. He’s my special one, the one that got away from me but now he’s home, exactly where he should be. I just need to make sure that he stays this time.

Fixing my glasses, I quickly log onto the computer system and head over to the CCTV cameras that cover the entirety of the building, each one flickering to life, showing every sector. The lower tier patients, those who require minimal assistance roam the secured hallways, mumbling incoherent nonsense to one another– a concoction of sedatives keeping them docile. They probably have no idea what day it is, where they are or even their names anymore.

Once you arrive at Salem Penitentiary, there’s a very low chance you’ll make it out of here alive, the other option is in a body bag.

My job is to help these people, to make their sad and pathetic lives better than they were before and I believe that no one else can do that better than me. This has been my profession for years, it’s engrained into my bones, to be the cure for the mentally insane. The dream started after my mother fell ill.

“Dad? What’s wrong with momma?”

Sweat clings to my momma’s forehead from the blazing Summer heat, the sheets on her bed tangled around her legs from writhing around. I want to look away, and I know that I should, but what if I can help her?

Immediately my dad pulls me away from her bedroom door. “Don’t ever go in there, boy! She’s dangerous, that ain’t your momma anymore.” He grabs my shoulders firmly, his fingers digging in deep.

Tears begin to form in my eyes. “What... what do you mean? She’s right there.” I try to turn my head to show him, but he grabs my jaw tightly, pulling my head away.

“She’s different now, Peter.” He sighs, and I can see how tired he is from the big dark circles under his eyes. “That woman in there isn’t the same as before, something... has changed.”

A million questions bounce around in my head, and I start to fumble with my dirty t-shirt, stretching the small hole at the bottom until an idea springs to mind.

“What if she needs a doctor, a special one? Maybe that could make momma better!” I say with a bright smile, but it’s quickly shunned away when my dad cracks his hand across my cheek, leaving a stinging pain behind. Instantly I lift my hand to soothe my cheek.

“Don’t be so stupid! That woman is beyond help. No doctor in a twenty-mile radius is gonna touch her, believe me, she’s better off here with us.”

“But–” I try to help again.

My dad cuts me off by shoving a finger into my face, his eyes full of anger. “No buts! I shouldn’t have to tell you again. Now go and finish your chores, we ain’t talking bout’ this anymore.”

Gripping my cheek, I run away from my dad and up to my bedroom where I crawl under the bed and cry. I cry and cry until I begin to feel tired.

“I’m gonna fix you momma, I promise.” I whisper to myself before falling asleep.

The moment I open my eyes, I’m met with darkness covering my bedroom, the shadows forcing me to crawl out from underneath the bed. My cheek still stings from where my dad hit me, but it isn’t as bad as before.

Maybe I should check on momma?

The house is quiet as I sneak out of my bedroom and tiptoe down the hall until I reach the top of the stairs. Leaning over the old banister rail, I try to listen for any noise but there’s nothing except for faint snoring which means my dad fell asleep downstairs again.

He’s been doing that more recently lately, ever since momma got worse, he sleeps on a chair in the living room, so I use that as my opportunity to silently walk down the stairs, careful of where I put my feet to avoid any noise. Once I reach the bottom step, I look over into the living room to find my dad with a beer can in his hand, snoring soundly.

Now’s my chance because whenever dad is awake, I have to stay away from momma. He thinks she’s dangerous, but she’s just sick, that’s all.

Creeping across the living room, I head straight towards momma’s makeshift bedroom and slowly push the door open. A crack in the curtain allows the moonlight to shine through.