Forest House for the Criminally Insane

Serenity went inside and checked in the receptionist. She was no longer interested in the sandwich- she was actually very somber and even seemed a little depressed. "Room 17. We have to have a guard watching."

"You've only got about fifteen minutes," the man at the desk explained., "Visiting hours are nearly over."

Elroy, on the other hand - one might say he was almost gleeful. That fake frown he wore couldn't hide the glimmer of triumph in those green eyes of his. He was finally, undeniably, more successful than that biological twin of his. "Fine, fine," he muttered, scrawling his name on a sign-in sheet.

"You can go first." Serenity said, half out of a desire for self-preservation- it was a house for the criminally insane, after all, and half out of a desire not to see him. So they walked down the hallway, and into the room.

Elroy placed the pencil back in the holder at the top of the clipboard. "Gladly," he said under his breath, striding in front of Serenity after the attendant who lead them to his brother's cell.

[I don't know how asylums work]

[Well neither do I. Fake it.]

Serenity stared at the door while the attendant unlocked it. As soon as he was done, she went into the room. "Angel..?"
Confusion. Immense confusion.
Why did he do this? Why did he get himself thrown in here? What was he thinking? What was I thinking? I bet he found out that I slept with Chuck. I bet he knows. I bet Elroy will know, now. He doesn't know anything. Am I just supposed to tell him? Should I lie? Should I tell him I'm living a nice life? That's not right. I shouldn't lie to anybody. I don't want to lie to anybody.
Serenity looked at her feet.
Is Angel crazy? Or did he get himself put in here to avoid jail? What if he goes crazy? What if I die? I have to get married to somebody. I can't get married to a guy in an institution. Who am I going to marry? Am I going to have kids? Where am I going to live? Olivia's house is way too lonely. There's nobody there, and I get stir-crazy, and those freaking cannibals.. Maybe I could find Selia. Maybe I could find her- agh, she has school. Maybe I could mooch off of Elroy until I get a job. A good job. Where the people speak English. I bet I could do that. Besides, he has good taste in sandwiches. I bet I could eat those sandwiches for months until I got sick of them. I bet they're cheap, too. I should sell sandwiches..

The room was saturated with the pale fluorescent light beaming down from every other ceiling tile. There were a few plastic and metal chairs along the edge of the wall, facing a small TV set perched in the corner, which showed nothing but static. Angel, sans glasses, was seated between two attendants, hands folded in his lap, staring blankly up at the television. Those minute scars around his pale, inanimate eyes were somehow more prominent with his spectacles in the way. He had this peculiar smile plastered across his face, like that of a doll or a sculpture - unable to emote of its own will. The nurse that stood with Elroy and Serenity motioned for them to come in.

Serenity stepped forward, in front of the television, staring at Angel. The entire room seemed like a blank disc of what reality was supposed to be- nothing was on the television, the walls were all white.. It was making her head spin. She felt like she was in a different world- and suddenly, Serenity had a horrible thought. There was something much worse than the streets of Amsterdam, and that was being stuck in a mental institution. Her face seemed blank, until she smiled weakly and put on a cheery façade for him.
"Hi, Angel. How are you? I almost didn't recognize you without your glasses. I suppose you haven't needed them in a long time, though. I like your room."

Elroy stayed by the door. He wished the guards hadn't confiscated his sandwich; he was quite hungry.

For a few seconds, Angel was completely motionless. It was as though Serenity - or anything in the room, for that matter - wasn't there at all. Then, that strange, out-of-place smile suddenly disappeared. "Serenity." He used the same, gentle voice as he had habitually used so many years before. "You're alright?"

"Not really.. I live in your house now. It's empty, and there's cannibals.." Serenity shook her head. "Okay, I didn't come here for small talk. You killed someone. You killed Chuck. Why did you kill him? You couldn't have possibly found out.. anything that happened there. So why did you ruin your life?!"

"You honestly think that I would allow him to continue living after I heard what he'd done to you?" Angel gave an obviously forced, deranged laugh. "Of course not... Of course not. Charles was always a nuisance. From the moment I met him. Always so lecherous and carefree... Never giving a second thought about those around him - what pain he could be causing..."

Serenity stared at him, mouth slightly open. She smiled bitterly. "You really do belong here, huh? Nobody deserves to die, Angel. You were always so righteous, always judging other people. And now you figured you were good enough to end somebody's life. Elroy, you want to talk to him before we leave?"

No response.

Elroy pulled his thoughts away from his artificial lunch for a moment, trying to come up with a classy one-liner. Alright, got one. Casually walk over to them... No, no, too fast! Alright, slow it down, show off your swagger... He stopped next to Angel, kneeling to his level, trying to look into his down-turned face. "Hey, Bro." He smirked. "I won."

Again, nothing.

"Can we get going, then? I'm famished."

Serenity looked at Elroy in disbelief. "That's horrible," she hissed at him. "How could you say that? He's in an institution, for God's sake. Show some sympathy, you are so immature.."
She turned to leave, then turned back around, staring at Angel. "Hey, how did you know that Chuck.. That he did what he did?"

Elroy shrugged. "He's deserving o' every minute of this; what's the problem?"

In all honesty, Angel couldn't remember. Everything from that day onward was a blur (the event itself excluded from that blur; he could remember everything about that, down to the arrangement of the drops of blood left on the concrete floor). This conversation, by the time the sun had set, would be gone as well.

Serenity went back over to Angel and kissed him on the forehead. "Goodbye, then." She felt he deserved at least that much, and then turned and got out of there as quickly as she could. As soon as she had gotten outside, she started crying.

Elroy stood there, staring down at Angel in a brief moment of triumph. At long last, someone had surpassed him; he was no longer the absolute scum of the Astor family. He drew a deep breath, turned on his heel, and followed Serenity out.

Serenity didn't move when he came out. "I-I don't want to get on the train." She said, trying to dry off her eyes with her sleeves. "I don't want to go back yet. I want to stay here.." She seemed quite confused, and was leaning against the wall, looking down.

"Fine by me." Elroy looked back at the now-closed door. "Would you rather I stayed with you, or..."

"I'd like you to stay, but you don't have any requirement to. I think I'll probably just stand here."

Elroy knew well enough from his escapades to never ditch a girl when she was upset. So, she just stood with her, staring at a painting opposite them of a pond, the surface of which was almost entirely obscured by lily pads.

Serenity was quiet for a long time, a very long time. It was about twenty minutes before she actually started talking, and once she started, she didn't stop. "I apparated. And I ended up in Amsterdam. I was broke, and I needed a job, so when this guy put a piece of paper in my face, I didn't read it, and it was in Dutch, and I signed, and there was lots of money, but it was prostitution.. So Olivia found out when I wrote her, came and got me, but left me there for her classes. I stayed there until Christmas, and it wasn't that bad, except for the work, until Olivia came back and then Chuck came and he had paid for a night.." Serenity started crying again. "I left the next morning, and I stayed at your house. I was so scared of the cannibals and it was empty. Then your mom came and told me what happened, and.. It was all my fault. All of it."

From the word "prostitution" onward, Elroy had been trying desperately to keep from laughing. How ironic!

Serenity looked at him. "Your face is all.." She froze, realizing the facial expression usually known as holding back laughter. "You're laughing at me! Oh my God, you are such an asshole!"

"I am not!" However, his huge grin gave him away. "I'm sorry, it's just that... well, you know!" Elroy forced himself back into a solemn expression. "It's horrible. Absolutely... bad."

"You.. You're so cruel! Charlie raped me! How can you laugh at this? How can you laugh at any of this?" And there she went, crying again. But this time she moved to the other side of the door, not wanting to go far, lest she get lost.