Page 1 of Straightjacket

Blood as black as his inside's spread across the floor, seeping into the very fibres of the house he thought he called home.

Home.

The Silent Killer; Silas Riggs will never have a real home in this house, because he’s always belonged to me. My patient. My property. My subject.

The man, if you could call him that, was delusional– fucking crazy even, to think that he would ever have a life outside of my sanctuary. The moment he stepped through those doors of Salem Penitentiary– ankles and wrists bound, chains clanking with every step; Silas became my property. He probably didn’t know it at the time, with his fractured mental capacity and young age, that he’d signed his death warrant. Completely giving up the life he thought he had, to be under my care.

Silas is special. He’s different, cracked, and broken in ways that no one can fully understand, except for me of course. I’ve seen him for what he really is; a violent animal, a creature with a primal need for destruction. Not this weeping mess of a man.

Love has made him soft and malleable. It’s weakened his structure, a structure that I worked so hard to build and I’ll be damned if this... woman, this... pet of his, ruins my work.

My hands rest inside the deep pockets of my woolen coat, fingers tapping against each other as I step over to Silas, the aged floor creaking with every step. My boy mewls and groans, his eyelids heavy as he fights the darkness that keeps trying to pull him under.

He’s always been a fighter, strong willed too, but now I have to wonder whether this might be his final fight.

Pulling my hands out of my pockets, I lift my trousers slightly and crouch down at the side of him.

“Get the fuck away from him!” My boy’s wretched pet wails from across the room where the FBI agent has her pinned to the floor. “Don’t you fucking touch him!” She spits through gritted teeth, anger present like a burning fire in her eyes.

I admire her attempt at authority, but she’s going to have to do better than that. It’d be so easy for me to kill her now; to end this deadly love story but she’s a vital piece of my chess game. She’s the queen on the board and without her, the king will fall.

Iris is Silas's weakness, and I will bend that weakness until it snaps. I’ll crush it to pieces. Because with Iris in my grasp, Silas will do anything that I ask of him.

It’s quite perfect, really.

Linking my fingers together, I turn to face the woman who holds my boy’s attention. “Such a foul mouth for a young lady,” I retort, “you ought to be taught some manners.”

“Fuck you!” She spits as she tries to wriggle out from under the agent, who has his knee pressed firmly into the middle of her back. “I’ll fucking kill you for this, you–”

I lift my hand and face the agent who stands between us both. “Shut this blabbering bitch up.”

He nods once, then swings his foot back before slamming it into the side of her face. Immediately her head whips to the side, an ocean of black hair smothering her face. Beads of blood begin to gather on the floor as her head lulls from side to side, heavy groans muffled by the wooden flooring.

“Pl... please.” My head whips to the side at the sound of Silas's whimpering. “Just... let her go, you... have me now.”

Clouds glaze his eyes, skin pale and sweaty. Blood continues to leak out in a slow stream, creating an ever-growing stain on his t-shirt. A slight pinch of panic bites at the base of my neck. The last thing I need is for him to bleed out before I’ve had the chance to take my fill.

I click my fingers at the agent, holding him down. “Plug that wound.”

“But... sir?”

My brows furrow at his attempt to question my authority. “You’ll do as I say, Bennet. Let’s not forget who keeps your wife from killing herself every week.”

Agent Bennet instantly pales at the mention of his wife. She’s been in my care for quite some time now. After their first-born son, she suffered a mental breakdown and Bennet had her admitted to Salem Penitentiary when she tried to drown their son in the bathtub. Screaming claims that the Devil was inside of him and that drowning would be the only way to release the evil inside of the child.

I have these agents in my back pocket. It would only take one word from me, and their whole world would come crumbling down around them. They should do well to remember that.

Bennet swallows harshly before tearing off the bottom of Silas's trousers to stop the blood flow. He balls up the fabric and then presses it into the open wound, eliciting a hiss from Silas. His eyes scrunch closed, and I watch the muscle in his jaw twitch as he grits his teeth in pain.

I give him one last look over then rise to my full height. “Get him up, and don’t forget his pet.” I bark at the agents, who make quick work of pulling them both up. Iris’s head hangs between her shoulders but I don’t miss that furious gaze she sends my way.

She’s going to be wonderful to break.

Silas sways on his feet, his body heavy and weak from the loss of blood. Once he’s steady, he turns to face his little bitch.

“Until... the end,” he stutters through painful breaths, “and if any... of these fuckers touch you, I’ll... skin them alive.”

My boy turns to face me as he mutters those final words. Evil lingering in his eyes, and I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve missed it, and that smart mouth. Silas was always so good with that mouth.