Not gonna lie here. I seriously thought Kayley was going to pull a 180 on me and check me into this mental institution for severe hallucination and insulting her. But what happened was way weirder. 

"Umm... what are we doing here?" I asked, unable to stop staring at the bars on the windows and the high fence. 

"This is part of my, "Master Plan" as you call it. This is happening sooner than I planned on, but luckily they're flexible."

"Who's they?" I asked, feeling a definite spike of panic as she approached the entrance office. She gave me a knowing smirk and pushed open the door. A uniformed security guard met us inside. His face lit up as he saw Kayley. 

"Hey curls!" he greeted, messing up her hair. 

"Hi Carl," she smiled, knocking his hand away with easy familiarity. 

"Who's this?" Carl asked, noticing me hovering awkwardly in the doorway. Kayley dragged me inside.

"This is Aaron. I wanted to introduce him around! He's hoping to go into mental care himself."

"Nice to meet you Aaron," Carl greeted, seizing my hand and crushing it in a firm handshake. He turned back to Kayley, a his brow furrowing. 

"You know the rules Kay. They all know you by now, but-"

"It'd just be the level one patients. Pleeeease!" she pleaded, eyes wide and innocent. "We won't get in anybody's way."

Carl relented. 

"Okay, okay... you know I can't resist those puppy eyes you stinker," he said, shaking his head at his own weakness. He handed over two visitor badges and unlocked the door to the main building. Kayley beamed at him and pulled me inside. 

The door clicked shut behind us. 

"What was that?" I asked, hanging a badge around my neck. 

"Carl Hogan," she replied. "An old friend, and one who's much more responsive to childish pleading than anything else. He's also our ticket inside."

I grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt. 

"Come on. Be honest with me now. What are we doing here? How does Carl know you? And why do I have to bring candy with me?"

Kayley sighed.

"If you want to save your mom's store and make a name for yourself as a super, we need help. Do you have any idea how many small time, one hit wonders there are running around the world? Only 1 out of 5 ever make it into the news, and even less than that make any money out of it. To save the store, we're going to need a team."

I felt a heavy weight settle into my stomach as I realized what she was implying. 

"And part of the team is... in... here?" 

She nodded. 

"And so's my brother. That's how Carl knows me. I visit all the time, and I've met almost all the patients by now. 2 of them could be incredibly helpful. Mad geniuses you might call them."

"I'm all about geniuses. The mad part is what I'm worried about," I said under my breath as she began to walk again. But the thought of the store, and a little curiosity made me follow her.