A young man once stood in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the thirteenth of April, is this young mans birthday. But he hasn't been in that old bedroom for at least three years. Today he finds himself in a new room, one made of cold steel and concrete, and he hates it.

You can't remember your name. Before today, everyone had called you by some name, a name you think you actually liked, but you just can't put your finger on what it was. Maybe you should name yourself. John... you've always liked the name John. John Egbert. You once had a common last name, and you thought it was atrocious. Egbert has more... zing if you will.

You are slowly becoming aware of your surroundings, and they scare you. You are in what looks like a jail cell, except maybe the slightest bit cleaner. You are wearing scrubs, which concerns you because you don't remember putting them on and the thought of a stranger dressing you makes you very uncomfortable.

"You're new here," a voice sounds from across the hall. You peer through the small window in the door to see a girl looking back at you with slightly blood-shot, lavender eyes.

"New to where?"

"To the asylum. This is where they keep all the nut jobs." Her sloppily painted black lips slowly curl into a smile.

"Well then I have no idea what I'm doing here. I'm perfectly sane."

"Apparently not everyone thinks so." She hesitates for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to speak. "I would be careful if I were you."

"Um... careful how?"

"Careful of the horror-terrors. They're dangerous you know. And they seem to like you in particular." She stares at the empty space behind you. "There's one right in the corner over there."

You slowly turn around and look in the corner. "There's nothing there."

She breaks out into laughter. "Of course not. They can't be seen by the eyes of an outsider like yourself. Come to think of it, they can mostly only be seen by me."

"Right... I'm sorry what's your name again?"

"Rose. And your name is John Egbert, right?"

"H-how did you know that?"

She giggles. "You really shouldn't mumble so loudly to yourself. It's a bad habit to get into."

"Oh. Well actually I-"

"Shush!" She cuts you off abruptly. "I can hear a nurse coming. They find my so called 'antics' frustrating and prefer me to not speak with the other patients. So let the record show that this conversation never happened." With that she retreats into her cell.

Rose's alleged nurse doesn't arrive for a good two minutes. She proceeds to unlock both of your doors and tell you that you are being let out for fresh air. You decide to stay with Rose, because while she scares you, she is not a complete stranger. When you get to the courtyard, she immediately bolts towards a mangy-looking black haired girl with thick glasses. To your surprise, the girl gets on her back and Rose starts scratching her belly.

"Who's this?" you ask, cautiously taking a step forward.

"Oh that's right. New guy. Well, this is Jade. She was raised by hounds, so she comes across as a bit... feral."

As if on cue, Jade rolls back onto all fours and starts growling at you.

"Jade," Rose says sternly, "This is John. He is a friend. Understand? Friend."

Jade continues growling as take a few steps back.

"Now Jade, what don't we do to friends?"

She recoils slightly and gives Rose an unsure smile.

"That's right. We don't bite friends."

You take a couple more steps backwards, just to be sure, and end up bumping into someone.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there," you say, turning around to see your own reflection in a pair of mirrored aviators.

"Nah, it's cool bro. Name's Strider. Dave Strider."

"I'm John. Egbert. Egbert John."

"Yeah nice try there."

"Strider is one of our more interesting cases here," Rose chirped.

"You'll shut up about my case if you know what's good for you, Lalonde."

Jade giggled and plopped herself down by Dave's leg as her scratched behind her ears.

"You said this place was an asylum, right? As in, an insane asylum?" you ask nervously.

"St. Andrew's Asylum for the Mentally Unstable to be specific," Rose says.

"How do you not know you're in an asylum, bro?"

"I don't know. I'm just not sure of anything," you admit.

"Well next time you try and make up a name for yourself, I would try something other than Egbert," Rose snickers

"Oh my god you actually made that up?" Dave says, failing at keeping a straight face.

"But really. If you can't remember your own name, you might have a reason for being here," Rose said, all of a sudden turning solemn.

"Right, but you're a mental patient, not a therapist, and I don't want to talk to you about it."

Just as you are finishing, a bell rings out, signaling the end of your recreational time.

Rose frowns." It seems as if our rec time is getting shorter and shorter. This won't do, oh no. The horror-terrors can't stand the sun. The more sun the better. Very troubling..."

You sit in your cell, trying to recall... well your entire life basically. You know today is your birthday, the calendar in the hall said April 13th. But you don't know how old you are. You had a father... a good one too, if you remember correctly. But he's gone now. You can just tell. Maybe you killed him, maybe that's why you're in here. But that doesn't sound right either. Your head begins to hurt as you start seeing faint images of blood. The images fill you with uncertainty, with such a sinister feeling that you started praying for them to stop, or maybe to see something a bit clearer...

"Oh would you shut up already," Rose snapped at you. "If God answered prayers I wouldn't be here. Save your breath."
You stop mumbling and lay down, staring at the ceiling, watching insects crawling in and out of cracks in the plaster. The last thing you remember before drifting off is that Rose seems familiar... in fact so do Jade and Dave.


You wake up to find Rose looming over your bed. You jump as you realize that she broke out of her cell and she is standing over your bed.

"What the fuck are you doing?" you shout, causing Rose to recoil.

"Shhhhhh they'll hear you," she says frantically. "I need to talk to you."

You sigh. "What is it?"

"How have you been feeling?"

"What?"

"Answer the question, John. How are you feeling?"

"Umm... okay I guess, given my certain situation."

"And what is that?"

"I'm in an asylum."

"And is that why you came to see me?"

"I didn't come to see you."

"Then get the hell out of my office!"

"Rose stop playing therapist I'm not sure you're cut out for the position."

"I'm just asking a few questions."

"Rose get out of my cell."

"Well you're no fun." She pauses and looks into the corner, at what you suspect is one of her horror-terrors. "No shut up I am not doing that. Because I don't want to. No he's nice I would never do that to him. Just shut up and leave me alone!" She stands up and bolts out of your cell.

You sigh and roll onto your side. You still have no idea what you're doing here. You still have very little knowledge of anything. If you concentrate hard enough, you can remember playing a video game, you think maybe some lame world building game. The memory is so vague and it seems so unimportant, however, that you push it to the side. Instead, you try and focus on your father. He died years ago, that much you seem certain of now. You wouldn't have dreamed of killing him. It must have been something else, maybe a heart attack? That seems like the most logical assumption at the moment.

You still can't shake the fact that Rose, Dave, and Jade all seem too familiar. You think you would remember people like them. Wait... maybe you do. Yes, you can see it now. Your body is mangled on the ground, and Rose is nearby. Except it's not exactly her. She's engulfed in strange, black flame and speaks in tongues. You try to push this to the side, too. It must have been a dream you had last night or something. You try to focus on something else, but images of dead, bloodied bodies keep appearing in your mind, some of them not even human. You worry that you are actually insane, or a serial killer. Probably both. You hug your knees to your chest as images and uncertainties flash through your mind and you slowly fall back asleep. You think you can see a golden city somewhere in your dream.