Insanity is Just a State of Mind

Disclaimer: Still don't own it yet.

Chapter Four: "How can this be?"

Phillip Tate watched his daughter stiffly get to her feet. He could not hold back a gasp as he caught his first glimpse of her green skin and empty eyes. She looked like those creatures he had seen-the ones from Maxwell's experiments at the lab. He had been a fool to just pretend he had not seen the man messing around with the hospital patients and turning them into monsters like Ashley was now. His fear had kept him quiet, but now his daughter was paying the price for his silence…

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the butcher knife he had taken from the table upon hearing his wife scream. He started to sweat just from looking at that glinting blade. Could he really use it on his own daughter?

She's not Ashley, anymore. he argued with himself, taking a step back as she came towards him. She is just a monster now-you can't do anything to change her back. The real Ashley is already dead! But was she? How could he know for sure his Ashley was gone forever-that there was no possibility of him returning her to normal? If there was something that could make her into this creature, then surely there was something that could make her human again…right? He couldn't kill her!

But she'll kill me! If I do nothing, she will kill me, her mother, and her brother and sister, too! I don't want to die!!

Unable to decide between his own life and his daughter's, Phillip scrambled through the nearest door, finding himself in the dark washroom. He quickly shut the door and looked around for a place to hide. Horrified, he realized that there wasn't one and as a last resort, ran to the alcove where the bathtub was. Was there something here he could use to stop her without killing her?

He heard the door open and Ashley shuffle into the room. His pulse quickened, and his heart began to race with terror. He grabbed the metal wash basin off the floor, turning just in time to see her lunging at him.

With a fierce cry, he ducked out of the way and swung the basin at her. It caught her in the back of the head and sent her stumbling into the bathtub. For a minute, she lay sprawled there, and he thought he had managed to knock her out. Then his stomach fell as he saw her push herself up and turn towards him.

Before he could react, she lunged at him again, her hands closing around his neck. He stumbled backwards, but managed to not lose his balance. His daughter's grip around his neck tightened, and he found that he could not pry her off. Panic rose in his mind, realizing her was going to die if he did not do something quick.

Ashley is dead-nothing more than a monster now. But there might be a way to return her to her old self. Even if she were alive, she would be willing to die to protect her family, right? Not as much as she would like to live and be with them. She wouldn't want me to let her hurt them-she would want me to end her suffering. She is my child-I should worry about protecting her, too. This is the right thing to do! It's my only option other than…She doesn't want to kill me- she wants to die. I have to kill her-I don't want to die.

Phillip plunged the knife into his daughter's heart, shoving her backwards, into the bathtub. Even as he pulled the knife out, she was still struggling to get up. Grabbing her by the hair, he forced her back down, using the blade to sever her head. Yellow liquid spurted from her neck, quickly filling the tub. Still, she flailed around blindly, her right arm grabbing his wrist. With one quick swing, he hacked the arm off, letting it fall into the yellow blood. Ashley's body fell limp at last, and Phillip collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily.

His daughter was dead…and he was the one who had killed her. He forced back the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. There was no time to grieve now-he had to stop the Maxwell Curse and get the rest of his family out of this house! He had to destroy that statue Allen had sent him all those years ago-it had to be the cause of all this!

Philly shakily got to his feet. To his horror, he saw Ashley's severed right arm thrashing around in the water. With a frightened cry, he quickly left the room, turning the light off in a pathetic attempt to hide his cowardly act of sin.