Escape From The Psychiatric Hospital

I could not sleep all night. After finally drifting off, the intercom broadcast rang out again at dawn.

“Ding-dong! It’s voting time. All patients, please gather at the church on the first floor within ten minutes!”

At the command, everyone once again filed into the church in perfect unison.

This time, an LED screen had been installed inside the church, displaying the photos and names of all forty patients.

Three of them were already eliminated. Their portraits were marked with an [OUT] label.

“Voting begins!”

Everyone was instructed to form a circle and point at the person they wanted to vote out.

Confusion was written all over their faces. Some looked around at each other without making a decision, while some hesitated and kept switching their choice.

This was until a little girl suddenly stepped forward and pointed at the young man. “He’s the one who killed the man. Vote him out!”

Clearly, her words did not convince everyone. No one followed her instructions right away.

The little girl noticed that and continued, “Didn’t that man say yesterday that he caught an impostor and told you all to vote with him?”

A lot of people nodded.

“But none of you actually knew who it was, because he never said it!”

Then, everyone nodded.

“It’s him!”

She pointed firmly at the young man.

“When that man was talking to me yesterday, he just happened to walk past us. He pointed him out to me.”

If what she said was true, then I really had been fooled. I had escaped the man’s suspicion completely. The person he wanted voted out was not me, but the young man.

He had used me as a pawn to kill the man.

“Damn it!”

Regret hit me hard. I cursed myself for being stupid and impulsive.

The little girl had successfully swayed the crowd. One by one, everyone began pointing at the young man.

The LED screen updated in real time. There were thirty eight votes next to his face, nearly eighty percent of the total.

Just when it seemed like the outcome was sealed, the young man suddenly pointed at me and shouted, “Wait! She was the one who killed him!”

I was screwed. He was about to sell me out!

“Last night at dinner, I saw her sneaking something into the man’s bowl.

“Check the cafeteria cameras if you don’t believe me.”

Damn it! There was no way I could clear my name now.

At everyone’s request, the administration switched the screen to last night’s cafeteria footage.

On the screen, I was seen sneaking toward the man’s table while he was in the restroom.

A smug smile appeared on the young man’s face.

Second by second, the footage played. I was already standing in front of the man’s food. My hand was slipping into my pocket for the poison.

Just as everyone thought the evidence was airtight, something unexpected happened. Someone suddenly stepped in front of me and blocked the camera’s view.

By the time that person moved away, the shot had cleared, and I had already finished the act. The camera had captured nothing useful.

“Why are you framing me?! I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t kill anyone!”

I lunged at the young man, grabbing his collar and screaming.

My performance was so convincing that everyone thought I had a breakdown. Several nurses rushed forward and pinned me to the ground.

Less than ten seconds remained before voting closed. The young man’s baseless accusation still was not enough to sway the crowd.

The final vote tally was I got eleven votes, and the young man got thirty-six.

Bang!

The moment the result was announced, the young man’s head exploded. Blood and brain matter splattered onto the people nearby.

“Congratulations! You have eliminated an impostor!”