“Where exactly do you think your mom would want to go?” Nate questioned, eagerly waiting for a reply. He had known Ruby for more than half his life and had spent the past two weeks racking his brain for ideas as to where she could be, yet found none. So any glimmer of hope was certainly worth the try, right?
“I know a place, if she’s there then we have nothing to worry about, she’ll be safe for now, but you can’t come with me… I need to do this on my own.” Marcel informed, absolutely sure that if he knew what she had in mind, he would definitely object or over think things… especially since she had just gotten out of the hospital for collapsing due to ‘anxiety’ and ‘stress’.
“Whether you like it or not, I’m not letting you out of my sight... at least not this soon.” The boy w
Nate slowly led the girl up towards his room, fraught with the feelings of confliction. For any other young man in his prime this would have been a wishful moment, the chance to further explore the desirable parts of the girl he loved the most… but their situation always seemed to be complicated in one way or another. In the beginning they had some sort of unspoken connection that they chose to deny for the sake of friendship among siblings and best friends, now out of guilt there’s this constant struggle to find inner peace when the strangeness of reality keeps on messing with their minds. Nate guessed that if he was to depend on the perfect timing… waiting for their stars to align… then perhaps their love would be nothing more than a distant dream left unfulfilled. “M, I’m giving you one last chance to reconsider this
The line went completely silent for several minutes until the massive iron gates slowly parted ways, revealing the gloomy concrete structure ahead with the towering sign struggling to remain in place. Being the only free public institution available to house those with special cases of mental instability, the poor maintenance was surely reflected in all aspects. “Acre Hills Asylum.” Marcel mumbled under her breath, walking along the path to the old washed out building; as she couldn’t help but feel goosebumps tingling underneath her skin from just a glance of a few nurses standing by. Somehow imagining their smiles as being sinister and twisted. They were like those creepy doctors from some terrible horror film waiting to sedate their feeble patients. The girl quickly shook her head to rid her mind of e
As if hit by a tidal wave of emotions, Marcel quickly felt her vision blurred with tears as her lips struggled to say the questions she instinctively wanted answers to, it was as if her words were painfully stuck at the bottom of her throat, unable to be produced into actual sensible language. “Miss Rayburn… Miss Rayburn… are you alright?” Victor’s repeated calls echoed in her ear, snapping her back to reality as he stepped closer observing her reaction that was somewhat strange as oppose to others that were just told that their father had died. “Ye… Yes, I… I’m fine. What about… his… my dad’s… where is his… body? Was he buried or cremated?” The girl barely managed to verbalize her sentence with much difficulty, her voice sounding a bit forced and choked up. Understandably, the girl was in shock yet she did not scream out in affliction nor sob
‘Impossible! How could this be?’ Marcel reflexively withdrew her trembling fingers fearful of unveiling some hidden secrets that might have been locked away in the box before her. As a little girl growing up in a family surrounded by superstitious beliefs, she was told countless stories about sacred rituals, primordial traditions and honored customs as it related to her ancestors… none of which had placed their lives at Acre Hills Asylum. Her father was supposedly the first of the Rayburn generation to have suffered from sudden mental instability… so how then did her grandfather’s name appear on the shelves of the collection department? Nervously roaming her eyes to ensure that the eerie nurse had not found her somewhat hiding between the aisles, Marcel slowly yet anxiously removed the few boxes
“I should have thought this through a bit more, now where the heck am I going to go?” Marcel grumbled in frustration, walking along the dusty side of the road, seeping further away from Acre Hills, contemplating her next move. Though she truly missed the company of her best friend standing by her through thick and thin, she was also still very much worried about putting him in harms ways and potentially burdening him with the responsibility of chasing blind leads when it came to her confusing family situation. Ironically enough, realizing that she was the one that wanted him to confess his true feelings amidst the chaos to offer her comfort and reassurance, but soon thereafter abandoned him in such a despicable manner. “Auggh! I’m a female version of a jerk.” Marcel continued to sulk bitterly, roaming the streets like
Marcel uneasily stood there, praying for the unnecessary confrontation to end, not wanting things to get any more awkward than it already was. Thankfully, Jesse quickly understood the situation and didn’t blatantly seek to create any further pointless conflict between the two; since the girl was apparently living under the same roof as the other guy, what use was there to try and win her over? Nate on the other hand, did not utter a single word to the girl the entire time, even as Jesse returned to his car waving good bye in an unbothered manner to mask the disappointment of losing the young woman he had being hoping to ‘score’ with, driving off in pure sourness at his premature defeat. Instead of turning to Marcel for answers, Nate slowly shifted his feet to the opposite location, walking back to his house still very much silent towa
“Auggh! None of this just doesn’t make any sense; Mike wasn’t one to hold grudges much less resentment and even if his family bond was drawing him to remain in the mortal realm, then why would he want to see his parents and sister suffer to this extent?” Nate continued to reason openly after reading several more pages of the book. Despite getting a better basic understanding of what the sacred night meant for those that truly valued its customs; he still couldn’t find a logical explanation that would suggest that the guy he knew and loved like the brother he never had, would use the opportunity he got to be sort of alive (ghostly) to drag his love ones into the abyss of insanity, would he not rather protect them from behind the scene like a good little angel? As for Marcel returning home after the sun had set on the holy night, it might would have explaine
“Hold on, what? how… I don’t…” Nate stammered in sheer confusion trying to process the news of Maxwell’s death yet just as surprised by the level of calmness written on the girl’s face. “The director said that my dad was found hanging from one of the vents in the restroom… they think he committed suicide, but I don’t believe he did.” Marcel explained. “What do you mean they think? Don’t they have cameras all over that place, even at a certain angle in the toilets to keep a close eye on unstable patients?” He assumed that a facility with majority of its occupants suffering from depression, psychotic episodes and some with potential suicidal tendencies, that they would have measures in place to monitor and hopefully prevent such incidents from occurring.
An unknown amount of time later… “Ahh! My head… what the f*** just happened to me?” Victor gasped for breath in a daze as if emerging from a suffocating nightmare… coughing several times as he struggled to lift his weak limbs off the titled office floors trying to ease the unbearable pain hammering away at his very bones… his heavy eyes lids almost sealing shut… squinting with thin layers of dried blood trailing along his haggard face, his dark orbs desperate for the sight of light and the call of reality… red droplets of stains on his once white lab coat further adding disgust to the monster’s miserable state. Just a while ago he was no doubt on the verge of going mad with power, determined to kill any and every one standing in his way. But now… was he being forced into accepting defeat without having the slightest idea who his true rival was all along? “The question is not… what ‘has’… but what ‘will’… happen to you.” A strange voice echoed around him, yet almost
“The Depository? But Master she’s our first test subject for the luminary drug trial and the host carrying the antigen to suppress the side effects; we might still need her to keep the others alive.” One of the doctors anxiously expressed his concerns hearing Victor’s command and seeing the girl being placed on another available wheeled bed ready to be taken to her death. “We have the old man and enough patients in the building to form my army; once the process is completed I’ll move ahead as planned.” His brief statement no doubt made those assisting him quite stunned and lost for words as it instantly occurred to them that their leader was perhaps now seeking a different course of action… one contradicting their original beliefs. “What about the villagers… our family…
“No! Don’t touch me! Stay away from me you monster!” Marcel defensively screamed, frantically retreating a few steps, bumping into nearby carts and patients’ bed dreadful of the outcome awaiting them all. Indeed, reality had proven to be far more terrifying than expectations and ones’ own imagination. Maybe she too had underestimated the situation; there was no time to reason, reduce the impact or to create another distraction… it was happening right now whether or not they were truly prepared for the consequences. “Get her!” Victor demanded sullenly, standing in place watching her squirm about in obvious protest, yet he was in no mood to relish the scene… his tolerance was already worn thin. “Leave me alone!” The girl struggled in anxiousness as a guard quickly grabbed hold of her han
“Hey! Be careful… don’t hurt her.” Nate angrily fought to break free from the guards hold as the men rushed forward almost immediately after noticing them a few steps ahead. Though they were ready to put an end to all this… to finally confront the vindictive doctor, that didn’t necessarily mean that they would allow themselves to be harassed without putting up a fight… well, at least the boy wasn’t about to let them injure his girlfriend. However, Marcel simply rolled her eyes at his exaggerating remarks wondering to herself… ‘What did he expect… that they would spread out a red carpet and escort them politely? For heaven sake, they were possibly being led to their deaths, this wasn’t some award ceremony… and besides, how fragile did he really think she was? “Shut
“Oh crap!” the girl blurted out, immediately recognizing the owner of the voice despite the grumbling sound of static frequency announcing his every word from the other side of the small funnel shaped speakers fixed just a few inches below the white reflective pvc ceiling stationed throughout the building. “If I’m not mistake, Nathaniel Estefan should be right beside you at this moment.” Victor paused then emphasized in a casual manner… “Don’t worry… the more… the merrier.” No doubt the duo was rather confused by his reaction. ‘Shouldn’t he boiling with anger or at least a tad bit hostile?’ Marcel glanced at Nate with a look of uncertainty, her questioning thoughts easily understood by the young man. “I’m sure he’s pissed.”
Staring at the personification of pure evil standing right before them, neither woman could cry out in fear, anger or agony even if they wanted to, for their mental battle was not one they could easily overcome at will. “Don’t give me that look; I’m only trying to help.” Victor spoke yet again with a fake expression of pity and concern that could not be disguised as he found a sense of excitement seeing the two innocent souls in such a miserable state. “Then again… blood is always the most important thing and that is… something I’m willing to kill for.” He continued… his prospective obviously differing on a whole other level than what those words would have meant to any other sane individual. “Now I can’t possibly ask you to abandon them in their times of need&hell
Since the remaining M-TIFY containers were nowhere near their reach, the only other logical explanation Victor could come up with was that… ‘Something must have happened in the control room’… as to when exactly it all started, he had no clue. But if it was before the fumes had run its course, then they truly had no idea where the girl could be at this precise moment... everything could very well be a fabricated scenario this time around. Thankfully, when it came to Maxwell he was indeed right where the cameras placed him. ‘What are they planning to do now? Why leave the old man behind after all the trouble they went through to find him?’ “Master, should we also send someone to the cold storage area?” Bradford’s words interrupted the man’s internal reasoning realizing that he had neither disconnected the call nor said an
Flashback ends**** “I think it worked, he wouldn’t be able to see us for at least a few minutes.” Nate let out a loud breath of relief, closing the door behind them. “Yeah, until he figures out what we’ve done.” Marcel mumbled worriedly, choosing not to ask what actually happened to the motionless guards leaned against each other lifelessly like a sack of potatoes; assuming that the boy must have sneaked up on them while they busy squinting into the monitors and easily knocked them out cold or maybe they were already asleep and all he had to do was hit their heads together really hard… of course this was only her imagination. “With all that you’ve done I’m sure he has another outlet to constantly spy on us and if he realizes something is up with the images, this will be the firs
“Master, should we wait and see what she’s up to?” One of the officer asked thinking that the man, just as before would prefer to observe the bothersome girl from afar, afraid of being led into a trap. “Wait?” Victor’s blood boiled in anger at the mere thought of letting her roam freely for another minute, yet he did not intend on acting rashly. “Get the father first and make sure the women are ready for testing… I will personally accommodate these two.” He added, all the while remaining focused on the monitor in fron