Locked Up [Closed RP w/ deepxinthexmeadow]
The large building before him seemed to loom over him and everything around, dark and intimidating. Of course, perhaps it seemed darker because Peeta had been locked in the back of the police truck, stuck in that dark, tiny cab where he only had one barred window that barely let in light. The evening sun shone from behind, casting what were normally his favorite colors across the sky and acting as an eerie halo around his new home. A policeman at each of his sides walked Peeta up to the door and inside. They were the only escort he had. No one had come with him two states over into Virginia. Peeta was alone.
They made the walk into the building, through the doors, and into what would from now on be his new home. If it could be called that. The police that had driven him this far continued to look at him with disdain, even as they handed him over and rather reluctantly Peeta noticed, took his handcuffs off. It was quickly replaced with a jacket of course. Couldn't be too safe. Or at least that was what the doctor had insisted.
Peeta studied the man who was now in control of his life. White hair, white beard, white coat. The only thing that wasn't white about him was the green eyes that somehow reminded Peeta of a snake. The name tag on his lapel said Snow. Somehow, Peeta got the strong feeling that the cold name fit the man perfectly.
"Just take care, Doctor," one of the cops said as Peeta was being pulled away. "That one... he has blood on his hands." That's all Peeta hears before he is pulled through another set of doors. Just as it was back in South Carolina, Peeta was sent through the rounds, being checked into the hospital. Only instead of taking prints, it was taking his information, instead of taking his pictures, he was pushed into a cold shower with no care, and instead of switching out his clothes for the prisoner stripes, his stripes were changed out for plain, itchy dull clothes. He was no longer just a prisoner. He was officially one of the crazies, the undesirables.
Once the whole thing was done, Peeta was thrown into a cell by himself. Freezing cold, still slightly damp from his impromptu shower, and completely and utterly alone, Peeta curled into himself on the stiff bed. How had he ended up here again? In the matter of a month, he had gone from a normal, albeit not ideal life to something out of a nightmare. He was labeled unstable, volatile, and above everything, a murderer. His family had only managed to work out this much, getting him a crazy plea instead of going to jail. However, it still didn't help.
Neither did the week of solitary. He was only brought out by large men, brought to Doctor Snow's office for a session at least once a day, and then brought back to his cell. That was the extent of his physical activity, besides the endless pacing. Interaction was even more limited, with his food only being slid through a latch at the bottom of the door. The rest of the day was silence and watching the shadows slide across the wall.
It was only after that week that he was finally allowed out. Deemed somewhat stable and soon apparently starting a cocktail of medication, Peeta was allowed out to sit in on the leisure time in the recreation room. He was constantly watched of course, set off on his own at private table, and the jacket was always latched a little tighter, but he was around people. It was more than he could have asked over a week ago.He didn't even care to mind one bit if half of the people here truly did need the help and were not mentally sound. He was around people.
And people watching sure did keep him entertained. In the corner, a pair, woman and man who were both under weight and a bit twitchy laughed as they simply bounced a ball back and forth to each other, as if they were children again. At another table, an older woman with wild, grey hair sat with glasses low on her nose as she read over a Bible, her weathered hands scanning the words and flipping the page carefully. But the one true bit of kindness that drew Peeta's eye the most was an older woman sitting in a chair. Her eyes were pretty vacant and sad, staring into a world that she could only see. Her hands remained folded in her lap and she sat slightly slumped. Yet despite everything, a small smile ghosted over her lips, all because of the soft, comforting motion of the nurse behind her.
The nurse gently brushed out the woman's tawny hair with careful hands. Grey eyes stared down and studied her work, undoing every little tangle without pulling or tugging. A single strand of her own dark hair fell in front of her face. However, it was the nurse's humming that she seemed to be doing without thinking that truly drew Peeta's attention. It was a song that seemed slightly familiar, like he had heard it before, but he couldn't place it. No matter what the song though, it was beautiful and Peeta, with nothing left to lose, let himself just stare and listen, absolutely rapt with awe.
