The chipper roars to life with a gurgle and a snarl, and I feel it deep in my bones. It’s not just the noise, it’s thepromise. Power. Teeth. Consequence.
I start feeding it sticks. Then branches. Then half a broken chair I find by the compost bin. The vibration goes straight through me; the thing inside me gives nothing back. Not a flutter. Not a warning.
Doctor Callaway winces at the noise, but says nothing. Maybe she thinks I’m calming down.
She’s wrong.
I talk over the grind and shred of splintered wood. “You ever think about it?”
“Think about what?”
“This. What it would do to a body.”
Doctor Callaway doesn’t answer straight away. That’s smart. Silence is safer than whatever she’s thinking.
I smile, teeth and all. “Not saying I would. Just…curiosity. What gets stuck first. Where the blood sprays. If bones scream.”
“That’s enough for today.”
I feed another stick through and watch it vanish. “You said I wasn’t a prisoner.”
“You’re not.”
“So if I wanted to put something else in here – hypothetically – you couldn’t stop me.”
“That’s not how ‘hypothetically’ works, Kayla.”
I smirk. “Works fine in my head.”
She crosses her arms. “I’m ending the session.”
I cut the power with a dramatic flick of the switch, the silence that follows heavier than the noise. Then I turn to her, wiping my hands on my trousers like I’ve just finished a masterpiece.
“Doctor Callaway,” I say, voice syrupy and calm.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to need more sticks tomorrow.”
She hesitates. “Fine.”
“And maybe a mannequin.”
She narrows her eyes. “Why?”
“For art.”
She says fine, then turns to leave, probably off to write some smug little footnote in my file.Kayla responded positively to supervised tactile engagement. Mild fixation on hypothetical violence. Redirect with caution.Blah, blah, blah.
But I don’t let her leave.
“Doctor Callaway.”
She pauses. Doesn’t look back. That’s always a sign she knows I’ve got her.
“I’ve been thinking,” I say, folding my arms, tapping one foot against the now-silent chipper like we’re old friends.
“That’s never reassuring,” she murmurs.
