Our Perfect Insanity

ChApTeR FiVe

“To me, horror is when I see somebody lying. I mean a person I know. A friend. And he's telling me something that I accept. And then suddenly, as he or she is telling it, there's something that gives them away. They're not telling me the truth.”
~Jonathan Frid

"I need to talk to Ariel. I want to know what she thinks she’s doing, why she's doing all this... I want to know what she wants."

I turned, starting to head down the hall towards Ariel's cell, when Kathryn grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

"Jonathan, I want to apologize-"

I cut her off, waving it away.

"It’s not a problem, Kathryn. Really, don't worry about it." I told her, smiling a bit. She shook her head, glancing into the now spotless cell.

"No, Jonathan... I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want to believe it. I- well, the first time... the first time I spoke with Ariel," Kathryn paused, biting her lip before she finished. “She spoke to me as well.”

"What?" I asked quietly, somewhat confused and hurt that she had lied to me.

Kathryn looked down at the floor, shifting anxiously.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan... when I saw the tapes of my interview with her, and saw she didn't speak… I never said anything in fear of being called insane. But, now, she's talking to you, and I know it’s real..." She spoke quietly.

I frowned at her.

"But... why? Why would you lie? I would have believed you." I told her.

"I didn't want to say anything, when we saw that she hadn't spoken to you either, even though you said she did… I didn't want to believe it." Kathryn said, biting her lip gently.

She looked up at me, yet I only scowled down at her, feeling quite betrayed by her dishonesty.

"So, why tell me now?" I questioned, swallowing back down the lump that was forming in my throat.

Kathryn sighed.

"…this is getting out of hand. Ariel said when she spoke to me, that she was waiting for someone… and I think she found him." Kathryn told me.

I looked at her, taking a deep breath.

"So, everyone that hears Ariel speak, instantly gets involved in her horrible world?" I questioned her.

Kathryn nodded. I bit my lip and sighed.

"We have to make sure no one else speaks to her… and we have to get rid of those tapes." I said, and Kathryn nodded again, before a thoughtful look crossed her face.

"Maybe, you should watch the tapes first? They might hide some clues about what exactly Ariel wants." She suggested.

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Alright, then we need to get down to the Security Room. There's a chance that Ariel might try to get the tapes before us. There might be something on them that she doesn't want us to find."

Kathryn nodded at my words, and then we both turned, and began to race down the corridors, towards the room where the security tapes were stored.

Upon entering the room, the first thing we saw was Doug.

Kathryn let out a small gasp, as I walked forwards to the large man, slumped in the chair. I tilted his head back, and felt my breath catch in my throat as I saw the blood pouring from his slit throat.

"Ariel got here first." I breathed, and Kathryn looked petrified.

I looked up, and saw that the door leading to the room where the tapes were stored was slightly open. I stared, before walking away from the man and opening the door.

"Damn it! She got to the tapes first!" I exclaimed, seeing that the shelf that was usually filled with Ariel's tapes, was empty.

I growled in frustration, turning and slamming my fist into the wall, which only caused me to wince as pain seared through it.

Suddenly, two soft hands enclosed around my own, which was throbbing in pain from the impact with the wall.

"What's wrong, Jonathan? Are you mad at me…?"

I knew that voice; it was the soft, sinister one that belonged to Ariel Nex.

I looked over to find Ariel holding my hand in her own two, ivory colored ones. My knuckles were cut and scraped, and I watched as Ariel softly ran her cold fingertips over the open wounds, making me flinch slightly.

"Where are the tapes, Ariel? Where are they?"

My voice was quiet, yet deadly serious as before my eyes, the wounds that Ariel ran her fingertips over, healed.

"Why do you want them?" She questioned innocently, her eyes flickering up to meet mine, as I glared down at her.

"I want to know what you want, and seeing as you won't explain anything, I will find out by myself." I growled.

Ariel looked down, and pulled a small package wrapped in brown paper, out of the white bag that was hanging at her side, which I had not notice before.

"You're lucky I like you so much…" Ariel muttered, handing me the package.

She looked behind me, and glared hatefully at Kathryn, who was frozen in horror. I looked back to Ariel, but, she had disappeared.

Kathryn walked over to my side, once she had gotten her bearings back.

“What are we going to do?”

I looked at her as she spoke, before looking down to the tapes in my hands.

"Go home, Kathryn. I'm going home as well, I'm going to watch these tapes, and I will call you if I find anything." I told her.

Kathryn looked like she was about to argue, but seemingly thought better of it.

I nodded to her, and turned on my heel, quickly leaving the room and the asylum.