The worst people sometimes present the kindest faces.

Her life had stopped being her own when she had the kids. Marilyn didn't mind that. They were wonderful children and no mother could be prouder. What really bothered her was knowing that the Devil himself was going to come take them from her when they reached seventeen. He had told her so the night he had impregnated her. She sobbed into her duct taped hands and ignored the pain as he took her violently. Nine months later sweet little Sarah and lovely Anthony were born.  She'd had a difficult time carrying the twins and once had thought she had lost them. She had actually been ecstatic at the time. Of course she didn't realize just how much those kids would mean to her. As their fourth birthday appeared Marilyn decided to play things safe, if they looked different perhaps Satan would not recognize them and would leave them be. She had smiled as she carved into their faces ignoring their screams of pain and terror. She was doing this for them and that thought steeled her while she mutilated her babies. "Momma, will you sing us a song?" Sarah asked her one evening. "Yes dear girl, I'd love to." Marilyn began singing 'Hush Little Baby' to her sweet loving children. She was in bliss and sure that the Devil wouldn't get her kids now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What's her story?" one of the new interns asked Dr. Middin. "Who, Marilyn? It's a terrible tragedy. She had a loving husband who'd died, two months later a bookie showed up to collect a debt from him and when he'd found out her husband had passed he took the loan out on Marilyn. He raped and beat her for two whole days. As if that wasn't bad enough she conceived from the rape. It broke her, because she and her hubby had been trying so hard to have a child. She lost the baby when he was four months old. The bookie had found out that he'd sired the boy and came back to kill him. He raped her again. She broke with reality, thank goodness, and killed him while he was torturing her. Sadly it was too much for her to bear and she snapped."  "Wow! That's awful." the intern pitied the poor woman. "She hasn't spoke a word in almost five years. She just hums some lullaby and screams occasionally. She'll have at least one psychotic break a day. I'm not sure which is worse, her torpors or her breaks." Dr. Middin sighed, he felt old. Treating people who had been so badly broken wasn't quite the rewarding experience he had been expecting.  There were few things he hadn't seen and most made him lose utter faith in humanity. Marilyn's case was one of those that made him feel angry beyond rage. Not only was she not progressing but her condition seemed to be worsening. He just had to try and reach her again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the intern headed off to empty some bedpans, a nurse slipped into Marilyn's room and whispered in her ear "I'm coming for you Mary. It's time to save you." he grinned as she stared off into space in horror. There was a part of him that blamed Marilyn for not getting well, and for refusing to respond to him. It pissed him off. The hospital wasn't paying him enough to deal with this crap.  He'd decided that if they wouldn't get well then he would make them change. Sure most killed themselves, but some, like Marilyn, became bliss to play with. When his girlfriend had broken up with him he'd enjoyed "treating" a nymphomaniac named Jill. Yes they didn't pay him much but his job had many perks. Tormenting Marilyn and trying to anticipate her reaction was a favorite of his. "Your turn to die, Beelzebub." She said quietly as she approached Manny the night nurse from hell. She pulled a piece of metal from under the mattress and stabbed him in his right eye when he was leaning in to whisper more of those horrific things. "No one will blame me Devil for ending you. You cannot have my children and with you gone I can be free to enjoy my life with them."  Manny had no idea what she was screeching, he was too busy trying to claw his way to the door. He felt her remove the shiv she had made from a piece of the bed springs and then his left eye went dark. Panic mode set in and he started wailing for help.  His last thought was "I should have left the security camera on." as Marilyn stood over his prone body stabbing her attacker and praying internally to God. Manny was also praying to God but somehow his prayers went unanswered. The last thing he felt was the warmth of his own blood running down his throat when she severed his Carotid.  "No Mr. Satan you won't have my children. They're mine and you can no longer touch them you vile beast." proud of herself Marilyn sat back and felt some semblance of safety for the first time since Larry died. When Dr. Middin arrived he found Manny dead on the floor and Marilyn laying peacefully on the bed a beatific smile lit her face and the doctor was surprised. He called for help and went to examine her. She would never respond to another soul again. She was with her children and was safe, the real world would never intrude on that safety.