At night, the inpatients were all gathered in the institution's cafeteria for dinner. The food was always quite bland and boring. They kept it healthy they said but Martim knew that they were just being cheap. Also, domination through food was a great way to keep everyone grounded and ready to follow the rules. The most docile were always rewarded with more meat on their plates or a little more juice in their cups.
Naturally, Nellie was one of those who always received treats from the staff members. She wasn't even faking her attitude, she genuinely enjoyed the disgusting food of the institution. It's not like she ever tasted anything better, right?
Sitting across from her, Martim watched her devour her cabbage soup and hum in delight. If she looked this happy while drinking a broth that tasted like dirty socks, then what would she be like if she ate a juicy burger?
Martim found pleasure in seeing other people's misery, which was one of the reasons he was forcefully checked into the institution. Yet, that fact didn't apply for Nellie. She was the only person he wanted to see experience the best things in life but for that, they'd have to leave the hellhole they were in.
He'd heard talks between nurses. Unfortunately, Nellie was one of the inpatients who were bound to spend the rest of their lives at the institution. No one was waiting for her outside, plus she felt much safer in a familiar environment.
Martim hated that thought. He promised himself that if he were to leave the institution someday, then he'd have to take Nellie with him.
Oblivious to all of her friend's worry about her, Nellie finished her meal and followed some of the other female inpatients to the laundry room. She was part of the little group that had to wash and then fold the bed sheets. Every day, there were chores to accomplish before going to bed, under the surveillance of a guard.
When Nellie walked inside the laundry room, she noticed that the guard was new. She'd never seen him around before. She took confident steps toward him and he frowned when she extended her hand:
"Hello, welcome to the institution. My name is Nellie. What's yours?"
The guy's face turned into a scowl:
"Fuck off, crazy girl. I'm not your friend."
Nellie tilted her head to the side, her hand still extended. She couldn't understand why her greeting didn't generate the usual reaction from this person.
"I said fuck off!" The guard yelled at her face.
Nellie felt a shiver run down her spine. Someone came and ushered her away. It was another inpatient, Katie Nolan with her long blonde hair framing her face.
"Don't talk to him, Nellie." She whispered. "He's mean."
"But mean people should be punished." The young woman responded. "Mean people should be punished, Katie!" "
"Shhh, I know...Come, let's fold."
Nellie was taken to a corner where there was a large basket of clean bed sheets. Katie kneeled by her side and started folding, humming a little song. Nellie on the other hand, was still bothered by the guard's attitude. That crazed voice in her mind kept repeating the same thing: mean people should be punished.
She folded mechanically like a robot. Hours passed and the girls slipped out of the laundry room one after the other. Katie and Nellie were two of the last to leave, still busy folding the sheets and cleaning after themselves.
That's when the guard left his position by the door to join them.
Nellie saw him approaching through the corner of her eyes but he wasn't coming toward her. It was Katie that caught his attention.
She was busy putting the folded sheets in a different basket when the guard cornered her against the wall, clearly invading her personal space. Katie who suffered from Haphephobia, or the fear of being touched, froze in complete terror.
"...Never thought a crazy girl could be hot but you're really a looker, aren't you?"
The guard's voice came out in a slur. Katie avoided looking into his eyes, her own orbs lost in space as terrible memories of times when her personal space had been invaded like that came inside her head. The guard seemed to enjoy seeing her so frightened. His smile widened and he started playing with her blonde hair.
He knew there was no camera in he laundry room and that no one would check on him for a while. What he forgot though was that Nellie was standing only a few feet away from him.
The young woman rarely felt angry but one thing that definitely triggered the violence within her was seeing someone she cared about being bullied.
She hated bullies with a passion.
"Have you lost you tongue, Katie girl?" The guard mocked.
Katie had tears running down her face. She gathered her courage and tried walking away from him but the guard held her by the arm and pushed her against the wall again.
Nellie couldn't stand it anymore.
Her eyes quickly located the guard's Taser in his pocket. She quietly slid closer to him and took the weapon out.
"Hey-..."
He'd barely turned his head that Nellie had sent an electric discharge right on the side of his neck. The guard couldn't scream or do anything. His body stumbled backward and he crashed heavily on the ground. Katie let out a high-pitched yelp and scurried to a corner of the room.
Nellie felt a great surge of satisfaction at the sight of the twitching guard on the floor. She grabbed the mop by her side and separated the stick. It was only made out of wood but was heavy enough to inflict pain. Therefore, she used it to beat up the guard who was already paralyzed on the ground.
"Mean. People. Should. Be. Punished. Mean. People. Should. Be. Punished."
She repeated these words like a mantra, punctuated each time by another hit on the guard. The longer she went, the more she was hurting him. Bruises appeared on every visible parts of his body.
It only took a minute or so but Nellie had managed to hit him over fifty times. The last blow she gave him broke her stick in half.
Martim ran inside the laundry room, having escaped from the nurses and guard who tried to keep him away. Just like them, he'd heard the commotion in the laundry room and wanted to check if Nellie was okay.
He found her panting with a broken stick in hand, throwing hateful kicks in the unconscious guard's face.
Martim wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away. Nellie didn't know but she was crying.
"Mean people should be punished!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
Martim was so shocked that he didn't know what to say. He'd seen violence countless times before and the sight of the beaten up guard wasn't fazing him. The shocking point was seeing his sweet and delicate Nellie filled with so much rage. He had no idea that she could do that to a man.
The nurses came in with sedatives. Nellie's eyes met Martim's and it seemed like her anger subsided in a second, replaced with exhaustion.
"Take me out, Timmy." She cried pleadingly to him. "I don't want to be here anymore."
Nurse Sheridan pushed Martim away before he could say anything. She planted her needle in Nellie's arm and it didn't take long before she was out. Martim also was restrained and forcefully put inside a straitjacket, just in case he'd get violent.
But Martim was extremely calm, only staring at Nellie as she was carried out of the room. Her last words to him had sparked something in his heart. He hadn't heard a more genuine statement escape from her mouth.
Somewhere deep down, Nellie actually wanted to leave the institution. The sane part within her knew she could have a better life out there and Martim promised himself to help her do just that.