“The
Confession of Mr. Klein”
By Emily Waters
January 15, 10:43 P.M, Deplim’s
Mental Asylum
Rosemary shook her head and Dan grimaced. “He’s not making any progress. He
won’t tell us a single thing about the night,” she said.
Lilly sighed loudly and I peered through the single window that looked over the
white-walled room.
“Does he appear to be decreasing in progress or staying the same?”
commented Riley, the head of the research. Rosemary shook her head.
“I really have no clue. It seems like he’s rotting in his own mind, the memory
of the night is making him go… insane.”
Dan nodded in agreement. I glanced through the window again to see his slumped
figure shaking in the corner of the padded cell. Lilly raised her eyebrows and
ventured over to the lone window.
“Harry?” Lilly asked softly. He looked up. “Harry, we want to help you. If you
tell us everything, you could eventually escape this white-walled room.”
He raised his head and looked me in the eyes; a chill ran down my spine.
“I don’t want your help,” he hissed. A pained expression fell across
Lilly’s gentle features, even though I have a feeling the comment was aimed at
me.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Harry,” said Lilly as she sat back down in her chair
and sulked. I fiddled with the buttons on my lab coat, Rosemary looked at a
spot on the wall, and Riley sniffed. Dan looked at his watch.
“Wellllll, I better go and get some dinner, eh?” Dan grabbed his wallet and
wrapped a scarf around his neck, eager to get away from Harry. He pushed the
metal door and it closed with a clink.
I stood up and went towards the microphone.
“Mr. Klein, do you have any care for those people that you hurt? Can you
imagine all the families that were destroyed? All the kids who lost their moms
and dads?”
He lifted his head once more.
“Of course, that’s why I killed them. You just don’t get it, do you, Piper?
They were more messed up then me; which is saying something and all of you
people should understand at least that about me: I do everything for a
reason.”
I blinked a couple of times, processing what he just told me. Glancing around
the room, I noticed that Dan had bought another typewriter. “And so do I,” I
said calling down to Matthew, a door clerk to make sure Harry didn’t escape, to
come and retrieve the new typewriter.
Lilly rubbed her temples and Riley pulled apart spilt ends at the tip of her
long brown braid. Rosemary stood up and joined me at the microphone.
“What else should we know about you, Harry?” Rosemary looked at me, hope
shining in her hazel eyes. He glared at her.
“Shouldn’t you all know? All of you in those weird white coats, you guys really
do look stupid in those things,” Harry said with a sinister smile spread across
his lips. “Especially you, Piper.”
I looked down at my lab coat; my name tag was stuck half-hardly on my collar
and the coat itself was crisp and white. Lilly snickered behind me and Riley
sent her a sharp look from her perch on a desk.
“Thanks,” I said, “at least I’m not stuck in a white-walled room like you are.”
Harry looked up, acknowledging my snarky response.
“By the looks of it you are, you have been in that room as long as I have been
in this one, and it’s white is it not?” Harry said, as he squinted trying to
get a view through the tiny twenty by twenty inch window.
“You guys say I have done horrible things, that I am not right in the mind,
yet, I know more about me and you more then you guys do. Isn’t that peculiar?”
said Harry as he stood up and started pacing around his square.
“For example Lilly, you are beautiful. You have probably gotten most things in
life with a bat of an eyelash and a toss of your hair. However, with me? We’ll
I’m the only code you cannot crack, sorry dear.” He glanced back up at the
window again with a look of fake sympathy on his face.
“Rosemary, you are a smart little cookie, so you think, eh?” Harry continued.
“I am not decreasing in knowledge, I am always gaining more. Also it appears
that you are troubled with something deep within, possibly that just because
you are smart doesn’t mean you want to be smart. You look
more like a dancer to me.”
Rosemary took a step back from the window. Harry continued walking around his
white box.
“Riley, the boss, correct? Well you most definitely do not have any control
over me, obviously.” Harry sat down, his back facing us. “I do what I want,
within this box of mine, while you have to listen to that Dan character, even
if you are in charge, perhaps he is the boss in your world?”
Riley began to protest, blushing
fiercely.
“Mr. Klein, I believe that you are out of order and need to be-”
He turned his head to face us, a tapping sound stopping.
“I have not finished, Riley, I still have our dear friend Piper to tell the
world about.”
I glared at him. He turned around and a tapping sound resumed.
“Piper, Piper, Piper. I could talk about you all day. You are certainly the
nicest of the bunch, sorry girls,” he said looking over his shoulder giving
Rosemary, Lilly, and Riley, with a dismissive glance. “However, you still have
your quirks. You bite your nails, can be annoying, and would rather be doing
something far better with your time then… well… this.”
He splayed his arms around them. The others looked at me.
“You don’t like us?” Rosemary said. Lilly’s face fell and Riley furrowed her
eyebrows together.
“Well of course I do, it’s just that I spend some much time and um, well…” I
said as I pulled on my collar and ran my fingers over my name tag.
“Girls, face it, you need to get a life besides trying to pull out information
of one night from a crazy person. Lilly? Get a boyfriend that will give you his
undivided attention. Rosemary? Dance! Dance your little heart out! Riley? Why
don’t you tell Dan how you really feel? He will be back in two minutes and
twenty seconds from the Chinese takeout down the street.” said Harry.
We all looked at the clock.
“How’d you-”started Rosemary.
“Pay attention girls! Notice patterns, movements. Observe!” Harry finished.
“Now if you excuse me, I have some business to attend to in my box.”
A silence fell over the room except for a constant tap-tap-tapping.
Dan was greeted by a kiss on the check from Riley, who took the Chinese
takeout, Rosemary sat down at the computer and looked up dance studios, Lilly
used the phone to call an admirer, and I pondered what had just happened.
January 16, 9:24 A.M, Deplim’s Mental Asylum
“Watcha got there?” I said.
“What? This?” Harry held up a pack of papers and dangled it in the air. “Well
this, my dear Piper, is the story of that night you guys seem to be so
fascinated by, even if I don’t understand why.”
Riley and Lilly shot out of their seats and ran over to the window.
“Excuse me?” Riley said snatching the microphone away from me. Harry smiled.
“You heard me.” He got up and placed the papers near the padded door. Lilly
buzzed the guard downstairs.
“Matthew! Get the papers by the door and bring them to us.” Lilly said as an
alarm went off, signaling the door was open; Harry stayed in his corner.
“I thought you didn’t like the typewriter,” Riley noted, scratching her head.
“When we first gave it to you, well you threw it against the wall, and Piper
had to tell Dan to get another one.”
Harry shrugged.
“People change, well most do at least. You know it gets lonely down here and
your voices get annoying,” He said as he mock saluted the window and huddled
back up in his corner.
“Harry, the truth is always glorified, that’s why we need your side, and we are
trying to help you,” I said.
“Enjoy,” he whispered for my ears only.
(c) 2013 | Emily Waters
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