Ella sat at the nurses station, mindlessly counting pills and organising them into little cups. She sighed quietly to herself. This place was creepy, but she needed the experience if she were to become a psychologist. The Mind fascinated her, but at times she feared for her safety here in this place. She hadn't been here long before she learned the various quirks of the patients, who to avoid and who to not even talk to .<br/><br/>Then she learned the hard way of one of the institute's darker secrets. She was looking for the laundry, but wandered through an electronically locked door that someone had not closed all the way. She remembered hearing a television and lights flickering in a darkened room, the heavy snoring of someone, or something in a chair facing with it's back to her. As she approached she suddenly collided with a dark metal bar not easily seen in the dark room. There was a sharp ping as her forehead struck the metal, and a rush of wind before she felt a large hand around her throat and sharp claws pressing into her flesh. She remembered seeing The Beast's face for the first time, the rage behind it's eyes but she didn't flinch, mostly because of shock, but she remembered The Beast slowly loosened it's grip on her and set her down on the floor before returning to his chair. The television went off and he clicked on a reading lamp on a table beside his chair to pick up a book. It was then she saw the opposite wall of his cell had been lined with bookshelves, all stuffed with books from one end to the other.<br/><br/>She also remembered the stern reprimand from Alice when she found her there. She swore to secrecy, but over the three months she had been here, she found The Beast interesting and started visiting often, eventually got him to speak, then hold a conversation after that. Now, they're on a first name basis, although he has never said his name. He responds simply to 'Beast' and doesn't mind, so she kept calling him that.<br/><br/>It was only two weeks ago, Alice came to her about her frequent visits with The Beast and appointed her his designated orderly, mostly because the only other ones she could trust were either too scared to go in the back room, or The Beast, on several occasions, had tried to snap their necks. Some had even quit entirely and had to be held to a very strick NDA regarding the patient. Others just seemed to skip sessions with him entirely or lie about feeding him or going into the room at all.<br/><br/>Ella wasn't sure why she didn't mind. She was much more scared of a lot of the other inmates here. The Beast was different. She had read his file, but to her it seems he only had Anger Management issues, but with that much power, anger was quickly seen as rage and an 'episode' as she called them, was seen as going berserk. His appearance, on the other hand, had been a result of magic, or so she had read. She never believed in it before, but after talking with him for a while, she started to think there was something to it. There were many books on magic that The Beast had read and although nothing would happen when he tried it, Ella sometimes found herself whispering small spells The Beast had taught her, mostly on a whim at the time, but she swore she saw a pen move by itself once, or it could have been a gust of wind, she wasn't sure.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">"Five minutes until Inspection. Any new inmates are required to be vetted later this week. Please tidy your cells and don't struggle."</span></span><br/><br/>"Aw nuts." she muttered. This meant she had to go check on 'you know who'. Its not that she didn't like doing it. She enjoyed her visits, but lately, he has been rather cranky.<br/><br/>She walked down the hall and took the elevator to the basement. It was this hallway she hated the most. It was damp, the air was humid and the one light above her head kept flickering, something facilities was supposed to fix but she assumed even they weren't brave enough to come down here. She saw a small rat run across her path and she yelped, but steeled herself and pulled her lab coat around her tighter before continuing on.<br/><br/>Punching in her code, she opened the unmarked door and stepped inside. Again the room was kept dark but it was comfortably warm in here. She remembered to remove her name tag and dropped it in her breast pocket before approaching his cell. She was told it was too reflective to be around him so she always took it off.<br/><br/>"Beast?" she called. He wasn't in his chair. His lamp and TV was off. She saw a bed in the corner and a massive mound of something on it. It looked like a months worth of laundry piled on it, a mountain of clothes on the bed in the dark, but all she could see was the silhouette of it.<br/><br/>"Beast?" She repeated. Then she heard the snort, followed by a bestial growl echoing deep in his throat.<br/><br/>"What?" he snapped.<br/><br/>"Sorry to wake you." Ella said calmly, "We have an inspection."<br/><br/>"Yes. Mustn't keep you from your......duties." he huffed sarcastically. He rolled over to face the wall and the bed bowed dangerously beneath him, daring to break at any moment. Ella pulled out a small flash light and swept his cell with it, looking in corners and along the floor, making sure to look under the bed. She felt silly doing this every day. What would he need with a weapon? How was she supposed to search the bookshelves without entering the cell? The whole thing seemed pointless. Sighing again she turned off the light and pocketed it, yet still remained at the bars near where The Beast lay on his bed.<br/><br/>"Anything else, Nurse?" He snapped.<br/><br/>"I told you to call me Ella." she said, "You were fine with it before. What's got you so pissed off lately?"<br/><br/>"Nothing you can help with, Ella." he said, using great effort to say her name, as if forced out of his mouth.<br/><br/>"Try me? I'll help any way I can." she said, putting her hands on her hips. She watched as he sat up, the bed groaning under his weight. There was always a shadow over his form somehow. This time she couldn't see his face properly, but a powerful, muscled arm extended, his large claws gesturing towards his massive collection of books.<br/><br/>"Do you know how many books I have?" he asked, "Over two thousand. I've read them all at least ten time each."<br/><br/>"Wow." she said, looking around his cell.<br/><br/>"My library has been changed a total of eight times. I've been in here a long time. This 'Television' thing was brought to me four months ago yet I find it lacking in comparison to a good book."<br/><br/>"And you're bored?" she asked, "You want more books?'<br/><br/>"NO!" he snapped. It was rather loud and she was worried other people heard him, but he seemed to calm down, "No." he said quietly this time, "I don't need more literature. I need my own experiences. I am tired of reading other people's."<br/><br/>"You want out?" she asked, her brow raised. The beast growled and stood to pace his cell.<br/><br/>"Yes, and no." He said, "Tis' frustrating. I feel like I'm going mad being confined down here with no freedom, yet I understand I have to be so."<br/><br/>"You do?"<br/><br/>"I am dangerous. I understand that." he said, "And things have changed so much since I've been down here. This new world is no place for me."<br/><br/>"So what would you have me do?" she asked, "Maybe move you to a new cell? A cell with a view?"<br/><br/>"No. No one must know of me." he said.<br/><br/>"You want to socialize with the other patients?" She asked.<br/><br/>"No....No. That would be bad." he said, "Too unpredictable."<br/><br/>"Then what?" Ella pressed. The Beast growled and roared in frustration, Ella's hands came out of her pockets to hush him.<br/><br/>"Arrrg. This is my turmoil! This is why I feel so frustrated! I want to live my life out there, yet I know I can never do it because of what I am!" he suddenly rushed to the bars of the cell, gripping them in his massive hands. His bestial face now clearly visible to her, and he looked frustrated beyond belief, "Bella, why do you not fear me? Why are you not scared?" Elle became confused.<br/><br/>"I suppose..." she said, pausing for a moment, "I understand you." then continued, "And I said my name was Ella, not Bella."<br/><br/>"What?" he asked, "When did I call you Bella?"<br/><br/>"Just now?" Ella said, "Who was Bella? Someone you knew?" The question seemed innocent enough, but had she read his file more thoroughly, she would have remembered that name, but it was not a question she should have asked him.<br/><br/>"Bella....." he muttered, his eyes closing and he lowered his head, "It was my fault. I did it. It was me. I'm a monster! RAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH!" His roar was deafening this time, surely travelling up the ducts where others could hear. She hoped most patients would think it was a hallucination but she panicked and rushed forward to try and calm him. He was not supposed to make any noise and if he were to become loud or go crazy, well, there was a case on the wall with a gun in it and the most powerful sedative in the world loaded inside. She never had to open that case, but this time she was inching towards it.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to mention it. Let's just forget the whole thing!" She pleaded. Still The Beast kept wailing and thrashing on the floor. He began flailing towards the bars and bent a few, but it looked like he was hurting himself more than anything. Ella knew that Alice would have her head if she didn't handle it and she didn't want him to hurt himself any more. Not knowing what else to do, she opened the case and pulled out the gun, aiming it between the bars.<br/><br/>"Don't make me do this! Don't make me shoot, Beast!" she pleaded. He kept thrashing, his table beside his chair flew towards the bars and smashed, splinters flew through and caught Ella on the arm making her bleed. She squeezed the trigger and heard a soft puff of CO2, then The Beast dropped to the floor, snoring loudly. Breathing heavily, she slowly sank to the floor, sliding her back down the wall. She was going to hear it about this for sure.