Page 75 of Brainwashed

Maybe that makes me just as evil as him, who knows. But I’m willing to take that chance. Because the fact is that I can’t stop wondering what might happen if Felix Darcey were to be left alone in the same confined space as this man whose blood he craves, Kieran O’Malley.

Opening the lion’s cage while he’s hungry…

It’s a temptation I can’t ignore.

If I weren’t so sure of where I am, and what I’m doing in this moment, I might think I’m tripping on acid.

I actually consider, very briefly, that maybe Dr. Love drugged my food.

But then I remember he’s no quacky, self-righteous asshole like Johansson or Templeton. Dr. Love is smart. He’s patient, and he stows his eagerness with a control unlike anything I’ve seen before. He sort of reminds me of a chess player, only instead of the black and white pieces, he’s playing withme.

Honestly, I don’t hate it.

My eyes linger on the keys he’s holding out in front of me. It’s a large ring, with at least two dozen keys on it. And he hasn’t said so outright, but he doesn’t need to. I already know those are the keys to the East Wing. To the cells, the exam rooms, mostly likely all the doors.

I can physicallyfeelmyself vibrating with the intense desire to grab them and run out the door. It’s strange, though. I don’t think I want to take these keys and use them to escape, though I very well could. Sure, this place is a maze, but I’ve been walked around enough hallways down here to know which ones lead where. I know that just beyond where we are right now, past I think one or two more corridors, there’s a door that leads out into the woods. A side-entrance, if you will. I’m sure these keys could get me through the necessary doors to get out there.

But here’s the thing… Dr. Love is not stupid. He knows he’s handing me a potential escape. He also knows I want to kill Kieran O’Malley, because I just told him.

I think he’s testing me.

He’s baiting me, to see if I’ll take these keys and accept the gift he’s giving me: O’Malley on a silver platter. Or if I’ll be a boring cliche and use the opportunity to break free.

I won’t say the urge to get the fuck out of here isn’t strong. It is.

But what’s out there for me, anyway? More of the inevitable? Running for the rest of my life. More hiding. Moreinvisible…

In here, I’m not invisible. In here, I’m special. The highest of all high-profile inmates, and Manuel Blanco’s treasured possession.

Out there, I’m just Felix Darcey. But in here, I’mThe Carver.

My hand reaches out slowly and takes the keys from Dr. Love. Our fingers brush and chills sheet my skin. I hope he can’t tell that I’m sniffing him, but I totally am, because he’s socloseto me and he smells fantastic. I have no idea what it is, but his scent is a million times more delicious than the smell of the food.

Snapping myself out of it, I close my fist around the set of keys, hiding them in my hand. Dr. Love gives me one of his curious looks I’ve come to know and enjoy. It’s a look that says,you’re fucking crazy, and I find it so damn interesting.

My lips part, but my words are jumbled in the back of my throat. I’m not sure what I would say at a time like this…

Regardless of how often I’ve heard him tell Joy and Velle that he was givenfree reinof this prison by the Warden himself, I have to assume The Ivory doesn’t want me with these keys. Just a guess, but I’d think it might bother him a tad.

Yet Dr. Love gave them to me anyway, without more than a moment’s thought. Maybe it’s just for the test, or his own personal experiment, but in my mind, it also means he cares about me.

He’s giving me yet another gift.First the book, then the boxers… Chinese food followed by the scrumptious dessert of slaughtering my nemesis?

I’m beginning to feel like I owe him something in return.

The thought is cut off by a quick knock on the door.

I know right away that it’s Peters, even before he whips the door open and stomps inside. My heart is flying in my chest while I quickly stuff the keys into the waistband of my boxers and roll it up once to make sure they keep quiet while the C.O. hovers by the doorway.

“Let’s go, #89,” he grumbles impatiently.

I take a second with my eyes lingering on Dr. Love’s, telepathically showing him my baffled appreciation at this elaborate gift before slowly wandering over to where Peters is tapping his foot, shackles already in hand. My gaze stays with Dr. Love while I’m chained up, and he just stares back at me, giving me that same aloof look, completely unruffled by the huge middle finger he just gave to Alabaster Pen protocol.

Peters drags me out of the room, yanking to get me walking. But my eyes stay on Dr. Love until he’s out of sight.

This is nuts.

Even I need to acknowledge how batshit crazy he must be to give a serial killer keys to the prison. Although, these keys only work down here in the East. The doors up in general population are controlled by the control room guards and servers and such. Actually, come to think of it, I believe there’s a control room for the East Wing, too. Glancing up, I see the cameras in the corners, monitoring the hallways.