Insanity City
INSANITY CITY
Located just north of the Boston Harbor was a secluded village that not many people cared to visit. Hardly any people even knew it existed, in fact. Constantly surrounded by thick vapor, mist, and piercing cold, the town was considered fortunate to be visited by a single day of sunlight. And the scarce amount of sunlight that did arrive only managed to peak through the swelling clouds. The town was called Vanerson, but it had been alternately referred to as Insanity City for reasons only the residents could understand. In short, this town had a tendency to drive anyone who lived there crazy. Something about Vanerson tormented each person individually in a maniacal and twisted way, leaving them far out of their mind and never to return. Every resident of Vanerson is either marked insane or destined for insanity. Those who had not yet reached the point of no return had a designated function in Vanerson.
Obviously, a city that has been damned into the grips of insanity needed someone to pull these lost souls as close to sanity as possible. Dr. Miles Somers had accepted the position as Vanerson’s official therapist. He was a specialist, the most esteemed in his profession, and the only person who had any hope to bring people back from their delusions. He was relatively new to Vanerson and found it quite different than Boston, where he moved from. Not yet captured by the enigmatic mysteries of the crazed city, Miles had a full agenda. He had a daily fix of therapy sessions with one psychopath after another, in trying to detect the essence of Vanerson’s problem. Being that he had to concern himself with the problems of other people, Miles had become exceedingly good at concealing his own problems. He upheld great confidence and self-assurance in front of his patients, but they were oblivious to the fact that Miles was going though a serious crisis of his own.
He had moved to Vanerson from Boston not because of a special opening as a key therapist, but because of a wretched woman named Charlotte who had stripped him of his money and his dignity. The two were engaged to be married and Miles was truly in love. She was a difficult woman to please, but Miles saw no objection to pleasing the love of his life. Charlotte soon became a very manipulative and destructive creature, seeming to take advantage of Miles in every way possible. He was so stupefied and blindsided by his endearment to Charlotte, that he could hardly understand what a catastrophe his life had become. She was likely to create anarchy for every man she would ever be involved with, but Miles had never realized that until after Charlotte abandoned him and took off with all his most cherished belongings and his life’s savings. Miles had drowned into a dark pool of depression and angst for weeks, but it was not long after that when he had decided to liberate himself, take what he had left, and move to pursue a simpler and unadulterated lifestyle.
Miles was sitting in his office, exasperated, but he was determined to get through with the day. His appointment book resembled a black page, with every possible opening scribbled with a countless number of sessions that he had to endure. His next appointment was due in 5 minutes -- a man named Alexander Jeffries, a young and prosperous industrialist--wealthy beyond his years. Alexander arrived at Miles’ office punctually and looking very grim and austere. His face was a translucent white and Miles noticed the enlarged veins spanning across Alexander’s head and neck. He was the epitome of a Vanerson resident, as Miles could easily detect.
“Hi. Thank you for seeing me Dr. Somers,” Alexander greeted.
“That’s what I’m here for, Mr. Jeffries. Please take a seat.” Miles directed him to the plush leather sofa. Alexander uneasily sat and stared at Miles as though he had never made contact with a normal human being before.
“What brings you to Vanerson? Surely this can’t be your first choice of locations for a young man such as yourself. Just for the record, how old are you?” Miles began.
“I am twenty-five and I came to Vanerson to pursue working at my father’s engineering company. My father passed away of a severe mental breakdown.”
How typical, Miles thought.
“But that’s not why I’m here. That’s not what’s troubling me,” interjected Alexander, ‘I am being mentally tormented and abused by a woman. She means the world to me, but she is taking over every aspect of my life and she honestly makes me want to kill myself. She doesn’t know what she is doing to me. I am not the same anymore. She is so manipulative and has such a keen sense of trickery. I swear, she knows exactly what to do and say to get me down. I want to be with her, but I don’t know how much longer I can put up with her mind games,” Alexander rambled.
Miles was listening with half a mind while the other half drifted off comparing, Alex’s story to his own experience with Charlotte. At last, silence. Alexander had finished his rant and Miles was not paying any attention in the least. Miles broke the awkward silence by saying, “Tell me more about this woman. Describe her to me.”
“She is quite a bit older than I -- thirty-nine, I think. She is tall, medium length black hair with intense eyes that could freeze you right in your tracks.” The more Alexander spoke, the more dumbfounded Miles grew realizing that his patient had described his old Charlotte down to every last detail. It must be her, he thought. Who else on earth could be capable of this kind of hostility? Only one. Was this a conspiracy? Beads of cold sweat began to outline Miles’ face and he nervously tapped his pencil as he usually did when under pressure. Both his mind and his voice were paralyzed as memories of Charlotte streamed back to him all at once.
His expression must have been extraordinarily intimidating because Alexander said in a frightened tone, “Dr. Somers, is everything alright?”
“I’m sorry I have another appointment!” Miles blurted. He could not continue with the session. He could hardly even bear to look at Alexander any longer. Alex took the hint and considered himself silently dismissed from Dr. Somers’ office. Miles followed him out of the room with his eyes making sure he completely shut the door behind him so that no one could hear him scream. The door slammed shut and Miles let go of what he had been holding in the whole time Alex was in his presence. He screamed at the top of his lungs releasing all his frustration and anxiety that had built up inside of him.
Charlotte has found me and she has not finished creating misery for me! She left me for a little rich boy, that slut! He is practically a baby. What more could she possibly want with me now? She’s taken everything of mine! Miles was burning. His head was exploding with irrational thoughts and he had taken on a new form of psychosis that he had not realized. He broke into the hidden gun cellar in the depths of his office. He rationalized the existence of his hidden gun cellar by saying that he needed to fend off the crazies somehow. He picked out his prized rifle and made sure it was cocked and loaded. He aimed at the nearest window and shattered it into millions of minute pieces. With that out of the way, he stormed out of the office with rage, rifle in hand, into the blustering cold to track down his scheming, freeloading ex-fiancé. The idea of revenge had overcome him as he treaded down the blocks of Vanerson with a sinister grin. A moment of luck had guided a crazed Miles to the luxurious residence of Alexander Jeffries. Miles had no doubt it was his house. He was the richest man to live in Vanerson and his house was notably different from all the others. Miles remained out of anyone’s visible eyesight as he found a sufficient hiding place among a cluster of bushes. The bushes gave way to a low balcony which he was able to climb safely while still keeping a tight grasp on his rifle. Once on the balcony, Miles peered into the house through a small opening in the window. What he saw was a man and an older woman arguing intensely. The man was Alexander Jeffries being completely submissive and tied up by the reigns of his female companion. Miles turned immediate attention to the woman. She was exactly as Alexander had described to him during their session: tall, black hair, and a complete manipulator. The only thing was, she was not the woman that Miles had imagined. She was not Charlotte! He never once contemplated that another woman like Charlotte could ever exist. The truth should have caused his fury and insanity to subside, but it only drove him more out of his mind. He could not replace his mental irrationality and his neurosis with relief quick enough and before he could conclude that the woman that had driven him to insanity was not Charlotte, he pulled the trigger on her. She was shot to the floor, murdered in cold blood. Alexander was completely mortified and could not comprehend where the gunshot had come from. He bent down by his deceased girlfriend’s side and placed his hands in hers.
Miles was disgraced. His face was wet with bitter tears and he cried uncontrollably. This was said to have marked the point of no return for Miles Somers. His actions confirmed the theory that everyone in Insanity City eventually reaches the point of no return.
