Chapter 1 – The New Doctor
Jonathan Crane's POV
Another day at Arkham Asylum: meeting new patients, meetings with other doctors, meeting another batch of new patients and using them for my experiments; which I took pride in doing. Using my fear toxin helped further my research on each patient's fears and the fear toxin itself, if the dose needed more concentration for it to work.
I was just in the middle of reading one of my patient's files, with the patient's name, personal details, their diagnosis and background information until the telephone started to ring. I placed the file along with the pile of unfinished ones, and answered the phone with the usual 'Hello?'.
"Hello Dr. Crane, this is Dr. Arkham. You don't mind if I can have a small discussion with you once you are finished with reading the files?" asked said doctor, who was the owner of this asylum.
"Not at all, Dr. Arkham. I will be done in 10 minutes," I answered back.
"Wonderful, I will see you later then," said Dr. Arkham, before he cut the line.
I sighed then quickly went over every unread file, and as expected, 10 minutes were already over. I stood up from my chair, straightened my suit so that I looked professional, then exited my office and made my way up using the elevator. Once I got to the designated floor, I walked all the way to Dr. Arkham's office and knocked twice on the oak wood door, it had a plaque on it which read out his name and position.
"Enter," said Dr. Arkham. I opened the door, only to be greeted by said doctor himself. Sitting opposite him, was a woman with thick raven-black silky hair that reached up to her shoulders.
"Please, take a seat," Dr. Arkham offered. I sat myself down next to the mysterious woman, only to get a closer look at her. Her skin, in my opinion, is an abnormal pale, as if she just came back from the dead. Her eyes are as dark as onyx, with her silver wire-rimmed glasses placed at the bridge of her nose. Her posture is straight, with her hands folded in front of her; she's also wearing black satin gloves, that reached up to her wrists, for some reason. The clothes she wore are all black, minus the lab coat she's wearing on her figure: a black long-sleeved collar blouse with black trousers that reached up to the heel of her shoes which are boots by the looks of it. Her face is fixed with a neutral expression that held no signs of emotion, even her eyes. This mysterious woman piqued my curiosity as I've never met a woman like her in my life, even if I hated to admit it myself.
"So, you are probably wondering why I asked for you Dr. Crane?" asked Dr. Arkham. I knew what the answer to that question was. Judging by this woman, sitting next to me, who is new here.
I just lied, "No sir."
"Well as you can see, this young lady here will be starting work here from now on and I would like you to show her around the whole asylum until she is familiar with each area of the building," Dr. Arkham explained. Hmm, she is strange. I wanted to know more about her anyway.
"I accept, I will show her around," I answered with a fake smile.
"Excellent," he said, buying it, until he turned his focus on the woman, "Here is your ID badge, a map of the asylum and your office key. Dr. Crane here will show you around the building and to your office. I hope that you will do well here." I saw her putting her ID badge, map and her office key in her…briefcase? The female doctors would always carry handbags with them, not briefcases. This woman really is mysterious and strange.
"Thank you for accepting my job request, it means so much to me, dear sir," the woman said in a monotone voice. Judging by her accent, she's British and her use of formality was sharp and precise.
"No problem. Anyways, off you go both of you," said Dr. Arkham, while he waved his hand as a sign to leave.
I exited the door, the black-clad woman just right behind me. This woman seems tolerable, unlike the other female doctors here…wait, did I just say that? Oh well, this will be the right time to ask her questions about herself.
"Oh really Johnny-boy? Normally you just want to leave as quick as possible when it comes to introducing new doctors here." Great, just when I thought things would get worse for me. Ever since I started making my own fear toxin, that voice decided to make an entrance in my life again and made it even more of a living hell. This voice does have a name, and he goes by the name 'Scarecrow'.
I ignored the voice and started making my way to the elevator, with the new doctor behind me. We both entered the elevator and once I pressed the ground floor button, the door shut closed, and lead us all the way down.
3rd Person's POV
There was silence in the elevator, and not a single sound was made. Dr. Crane was not one for conversations, but if he wanted to know more about this black-clad woman, he must open his mouth and say something. Finally, the elevator door opened and both doctors made their way to the Intensive Treatment Centre.
"Well, since you are new here, I would like us to know each other. What is your name?" asked Dr. Crane.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to me first? It is common courtesy to tell someone their name to who they are talking to," replied the woman.
"Of course, where are my manners? My name is Jonathan Crane, and I normally treat the patients who are considered 'criminally insane'," he said.
"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Angela Crow and I am starting my work here as a neuropsychologist and a medical doctor," the woman, named Angela Crow, introduced herself.
Amazing, a neuropsychologist and a medical doctor. We never get those kinds of doctors here, except for a few medical nurses. There are only psychologists and psychiatrists here. Angela really must be that of a genius to be able to get a position like that, more like two positions. I'm sort of starting to like this woman a bit. Need to keep this conversation going, Dr. Crane thought.
"So, what part of neuropsychology are you interested in?" asked Dr. Crane.
"I'm so glad you would ask me that. It's the Neuropsychology of Fear," replied Dr. Crow. "What about you?"
"Same as you, but in the psychological side of it. It would seem that you and I have the same interests in fear and the study of it."
"It's interesting to see fear in action, mostly when it comes to interrogating patients and finding out what makes them tick. Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we didn't feel it, we couldn't protect ourselves from legitimate threats."
"Indeed, you're right. Tell me, Dr. Crow, what fears you the most?"
"I believe that I don't have a fear of anything to be honest. Anything that people find scary doesn't seem to faze me at all, even in the severest of things."
Seriously? She doesn't have a fear of anything? Surely there must be something that makes her tick. Is she even human? Just what is she? Dr. Crane thought with utmost inquisitiveness.
"Wouldn't you mind telling me what fears you the most?" this time Dr. Crow asked him.
This question sort of set Dr. Crane on edge. If he told her what he fears the most, he would destroy his ego and pride. So, he kept quiet and instead told her, "Well, all I can say is that there is nothing to fear, but fear itself. I don't think that I can trust you well enough yet to tell you."
"That is understandable, since I am new around here. And I can trust you since you are well-experienced as I am here, so it's normal not to trust someone new yet," said Dr. Crow with true honesty. Dr. Crane was quite shocked at this. Usually the new doctors would never tell him about themselves as they didn't fully trust him, but in the end, it always ended up with them being secretly gassed with his fear toxin. This lead to the asylum requesting for more doctors every single day, as they had thought that they ran or quit the job because the patients here were not so easy to handle with or not able to cooperate with.
"Also, about you being a medical doctor, what part of it do you specialise in?"
"Not only do I have a huge interest in the Neuropsychology of Fear, I have an interest in curing people of diseases." Dr. Crane really was starting to find this woman to be really interesting, the more she talked about herself.
"Is that so? Anyways, let's move on with the tour. Welcome to the Intensive Treatment Centre," Dr. Crane said as they had both stopped in front of said place.
"Here it's housed with Holding Cells, a Patient Pacification Chamber, and even a Decontamination Room," Dr. Crane explained.
"In simple language, here is where the criminally insane patients are being treated," said Dr. Crow with the usual monotone voice.
"Exactly, and I have a feeling that some of the patients you are assigned with are criminally insane, so you would mostly be spending your shift here or in your office. Meaning that you and I might be working together at some point, depending on what Dr. Arkham has to say about this due to your high profession so to speak."
Angela Crow's POV
Hmm, working with Dr. Crane doesn't seem all that bad, because he works here. However, when I asked him about what he fears the most, he just said that common quote "there is nothing to fear, but fear itself" as if he doesn't trust me at all. I mean, who wouldn't trust someone new anyway, it's nature.
After Dr. Crane gave me a tour of the whole of the asylum, which included: The Intensive Treatment Centre, the Rehabilitation Centre, the Dining Area, the Recreation Room, the Therapy Centre, the Shock Therapy Room, the Operating Theatre and the patients' cells, he lead me to my office which was located opposite his office.
I got out my new office key from my briefcase (because it's more durable. The idea of using handbags, in my opinion, is too feminine to my liking and unprofessional.) and unlocked the door.
Once I entered my new office, I looked at all that was placed in here. It consisted of a simple oak wood desk, a bookshelf, a filing cabinet and a clock on the wall.
"Since your office is opposite mine, you can come over anytime if you need any help with something or anything at all," said Dr. Crane.
"Thank you for the tour today, Dr. Crane. I really appreciated it," I told him with sincerity.
"Just doing my job. Well, I will be seeing you tomorrow on your first day."
Before he was going to leave, he then said, "Also, just to give you a warning, most of the new doctors who enrol here may never come back after their first day. So I suggest you be more careful with what you may come across during your time here. Have a good night, Dr. Crow." And with that he left.
After I had a quick look around my office, and left the asylum, I reflected on what he said about some of the new doctors who never came back after their first day. Don't you worry Dr. Crane, because you don't even know what I am capable of, and…what I do.