Post by Vincent Augustine on Oct 2, 2018 1:09:22 GMT -5
The small black Lincoln 4 door pulled into the parking lot. Stepping out of the driver’s side door, a tall thin white mail with slicked down brown hair and a freshly shaven face, smiled and retrieved a black briefcase. It was all of 10 strides and he was into the front doors of the mental institution, a set of chairs on either side of a front desk greeting him. Behind the desk a woman in white with a big glasses and curled blonde hair sat. From first glance one my suggest she was in her sixties, but as the man moved closer it became more and more clear that she was in her 40’s and her aging a cost of a lifetime of stress at a job such as this.
“Help you?” The woman asked. The man stopped and slipped a car across the counter. With a roll of the eyes and a deep breath out the woman took the card read it and set it back on the counter, sliding it back with the same lack of enthusiasm in which she had taken it. “Can’t help you.” She finally added.
A soft smile graced the man’s face as he took the card and slipped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “But you can, see the man I am looking for is here, in fact it was an associate of mine who brought him here.” The man smiled, leaned in on the desk and stared hard into the woman’s eyes.
“I can’t help you.” She calmly replied, the man’s subtle attempt at charm simply brushing off of her.
“But you can, you can call someone who can tell me what I need to know, that is your primary function right?” The man smiled again, leaned back to full upright and moved for the chair stage left from the counter. “I’ll sit right here while you do your thing.” He winked and took a seat.
Confused by the arrogance of this stranger, the woman balked for a moment then grabbed the phone, hammering a few numbers and waiting for a brief second. “We have a problem here in the lobby, asking about a Vincent Augustine, I told him we don’t have anyone with that name, but he insists he knows the man is here.” The woman took a long pause. “Yeah how did you know that?” Another long pause by the woman followed. “I’ll let him know.” She hung up the phone and directed her attention to the man in the chair. “Doctor Franklin will down shortly.” The only response from the man was a nod of the head.
What felt like an eternity passed but Doctor Franklin finally appeared. An elderly man in his late 60’s, balding head and grey short trimmed hair, he wasn’t heavy, but he wasn’t skinny either, clearly the man took care of himself to a degree. Either way the Doctor extended his hand and introduced himself. “I am Doctor Franklin, Medical director of Fairview Mental Health.”
The man took the Doctor’s hand. “I am Ryan.” The men shook for a long few seconds and silence filled the air.
“Come with me.” Doctor Franklin finally broke the silence and led Ryan to his office. There he motioned for Ryan to have a seat, and without question Ryan took a seat, placing his briefcase against the chair on the right side. “How can I help you?” Doctor Franklin asked as he took a seat behind his desk.
“Vincent Augustine.” Ryan simply said the man’s name and stared direct and into the eyes of Doctor Franklin.
“I am sorry, but we do not have a patient by that name here.” Doctor Franklin replied as he leaned back in his chair a bit trying to get more comfortable and exert a posture of power. “Mariam at the front desk told me who you were looking for, I did some research before I came out, but I have never had a patient here by that name, I even went back 15 years to the past director, and no one with that name has come through Fairview.”
“He is here.” Ryan replied, starkly and without waver of his voice.
“Were that true, he would be in no shape to receive visitors.” Ryan’s face didn’t change, his eyes didn’t move, nothing about his posture suggested that he was going to listen to the Doctor’s response. “Look Mr. Ryan if your friend was here, then he has lied to us about his identity, and that alone would mean that he was not in any mental condition to see visitors.”
“I’m not here to visit him; I’m here to take him home.” Ryan replied, his gaze remaining stagnant, his stare piercing more than it had before.
“That would be out of the question, he would no doubt not be in any shape to leave the facility, if he were here of course.” Doctor Franklin tried hard not to smile, but he could feel the corner of his lips quiver ever so slightly.
Ryan slowly shook his head front to back and closed his eyes for a brief moment, then opened them back up, his gaze focusing in on the Doctor. “I’ll tell you what, you get my friend, and I will let you walk out of here.”
“Excuse me?” Doctor Franklin shot forward in the chair, his posture of power completely gone. “Are you?....” At that moment Ryan raised a berretta 9mm he had pulled from the inside of his suit jacket.
“You tell me.” Ryan replied. No one spoke for a long minute and then Ryan heard the tale tell sound of urine hitting the floor when a grown man wets himself. “There was no need for that Doctor Franklin, all you had to do was retrieve my friend.”
“But…”
“I don’t care what you are being paid to do to him. While you fear what those people might do to you, I right here right now will leave you crippled for them, and still walk out of here with my friend. Now you can give my friend to me, and then you can run with full faculty of your abilities, or I can take him, and you can be left here to simply wait for them to get you because you can’t run.” Ryan tilted his head at the Doctor, letting him know his time table was running short.
“OK…OK…OK…” Moving towards the door Doctor Franklin led Ryan out of the office and down the hall towards a man trap door. “If you follow me…”
“I’ll wait here.” Ryan replied. “I know how man traps work, their name is self-explanatory, you get my friend and come back here, or I will come for you.” Ryan had slipped his gun into his jacket and was again carrying his briefcase. “You have five minutes, don’t test my resolve old man.” Ryan replied as the Doctor stepped through the first metal door of the man trap.
Four minutes later the outer metal door of the man trap slid open and the Doctor along with Vincent stepped out of it. “He has demons, he is in no condition to leave.”
“I’m counting on it.” Ryan said with a sick smile as he led the confused looking Vincent out of the mental health facility.
Outside Vincent covered his eyes from the sun with his hand. The medication and lack of sunlight for three months was taking its toll on the man’s eyes in this moment. Ryan guided him to the Black Lincoln and helped Vincent into the back seat, strapped him in and then tossed his briefcase on the front passenger seat before circling around and climbing into the driver’s seat. As he saw it there was no more than 2 minutes before the cops would arrive, the old man had for sure called them.
Shifting the car into gear, Ryan guided it onto the dirt road and took off, pedal to the floor and all 8 cylinders screaming to life. In the center console he flipped a switch and a series of red and blue lights began to strobe from behind the rearview mirror, and under the rear center brake light, a siren let loose its wales and the Lincoln tore down the road.
In the back seat Vincent shook his head, trying to push through the fog of the medication. Everything was happening so fast he couldn’t keep up, the lights flashing, the siren, the sun; all of it was overwhelming his dulled senses and making him tired. His eye lids grew heavy, and then shut, darkness enveloped him.
The pounding of a headache pulled Vincent from his slumber, his eyes parted and instantly the light of the sun punished them, he rolled over and felt the dirt, rock and leaves under him. Slowly his eyes acclimated to the light and he got to all fours, then his feet. For a moment he wobbled trying to get his balance and find his footing. “Where?” He asked aloud while scanning the area, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
As he scanned the area he found a brown envelope. It took him the better part of 15 minutes to get his dexterity to the point of retrieving it. As he pinched the metal clasp he heard a voice. ‘Don’t do it.’ “Who’s there?” He responded, but no answer came. “Come out!” Vincent shouted. But there was no response, and returned his attention to the envelope. He opened the top tab and pulled a stack of paper from the envelope.
‘I told you!’ A voice rang out inside of his head. “Who’s there?” Vincent spun a circle and scanned the area, but there was no one there, and no reply to his question. The sheet simply had the letter ‘WCF’ followed by ‘follow the clues, your answers start there.’
Vincent dropped the paper and envelope then rubbed his head with both hands, the smoothness of his buzzed head felt good beneath his hands. He turned and began walking along what looked like a path. ‘Don’t go back.’ A voice rang out, but Vincent ignored it, he had more important things to worry about, like figuring out what day it was, hell what month it was. He didn’t know how long he had been gone, but he knew it had been a while and his new journey was just beginning.
“Help you?” The woman asked. The man stopped and slipped a car across the counter. With a roll of the eyes and a deep breath out the woman took the card read it and set it back on the counter, sliding it back with the same lack of enthusiasm in which she had taken it. “Can’t help you.” She finally added.
A soft smile graced the man’s face as he took the card and slipped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “But you can, see the man I am looking for is here, in fact it was an associate of mine who brought him here.” The man smiled, leaned in on the desk and stared hard into the woman’s eyes.
“I can’t help you.” She calmly replied, the man’s subtle attempt at charm simply brushing off of her.
“But you can, you can call someone who can tell me what I need to know, that is your primary function right?” The man smiled again, leaned back to full upright and moved for the chair stage left from the counter. “I’ll sit right here while you do your thing.” He winked and took a seat.
Confused by the arrogance of this stranger, the woman balked for a moment then grabbed the phone, hammering a few numbers and waiting for a brief second. “We have a problem here in the lobby, asking about a Vincent Augustine, I told him we don’t have anyone with that name, but he insists he knows the man is here.” The woman took a long pause. “Yeah how did you know that?” Another long pause by the woman followed. “I’ll let him know.” She hung up the phone and directed her attention to the man in the chair. “Doctor Franklin will down shortly.” The only response from the man was a nod of the head.
What felt like an eternity passed but Doctor Franklin finally appeared. An elderly man in his late 60’s, balding head and grey short trimmed hair, he wasn’t heavy, but he wasn’t skinny either, clearly the man took care of himself to a degree. Either way the Doctor extended his hand and introduced himself. “I am Doctor Franklin, Medical director of Fairview Mental Health.”
The man took the Doctor’s hand. “I am Ryan.” The men shook for a long few seconds and silence filled the air.
“Come with me.” Doctor Franklin finally broke the silence and led Ryan to his office. There he motioned for Ryan to have a seat, and without question Ryan took a seat, placing his briefcase against the chair on the right side. “How can I help you?” Doctor Franklin asked as he took a seat behind his desk.
“Vincent Augustine.” Ryan simply said the man’s name and stared direct and into the eyes of Doctor Franklin.
“I am sorry, but we do not have a patient by that name here.” Doctor Franklin replied as he leaned back in his chair a bit trying to get more comfortable and exert a posture of power. “Mariam at the front desk told me who you were looking for, I did some research before I came out, but I have never had a patient here by that name, I even went back 15 years to the past director, and no one with that name has come through Fairview.”
“He is here.” Ryan replied, starkly and without waver of his voice.
“Were that true, he would be in no shape to receive visitors.” Ryan’s face didn’t change, his eyes didn’t move, nothing about his posture suggested that he was going to listen to the Doctor’s response. “Look Mr. Ryan if your friend was here, then he has lied to us about his identity, and that alone would mean that he was not in any mental condition to see visitors.”
“I’m not here to visit him; I’m here to take him home.” Ryan replied, his gaze remaining stagnant, his stare piercing more than it had before.
“That would be out of the question, he would no doubt not be in any shape to leave the facility, if he were here of course.” Doctor Franklin tried hard not to smile, but he could feel the corner of his lips quiver ever so slightly.
Ryan slowly shook his head front to back and closed his eyes for a brief moment, then opened them back up, his gaze focusing in on the Doctor. “I’ll tell you what, you get my friend, and I will let you walk out of here.”
“Excuse me?” Doctor Franklin shot forward in the chair, his posture of power completely gone. “Are you?....” At that moment Ryan raised a berretta 9mm he had pulled from the inside of his suit jacket.
“You tell me.” Ryan replied. No one spoke for a long minute and then Ryan heard the tale tell sound of urine hitting the floor when a grown man wets himself. “There was no need for that Doctor Franklin, all you had to do was retrieve my friend.”
“But…”
“I don’t care what you are being paid to do to him. While you fear what those people might do to you, I right here right now will leave you crippled for them, and still walk out of here with my friend. Now you can give my friend to me, and then you can run with full faculty of your abilities, or I can take him, and you can be left here to simply wait for them to get you because you can’t run.” Ryan tilted his head at the Doctor, letting him know his time table was running short.
“OK…OK…OK…” Moving towards the door Doctor Franklin led Ryan out of the office and down the hall towards a man trap door. “If you follow me…”
“I’ll wait here.” Ryan replied. “I know how man traps work, their name is self-explanatory, you get my friend and come back here, or I will come for you.” Ryan had slipped his gun into his jacket and was again carrying his briefcase. “You have five minutes, don’t test my resolve old man.” Ryan replied as the Doctor stepped through the first metal door of the man trap.
Four minutes later the outer metal door of the man trap slid open and the Doctor along with Vincent stepped out of it. “He has demons, he is in no condition to leave.”
“I’m counting on it.” Ryan said with a sick smile as he led the confused looking Vincent out of the mental health facility.
Outside Vincent covered his eyes from the sun with his hand. The medication and lack of sunlight for three months was taking its toll on the man’s eyes in this moment. Ryan guided him to the Black Lincoln and helped Vincent into the back seat, strapped him in and then tossed his briefcase on the front passenger seat before circling around and climbing into the driver’s seat. As he saw it there was no more than 2 minutes before the cops would arrive, the old man had for sure called them.
Shifting the car into gear, Ryan guided it onto the dirt road and took off, pedal to the floor and all 8 cylinders screaming to life. In the center console he flipped a switch and a series of red and blue lights began to strobe from behind the rearview mirror, and under the rear center brake light, a siren let loose its wales and the Lincoln tore down the road.
In the back seat Vincent shook his head, trying to push through the fog of the medication. Everything was happening so fast he couldn’t keep up, the lights flashing, the siren, the sun; all of it was overwhelming his dulled senses and making him tired. His eye lids grew heavy, and then shut, darkness enveloped him.
The pounding of a headache pulled Vincent from his slumber, his eyes parted and instantly the light of the sun punished them, he rolled over and felt the dirt, rock and leaves under him. Slowly his eyes acclimated to the light and he got to all fours, then his feet. For a moment he wobbled trying to get his balance and find his footing. “Where?” He asked aloud while scanning the area, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
As he scanned the area he found a brown envelope. It took him the better part of 15 minutes to get his dexterity to the point of retrieving it. As he pinched the metal clasp he heard a voice. ‘Don’t do it.’ “Who’s there?” He responded, but no answer came. “Come out!” Vincent shouted. But there was no response, and returned his attention to the envelope. He opened the top tab and pulled a stack of paper from the envelope.
‘I told you!’ A voice rang out inside of his head. “Who’s there?” Vincent spun a circle and scanned the area, but there was no one there, and no reply to his question. The sheet simply had the letter ‘WCF’ followed by ‘follow the clues, your answers start there.’
Vincent dropped the paper and envelope then rubbed his head with both hands, the smoothness of his buzzed head felt good beneath his hands. He turned and began walking along what looked like a path. ‘Don’t go back.’ A voice rang out, but Vincent ignored it, he had more important things to worry about, like figuring out what day it was, hell what month it was. He didn’t know how long he had been gone, but he knew it had been a while and his new journey was just beginning.
