Author's Note: Like I said, it's getting darker from here. Hope you still like it! Please review to let me know what you think!
Chapter 24: Into the Asylum
"This is useless," Davy grumbled pushing on the door to the room they were now locked in with all his might. "It won't budge!"
"Did you expect it to, Davy?" Micky asked a little angrily. "This is an insane asylum. They built this place to keep people in. That door is very heavily reinforced. Trying to escape outta here will be like trying to escape outta prison."
"It was worth a shot," Davy mumbled.
"Everything's worth a shot," Peter said in his normal effort to try and cheer everyone up. But Mike knew the truth. It was a waste of time and energy for Davy to be trying the door. Not that he really had a better solution in mind.
"We aren't getting out of here," Heather scoffed. "Get used to it."
"Shut up," Davy snapped. Mike jumped up and stood between them before another argument broke out between them. They'd been in this room for only an hour and already she and Davy had fought at least twice. No matter his feelings for her, which admittedly were mixed at best, it wasn't good for the baby. His baby. He couldn't stop thinking about that. He shook the thought from his head preferring to focus on a way out.
Looking around the room, he saw there was no conventional means of escape. There wasn't even a window. There was a small bathroom without a door and the walls were all bare. There were six beds: one that Rose was sitting on the end of, one that Peter was sitting on, one that Heather was lying on, one Davy now plopped angrily on and a fifth Mike had just been sitting on. He looked at the sixth bed and his heart nearly broke. Micky had laid Sarah gently on the old mattress and then curled next to her, holding her as tightly to him as he possibly could. His head resting on the wall and his hands caressing her hair in a vain attempt to make her feel safer. Or maybe it was for him. Mike wasn't really sure.
"I think we should figure out what they want and then give it to them," Peter suggested.
"What they want is revenge," Micky said.
"I don't know, Micky," Mike said sitting back down. "Your mom specifically said that Peter and Davy were insurance. If they wanted to torture us for revenge, why would they need insurance?"
"So they want something from us?" Rose asked.
"Or they want us to do something," Micky finished.
"So maybe if we do what they want, they'll let us go afterwards?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, that's never gonna happen," Micky said.
"It's worth a shot," Peter said.
"We can't just ask them," Micky said. "My mother doesn't bargain."
"Well, we have to try something," Mike said.
"Why don't we just wait and see what they want and then go from there," Rose said.
"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Davy asked. Mike shrugged; they'd already been there an hour and he expected something by now.
"Part of the torture is waiting," Rose said. "They may not be here for a while. We may as well sleep. We'll need a lot of rest." No one argued with her, but no one really fell asleep. They just sat in silence and waited; Mike had no way of telling how long it had really been before Sarah finally started stirring.
"Rose, get a cold washcloth from the bathroom," Micky said as Sarah groaned a little.
"What exactly did they do to her, anyway?" Davy asked. "I mean, of course other than...you know…"
"They drugged her," Mike answered walking over to the bed with them. "She ok?"
"She's burning up," Micky said.
"Is that normal?" Peter asked.
"Sometimes," Mike answered.
"She usually reacted badly to the drugs," Rose said coming out of the bathroom and placing the washcloth on Sarah's forehead.
"She'll be fine," Micky answered before Peter or Davy could react. "This is a good sign, ironically."
"Micky…" Sarah moaned.
"I'm here, sweetie," Micky whispered softly.
"Don't hurt him," Sarah groaned again.
"I'm here," Micky said. "Just relax." Sarah finally looked up at him and Micky somehow managed a smile; the first smile Mike had seen in a while.
"I brought the trash can, too," Rose said as Sarah started coughing. Sarah leaned over the side of the bed and threw up violently into the can with Micky holding her hair back out of her face. She groaned a little more when she'd finished and Rose gently took a second washcloth and wiped Sarah's face. Micky moved the first cold cloth to the back of Sarah's neck and cradled her back into his arms. It was disturbing seeing the whole thing so well executed; they'd all done this before. Sarah looked around a little and her she suddenly got very scared as she realized where she was.
"No," Sarah breathed.
"Sarah, calm down," Micky tried relaxing her.
"Please don't tell me we're...I'm can't be back here!" Sarah exclaimed pushing away from Micky and trying to run.
"I'm sorry," Micky answered holding her tightly to him. "I wish I could have done something to stop this. I didn't have a choice…" Sarah looked at Peter and Davy, who both looked like they wanted to say something to help, but didn't know what to say.
"Sarah, don't worry," Mike tried. "We're going to find a way out of this."
"Did they hurt you?" Sarah asked them. Davy and Peter shook their heads before she turned to Mike and Rose.
"We're all fine, Sarah," Mike answered.
"Mike's right," Micky said pulling her carefully back into his arms. "Everything is going to work out. I promise they won't hurt you again."
"You can't promise that, Micky," Sarah said. "You and I both know that. I tried to get away. I tried to help you, but…"
"I know," Micky answered. "Davy and Peter told me what happened. They said you were very brave. We'll get through this. We'll find a way out."
"Just promise me you won't leave me," Sarah whispered softly.
"I will never, ever leave you," Micky answered placing a soft kiss on her head. "That much I can promise." Mike sighed heavily and sat back down on the bed. They waited silently for maybe another several hours. Mike wasn't really sure; not even being able to see the sky was starting to make him uneasy. When they finally heard the 3 locks on the door open, Mike jumped up and positioned himself in front of the door; between the door and his friends. He heard Micky pull Sarah closer to him and he heard Rose stand next to him. He wanted her to sit back down, but he knew Rose well enough to know by now that she was a fighter and she wasn't about to back down now.
"Good morning," Claire said walking in with the two other people who'd kidnapped them and a second, older man. Behind him he heard a sharp intake of breath from Sarah; something had terrified her. It didn't take her long for Mike to figure it out. The older man that had walked in must have been the doctor that ran this place; the man who'd tortured her for 5 years: Wayne Eichmann. "Did you get enough sleep?"
"What do you want?" Mike demanded.
"You really get straight to the point, don't you, Michael," Claire laughed.
"I just want to get out of here," Mike answered. "And to do that, I need to give you what you want."
"And what makes you think that I'm going to let you go once you give us what we want?" Dr. Eichmann asked derisively.
"Please," Mike said. "Just tell us what you want so we can get this over with."
"I see why you like him, Claire," Dr. Eichmann laughed. "He's definitely got some spirit." Mike rolled his eyes at the implication and watched as Dr. Eichmann walked around him toward Micky. Mike moved to continue standing in front of Micky and Sarah, determined to protect them as long as he could.
"Just tell us what you want," Mike pressed. "What do you want from us?"
"What makes you think we even want anything?" Dr. Eichmann asked. "What makes you think we don't want to just punish you?"
"Because you wouldn't have taken our friends, too," Mike said. "As insurance. If we don't do what you want, you'll kill them. If we do what you want, you'll let them go. That's the deal; am I right?"
"You're very smart," Dr. Eichmann said. "But see, Micky here did a very bad thing. And you helped him. So yes, you're both being punished for that. Along with your other crimes against the family."
"Other crimes?" Micky asked. "All I ever did was escape."
"You know what you did, Micky," Dr. Eichmann barked. "And when I thought you were dead, I thought my opportunity to punish you had been dashed. But here you are. Looking very good for a dead man. How did you do it? Have your friend slip you a little deadly nightshade then make him dig you up?"
"He didn't make me do anything," Mike said trying to take the attention away from Micky. "That was my idea. I did it. So you wanna punish someone, punish me."
"We will, Michael," Claire said. "But that isn't the first time he escaped. And from what I hear, there's a lot more to it than just that."
"What else is it you think I did?" Micky asked.
"I don't like games, Micky," Dr. Eichmann said. "I know what you did and so do you. But you'll pay for that in due time. In the meantime, yes, there is also something we want from you."
"Whatever it is, I'll do it," Micky said. "If you promise to let them go."
"We can't let them go," Cole said speaking up for the first time. "They'll run to the cops."
"No, they won't," Mike said. "If we make them swear, they won't go to the cops."
"She is a cop," Shirley said pointing at Rose.
"Hush," Claire barked at them. "They can go to the cops all they want. It won't do them any good."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked. Claire smiled and lunged for Rose, grabbing her by the wrist and throwing her onto one of the empty beds.
"I mean this," Claire said straddling Rose and pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. Mike lunged at Claire to try and get her to get off Rose, but was immediately grabbed and held back by Cole and Shirley. Dr. Eichman smacked Mike across the face so hard, Mike saw stars and tasted metal in his mouth. Claire continued, however, as if nothing else was going on. "Recognize this little search warrant request? You drafted it, darling. You submitted it to your bosses and the District Attorney. You were trying to get your friends to search this place. Well, guess what, sweetie? Application denied."
"How did you get that?" Rose asked. Behind him, Mike heard Davy and Peter move to try and help Rose, too, but something suddenly stopped them. It took a second for Mike to realize there was a gun pressed against the back of his head.
"Your boss is a friend of mine," Claire smiled. "All that work you did to try and uncover this place? All the evidence you found and collected? It's been destroyed."
"Which also means no one will be looking for any of you," Dr. Eichmann laughed. "You've all been officially admitted as my patients. You're all stuck here until we decided you've been...cured."
"Until then," Claire smiled before leaning down to whisper something in Rose's ear that Mike couldn't hear. Whatever it was, Mike knew it must have been bad because Rose immediately started fighting back. Not that it did her any good; Claire slapped her just as hard across the face as Mike had been.
"Stop that!" Micky exclaimed jumping up from the bed but still standing protectively in front of Sarah. "Tell us what you want! I swear to God, I'll give it to you. Just leave them alone! let them go. Keep me here. Punish me. I don't care. Just leave them alone."
"What I want is for you to pay for what you did to my son," Dr. Eichmann said squaring off with Micky who got a confused look on his face.
"Your son?" Micky asked.
"I believe you thought he was your brother," Dr. Eichmann answered as Micky slowly understood. "But you see, your father had an accident when he was a boy and I'm afraid it rendered him sterile. So yes, my son. But more than that. First and foremost, you promise me you'll tell me what I want to know if I let your friends go?"
"I'll do whatever you want," Micky sneered.
"I want your daughter," Dr. Eichmann smiled.