Another chapter so soon? Yes, I plan to publish several chapters for the first part, just so you all have something to enjoy whilst I'm working on the rest of the story in the meantime. Hope it doesn't get too edgy for you!
It was later in the evening, and Kyle and Jan were both simply laying around, watching television. They had been silent, watching anything interesting that was on... up until Kyle decided to break the silence.
"Mom..." Kyle began.
"Yes, honey?" Jan responded.
"Listen..." Kyle said. "...even if I was into some... strange things... you wouldn't care about me any less, would you?"
Jan looked shocked. "No! I wouldn't ever! Why? What sort of strange things are you into?"
On the spot, Kyle came up with the first thing in his head.
"...Steamships." he said.
At first, Jan looked suspicious... but she quickly passed it off.
"There's nothing wrong with that." she said.
"Well..." Kyle said, standing. "...I'm gonna go to bed."
"Me too." Jan said, switching off the television with the remote. "Y'know, I still can't tell you how proud I am that you're able to afford a place like this."
"Yeah, well... this is where being an artist really pays off!" Kyle said.
"Well, goodnight! Love you!" Jan said.
"Love you too." Kyle said, just before he went upstairs.
He pulled himself under his sheets and remotely switched the light off. Within a reasonable period of time... he was fully asleep. But...
Little did Kyle know that his dream tonight would take him deep into the planes of his subconscious fears and torments... tonight, he was in for one hell of a ride...
Kyle opened his eyes, but he was not in his bedroom. Instead, the environment around him appeared to have been replaced with gray brick. He sat up, feeling fairly achy, to look around. He was laying on a very shoddy bed, and there was a sink with a mirror, as well as a toilet, in the small room. A fluorescent light lit the small small room, as well as the faint dusk light coming in through a barred window. There was one metal door on the wall opposite of the window.
Slowly, Kyle stood, but he felt very lethargic. The air smelled strongly of stone, as was expected, but also a hint of sweet scent was in the air as well. He noticed in the mirror that his regular clothing had vanished, and was replaced with a patient gown of the kind used in hospitals.
"Wh... what the...?" Kyle uttered.
He made his way over to the door to leave, but it would not open.
"...What's going on here...?" Kyle said.
Right as he turned around to try and stand on his bed to peer through the window... he noticed that one of the bricks was sliding out of the wall. He froze as it slowly made its way through, until it fell forward, exposing an opening in the wall. Something was then dropped in through it, just before the sound of footsteps came, rushing away.
Kyle hastily peered through the opening, trying to spot whomever just did that, but they were long gone. Giving up on figuring out who it was, he instead took a look at what they left for him. It was a multi-tool with a piece of paper taped to it. Kyle picked it up, pulled off the paper, and unfolded it, revealing it to be a message.
-It's now or never. Hurry and escape, you idiot!-
"Well... that's quite rude." Kyle said, discarding the note.
He then opened up the multi-tool to reveal various tools... some of which he could use to pick the door open from this side. With that, he got to work on the door, and in a short time, was able to open it. He then began to make his way out, opening up the knife blade on the multi-tool, and closing everything else. He held it in front of him as he walked out.
"Where am I?" Kyle asked out loud.
He could not think straight, given how drowsy he was feeling. He did not think he could bring himself to even jog at a light pace.
Regardless, Kyle decided to close the door behind him... but noticed that there was a piece of laminated paper held to the door by a magnet.
-PATIENT INFO-
Name: Kyle J. Schaeffer
Gender: M
DOB: 11/26/1998
Case Description: An unhealthily-obsessed brony claiming that ponies and unicorns are real creatures, and that he raised one, had a relationship with it, and even had sex with it. Potentially severe mental disorder has been concluded from the official diagnosis. The patient is now being exposed constantly to air laced with a sedative to prevent any violent outbursts, like before.
Kyle stared in utter shock at what he was reading. He was locked away in this place? It was because of his involvement in the MLP fandom? Was he in an asylum? This could not be... but he happened to recall what had been the greatest thing in his life previously. Now, it seemed like it was all turned against him...
"What is this!?" he said. "They locked me away because... because they found out I had Lyra?"
It seemed like Kyle had been declared by... whoever it was who put him here... to be insane. But, this got him wondering... what was so bad about being a brony? There were millions of bronies during MLP:FiM's prime, and they were not ever locked up for something like that! And that coupled with the fact that they had been sedating him in his cell for supposed "violent outbursts"...
"This is so beans!" Kyle remarked. "I'm not a violent person! Not unless I have to defend myself!"
So, he set off down the hall, fairly slowly and carefully, the knife pointed in front of him the whole time. He noticed that the hall was filled with doors identical to the one he emerged from, and they were all numbered. The fluorescent lighting flickered in some parts of the hallway, with sparks falling from them.
"...Ah..." Kyle moaned, feeling weak. "...I need to find some sort of medicine or something to negate the sedative they were giving me."
Soon enough, he came across an open door. He looked at the door's sign.
-Infirmary-
Kyle made his way into the infirmary, where he found a long room of vacant beds with privacy curtain sets around them. Right across from the door was a sink with a medicine cabinet mirror that was partially open. He walked over and opened it up to see what there was. There was not much inside; a comedone extractor, a couple of unused syringes and vaccine containers, some forceps, some gauze and band-aids, some clear plastic cups, a Zippo lighter, and a bottle of pills.
Kyle picked up the bottle of pills, and identified from the label that they were modafinil pills. He had heard of them before, mainly in his chemistry class at school, and that they were sometimes called "wake-up pills"... that gave him an idea. It might be a little risky, but with how weak and tired he felt, he hoped it would work.
He took one of the plastic cups and filled it with water from the sink. He then took two modafinil pills from the bottle, and popped them into his mouth. He then took a sip of water, swallowing the pills with it, and continued until the glass was drained. It took a little bit... but he soon began to feel more and more alert and energized.
"Wow... that's good stuff!" Kyle said to himself. "Might buy some from Walgreens, just in case I ever need to get up early... and maybe some ZzzQuil if I end up with insomnia... actually, never mind. I don't need pills."
Suddenly, he thought that he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Hastily, he looked around to see if there was a way he could escape. Hiding in one of the beds wouldn't do, since the people here would know that the infirmary was vacant. Instead... he spotted an air duct that had its grate on the floor.
Okay... Vent ex Machina... Kyle thought to himself.
He grabbed the lighter from the cabinet and ran as quietly as he could on his bare feet against the tile floor, and jumped at the open vent, grabbing onto the bottom rim. He pulled himself onto his upper arms, and managed to haul himself in... just before someone came into the room.
Kyle carefully looked out the vent to see that a security guard appeared to have entered. He was looked around and underneath the beds in the room.
"Thought I heard something..." he mumbled.
I'd better move before he notices I'm in here... Kyle thought.
With that, he began scooting himself through the duct, and once he got far away enough, he flicked open the lighter, and struck it. It did help him to see where he was going, thankfully. He continued to crawl through until he noticed another grate up ahead. He put the lighter out, and made his way forward, quietly.
He eventually found the duct to turn at a ninety-degree angle, which revealed a set of grates. Peering through the first one, Kyle saw some sort of cafeteria, and there were various security guards standing and sitting around the place, with trays of food.
After watching them for a moment, a school bell-style alarm began to ring as a red light came on in the cafeteria. All of the guards in the room immediately stood from their seats and began rushing out of the room, grabbing their batons. The server at the cafeteria counter immediately closed the counter's shutter.
Uh-oh... Kyle thought. ...I think they've just discovered that the prisoner, AKA me, is out of his cell.
Kyle pushed the grate out, using the multi-tool knife to pry it loose. The grate came off... but the knife broke, and the blade leveraged the rest of the tools on its side to break as well.
"Well, there goes my tool." Kyle thought.
So, still holding the metal grate, Kyle put his legs through the open vent first, and hopped out, setting the grate down once he was on the floor. Then, he took a look at his surroundings. There was a closet in the cafeteria. Curious, he decided to take a look inside. Thankfully, the area was clear from security guards.
He found it to be unlocked, and inside were various janitorial equipment, as well as toolboxes. Sitting on a shelf right near the door to the closet was...
"Sweet, a crowbar!" Kyle said, picking up the tool. "I love crowbars. This'll definitely come in handy."
And he may have very well found it just in the nick of time, because he heard footsteps behind him, and looked back to see a guard rushing for him with his baton in hand. He realized that he had no other option here.
"Okay... this is where playing Half-Life really pays off!" Kyle said, swinging the crowbar at the guard.
It struck the guard in the head, caving his skull in from the hook being driven into it. The guard immediately dropped his baton, and slumped over on the floor, dead as a doornail. It was only after he pulled the tool out of the guard's head that Kyle had fully comprehended what had just happened.
"Oh my God..." Kyle said, completely stunned at what he just did. "...I... I just murdered someone..."
He was utterly horrified at the death by his hands, worried that he has just condemned his soul. However... it seemed like they would have no problem killing him. This coupled with the fact that they had him locked in a room, sedating him no less...
...Kyle quickly became angry after piecing everything together.
"Y'know what? After what they did... locking me up just for my personal interest... and after everything this world has put me through... they deserve to die!" Kyle said.
With that, he stole the guard's shoes and made his way out of the cafeteria, walking quickly and quietly, crowbar in hand all the while.
If I can't find a clean pair of socks... these shoes'll give me blisters on the back of my heels. Kyle thought.
He set off down the hallway, trying to see if he could find a way out. Of course, he had to keep his guard up in case any security officers were to find him. He had to stealth it as best as he could. The alarm was covering the noise he made, thankfully... but it was definitely still alerting security.
Eventually, he made it to a stretch of hallway that seemed to be the main one of the building, as it was the tallest and widest one he had been in as of yet. And sure enough, he saw what appeared to be the front doors right at the end of the hallway. There were windows on either side of it, so he was certain it was a way out.
He was running out towards the doors... but he shuddered upon seeing red and blue flashes outside of the windows. Making it to the window, Kyle could make out police vehicles approaching the building, surrounding the fence. There were so many coming in, you would think the entire police force had been alerted to his escape. He checked his back, and saw, to his horror, that there were more guards approaching rapidly, shouting at him. Cops were coming in through the gate in the front fence of the building, too.
"Ngh... I have to rush it!" Kyle said to himself. "They'll surround me in no time if I just sand still!"
In a bold move, Kyle opened the door, and he began to sprint at breakneck speed across the side of the building. Without warning, the police opened gunfire at him. Nine-millimeter shells ricocheted off the walls of the asylum... but miraculously, none of them were hitting Kyle. The police officers' aim was about as good as that of stormtroopers. Regardless, he continued to run away, the crowbar swinging in his hand.
This is SO VERY ridiculous! Kyle thought. Without any practical way to fight back, I'm just fucking cannon fodder!
He was regretting the decision he made... but he was certain that this regretful decision was the right decision. Still... he wished he had a gun.
"Note to self: never bring a crowbar to a gun fight." Kyle said to himself.
More police pulled up to the side of the fence on the stretch Kyle was running down, and they took aim with rifles, which did not fair much better for hitting him... but then came a series of scattering shots after single bangs went off.
"SHIT! That's a shotgun!" Kyle thought.
The buckshot definitely had a higher chance of hitting him, and at a close range... it would be a devastating death. He was getting fatigued, but adrenaline kept him going. His heart was pumping fast and hard, and the shoes were wearing on his feet. He really could not wear them properly without socks.
Just then, when he began to feel that he was merely prolonging the inevitable... Kyle spotted an open manhole in the grass. Without giving even a second thought, he jumped into the hole to avoid the gunfire, landing in what appeared to be a round, cement tunnel, channeling clear water. There was lighting, but it was very old, shoddy incandescent lights fixed to the sides of the round tunnel.
Before the guards could have a chance to catch him, Kyle stood up, grabbed his dropped crowbar, and made a break down the tunnel, searching for any sign of a way out.
"There's gotta be some way out of this tunnel..." Kyle muttered. "...where else would all this water be going?"
Kyle continued to move quickly down the tunnel, repeatedly checking his back to see if he had any pursuers in the flickering light, but as he was running, a grate broke underneath him, making him fall for less than a second to a different area.
"Agh...!" Kyle strained, standing albeit injured. "Shit! Why has fate forsaken me...?"
This time, the tunnel was dark. There was no lighting. Kyle was not sure how he was going to be able to navigate without light. He wished he had a flashlight or a lighter or-the lighter! Kyle remembered that he still had it. He immediately flicked it open, and lit it. Sure the glow was faint, but it at least allowed him to see something. Lighter in his left hand, and crowbar in his right, he set off down the tunnel. As he was wandering... he could not help but think...
Why did this all have to happen in the first place? Does my mom know about this? Was SHE the one who did this? But... why me? Why not any of the disgusting... disgraceful... CLOPPERS? Kyle thought.
After wandering downstream for what felt like an hour, he eventually saw the dull, night lighting from a grate in front of him, and also indicated by the sound of a small waterfall. Looking outside, he could tell that it was already dark out, and the moon was high in the sky. Kyle immediately put out the lighter, and tried to move the grate... but it was stuck.
"Shit..." Kyle muttered. "...how can I get out?"
He happened to look at the crowbar in his hand... and also happened to see and feel that the grate was quite ancient, rusty, and bent-up. He raised a brow, smirking.
"Well, in the words of Fluttershy and Iron Will... when somepony tries to block..." he said, raising the tool over his head.
He brought it down hard against the grate, smacking out a piece of the bars with each hit. It took a bit of work, but he eventually made a hole in the rusty metal large enough for him to squeeze through.
"...ya show 'em that you rock!" Kyle finished, twirling the crowbar in triumph.
With that, he pulled himself out of the water duct, and found himself on some sort of oceanside, with the water spewing into the ocean itself.
"Okay, let's see if I can't figure out where I am... and maybe find someone who can help me, maybe..." Kyle said as he started to climb...
Well, things appear to be picking up... even if it is just a product of our main hero's imagination. Anyways, I hope you all are looking forward to the rest of the sequel! I hope to have this one be a little more intense and have some more substance than the first. So, catch you guys soon! Keep holding on...