Inside a room there was a man sitting beside his bed murmuring something and sometimes laughing alone. The man has a messy hair that reaches his shoulders, his skin was pale from the lack of sunlight, chapped lips moving from his murmurings, his amber eyes, seemingly red, stared at his shaking hands, and his voice filling up the four walls of his room. The man suddenly turn his head to face the pillow that was on his bed. He glared at the pillow and pointed at it with face full of accusation.
"You! You imbecile! Making me sleepy when I was busy talking last night! You made me lose the argument!" He slapped the pillow off the bed only to pick it up again to strangle it.
"I was about to say something awesome but then you decided to make me go off to dream land! I don't want to go to dream land, okay?!" Berlin put the pillow back beside him.
"Hey, remember when Gina thought she lost her son?" He glanced at the pillow beside him. "Well, guess what? I know where his son was," he whispered to the pillow and laughed when he thought the pillow rolled its eyes at him. If the pillow was alive then it would really roll its eyes and punch the annoying man in front of it. Unfortunately, inanimate objects can only suffer.
A nurse passing by Berlin's quarter heard him laughing, she sighed and then shook her head. That man may be too handsome that the heavens envied him and took away his sanity. She stood there peeking at the man inside. He was weeping, tears falling like a waterfall. The man inside looked like the world turned its back from him, leaving him alone with nothing to give him warmth and reassurance. This sight pricked the nurse's heart. Oh how pitiful this young master is.
She knew this man. Berlin Cross, the third young master of the Cross family from M City. He was the most gentle of the four brothers. He was famous for his voice that sounds refreshing, giving the listener a feeling of fleeting clouds on spring. He had many achievements at a young age just like his other brothers. He was sought after by many men and women for marriage. No one can doubt that Berlin Cross has a beautiful face that can make any women kneel in front of him and any men bent to question their sexuality. Now, the same man from above suddenly lost his brilliance and ended up inside this hell hole.
Sighing, she knocked on the door quietly as she peek through inside. The man slowly turn towards the door. Their eyes connected, his amber eyes gleamed as he smiled, "Oh hello," he greeted.
The nurse absentmindedly stared at Berlin, thinking how he looks normal from what she expected him to be based on the rumors. She was a new here and this was the first time she saw this young master.
"Good morning Berlin," she snapped from her thoughts giving him a smile, "breakfast is ready at the cafeteria. Do you want me to escort you?" Maybe this young master was not as bad as the rumors said.
"Oh! Are my friends going to be there too?" Berlin jump off his bed and made his way in front of the nurse.
"Of course. You will see them there." She said as she guided him outside and closed the door.
"Wait!" Berlin gasped, "I forgot to say goodbye to Miko! I don't want Gina to see him, she'll be mad at me," he laughed. The nurse saw him inside the room, he was talking to the air, even pointing at his pillow. She was startled when he suddenly yelled inside. He looks funny.
So this was the so called young master Berlin, she thought.
"I'm starving dear." He walked towards her while rubbing his stomach.
Both of them walked through the corridors in silence. Well, not technically silent, Berlin was humming a song while skipping, just like a child that went out for a walk in the park. He looks so carefree at the moment, the nurse can only smile while watching him.
Berlin understood why his family left him inside the mental institution. He was hearing voices, talking to the air, and his unstable emotions did not help him even the slightest. He knew that they will never visit him again. His parents only wants face and his brothers were their trophies. He was once a part of their trophies. They were the best of the best. He was at the top along side them, not until the voices appeared. He blamed those voices, those people, and his family.
Sanity did not help him when he was alone, it left him. Even his memories became jumbled, some he did not remember, and some he never want to remember. His family loved him, they always want him to be perfect just like his elder brothers. They taught him many things like different instruments and fancy dances. They even bought him his own piano, it was white, pure and simple. His family loved him, they will scold him if he did not reach their expectations. When he came second in the school's ranking, they were mad at him. They said he did not do his best. His family loved him, they even arranged his marriage and said that it was for his own good and for his future. His family truly loved him, they left.
It was funny, Berlin thought. The only thing that keeps him alive are those voices. Those voices were annoying. They never stop, they were laughing at him, sometimes they were teasing him. They were not demons though, or so he thought. It was because they did not want him to die, they did not even want him to be alone. They were his friends, true friends. He hasn't gone crazy right?
"Am I crazy?" Berlin asked. The nurse beside him glanced at him, she looked like she has something to say but unsure if he was talking to her or not so she did not open her mouth.
"Who said you were crazy?"
"I don't know, was that you?"
"Are you crazy?"
"Heh, I bet that you have lost your mind."
"Oh please, I bet my kidney on this one."
"What can I do to your kidney? I have mine."
The nurse furrowed her brows, "Who is he talking to?" she whispered to herself. Alas, the young master really lost his mind. Even talking to himself like he was talking to someone.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, there were already plenty of patients inside with their caretakers, there were even nurses and wardens. The nurse guided Berlin to a table and later gave him his breakfast.
"Berlin, I am going with the other nurses now, okay? Stay here and eat your food. Be good," she smiled and waved him goodbye. Berlin energetically waved his hand to her.
The table can cater ten people, five people on each side. At the moment, there were only six eating with him. The man in front of Berlin was looking at him, more like staring at him like it was his first time seeing other people. Drool was slowly dripping from his mouth. Seeing that, Berlin laughed.
"Oh you look silly just like Dave," he exclaimed. The others noticed him now. The six of them did not even noticed each other's presence because of the food.
"I know Dave! He lives next door to mine!" Another one has entered the conversation. This man, on the other hand, has a plastic bag on top of his head like a hat. He really think of it as a hat. In fact, all of them think of it as a hat.
"Shh! You are all noisy. All noisy, annoying hmp!" The guy beside Berlin glared at them. He has a blond hair, probably bleached.
"Hehe Maybe you are Dave. Hi Dave! I am hungry now." The other one happily eat his food. This man, on the other hand has a huge mole on the side of his nose. He looks funny, especially his huge front teeth, looking like a rabbit.
"Is he next door to yours then?" Berlin asked the one with a plastic bag as a hat.
"Huh? Who? Who are you talking about?"
"Dave! Is he the Dave you are talking about?"
"Who the heck is Dave?! Aya! You must be muddleheaded." The rabbit man stated as he started eating his own food when he was a hand crawling to his plate. "You! Whose hand is this ah?! Eat your own food!" The rabbit man hit the hand with his spoon, next he hit his head.
"Ah ah! Why did you spoon me?! My girlfriend needs more food! She's getting hungry!" The man who looked like an egg because of his bald head rubbed his hand and his shiny head.
"What girlfriend? I don't see any girl here...." The rabbit man said as he slowly turned to look at Berlin. "This one looks like a girly here. Do you need more food?" he smiled at Berlin who also smiled back.
"Hihihi," the rabbit man giggled like a child.
"Food? I want ah," the man in front of Berlin muttered while drooling.
"You all still can't shut you mouth? Shh! I hear something." The grumpy guy stopped for awhile to listen to something. The six of them followed suit.
"Can you hear it?" the grumpy man asked them.
"Hear what?" the bald one stupidly asked.
"The voices!"
Berlin then snapped. "Voices? I hear them all the time. I thought I was talking to the voices just now," he answered.
"What did they say?" the rabbit man asked. Then, the five men looked at Berlin, waiting for his answer.
"Uhh, they said that uhh. You all look pretty!" Berlin laughed at himself. Seeing him laugh, the other five also roared with laughter. Even the drool guy did not know why he was laughing.
The wardens looked at them from another table and then shook their heads. Black lines forming on their forehead. They all heard the conversation.
"Their world seems so carefree ah. So envious," one of the wardens sighed.
"If you want a world like that then join them ah. We will take care of you," another one smirked.
"No thanks. I would rather have my problems than be a problem at all."
After their breakfast, some patients went outside the institute's garden while the others went back to their room just like our boy Berlin. He separated from the five men while crying his heart out. They were his new friends and they were fun to be with. They talked about random things. Well, their conversation did not even connect from each other especially when the rabbit man howled like a wolf. He really thought he was a wolf.
Inside his room, Berlin sat on his favorite spot as he, again, looked mad at the pillow. This pillow never failed to make him mad. For some reason, this pillow offends him just like Gina. But sometimes, this pillow was a good friend. He sometimes cried on it. It's a good friend and a good enemy. No matter how annoying this pillow is, it will not be as annoying as Gina. Who the hell was she anyways? That little female dog Gina.
"Don't look at me like that. I did not hit Miko. You know me; I do not hit my friend, except you." Berlin started crying in front of his pillow, it looked at him like he was crazy. He was crazy, he just didn't know.
"It was all Gina's fault. She was the one who has motive!" Berlin quickly strangled the pillow and a clink sound was heard. He stopped and then looks at the shiny thing that fell from his bed. It was a knife. He didn't know where it came from or maybe he just didn't remember. He slowly gets off the bed and picked up the knife. The light from his small window reflected the light outside through the knife. He furrowed his brows, seemingly confused.
"Did Gina plan on killing me?" he whispered to himself. He gasped and threw the knife like it was on fire. Rage was slowly building up inside him as well as fear. His body shakes from these two emotions.
"The Lord may punish you Gina! I will kill you Gina! Ah, Gina, Gina." His aggrieved voice filled the whole room. Strong resentment overpowered his senses. His sight, no longer what it used to be, was all crimson red. His amber eyes flickered with hatred as it became darker, just like his sight.
Like a mad wild animal, Berlin stabbed the pillow multiple times, every stab he yelled the name Gina. Curses left his mouth. He stopped and then smiled until it turn into laughter, not the joyous laugh that he always had, but the bone-chilling laugh that signifies madness. He lost all his reasoning.
"I know that you hate me Gina, I do too, but I never thought that your hatred ran deep! I will never let you see the sunrise again!"
Berlin went mad inside his room, breaking all the things that were inside, even his bed turned upside down. The wardens were notified because of the ruckus. The knife, from Berlin's hand, made sounds as it passes against anything that it touches. Berlin was laughing, tears running down his eyes as he listened to the voices inside his head. They were urging him to do something, but some of them were calming him. However, it only made his head ache as if his head was stabbed from the inside.
"Ahh!" Berlin kneeled on the ground while holding his head. The wardens and nurses begun to flow inside his room; they were all cautious of him because of the knife on his hand. They were all trying to communicate with him however; the voices from Berlin's head overpowered them. He doesn't like this pain at all. It was too much! He wants it to stop, so stop it will be!
"Ahh! Stop! No more!"
He started to hurt himself. The physical pain cannot be compared from his headache. He stabbed his thigh, praying that by hurting himself physically may stop the pain from his head. His body was all covered by cuts especially his thighs. They were stabbed by him.
The wardens started to stop him however they, too, were also stabbed either on their hands or their arms. By struggling, Berlin just wanted the pain to stop, he stabbed his own head.