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Chapter two

When she woke to the sound of her alarm the next morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find that she had company lying with her on the bed. The cat she had run into the night before had taken up her offer to come inside- he was lying near her feet at the bottom of the bed, sleeping soundly and comfortably. With a slight smile, she reached for her alarm clock to turn it off, then she climbed out of bed to get ready for work. She did her typical morning routine- went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, took a quick shower. Once out of the shower, she put on her black uniform, brushed her long (H/C) hair and put it in a ponytail. Honestly, if keeping her hair above and below a certain length hadn't been a requirement of her job, she might have gotten it cut by now. Sadly, she was required to keep her hair just long enough to reach her shoulder-blades. Such is life. Once dressed she put on her socks and boots, and she went to her kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat before she had to go. A fried egg on a piece of buttered toast- it was a fast, easy meal with just enough protein to hold her over till lunchtime at work. Which she was looking forward to, seeing as it was spaghetti day- she simply loved the garlic bread that came with the meal. That and being able to get more than one dessert because she was a senior member, was an added bonus.

Must have been the governments way of saying "Well, look at that. You've survived five years working here without getting killed by your patients. Congratulations! Here, take an extra helping of sweets as a reward- and thanks for risking your life with a job where accepting death is a requirement!". Yeah, surviving work at "The place" for five years or more earned people the title of "Senior worker". She had, in fact, been working there for seven years- she's started at eighteen after being recruited, and she'd just turned twenty-five a few months ago. That in mind, she must have been doing something right with her patients- she'd lasted seven years and they hadn't made any moves to kill her. Yet. She could never know with them- they were typically very quiet when she was around. Well, most of them were. One of them talked to her a bit every time she went into his room, but, the conversations were all pretty much the same. She had a total of four patients to look after, but only three rooms to visit total. Two of her patients shared a room. Why? Because one of them suffered terrible panic attacks and episodes from time to time, and the other was the only one capable of calming him down without anything bad happening. In other words, the pair were kept together for their health- it was a requirement.

They were not allowed to be separated for more than seventy-two hours, it was such an important rule. Her other two patients had medial requirements as well, but most of that was dietary related. One, was on a strict diet of supplements via injection- aside from that, he was given mineral water to sustain himself. The other, was an extremely picky eater- especially when it came to meat. He wouldn't eat steak, chicken, lamb, or any of the traditional easily obtained cuts of meat found in the everyday supermarket. No, he wanted what was removed from the animal prior to its meat being cut. He would only eat organs. Speaking of- she'd gone out of her way to make him a little surprise in hopes of cheering him up a bit. He, like all of her patients, suffered from depression. So, she made him a pie to see if he'd perk up any. Steak and kidney pie to be specific, though she barely added any steak because she knew he wouldn't eat it. She quickly packed the pie in a small ice chest and set it by her front door so she wouldn't forget it. Then, she grabbed and opened a can of tuna so the cat would have something to eat while she was gone. Personally, she had her doubts that he'd be there when she got home, but she figured she might as well give him a good meal before he went on his way.

Once the tuna was open, she lent down to set the can on the floor, and when she stood back up she jumped a bit in surprise. The cat was sitting on her counter, peering up at her. With a sigh, she put her hands atop the counter to lean against it a bit, and she smiled at the cat slightly as she shook her head. That was the second time the cat had popped up when she hadn't been paying attention. The second time it had just appeared in her line of sight to make her jump in surprise. With a sigh, she bent back down to pick up the can of tuna, then she set it on the counter in front of the black feline. She wasn't surprised to find that the cat was more interested in her than the food she had put in front of him. Ah well, that's a cat for you. She smiled a bit more and shook her head again.

"Y'know, that's the second time you've made jump. Keep that up and I might just have to call you Mr. Jumpscare..." She said calmly as she extended her hand to see if the cat would let her pet him. That answer turned out to be a big, fat, no. He backed up and hissed when she tried to touch him- it was the same response he'd given her when she tried to pet him last night.
"You're not much of a house cat, are you?" She asked calmly as she withdrew her hand and smiled down at the feline, who simply stared up at her with its vibrant green eyes. With another amused shake of her head, she checked the clock on her microwave and sighed- it was about time for her to go.
"Alright kitty, I need to go to work. I'm there every day so you won't see much of me during the day, unless I take time off, which is exceedingly rare... Mm, feel free to come and go as you please. You're a cat, you know how to take care of yourself- and yes I realize that I'm talking to an animal as if I expect it to understand me. No, I don't care if anyone thinks I'm crazy, I'm well aware of that already. Yes, I'm talking to myself now... Alright, I'm leaving. Do whatever you want. Bye~" She said in an oddly calm voice as she collected her things. Keys, ice chest and pie, optional uniform overcoat in case she decided it was chilly at work. Once she had everything she needed, she flashed the cat a peace sign as she opened the front door, then she left. She quickly put her things in the car, got in and turned on the engine. Then, she started her trip to work. The drive was as long as it normally was, and as soon as she arrived at work she grabbed her things and left the car to head inside. Two quick inputs of her pass code and a few minutes of fast paced walking later, and she was inside getting ready to visit her patients. First thing she did was take the pie out of the ice chest and pop it in the toaster over in the break room. Then, she grabbed her clipboard and all its needed paperwork, and her pen. Next came a quick schedule check to confirm what order she was supposed to visit her patients in. As expected, first one she had to see was the one she brought the pie for. She'd go in, visit him for her required hour- maybe longer if he was in a talkative mood- then she'd leave and get set to visit the next inmate on her list. Before long, the timer on the pie dinged so she took it out of the toaster oven.

Then, she put it in a small hand basket so that she could transport it to her patient's room. With that, and everything else she needed, in check, she started towards her first room for the day. She quickly left the break room and started down the first hall leading to the housing area. Then she just wondered down the halls taking the needed turns, and before long she was standing outside the door of her first patient. She quickly checked the time above the door as she prepared to enter her pass code to get into the room. The time read 7:20, meaning by the time she was done she'd leave probably around 8:40. With that in mind, she raised her hand to knock on the door so that her patient would know she was about to head inside- it wasn't a requirement, but she felt it better safe than sorry. Never knew what you'd walk in on someone doing if you just burst through the door, and she'd already caught him with his pants down once. Only his pants, thank the stars, and it was nearly six years ago- but it was enough to remind her that it was better if she knocked. She waited a few seconds after she knocked to give him a chance to make himself decent if he wasn't, then she quickly put in her pass code to get the door open so she could step inside.

Since she'd brought him food and wanted to make sure he ate it, she didn't bother activating any of the locks inside the room- but she never really bothered to do that. As soon as the green light flashed to signal that the door was unlocked, she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Good morning-"........

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Chapter two

When she woke to the sound of her alarm the next morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find that she had company lying with her on the bed. The cat she had run into the night before had taken up her offer to come inside- he was lying near her feet at the bottom of the bed, sleeping soundly and comfortably. With a slight smile, she reached for her alarm clock to turn it off, then she climbed out of bed to get ready for work. She did her typical morning routine- went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, took a quick shower. Once out of the shower, she put on her black uniform, brushed her long (H/C) hair and put it in a ponytail. Honestly, if keeping her hair above and below a certain length hadn't been a requirement of her job, she might have gotten it cut by now. Sadly, she was required to keep her hair just long enough to reach her shoulder-blades. Such is life. Once dressed she put on her socks and boots, and she went to her kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat before she had to go. A fried egg on a piece of buttered toast- it was a fast, easy meal with just enough protein to hold her over till lunchtime at work. Which she was looking forward to, seeing as it was spaghetti day- she simply loved the garlic bread that came with the meal. That and being able to get more than one dessert because she was a senior member, was an added bonus.

Must have been the governments way of saying "Well, look at that. You've survived five years working here without getting killed by your patients. Congratulations! Here, take an extra helping of sweets as a reward- and thanks for risking your life with a job where accepting death is a requirement!". Yeah, surviving work at "The place" for five years or more earned people the title of "Senior worker". She had, in fact, been working there for seven years- she's started at eighteen after being recruited, and she'd just turned twenty-five a few months ago. That in mind, she must have been doing something right with her patients- she'd lasted seven years and they hadn't made any moves to kill her. Yet. She could never know with them- they were typically very quiet when she was around. Well, most of them were. One of them talked to her a bit every time she went into his room, but, the conversations were all pretty much the same. She had a total of four patients to look after, but only three rooms to visit total. Two of her patients shared a room. Why? Because one of them suffered terrible panic attacks and episodes from time to time, and the other was the only one capable of calming him down without anything bad happening. In other words, the pair were kept together for their health- it was a requirement.

They were not allowed to be separated for more than seventy-two hours, it was such an important rule. Her other two patients had medial requirements as well, but most of that was dietary related. One, was on a strict diet of supplements via injection- aside from that, he was given mineral water to sustain himself. The other, was an extremely picky eater- especially when it came to meat. He wouldn't eat steak, chicken, lamb, or any of the traditional easily obtained cuts of meat found in the everyday supermarket. No, he wanted what was removed from the animal prior to its meat being cut. He would only eat organs. Speaking of- she'd gone out of her way to make him a little surprise in hopes of cheering him up a bit. He, like all of her patients, suffered from depression. So, she made him a pie to see if he'd perk up any. Steak and kidney pie to be specific, though she barely added any steak because she knew he wouldn't eat it. She quickly packed the pie in a small ice chest and set it by her front door so she wouldn't forget it. Then, she grabbed and opened a can of tuna so the cat would have something to eat while she was gone. Personally, she had her doubts that he'd be there when she got home, but she figured she might as well give him a good meal before he went on his way.

Once the tuna was open, she lent down to set the can on the floor, and when she stood back up she jumped a bit in surprise. The cat was sitting on her counter, peering up at her. With a sigh, she put her hands atop the counter to lean against it a bit, and she smiled at the cat slightly as she shook her head. That was the second time the cat had popped up when she hadn't been paying attention. The second time it had just appeared in her line of sight to make her jump in surprise. With a sigh, she bent back down to pick up the can of tuna, then she set it on the counter in front of the black feline. She wasn't surprised to find that the cat was more interested in her than the food she had put in front of him. Ah well, that's a cat for you. She smiled a bit more and shook her head again.

"Y'know, that's the second time you've made jump. Keep that up and I might just have to call you Mr. Jumpscare..." She said calmly as she extended her hand to see if the cat would let her pet him. That answer turned out to be a big, fat, no. He backed up and hissed when she tried to touch him- it was the same response he'd given her when she tried to pet him last night.
"You're not much of a house cat, are you?" She asked calmly as she withdrew her hand and smiled down at the feline, who simply stared up at her with its vibrant green eyes. With another amused shake of her head, she checked the clock on her microwave and sighed- it was about time for her to go.
"Alright kitty, I need to go to work. I'm there every day so you won't see much of me during the day, unless I take time off, which is exceedingly rare... Mm, feel free to come and go as you please. You're a cat, you know how to take care of yourself- and yes I realize that I'm talking to an animal as if I expect it to understand me. No, I don't care if anyone thinks I'm crazy, I'm well aware of that already. Yes, I'm talking to myself now... Alright, I'm leaving. Do whatever you want. Bye~" She said in an oddly calm voice as she collected her things. Keys, ice chest and pie, optional uniform overcoat in case she decided it was chilly at work. Once she had everything she needed, she flashed the cat a peace sign as she opened the front door, then she left. She quickly put her things in the car, got in and turned on the engine. Then, she started her trip to work. The drive was as long as it normally was, and as soon as she arrived at work she grabbed her things and left the car to head inside. Two quick inputs of her pass code and a few minutes of fast paced walking later, and she was inside getting ready to visit her patients. First thing she did was take the pie out of the ice chest and pop it in the toaster over in the break room. Then, she grabbed her clipboard and all its needed paperwork, and her pen. Next came a quick schedule check to confirm what order she was supposed to visit her patients in. As expected, first one she had to see was the one she brought the pie for. She'd go in, visit him for her required hour- maybe longer if he was in a talkative mood- then she'd leave and get set to visit the next inmate on her list. Before long, the timer on the pie dinged so she took it out of the toaster oven.

Then, she put it in a small hand basket so that she could transport it to her patient's room. With that, and everything else she needed, in check, she started towards her first room for the day. She quickly left the break room and started down the first hall leading to the housing area. Then she just wondered down the halls taking the needed turns, and before long she was standing outside the door of her first patient. She quickly checked the time above the door as she prepared to enter her pass code to get into the room. The time read 7:20, meaning by the time she was done she'd leave probably around 8:40. With that in mind, she raised her hand to knock on the door so that her patient would know she was about to head inside- it wasn't a requirement, but she felt it better safe than sorry. Never knew what you'd walk in on someone doing if you just burst through the door, and she'd already caught him with his pants down once. Only his pants, thank the stars, and it was nearly six years ago- but it was enough to remind her that it was better if she knocked. She waited a few seconds after she knocked to give him a chance to make himself decent if he wasn't, then she quickly put in her pass code to get the door open so she could step inside.

Since she'd brought him food and wanted to make sure he ate it, she didn't bother activating any of the locks inside the room- but she never really bothered to do that. As soon as the green light flashed to signal that the door was unlocked, she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Good morning-"........