Poker face

"I swear it wasn't me, I didn't do it. ". Well, why are your fingerprints on that glass over there, Dimitri ? Dimitri! I have Called you at least three times, pass that glass over there to me! Are you ok? You have been acting strange since we got here. Yeah, I am good just a little nervous, you know, me and meeting new people. Yes, I know, that's why we are here. You really need to spend a lot more time around people. Anyway the table is set, go say hi to everyone.

I could have sworn that was real. That ugly cops breath, his wrinkled shirt half-tucked into his oversized pants, there is no way I could have imagined that. I need to get a grip on reality, I feel like I am losing it.

This wasn't the first time it had happened, it was just happening a lot more often lately and at the most random times. Dimitri had seen his fair share of war, it broke him. One time he was kidnapped and held captive, starved and tortured for 40 days and 40 nights ohh, wait, that was Jesus and Dimitri was no saint, still he sure had suffered like one.

Something felt different this time, the images seemed more real. It was becoming harder to tell the difference between what was real and what was a figment of his imagination. 

So how do you know Jeff? What is this an interrogation? Hey, we are just trying to get to know you better. Back off ohk. Jeffrey had underestimated just how bad Dimitris social skills had gotten. Sending him into a room full of familiar strangers who had already made up their minds about what kind of person he was, only made the matter worse. The room barely had any light and the faces of all the people in the room were drowning in shadows. This gave them an ominous tint that could only be washed off by sitting forward in their chairs, at which point the only source of light which hung above their heads would splash light onto their faces. 

Come on Mark, I asked you to play nice. Lev you too man ? I can't believe you are making it difficult for Dimitri too, you have always been the more welcoming one. Ben, you were making the most progress. Now I will have to take some points off your score sheet. 

This was not the point of this exercise, I did not make all this food and take time out so that you all can make a circus of it. Now we are all going to sit down, play nice and shove our faces with these lovely samosas that my wife was so kind to stay up all night making. Do I make myself clear gentlemen. 

Ey Lev, would you look at that, I think you really pissed off, Mr nice guy this time. Nah, Ben, it was definitely you. Me? What did I do? You kept poking at the new guy. I was just messing with the new guy that's all, I didn't know he was so fragile. Who are you calling fragile, I'll show you whose fragile. 

Ben barely got half a smile on his face before Dimitri was on top of him, choking the life out of him. That was not even the worst of it. The samosas were in the air, sauces were splattered all over the walls and the scariest part was that Jeff would have to ask Sarah to wash her special desert off from his shirt later that evening. 

Anyone could have seen this disaster coming, except Jeffrey of course. Four clearly mental patients in one room, all in the name of being nice. I mean, how badly can one want to make heaven. 

It wasn't just any mental patients, it was Ben, Lev and Mark the worst of the worst. They seem like three civil and upright senior men but work the night shift and you will quickly realize just how cunning they can be. 

Two of the three men spent most of their lives working with the mind. Ben was a psychiatrist and Lev in his prime was a main-eventing mentalist on the Las Vegas strip. it's no wonder Ben and Lev took such a liking to each other. Mark how ever was a far more interesting case. When he was not in his uniform, you would have never guessed that he was a well-decorated third-generation army General, he gave of a sort of live and let live, nonchalant air at all times. This is probably why no one ever suspected that he was the master mind behind all of the late-night operations, that lead to three nurses quit their jobs in the space of only just three weeks. 

We need some help in here! Quick! he is not breathing.

It was Mark he had collapsed in the corner. It had to have been at least three minutes since he fell unconscious and by the time help arrived, it was too late. 

A sobering silence came over the messy room. Everything and everyone seemed to be frozen in time. What was meant to be a fun poker night, would now serve as a reminder of why Saint John's psychiatric ward was so infamous. 

"I swear it wasn't me, I didn't do it. ". Well, why are your fingerprints on that glass over there, Dimitri? 

I mean, I handed it over to Jeff just before I walked back into his office, where I than sat down with everyone else. 

I am struggling to believe you, Demitri, what motive would Jeff have for poisoning Mark? You, on the other hand, had every reason to. We heard about the argument you had with Ben, Lev and Mark the week you transferred to Saint John. We also pulled up your transfer papers, turns out you are no Saint, are you still sticking to your story? 

How many times do I have to say it? I couldn't have had the time or the opportunity to do it, "I swear it wasn't me, I didn't do it. ".