Insanity

Chapter 2

by Kayla Chavi

Rating: R

Genre: Alternate/Drama

Email: kaylachavi@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/todream/index.htm

* * *

A lot of people are wondering when this is going to get
more towards the R rating....and well, all I have to say is
that its rated R for dark themes not *coughs* I mean, come
on! Kayla really is an innocent little kawaii writer.

. . .

Okay, don’t all rush to agree with me at once *scowls* I
really am innocent and have no clue when it comes to
*coughs* Although I did surprise Patch...

Neways...enough of my ramblings. This is probably going
to be the last thing of mine for about the next two months.
I’m going to be moving from my dorm back to my house. .
.which would take no more than two days if I had a house I
was moving back to. The wonderful US Military is moving
my family once again and we don’t have a house
*grumbles* so no compy access for until god-know-when.
SO...you’ll have to be content with this...and well...I
promise to have bunches more stuffers when I appear again
in late August.

Oh, and VL stands for Virgin Lips. Don’t ask, its a big
thing at the school I’m going to and I thought it might be
fun to add.

* * *

The room was almost completely pitch black. It was
impossible to tell how large it was, and where any of the
furniture was. Sitting in the middle of the room was
Serena. Her legs were crossed and her wrists were resting
lightly on her knees, as if she were meditating. Her hair
was completely down and straight, the blond strands
pooling around her in what was a purely artistic manner. In
the darkness of the room she looked even more pale than
she had in the brightness of the children’s playroom. Her
eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted were the only
indications that she wasn’t some ancient marble statue.

“Close the door behind you, Darien.”

The young doctor raised an eyebrow but complied with her
wishes. The door audibly clicked shut, and a second later
the locking mechanism slid into place. Darien silently
hunted for a light switch, wanting to be able to brighten up
the dark atmosphere. He gave up when he failed to find one
right away and looked back at the young girl sitting on the
floor.

Her cool blue eyes were open and she was watching him
intently. She had changed her attire since he had last seen
her, earlier that evening. She wore a pair of comfortable,
loose spandex pants and a tank top made of the same type
of material. The small amount of light in the room cast
dark shadows across her delicate features, making her
features look gaunt and unearthly.

Slowly, she smiled, the corners of her mouth only rising a
little. It was a coy smile, and the dark haired man had no
doubt that she wasn’t try to be innocent in that statement.
The blond knew exactly what she was doing. She also
seemed very amused by his mere presence and the way that
he was looking at her. Then, just as slowly and delicately,
she stood. It was like she was a graceful dancer or perhaps
an exotic feline, in the way that she uncurled from the
floor. Every movement was beautiful and fluid.

Every movement she made was deliberate.

“Welcome to the Insanity, Darien. I hope you enjoy it.”

The lights suddenly brightened, although it was still not
enough to see everything in the room clearly. Darien
blinked, surprised at the sudden change in light. Now he
could see that the room was rather large. It was shaped in a
pentagon, with the bottom being where the door was, and
the farthest point being the top of the odd shaped room. Her
bed was against one wall, a small desk containing a
computer on the other. He could see that pieces of paper
filled all of the walls, but he was unable to make them out
in the partial light of the room.

“Cute,” he said after he had finished looking around. He
looked back at her to find that she was sitting on the chair
at her desk. One leg was folded under her, the other she had
tucked to her chest, holding it there with lightly clasped
hands. “No windows?”

“Not since the last time I tried to jump.”

“Ah.”

She watched him for a moment before chuckling quietly,
“You are a man of very few words.”

“I’m an observer,” he said simply and shrugged, not letting
his gaze on her waver in the least.

“I see,” she said. “You aren’t the first you know. You
probably won’t be the last either. I’ve been here for most of
my life. I’ve had five different doctors, you know.”

“I know.”

Serena chuckled quietly, “Yes, but do you really,” her
voice was a quiet murmur as she said the simple statement,
for it clearly was not a question. She reached over to a
panel on her desk and pressed a button. The lights in the
room darkened for a moment before a single light shown
over the wall closest to the door.

The wall was littered with pieces of paper that had the
drawings of a young child on them. There were pictures of
beautiful rainbows, pictures of cute little elves, and lovely
fairies. Some were simple landscapes, others had the
uncomplicated drawings of houses. Others contained cute
little animals, mostly rabbits. A few even had pictures of
other people. 

“My first doctor was into drawing,” she said after a
moment, “He believed that my sickness could be
understood and corrected through the drawing of pictures.
He didn’t believe that I was crazy and encouraged me to
take up art. I was probably around the age of Small Lady
when I did most of those,” she looked amused when Darien
gave her a surprised look before looking back at the wall.
He didn’t think that a child would be able to draw in such
detail.

“The only thing that this idiot did for me was give me a
comfort in drawing and painting,” she continued. “He
thought I was on the way to recovery and normalcy when
he went quite mad.” Her tone held a hint of amusement that
was hidden in the seriousness of her voice. “Turn them
over.”

Darien went over to the wall and did as she commanded.
He saw that the pictures were all attached to the wall at the
top of the drawing. Serena had taken great care in their
placement, so that flipping the picture up from the bottom
did not damage the artwork, nor make it too difficult.

Serena was impressed at the way this new man handled his
reaction to the underside of her childhood illustrations. His
eyes only widened a little while the rest of his features kept
the cool and controlled look that he had decided to take. In
reality, he was near the point of being horrified.

On the back of each other drawings, were new images,
images that seemed to be the complete opposite of the
original picture. The rainbows had turned to dark
thunderstorms. Lighting raked across the paper in angry
streaks. The elves had turned into ugly goblins and the
fairies into demons. A twisted hell seemed to writhe around
these evil creatures, creating a stomach churning scene.
The landscapes were now ravaged by war, some by natural
disasters that seemed to tare the land asunder. The houses
had all burned to the ground, and children were being torn
from the arms of their parents. It made Darien shudder, to
think of what must have been going on in Serena’s head at
that age, to make her draw all of these horrific pictures.

“The men in white jackets even came for him,” she said
sardonically after the silence of the revelation. “It was the
first time I had ever seen a straight jacket used on a
babbling man,” Darien looked back at her and she
shrugged, “I found it humorous.” 

Darien actually laughed quietly and shook his head,
keeping his thoughts to himself. He replaced the pictures so
that what he had mentally titled the ‘happy’ sides were
showing. When Serena changed her lights again, he was
able to control his startled reaction.

This time the wall was filled with artwork that contained
varying shades of blues, purples, and pinks. The individual
drawings themselves had no discernable form, but all
together they made up an image of a very lovely looking
woman.

“Her name is Ami Anderson,” Serena said quietly, “She
was my doctor for nearly eight years. One day she showed
me a portrait of a man that was made from several other
pictures,” she smiled slightly, “I was mesmerized by the
way the artist was able to piece together the pictures.
You’re looking at an eight year project.”

Darien found himself mesmerized as well by the amazing
talent that this young girl seemed to have. Almost
reverently he touched the pictures. “She’s very beautiful,”
he commented as he pulled his fingers away from the wall.

Serena smiled slightly and looked a little dreamy for a
moment, like she was remembering a pleasant memory. “I
loved her,” she said simply, “She was the only one who
understood me. We would play all sorts of games and she
taught me about the outside world. She never lied to me
once, and believe me when I say that lying is something
that I can pick up on immediately,” she met Darien’s dark
eyes squarely. He just raised an eyebrow and she continued.

“Then she discovered something that I guess was very
important and she left. I haven’t seen her for a long time
now. Sometimes they let her visit me, but most of the time
she’s working on another project. I don’t know what it is,
but it was obviously more important than me.”

With words like these, Darien expected her to sound bitter.
In fact, it was the opposite. Her voice reflected her
nonchalance. He looked over at her for an instant to find
that she looked indifferent to the fact that her favorite
doctor had been taken from her. She caught him looking at
her and she tilted her head to the side and gave another one
of her coy smiles.

The light changed again, this time he was prepared for it.
The next wall that she showed him was filled with pieces
of white paper of different shapes and sizes. On the paper
were characters of several different languages. Serena had
grouped them according to the type of language she had
chosen to use. There were Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese,
Japanese, hieroglyphics, and some were in English,
Spanish, and French.

“Jedeite felt that if I could learn other languages then
maybe I could express myself better. He taught me French
and Spanish and told me to write down in a journal what I
felt everyday,” she opened a drawer in her desk and pulled
out a beautifully bound book. “Go ahead, I don’t mind.”

Darien caught it when she tossed it to him. He opened it to
a random page and then looked back up at her. “You feel in
single words?” Page after page was filled with lists of
words.

“He got frustrated too.” Darien looked up at her and she
smiled slightly, “But it didn’t stop him. He just asked me to
pick particular words that expressed how I felt.” She
paused and then nodded at the writings on her wall, “I
wasn’t feeling at that point in my life, so I asked the
children. Each language is different for each child. I
learned to write in those languages for them. I think that
they all still have a copy of what I did.” She smiled slightly.

“You call them children,” Darien handed her back the
journal. “Aren’t you still a child?”

“I grew up a long time ago, Darien. I feel as if I’m eighty or
ninety years old, I don’t feel sixteen,” she lapsed into
silence. “Sixteen year old girls dream of parties and dances.
Sixteen year old girls dream of boys and sex. Sixteen year
old girls dream of colleges and jobs. They dream of outings
with boys their age, the dream of older men, they dream of
younger men. They dream.” She sounded amazingly bitter
and hateful. He thought her to sound emotionless and
uncaring before. Now she was filled with feeling.

“They dream,” her voice was a hush that was barely heard
in the quiet of her room. “No, Darien. I am not a child. I
never was. I never will be.”

“I’m sorry,” he said honestly. He wondered what kind of
parents she must have been born to, for them to subject her
to the cruelty of growing up alone. He wondered what they
thought was so wrong with her to not give her an normal
life.

“Don’t be.” She looked back up at him and her eyes and
facial features were back to being emotionless. They were
back to being cold and unfeeling. “I still dream. Not
happily, not normally, but I dream.”

Darien nodded and looked back at the wall. One particular
piece of paper caught his eye. He stood a little closer, so he
could try and make out the sentence. It was in Old English,
the type of English that had been spoken in medireview
times. The letters were practically illegible and the
characters obscure. The normal person would not even be
able to recognize it as English unless they had taken
English courses in college. Luckily, Darien was not the
average person.

Serena saw him looking at it and smiled to herself,
wondering if he could make out the ancient form of his
language. She got her answer a few minutes later.

“To die, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream. Aye, there’s
the rub. For in that death of sleep, what dreams may come.”
He looked at her to see a trace of surprise cross her
features. “Shakespeare. Hamlet.” She nodded and smiled a
little wider. “Its in his famous ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy.
He’s contemplating suicide.”

“I’ve never read it.”

“You should, its a good play,” he turned around. “My
Senior English class in high school studied it.” He looked
over the papers once more to see if he could recognize
anything else. He frowned slightly. “What language is
this.”

“Angflie.”

“New country that I’m not aware of?”

“According to Small Lady, its the language of the angels.
She says that Mamoru speaks to her in that language. She
wrote it down for us one day and we all did our best to
learn it. The Heads can’t figure it out, even after they stole
the paper from Small Lady.” She sounded positively smug
at that revelation. When he turned back to look at her, she
looked smug as well. He arched an eyebrow and she
shrugged. “I found it amusing that a child was able to come
up with something that the idiots couldn’t figure out.” She
paused, “No offence.”

“None taken.”

She looked past him and to the wall. “Even though I did my
best to confuse Jedeite, he was a good friend. I enjoyed
trying to confuse him and frustrate him, but he had a fiery
and indomitable personality that wouldn’t let himself get
too frustrated by me,” she met Darien’s eyes and titled her
head slightly. “He got married to the most beautiful woman
living. I was jealous for a long time.”

She changed lights again, this time it focused on the final
wall. It was a huge sheet of red that just hung there. Angry
slashes of color ripped across the sheet, all of them red but
in varying shades.

“It didn’t help that my next doctor was an utter and
complete bastard.”

He turned away from the wall and looked at her closely.
For a brief moment he thought he could see tears sparkling
in the corners of her eyes, making her eyes were an even
brighter blue. Then she blinked and the moment was gone.

“From the moment he saw me, all he wanted to do was
touch me. He thought I would be naive and know nothing
about men or sex. He obviously had no idea about the
internet.” She paused, “And he forgot that Diamond was
practically a father to me.”

Darien chuckled at the mention of his friend. “Diamond is
rather blunt at times.” He saw her wry smile and then heard
a quiet giggle.

“I like Diamond,” she admitted a little shyly. “I understand
him better than I understand the people who work here.
He’s not trying to screw me over or play with my head.”

“And your last doctor tried to do that?”

“Emphasis on tried,” she said and then her smile turned
sardonic. “I hear that he’s speaking in slightly higher tones
now.”

Darien raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms as he leaned
back into the only wall that wasn’t covered by her artwork.

“I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

“I see.”

She giggled and tossed her long blond hair over her
shoulder as her clear blue eyes looked at him. “So what’s
your diagnosis?” she asked and turned the lights on
completely, giving the room a brighter feeling. “Am I crazy
enough for you?”

“I’ll get back to you on that.”

* * *

Darien all but threw his briefcase down on the ground
when he got home. He dropped it by the door and began
undressing as he walked into the kitchen. He coat was
tossed over the back of the couch. He left one shoe in the
middle of the living room and the other three steps a head
of it on the way to the kitchen. His tie was tossed idly on
the kitchen table, and his shirt followed moments later.

“You know,” a laughing voice commented. “One might
think that you were a striper at the local club rather than a
children’s doctor.”

Darien turned around to see the beautiful form of his wife.
Her red blond hair was slightly tousled and she was
wearing a cream-colored slip nightgown. He smiled and
went over to her and gave her a tight hug. He lightly kissed
her temple and ran his hand through her hair. “Tell me that
you haven’t been waiting up for me, Anne.”

Anne laughed quietly and kissed his cheek, “I wasn’t. But I
heard you come in. I’m glad I didn’t miss the strip show,”
she ticked him lightly, “I get so few of them now.”

“Oh, Anne,” he gently tilted her chin so he could look
down at the beautiful brown eyes of his wife, “I’m sorry.
It’s just that--”

“You’re job is keeping you busy,” she finished and then
kissed him. “Dare, I understand. We’ve both been busy.”
She took his hands and drew him over to the couch.
“Besides, your tense and tired and in no mood to fool
around,” she paused and grinned up at him, “Yet.”

He laughed quietly as she sat him down and then climbed
on the couch behind him. She gently began to kneed his
neck and shoulders. He groaned quietly, “I think that I’m
just going to melt into a big pile of mush right now.” He
could feel himself relaxing under the expert hands of his
wife.

Anne giggled and after she was sure that he was more
relaxed she began to kiss the back of his neck. “What has
you so tense that you strip when you get home?” she teased.

Darien chuckled and leaned back into her embrace. Anne
had been his wife for three years now and he found that he
was still very much in love with her. They had met in
college and she was actually a few years older than he was,
but he had still fallen for her. She wrapped her arms around
his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Well, its another woman,” he began idly as he looked
back as her. “She’s short, thin, blond, blue-eyed, you know,
perfect.” Anne laughed quietly and nuzzled his neck
playfully.

“Perfect?” she teased, “No one’s perfect. She must have
some flaws.”

“She’s insane?” Darien offered, “And well, sixteen.”

“Naughty Darien.”

He grinned back at her, “What can I say, I’ve always been a
bad boy.”

“This is coming from the man who blushed after our first
kiss?” She raised a delicate eyebrow, “If I had known that I
was kissing a VL I would have done more.”

“Hey, I let your tongue invade my mouth,” he pouted, “I
think that was enough to blush for,” he paused and then
playfully pulled her around into his lap. “Besides, my
dearest,” he kissed her forehead, “You are quite the little
minx and seductress.” His lips brushed across her nose and
cheeks.

“I am?” Anne managed to ask innocently. The strawberry
blond slipped her arms around his neck. “I thought I was
innocent and adorable.”

“Dearest, you’re wearing a negligee.”

“Oh. I forgot about that.” She looked up at him and gave an
alluring but yet still innocent smile. “Oops?”

He chuckled and then picked her up easily. “Well, you
might have forgotten,” he said walking to their bedroom.
“But, I, my love, haven’t. And,” he paused long enough to
give her a truly breathless kiss. “I intend to do something
about it.”

“So my seduction worked?”

“I find myself loosing my mind already.”