In a World Where Only Madness Matters

“So if you’re real, what are you doing here?” Jax asked nearly bouncing up and down with joy. The glow in his smile melted into the room, became contagious, and slipped onto Rebecca’s lips. She couldn’t help but send a beaming smile back at him. He was just too cute.

“I.. don’t know,” She replied. “I guess I did something wrong, but this doesn’t seem like a punishment in the least bit.” Her body un-tensed from the fear she was in just seconds ago.

“Ya know there not supposed to, uh, put boys and girls in the same cell. That’s not allowed. Nope because, uh, that’s what they said. I heard them.” His head shook up and down vigorously after what he had told her. It made Rebecca wonder why they had placed her in the same room as him then. Not even adult patients are supposed to be put in the same cells as each other with the opposite sex.

Rebecca glanced down again at his ‘Extremely High Risk Patient’ wrist band, worry filling her again. Just what kind of sick joke was Crane trying to pull here? Oh, she’d defiantly have a few words to say to him next Saturday.

“How old are you?” Jax asked piercing the silence with his childish like radiance.

“Fourteen.” Rebecca answered in a shaky reply.

“Really!? I’m 15 and a 4th… depending on the time of day of course.” Jax replied standing from his crouched position and walking back to the corner he was earlier sitting in when she had first been locked inside the room.

She watched as he pressed his head to the wall. Like he was listening for something. Then, suddenly, he pulled back only to swing his head forward, and have it collide with the wall. A sickening thump resounding around the room.

“Oh my god!” Rebecca exclaimed jumping to her feet.

Jax leaned back up against the wall, holding his now bleeding head, and slowly slid himself down the wall to a sitting position.

“Are you alright!?” Rebecca said crouching down in front of him, trying to see where the cut was.

“Its these walls! They're killing me!” Jax exclaimed letting her look at his head.

Rebecca was so confused. Did they really just lock him in here all alone to do these things to himself? He could’ve killed himself! But he only smiled up at her, un-phased by the enormous gushing cut on his head.

“Do you have a watch?” Jax asked, seemingly to forget that he had even smashed his head against the wall, and grabbed her wrist.

“Um, no. They took all my things when I first got here.” She replied staring down at his hand that was wrapped around her arm. She liked his touch. His skin was soft, but the blood left on them from hitting his head kept them sticky, and gave her a chilling feel.

“Really? Mines two days slow. Need to get it fixed”

Rebecca looked at his, wrist, it was blank. And then to the other one. It was naked. He didn’t have a watch on either of them. [And she highly doubted there was one hidden in the room.] But he stayed staring at his left wrist. Tapping it, then holding it to his ear to listen for a familiar ticking. But Rebecca heard nothing.

Jax began to giggle wickedly, jumping to his feet and spinning around the room in a fit of laughter.

Rebecca only shook her head in bewilderment. She examined the crazy boy. His outfit matched hers. White pants, white t-shirt. But it seemed completely different. It was way dirtier then hers, and had lots of old blood stains. She felt sorry for him. But he didn’t look like the type who needed sympathy. He was just too happy. Or at least he appeared to be…

The only time he seemed upset was when he talked about the walls. Metaphorically speaking, sure these walls could kill anyone after a good amount of time. But is that what he meant?

She turned her gaze from the hysterical boy and focused onto the walls. She cringed in her skin. There was blood spattered from every angle and claw marks that had hair and bits of fingernails attached to them, all hanging from different parts of the walls.

Her stare went from the walls, to Jax's nails. Each of them were caked in dried blood and jagged. Some of his fingers barely even had nails at all. It was sickening really.

Before she could give it a second thought something jumped into her gaze and distracted her.

Jax fell to the ground. Hugging his knees tight, rocking back and forth. He began to whimper and his eyes shifted quickly, with fear, around the room in every direction.

“STOP IT!” he screamed to the air. His voice was hoarse, and terrifying in the same way it was soothing. She felt as if she’d heard it before. That it was familiar maybe. But that didn’t matter at the moment. She leaned forward, but not too close.

“Jax…?” she asked trying to reach out to him.

“Who’s there!!?” He asked his head zipping around the room. He looked out, squinting. His gaze going right by her. It was as if he was blind, or looking at something that wasn’t there.

“Jax, its me Rebecca. Remember?”

“Rebecca?” he asked trying to remember, which he soon did. “Rebecca help me. There coming to get me. He’s coming to get me.” Jax’s hands reached out, blindly searching for Rebecca’s body.

“I’m over here.” she crawled over to him, holding her hand out to show him.

His eyes wide open, but not being able to see, he felt around for her. Finding her arm, and [to her surprise] strongly pulling her over to him. He wrapped both arms around her and cried.

“Please don’t let him get me Rebecca. Please!” he shouted in a whisper tone, not wanting whoever he thought was after him to hear.

“Shh, I won’t let anyone get you. No one can get you. Your safe. Nobodies here but me.” She attempted to sooth by hesitantly putting her arms around his shaking body.

“No, that’s what he wants you to think. All of them, there always here.” He dug his head deeper into her neck. Trying hard to get away from the things he thought were in the room.

She looked around. Almost believing him with how scared he was. [Could’ve won an Emmy with the way he acted.] But as she suspected, there was no one else in the room. Just an old beat up mattress and white pillow to go along with it on the other side of the room.

Rebecca held back the urge to ask who it was after him, and silently held him, loving every minute of it. Sure she would’ve wished he’d smelled a little better, but she knew it was only sweat and blood. Which, by now, she probably smelled very similar too.

What was he so afraid? Why was he crying? So many questions and no answers swirling in Rebecca’s mind as she listened to his sobs subside. Soon he was no longer crying and his body went limp. She shook him.

“Jax?” his body fell backwards, slowly, and he unconsciously laid on the floor. He was asleep. [Like a temper tantrum baby she thought.]

What happened to this boy?