Jack In The Box

“Jackson, that’s enough!” I shrieked, but it was too late. Mad-Dave’s face was bloody and his eyes were rolled back, a tooth fallen to the floor.

Cody, the Man-child didn’t seem to be bothered by this. He just casually threw us a look as if we’d just disturbed Mister Panda and his television time together.

I seized Jackson’s arm and tried to pull him away but his eyes spelled murder. It was like he was possessed. Jackson was too muscled and strong; he didn’t even budge when I pulled him. I needed to thread slowly out of this situation, one wrong move and I’d probably end up looking like Dave.

“Jackson.” I called out him. “You need to calm down. Dave is a bully; he’s just messing with you.”

Jackson turned his furious eyes at me. “Nobody fucking talks about my mother like that!” He yelled at Dave.

It was funny how one nasty word about his mother had driven him into a fit of rage when he was the one who’d killed her in cold blood. Maybe Jackson had some serious Mommy issues.

“I will kill him!” He said through gritted teeth.

Just then Marvin, the ward boy was passing by who saw the mess. “Call Dr. Shaw urgently!” I told him and turned to face Jackson. “If you tried to harm him anymore than you already have, they will put you in a strait-jacket and force you into the isolation room. Do you want that?”

Other patients were terrified to even think about being put into strait-jacket and the isolation room, but in Jackson’s case, he didn’t seem bothered.

“Didn’t you want a twenty-four hours out of the institution, do you think you’ll get it with this behavior?”

That seemed to have done it because his breathing that had been erratic a moment ago began to calm down. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and couldn’t help but notice how the hard muscles flexed beneath my fingers.

A minute later, Dave was placed on a stretcher. He opened one eye and passed me a grin, his teeth stained with blood that ran down his chin. The stretcher rolled away as Dave faked a moan.

Then, it just clicked into place.

It was all Dave’s plan just to get Jackson into trouble. He knew about Jackson’s violent nature and his bad temper and he’d taken advantage of it.

How crazy was Mad-Dave on the scale of one to ten?

I’d say a hundred.

Some nurses and two security guards arrived, followed by Aaron who seemed furious. The nurses restrained Jackson like a prisoner and put the mask back on his face. Jackson just stared impassively, his features not betraying any emotion. And just like I’d guessed, he was placed in a strait-jacket that even stopped him from moving.

“Aaron, it’s not his fault.” I said. “David instigated the fight. He said some really vile things about Jackson.” I explained. “I saw it myself!”

breaking their jaw, biting off flesh.” Aaron asked, clearly irritated. I felt bad for Aaron. He already had enough work

know what he did was wrong, but we can’t always keep him shackled like an animal. Oh wait; wild animals are still treated better.” I said as I watched the security guards and two male Nurses

you aware of what Jackson is even capable of?” He asked. “He is

Aaron, it’s just

other day. You need to understand that you never demand or force Jackson to

own way at handing Jackson if that’s okay. If we try to remove his restraints, maybe he won’t be as difficult as he is being now. I want

the ‘Are you fucking insane’

you to do it.” That said he sauntered out of the room and

****

patients for a few days. On the fourth day, I went back to Laila and literally begged her to let me visit him. After much convincing and a large slice of homemade chocolate cake later,

scribbles all over it. If you looked closely, you would notice the disturbing imagery. There was no window and only a bed adjacent to the wall. Jackson was lying on the bed, facing the

he said.

said and placed

brown eyes inspecting me curiously. “Stop trying

wrong but attacking him like that is even worse.” I said. “Do you think this attitude of yours is going to get you anywhere? The way you’ve been treating the previous nurses, scaring them away, forcing them to consume your medication. I

I think I can fight my own battles besides, I don’t see a reason why you’re trying to act like a damn psychoanalyst. I think that’s a job best suited for Paul-fucking-Bennet so

him that the nurses were always talking

I’m not here because I love to, this is my job. And if you think you can get away by talking like that to me and maintaining this

his ears with ear muffs, he said. “When I’m out of this room and this jacket, you better believe I’m

was a clear

to be here to serve you dinner, so

all of my body when he’d said that, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that he scared

****

those days watching Netflix and hanging out in a bookstore where they served coffee. I admit it, I was a loner and the only friend I had was Maddy who was stuck at the hospital. For two full days I tried to keep my mind off Jackson. I’d been tempted to search him online but always

he was

knew he was

he had

something about him that made me so damn

the end of it, I started to feel a bit ill due to the horrific details entailing the murders. I tried to tell myself it was all for research purposes, to see if Jackson had any similar symptoms. I clicked those sites off and cleared by search history, I didn’t need Ken to stumble

exactly eleven p.m, my phone began buzzing. I reached for it

I had in

such an hour? What could be