Little nightmares: the nightmare across time

by coulterz713

First i don't own anything except my original monsters. When our heroes six and mono discover an enchanted mirror found in the hunter's attic it causes a strange void between worlds to open. now in Hilda's world they want to stay in this world but new threats arrive at every turn (an au where the hunter survives the gunshots and the two kids never went to the hospital)

5. Chapter 5: The asylum

little nightmares: nightmare across time chapter 5: the asylum

It had been 3 days since the children entered the mirror into the pale world while having some close encounters with the tall man and the hunter but still managed to escape their grasp. The group rested in an old apartment complex eating some cooked frozen foods "ugh this is hopeless!" Hilda complained "we'll never find the mirror!" "Don't be so negative, Hilda, be glad that we're all still alive!" Six comforted. After eating they set out to find the mirror once more and escape to their world… outside the building they had wandered the streets "so what is this place anyway?" Hilda asked, "we're in the pale city!" Mono answered "this is mainly where the signal tower resides!" "What is this signal tower you keep mentioning?" Mono pointed upwards across them, the five turned to see a large tower larger than the other buildings surrounding it, the tower had a glitchy glow on top of it's large antenna, "wow… that's the signal tower?" David asked in awe "yup… the very reason why our world is a distorted wasteland…." Six answered "where did it come from?" Asked Hilda "nobody knows… Some say it's a government experiment gone awry. Some say it was an alien life form … some even say it's the devil himself…." The five then turned to see clothing falling onto the ground "who would just throw their laundry onto the ground like that?" David complained "that's the signal tower too…" six explained, surprising everyone "a tower did this?" Hilda asked, pointing to the clothes "the people who stared at the screens for too long end up just… disappearing… leaving nothing but their clothes behind…." Six continued before they slowly walked around the clothes and ran away.

After a few minutes of running through the streets the gang came to a subway entrance and went inside. In the subway it was disgusting filled with trash clothes and tvs everywhere and empty trains in the middle soon one of the tvs flashed to life and the lights turned blue with hands pressed against the screen and now the tall man had emerged and gave chase the kids ran into the trains with the tall man in pursuit, the kids switched from train to train before mono manage to detrack both trains when the tall man was about to catch them the five sighed in relief and waved bye to the tall man who groaned before discovering another television and grinned, he placed his hand on the screen before he sucked himself into it.

Once the train had stopped to its destination, the group had exited the train and wandered outside and saw that they were in the outskirts of the pale city and wandered the area and saw on the far side was a large building with a brick fence around it. They saw in the front entrance was a large sign six took a closer look at it: "'dark wind asylum for the dangerously insane'…." She read "lovely…." Suddenly the tall man emerged from another television behind them the gang immediately ran into the asylum and ran to the east side and found the left entrance they then found a flash beacon and shinned it in the tall man's eyes blinding him temporarily giving the children a chance to escape once they left, they entered the building and slammed the door behind them, the tall man rubbed his eyes and once he was able to see he saw the kids had disappeared he growled and screamed in the air before stopping "still vengeful?" A voice called behind him the tall man immediately turned and saw nothing. He then wandered around the building for an entrance still unsteady about the voice he heard "i don't want to hear this ok?" He growled "I am on a mission… and I intend to complete it…." The tall man continued to wander the building still looking for an entrance.

Meanwhile inside the kids observed the building. It was dark and dreary, filled with blood stains, televisions, cells and noises of screams of insanity of the inmates. Soon the kids slowly wandered the inside with flashlights in hand as they saw more horrors along the way. Once they exited the cells and saw more chaos and creepy sights, they entered the lounge where they saw the monstrous inmates of the asylum, they were hideously deformed, they all wore straight jackets and hospital gowns while on their heads some wore mussels, bandages and some even had cages on their heads while others wore nothing on their heads revealing their faces, they were ripped apart some lost noses others lost their eyes tongues and bits of flesh some even had their brains exposed. They wandered around the lounge watching the blank television screens and breathing heavily. The children silently passed through the inmates until six accidentally pressed on the remote and saw the tv turn off the inmates turned to see the kids and were enraged, screaming and rushing at them, the kids immediately started running away from the inmates as they rushed towards them screaming, once they were almost caught the kids managed to hide in the ventilation system before entering another end of the building "well and here i thought the viewers were horrifying…." Mono said catching his breath they then moved towards the next room they saw that they were in another cell block this time they were visible was glass cases showing more inmates in wandering around their cells and others pressed against the glass and some licked the glass with their rotten tongues, the kids were incredibly disturbed by the sight of it eventually they escaped the cells and into the hall where another door was electrified and to prevent inmates from escaping "well how are we supposed to get past that?" Mono complained "maybe we can shut down the power." Hilda suggested the kids then wandered to the next room after generally trying to avoid eye contact with the inmates they then wandered to the next room once they were in the halls they searched for a way to turn off the power before noticing some of the inmates were surrounding the door and swarming the halls "how are we supposed to get past all them?" David asked, panicking "easy. We use a diversion…." Six answered pointing to an old fire alarm. Mono pulled out a slingshot and some rocks and fired the rocks at it; one eventually hit the alarm causing it to ring and attract the inmates as they ran towards the sound giving the children a chance to run inside and shut the door behind them.

Inside they wandered to see the main systems and machinery. They wandered the room and searched for a way to shut off the power. "There! The sign says 'main power module'!" Mono pointed out, to a large power module. The kids then wandered to the module and six opened the machinery, taking a closer look at it "do you ever know what you're doing?" Frida asked, "Of course I do!" Six shouted before pulling a random wire and causing a light outside to explode "wrong wire…." Mono announced "no s#!t Sherlock…" six said before pulling another wire shutting off the power entirely mono then pulled out a flashlight and guided the others away from the inmates. Once they were in the cell room the kids then wandered towards the exit "I think we're in the clear…" Suddenly the glass opened and allowed the inmates to escape causing the children to run as the inmates chased them while making raspy breathing and insane laughter and screaming. The kids then rushed to the door and ran towards the exit. The power suddenly turned on just as the kids escaped the inmates as the electricity turned on and electrocuted some of them. "Well let's get out of here!" David proclaimed as they rushed towards the next area.

Meanwhile the tall man emerged from another television and searched for the others as he saw one of the inmates ran towards him as the tall man swept him away and continued to search the asylum "do you really blame her?" Asked a voice behind him, the tall man turned and saw a glitchy shadow that took the form of mono "what are you talking about?" The tall man asked "well it's quite common for someone like you to feel the need to pin your situation on someone else…" the glitch said "what situation…?" The tall man asked, shaken, the shadow then smiled sinisterly "... The incident…." The tall man shook heavily and hallucinated seeing mono falling off a large ledge with six standing over it "uh… boss?" The tall man snapped out of his trance and saw the hunter looking at him concerned "you ok…?" He asked "yes yes… just follow me…." The two then wandered around the asylum looking for the children albeit the hunter occasionally looked at the tall man concerned.

After the children ran away from the inmates they wandered the main hall before landing at an elevator "this'll get us to the exit!" Six proclaimed "how are we supposed to know that?" David asked, six pointed to a large map of the asylum showing the elevator and the exit on the lower floor where at the end was an exit the kids then looked at the elevator "where do we find the fuse to power this?" Hilda asked "says here it's in the engineering room…" suddenly the door open and some of the inmates ran out as they escaped through the halls while the children hid underneath underneath a table, behind them were two new monsters, they were tall with mummified gray skin, they wore rotten security outfits and white hospital coats and their heads were spotlights. One of the monsters had appeared on of the inmates and another pulled out a syringe "give him the sedative! What are you waiting for? do it!" The white coated monster then injected the inmate with the syringe and he fell asleep "now that was a disaster…" "this whole thing is a disaster!" The other monster shouted "the power here's a little faulty but it doesn't just shut down!" The security guard monster sighed "look just have the other orderlies round up all the other inmates, the head of security is phoning the repair man about the power…." The monsters known as the Orderlies left the scene with the inmate "I think that power malfunction they talked about was us…." The gang then exited their hiding spot and ran through the halls, they turned and saw the lights of the orderlies and ran to the corner as the orderly pulled out a walkie talkie "false alarm. Probably just some rats." He said "continuing sweep" the orderly then wandered away as the children ran to the opposite direction, they continued to escape from the monstrous orderlies evading them from the shadows "we're still getting some inmates anywhere else we can find them?" One of the orderlies asked "probably the courtyard they're probably using the wall, if the wall doesn't work. They'll probably head to the engineering department and shut down the power…" the kids overhead the conversation "so all we need to do is get to the courtyard!" Mono whispered "yeah but there are also like a million other inmates running around!" Six proclaimed just as the orderlies wandered away, the kids then ran to the farther side of the hall but stopped upon seeing a bright light. They turned around and saw one of the orderlies looking down at them "all units we have a child breach! I repeat we have a child breach! On the upper floors!" The kids immediately turned and ran away with the orderly on their tails they were stopped seeing some inmates in their paths, they were surrounded the kids then looked at the vent beside them and frantically started pulled on it until it opened and they crawled inside just as the inmates started grabbing at them before the orderlies caught them.

The kids then crawled through the vent and out to the cafeteria where the inmates were shoveling food into their mouths, they turned to the kitchen where the keys to the courtyard were laying on the serving table, the kids then snuck through the cafeteria and underneath the tables and saw a large apple "oh I got an idea!" Hilda announced then grabbed the apple and climbed onto the table and raised it "FOOD FIGHT!" Hilda then threw the apple at another inmate and they began throwing food at one another starting what Hilda announced, this gave the kids the chance to make it to the kitchen just when they were about to get the key a hand grabbed the key and took it with it they were surprised to see the events that unfolded, the orderlies then busted through the door seeing all the inmates fighting each other and some started to stab each other with sporks they constantly grabbed the inmates to contain the situation. The kids then hopped into the kitchen as the orderlies continued to contain the situation they snuck searched for the key until heavy footsteps grew louder the kids hid underneath the tables as a large inmate stepped into the room, he was larger than the other inmates he was slightly overweight wearing a mussel on his face, he wore a butcher's apron a white chef's hat and a large butcher knife in his hand and with the key dangling from his apron. He grabbed some spices and wandered away, the kids then exited their hiding spot and looked at the inmate "the guy's got the key! But how are we gonna get it from him?" Six asked "I know we walk up to him and ask him for it!" Mono exclaimed. The inmate then ripped something from the freezer and slammed it onto a table while screaming "yeah I'm pretty sure that's a bad idea…." The others agreed with six "I know! We use a distraction and sneak past him!" Frida explained "but what should we use to get his attention?" David asked, Hilda noticed the jars on the stove and had six to climb on her shoulders and hopped onto the stove and pushed it off the edge, making a loud crashing noise as the inmate started stomping towards them as the kids hid underneath another table, as the inmate investigated the shattered glass the children silently entered the other side of the kitchen seeing the key on the table next to the frozen poultry they then climbed onto the table just as the inmate returned the kids hid behind the food as the inmate pulled out his butcher knife and slammed it onto the neck cutting off the head and causing blood to leak from it the inmate then tore open the poultry and took out some of the meat and placed into a nearby boiling pot the children then retreated to the dishwasher, then caught their breath "so what now?" David asked "we come up with another distraction!" Hilda then looked at the garbage disposal and turned it on, making a loud noise as the inmate ran to where the kids were, then snuck around him as the inmate turned off the garbage disposal. Meanwhile the kids had successfully pulled the key and raced out of the kitchen and through the cafeteria where most of the inmates were apprehended but some of the orderlies had been killed, the kids then grabbed the key and unlocked the door to the courtyard.

Outside the group had wandered around the courtyard, it was filled with the inmates and it was filled with TVs, old sports equipment and even knives and weapons. The kids silently wandered around to the engineering department to find the fuse, just as they were halfway through, the hunter suddenly busted through the door with his shotgun startling the inmates "out of my way you braindead lunatics!" He yelled "I'm not dealing with yard full psychos!" He then started shooting at the kids "he's a lot scarier when he's big!" Hilda proclaimed as they ran away from him the inmates started to mess with him and try to take his gun. The kids then ran away while the hunter was distracted, they unlocked the door and ran inside. The hunter noticed their disappearance and screamed and shot the inmates and rushed towards the door before the tall man appeared and stepped inside.

Inside the engineering department the children were trapped in the darkness with the sound of hydraulics hissing and gears turning mono then pulled out a flashlight and shined seeing the gears and machinery they investigated the room as they saw some of the orderlies investigating the area and patrolling for any more problems, the kids then ran into another room and hid there was another generator mono got an idea and switched it on the children hid behind the doorway as the orderlies ran inside, the kids then made a break for it as the orderlies inspected the generator, the kids then continued down the halls and saw something glowing in the storage closet they pushed the door opened and a fuse fell to the ground, suddenly as they picked up the fuse, something blew the door open and the flashlight turned blue they turned around and saw the tall man he raised his hand and reached out to the kids, they ran right underneath him and dashed to the outside, the tall man then turned around and wandered towards them however the orderlies surrounded them and pulled out their guns "you are under arrest for trespassing!" One of the orderlies announced the tall man then raised his hand as the orderlies floated as well and the tall man then threw them like rag dolls before continuing to walk towards the kids. Once they were outside the children continued to run with the inmates on their tails as well as the hunter and tall man, they then rushed into another vent and fell into the hallway and onto a table near the cafeteria, the kids then grabbed the fuse and located the elevator they were almost there when they were spotted by a swarm of orderlies and chased them through the building, the kids finally found the elevator installed the fuse and the elevator opened, they immediately entered and it took them down leaving the orderlies screaming in rage.

As the elevator descended to the lower floor, the kids caught their breath and waited for their floor "so mono what was your life like before the signal tower appeared?" David asked, mono seeming surprised "well…" he said embarrassed "it was rough… as you saw I have the ability to manipulate reality… and I don't know why I was granted this but I always felt alone the kids would call me a freak behind my back, some were frightened when I demonstrated my power, some even called me the spawn of satan…" he started to tear up "even people outside saw me as a monster… one day I found a brown paper bag near a trash can, cut out some eye holes and put it on and I've had that bag on ever since. And when the signal tower appeared… it went from bad to worse… the world around me fell apart even more… I felt like it hated me… maybe it does…" he started crying as six calmed him down.'' Hey it's ok… mono, you're not a freak, and the world doesn't hate you… you still have us, remember?" Mono smiled slightly "yeah I guess so…" he then whipped away his tears as they hugged him close "what about your life six?" "Mine? It's kind of a long story…" six explained "my dad was in the military so he wasn't around much… As for my mother, well… she was an alcoholic, not like those abusive alcoholic beat their kids cliche moms, no. She would occasionally ask me to call my uncle on her phone so she would ask him to pick her up at the bar. Sometimes I'd open the front door to see her laying on the ground passed out drunk. However after a nasty accident had damaged her face and replaced it with a prosthetic, that's when she knew she had to quit, fortunately she was able to start a new restaurant she was Japanese so it was natural for her to base it off her culture, but unfortunately when the signal tower appeared she turned cold and bitter and it warped her body so badly it gave her witch like abilities… she became a monster just like her restaurant and everyone around the city… It was only natural that I had to escape her, one day I saw Mono on a treetop but then the hunter got me and I was taken into his cabin and… well you know the rest ..." six went quiet "ok I think that's enough backstories for one day!" She shouted "I don't wanna make this more depressing than it already is…."

Once they made it to their stop the kids wandered around and saw they were on the lower floor. They then ran towards the exit but then another problem appeared: "ah crap the doors are on a remote lock and require another fuse!" Groaned six "where do we find it?" "Should be able to find one near the records room." Mono observed the map, the children then wandered around looking for the records, they continued to roam the ground floor until they find themselves in intensive treatment where they saw the building was swarming with orderlies guarding cells they noticed one pushing a cart they then ducked into it and hitched the ride they saw multiple televisions dangling from multiple cables, the screens flashed to life and displayed static then a symbol of the asylum soon the voice of a wheezy German man played over the speakers "greetings new patient!" It said "I am dr Ivan "the psychiatrist" Williams head of dark wind asylum. When my great grandfather established this place in 1922 it became his destiny to help those who require immediate psychological assistance in helping to restore their minds…." The cart then came to a stop as some of the orderlies halted and an automated voice came on "alert in intensive treatment." It said "category 10 in transit. Shoot to kill permissions granted." "You heard the voice, we got another maniac on the way!" One of the orderlies commanded as another elevator descended to the floor and the orderlies raised their weapons and backed away from it the elevator doors opened out came another inmate this one much larger and more gangly than the others and wearing a collar around its neck with machinery around its face which was rotting way and had cataracts in his eyes, it was also wearing a dirty straight jacket that was covered with chains, the inmate sniffed the air looking for for something "he looks angry…" said an orderly "what's he doing?" The inmate then turned in front of them "there's a child here…" it said "I will hunt it down…." one of the orderlies then pressed a button giving the inmate an electrical shock "a mear collar won't stop me from killing you brats…" the inmate continued as it was escorted away "I will tear you apart, piece by piece!" The orderlies then continued to the elevator just as the children jumped off and rushed towards a nearby air vent and made their escape.

After sneaking through the air vent the children then saw they were near the records room and an orderly guarded the entrance "how are we going to get past him?" "With this…" mono then took a can of food and threw it near the guard as it noticed the noise and investigated, the children then ran into the room as the orderly was distracted. Inside the children observed the records room it was like the library except it was less stretched and more circular they then searched for a way to the next room where the fuse might be, after a few minutes of investigation the children were almost at a dead end until they found a vent near some stacks of books, they started climbing the stacks but some accidentally fell to the ground making a loud noise then footsteps came close. They stayed perfectly behind the stack as a new monster entered the room, he was hideous, his skin was dried up and mummified his ribs were slightly exposed underneath a dirty doctor's coat and black trousers, his face was skeletal and wore mechanical glasses and in one of his hands was a dirty wooden clipboard he inspected the area and picked up one of the fallen books. He then placed it in the shelves and wandered into another room, once the monster was gone the children then rushed to the vent and ran through the system.

After escaping the vent they fell through the hall and saw a light glowing from the room across from them they entered the door to see they were inside what appears to be an office of sorts, they snuck through and saw at a desk was the same monster in the doctor outfit "this is doctor Ivan "The psychiatrist" Williams, the date is October 6th of 2020. Time is 11:23pm" he announced over the audio recording "a sudden power surge has shook the building some of the patients here are currently trying to escape, fortunately our staff have apprehended most of them albeit with brutality." the monster known as the psychiatrist continued to speak over the recording while the children snuck under his vision, once they were at the exit the children had entered another vent and crawled through and above the ceiling they looked underneath them and saw the tall man right below them holding his head slightly, he wandered the hall bumped into the psychiatrist "I'm sorry sir but I noticed that you were in a bit of trouble…" the psychiatrist replied the tall man growled "I'm on a mission to restore the flow of time and the culprit is in this building…" the tall man explained "and I can never be alone… not again…" "hmm it seems that you have a very deep seeded need for company…" the psychiatrist observed, making the tall man feel very uncomfortable "I don't have time for this come hunter!" "A very strong need… perhaps it might be from your childhood?" The tall man only screamed and punched the walls "yeah you don't wanna get this guy riled up…" the hunter commented "I'm a psychiatrist I cannot help it. Now I must take leave. I have a session with one of my patients." The psychiatrist then wandered away as the tall man growled in anger just as the psychiatrist exited the hall the vent suddenly opened and the children fell onto the floor and taking the tall man's attention he grinned and moved towards them. The kids then hid in a hole in the wall and backed away from the outside as the tall man peeked inside before teleporting away. The children then snuck out and into another room where the psychiatrist was interviewing the lanky inmate from the intensive treatment wing.

"From the patient files and documents of Dr Ivan "The psychiatrist" Williams, the date is October 6th of 2020. Time is 11:30pm" The psychiatrist stated to the audio recorder "patient: Daniel Myers. Also known as the faceless butcher. Patient suffers from lack of empathy, multiple identity disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. He is obsessed with masks and faces and crafts masks from the skin of his victims. He also takes on the personality and identity of the mask he wears." The psychiatrist continued to detail the interview with the inmate as the children continued to sneak away from the two monsters. "Session 12. So Daniel, how are we feeling today?" The psychiatrist asked "why don't you tell me doc?" The inmate remarked "now let's talk about the incident that happened yesterday" "what incident? Oh that incident! Little Jackie was like the role of a lifetime!" "Jackie was one of the most popular orderlies in this asylum, now she's still in the hospital with the doctor- what are you doing?" The psychiatrist noticed that the inmate was sniffing the air "There's a kid in here! Wait till I get my knife to it's head!" The kids then hid underneath the table as the inmate struggled with his restraints before the psychiatrist calmed him down "now now, there is no child here. If there was, we would escort them out of the building and probably to the pale city residence." He then pulled something out of his hand, it was the mirror "we found this in the pale city and I believe it would be perfect therapy technique for your multiple personality disorder and obsession with masks" The psychiatrist explained the kids took notice and snuck behind them "now tell me… in the mirror who do you see?" The inmate looked closer to the mirror and in the reflection was the kids seeing the mirror as they snuck away, they turned around and saw the mirror the psychiatrist immediately noticed them and rose up, the children then ran up grabbed the mirror and ran into the halls with the psychiatrist on their tails until they hid underneath a table soon the psychiatrist then looked left and right before leaving the scene.

The kids then peeked out and returned to see the mirror "the mirror! We finally found it!" Hilda said, relieved "now all we need to do is get out of here and use the mirror to escape this world!" Mono explained the children then snuck away and continued to look for the fuse, they then heard the sound of electricity, they entered the next room and saw the psychiatrist near an inmate in an electrical chair that is on "that's enough. Turn it off!" He addressed the orderly then turned off the chair with a switch near it with a fuse plugged in, the children then waited until the monsters were gone and then rushed towards the fuse and flipped the switch the electricity had surged and blew the fuse out and onto the ground they then turned around and saw they had accidentally killed the inmate before turning around and saw the psychiatrist angry and stomping towards them the kids then took the fuse and made a break for it. They rushed around the asylum with the monster on their tails until they finally found the front entrance shoved the fuse in and the kids then ran into the outside finally escaping the asylum, they looked at the psychiatrist as he gave a glare before he and the orderlies turned around and returned to the dreary asylum.

As the children went to the highest point in the forest where the light would shine onto the mirror they readyed both themselves and the mirror for the jump into the other side mono then noticed something in the distance and moving closer "uh guy's we got something headed fast!" He announced, the others turned around and saw the figure get into view, revealing that it was the tall man teleporting towards them just as the mirror finally opened the children immediately pressed against the glass suddenly a hand grabbed them and pulled them in the mirror, on the other side they saw that the librarian had pulled them through "thanks for the assist…" mono said relieved the kids turned around and saw the tall man grabbing onto the mirror and about to enter the other side mono noticed a hammer next to them he grabbed onto it and threw it at the mirror just as the mirror closed causing it to shatter and explode into a glitchy mess and shards of glass as the smoke faded the group saw the remains of the now destroyed mirror and sighed in relief knowing that they'll never see the tall man or the hunter even again they then exited the library as Frida and David returned to their homes and Hilda six and mono to theirs, at the apartment the three opened the door and saw their old home finally out of danger, and seeing Johanna on the couch stress eating and seeing a missing poster with Hilda on it the three wandered to her "mum?" Johanna immediately raised her head and saw the three she started to tear up and instantly hug them hilda returned the hug and began crying as well both sobbing tears of joy soon six and mono joined in as well… the family had finally been reunited….

Meanwhile in the pale city the tall man and the hunter threw the now normal mirror to the ground the tall man roared to the heavens attracting some viewers and scaring them away "now how are we supposed to complete the mission now?" The hunter complained "clearly just you aren't going to be enough to help me…" the tall man groaned "it's time for some backup…." "You got some back up? Where?" The tall man then walked towards another television and tapped the screen causing it to flash to a different part of the city "let's just say… I wasn't the only one trapped in that room…."