Chapter Twenty-Four （I’m Going to Kill Him）

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (I'M GOING TO KILL HIM)

HAZEL

Sleeping on the grand reveals of Gonzo and Zero had helped with the rage. It even helped me get used to the strange new presence in my mind. The squirming sensation of insanity had mostly subsided, at least.

However this morning, I felt depressed.

I flicked some water outside the tub. The lightbulbs attached to the walls were behind metal cages, lighting the room in a dim yellow glow.

"Group therapy time," I mumbled before sinking far enough down to blow unhappy bubbles in the tub. I peered over at Elvis. Bestie had passed the bloat stage and was working on becoming the bathwater. Pretty sure the liquid coming out his ears and bubbling from his mouth was what was left of his brain.

"But how does liquifying make you feel ?" I asked him, pretending to be an annoying therapist. The other patients were draped around the room, lazily lounging through group therapy. With a sigh, I realized everyone was waiting for me to go first. They could tell I had something to share.

"Gonzo is La Volpe… the man I've been desperate to kill for years." I shot a look at Elvis. He was gaping at me. "I know, right?" I leaned over the rim of the bathtub and picked up a bag, sprinkling a few more cups of lavender salts in. The scent wafted up, helping dispel the smell of corpses all around me.

This room had seen better days even before the corpse collective. There were lines of stainless steel bathtubs with cages locked over top of their empty basins. Only two bathtubs had been free of the cages, or else this would have been a bigger bubble bath party.

The tiles that covered the floors and walls were mint-colored, and the grout was black. There was a large drain that the floor curved towards in the middle of the room. My group therapy peers were stacked on top of the bathtub cages. I liked rearranging who went on top of who and which poor bastard got shoved in the middle.

"I think Gonzo's been trying to kill me this entire time. Pretending to help while secretly hoping Baz was going to poison me. Can you believe that?" I asked. Elvis's eye sockets glared at me.

"Oh, fuck you," I hissed. "Yes, he was only killing me to avoid me killing him. So what? He lied. I didn't lie ." I stared at my friend and he gave me a look , I swear he did. I ground my teeth.

"You're pissing me off. What do you know about right and wrong? You're fucking dead." I got out of the bath. Then I redressed in one of the dresses Zero had gotten me and let down my hair. I hesitated at the door. Could Zero hear my thoughts now? I couldn't hear his.

I remembered what he had asked me to do. Find a zombie and touch their hairline. I wandered over to a pile of corpses, finding one who had acted subdued when still alive. Bending down, I pressed my fingers to their forehead. Slowly, I crawled up to their hairline. There was a ridge. I leaned in closer and parted their hair. Scar tissue. Had Zero cut into their head? With a sigh I backed away. This didn't help clarify much.

I looked over at Elvis. He looked glum all alone in his bath. Maybe I'd give him a buddy later.

"Sorry, didn't mean to throw the whole dead thing in your face," I blurted before running from the room. Apologies were so awkward. I wasn't even sure he deserved one. What did he mean that I was the one at fault? Asshole. I was going to someone else for advice, someone still breathing.

The asylum was in a weird state. The Wards were more divided than ever. Everyone was antsy and on edge. After the night of the big fight, whatever meager amount of order this shitshow had dissolved into pure chaos. The staff didn't lock any of the doors anymore since their deal with Bree had deteriorated. Which meant the nurses left everyone defenseless at night while locking themselves in the staff quarters. If things were horrible when I first got here, they were catastrophic now. This place was reaching a breaking point.

I saw the groups huddled together, whispering to one another in the day room. I moved on, not involving myself with it. The Wards left me alone now… probably because no one ever came back from talking to me. After Gonzo's previous disappearing act, they kept sending reps, and I kept inviting them to the hydrotherapy room so that they could join the corpse collection. I eyed the Ward leaders as I walked by. They glared at me, so I waved cheekily.

I left the dayroom and turned down the counseling hall. I blew out a breath and then burst into Doctor Orson's office. He was standing right in front of me, hand paused on the way to open the door himself.

"Do you have a minute?" I asked, pushing past him. I flopped in a chair morosely.

"No, please, come in. It's not like this is outside my office hours. Or that you aren't my patient anymore." He walked over and sat in his chair across from me. "Or that you're trying to kill someone I like ." I grimaced, remembering Baz bumbling on about fucking him.

"I really don't want to think about your accidental anal with my brother."

"He told you that?" His purple eyes widened.

"Of course, we're siblings after all." I flashed him a smile.

"Christ, you two are alike," he sighed. Were we?

"Are you finally here to talk about your brother?" Orson asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Why would I want to talk about him?" I huffed.

"Because you don't want to kill him. You never did."

"He told me he didn't want a sister," I grumbled, crossing my arms and sliding further down the chair.

"He doesn't want a dead sister. I've never seen him anxious, but he's fretting constantly." Orson looked at his door. "He makes Nemo go check to see where you are so he doesn't accidentally bump into you."

"I wondered why he was following me. So… Baz doesn't even want to see me," I grumbled.

"He doesn't want to kill you like he did your parents." I rolled my eyes and eyed the room. There were a lot of blood stains on the carpet around Orson's desk.

"Was it really an accident with my parents?"

"Yes."

"Hmm," I commented, flicking an errant piece of corpse off my boot. I wouldn't have blamed Baz if it was on purpose since I now knew they planned to sell him to Verfallen. They'd sent me away too. To Uncle Vernon even knowing he'd mold me into a weapon. The first time I killed someone, I was eight. He was angry when I cried.

"Your anger at Baz was never about them, was it? It was about you." Orson was annoying.

"If we'd stuck together, things would be different now," I said while staring at my knees. Baz had chosen to come here in the end. I could feel the thick card in my pocket, the key out of here that he gave me. He could have left. He could have found me.

It was foolish and childish, but it didn't make me any less sad.

"Different isn't always good," Orson offered. I rolled my eyes.

"Different would have to be better than this."

"Oh? But I've heard you're having a good time with Gonzo," he said. I shot him a vicious look, and he responded with a pompous grin.

"Has your little shifter done something bad?" He asked. I pouted. "Come now, tell your therapist all the details."

"This is why I came here. I wanted to ask you about relationships."

"Ugh. Quickly then, this sounds boring and I want to leave." He leaned on his hand and began tapping his fingers on the desk.

"I liked Gonzo a lot," I admitted.

"Mhm," he said in boredom.

"And he said he loved me," I rushed out, my face feeling hot.

"Oh, really?" Orson started to clean his nails.

"He said I was his mate." This got me a casual glance.

"Interesting. What's the problem? Don't like animals?" He chuckled at his own shitty joke.

"You're terrible at this!" I exclaimed in exasperation. Orson sighed.

"This isn't very interesting."

"Look I just want to know if it's okay to forgive him for what he did."

"Let me guess, he said your brother obsession is gross?"

"No! Fuck, let me talk about my problems!"

"Then make them interesting!" He snapped back.

"Gonzo is the same man I've been trying to kill for the past three years. He lied about who he was and seduced me while knowing I was his assassin! It was all a trick."

"Well… that is sort of interesting." Orson's face cracked and he laughed. I was about to strangle him when the door burst open. Gonzo stood there, seething. His eyes were glowing gold, and his teeth were sharp.

"I didn't touch her," Orson said in humor, holding his hands up. Gonzo glanced at me, and his eyes widened in shock. Fuck, I didn't want to see him yet. He gulped and then his attention snapped back to Orson.

"Not her," he growled, running and leaping over the desk, tackling him to the ground. What the fuck?

"Who then?" Orson grumbled as they rolled around. I leapt up and peered over the desk. Gonzo had him pinned to the ground. They glared at one another.

"Doctor Stein," he growled. Orson's face twisted into confusion.

"I must have a hearing problem," he said.

"Let me help you then." Gonzo grabbed Orson's ear and ripped it off like he was tearing a wet toilet paper. My mouth dropped open.

It took Orson a second for the surprise to set in. He lifted his hand to the side of his head and delicately touched the place his ear used to be. Gonzo wiggled it in front of Orson's face with a big smile.

"Will it grow back if I eat it?" He asked. Orson moved fast, snatching his ear from Gonzo's hand and shoving it in his pocket. Then he thrashed, trying to fight his way free.

"Nuh uh uh," Gonzo said, wagging his finger. Orson lunged forward, and then teeth sank into Gonzo's throat.

Orson's purple eyes glowed gold like Gonzo's as he swallowed a mouthful of blood.

"Wow," Orson said drunkenly. His eyes were unfocused as his head hit the ground. "That's strong." His tongue darted across his lips. He looked high, laying there blitzed out.

Gonzo gripped Orson's hair.

"I'm going to fucking eat you alive," he growled, grabbing the ear back out of Orson's pocket. He dangled it above his tongue.

"What happened to Zero?" I asked. Gonzo froze, his eyes darting to me while he lowered the ear to his outstretched tongue.

"I didn't touch Zero!" Orson growled, shaking off whatever effect Gonzo's blood had. He grabbed his ear back again.

"Liar!" Gonzo growled, slamming his fist into the side of Orson's ribs. The vampire gave a grunt and glared.

"What happened to Zero?" I repeated. I felt the dark thing in my head and worried. Was he okay?

"He was catatonic, black ooze coming out of one of his eyes. I heard this sound before I found him…" Gonzo shuddered. "Like something being hammered. A clinical dink."

"It sounds like someone gave him a transorbital lobotomy. They put a metal rod right here," Orson said, pointing to the inside of his eye. "Is that where the blood was coming from?"

"It wasn't blood. It was black." Doctor Orson gave Gonzo a strange look.

"They use a metal hammer to tap it into the front of the brain," Orson continued.

"Who could do that to him?" Gonzo asked in fury. "I need to know." Orson kicked him off and stood up. He flopped in his desk chair with a huff.

Gonzo got up and turned his head to me. I quickly looked away. Later . I'd deal with him later. He slowly shuffled forward and sat down in the chair beside me. I could feel his eyes on my face.

"When I was hired on as a therapist, I was a freelance doctor," Orson said. "So technically, I'm not a company employee. I was left in the dark about a lot. However, the head nurse explained Doctor Stein was simply a nickname that stuck, and if Zero ever acted odd, I should report it to her immediately."

"Acted odd, how?" I asked.

"If he ever showed some sort of emotion, she wanted me to let her know."

"They're monitoring him?" Gonzo asked.

"Yes, always. That's why he's rarely alone. She didn't explain herself, nor did she ever explain that this entire place is owned by a pharmaceutical company."

"So you looked up Supra's connection to here," I said.

"Yes, after you clued me in."

"So this place is a front for illegal experiments?" Gonzo asked.

"Yes," Orson said. "But I think there's more than that. There's some secret about Zero they don't want anyone to know."

"So… you're implying the staff members are the ones who hurt him?" Gonzo asked. "Those are the ones I need to kill?" His eyes were glowing gold again. He was furious. Orson observed him for a moment.

"I'd heard the rumors about you and him, but I would have never believed them," Orson said with a smile.

"What rumors," Gonzo growled.

"That you were Zero's lap dog."

"You don't know shit." Gonzo shot me a quick, nervous glance.

"Did he run experiments on you?" Orson asked him. Gonzo stilled.

"That has nothing to do with this," Gonzo dismissed almost too quickly.

"Really? So this newfound loyalty isn't connected to any experimentation at all?" Orson asked. Gonzo grimaced.

"He has a lot to gain by making you loyal to him," Orson said. "You're more powerful than you let on. I've never tasted blood like yours."

Gonzo looked dumbstruck. He shoved his hands through his hair and slumped in the chair.

"Wow," he murmured. A sharp chuckle fell from his mouth. "He's even more conniving than me," he said with a smile. I felt like punching Gonzo in the throat.

"Right, well have either of you heard of the forgotten hall?" Orson asked. "In the basement, there's a big metal door—"

"Yes," Gonzo said.

"That hall is normally closed and locked." He opened a drawer, pulled out an antiquated key, and set it on the desk in front of me.

"Why would we want to go to that hall?" I asked, pulling the key up and looking at the design.

"It's where the secrets are kept and where patients that need to be forgotten go. I was locked in there once," he said with a tight smile. "As was Baz."

"My brother was locked in the basement?" I asked.

"He lost his sanity for a short time. And when a basilisk loses control, it's better to chain them up."

"The Shift," Gonzo said.

"Yes. He killed half the patients in a matter of minutes," Orson said. He had?

"Why?" I asked.

"Love," Orson said. "Love can be a terrible thing. Especially when you think you've hurt that person." Gonzo swallowed and looked in the opposite direction of me. Why hadn't he killed half the patients for betraying me, huh? Asshole.

"You think info on Zero will be in this hall?" I asked, slipping the key in my pocket. It settled next to the key card and my father's lighter.

"Yes. I've been told that information is kept there. Tucked away, non digitized, and as secret as can be. They really don't want people to know who he is."

" What he is, not who," I said standing up. They both looked at me in confusion. "Can't you feel it?" I asked.

"Feel what?" Gonzo asked.

"Fear. He's crafted to look human, but he's not."

"What are you suggesting?" Orson asked.

"I don't know," I said. "A nurse tried to tell me. She said he's not a man. I didn't realize she was being literal at first." I turned to leave.

"Don't get caught by the guards," Orson said. "And watch out for the sea snake."

"I've met him," Gonzo said. "Much more charming than your group." Orson chuckled as I pushed out of the door. Gonzo followed me a second later.