Page 74 of Brainwashed

He scoops the remains of his dish into his mouth, then sets the empty container down. “I love eighties music. In fact, I always had to blast music while I was cleaning up after myself, and my favorite bands to play were Tears For Fears and Depeche Mode.”

My fingers twitch.Those are my favorite bands.

What is this kid in his twenties doing listening to that music??

I want to ask him, but I don’t. I ignore the urge, because it feels too personal, and I need to stay on track. He’s becoming far too intriguing to me. I need to stay focused on the work.

Sitting back, I make a snap decision to launch an experiment of my own. “What else could I get for you, Felix?”

His forehead lines. “Huh?”

“I got you the boxers, Chinese food… What else would you like? Tell me, if you weren’t the prisoner in the room right now, what would you be doing?”

His eyes widen and visibly sparkle, his fingers digging into the velvet of the couch. I’m even more curious now about what’s running through his mind, because it looks like there are endless possibilities shimmering in his gray irises.

He shifts and clears his throat, breaking our eye contact to look around the room.

Then he says, “I want to look at Kieran O’Malley’s file.”

I must say, I’m surprised and intrigued by his choice. I don’t know Kieran O’Malley at all, but I do know that he’s the poor sap Johansson and his clique have been going to town on with their techniques. Felix must know him from them both being in the East Wing for a while.

Without any further thought, I nod to the right. “The keys to the file cabinet are on my desk. His file is in the top drawer.”

Felix blinks at me, clearly stunned by the turn of events in today’s session. But he wastes no time jumping up and darting across the room. I swivel to watch him as he gets the keys, opens the file cabinet, and rifles through eagerly. He pulls the folder out and immediately begins reading it, absentmindedly leaning up on my desk as he does.

Just watching him is the most interesting thing on its own. The way he looks, so theoreticallynormal, but knowing what he’s done… It’s like looking at a Barbie pink Derringer.

You’d never know it could blow your head off.

“I knew it!” Felix gasps and I stand up, wandering over to him. He looks up at me. “That prick and his holier than thou attitude.” He scoffs and shakes his head, going back to the file. “He drowned his little brother in the bathtub, then hid the body for four days.”

I step closer, inching over, watching his features closely while he absorbs this information that’s apparently important to him.

“He’s just like me,” he whispers, his eyes sliding up to mine once more.

Our gazes stick together like magnets. The gray behind those glasses… It’s mesmerizing.

“But he killed a child,” I speak softly. Felix nods. “You wouldn’t do that.” He shakes his head.

“I hate people who do that,” he mumbles, his eyes falling to my mouth.

My teeth set.

“How does that make you feel, Felix?” I ask him, reaching out slowly and taking the file from his hands. He lets go of it willingly, no longer paying any attention to the folder.

“I want to kill him,” he says with certainty and sincerity. The anger isn’t there. Not yet. It’s more like he’s stating a fact. His truth.

I give him a small nod, then slide around where he’s standing. I hear him suck in his breath, and I pretend I don’t notice.

Reaching down, right by where he’s leaning, I pull open my desk drawer and take out the set of keys I was given, to all the doors in the East Wing.

I dangle them on my finger, and Felix swallows visibly as I ask him, “Is this what you want?”

The wideness of his eyes, the glittering gray, like storm clouds over the ocean… The craving I can see in them is like a salivation. An absolutehunger.

Felix nods. And so, I hold out the keys to him.

This is my form of experiment.Thisis what will teach me more about the monster in front of me.