Last night I had the first nightmare in a long time, although...as soon as I opened my eyes I forgot what it was about.

The digital clock showed |6:20am|

I rolled out of bed feeling quite satisfied with the quarters assigned to me.

It was nothing extravagant, just the way I like it - a moderate sized room that contained a wardrobe, a bed and a table with a chair in front of it.

I walked into the adjoining bathroom to wash up and then put on the new lab coat and an ID card that all visitors were given. We were told that we could keep them too, as souvenirs!

Woop!

I gave myself one final inspection in the mirror hoping that the day would turn out to be a good one.

1 week later.

A week had flown by since our arrival to the asylum and I'm not ashamed to say it's been the best week of my life.

We were given tours of the first two of the four floors, shown a bunch of documentaries, offered lots and lots of free hand-outs such as psychology books.

The nurses would chat with us and feed us tasty nutritious meals and best of all - we got treated as potential subordinates instead of minors!

Each night I would go to bed buried in all sorts of articles about various offenders residing in the building and look forward to what the next day would bring.

Our daily activities mainly consisted of having discussions or simply observing the patients.

Unfortunately, for now we were only allowed to have contact with the D and C class patients.

I found out that there are four classes of patients overall.

D, C, B and A class.

These classes signify a different level of danger that the patient poses to either themselves or others and each is assigned to a different floor.

A class criminals are the most dangerous and insane of the lot.

They reside on floor 4.

Nurses also mentioned that the first week is a sort of a 'trial run' for all visitors. The psychiatrists need to first ensure we are mentally stable enough to handle the lower class patients - as even their behaviour can get erratic at times.

This should help to prepare us for what is to come on the upper floors and I can respect that decision, they are held responsible for our well-being after all.

The most irrational patient I've met thus far has been an elderly C class lady who suffers from severe arachnophobia. Cognitive distortions would cause her to get panic attacks and despite being reassured that there are no spiders around she could rampage for up to 3 hours straight!

The reason she's here as a criminal is because during one of her 'phases' she accidentally set her apartment on fire. The fire spread injuring and nearly killing a 6 month old baby. Even though it was an accident; it was an accident that shouldn't happen again, so she was admitted and classed as a mild danger patient.

And so, a week had passed without any incidents and the next morning (8th day) we were finally offered the opportunity to ascend to floor 4.

Learning the backstories and experiences of these people was so incredibly interesting for me. I was absolutely delighted by the idea of meeting more of them so soon!

To my surprise however, we were told to split into two groups.

Group 1 would go to floor 4 and from there on, remain with the psychotherapists.

Group 2 would be those who do not wish to go to floor 4. They would either remain on floor 2 or possibly move up to 3, but would no longer have access to floor 4.

I could not imagine why anyone would refuse to go to floor 4...until the nurses told us what happened in the last year's group.

While on floor 4, one of the students had disregarded the rules and wandered off without supervision.

She had gotten lost in the corridors and was only discovered the next morning - stuffed in a cupboard…mutilated.

''You should all be aware that even though there has only been one such incident in the past, the criminals contained on floor 4 are some of the most notorious our country has to offer and have committed the most horrendous offences imaginable ranging from rape to torture and murder. They will take any and every opportunity given to cause harm. If you believe that at any time you will have difficulty following orders, I suggest you choose to remain here'' a nurse warned.

''So if we choose to stay now, we will no longer be able to visit floor 4?'' a male student next to me questioned.

''Yes. If you choose to remain you will only be allowed access to the first 3 floors for the remainder of your time here'' the same nurse responded.

I was unsure of how to feel.

''So you're sayin' a girl was killed? I thought t'is place was supposed to have like, top security!? Why would any of us agree to go there now!?'' a blonde long haired girl with a thick accent questioned.

''I can answer that for you!'' a voice spoke up from behind us.

I turned around to see a middle aged man.

He was wearing a spotless white lab coat and had slightly receding ash brown hair which was perfectly combed to the side. He looked super important, probably one of the psychotherapists. [Remember him he will be important]

''I am Mr Aceberg. To answer your question, those of you who choose to come with me up to floor 4, will receive a personal recommendation from our boss and possibly even a potential job offer. I have to point out that we do get paid well up in floor 4, not to mention…it'll be fun!'' the man laughed.

After listening to various rules and instructions we'd be expected to follow, we were given some time to consider our options.

I sat on a nearby bench slurping some chocolate milk and watching the blond accent girl from before bombard Mr Aceberg with tons of angry questions.

My resolve had not been swayed though.

I simply cannot pass up this opportunity.

I will be going to floor 4, no matter what. I do not intend to regret it!

But then again.

You know what they say?

Curiosity killed the cat…