She had never known the other patients to be so violent, so beastial. Downtrodden and broken seemed to have been the status quo in Glenbrooke as long as she could remember, but everyone in the new wing was downright feral, and worse, they were out for blood - her blood by the looks of it.
The patient looked behind her in a foolish attempt to see if she was managing to outrun her pursuers, only to sprint straight into a towering figure, who had stepped out in front of her. The figure swept her up in one arm and tucked her close to his side before slapping away the closest pursuer with an open hand, careful not to use his jagged nails, which frankly more closely resembled claws.
"Back off! Back off, she's only a kid, you guys." The figure tried to reason as he held out his hand to alleviate the ferocious horde. But another sprang at him, at the frightened girl snug in his arm. With a swipe of his free hand, the figure's gnarly claws cut deep into flesh.
At the scent of fresh blood, the pack descended on their wounded member. The figure put his hand over the eyes of the young girl as the hallway was filled with the sounds of rending flesh and filling of desperate maws, before rushing the girl away from the scene.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to ..." the figure said before he tried to explain. "They're normally not- they weren't always like this. So hungry."
Finally, feeling he had attained a safe distance, the figure put the girl down, and then, for an instant, his attention was pulled towards the blood on his claws.
"So so hungry."
Using the bottom of his shirt, the figure wiped his hand clean. "But I promise I'll keep you safe, kiddo, no matter what."
The patient looked up at the figure, his warm smile a horrific mismatch with human and shark-like teeth. In silence, the girl extended her pinky finger.
"Pinky promise, I've got your back, kiddo."