"What shape was this who came to us,
With basilisk eyes so ominous,
With mouth so sweet, so poisonous,
And tortured hands so pale?
We saw him wavering to and fro,
Through dark and wind we saw him go;
Yet what his name was did not know;
And felt our spirits fail".
-Conrad Aiken
November 1st
1978
Dr. Loomis stood in the darkened room in front of the one-way mirror. The small room was claustrophobic and the ticking of the small clock in the corner was amplified in a constant rhythm.
Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock
"Dr. Loomis?" Came a voice in the corner, jostling the older man.
"Yes?" he asked, smoothing down his tie, a nervous habit he had picked up over the years.
"What do you think? About… the circumstances?"
He paused, turning to the young man.
"I shot him six times," he said, eyes turning back to the shape at the table behind the one-way mirror.
"Yes, and when we recovered him there were six bullet holes in his body and yet… He persevered."
"Will he get the death penalty, officer?"
"Illinois just reinstated the death penalty two years ago, so maybe, but if he gets that it'll take decades to get through the red tape."
"And if not?"
"Well, it's back to Smith's Grove Sanitarium then."
"He will kill again," Loomis said, voice wavering as he gulped down the bile rising up his throat.
"Not if I have anything to do with it."
The two men turned back towards the shape at the table, sitting silently and still. The shape was facing them and covered with bandages from the shot that struck his head.
Still covered, still silent. Watching.
"Six times" he murmured again.
October 1st
Present Day
I sat in front of the building with one foot dangling out of the car. The tall grey building loomed over me and it matched the charcoal skies. I looked at my phone that had the new address on it to double check I was in the right place.
The large dated sign read Empress Apartments and I let out a nervous chuckle. I was finally here.
Striding into the entryway I was greeted by a small old man in a polo shirt.
"Are you Mr. Johnson?"
"The one and only," he said leaning forward to accept my handshake.
"And you must be Dr. Lucy Hill."
"Oh just Lucy is fine, I'm not a doctor yet."
"But you're working at Smith's Grove?"
"Yes, I'm the new Grad student intern."
"So you'll be working with the Boogeyman?" he asked, eyebrows raised.
"The Boogeyman?" I asked, raising my own eyebrow in return.
"Yeah y'know, Michael Myers," he said, lowering his voice.
"Yeah" I paused why trying to figure out how to answer.
"There are quite a few prolific offenders there, or so I heard."
"Yeah, you're from Seattle right? Long way to go for a job."
"Justice never sleeps" I replied sardonically.
"Yes well let's hope you had a better time than the last ones. Anyway, let me show you to your room."
"Sounds great," I replied with a smile as I followed him down the hallway.
The room was on the ground floor and had views of the complex's large garden. The late time in the season saw to the slow desiccation of the flowers, but the framework of their passing beauty was still there to see. Large oak trees stood tall and blocked out the late afternoon sun and a cool chill bit through the air.
Summer was most definitely over.
The room itself was small and dated, with faded carpet and a kitchen straight from the seventies, but the price was right. The apartment was furnished so I didn't need to bring much with me, and after a few trips back and forth all my belongings were now safely loaded from my car to the living room. The boxes and bags sat half unpacked in a pile and I surreptitiously ignored them as I flung myself onto the couch. The lack of a TV was made immediately clear and I groaned as I kicked up my feet on the couch. I faced the large sliding glass window and stared out at the wall of greenery as it gently blew in the autumnal wind.
I got up and stared out the window, letting my head fall against the cool glass. The last light of dusk was fading quickly and the red sky sat angrily. I leaned back and checked the lock. It wiggled slightly but remained firm. I figured I would need to get a stick of some kind to place in the door jam.
Just in case.
I sighed and pulled the blinds closed and retreated into my bedroom, ready for a well-deserved rest. The drive was longer than I thought and tomorrow was the first day.
The next day I awoke early, carefully putting on my nicest pants and a blazer. Food was lacking so I grabbed an old granola bar for breakfast and blew out the door. The drive was short, only about 10 minutes and I saw the facility looming in the distance. As I drove closer the massive complex grew large and intimidating, its large walls rimmed with barbed wire and a watchtower standing high above.
The entrance had a small booth that had a large Filipino man in a uniform manning it. I drove up and rolled down the window, flashing a nervous smile.
"Hi, I'm Lucy Hill, the new Grad student working here."
"Do you have any ID?" He asked.
"Oh yes, of course" I replied, quickly rummaging through my purse and grabbing my drivers license.
"Washington State?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty far from home."
"Well fresh blood is always good around here, I'm Marco by the way."
"Nice to meet you."
"You too. Employee parking is to the left and when you go in they'll give you your parking pass. Other than that the main entrance is right by the parking lot and there's a front desk where you'll probably want to sign in."
"Oh great, thank you."
"Don't worry about it. Good luck."
The gate slid open and I let my car pull forward.
Smith's Grove Rehabilitation Center.
I was here.
The entryway of the building was the stereotypical cold and sterile set-up as most prisons or facilities. The receptionist was behind a barricaded wall and she introduced herself as Pam.
"It's always so good to get fresh blood in here" She chortled.
"That's the second time I've heard that today," I said.
"And it's true! We don't normally get many Grad students here and it's always nice to see another girl here."
"Are there not many here?" I asked.
"Well not really. We have a few, but they like to keep strapping young men on staff who can handle the patients. Not that I'm complaining though" She laughed.
"Anyway, now that you're signed in I'll let Dr. Brenner know you're here."
At that, she stepped from her booth and disappeared into the doorway behind her.
Within minutes an older man appeared beside Pam. His gaze sharply turned towards me and he grinned widely.
"Ms. Hill, a pleasure to finally meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Dr. Brenner."
"Please, come this way," he said, motioning his pass over the card reader.
"There is much to discuss."
The hallways echoed our footsteps as we walked and my head seemed to be on a swivel, trying to take everything in. We passed countless rooms with various types of doors and windows, some open and some barred extensively. The hallways were sprawling and as we kept walking the labyrinth of hallways, the more it confused me.
"Don't worry about the hallways, they were built to confuse the patients so if they got out they wouldn't be able to find their way out. We have maps for staff but you must keep them hidden from the patients. I'll give you one with the rest of your things.
"Oh good," I said swallowing a gulp.
"It can be intimidating but you'll get used to it in no time."
They came to a stop in front of his office and he quickly scanned his pass over the card reader.
"After you," he said motioning inside. I quickly entered and the door slammed behind me with a thundering bang. He took a seat behind the large oak desk and I sat down across from him.
"So as our newest addition your role is pretty flexible but important. As an intern, your tasks aren't as hands-on as the doctors, but your extensive background in forensic psychology will form the basis of your tasks.
"What will those be? My tasks I mean." I said blushing at my blunt delivery. The excitement coursed through me and the nervous energy must have been palatable.
"Well, you will be assisting Dr. Sinclair and me, doing anything that needs to be done. There is a no cell phone policy as well so if you have one leave it in your car. You won't be directly interacting with the more dangerous patients, but if things progress well then more duties may be added later on. Also, we have a strict dress code here in that your clothes must be very conservative showing as little skin as possible. Hair must also be tied back in a bun or other protective style, and your shoes must have backs so you can run if necessary."
"That won't be a problem" I replied, eyes furrowing as I imagined the possible scenarios where this might affect me.
"I don't mean to scare you but these are the precautions we must take in a facility such as this. And not to be blunt but with you being a young woman you may attract some attention, but there will always be guards around and there haven't been any incidents in years."
"Oh, I'm not concerned" I lied.
After the introduction and filling out the required paperwork, Dr. Brenner handed me a name tag that displayed my last name, a file folder with the map and various documents, and my key card.
"You must remember to constantly be alert while here."
"Oh of course."
"Not that I expect anything to happen but we mustn't allow any room for errors. So no one should see the map, and under no circumstances should you allow anyone to take your keycard. I would recommend getting a retracting lanyard to hold it securely."
"I'll get one after work."
"Splendid, now that that's all out of the way let's give you a tour and get started."
One key card swipe later and we exited the office, turning down the large maze of hallways. Dr. Brenner led the way and began to explain the various rooms we passed and their uses. Turning down one hallway there was an orderly pushing a thin old man in a wheelchair down the hall. The orderly's large physique was in stark contrast to the emaciated man dressed in a blue hospital gown.
"Hello there John, this is Ms. Hill, our newest addition to the team."
"Ah, fresh blood" he responded with a large gap-toothed smile.
"Why yes, and Ms. Hill this is one of our patients, Reggie." He said gesturing to the small man.
"Hello Reggie" I replied.
He didn't respond, and as he opened his mouth a large drop of saliva fell down on his chest, soaking a spot in the light blue fabric.
I pursed my lips into an awkward smile and looked back at John whose face showed no annoyance. He was tall with dark hair that was neatly combed back, a real All American man your mother would be pleased to see.
"Well, it was nice meeting you both."
"You too ma'am," John replied as he resumed his pushing.
They walked away with the shuffling sounds of the wheelchair fading into the distance and it finally struck me as odd. The facility was deathly quiet.
"The soundproofing in here is pretty great," I said to break the silence as we walked.
"Yes, well it helps keep morale up, plus it's a bonus for to get a reprise from the cacophony," he said as he stopped abruptly at a door, flashing the pass to unlock it.
He opened the door and held it for me, and as I stepped into the large room I was hit with what he meant. The room was overflowing with people and noise, patients sprawled all over with dozens of orderlies and armed guards standing at attention watching the room.
Many faces turned and gawked at us and a few of the men began leering as we entered.
"This is part of our general therapy space that we use if the weather isn't ideal. If it's nice out we like to hold things outside to get them some fresh air. We're just waiting for a few more of the patients on this rotation and then we're going to send them out to the yard to burn off any energy they have for an hour."
"Oh this is marvelous," I said looking at the mix of people.
"You say that now," he said with a smirk as he wove through the approaching patients, greeting them and introducing me to some of the more cognizant ones.
"Do all of the patients come to this?"
"No, we have various rotations of patients, all at varying levels of abilities or privileges. Many don't get to go out either due to physical illness or prior behavior. Sometimes we'll dope them up with benzodiazepines or Thorazine and roll 'em out and see how they do."
"Thorazine? I know that was popular in the seventies but I'm surprised it's the first choice here."
"I am of the firm belief that if it's not broken, don't fix it."
"Makes sense" I conceded, unconvinced.
"So with the rain, the patients will just do their activities indoors today."
"Oh is it raining, it's hard to tell" I laughed awkwardly.
"Yes well, windows do help when trying to tell the weather. Anyway, let me show you to some for the other patients, the ones in the other rotations. We'll come back after that and join in with the other activities."
We left the room and once the door closed behind us the wave of noise was abruptly silenced. Our footsteps echoing was the only sound as we made our way through the maze-like corridor. We turned left, and right, and left again, and I was turned around quickly. I wanted to look at my map but Dr. Brenner was keeping a quick pace as he made his way down the hall.
"They must be pretty tucked away, hey?"
"Yes, well these are the most sensitive patients we have here. We keep them in the hardest to reach places just in case."
"Just in case what?" I asked as we rounded another corner.
He stopped abruptly in front of room 8791 and turned to me his lined face missing the good-natured quality it had earlier.
"Is this...?" I asked without finishing my question.
"Yes," he replied solemnly.
He raised his key card and unlocked the door, opening it wide to reveal a stark white room. A small slit of a window let in some daylight but the room was claustrophobic in its aura. The white brick walls had begun to peel and a small bed sat to the side, neatly tucked in.
A man sat upright on the bed, his white uniform almost blending into the walls as his feet rested firmly on the cement floors. His body was facing the opposite side of the room, his back to the door they had just entered and silence greeted them.
Michael Myers.