The rec room was noisy, but Sam ignored the commotion behind him. It wasn’t easy to ignore the clack of pool balls hitting each other, but some how he managed. As he sat on the back of what he had come to think of as ‘his couch’ he worried at the nail on his thumb with his teeth. What were they going to do? Wasn’t it just yesterday he had promised Koji that they wouldn’t be in Wellhaven for the rest of their life? Yeah, that was a great promise, but how was he going to pull that off? Sam hadn’t even been outside the building in about three years. For all he knew, there wasn’t an outside. Wouldn’t that be a bitch?

Okay, so the smartest answer was to prove that the both of them were sane. Sam had no idea how to make that happen. Even when he lied, Dr Brown seemed to know. And honestly, somehow the thought of suddenly becoming all social and nice-y nice with the other patients to prove his sanity seemed beyond even his abilities. Koji might be able to pull it off, but Sam doubted even that. When Koji was around the others for too long, the voices got too much. That seemed to be enough proof that Wellhaven wasn’t doing either of them any good.

The smartest answer wasn’t going to solve anything. So he had to think of something else. Was he really trying to think of a way to escape? Yeah, he was. Holy hell.

Okay, if he really was trying to think of a way to escape, might as well be serious about it. The doors to the place were on electronic locks. Sam knew this from watching people try to get out of the building before. He’d watched doctors come and go as well. They had to be buzzed in or out at the front. People rarely went in or out of the doors, but Sam had seen it happen. So what they needed was a reason for the doors to open. Obviously trying to sneak out while a doctor left wasn’t going to work. What about using an emergency exit?

Sam glanced at one of the near-by emergency doors. It was clearly marked with a sign that warned an alarm would go off if it was opened. So that wouldn’t work. The orderlies would hear it and come running. But what if they had to use the doors? They needed some kind of confusion. They needed a reason for everyone to get out of the building.

Sam raised his head. That was exactly what they needed. If Koji and Sam wanted to escape, they needed a reason for everyone to leave the building. Then in the confusion, maybe they’d be lucky enough to get away. So, with that much figured out, what was a reason for everyone to leave the building? Sam figured a fire would probably do it. Of course, that was a problem too. How could he get a fire started? It wasn’t like he had access to matches. Maybe Koji would have some ideas. Sam would just have to wait.

With that somewhat settled, Sam turned to the book he'd grabbed from the library. To his surprise, it was a complete collection of Edgar Allen Poe’s works. As he read, the stories felt incredibly familiar. Sam knew he had never read the book before.  And yet, despite never reading it before, he knew what was going to happen next. He knew all about the rooms in the “Masque of the Red Death” and who the guy in the mask was. He knew about the heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and even, “The Pit and the Pendulum” wasn’t very exciting. Sam knew the endings to all of them. This was crazy. How could he remember the plots from a book that had been in a dream of his? No way.

Sam continued reading, mostly out of curiosity to see if he really remembered everything from the book. A shadow blocked the light, darkening his most recent page. Looking up, Sam saw Lou and Bernard standing behind him. This was just perfect. Maybe he could just ignore them. Yeah, he saw them already, but if he turned back to his book.

“So where were you during group today?” Lou asked. Okay, ignoring did not work.

“Don’t know how’s that any o’ your business.” Sam replied, staring down at the pages of his book.

“Koji wasn’t there either,” Bernard added. “Maybe they were off together. They’re usually together anyway.”

“Leave me alone would ya?”

“When you’re not there, it hurts the whole group.” Lou said. He sounded all serious, but then he was Dr Brown’s little pet.

“Didn’t we go over all this yesterday? Y’ worship the ground Dr Brown walks on, and I think she’s full o’ it. Can we move on?”

Sam suddenly felt a hand push his head forward. He didn’t quite fall off of the couch, but with the injuries he got earlier in the day, it was enough to wrench his shoulder again. Standing up, he then stood up and saw Lou standing there red faced. It matched his hair color. The book hit the floor, momentarily forgotten.

“What th’ hell?” Sam muttered.

“I’m tired of you bad mouthing her.”

“And I’m real tired o’ bein’ pushed around t’ day. If y’ walk away, I’ll forget about it.”

“And what can you do about it? You think you can take me?”

Sam watched as Lou sneered at him. Honestly, the other guy was bigger. Sam didn’t know how he managed to look overweight with the food they served. After all, Sam knew full well that he looked pretty malnourished himself. Then again, determination counted for something, and Sam would be damned if he let some other crazy beat the hell out of him.

“Don’t know,” Sam said, shrugging the shoulder that didn’t hurt. “But I’d have some fun findin’ out. Would you?”

“Lou, this probably isn’t a good idea,” Bernard interrupted, glancing around the room. “There’s orderlies all over the place.”

“Yeah, ‘nd Dr Brown’d be real upset if you misbehaved like a bad doggie,” Sam couldn’t help it, something in him just made him say it, and smirk while saying it.

It took about five seconds to realize that saying that statement like that had been a really bad idea. Lou lunged over the back of the couch like, well, like a crazy guy. Sam found himself slammed against the floor for the second time that day. Of course, this time, he had someone on top of him as well. And, lucky him, Lou managed to find just the right spot on Sam’s face to slam his fist into. Now Sam was going to have bruise on top of bruise.

“Get the hell off me!” Sam shouted.

“Thought you could take me,” was Lou’s grunted reply.

“Guys, the orderlies…” Bernard sounded panicked.

Lou was sitting not quite on Sam’s stomach. Actually, he was uncomfortably lower. And that meant that kicking the guy was out. So was sliding his legs out from underneath. Of course, Sam wasn’t really planning things out. He didn’t exactly have what you’d call fighting experience. But as Lou grabbed Sam’s bangs and slammed his head against the floor, it became clear that no one else was going to come help, so if he wanted out of this, he was going to have to do something fight like. For lack of a better idea, Sam grabbed Lou’s wrists, one in each hand. Now it was just a struggle to see who would get the upper hand.

For a moment it looked like it would be Lou. Sam had been right, Lou was bigger, which made him stronger. At the very least, his wrists were thick, making it hard to get a good grip. Then, suddenly, Lou started screaming. He thrashed back and forth, trying to get away.

“What are you doing?” Bernard shouted.

“What ‘m I doing?” Lou had been the one to start this fight, now he was freaking out for no reason. Although, Sam thought he could smell that same thing from before, when Max had him by the throat. This, sick, rotten smell, but it was even stronger now.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Lou started shrieking.

“Y’ gonna stop punchin’ me?”

“Just please let me go!”

Confused, Sam did as Lou asked. The young man scrambled away from Sam and back against the couch. He cradled both arms to his chest while he whimpered. What was the guy’s problem?

Finally, orderlies came over. Sure, they came when the fight was pretty much over. Dr Brown was there as well.

“What happened?” She asked, a stern eye on Sam.

“Th’ freak attacked me.”

“Samuel, we do not call people ‘freaks.’” She turned her attention to Bernard. “Is that what happened? Did Lou attack Samuel?”

“Y…yes Dr Brown. They had an argument, and it got physical. I think Lou’s really hurt.”

Dr Brown glanced down at Lou. Her eyes widened slightly before her features went back into the normal oh-so-concerned expression.

“You two,” She pointed at two orderlies. “Take him to the infirmary. I’ll be there shortly. And you,” She pointed at another orderly. “Take Samuel to my office. I want to have a talk with him when I’m done seeing to Lou.”

The orderlies nodded. The one assigned to Sam was rough as he grabbed him. Great, now he had to talk to Dr Brown. This day was just getting better and better.