A Test of Minds

[BLACK BART]

It seemed it was a scene out of a horror movie. Lightning flickered over the tree tops of the rain drenched forest, followed by thunder that cracked with a roar, threatening to split the eardrums of the three men in the van, and making two of them jerk when it broke overhead.

“God Damn” The burlier of the two guards barked and flinched, then gazed into the mirror and at the chained man behind them, silently wondering if the prisoner had any nerves at all.

A sigh of relief escaped both uniformed men as the sign loomed in the darkness, the words mutely announcing the presence of the Gresham Psychiatric Institute a scant half mile ahead.

“Is it true you killed a woman with your bare hands?” The same guard now asked, reassured by the promise of unloading their burden in a short time and being able to return to the relative comfort of the maximum security prison, his curiosity overcoming his better judgment.

No answer came though a gag wasn’t part of the restraints the prisoner wore, only a glare from the blue eyes that made both guards shiver, and then a feral grin. Silence filled the cab of the panel van and the two men squirmed despite being the ones not wearing the wrist and ankle cuffs, then thankfull for the screech of the brakes cut thru the uncomfortable quiet as it slowed.

The man sat still as the padlocks were removed from the floor of the panel and his bonds, then slid from the vehicle as the guards drew their weapons and stood back and motioned for him to move.

The heavy doors of the Institute slid smoothly open and a single man emerged, the solid, concrete girth of the massive building dwarfing the small group of men below.

“Welcome to Purgatory.” The unseen face of the lone man grunted at the prisoner as he signed the papers and the relieved guards sidled away. “We’ve been waiting for you, ALL of us.”

The lightning flashed and lit the faces of the two men and the looks might have surprised someone if they had been present. But they weren’t. The delivering guards were a mile away and the rest of the Institute’s staff and patients waited inside the remote facility.

Raymond Grisham, convicted rapist and attempted murderer had arrived at the Institute, to face the physicians and see if he was fit for execution, his arrival setting into motion a sequence of events that would affect the men and women inside the massive facility to the end of their days.

 

[Destiny]

Raven Trevain

Having started at the institute some several years ago, Raven found she enjoyed her time at the hospital. Her services were not that high in demand and as long as she kept the doctor on schedule and with ever-thing thing required then she wouldn't have to worry about her job.

Standing at 5'8" she was slimly built and had long raven's wing black hair that was mostly wore in a tight ponytail no hair out of place and thick black rimmed glasses that his her face for the most part. The lens were the only thing thin and no one ever seemed to notice that they weren't really needed at all. Her skin was a soft peaches and cream complexion and her cheeks were thin with full pink lips that were constantly being chewed when she was concentrating.

Currently at her desk she was bent over the accounts and documents required for the newest inmate being delivered tonight. She was privy to his information as well as the doctor was. She cataloged all the patients for the doctor and had read the police report on the man. She had shivered when she had received the document. If he were truly insane he was a dangerous man.

The thunder cracked outside the institute and Raven jumped and then looked at her watch. Her stomach began to growl and she realized she had missed dinner. Moving to her feet she slid her hands along her neck and arched her back thrusting her breasts against the silk white blouse she wore beneath the overcoat. moving around the desk she stepped out of the office and began the long trek down to the hospital kitchen. The cook there often made her plate knowing her penchant for not keeping the hours of the normal folk and usually set it in the vault refrigerator.

Moving along the corridor, Raven reflected back along this solitude existence she had chosen and was deep in thought when she arrived in the now dark kitchen.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ray

The corridor echoed with our footsteps as we moved down it, the bleak, white faced walls and floor all blending into a never ending tunnel into the facility.

Neither of us spoke. Neither had to, myself knowing the drill as well as the man that walked beside me, the cameras overhead following us as we approached and passed. Chains rattled, my feet dragged, the gate ahead slid smoothly open with a whir then closed with a solid, definite clunk.

Another form of prison, I decided, one in which I would be prodded, poked and tested. Tested to see if I were insane...or not.

I chuckled at the irony of it all as we moved out of the long hall and into a smaller, chain mailed area.

"The walls and gate are electrified, enough power to render you unconscious, so..." The man next to me warned and I cut him off gruffly, playing it out for the camera that winked at us from the corner.

"Yeah, yeah, Don't TOUCH"

He chuckled and left me, the gate closing with another solid clunk, his promise to be nearby if needed still in my ears as I heard another set of lighter footsteps approaching.

"Who works this late in hell except the cons and guards?" I quipped, turning towards the sound of the approaching footsteps and squinting to see in the dark.

 

[Destiny]

Raven

She had finished the light meal that had been left for her in the kitchen and moved slowly through the corridors. The area she was heading through housed the more dangerous of the criminal minds that they had to deal with and she paused near the desk now devoid of nurse only the guard there and he was busy watching TV. There really wasn't too much to do at the stations. The inmates were in for the night and the only monitor was an occasional walk through of a guard here and there. Raven liked this time of night the best.

She nodded to the guard there at the desk and she smiled,"Hello Jim, nice to see yo again. How are the wife and kids?"

Jim nodded to the young woman and handed her the paperwork for the newest inmate,"They are great Miss Trevain. Here is the new inmates records and all the doctor reports. Hell of a night to have such a creature delivered to the hospital. Think John and I will head to the bunkhouse now and start out in the morning."

Raven nodded and smiled and stood at the desk as the guard walked away. She was in plain view of the cell holding Jim Grisham and didn't even seem perturbed by him there in the dark still in his straight jacket and chains. She began to go over the accounts and frowned slightly and then looked up and straight at the man behind the white bars.

Her gray eyes pierced the dark and the bit of light that was available almost made them seem to glow as she continued to stare into the dark cell. She was no longer wearing her lab coat and was now in just the short black skirt her legs were encased in a pair of off black stockings and her black pumps. Her silk blouse was loose fitting and not really revealing more then was necessary to show she was a very attractive woman, if she would let her hair down and take off those glasses.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ray

The rustle of soft fabric, the whiff of....perfume? A woman?

Then the soft sound of paper being moved. A female clerk, no...female but not just a clerk, it was a feeling, call it intuition...

"So what does the file tell you about me?" I called out, curious to see if she would answer, if my hunches were correct, and just what kind of person was looking me over. Five years ago it would have bothered me and did, to be the animal under scrutiny...to be the one regarded as less than human, to be judged unfairly...

But now I was used to it. Prison does that and more to you, thickens the skin so to speak, and narrows the list of necessities down to a minimum.

"Am I a number, a monster, or both?"

 

[Lady_Kit]

Dr. Phil

Phillipa Roberta Dreveau, named for her paternal Grandfather, and known to friends and colleagues as Dr. Phil stands 6’ tall in her bare feet, but often adds three inch heels to increase her already imposing presence. Her white blonde hair is kept cropped short and tends to stand in ragged spikes due to a habit of brushing her hand against her scalp when she is deep in thought. Deep blue eyes look at the world with little compassion or little love for her fellow man.

Born to moderate wealth; she was the unwanted child of a mother who after producing an heir lost interest parenting, and a father who longed for a son. She learned early on that if she wanted any attention she would have to be the son her father wanted. Until she was 12 he forgot she was a girl, then puberty struck and the illusion was shattered for them both.

She was banished to a private school where she didn’t fit in with the other “young ladies” so she buried herself in her studies and hoped that academic achievement would allow her to regain her fathers love. She found some comfort in sports where she was able to vent her frequent bursts of rage at her father and the mistake of gender that had cursed her with a “birth defect” that, as the years passed, made her look less like the son her father desired and more like a Victoria’s Secret model.

Finding consolation in academia she pursued advanced degrees in psychology. Through merit, and other means, she gained notoriety as one of the top clinical psychologists in the country; then a random killer gunned down her father. The event dramatically changed her life, and prompted her to begin the single-minded study of the criminal mind. Ultimately she became the leading and highest qualified Doctor of Criminal Psychology in the northern hemisphere.

As she sits at her desk in the directors office of the Gresham Psychiatric Institute thoughts of her past are far from her mind. Phil is not one to willingly dwell on the past, and keeps a quantity of FDA approved drugs on hand should the past attempt to intrude on the present. Drugs will not be needed tonight though; her new patient is absorbing enough to force all other thoughts from her mind.

A glance at the platinum Rolex on her left wrist reveals that the hour is getting late. The new patient should have arrived by now. She picks up a thick folder, the documented history of Raymond Grisham, the newest inmate of the Institute, and carries it to the desk of her assistant Raven. Phil frowns when she finds Ravens desk unoccupied. Dropping off the folder and a note to set up charts and appropriate files she leaves the administrative wing for the intake cells.

 

[Rhovan]

Gregory Palance

Gregory sat at his desk, his fingers drumming softly on the table top. He was watching a van approach a building, it was an utterly stark, white van.

But Gregory knew who was inside. Gregory knew quite a lot really. He stood from his desk and stretched his arms out, then he did a couple toe touches since he had been sitting for the better part of two hours.

He hated watching the monitors, but he learned so damned much there. He turned and grabbed a white jacket. It wasn't a lab coat, but it had the hospital's insignia emblazened on it so that everyone knew who he represented. The jacket was pulled over a black sweater. A sweater with a small name badge pinned to it that read 'Greg.' A sweater that most woman would find gay on a man. But not Gregory. Granted, he wasn't tall, topping the chart at around 5' 8" tall, but he was strong. A little power house. He had to be strong, he was the head of security and he didn't take the job lightly.

He exited the control booth, and listened to the satisfying click of the door locking shut behind himself. He reached down and into his pocket, pulling out a ring of keys. Most of the doors between himself and the front door are currently unlocked, but there was at least two that needed his key. The door out of the private hallway, which led to all the offices and his control booth at the end, and the key to the front door.

He walked swiftly to the door to the private hallway, passing through without looking at the keys. None of them were marked anyhow, he knew them in his heart. He shut the door, listening to it re-latch as he headed to the front door.

"Nice night," he commented nearly silently to himself as he went to the front door. He opened the front door, and stepped outside.

“Welcome to Purgatory. We’ve been waiting for you, ALL of us.”
He quickly signed the papers and sent the two guards off. They were grinning, and he knew their thoughts. Such a small man to handle such a crazy murderer? Yes.

The blast of lightning let him see the other man's face, and he grinned. He made a hand motion and walked inside, watching the man shuffle in after him. If Gregory had any cause to fear, he still wouldn't worry about the man. Gregory was well aware of what he could do in a fight. Once the man was in, Gregory flicked the key and the door slid shut.

He led the man along, knowing how his delicate, and complex system of cameras watching everything. He whistled softly, a small tuneless tone, just to keep from being annoyed by the steps of Gregory's boots and the other man's slippered feet on the floor.

Gregory moved towards the prisoner area, he waved a hand at the guard in the sealed station, who waved back and buzzed them in. The door slid open silently, but clanged loudly at the end of the track. That was how much power was in the door, due to the heavy weight of the steel.

"The walls and gate are electrified, enough power to render you unconscious, so..."

"Yeah, yeah, Don't TOUCH"

"But feel free to try...everyone does eventually. Just make sure you fall clear, cause otherwise it'll cook ya," he chuckled. He knew the man would find the humor just that, humorous.

He walked out, as the gate to the prisoner's cell shut, and charged. Then the door to the hallway slid shut with a clang. Gregory waved at the guard and then moved on. He spotted Raven as he walked by, but he kept silent. He didn't need anything from her right now, he had to speak to Dr. Phil.

New patient, and she wanted some information, he was sure. He stood in the hall, near the private hallway where she would undoubtibly exit from. He leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets as his muscles moved under the jacket.

He liked Dr. Phil. She wasn't afraid of him, and she was tall. He wondered silently what it would be like to climb her northern front when she exits the hallway of the Administrative wing and towards the inmates.

"Evening Dr. Phil...how is your night going?" He said with a smile.

 

[Destiny]

his voice wasn't demonic, it was actually quite pleasant to listen to. Then why did it send chills down her spine. she shook her head slightly and then lifted it at that angle you do when you are trying to show you aren't scared. When you don't want anyone to see that you might actually be feeling something and she turned to face the cell full on.

"Mr Grisham, you are a man, yes a man that is on trial for his life. The things you will discuss with the doctors will say if you are sane or not. number you are not, or are you a monster. You are a patient at this facility and you will be treated as such. If you are sane enough to speak and act in a civilized manner then you are civilized to be treated as such."

She spoke with more bravado then she was feeling and slid a hand into her pocket as she spoke and then turned back around and replaced the entrance papers there and retained the file. Beginning to move away she paused and turned once more toward the cell the man was encased in and smiled slightly and inclined her head,"I hope you will have a pleasant stay here Mr. Grisham."

She moved off down the hall and headed back to the office that was hers and she would finish up the paper work for the night and have the folder completed in the morning and on Dr. Phil's desk in before the Doctor arrived. She had just been waiting on the prelim forms.

 

[Lady_Kit]

Dr. Phil

Good evening, Gregory. It’s been quiet, so far. Has the new inmate arrived?

Phil knew that he had, otherwise the compact chief of security wouldn’t be standing here in the hallway.

“All tucked in for the night, Doc.”

In heels tonight, she stood several inches taller than Gregory, but oddly enough the difference in height didn’t seem so evident with him. It was a phenomenon that had puzzled her since the first time they’d met. He never seemed to be looking up at her, and she’d never caught his eyes on her chest either. She just added it to the long list things that she found curious about him.

She smiled at him, not a big smile, it wouldn’t do to show any kind of favoritism to the staff, especially to someone new. He was appealing though, he was respectful without being obsequious, polite, without sounding stilted, and competent. All in all, he made her think of a very well trained attack dog, the only question was; who was holding the chain?

Phil passed the spot where he leaned against the wall and he fell into step beside her.

So, what do you know about Mr. Grisham?

He’d know that she was asking for the details that the files she’d been sent didn’t contain. The little bits of information that men like Gregory seemed to gather so easily. Its what made them valuable; and dangerous.

 

[Rhovan]

Gregory Palance

Good evening, Gregory. It’s been quiet, so far. Has the new inmate arrived?

“All tucked in for the night, Doc. Though he might be throwing himself against the bars later, what with his reputation and all.."

He walked behind Dr. Phil, she towered over him. By at least a head and a half. And less than half of that was heels. That never bothered Gregory. He had face many large people in his time, it seemed they were ever ready to pick on the littler man.

Sure, Gregory was short. But he had been known to kick someone's ass just as soon as look at them too. The ever present hint of a smug smile on his face as he fell into step with Dr. Phil when she passed him. He liked her smile, though he could tell it was little more than perfunctory.

As he walked he shrugged his way out of the near formless jacket and down to the tight sweater. He still didn't know much of anything about the females he worked with, and he was a little surprised that nearly all of the docters were female. Gregory hung the jacket on a peg near a guard station as they approached the more dangerous sections of the hospital.

So, what do you know about Mr. Grisham?

He moved ahead of Dr. Phil to unlock the door, sliding it open, letting her through, then following her and shutting it behind them, listening to the click of the engaging lock.

"Well, I know that he is violent, nearly every chance he gets. It's not directed really, he seems to be violent for the sake of violence. Though he was docile as a little lamb on his way in here." Gregory said.

It wouldn't do that he led the prisoner in by himself and unarmed. It wouldn't do to explain the connection he and the prisoner had.
It wouldn't do to let the staff know exactly how well Gregory knew the security system.

"They say he killed a woman with his bare hands...I doubt it from this one, probably more hype, though I don't want you having unsupervised visits with him, until we know how stable is her."

Gregory loved that bit of his job. The security of the facility and the safety of the staff and prisoners nearly over rode every other person's authority here. He only lost power if he was fired, but he was good enough that that never happened.

 

[Destiny]

Having been about to step through the door to head out of the main containment part of the facility, Raven paused as she heard Dr. Phill speaking to someone. She recognized Gregory's voice almost immediately. If anyone needed to be locked up he did. He was too smug and she always got the creeps when he was around her as if he had seen her naked or caught her doing something else.

She paused and waited for the two of them to approach as they spoke and waited to be noticed before saying anything. She was more or less a piece of furniture to most the people in the hospital, she liked it that way. Her coat was slung over one arm and the files she had been waiting for were in her hands along with the clip board.

Her eyes tracked the pair as they continued down the hall toward her and her mind drifted a bit as she thought of the doctor Phil she had met a few years ago, oh Raven had been younger then carefree and happy. The Doctor had seemed beautiful and aloof everything the young teenager had wanted to be. She had worshiped the doctor until that fateful night so long ago. But now she was more or less unrecognizable as that gangly teenager the doctor had met oh so many years ago. She blinked as she realized she was being spoken to by Dr. Phil and she jumped,"Oh yes the file will be on your desk in the morning Doctor."

 

[BLACK BART]

,"I hope you will have a pleasant stay here Mr. Grisham."

It was ironic as the woman swayed away, her heels clicking on the polished tile and her shoulders held stiff and bravely.

If I were judged sane I my sentence of death would be carried out immediately. If insane? I would spend the rest of my life in a facility just like this...

I laughed then, the deep timbre of my voice rolling off the walls and down the hall after her, making her speed her walk up just for a second, then slow as if to show me she wasn't...afraid.

It made for an interesting retreat, the skirt pulling tight over taut buttockds, the muscles of her legs making the nylons move with her as she walked away.

Almost all feared what I was supposed to be, in the maximum security center there were those that had tried to prove they didn't.

I shrugged, then turned and stretched out on the simple bunk supplied, closing my eyes but not sleeping.

I had time. Time to add a third variable to the equation of life or death that this Institute was to decree...

Voices came to me and I began to file them, tones, the strength in each, the distance they came from and the sounds of gates opening and closing...

I had time.

 

[spankableBelle]

Sara

Sara stood at the window of her sterile, white room staring out between the bars that held her prisoner within. Solid iron and steel, the nurse had told her when she arrived…five years ago on a night just like tonight. It was pitch black out save for the lightning that surrounded the countryside. Thunder cracked and shook the unshakable walls of the hospital.

And Sara Townsend didn’t even flinch.

Townsend. The name alone caused people’s eyes to glaze over and see dollar signs. Between the fortunes of her parent’s and her corrupt husband, she would never get out of this place. She was sick, had been her mother’s favorite word everyday for these past years. Her husband had added disgusting slut to it. Her father had just sat there in the doctor’s office, staring at Sara with such hatred in his eyes. She was no longer daddy’s little girl. The papers had said she was the traumatized victim of a horrible vicious crime and her assailant; Raymond Grisham had been sentenced to die.

Ah, the power of money.

So lost was she in her thoughts that Sara hadn’t even heard the door open until she heard her name and turned.

“Yes?” she said coolly, arching a brow at the man that stood in her doorway.

“ He’s just arrived.”

With just those three words, Sara’s heart picked up speed within milliseconds and her precious demeanor of calm, cool, and collected crumbled. He was there. After so many years…he was there; alive and in the same building.

Slowly she sat on the chair closest to her, gripping the padded arm until her knuckles turned as white as the walls. She looked up at the guard, the one she had paid for any information that he could get his hands on about her case and to post her letters to Raymond. So far, it had been money well spent. “Max, I need to see him. Tonight.”

 

[Lady_Kit]

Dr. Phil

Raven, I left the Grisham background file on your desk. Please be sure that everything is in order by the time I see him tomorrow. I’ll want to review the full intake report and the patient chart before his appointment.

When no response was forthcoming Phil cleared her throat and tried again. Her tone was sharper than before and succeeded in getting the young womans’ attention.

“Oh yes the file will be on your desk in the morning Doctor."

Thank you, now perhaps you should call it a night. Let Gregory escort you out. You don’t look well. I’ll just look in on our new guest then head back to my office.

Phil wanted to see the man, the new inmate, and she had her own reasons for wanting her first look to be private. While it was true that the security chief had the last word on matters involving safety, she was still the director and she expected everyone to remember that fact. She could see Gregory forming his rejection of her idea, and held up her hand before he could speak.

I know, I know, I’m not to be alone with him. Well, I’m not going into the cell, and I’ll stay well behind the safety line. Besides, one of your men is on duty and I’ll be under his eye the whole time.

She’d left him little room to argue; as she'd intended. He had established the safe zone himself, a line that kept the staff well out of reach of the inmates. As long as she kept that line between the cell and her body no inmate could reach her. Phil would gladly do that, she had no desire to get within the range of physical contact, she just wanted to look at him; at least for tonight.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ray

Terse words, unrecognizable but the tone spoken quite clear, authority being placed and accepted unwillingly, the proof in the heavier steps of the man walking away, a slightly heavier left foot brought down in mild annoyance and echoed by the steps of the woman beside him.

I smiled with my eyes closed, knowing the cameras would record it for posterity and perhaps some minor clerk would wonder away at it as they dutifully recorded it, then focused on the too familiar steps of the woman that approached.

"Hello Doc" I spoke gently, judging she was now within distance to hear me and still behind "the line"

Her footstep hesitated for only a millisecond, then came down as steady as the last, the cool air of the facilities ventilation system wafting her fragrance to me and making me turn my head slightly to better enjoy it.

"You've changed your perfume" I complimented and fished at the same time with closed eyes. "A much more vibrant scent, more you...and ten times more expensive. That means you've done well for yourself since we last met. What? Chief Psychiatrist? or vice director?"

 

[Lay Z Butterfly]

Karen Tesoro


She loved this weather. The storm raged outside and Karen felt frustrated walking around her smallish stark white room making matters worse. She craved the power the storm had. If she was outside she would have thrilled at seeing the trees thrashing about the outer perimeter of the Institution, but instead she felt like a trapped and caged tigress. There was very little that Karen did not get when she wanted it. She may hate the stigma of being a rich bitch woman, but when she needed to, she used it to its full advantage.


Thinking back of the times she belittled this person and stepped on the toes of another made Karen feel a bit more calmer, but only a bit. It was unlike her to feel this vicious and she knew why. She had lost a sliver of control in this place. “This will not do,” she thought to herself as she paced about.


In thinking that, it brought about a fresh dose of being pissed off. As an excuse, she blamed the “good” Doctor Phil. It was easy to direct her irritation towards that woman. She honestly believed she was a deity. How dare she deny her access to her hurting friend? However, if Karen had been pressed hard to explain further, the truth would have emerged. Those familiar feelings had started to come over her.


The storm represented the commanding manner of what Karen needed….for certain personal effects. Biting her lower lip and taking in a deep breath, she exhaled noisily. Wound up tightly, she knew she needed release soon.

 

[Lady_Kit]

Dr. Phil

Director.

She replied.

"Congratulations."

Did she detect contempt in his voice, or was it only amusement? Probably both, she decided.

Phil looked at him laying on the bunk, so full of disregard for his circumstances. He had hardly changed at all. She tugged the hem of her jacket; a nervous response to the situation. She knew it hung perfectly thanks to a custom tailor and the finest fabrics; it wasn't only her perfume that was expensive these days. She'd come a long way since the last time.

Thank you.

It was an old game. One she shouldn't play. The toes of her black leather pumps just touched the yellow strip of paint that defined the edge of the safe zone. She looked at the line, it should have been red. Phil raised her eyes from the floor to the new inmate. It would be so easy to step over the line.

 

[Destiny]

Nodding curtly Raven walked away and as Gregory turned to join her she let her eyes flow over his feet and up his body and she lifted her head a bit putting as much chill into her voice as possible.

"I can see myself out I still have some things to get."

Walking away she took a deep breath and let all the tension drain from her body as she sighed heavily and closed her eyes a second. Every encounter with either of them left her on edge and with each one a new fuel for her hatred filled her heart. One day soon she promised herself.

Finally gaining the sanctuary of her office she slid into her seat and let the tears slide along her cheeks finally. she opened the drawer to her desk and reached deep into the back of it and pulled out a picture. Caressing the face of the person there she sniffled and then kissed the cold glass. The tear stains on the picture window testament to the amount of times she had cried onto its surface.

Replacing the picture back into her desk she turned the key and locked it as she began to assemble the file for proper placement tomorrow. Her desk was neat and orderly, Not a paper out of place not a paper clip, cup or item moved. Raven was slightly fanatical about her desk space not being a mess and she sighed grabbed up her purse and coat and moved to the door and stepped out of the office to head out for the night.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ray

The rustle of a fabric so soft it must be heaven to wear against her skin...

"The jacket is perfect Doc...everythings perfect...so are you."

I rolled over and sat on the edge of the cot, facing the tall, lithe woman who stood in the light, looking much like the angel I pictured her to be...and every bit like the temptress I knew she was.

"Pull up a chair Doc and we'll talk about the good old days."

A grin and a silent wish I hadn't stop smoking, to have a cigar in my hands, on my lips...to taste the bitter skin of the wrap and then bite it cleanly off.

"I never did get the chance to thank you for my life."

Five years...five long years of hell and hard lessons in solitary most of the time, or in a corner fighting for my life the rest...

"I place no blame on you for your actions, only...understanding."

Understanding that in judging me the way she did she extended my life...and even if I lived in hell...I was alive.

I rose and stretched, the ride in the van before had been anything but pleasant, the guards a boring pair that didn't rate playing with...

"Now I'm back Doc and we've both have a second chance, question is...what will you do with your shake of the dice?"

 

[spankableBelle]

Sara

“Miss Townsend, we shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be here,” Max whispered nervously, glancing up and down the darkened hallway.

“No, Max, I shouldn’t be here. I’m not insane or crazy or criminal. Perverted, yes maybe, but that’s all,” she whispered back, a slight smile on her usually unsmiling mouth.

“I meant skulking around the hospital at night, sneaking out of your room. There are creepy people here”

“I know what you meant, but it doesn’t make what I meant any less true. C’mon.”

Sara ducked around the corner and hurriedly made her way down the long corridor to the passkey protected double doors that hid the criminal masterminds. She turned to see Max following closely, pulling the badge from his pocket, the one he’d swiped from the first shift guard earlier in the day while the man had been busy stuffing his face.

I must be the one insane, Max thought, slipping the electronic key into the slot, removing it quickly when the locked door clicked.

Sara silently opened the door and started to slip through, but then she turned to look back. “You took care of the cameras in the criminal cellblock, right?” She smiled in relief when Max nodded. “What about the guard posted?” Max nodded again. “Thank you. You go back to your post now. I’m going alone.”

“Miss Townsend, I can’t let you do that. If you get caught, or get lost, or if Mr. Palance finds you…” There was concern and an amount of fear that was understandable given the dangerous air that surrounded the hospital’s security expert. Sara was touched, but she couldn’t go back now, she couldn’t give up and quit…not when she was so close.

“I know, but I’ll be fine." Her voice was strong and sure. "You’ve risked your job enough for me and I can’t promise you that I won’t ask you to do it again, but for now, go. I need to see him, talk to him.” When Max stood, wavering in uncertainty, Sara again admonished him to leave. Finally relenting, she watched him walk back down the long corridor until he was out of sight, then slipped inside the criminal ward.

They all thought she was harmless. They all thought she didn’t have one wit of a brain. After all how could she…what with all the disturbing secrets that she’d admitted to Dr. Phil. They didn’t know that in her silence, in her quiet, unaffected way, she watched, and she observed, and she learned…even the very smallest of details were filed away. It was how she had escaped her husband’s stranglehold.

It was how she had survived in here until her one reason for living arrived, giving her the strength to put everything that she’d gathered between her ears to work, the strength and courage to shock them all.

And tonight he had.

Let the games begin, she thought, quickly making her way forward in the dark.

Closer. She could feel him, his presence.

Closer. She heard his voice…soft and…intimate? Cold began to settle inside her.

Closer still. She heard his companion. Dr. Phil. Contempt was a bitter taste in her mouth.

Sara’s heart stopped as she hunkered down against the wall and listened, a mirage of emotions flashing in her emerald eyes…anger, jealousy, rage, despair, pain, and a need that glistened and glittered even in this darkest pit of hell.

 

[Rhovan]

"Raven, I left the Grisham background file on your desk. Please be sure that everything is in order by the time I see him tomorrow. I’ll want to review the full intake report and the patient chart before his appointment."

Gregory listened silently as the two women exchanged information about some file or something. Gregory wasn't much paying attention to that, as much as he was subtly noticing everything about the two women. How they acted towards one another, more importantly, how they reacted to one another...

"Thank you, now perhaps you should call it a night. Let Gregory escort you out. You don’t look well. I’ll just look in on our new guest then head back to my office."

That pissed Gregory off, and he opened his mouth to let her know just that. Then he saw her hand go up, and he just got a little angrier.

"I know, I know, I’m not to be alone with him. Well, I’m not going into the cell, and I’ll stay well behind the safety line. Besides, one of your men is on duty and I’ll be under his eye the whole time."

Gregory shut his mouth. She had this planned, and no amount of on the fly thinking was going to be able to breech the wall of defense she had prepaired. But he mentally scoffed at the words 'your men,' because they aren't his. They were hers....for now. He nodded and turned to Raven as she walked away.

"I can see myself out I still have some things to get."

Gregory pursed his lips at her words. He could force her hand, he was just given an order by his superior, but he let it go. He gave her a self satisfied grin, a wink and a nod and then he left. He moved quickly for one who looked to just be on a stroll. He opened the door to the private hallway and then to his office where he let himself in.

His hands started to fly across the keyboard as the camera's around the compound came to life. The camera in Raven's office switched on, and Gregory routed it to a monitor. He kicked on the camera in the hall outside the violent inmate cells and watch Dr. Phil talk to the new inmate.

Gregory noted the picture Raven was crying over, and made a mental note to go into her office to find out what the picture was of. Then he switched that camera off, he didn't need to watch a crying woman.

Gregory looked back to the hall of the violent inmates, and flipped on some more camera. "Whats this now," he silently mused as he noticed another woman, crouching down in what he had to assume were some shadows though the camera didn't reveal that. She was down the hall and out of sight of Dr. Phil. Gregory couldn't hear anything that was being said, but he could tell the new female could hear and that she was obviously listening in.

Gregory reached over and dumped the film of all those important events that had just taken place. Raven crying, Dr. Phil being spied upon, this unidentified woman skulking in the hall. Gregory stood and grabbed his extendable baton from the counter. He concealed it in his hand and exited the office, hurrying to the inmate corridor. He reached to the front of his sweater and pressed a small button concealed behind the cloth.

"Guards in block A, I want you to be prepaired for possible escape, mace and tasers only." He hurried down the hall, seeing the other guards quickly taking action, then Gregory was through the door and bellowing to Dr. Phil in the distance.

"Dr. Phil, I think we may have an escapee, please step back from the line and to the opposite wall. Ray there isn't the most trustful fella..." He leered at the bars though from his angle he couldn't see in, then he turned and moved quickly towards the crouched form of the un-known woman.

"Excuse me Ma'am, but I'm going to need you to stand up and away from the wall..." He moved towards Ms. Townsend quickly, the baton still concealed in his hands and the rests of the guards milling outside the hall waiting for further orders.

Gregory however was thinking to himself, "Run...run...I can hit you if you run..." A grin that was born of total elation was on his face.

 

[Destiny]

Raven departed the main location of the cells and inmates and walked the long distance up to her room. She liked where she was located, it had a beautiful view out to the ocean beyond, the look directly down form her balcony was a straight drop into hell itself.

The storm outside was breathtaking and she stripped off her shoes and stockings and slipped into a robe and stepped out onto the balcony as the wind began to whip her hair about her face. Her eyes closed and she inhaled of the ocean's scent. The feeling of being alive and full of energy all around her making her smile.

The lighthouse out beyond the reef flashed along the side of the cliff that was the back of the Institute, the lone white figure that was now on autopilot being the only testament to her enjoyment of the fury of mother nature playing on the ocean surface. Lightening flashed and the rain pelted the earth.

Finally she moved back into her room and headed to the eat in kitchen and began to make a small snack. She then moved into the living area and flipped on some music to listen to as she turned on her computer. She loved the aces she was allowed and did a bit of browsing her emails. Some from relatives and some from friends. Shutting down the machine she finished her snack and headed to her bedroom to sleep.

 

[Lay Z Butterfly]

Karen Tesoro



Karen continued to pace around her cell unaware of what was transpiring in another area of the Institute. She was unused to the confinement and ached to be free. I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here, she thought feeling the inner rage trying to take hold of her yet again. If only she could find out what she needed, she could blow this deranged joint.


She sat in front of the small metal table and looked at herself in the mirror. Even without makeup on, Karen looked like a million bucks. She had an air of confidence and a touch of superiority that made her attractive to men and women, and as equally; hated. She couldn’t care less what people thought of her because jealousy always was their problem. When one had it all, people want to knock you down any way they can.


Picking up her brush, she gently pulled the soft bristles through her long mane of chestnut coloured hair. Her eyes held the kaleidoscope colours of hazel. Often times you could tell her feelings by the way her eyes changed.


With each stroke of the brush the anger, she felt subsided. This simple action was what soothed the savage beast that lived within her. Karen thrived on that inner energy and knew she was driven by it to extremes other people shied away from. She smiled at the mirror and winked at herself.


Or was the wink for herself?


Karen was no fool. She knew the place was wired with cameras everywhere, so why not where she slept. It actually turned her on to think some poor schmuck was watching her every move- undressing at night and dressing in the morning. She also liked how on some occasions she denied the unseen eyes their pleasure.


Would tonight be his lucky night?

 

[Lady_Kit]

Dr. Phil

She watched him stretch, noting the play of hard muscles beneath his prison uniform. Why was it that prison seemed to suit him so well? She’d wondered that before, but even her most intense examination had provided no explanation and only lead to trouble. Phil wouldn’t make that mistake again.

"Now I'm back Doc and we've both have a second chance, question is...what will you do with your shake of the dice?"

The situation is hardly the same Ray. Besides, now I know what happens when one allows emotion to interfere with duty. People get hurt.

Phil thought of the woman he had killed and felt the nagging guilt that had haunted her since she’d read the transcripts of the trial. Was it was her fault that…

"Dr. Phil, I think we may have an escapee, please step back from the line and to the opposite wall. Ray there isn't the most trustful fella..."

What? An escape? Who…?

But Gregory was already gone. Phil did as he asked and moved to the opposite wall. She leaned against it, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and trying to give the appearance of relaxed concern, but no anxiety. It was a bad idea to show any fear to Ray. She knew that from personal experience. Her body trembled but she thought the movment hidden where it was enclosed in dark fabric of her fitted jacket and pencil slim skirt. Her legs felt steady, which was good since they were on display from the point where her skirt halted above her knees to reveal sheer black stockings that lovingly encased her shapely calves. Phil wished she'd worn something more sensible than the matt black pumps, but at least she felt more in charge in the high heels. Someone once told her she looked like Brigitte Nielsen when she was dressed like this; they’d been surprised when Phil wasn’t flattered.

“Aw, come on…what harm could I do to anyone. After all, I’m the prisoner. Isn’t that right, Doc?”

I think that’s enough conversation for tonight Ray. I’ll see you in the morning.

Phil pushed away from the wall and told a passing guard that she was returning to her office, then allowed him to tag along to be sure that she made it safely.

“Best lock your door, Dr. Phil. Call when you’re ready to go to your quarters and I’ll send someone to escort you.”

She sent him away with a curt nod. Once alone she fell into the leather chair behind her desk, and felt the familiar heat that came with memories of the past, and those very special patients. Phil looked at the locked drawer of her desk and considered the small bottle of white pills that sat inside. Maybe she’d need help with the memories after all.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ray

Muscle bound men with savage, stern faces rushed back and forth, eyes flashing as they moved in disciplined and practiced actions...Doctor Phil backed herself almost meekly against the wall, her long, lithe legs inviting notice and much, much more...the shadowy figure of my second mute visitor disappeared in the clutches of a neckless and yet lightning quick man....the sound of tasers crackling as fingers carressed the triggers and responded.

Tension and hormones hung in the air as I stood within the electrified walls of my tiny domain and listened to the Doctor announce sternly she was thru with before we had even begun...not waiting for a reply as she directed a slower moving guard to follow...

I stood in my tiny universe and did the only sane thing I could do, making the only comment possible about the entire state of lunacy within this glorified sanitarium...

I laughed....long, full and loud...and kept laughing as the sounds pealed off the walls and down each corridor...

"On which side of the cage is the captor...and which...the captives???"