[IC] A Half Eaten Heart [CLOSED]

[paragloan]

When Calla and then Michael came in, Maddy felt her heart start to pump faster. She did not do too well with crowds, especially when there was confrontion. She listened with half an ear to what Erik was saying to Calla and Micheal/Danny. She heard the new girl Teres ask, " So you're my roommates?" She was thinking of what to say when Sarah interrupted.

"So what's with the bitchy commentar-" she heard Sarah ask and then instead of finishing her sentence she put her arm around Maddy's shoulder and replied to Teres, "Yuppers, that's us! I'm really hoping that we can all get along now, like three peas in a pod!"

Maddy felt her whole body tense and her face grow hot with anger. Why does she always do this. She doesn't finish her sentences on purpose and then butts in on conversations. She knows I hate it when people touch me without asking too and she still does it. That is one of the first things that I told her when I got here and found out we were sharing a room. I did not want to have her hug me or something and think that it would be fine. I just get too nervous when someone touches me and I am not expecting it. Just because she has been here the longest she thinks that she is charge here. I can't fucking take it anymore!!!!

"Get your arm off of me, Sarah. I Told you that I don't like that. If you do it again without permission I won't be as polite next time. And for Fuck's sake finish a goddamn sentence before saying another thing! Is it so fucking hard to do that? I swear you drive me out of my fucking mind and I could just punch you in the face!" Maddy all but screamed at Sarah before standing up so fast that the chair fell over. She turned to Teres and replied, "Yes we are your roommates and I hope we can get along too." She then turned to Erik and blurted out, "If you weren't such a vain bastard I might be able to tolerate you more. And don't flirt with me unless you mean it." She looked at Micheal and with a softer tone said, "You remind me of a puppy I once had." Then she glanced at Calla but words failed her. She did not understand why someone would do that to themselves and then raise hell when people tried to help them get better.

She took several deep breaths and then realized that she was the center of attention and grew pale. Oh My God!!! I can't do this. Too many eyes on me. Make it stop! "Quit fucking staring at me." she screamed and rushed out of the room. She didn't know why she had let things get to her today much less why she had acted the way she had. Maybe it was the new roommate, on top of the screaming from Calla and Sarah's, well just Sarah in general, that put her over the edge. She knew that later she would have to apologize or she would feel horrible. Plus, it would just be too awkward in the room with Sarah and Teres if she did. She went and sat down on the couch in the common room. Soon, either someone would come for her and make her go back to breakfast or it would be time to go to class. Neither held much appeal at this moment. Fuck my life. Why did I have to get sent here. If my father had just left my mom alone I never would have been abandoned here. She sighed and pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. This day so far just sucked.

[Tsar Gatto]

Teres kept poking at her food as she listened, her mood slowly improving as she watched Sarah put her arm around Maddy. Seemed to her like everything might actually be okay if they did end up like three peas in a pod, but then it suddenly happened…

Freezing as Maddy’s outburst snapped her attention away from the disappointing food she stared at her, half out of sheer shock and half because it was definitely an unpleasant reminder that everyone here had issues that meant this kind of confrontation was probably quite common. After the initial outburst there was a few moments awkward silence as all eyes remained on Maddy, before suddenly she added "Quit fucking staring at me." before storming out of the room.

Glancing around at the others she decided to break the tension and said to no one in particular “So she seems nice…” though immediately after her brain went into overdrive as she thought about what had just happened and what Maddy had said. She seemed to have a bit of a problem with Sarah, though how justified that was remained to be seen. Teres hadn’t put much thought into the idea that not everyone might be as sincere as they first seemed and she started to wonder who was in the wrong.

Next her thoughts went to Erik and so did her eyes as she wondered about what Maddy had said about him being vain and flirting with her. Taking a few more moments to take in his appearance she now noticed that he was dressed in fine ‘eveningwear’ that wasn’t exactly appropriate for a casual morning in Ebott house. In fact everything about him seemed quite perfect, his hair, his completion and even the way he had composed himself with Calla. ‘So what’ she said to herself pushing the thoughts away. ‘Is it a crime to take pride in your appearance?’

‘No, not a crime’ she told herself ‘but it could be part of why he is here’.

She decided that she would take what had just happened with a pinch of salt, after all it was still only her very first morning and they hadn’t even finished breakfast yet, she would reserve making judgment on anyone at least until after lunch. Hoping to avoid the wrath of Maddy she also made a mental note to avoid touching her as she finished eating her food and wondered if she’d be returning before breakfast was over with. Glancing at the clock that adorned one of the walls she saw that the morning was rapidly passing by and sooner rather than later they would need to be ready for their class at 9:00 and she would get to see what her education would be like over the next two months. Then there was the therapists session which she was dreading, after all she knew she didn’t have DID – but the therapist would be unlikely to believe that. She hadn’t yet decided if it was best to simply fake it and endure the two months or come clean and try to convince them.

[EurmalEye]

@Eviledd1984 @SunsetRoses @Tsar Gatto @paragloan

Erik groaned internally at the overly chipper nature of Michael's voices, having trouble deciding which he found more annoying. However, for the sake of appearances he smiled briefly at Michael and said, "You'd think so wouldn't you? But no, that's not it. Give it some thought and try again." Erik hadn't expected him to get the answer right in any case, the trick of the riddle had caused even Erik a brief moment of hesitation before he had correctly answered it on his first attempt. It simply couldn't be helped if simpler people couldn't keep up at his level of intellect. He 'fed' Calla the last piece of food on the plate, the napkin in his sleeve now full, but holding. "There all set! Now I -" Erik was cut off by the angry shouting coming from Maddy, he turned quickly to face her, mouth slightly ajar as she yelled at Sarah. 'Have I ever heard her say so much before?'

And then Maddy turned her wrath upon Erik, "If you weren't such a vain bastard I might be able to tolerate you more. And don't flirt with me unless you mean it." The rest of her shouting fell upon his deaf ears as he felt himself go numb, a protective layer against the swarm of emotions slicing through his body. His grip on the spork he had fed Calla grew tight, the white of his knuckles showing. Slowly, almost in a dreamlike haze, his eyes turned toward Teres. Above all else, one thought rang clear in his mind. 'She was listening.' His eyes flicked back to Maddy, the sound of his pulse pounding through his ears drowning out the rest of speech, before she ran outside of the door. She ran down the hall, most likely going to the common room to gain some small amount of privacy. Erik rose, placing the spork on the table with a deliberate, soft clink. He kept his expression neutral as he looked around the rest of the dining room table. He couldn't look Teres in the eye, not yet.

"Please excuse me." He walked down the hall to the common room door, kept ajar like most of the doors in the home. Sitting on a couch with her knees up, chin resting upon them, was Maddy. Erik stood considering her for a moment, the neutral expression still pasted over his face like a poorly made mask. "You embarrassed me, Maddy." His tone was flat and emotionless, just as his gaze. He stood still in the doorway, not making any motion to move further into the room. "Why would you do that? You said I was vain and that I was flirting with you. Why?" Something in him cracked with an almost audible sound, and the mask of face revealing a look of hurt bafflement. His tone wavered, unexpectedly emotional. "Is it because of the chair this morning? You could have just told me someone new was coming! I gave Teres the clean chair, and I took the dirty one. I thought that would make you happy!" His eyes grew downcast and sad. "Is it wrong that I care about what I look like? That how I present myself to the world matters? I have so much to give to this world, and I should make it clear shouldn't I? And I don't know what you're talking about with the flirting! Is it when I told you that your hair looked lovely? Our therapist told me you are supposed to compliment others when you see that they put a lot of effort into something. It looked like you took great care of your hair so I said it. That's all! Last time I try a therapist's advice. I actually liked you best of the people here you know!" He made to turn around and walk away, but stopped back now facing Maddy. His head lowered so he was looking at the floor, while his right arm rose to cover his left forearm. He spoke not angrily, not forcefully, but in a near whisper, "I just... I can't understand why you don't like me.'

Erik left the doorway and entered the first floor bathroom, taking a breath to regain his composure. While he was there he took the the remains of Calla's breakfast and dropped it into the toilet, flushing it away. He rested his head upon the mirror gazing at his reflection, feeling his control slip back into place. Quickly he washed his hands and returned to the dining room, face relaxed. He sat down next to Teres, hesitating for a moment before saying, "Sometimes, I think new people are hard for some of us already staying here. Try not to judge her for that." Whether he was saying that for Teres's benefit, for his own image, or for himself, even Erik wasn't certain. He shook himself and gave Teres a smile, "In the meantime, are you ready for an almost extraordinarily series of lectures, punctuated only by attempting to convince a man who thinks you are crazy that you are sane?" Erik absentmindedly grabbed a small handful of grapes for a quick breakfast before they had to go.

[Eviledd1984]

@paragloan @EurmalEye

"Okay we will give it a try...put your heads toghether Danny im sure we know the answer..." Micheal said in a low whisper to Danny who was nodding as they huddled and ducked their head near the underside of the table. Thinking for a few moments before putting his head back up with the answer he thought he had."Ah..where did he go?" Danny asked with Micheal shrugging not knowing the answer to this and was looking around the room."Me...teddy bear?Umm thank you" Micheal said to Maddy with a confused look on his face.

Once Erik came back Micheal turned to face him with a big smile on his face,"We think we have the answer to your riddle...And we guess that he answer is a negative number" Micheal said quite proud of his answer.Of course if it was the wrong answer again then he would probably throw a fit and be calmed down by Danny who hates it when Micheal throws a tantrum.

[Tsar Gatto]

The chaos of the morning seemed to subside fairly quickly after Maddy’s outburst, the staff taking little notice as the residents were now starting to clear the table after breakfast. She had not returned and a few moments later Erik had left the room as well, though several minutes later he returned and sat next to her, offering up an excuse for Maddy’s behaviour.

“Don’t worry” she replied with a hesitant grin “I’m not here to judge anyone or…” but as she spoke suddenly a splitting headache struck and her vision started to swim violently. If she had not been sat she was certain she would have lost her balance and possibly even passed out, groaning she clasped at her head her surroundings mostly forgotten as an extremely bizarre sensation gripped at her. A few moments later as quickly as it had come the pain subsided and everything returned to normal, though she certainly felt a lot worse and she blinked a few times as she looked around.

"In the meantime, are you ready for an almost extraordinarily series of lectures, punctuated only by attempting to convince a man who thinks you are crazy that you are sane?" asked Erik smiling at her as he grabbed a small bunch of grapes from a plate that was about to be whisked away.

She took a moment to regain her composure and forced a slight laugh, trying to push the incident from her mind though it was quite concerning, she replied “Yeah well I’d feel a lot better about it if I didn’t have to take a cocktail of vile drugs every morning” . She hesitated briefly and wondered if she should tell him that she didn’t think she should be here, that she had no illness or condition that needed to be monitored and tested, but she realised that each of them probably thought along the same lines as her regardless of how true it may or may not be. Before she could consider it further the cleaner that had been tidying the last of the plates gave them a quick scowl, indicating that since they hadn’t been particularly assisting in their chores it would be best to move on to their lessons. As Teres stood she flashed a smile at Michael, not wanting to ignore him she wondered how much he truly believed that the little puppet was alive and his friend. He seemed quite sweet and she decided to make some time to talk to him properly in the evening, not wanting to dismiss him just because he talked to a sock.

She watched Erik for a few more moments before standing, the ‘group’ now collectively making their way through the house to where their lessons were held, though again as she walked a tingling sensation began to gnaw at her again and again, occasionally her vision swimming slightly or a weak feeling taking a hold of her as she took a seat. The rest of the day passed in somewhat a blur, through combination of dull introductions and the droning tone of their lecturer she had trouble enough staying focused, least of all because of the strange feelings that kept sweeping over her.

Before she knew it she had been taken away and found herself sat in the small office that was used by their resident therapist, Dr Gill. He was sat across the desk scrawling notes on a clipboard as she nervously sat in silence watching him, his wrinkled face and hands reminded her of one of those dogs that had too much skin – but older. After a short while he stopped and looked up at her and seemed to be examining her briefly before he scrawled a few more notes and then put the clipboard on his desk before he leaned back in his large leather chair and gazed at her briefly before he introduced himself.

“Teres Wratherton” he began glancing at his notes as he continued “I am Dr Gill, I see you have Dissociative identity disorder, recently diagnosed after an episode in which you assaulted an unknown individual with no memory of said event.” He paused again as if to leave her room to say something, though she didn’t know what this should be so she simply nodded and he went on “episodes of denial and frustration, no distinct personalities have thus far been observed other than that of the original subject”.

With that he removed his glasses and once more put down the clipboard, thinking for a few moments before he asked “and so you still do not recall this event or believe you suffer from this condition?”

The question threw her off slightly, she was surprised considering that no one else had asked her this, and certainly not so directly. She quickly nodded before add a meek “yes” , suddenly feeling nervous and uncertain and said “er… no” .

He then began to quiz her on the last few weeks, picking up his clipboard again and asking questions about how she had been feeling, what she had been doing and even asking about her home life, occasionally going as far as to ask her if her parents beat her, touched her or did any number of unspeakable things to her. He seemed to obsess over the smaller details, most of them she attributed to the side effects from the medication or said they were what she would have considered ‘normal’ (after all what teenager doesn’t get a little bit depressed every now and then, especially when all of their friends had disowned them for being crazy…), but it was clear from his frantic scribbling that he felt otherwise. Eventually his questions were at an end and he once more removed his glasses and gazed analytically at her before he cleared his throat and began.

“Miss Wratherton, it is this behaviour that leads me to believe that you most certainly are suffering from dissociative identity disorder, a condition notorious for episodes of amnesia, denial and on occasion extremely unsuitable and even violent behaviour, all of which match with what I see here. Frequently reported symptoms also include depression, mood swings, amnesia, anxiety and sometimes psychotic-like symptoms, which it could be argued you have also been experiencing”. He reached into one of his desk draws and pulled out a book and placed it on the desk, it was titled ‘The Three Faces of Eve’but continued to speak as he did so “the fact that no distinct personalities have yet emerged is a little concerning to me, though considering that you seem to be avoiding telling me about any childhood trauma or abuse it would not be too much of a stretch to suggest you are simply concealing this from me too.”

Teres sat almost flabbergasted by his conclusion and could feel her face turning red as she stumbled over her words to reply “B-but there isn’t anything to lie about! I’m not hiding any trauma or abuse and I’m definitely not lying about anything!”

At her raised voice Dr Gill simply scrawled a few more notes and with a somewhat disappointed tone he said “That will be all for today Miss Wratherton” before he dismissively waved towards the door.

Her temper rising Teres stood and stormed from the room and practically slammed the door behind her, initially she headed towards the room where the others were still having their lesson but as she went over the appointment over and over in her mind she suddenly stopped and decided that she was going to sneak outside for a cigarette, slightly beyond the point of caring if she was caught right now.

As she marched up into the room she shared with Maddy and Sarah suddenly her head began to pound and her vision swim and she staggered slightly before a few moments later everything went black.

---

Bish opened his eyes and took a deep long breath of air, glancing briefly around the room that he found himself stood in. It seemed to be some kind of sleeping quarters, what looked like a trio of beds and meagre possessions arrayed around the room. Looking down he examined his body, remembering now the brief escape he’d managed a few weeks ago when he’d last awakened. He grinned as he recalled how good it had felt to frolic free and release his built up tensions on that unfortunate girl that had crossed his path. The body he was examining was thin, hairless and smooth, the hands pink and soft with the nails carefully groomed with some strange bright colour covering them. As he looked around he spotted an open doorway which led into some sparkling white tiled room, but most importantly there was a reflective surface and he could see the face of his host looking back at him. With a skip and a hop he made his way up to the reflective surface and gazed at his new face eagerly.

“Hideous” he spat as he looked at the long dark hair and small feminine features that dominated the face as he probed, poked and prodded at it with the fingers that were now his. He then spent a few more moments examining the body and with a smirk he grasped at ‘his’ breasts giving them an experimental squeeze before slapping a butt cheek and then thought ‘well I suppose I could get used to it…’ imagining briefly how he’d be able to use his new feminine form to torment others.

Closing his eyes he probed into the mind that he now occupied and wrenched as much information he could from the cowering consciousness that now lay dormant within, spending a few moments as he slowly became more intimate with some of the details of Teres life. The most prominent thought that sprung forth was that she had been about to get some cigarettes, whatever they were, and smoke one of them whilst hidden so that no-one would find her. Opening his eyes again he stalked back into the bedroom and rifled through ‘his’ possessions before he pulled out the hidden pack and lighter and glared sceptically at them. The memories he now had seemed to be telling him that they were very good, but very bad for you – and in fact they were considered contraband in this place. Shrugging he peeled open the lid of the tiny container and pulled out one of the thin white sticks and placed it delicately in his new lips before he began to fumble with the small fire making device, eventually causing a small flame to spring up as he inhaled the smoke deeply before exhaling and sprawling out across one of the three beds. A few moments later he smiled and made a metal note that he liked these cigarettes quite a bit. Just as he began to rifle through the nearest set of draws there was suddenly an extreme stabbing pain in his mind and he felt his grip on the girl’s mind loosening again.

“Not yet you bitch!” he hissed as he tried to resist as much as he could, but a few moments later everything went dark and Bish was forced back into the tiny cold space that he had known for too many years.

---

Teres stood absolutely shocked and bewildered as she realised what she was doing. Cigarette in one hand and one of Sarah’s bras in her other she was apparently in the process of rooting through her underwear draw as she lay sprawled on her bed. Throwing the undergarment down she scrambled off the bed with an unceremonious thud and rushed over to the window before she opened it wide, moving back across the room to the bathroom she flushed the lit cigarette as quickly as she could before she stopped and exclaimed “What the actual fuck!”

About ten minutes later she sheepishly made her way back into the classroom, avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes as she shuffled to the back of the room and hoped to god that no-one would notice she’d be gone longer than an hour or smell her new application of perfume, or most importantly her rather panicked gloomy mood as she considered that she actually might belong here with them.

[paragloan]

Maddy sat there for a few more minutes after Erik walked out the door. She felt horrible for how she had behaved and what she had said. She knew that she had a bad habit of lashing out at others when she was uncomfortable and this morning was a prime example. She had been upset when Sarah had been her usual self to her and blew things out of proportion. She had tore into Sarah, yelled at Erik who had not really done anything to her and probably alienated the new girl. She wasn't too worried about how she had come off to Micheal because his grasp on reality seemed sort of tentative as it was but it was no reason to talk down to him either. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed. She knew that soon it would be time for lessons and she dreaded seeing the others. Also, she knew that word of her little outburst was sure to have made it to Dr. Gil and she really hated talking to him.

Standing up and taking a deep breath, Maddy walked out the door and went to the room where lessons were held. She would have to make peace with everyone later. It seemed like things were never easy here. She thought that once she was away from home that she would get better quickly and things would be bright and shiny again. Every day though seemed to bring with it some new challenge or unforeseen issue to overcome and the doubt that things would ever be normal for her grew. Why am I like this? Why can't I seem to control myself? Why do I always either shut down or flip out when I get stressed? Why do I have to count things and why does it bother me when people don't finish their sentences? I know that most people are not like this so why am I? Am I somehow broken or was I born wrong? I can't remember a time when I did not have these issues. And those are just a few of them that I allow myself to talk about to anyone. It is the ones that I don't talk about that scare me even more. Even the new meds that Dr. Gil prescribed for me are not doing anything but dulling the impulses. It isn't making them go away. However, if I tell the Dr. about all this he will just give me something else that might be even worse or look at me like I am not trying hard enough to get better. What can I do?

Walking over to the row of desks, she sat down in the one closest to the window. When the others slowly filed in she kept her head down and her eyes averted. She was not quite ready to make amends yet and if she looked at anyone then she knew she would break down. The time seemed to pass fairly quick. She saw out of the corner of her eye the new girl slide in the door. Something seemed a bit off with her but it was nothing she could pinpoint. Turning back to the window, Maddy put it out of her mind for now.

When lessons were over for the day, she watched the others slowly file out of the room. She had about thirty minutes until her session with Dr. Gil. That was plenty of time to make a start with the others. She saw Erik and hurried over to him. She put out one hand and softly touched him on the arm. When he turned to her she looked him in the eye and asked, "Can we talk?"

[EurmalEye]

@Eviledd1984 @paragloan @Tsar Gatto

“Yeah well I’d feel a lot better about it if I didn’t have to take a cocktail of vile drugs every morning”

Erik nodded, glancing down at his own pill cup. "I know that feeling, I think they change mine every few days- the colors are always different." He looked back up as Michael began to pester him about the answer to a riddle. Erik stared at him, trying to remember what he was talking about, then decided that it was not a good use of his precious brainpower. He put a smile on and said "Yes! You got it! That is absolutely correct!" Erik wasn't particularly certain what riddle he had originally told the strange boy, but he was still feeling upset over the day's early events that had so embarrassed him. 'Still it's not like I did anything wrong, in fact overall I think my performance was still quite good enough to leave a suitable impression.' Pleased at his own counsel, he rose and began walking to class, popping a grape into his mouth. Teres walked near him, but looked somewhat unsteady on her feet.

They entered class and as Erik had predicted, the lectures were extraordinarily dull. Erik passed the time meticulously cleaning his nails, and occasionally glancing over at Teres, who seemed genuinely ill at this point. Erik's session with Dr. Gil was early today, intersecting with snack time. His stomach growled at him, not satisfied with the handful of food he had given it this morning. Erik ignored the sounds of hunger, he knew his body could survive almost anything he threw at it. He entered Dr. Gill's small office and lowered himself onto the couch with a plop, looking bored and disinterested. Nothing new would happen during this session. Dr. Gill would go over his progress at reaching his "therapy goals," ask about his medications, and try to glean more information about Erik's personal life no doubt squirreling it all away to write an "tell-all" novel once Erik made it big. Erik answered without paying too much attention to the questions staring at the degrees Dr. Gill had on the wall, judging the schools listed on the various degrees and certificates.

"By the way, Erik I am told that you all had a very interesting breakfast this morning." Dr. Gill pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose gazing at Erik inquisitively. "I would like to hear more about it from you."

Erik raised an eyebrow, this was a slight deviation from there normal sessions. Absently he wondered if he could finally gain some credibility with the therapist, possibly accelerating his exit from this place. "Well, honestly, there isn't that much to it. Teres joined us this morning. Calla needed some help eating and Maddy got a bit upset." He shrugged his shoulders trying to project modesty and humility. 'Go on, admit that you are impressed with my progress.' Dr. Gill, however, simply nodded and wrote another note on his damned clipboard, giving Erik nothing. The rest of the session continued as normal.

Erik went back to class and listened dully to mind numbing lecturer. There was nothing here that he had not been able to teach himself in 20 minutes outside of this prison house. It was as though the group home staff expected him to have the intelligence of a four year old, an insult. The day passed, Teres went out to her own session then came back later. He noticed a new scent of perfume waft through the air as she passed. He nodded appreciatively. Erik too had often run back to his room to correct some failing in his clothing or simply to ensure that he was perfect in the mirror. The day droned on till classes were done. The rest of the group slowly began filing out of the class. He felt a light touch against his arm and looked to see Maddy looking at him in the eyes.

"Can we talk?"

Erik considered for a moment then nodded. He waited for the others to leave the classroom waiting to hear what Maddy had to say for herself.

[Eviledd1984]

(Edited)

[AimeChambers]

As Maddy shrugged her off and started roasting seemingly everyone, she couldn't help but show a shocked expression. These little freak outs were few and in between, she usually either stayed quiet or got what she wanted. But in reality, this was all Sarah wanted. She wanted the girl to feel like this, she wanted her to get in trouble one for saying something so upsetting to her, and to see her disorder take over. The girl didn't always like to be here, imprisoned by the staff and told it would be the end of the world if she didn't change. But she loved to watch the outbursts, why oh why did the Ebott house not serve popcorn?

While everyone was staring at her, Sarah took a tiny opportunity to smile. Maddy rushed out of the room and she got a little teary eyed from wanting to laugh. Seriously, she couldn't understand the other girls behavior! In reality, all the Ebott house had done for her was make her cruel and violent. Before coming here she had been a nice girl that was only a tiny bit competitive. But now... Her heart had been turned sick and twisted. If she would ever allow it, she would need therapy from the therapy at the Ebott house!

"I'm sorry for being such a touchy feely person... I don't know what comes over me..." She said sadly, before going back to her food. Sarah didn't want the new girl to figure out that it was Sarah's fault so quickly. With all the fun she had already had, she didn't need much more to keep her spirits up for a while. She silently went to class and the bounce didn't leave her step all through her work. Her therapy session wouldn't be until after lunch.

That Dr. Gil could always tell there was something off about her, but couldn't even confirm what. She always acted just so sweet to the staff, them always telling her she should take better care of her appearance. But Dr. Gil had seen that the other patients didn't like her, it wasn't like they were snitches, it was just something he had picked up on.

Now how would the therapy go today? Would she cry about what Maddy had said to her, or talk about how pretty and nice the new girl seemed? Hey, at least she was totally cool with if a girl looked prettier than her. Her disorder would be totally uncontrollable if that happened.

[paragloan]

Standing there in front Of Erik while she tried to compose her thoughts, Maddy's mind was racing a mile a minute. She wasn't sure what to say or do and even if she really wanted to say anything at all but she hated how she had lashed out at everyone and wanted to make some kind of peace at last. She could not face Sarah right now and Micheal was too odd for her to know what, if anything, to say to him. As for the new girl, Teres, well she would apologize to her later in private when Sarah was not around. She took a grounding breath and looked at Erik before dropping her eyes. She could not look him in the eyes and say this.

Shuffling her feet, Maddy said, "I am sorry about how I acted earlier. I wasn't upset with you or anything rally it was jut everything got to me at once. Sarah always knows how to get me riled up and I just lost it. I have issues with people getting in my space and being touched without permission and a lot of other things too unfortunately, which is why I am here. I also am not too experienced with boys and the way you act being so self-confident and nice but kind of vain too, no offence intended, makes me uneasy. I am not sure if you like me or want to just be a friend or what. I like to have clear cut boundaries since chaos kind of kills me. I know I am rambling so I will shut up now but I am sorry for what I said to you."

The silence while she waited for Erik to reply was deafening in it intensity. Without realizing it she started to rock back and forth on the balls of her feet. She was reminded of a time at home when something similar had happened. She had been 12 at the time and her one and only friend at the time had come over to spend the night. Ellen had been an outgoing girl that for some reason had taken a liking to Maddy. To this day, Maddy still did not know why Ellen had wanted to be her friend. Maddy was fairly quiet, and withdrawn and had issues with trust and boundaries and other things as well whereas Ellen was someone that everyone talked to and was a part of all te school activities. It did not make sense that they would become friends but it had happened anyways. That night, her parents had gotten into an argument and Maddy and Ellen had heard them from upstairs in Maddy's room. Maddy had gone downstairs to see what was going on and if possible get them to quit. When they saw her they had turned on he and started to yell at her for interrupting and basically just living. When she couldn't stand it anymore she had run back upstairs while they continued to fight. Ellen had only asked Maddy what was wrong and Maddy lost it. She started to yell at Ellen and had been terrible to her. Ellen had waited until she had stopped yelling and then told her that she was going home. After that night, Ellen and she had spoken less and less until once again she was alone.

This is not the same as back then. In fact, he hasn't even said if he is my friend or not. I may just be that weird girl that he pities and that is all. In fact that is probably right. I know Sarah thinks that I am strange and likes to make me miserable. I bet he will turn out to be the same way. I will not have anybody here that will like me either. I always have to do things that make people hate me. Why can't I seem to stop.

Shivering a little, Maddy continued to rock back and forth. Unbeknownst to her, she had started to make a soft whimper like sound. In times of stress this seemed to happen to her.

[EurmalEye]

@paragloan

Erik watched Maddy carefully as she got through her apology, noting the various sounds and motions that had started to come from her as she got through what she had to say. His breath caught in his chest for a moment as again she insulted him by calling him vain the "no offense" doing little to assuage the verbal blow. 'Again she insults me? Why? She can't even look me in the eyes.' From there she continued to ramble on with her apology till she eventually lost steam and recognized that she was in fact rambling. She hesitatingly faltered with her speech rolling and back and forth on her heels and making small whimpering sounds. She looked like a lost puppy whining in order to gain his pity.

Erik gazed at her curiously a moment thinking on what to say next and what would leave the best impression. He had calmed down from this morning and was no longer exposed amongst people so he could take his time to think over the situation. While the unexpected insult had upset him, he was somewhat mollified by the feeling of superiority as she placed herself before his judgement, awaiting his verdict, and praying for his forgiveness. This seemed to be the correct way of things, the way things should be rather than being trapped in here because of his idiotic father.

"Boundaries? Alright let's make some of those. First, please stop calling me vain, I can't say that I appreciate that. Second, I am not trying to hit on you, if I was I am sure I would be aware of that so let's just put that behind us okay?" His tone was somewhat hard as he delivered these two items. He took a deep breath and visibly relaxed his muscles making it appear as though he was calmed down. He examined his reflection in the nearby reflection of the glass admiringly before turning his gaze to Maddy again. His voice took on a gentler tone, designed to put her at her ease. "Other than that, it's fine, water under the bridge. Others before you have had some outbursts here and a lot of them were a lot worst. I can understand Sarah upsetting you, but don't worry about Teres I already told her not to worry about this morning and that it wasn't representative of you." He raised his hands in a mollifying gesture. "Yes, yes kind I know. You don't have to say so... Unless you would like to. Anyway, we can be friends. Only friends. I am not interested in pursuing any other kind of relationship. If you have any other boundaries, just tell me or write them down. I don't see any reason why we can't get along. Oh and do me a favor? Tell Teres you were wrong about me?"

Erik looked at the girl trembling before him and felt an emotion close to pity. She must have been so embarrassed to have attacked him in this morning's tirade. He awkwardly, and with a great deal of hesitance placed his hand above her head without actually touching and patted the empty air."There... There. Everything's going to be okay. There was some uncertain hesitance between his theres. He stood uncertain of what to do, before his instincts kicked back in and he left his monogrammed black and gold handkerchief on the desk before Maddy for her to use. His stomach growled at him and he felt a pang of hunger.

"Clean up and come down to eat with us." Erik left the room now thinking only about saying his hunger to make sure he was in top physical form for the rest of the day. He entered the dining room once again and made certain to grab himself a good sized portion of acceptable food mainly proteins and veggies, but with some sweet fruit as well. When Teres got to the table he would lean over and ask, "Are you feeling alright?" with a look of genuine concern on his face.

[Tsar Gatto]

The rest of the lesson passed in a blur to Teres, her thought solely on the strange incident that had occurred earlier. She had been on her way upstairs and then... and then what? Why couldn't she remember anything until she had been stood in her room with a cigarette in one hand going through Sarah's things with the other. Dr Gill's statement about amnesia sprang to her mind and she unconsciously shook her head. “'No no no' she thought unwilling to believe that the bogus diagnosis could be in the slightest bit right. 'It's just this damned medication' she told herself as she still fought with the headache that had gripped her since the morning.

The end of the lesson came and the group began to leave the classroom and Teres lingered slightly paranoid that any of them might quiz her on her slightly odd behaviour.

As she moved through Ebott house she noticed that Micheal was also walking on his own to lunch and she caught up to him eager to escape the thoughts that were racing through her mind. She was sure that he wouldn't be the type to quiz her or suspect her of anything. "Hey" she said trying to sound friendly as she came alongside him, she tried to smile happily despite her rather ill mood and groggy disposition. "I'm Teres" she said introducing herself properly to him as they both entered the dining room and she made her way over to where the food was, again her apatite rather meek as she took what she thought would be an acceptable minimum. Obviously she was wrong as the maid she assumed also doubled as the nutritionist added a sizable extra helping to her plate before shooing her to the table with a challenging glare that she took to mean she would be ensuring she had eaten it all.

No sooner than she had sat at the table Erik leaned over to her and asked "Are you feeling alright?"

She glanced up at him and she smiled as the look of concern he gave her made a slight tingle ripple through her, the feeling of slight dread and worry that had been gripping her washed away in a moment. "Yeah" she said "Yeah I think I'm okay. Just the meds" she said it almost like she was trying to convince herself too, but as she looked at Erik she began to feel like she actually was feeling okay now - her slight 'suspicions' and reservations from the morning forgotten for the moment.

[Eviledd1984]

Micheal had done what he needed to do with the doctor,Leaving the room skipping away to the dinning room,This was around the time he noticed Teres talking to him."Hello friend how are you doing today?" Danny spoke up before Micheal could speak,Micheal's hand moving to the girl's shoulder letting the small hands of the puppet patting her shoulder in a caring manner.

"Hello...would you like to hear a riddle?" Micheal then asked the girl sitting down beside her once he got his food."What building has the most stories?" The young man told her the riddle that he came up with this morning while taking a bite of the apple on his plate.He had hoped she would be wanting to hear the riddle and was also averting his eyes away form Eric.

[EurmalEye]

@Tsar Gatto@Eviledd1984

Erik smiled at her, pleased that Teres was feeling better. He was rapidly learning that he preferred her looking well, and if things went his way that was always for the best for everyone around. He opened his mouth to continue the conversation onto other things to get to know this strange girl who had caught his attention without even a word, yet Michael sat down. Eric smiles slid off his face into one of slight disappointment as he again lost the opportunity he had expected, however at the same time this was a good chance to see what kind of intelligence Teres possessed. He was certain that she was absolutely worthy of him, but it never hurt to have one's faith confirmed. He listened to the riddle as Michael spoke, he thought of the answer without even a moment's hesitation, catching himself from replying just in the nick of time. He reminded himself that he had to wait patiently and let Teres have a guess first. If she got it wrong, then he could give her a clue and maybe even impress her once again.

Besides he was rather hungry, he took the lull in their conversation as an opportunity to satisfy the quiet growling that was coming from his stomach. Despite his hunger, he was careful not to eat too quickly and appear as a savage and not too slowly to appear as some sort of snob. This was a fairly constant thought, now as comfortable to him as a favorite pair of jeans. Eric knew that just like his mother had taught him, presentation was everything. As he chewed his food his right hand idly itched at his left forearm over the sleeve of his shirt. He glanced back over at Teres, taking the moment to admire her visage despite her apparent reaction to her medication. Still something seemed unique about her that he could not place. However, at the moment it was Michael who gained his attention. He seemed to be looking away from Erik, which was strange in and of itself like going to an art museum and ignoring the art, but he seemed to be purposefully avoiding his gaze. Eric raised an eyebrow at this, but did not remark on it. He could not recall being anything beyond pleasant to bizarre puppeteer today.

[paragloan]

Maddy breathed a sigh of relief when Erik walked out the door. She felt better after talking to him. Although she could tell that he did not like it when she called him vain. a mental not was made to avoid that term around him. She was glad that he only liked her a a friend of such but her pride was still a bit dented. It wasn't like she wanted anyone here to like her romantically but for a girl it did give them a boost of confidence when someone was attracted to term, especially someone as well put together as Erik.

I guess I just have to talk to Teres and Micheal now to make amends. I know that I will have to talk to Sarah but I will save her for last. Maybe if I give her some room she won't be as difficult wen I do.

A loud growl disturbed her thoughts and she grabbed her stomach in alarm. It seemed since she had not really eaten breakfast per se that her stomach was letting her know it was pissed and needed attention. She smiled a bit at her weird though and started walking towards the dining room. She was in a much better frame of mind now and resolved to herself that the rest of the day would go smoothly. She would not make another scene or anything like that. She would be calm and collected and nice.

She walked into the dining room and saw that Erik, Teres, and Micheal were all sitting there already. She took the seat opposite of Teres and smiled at the girl shyly. She hadn't made a great first impression with her but maybe it wasn't too late to turn things around. She waited until there was a break in the conversation and said, "I am sorry for the way I acted this morning. I know that Erik has been nice enough to forgive me but I hope that you two do as well." She sat there hopefully as she waited for their reply. While being the center of attention was never fun, this time it was acceptable.

The dietitian smiled at her kindly as she placed her meal before her. Her stomach growled loudly once again and she blushed. She started to nibble on her food as she waited for someone to break the silence.

[Tsar Gatto]

Teres grimaced as she looked down at the plate of food that had been put before her, again her appetite seemed to be none existent though she knew the importance of eating even if she didn't feel like it. She forced a mouthful and began to chew as Michael presented his riddle to them. Eager for a distraction she thought about what the answer could be. As she looked at Michael for the first time she noticed his piercing blue eyes.

"What building has the most stories?" she asked repeating the riddle. To begin with her mind jumped to possibly a skyscraper, and she began to ponder if the answer would be a specific building or not when again a strange feeling assailed her. In the very depths of her mind a tiny voice whispered 'It's a library you fool', leaving her mind swimming as the strange feeling availed and she suddenly realised the voice was right.

"It's a library you f-" she began, stopping herself only just from repeating the entire phrase accidentally. After she had given the answer it suddenly dawned on her what had just happened. 'Where did that answer come from?' she thought to herself, shaking the odd feeling that it wasn't her that had come up with it. 'Thats ridiculous' she told herself as forced another mouthful of food and her attention went to Maddie as she sat down and said "I am sorry for the way I acted this morning. I know that Erik has been nice enough to forgive me but I hope that you two do as well" .

Swallowing she smiled at Maddie and quickly joked "Oh don't worry about it at all. I can already see that being forced to stay here will probably take its toll on me as well, so be prepared for my first outburst, it'll be worse than that". She smirked, not realising how true the statement would actually turn out to be.

As she continued to force mouthful after mouthful of her food in she took some time between swallowing and chewing to ask the others "So... how long have you all been here?" trying to get to know each of them slightly better. She wanted to ask why each of them had been sent here too, but it still felt like it might be a little too personal. Throwing caution into the wind she decided to ask about it another way after they had replied.

"I got sent here because I'm supposed to have D.I.D, you know Dissociative identity disorder? They used to call it multiple personality disorder?" She quickly added "It's all bullshit though" her eyes quickly going down to her food as she felt her cheeks flush a little. She hoped that they wouldn't judge her, suddenly feeling very exposed as she waited to see how they would respond. She realised the last people who had found out had practically never spoken to her again, though surely the occupants here wouldn't react similarly would they?

[Eviledd1984]

@Tsar Gatto

"Correct correct very good...F?Flower?Friend?" Micheal said happily snapping his finger since he could not clap with Danny."I wonder if you would like to hear another riddle?" Danny interjected nodding his puppet head towards Teres."Or if not then that is fine too i guess" Micheal was now looking down at the table top sadly.

He didn't want to be annoying but wanted to make friends with other people.Danny was whispering something in his ear causing the young man to start giggling softly from what he was being told.If Teres would not want to hear another riddle then he would just listen to Maddy and Tere's conversation.

[EurmalEye]

@Tsar Gatto @Eviledd1984@paragloan

Erik watched Maddy with interest as she entered the room. 'Is she going to tell Teres she was wrong about me now or later?' On one hand it would excellent to put this concern entirely behind them, but as he considered it, it would be more difficult for Maddy to enter it into the conversation naturally. Maddy seemed to find a compromise and stated that he had kindly already forgiven her. He gave her a nod of acceptance and then glanced at Teres pointedly hopefully reminding her to do what he had asked later. Maddy also seemed to be feeling quite braver, looking much better as well, he wondered idly if he would see the return of personalized handkerchief at some point in the future or if it would be kept like a souvenir. It did not particularly matter, he had several more.

He turned and found that Teres had solved the riddle quite quickly."Nice one." He said it with a grin pleased to find that she had once again met his standards. He watched as Maddy and Teres said a few more words between each other and Teres asked the group as a whole how long they had been there. Michael seemed to ignore the question, preferring the reality where everyone was an insatiable riddle addict that liked talking to dog puppets. Teres took a bite of her food before glancing between all of them.

"So... How long have you all been here?"

Erik glanced at the calendar on the wall and did some quick mental math. As much as this place was hell for him, it was difficult not to lose track of the days in the monotonous routines of the place. "I've been here for the second longest amount of time, about a month. I have another two months to go according to the staff. There aren't too many things to do so fighting boredom in whatever manner you can helps a lot, though there are few things that can make it more livable. I hope the outside world hasn't grown too dull without me." He laughed as though he had been joking, but he was genuinely interested in what was going on outside the walls of this house. There weren't too many opportunities to find out under the strict eyes of the nurses.

"I got sent here because I am supposed to have D.I.D., you know Dissociative Identity Disorder? They used to call it multiple personality disorder? It's all bullshit though." Teres said all this quickly, trying to get it all out in the air as fast as possible.

"I believe you." Erik replied instantly. "I am in a pretty similar situation myself. A lot of the time people get stuck here for petty reasons. The court system really just doesn't want to deal with us so they put us in here." Erik had very little doubt that Teres was telling the truth, after all if they could put him in here anyone could be a victim.

[Eviledd1984]

@EurmalEye

"Well i have been here for 2 months...so i have like 2 more months to go.." Micheal said happily letting Danny's head nodding softly,"So how long have you all been here?" Danny added to the conversation looking around the table.He was generally curious of the other people and how long they have in this place.

"Our doctor thinks we need a big more time since we still hear voices and see the eyeless men walking around in the hallways,They are here to eat our eyeballs ya know" Danny said strangely eerily but was silenced by Micheal who shook his head covering the puppet's mouth."Sorry about him he talks too much...So yeah" Micheal said shaking his head still swearing that he saw one of the eyeless men holding a tray with a bowl full of eyeballs.

[paragloan]

Maddy listened to first Teres, then Erik and finally Micheal talk about how long there were here for and why, but she did not know what to say. She was shocked to hear Micheal, or Danny's words about the eyeball man and for a minute she wanted to give him a hug since he seemed like he was the main one out of all of them that really needed help. She sat there and all of a sudden found herself starting to talk. "I am here for 4 more months. I was sent here because my parents thought I had obsessive compulsive disorder and I flipped out and they thought I was going to hurt someone or myself. I don't think I should have been sent here either but the councilor told my parents that I should and now I am stuck here and maybe I do have issues but still it is just not right." She came to an abrupt halt as she realized that she was rambling. She hadn't meant to share quite that much but it just all came tumbling out and she couldn't seem to stop.

She turned red as she waited for someone to react. It had already been a long day and she still had to talk to Dr Gill during the afternoon. She hoped that things would not be too awkward now that the others knew why she was here. She wanted the time she spent here to be as stress free as possible. If the way the day had gone was any indicator of how the rest of her stay was going to be then she would rather just stay drugged until they let her go home. It would be easier and less painful.

She ate a few more bites before she looked up again to see if anyone was going to speak again. She could tell that they all had their own thoughts and needed to process what had been shared. Still, she knew that someone would say something in a minute. Around here being silent was not a thing that happened for too long.