The heavy metal gates of Briarcliff opened; the police car Violet was in has arrived.
A nun stood outside the doors to the asylum. She stood confidently with her chin up and had a slight smirk on her face. She stood still as she watched the car park in front of the building.
A tall and slender police man stepped outside of the car. He took hold of Violet's arm and pulled her out of the car. His grip on her arm was tight and Violet wore a look of pain and anger.
The nun took a few steps down and approached the still-handcuffed Violet. "I'll take her from here, officer." she said to the policeman. He nodded and proceeded to enter the car. They drove off and the gates of Briarcliff closed shut.
Violet entered the mental institution and her tired red eyes looked up to see a spiral staircase which seems to never end. She was astonished.
"We call these stairs 'Stairway To Heaven'" the nun noticed Violet.
"What's at the top?" Violet asked, still looking at the stairs.
"Dr. Arden's office and laboratory. I suggest you avoid going there."
"Why-"
"Enough quetions." she snapped. "Frank, take this to her cell." She called a young man who was an orderly patroling the asylum. When the nun called Violet this, Violet gave her a look of disgust.
Violet was soon thrown into her cell. The room was damp and reeks of rotting flesh and even death. A lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling barely lit the entire cell. But it was enough for Violet to see what was inside: A small bed with a worn mattress was pushed up in the corner to her right. On her left was a toilet and a sink that only released a few drops of water. A wobbly table stood in the middle of the cell along with a chair. The chair was the only thing that was stable in the room. Her room had no window, which means she wouldn't be able to tell whether it was day or night.
She rubbed her wrists; the handcuffs have been removed but they left a terrible mark. She sighed and sat on the bed.
The moment she sat, the mattress released a foul odor. Her nose wrinkled as soon as she smelled the awful scent. She immediately stood up and approached her cell door. She knocked a few times, hoping that an orderly would answer.
Nothing.
She knocked again.
The small slot eye-level to the door slid open. Violet saw a pair of eyes that looked angry and annoyed.
"What?" the orderly asked impatiently.
"Can't I go outside?" Violet asked.
"You're not allowed to leave the asylum." the orderly rolled his eyes.
Violet was annoyed with people who rolled their eyes. "I mean, outside of this cell."
"Oh." the small eye-level slot quickly slid shut. Violet jumped from surprise. Then, she heard rustling, rustling of keys. The cell door opened and the orderly shoved a ring of keys into his pocket. "We'll be collecting all of you in a few hours or so. Don't do anything stupid." the orderly left.
The inmates' common room was located in the west wing of the asylum. The cells , both for male and females, were located in the east wing. Males and females were separated, of course.
Violet stepped inside the common room to find different kinds of people inside. She saw a woman with stringy hair banging her head on a wall. There was a lanky Mexican man who just stood in a corner twiddling his thumbs whilst nervously looking around, mumbling something under his breath. On her right was a child who was bald and held a ceramic doll, staring at the wall In the middle of the room, a woman was lying on the floor doing nothing. The only normal people she found in the common room were playing poker on a table to her far left. Other than all that, the common room had a jukebox.
Violet's face wore a look of pity and disgust mixed together.
She didn't want to approach the most normal-looking people in the room. She just wanted to be alone. She found a vacant chair and decided to sat there while she observed the others. Oh how she could've brought her iPod. But hen again, they might just take it away from her.
A strange man who was a bit older than her was staring at her. Violet stared back. The man gave her a smirk. He had slicked back blonde hair and had bags under his eyes. Also, he had bruises on his face and a cut on his cheek. He looked even more tired than Violet.
The man's smirk turned into a sudden frown. Then, he looked away. Violet, too, looked away.
The jukebox kept playing the same song over and over. Violet was getting sick of it.
The same nun from earlier opened the common room doors and stood in the middle of the room for a minute. She took out a silver whistle from her pocket and blew it. The whistle released a piercing sound and all of the inmates covered their ears.
"It's time for bed!" The nun exclaimed. Two orderlies gathered all the inmates. One gathered the female ones; the other the males.
Violet and the other female inmates were all lined up in front of their cells. The orderlies were making sure each inmate was in her cell. They would shove an inmate if she didn't want to go in her cell.
A lot of them didn't want to go in their cells.
Violet had to wait a bit. Her cell was the last one. When all the women were already in their cells, an orderly approached her. "Are you going to put up a fight, too?" the orderly was holding the same ring of keys she saw earlier.
"...No." she slowly shook her head.
"Well," the orderly opened the door. ",get in." He gestured his head to the inside of the cell. Violet took a step forward. And then another step. The orderly couldn't wait any longer; he pushed her inside the room. She stumbled forward.
"What the hell!" Violet furiously exclaimed.
The cell door slammed shut behind her. She turned around and kicked the door. Then, she kicked it again. And then another kick. And then one last and final kick before she leaned against the cold metal door with her back. She slid down to the floor, hugged her knees then began to sob silently.
"Violet," She heard a faint voice in her cell. She looked up to find her mother sitting on her bed, smiling. "Violet," Vivien repeated.
"Mom?" Violet's voice cracked. She stood and and sat on the bed, right next to her mother. She tried to hold her mother's hand, but Vivien's hand turned into thin air. Violet looked up and she saw that her mother was no longer sitting next to her. "Mom..?" Violet continued to call out to her mother, but Vivien no longer replied. She didn't appear once more.
Violet hung her head low, then proceeded to lay down on her bed. It still had that foul odor. She closed her eyes and slept, or, at least, tried to.