Bad things are beginning to happen in The Asylum. Jade is in grave danger as her and Beck explore the winding corridors. And somebody unexpected becomes a suspect of attempted murder...
The Asylum
It was complete and utter darkness now. There wasn't a single star in the bleakness of the sky either, which didn't help much. Nearby, animals scuttled about their business, searching and hunting for food. The asylum seemed far worse at night, no surprise there. With no light in the corridors, you could easily trip up on something. If someone was in the room with you, you wouldn't even know. And that's the main reason none of the four friends staying in room one, the "safe room", would let the others sleep in case they were the last ones awake. So, they sat up talking away the hours.
"It's just too creepy in here, right?" Andre whispered, as if he'd awaken some spirit if he talked too loudly.
None of them had to actually answer with words, as it was obvious what they were all thinking. Tori fumbled with the torch, desperately trying to find the ON switch.
"Why can't I find it...?" She whimpered.
Andre brought her into a hug, reassuring her that everything was fine, that it was just all spooky stories and that nothing bad was going to happen to them. He knew that no one could see him in the dark, so he stroked Tori's cheek lovingly; something he'd always longed to do. She calmed down immediately and handed him the torch. The room was lit in a pale, yellow light a few seconds later, which made them all sigh in relief, as they could actually see one another now.
"Sorry about that," Tori smiled "Lost control, I'm not good with ghosts and stuff!" Though it was a laugh, it was a pretty pathetic one which wasn't very convincing to her friends.
"Ghosts aren't real!" Robbie said slowly, as if he was too trying to convince himself.
"They are, Robbie!" Cat wailed "I saw a girl, and no one else did! She wouldn't of been able to hide herself in time when Beck looked out the window, so she must of just, disappeared!" She wiggled her fingers to emphasize the last word.
Robbie grunted and crossed his arms. He'd seen something too, nothing serious, just a shadow, but he'd defiantly seen it. As they were looking for rooms, there was an insanely long corridor, it didn't seem to stop, it stretched out and went on and on... And at the end, there was a dark shadow. The figure of a woman, he thought, just standing there. He'd been staring for a while, and her head just fell to the side, like it had been snapped off and was hanging by a thread. He'd walked off then, it was too much for him to handle. He must have just been seeing things, right?
"Ghosts aren't real..." He thought to himself, and he dived in for a marshmallow to calm himself down.
"Ghosts?" Jade scoffed as she lay down her sleeping bag next to Beck's. She had never been a believer in ghosts and religion etc. It made her laugh more than anything, and that's why she was the one in the most danger.
"I dunno..." Beck shrugged "Cat seemed pretty adamant that she'd seen someone." He snuggled up next to his girlfriend, winding his finger in her dark locks.
"Don't you fall for it!" She pointed a daring finger at him and scowled.
Their torch was on a low setting, so they could only see each other's faces in a blue light, whilst the rest of the room was hidden in the darkness.
"I'm not saying I suddenly believe in spirits and what have you, but I think I might believe that Cat saw something. What if she's not well? What if she needs to get out of here..."
Jade bit her lip in thought. She did care about Cat, she was a good friend. "It's that stupid Shapiro's fault!" She shook her head in anger "He told Cat they were going bowling, not very fair, is it?"
"Well, do you want do go get her?" Beck asked, planting a kiss on her forehead as he got up.
"Yeah, Ok..." She followed him up and out of the room.
"And inside that castle, there was a room, and inside that room, there was a cupboard, and inside that cupboard there was a box, and inside that box, there was... A GHOST!" Cat squealed, clapping her hands at how she'd made both Robbie and Tori jump out of their skin, though Andre seemed to be lost in a deep thought.
"Cat!" Tori glared at her friend, fixing her hair and tucking her fringe back behind her ear.
"Give me a heart attack, why don't ya?" Robbie panted as he got back into his seat.
Cat giggled "What about you, Andre? Did you like my story?" She asked hopefully.
Andre turned his head slightly "Uh, yeah, Little Red. It was awesome." He smiled at her before returning to his thoughts.
The corridors were eerily silent as Jade and Beck struggled to find the right way to the other room. The walls were crawling with animals, some nocturnal and some sleeping the night away. The floors were made from stone, which made Jade's boots echo each time they hit the ground.
"Typical haunted house..." Jade muttered under her breath "Where are my scissors?"
"No, you're not having them back until the end of the trip!" He tapped her on the nose jokingly as if she were a naughty puppy.
"Fine." She gritted her teeth, running her hands along the filthy bricks instead.
"Can you hear that?" Andre sat up suddenly, pressing his ear up against one of the walls.
He could hear Beck and Jade walking through the building, arguing about whether scissors are considered "weapons" or "play things".
"Is that Beck?" Tori rubbed her eyes and yawned "And Jade?"
Andre opened the door "I think so, we better go find them."
Cat and Robbie gave each other a nervous look and shook their heads.
"I'm not going, Tori..." Cat sniffed.
Robbie moved closer to the red head "Me either."
"OK, that's a good idea. You two wait here, we don't want us all forgetting where the rooms are. When we call you, shout back so we can find you again." Tori followed Andre to the door.
Cat and Robbie nodded in agreement and watched their friends leave the room, unaware that they wouldn't see them again for a while...
There were various paintings hanging from the walls, mostly portraits of employees, they thought.
"Hm... nice pictures." Jade cocked her head to the side as she admired the framed artwork.
Beck smiled and walked ahead, he knew that his girlfriend had some weird interests, anything extremely old and creepy being at the top of the list, well, after scissors.
Jade followed the portraits to a corridor. It was probably the longest corridor she'd seen in the building. Little did she know, that it was the same corridor where Robbie had seen a woman.
"Cool..." She whispered to herself. She looked around, Beck was gone. He was probably only in the next corridor, so she carried on walking.
There was one portrait in particular that caught her eye. The frame was rusted and cracked, but the glass itself was spotless. She stared into the eyes of the painting, it seemed so real. Her eyes scanned the bottom, where there was spidery handwriting. It was smudged, but she could just make out the words "Nancy Petty Field".
She gasped "Nancy Petty Field?" she re read the letter aloud, trying to make sense of them.
Nancy Petty Field was the name of patient who had "supposedly" lived here once. The patient who had escaped from the building and hid in the grounds. Jade turned to leave, when she noticed some papers under a table. They were newspapers from years ago.
"Patient escapes from Red Rock" She read the headlines slowly, her hands trembling "Oh god, the stories are true? Awesome!" She grinned to herself.
The small chandelier ahead began to sway slightly. She shoved the papers in her bag and made her way to the door. She stopped in her tracks, she could hear breathing, slow and heavy breathes.
"Beck...?" Her voice cracked as she turned the handle...
Andre and Tori found their way through the building fairly easily due to their torch light.
"I heard them somewhere over here." Andre looked around, rubbing his hands together and opening a door.
"Andre? Tori?" Beck's voice trailed in from the next room.
"Phew..." Tori sighed. It was such a relief to know that they were all safe.
"Hey!" Beck appeared in the doorway "Have you seen Jade?"
Concern washed over his face, the answer was clearly "no".
"I'm sure she's fine, Beck." Tori took his hand "Let's go find her"
Suddenly, Jade's scream echoed down the hallways, vibrating the walls.
"Jade?" Beck cried. He shoved Tori away and sprinted towards the portraits where he'd left her.
Her body lay broken and unmoving under the chandelier. He clasped her hand, his eyes welling up. Blood oozed from her forehead. Her fingers twitched, and her eyes slowly opened a crack.
"Beck?" She whimpered "It hurts, Beck..."
He squeezed her hand "I know, baby. I know..."
"Jesus!" Andre exclaimed as he and Tori burst through.
"We need to get her to a hospital, now!" Beck's voice was full of fear as he hoisted the chandelier off of his girlfriend's fragile body.
He draped her limply over his shoulder and headed for the exit.
"I knew this wasn't a good idea..." Andre breathed.
"Wait, look..." Tori pointed to the broken chandelier "This has been cut."
"By scissors?" Andre suggested, picking a pair of rusted ones up from the floor.
"Beck had Jade's scissors, didn't he?" Her voice was quiet and uncertain.
The room was suddenly filled with Cat's cries.
"Oh god, Cat!"
They ran through the door, only to be met by an unlikely person...
Chapter 3 done! I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter so far, it sure felt like it when I was writing it! The writing's a bit tacky in this one I think, so sorry about that! Anyway, hope you like it all the same! Please review and thanks for reading! Amber x