Kay Productions Presents

Heart of Mischief

Chapter One:
By Whatever Means Necessary

Summary: Welcome to Mischief, and insane asylum for children who are considered too dangerous to be shown to the outside world. Some are ill, some are powerful, most are simply... insane.

My cell was small. Probably eight by ten feet, which gave me enough room to lay down at least. My matress had some springs that stuck out and poked me in the middle of the night, the bathroom was pretty filthy, but at least it was hidden. I never knew what time it was, or even what day it was most of the time. Still, I was one of the luckiest kids in the bunch at Mischief.

Obviously, I needed to eat. Three square meals a day, which were not made up of stale bread and water. They gave me a lot of fruit, and I got to exercise when lunch was over. On top of being one of the luckiest, I was probably one of the most physically fit, I suppose. Many of the kids who have to stay on the 'upper floors' were skinny-looking. I didn't know what kind of psychos they kept up there, and I didn't want to know. The 'Upper Area' is where the really psychotic kids go. I'd never even met one of them. Not that I would've liked to...

I can't complain too much. They let me watch old (I mean really old) movies that were made when film was still black-and-white. I had a light in my bathroom so that I could read at night, mainly because I compained a lot, saying that it was hard for me to sleep. They played it off like this place was on a freaking budget and they couldn't afford good entertainment for us, but I sort of understand. This place wasn't supposed to be glamorous, and most of us in there were being punished. I don't know why, but if we were being punished, we probably did something to deserve it. Anyways, they gave me these old, crusty books with yellow pages falling off.

When I found out where those books came from, I started becoming a troublemaker. You see, there's a library in one of the old wings with shelves upon shelves of books. One day, one of the cleaners caught me, and he didn't get mad. He just sat down and told me that this place used to be a college. I still don't exactly know what a college is, but the cleaner said it was like a huge school, and this library was one of the only rooms left that hadn't been altered in any way. I thought it must be a pretty special place if they didn't want to mess with it, so I kept going there.

Almost every day at lunch, I would run in there and pick out whatever I could and sat down to read. Someone would come in and scold me, telling me the others were looking for me, and that it was dangerous to run off. After a while, they sent meaner people in to come get me and they would threaten me. Most of them told me that if there were an emergency (the most used example was one of the 'Upper Area' kid escaping), I would not be safe, since I would be all alone and vulnerable in the library.

I blew them off, not realizing how right they were. One day, though, I would realize that it truly was dangerous to be all alone in Mischief.

It seemed like another normal day. Doesn't it always? I was getting lunch, and the cook said "Hello, Demi.", so I said "Hi" back. I ate my lunch, and instead of getting on the workout machines (I was getting soft since I was reading more than exercising), I sneaked to the library to finish '100 Years of Solitude', a book I had been reading for over two weeks. Well, that's just a guess. I don't exactly have a calendar to keep track of the days.

The event happened so suddenly, the memory is somewhat blurry. I remember it being so quiet in the library, that I could hear what was going on in the lunch room. Over a speaker they fixed up from when they found the abandoned college, they warned everyone that one of the 'Upper Area' children had escaped. I could hear screaming from that room, and I, myself panicked. It would be too risky for me to simply run out of the library; the hallway leading to the lunchroom was long, and the lights barely lit it. If the 'Upper Area' kid caught me, I would have no chance of escaping, because my body had gotten used to not running.

Instead of running out, which, now that I think about it, would've been the right choice at that moment, I stayed in the library and hid behind one of the old desks in the corner. Chances were slim that he/she would end up here, but I wouldn't risk it. Hiding was my only option at that point.

For a few minutes, which actually seemed like hours at that point, I was alone in the library. I could still hear the screaming in the other room, but I could also hear my own heartbeat. So, when I heard the library door open, it beat so hard, I thought it was bruising my ribcage. I would be found, all because my stupid heart couldn't calm down! I begged and pleaded in my head for it to slow itself and quiet down, but the noise only became worse. When I think about it, it was probably only me who could hear it, and I was just paranoid.

Still, someone was in the library with me, no doubt about it. I hoped they wouldn't look under the desk unless they were someone I could trust.

The voice was not familiar. "Hello? Anybody in here?" the voice was raspy, and I could tell this person was breathing hard, and had been running. At that point, I had no doubt this was the 'Upper Area' kid who had escaped. This terrified me even more, to the point where I started gasping and hyperventilating. I couldn't stop my heavy breathing, which led me to shake and cry. Soon, I became easy to find.

I only cried harder as his footsteps approached the desk I was under, and I tried so hard to shut myself up. It was impossible. I suddenly ached all over and felt queasy. I tried to quell my nervousness numerous times. I bit my lip so hard that it bled, which made me cry harder, and I held my breath. That only caused me to shake even more.

This kid didn't even look under the desk for me. I knew he was strong, because his hands reached under the desk, and he pushed it to the side so hard that it would've knocked someone down had they been standing in its path. I could only pathetically utter one sentence. "Please don't kill me!"

From what I could gather, this kid was around my age, fourteen, and he was skinny, with muscular arms. I guessed he did pushups every night, which was a dumb thing to think at that point. He was also pale, which was normal here, since we didn't go outside too much. They didn't trust us not to climb the ten foot fences.

He scoffed at me. I couldn't really blame him. I was scared out of my mind, and didn't really care what he thought at that point. "Pathetic. Guess they don't teach you much self defense down here. That's a shame."

I was shocked. It almost sounded like he was trying to make conversation. However, I was still afraid, and didn't dare try and talk to him.

"Don't you speak?" I stayed silent. "No? Guess you can't tell me where the exit is, then." He stepped closer, but I scooted back away from him. He simply kept stepping closer, and I kept scooting away. Even when he stopped, I kept going for another few inches. When he laughed, I was even more scared than when he walked up to the desk. "Want to play a game?" I wasn't aware that my scooting around would make him think of a game.

Instead of saying no, or even shaking my head for that matter, I was stupid enough to ask the most ridiculous question I could ask at that point. "What kind of game?"

This was the moment I found out why they keep the more insane kids on a totally different floor. His eyes seemed to gleam. It reminded me of the Cheshire Cat in a book I had read called 'Alice in Wonderland'. His smile almost resembled the cat's, as well. "It's a little game we psychos upstairs like to call 'Cat and Mouse'. I'm sure you've never played it."

I shook my head.

"Of course you haven't. The rules are simple. I am the cat. And you are the mouse I am chasing. Get it? It's kind of like tag, only once the cat catches his mouse, it's all over."

"I... don't understand." Actually, his rules were quite clear. I was just stalling, hoping somebody would show up.

At first, he raised his eyebrows and I knew he could only be thinking 'So you do talk?'. Then he went on to explain. "I think I've made it pretty clear." This was no normal fourteen year old, I could see that much. "The cat chases the mouse until he catches her. He makes the mouse think she still has a chance of getting away, until he catches her again, and then kills her." It made me sick to think that he was describing me as a mouse. "Are you ready?" I didn't have a choice but to play along.

I shook my head anyway. Instead of even laughing, or telling me it wasn't my decision whether or not I wanted to play, he simply lunged at me. Without thinking, I rolled out of the way, scrambling, trying to pull myself up in a panic. I stumbled a bit before regaining my balance. Apparently, he was quicker than me and managed to block the doorway before I could get there. Every time I got near it, he regained a burst of speed, and I would have to run away. The door was heavy and it would take a second or two to pull it so I could slip out. Unfortunately, I didn't have that kind of time. If it pushed out, I probably would have gotten away a long time ago.

During the time I ran up the stairs, around the book shelves, and climbed over the ladders to jump to the other side of the shelf, he somehow got to talking again. I had no idea how he could keep a conversation going when he was running after me in that library. It frustrated me, even.

"I have another idea." he said. "Instead of killing the mouse, I could use her to help me."

Don't even think about it. Helping a psycho escape was a huge no-no for me, even if it meant my own freedom. It meant I would have to stick with him to survive, and he could snap at any moment. I had read about those kinds of relationships during some of the times I sneaked in here.

"Yeah. If you get away, I'll go quietly back to my cell for now and never bother you again." It still didn't guarantee he wouldn't trick some other individual into helping him. "However, if I catch you, you'll help me get out of here, no matter what the cost, and we'll stick together once we make it to the outside world." I could tell he had been planning this for a while. Deranged as he was, he still looked fairly young and probably needed a partner with him if he managed to break out. If not, he would never survive.

Still, I had no intention of breaking out, as I knew I was better off than most of the children that lived in Mischief, as much as I did complain. It would make me look selfish if I escaped. No, he could take one of his 'Upper' buddies out with him. I kept running, praying I would at least once make it to the door inside. I wondered when the security people would get here.

I suddenly stopped hearing his footsteps, and knew I would eventually run into him if I kept running in the library. Honestly, the silence was creepier than the running. I had no clue where he was...

"Little mouse, you've never even told me your name." I knew he was still in the upper part of the library, and I might be able to make it to the door if he didn't see her. "If I catch her and we have to bust out of here together, I should at least know her name."

He was truly treating me like a mouse, but I couldn't get angry. I could get angry later, but right now I needed to focus on getting to the door.

However, getting to the door was the last of my problems when I saw the bookshelf I was behind start to fall. I screamed and held out my hands to see if it would do any good. The shelf knocked me down and I was literally buried in books. I tried to move, but I was hurting now. I could feel the weight of the shelf being pushed off me slightly, and suddenly knew what would happen when I saw the books moving.

Hard as I tried, I could barely move under all those books and he was tearing through them. I hoped I had read all of those copies. He was probably tearing them to shreds. Then, my upper half was free, and his knees were pushing the books on my lower half. "Looks like I've caught my mouse." he said, triumphantly.

"I... I won't help you!" I suddenly sputtered without thinking. I have no clue what possessed me to say it, and I realized my mistake quickly.

"If you won't help, little mouse, I can just kill you." There was no other warning before his hands were around my throat and his elbows were pressing painfully into my forearms. "What will it be?"

That time, I didn't answer. I simply couldn't make up my mind, but he took it as a no and started ringing my neck. I knew I was going to die, and wondered how he could kill like this. By strangling, he had to look right at me. I tried so hard to get him to let go.

In the middle of it all, I heard the library door open again, and men came running in packs. I was about to go unconscious, until they pulled him off me.

One of the men started yelling at him, but I didn't even care to listen to what they were saying. I only heard one thing come from his mouth when I finally looked up.

I felt the color flood my face as he said this in front of the others. "Please, just tell me this... What is the name of my mouse?"

I shouldn't have told him. I should have walked off and not given him the satisfaction of knowing he knew my name. If he knew, he could easily break into one of the head offices and sneak a peak at the files to find my cell. Actually, that's probably just me being paranoid.

I felt so mad at myself for answering his question... "Demi. My name is Demi."

"Even your name means 'small'." He managed to laugh even as they dragged him away. How did he know that? I thought, angrily.

I rubbed my neck, knowing there would be bruises the other children would question, and my throat would be sore. I also had a feeling I would see this kid again.

---

That night, I was thinking about what had happened in the library, and couldn't go to sleep. I couldn't even read, which was my favorite thing to do. As much I hated him for it, that kid distracted me. He was as insane as they came, and I wanted nothing to do with him. Or so I thought...

When I was still thinking, Leo, one of the heads of security came over to my cell and unlocked it. "Cain said he wants to see you." He said without showing emotion. I became so confused, and many questions ran through my head. I almost blurted them all out at once.

"Who's Cain? Why does he want to see me? And this late at night? No, thanks. Tell this Cain person I'm going to bed." I said this even though I couldn't sleep.

"He's one of the 'upper floor' kids who're really messed up in the head." Leo told me. "He tried to strangle you in the library today. We tried to calm him down with a sedative, but he keeps spouting threats. He says he only wants to talk to you. Please, Demi? He'll be behind a glass wall in a constraint. We really need to calm this guy down. You'll be supervised at all times."

I had no intention of speaking to that kid ever again. "No, thank you." I pulled the covers over my head.

"Demi, please. All he requests is a little chat with you." Leo was practically begging.

"And why are you going to give him what he wants?" I yelled from under the sheets. "He tried to kill me, and I don't think he deserves a little chat."

I could hear Leo sigh. "You're right, Demi, we shouldn't just hand him what he wants. Still, you don't realize how crafty and dangerous this kid is. He's just been transferred from another asylum and the only reason he didn't escape was because he didn't know how this place was set up. That's probably how he got in the library. Please think about it, OK?"

He walked off after locking my cell (like I would have snuck out, anyway if it wasn't locked), and I sat thinking. I would make this kid wait. He deserved to realize that people generally got angry when you tried to strangle them and they would try not to talk to you. Still, I wanted to talk, too. Thus, I compromised by making him wait for a while before I went to see him.

Leo told me Cain was excited to finally talk to me, and that there was nothing I needed to worry about. When we arrived, and I saw Cain behind the glass, I simply sat where I was told to sit and let him say what he wanted to say.

Before he even spoke, I could tell what he was thinking. He wanted to play another game of 'cat and mouse'.