!!!Trigger Warning!!!

Blood, 

Mugging, 

Insanity

Joan, Talyn, and I laughed as we walked. Joan, still snorting, look up at me. "Wait, wait, wait. What time is it?" They asked. "Lemme check." I pulled my phone out of my pocket, the bright light glowing on my face. "3:02" I responded. Joan nodded, but Talyn looked shocked. "What? Okay, we need to get home soon." They said. I shrugged "I guess, it is late..Joan what do you thi-" I asked, but was cut off by a blood curdling scream. I looked to the side, to see Joan with a man behind them, with his hand over their mouth. I looked down, and saw a knife plunged deep into Joans gut. I went to go free them, before I felt two large pairs of hands hold me back, and before I had the chance to turn around, I was pinned to the ground. Talyn was no where in sight.

I could only look forward.

Tears streamed down my face as I watched Joan get stabbed.

Again.

and again.

and again.

á̷̞̩̮̍n̷̻͊͘d̷̹̀ ̴̪̩͛ạ̵̦͎̯̔̈́g̷̥̟͆̃̒̄ȃ̴̯̹̫̃͛̋i̶͖̜̠͍̓n̴̬̝̋

ă̸͎͇̲̜͔͖̯̲̞̦͙̱̠̞̗͇̌̅̌̊́̎͒͒̄̒͘ͅn̸̢̛̛͔̳̱̪̭̺͍̈́͋̓̾̃͆͘d̸̡̧̧̼̰͓̪̯̬̹͔͇̱̥͔̞̭̗̝̤͙̫̼̹͈̫̙̪̈́͒͗̈́̽͊̋̉̓̉͒̏̀̋͠ ̴̡̡̢̛̗͎͈̜̳̥̖̺̗̲͔̳͙̯̺̱̯̤̈́̓̇̊̊̆̾̉̀͒̑̂̇͂̉̏͆̕ą̷̮͉̺̲̺̮̜̞̳͉̝̳͍̼̠͓̗͙̥͙͈̬̟͇̠͍͛̈́͝ģ̷̲͙̗̜̰͚͊͗̐̆͐̿̄̔̃̀̔̈͘͘͝͝ą̸͉̣͛̐͗̆̋̋̈̈̐̋͑̏̀̓͜͠ͅͅi̵̢̡̨̛̤̙̩̯͓̰̻͙̰͔̼̹̜͉̦̰̭̫͈̣͎͆̓̒̉̏͘͘͜͜͜͠n̶̻̣͓͊̀̊̎̒̈́͛͐̍̊̊͝

I watched helplessly, as they kicked an squirmed, I could hear them screaming and shouting for someone, anyone, to help them. I saw their posture soften, before they went limp. The man dropped them onto the ground. When they fell, their eyes stared into mine. Their dull, nearly dead eyes. Tears streamed down my cheeks violently, they blinked slowly, before their eyes shut. I stared at them for a while, until I saw red and blue lights flashing. I barely noticed the men run away, and Talyns shriek of terror and anguish as the medics carried Joan away on a stretcher.

Talyn helped me back up, "Im so sorry-! I left to get the police, and you had to see Joan go through that, and.." they hugged me, tears streaming down their face. "Im so sorry, Thomas" I stayed quiet. Talyn grabbed my hand, and led me to the police. "H-Here, they want to question us." They said. I looked to the side to see Joan being hauled into the ambulance. I felt tears well up in my eyes again. The police man spoke to Talyn, but its not like I could hear them.

Suddenly, I felt numb, but then, I felt light, almost airy. I started to scratch my arms. This was all very funny. The men in black who hurt Joan, Talyn rushing back and hugging me tightly, the crimson blood trickling down my arms as I scratched until I broke the skin, making cute little gashes in my arm. I giggled, this was so fun. I was so busy caught up in my fun, I didnt even notice the police man pulling my hands away from my arms, and loading me into the car as Talyn sobbed. Before I got in, though, I felt a pinch where my neck was..

"And then I woke up here, in the funny little white room." I finished, tugging on the confines of the straight jacket I wore. "I miss playing the arm scratch game, can you take me out of the jacket so I can?" I asked. My therapist, Dr. Walter, sighed. "Thomas, we have discussed this since you got here a week ago, we put you in that jacket so you wouldnt, erm.." She thought for a moment, before I chimed in "Play The Arm Scratch Game?" "Precisely." She says, scribbling something down onto her clip board. "You sounded like Logan when you said that" I giggled. Dr.Walter raised an eyebrow. "Logan? Is that a friend of yours?" She questioned. "Yeah! Of course! He likes eating crofters, hes pretty emotionless, being honest, but we love him anyway! Hes a real sweetheart when you get to know the guy!" I exclaimed. "How long have you known him?" "30 years." She seemed confused. "How old are you again?" "30." I replied.

"Okay then, uhm, where does Logan live? Ohio, New York,or somewhere around here..?" She quizzed, I laughed. "No! He lives in here." I said, pointing to my temple. "What?" She seemed appalled, she must be impressed with him! "Yeah! Along with Virgil, Patton, Roman, Remus, Remy, and Deceit!" I exclaimed. She sat there, mouth agape for a bit before adjusting her glasses, and writing something down on her notebook again. "Im afraid that is all the time we have for today. I have other patients to see, Im afriad. We will continue this tomorrow." She said. "Okay! Bye!" I said cheerfully, as she closed the door.

I plopped on the bed they left for me, it was soft. When I first got here, I wouldnt stop playing the arm scratch game, so they put me in the jacket. Ive been locked in here for about three days, apparently its because I kept trying to hurt the other patients, but theyre wrong. They were all having so much fun.

I giggled at the memory, and fell into the dream again, of that night.

3rd Person POV

Dr. Walter, or Ruth, opened the door, to see Talyn clearly shaken and panicked. "How is he? Any better?" They asked, Ruth sighed, she always hated having to say the truth, and watch the family and friends fill with grief. She shook her head. "No, hes in the same condition he arrived in, if not worse. He will have to go through more therapy before hes even near stable enough to go back into the world." She said, solemnly. She saw tears develop in Talyns eyes, she felt pity for them. "But, I do have a question." Ruth said. "What is it?"

"Do you have any idea who Logan, Virgil, Patton, Roman, Remy, Remus, or Deceit are?" She asked. "What does Sanders Sides have to do with this?" They asked. "What..?" "The sides? Thomas ran a show called Sanders Sides with us, and a couple other friends. Those are the names of the characters, but we call them his 'sides'." Talyn explained. "Hm..Ill look into that, and im afriad visiting hours are over. You have to leave." Talyn nodded, walking down the hallway until they got to the door, looking back before leaving.

She looked back at the notes on the clipboard, and she pulled back the page to check Thomas' records again.

OCCUPATION: YOUTUBER, ACTOR, SINGER

REAL NAME: THOMAS F. SANDERS

BIRTH DATE: APRIL 24, 1989

AGE: 30 YEARS OF AGE

PLACE OF BIRTH: FLORIDA

HEIGHT: 5 FT 10 IN OR 178 CM

WEIGHT: 180 LBS

NATIONALITY: AMERICAN

RACE / ETHNICITY: WHITE

ILLNESS(ES): SEVERE PSTD, SCHIZOPHRENIA, SELF DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES

Ruth looked up from the file, to the window, where Thomas laid, giggling at seemingly nothing whatsoever. She flinched as he saw her, and waved. She waved back slightly, before dashing to her office.

She was going to find out what was really going on with this man if it was the last thing she would do.