Silence Falls

It's been about a month since Bam had been forced to endure his first electroshock therapy and ever since then he’s been much more reserved than usual. At first the group thought it could be the aftereffect of some brain damage brought on by the operation, but then the weeks traipsed on into their first month in the Psychiatric Hospital and there was still more silence than anything from him.

Bam was a boisterous temperamental kind of person and they had become used to his problematic ways. Nowadays, he just follows them soundlessly, and without conniption. He hasn’t even threatened them once over anything, big or small! Cris and Connor have been yearning to talk to Bam about it in hopes that it would benefit in reviving him back to his old self again, but Bert had told them to leave him be and give him some time to work things through on his own. Their leader knew that Bam would be okay in the end and would return like a phoenix from the ashes, he was just making sure he wouldn’t have to experience the misery of being electrocuted any time soon.

The day before, their Orderly Jack was humane enough to sway a nurse to check in on Bam to find out how he was managing since the procedure. He fed her some concocted story about how Bam was his most disturbed patient and how he craved for him to mend swiftly so he could relish beating him again...or something along those lines. The point was he needed Bam to be in tip top shape so he wouldn’t end up expiring at the hands of abuse too soon for his liking. The nurse didn’t need to hear anymore than that and had willingly united her supplies to pursue Jack to his patient's cell. The diagnosis was that Bam was perfectly fine. The other patients in the room were inwardly relieved at the news. Jack flawlessly played it off that his alleviation was for a more immoral purpose.

Presently, Jack had escorted them to the craft room to be...creative. Cris, Connor, Bam, and Bert sat together alone at a vacant table, not paying attention to their surroundings while they littered their cleared table with crayons, chalk, and half-empty glitter tubes to appear busy. Every other patient in the room sat at one of the other circular tables either snacking on the art supplies or straining to draw on the construction paper instead of the table. The only group that technically wasn’t creating art was Bert’s table...and another one. Across the room, five young men unexpectedly rose from their chairs to head towards their table with the tenacity to end some past unfinished business from a month ago. They had been seeking to ‘speak’ with the newcomers in the Hospital then, but their Orderly Jack had materialized out of nowhere to spur the four newbies elsewhere thus hampering their chance at ‘welcoming’ them. Now was another free opportunity since the lone Orderly on watch had dozed off in his chair by the large open entryway. Connor was the first to observe the incoming threat before the others, but made no physical warnings. It was funny how they try to stay out of trouble, but trouble always seems to find them.

“Bert, incoming assholes at your back.” Connor murmured nonchalantly, exhaling an irritated sigh while shuffling crayons around. Cris instantly began to internally panic, but then followed everyone else’s steady outward example and pretended to mind his own business. They could hear the sound of the footsteps coming closer.

“Remember to behave, no matter what.” Bert mumbled to his friends, before looking up into the familiar faces of a disruptive group of boys that seemed to be set on bugging them.

The buzzcut leader of the group snarled maliciously down at them. “I’m only going to tell you faggots this one time. Keep your voices down when you’re ass fucking all night! People need to sleep and don’t wanna hear it, you fucking queers.”

Jack’s patients sitting at the table glanced at one another, sharing the same confounded expression. Bert was baffled as to what the hell these idiots were talking about. For as long as they’ve been sharing a room together in the Psychiatric Hospital, none of them has ever crossed that line with each other! Cris openly was just as dumbfounded too. Bam and Connor didn’t appear to care about what these guys said at all. They were already irked at the fact that they were standing by their table like a couple of hot shots looking for a tussle. In the end, the group elected not to respond to the homophobic remark.

The leader of these fools didn’t like their silence and leaned over their table, slamming his palms on the surface to emphasize his threatening presence more distinctly. “What, you rim jobbers got nothing to say now that a real man called you out?”

Connor’s green eyes targeted the leader, making sure he had his beady eyes ensnared before speaking. “Keep it up, and I’ll bite your ear off.” He stated darkly, dropping his gaze back down to the table as if he didn’t just threaten to harm the guy.

The leader of the jerkoffs wasn’t spooked by what he believed was a pathetic worthless threat. Connor didn’t even sound all that intimidating to him. He spoke too casually like they were friends and then cowardly lowered his head in what had to be fear. Easily shrugging off Connor’s threat without a care, he motioned for his groupie to join him on distressing the new patients some more.

Jack’s boys continued to try and ignore the group of pests as they went on calling them homophobic names in a chant. Bert discovered it to be pretty easy to do because he was too absorbed with devising a plan in his mind on how they would escape this hospital successfully. Cris was trying not to let the words hurt his feelings since he was the only bisexual one there, and aimed to envision what driving his first car would have been like had he not taken up with Connor and got locked up. Bam kept replaying the events of electroshock therapy through his mind, trying to frighten himself from standing up to these imbeciles. Connor kept his eyes on one spot on the table as the leader of the bullies began to circle around them, leaning over to drone harsh homophobic slurs. In solidarity the four mute boys were able to hold their grounds, until the rascals decided it was time to get physical. The leader had just stopped behind Cris’s chair, and had decided to smack him upside the head, reaping a whimper. The contact was powerful enough to almost smash his face down onto the table top.

Connor has been in solitary confinement before, so he knows what it was like to be tortured. He had been planning on keeping his cool so that the ruffians could live another day after they eventually left him and his friends alone. But once they got physical, he knew he wouldn’t be able to talk himself out of retaliating. Without giving anyone an impression of his next move, the bullies abruptly lurched back the second Connor shot out of his chair and made for their leader. Bert, Bam, and Cris all rocketed out of their chairs and retreated too, knowing that interfering at this point would be too dangerous for them. Connor was out for blood and he meant to have it one way or another.

The leader strained in Connor’s clutches as his head was jerked to the side to expose his freckled throat. Bert and the others imagined that Connor was going to bite the kid’s throat open like a vampire, but instead he made true to his earlier threat.

“Did I not say I’d bite your ear off?” Connor growled in his ear, now frightening the bully to the point where his eyes appeared like they were about to pop out of his skull, his fingers frantically clawing at his shoulders. The Orderly on watch that had been snoozing earlier was now up on his feet and blowing his whistle to tip off any nearby staff members of the immediate danger taking place in the craft department. The Orderlies came stampeding in seconds after.

The bully continued to struggle with Connor as he recited the threat into his ear one last time before striking down on his right ear, piercing his teeth into the skin and cartilage before literally tearing off the top half of the ear completely. The bully howled as Connor let him disintegrate to the floor, clutching the bloody area where his once perfectly formed ear had been. Four of the Orderlies, including Jack, sprinted over to aid the bully who’s hand was now covered in his own blood, screaming in excruciating pain. Jack and another apprehended Connor, who merely stood there chewing on the top of the ear, the area around his mouth and chin bloody as well as down the front of his white shirt. Connor didn’t fight them as they confined him in a straitjacket. It was only when one of the Orderlies attempted to take the ear from his mouth did he try to lunge at him.

“Just let him have it! Trevor needed to be taught a lesson months ago anyway!” Jack ordered the young frightful Orderly forfeiting on retrieving the ear. Carefully, he handed his cannibal patient over to the other Orderlies after Trevor was wheeled out on a stretcher to the nurses. Jack had to stay behind with a staff member to gather accounts of what had gone down in the craft room. But Bert wanted to approach him right then and there to ask about Connor’s welfare instead, only he knew that Jack would only get into trouble if he were to be seen speaking to him like a human being. As much as he wanted information on Connor, Bert was aware that keeping Jack safe would also help them in getting out of this place sooner rather than later. If that was even possible to convince him to align with them.