A. H. Wong

Chapter Sixteen

 

Taylor's Log

 

Entry Date: April 20th, 2010

 

Entry Title: Group Therapy Diaries

 

Most of the members of these sessions could benefit from some severe introspection. While I fully support their, albeit quite limited, attempts at getting better....I must say that they require more than what they currently do. Most of them remain quite silent in sessions, and it requires a good amount of time for me to get them to speak.

 

Maverick and Janelle are the only two that regularly speak. In fact, were it not for them, I have the feeling that our sessions would be massively silent. Then again, that would almost gladden me, as I must say Kevin has a remarkable way of raising my frustration.

 

He is a very interesting case. He arrived here only a short time before Master John agreed to take me on as the Agency's lead therapist, but his influence has almost doubled in size compared to his own. I have noticed, time and time again, that even members of other residences will turn to him for answers. During last week's power outage, it was HIS voice--not my own--that led people to find their way to the seventh floor cafeteria. It was his voice that kept people calm, and few seemed to even notice I was speaking.

 

If I am to do what Master John requires of me, and overtake his power, I must first overthrow him.

 

Which is why these diaries will be of...use.

 

I am very ashamed to admit that I fully intend to read my patients' diaries, and use their contents to my advantage. If I can find out my own weaknesses, in their eyes, I can turn them into strengths. I will pull Kevin's followers from him, and bring them to me.

 

He is dangerous. I know he is.

 

I just wish I could prove that fact to anyone else.

 

~

 

Taylor's Log

 

Entry Date: April 21st, 2010

 

Entry Title: Master John's Foolishness

 

I am growing unable to stand this man. He continually rebuffs my attempts at speaking to him about Kevin, who is growing in fame. Even though scarcely twenty-four hours have passed since my last entry, I can state honestly that Kevin's threat level has increased. His influence is overpowering the Agency, and he is also overpowering Master John.

 

Master John is too blind to see this, but Kevin fully intends to take Master John into his influence. He is already setting up Master John enough that Kevin will be the right-hand man, instead of myself. If this action is allowed, I will have lost my control of the Agency, and possibly forfeited my life.

 

I have little doubt that Kevin would blink at the thought of taking my life.

 

He likely has the ability to do it as well. Chances are, he will not even have to lift a finger to have my life be taken from me. He does, after all, have multiple killers under his influence.

 

If I could only convince Master John of the danger he poses, I know I would avert a great crisis. The chances of this happening, though, shrink with every passing day. One day, one day, I will be strong enough to take him down.

 

~

 

Master John's Record

 

April 21st, 2010: Taylor Feels I Am An Idiot

 

Harrumph. He is beginning to wear upon my nerves. The fact that he feels I am a fool glows out of his every pore. It is truly an annoyance, especially because he feels this way due to Kevin. He has made it clear, repeatedly so, that he feels that Kevin is a threat.

 

I must say that I don't entirely see why that is. Yes, Kevin is a very popular young man, but isn't that a good thing? Having someone more upbeat than Taylor around will ensure everyone has a more balanced outlook on life.

 

Maybe I should make sure those two don't become involved with each other often....

 

I don't see the problem Taylor has with him, honestly. I feel like the pair of them should get along very well, but Taylor seems to not feel that way. It is growing to be extremely frustrating. Every time I tried to set the pair of them up together, every time I tried to make sure they became friends....One, or both, of them would just flinch away. They would look at me like I had grown another head, and gone on to do what their jobs were.

 

Speaking of jobs, I am honestly thinking of hiring on Kevin one day. He might lack even Taylor's depths of training, but he gives people so much more hope than Taylor does. That alone should make him incredibly valuable to me, as hope and charisma are things the Agency needs.

 

Things I cannot give the Agency.

 

~

 

Taylor's Log

 

Entry Date: April 28th

 

Entry Title: Problems Still Arise

 

Master John will never listen to me, and so I must do my best to preserve my own influence. Even though I know I will soon become outshone by Kevin, I must do my best to make sure I am not outshone completely. Victory against him is unattainable and impossible, and so I will do the single thing that I am actually able to do: Survive. My patients, Master John....They need me far more than they know, and I alone will keep the Agency standing.

 

I alone will keep its secrets.

 

I am beginning to realize parts, albeit small parts, of Kevin's plan. He intends to sell Agency secrets to the press, and I do not think he knows exactly what that will cause. I do not think he has figured out that doing so will result in the Agency's close--as well as, chances are, his own demise.

 

Well, 'his own demise' will not be a direct result.....

 

But it will definitely be something I will cause to happen.

 

What he hopes to happen from revealing Agency secrets is simple: He just wants to watch the world burn.

 

Exactly why he feels so strongly...I fear that I know the answer to that. I truly fear that I know why his hate for Master John's creation is so strong.

 

The only way he would hate it so strongly is if he knows far more than he lets on.

 

I cannot allow him to tell the others.

 

~

 

Master John's Record

 

May 3rd, 2010: A Dance, A Dance!

 

Kevin had a wonderful idea today. He told me we should have a dance. He even wrote up a song list I should get the disc jockey to play--which was really interesting, considering how much the Agency's internet access is controlled. I didn't even realize just how much one could access on that video-watching website. I might want to check that out for myself, and put on some mandatory parental controls, or something.

 

Just because they're all killers doesn't mean they get to spend their time around profanity and murder, especially since I do kind of want them to fit in.

 

I've been checking out that song list of his, and I really am beginning to enjoy it. He has a lot of good dance songs on here, including quite a few that predate his time. I'm almost amazed that he's aware of their existence, but Kevin assured me that 'songs that include pelvic thrusts will never die'.

 

Strange, strange boy.

 

I'm going to talk to Taylor, and get his opinion on decorations. I think I'm going to make sure that the three of us use this dance as a bonding experience! Taylor and Kevin will work together on decorations etc, and everything will need my approval! I'll be able to oversee all of it, ESPECIALLY the time they spend together.

 

I really, REALLY want those two to work out together.

 

After all, I do entrust the Agency's health to the pair of them....

 

~

 

Taylor's Log

 

Entry Date: May 4th, 2010

 

Entry Title: A Dance of Wits

 

Master John does not even have the faintest inkling of the challenge he just posed to me. He does not even realize the massive amount of infighting this 'dance' will cause, or the plans that lurk at the back of Kevin's mind!

 

This dance is meant for NOTHING more than Kevin's takeover.

 

He will make them all fall for him, and it will be a terrifying thing to witness.

 

So, I must make sure my influence stays strong in those I still can touch.

 

Such as Lily, who I know will do anything I desire of her.

 

She still has very strong feelings for me. Perhaps it is only because of the multiple times I had talked her out of suicide--including when I pulled her back from the roof's edge the second AFTER she stepped off it--but she has an extreme dependency upon me. Once her emotions had become those of someone who is grateful to be alive, her heart had gone from despising me, to loving me.

 

If I ever lose her, if Kevin ever takes her from me....

 

I will have fully lost.

 

~

 

Taylor's Log

 

Entry Date: May 21st, 2010

 

Entry Title: A Fallen Lily

 

It is true. I have lost her. Kevin has taken her, as he has taken all of the others. I know she is gone, due to her final 'personal' meeting with me. After she left my office today, she will never view me as anything more than her therapist. While she did not fully love me, at any point in the past, she had always viewed me as someone she could trust. She had once reached out to me, but now....

 

She is gone.

 

The meetings are just meetings.

 

He won her the easy way he won all the others--he told her that I am not to be trusted. He told her the things I need to be kept secret. How I win people. The silent madness. The secrets I keep.

 

I still do not know how obvious I am, to make him able to know these things about me.

 

I must continue my work.

 

Even if he tears my kingdom down around me, I will not let him take absolutely everything from me. My mind, my skills, the lives I have saved....

 

He will not take those from me.

 

~

 

Taylor's Log

 

Entry Date: May 23rd, 2010

 

Entry Title: A New Resident

 

Maverick and Janelle have retrieved another member of the Plucked Feather residence. His name is Daniel, and he was molested by his brother for several years of his life. He killed him at the age of sixteen, three years ago now. He had survived on the street, very successfully, until he began to become even more insane. Janelle and Maverick found him, fortunately, right before he killed another--and thus voided his ability to be taken in by the Agency.

 

It would have disappointed me greatly, were we to lose yet another.

 

Potential Agency members that go on murdering sprees....

 

Master John orders those ones killed.

 

Daniel, luckily, spared himself this fate.

 

He is an intelligent young man, and he plans to challenge Kevin's rule.

 

I cannot wait to watch him shine.

 

~

 

Master John's Record

 

June 15th, 2010: A War is Going On

 

That Taylor, always messing around. All of the people around him are humorous to watch--his friendships with everyone here is fascinating. I am beginning to feel that he hates me, almost, as I do try to keep his influence fairly limited.

 

He is too dark, and far too strong, and I do not want him to take my power from me.

 

Meanwhile, the new seventh floor resident is adjusting well. He is confident, intelligent...and he will fit in well. I feel almost proud to know this young man.

 

In a few days, the dance will be held. It took me a very long time to get my head wrapped around the idea, and more than a few meetings with Taylor to get everything set up. He has very strong feelings, and while he isn't completely supportive of the dance idea,  he still seems keen enough on helping out.

 

He has a strong eye for decorations.

 

In fact, it was his idea to turn every single cafeteria into a different style of dance.

 

There is an Egyptian-themed room; a Venice-themed one complete with murals he has already planned out....I am extremely impressed with the things he has done. Extremely.

 

At the same time, however....

 

He is growing weak.

 

He needs to be balanced out by Kevin.