Looking in through the window, his stomach knotted tight when he saw the little man sitting in the corner, laughing loudly at the morbid joke he had somehow scrawled on the wall. The night had already been stranger than usual, and now Nathan had to wonder just how this tiny little nut job had managed to write something so high up on the wall, especially while wearing a straight jacket. He dreaded finding out exactly what the rough drawn lettering was done in. Thank God the nurses had put on the little bastard's makeup before working him into the straight jacket. They hated to let him wear "his face", but the makeup was the only thing that could calm the little clown from his dangerously violent fits. Cleaning that mess off the wall and dealing first hand with the psychotic little dwarf were not on the list of things Nathan intended to get stuck doing after how his evening had gone so far. The mop swished it's wide circles on the floor as he continued the task at hand. He wished he could leave it to someone else, but knew that with every room in the sub levels having a camera installed for patient observation, producing time-stamped footage around the clock, eventually such a discretion would catch up to him. Still, the probate period for his last conduct code infraction was nearly up, and considering how short staffed the hospital was, he opted to move right along as though everything were just fine, calculating that by the time anyone in administration saw the footage, he would be able to soak another small write up like this, if anyone even cared to say anything at all. Better to take his chances with the overworked staff than with that little psycho. Nathan waited for the elevator to open after finishing the last of the hallway floor. A random cry from the other end of the hall caught him off guard, and he whipped around reflexively, forgetting his own mantra of, “ignore it... ignore it...” The lights at the far end flickered and fell black. A laugh, then another cry followed by moaning and a growing cacophony of scratching, clawing sounds sent Nathan backing up against the elevator doors, wishing his ride out of this place would hurry. Closer now, more lights went out and the sounds grew nearer. The restlessness of the patients on B-Level grew to a riotous din. Hands tightly pressed over his ears, Nathan slipped to the floor, eyes wide as the lights continued to go out leaving him alone, barely lit by the up and down arrows over the elevator doors and struggling to keep out the sounds that now grew into a full blown roar inside his head. |
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