Asylum Chapter One
"Here it is. Isn't it nice and lovely?" Maman says, as Papa pulls her suitcase and bag from the trunk. She'd been given a list of things she can bring. Her journal is allowed, but they will give her a crayon to use. A pencil if they feel they can trust her with it. As writing in a journal is healthy for you, a good way to cope. She brought mostly clothes, a few books, her Cat Noir stuffy and some picture of them together. No jewellery is allowed what so ever, which hurt the most. But she knows they are safe with Chloe.
"It's a freakin' psych hospital, Maman, not a hotel in Florida!" Marinette snaps, as her Maman continues her rant about how lovely the place is. Honestly, she must be high or drunk. The building looks like it's 300 years old. The grounds were overgrown and barren. The guard at the gate looks almost a 100.
"Where did you bring me? Most haunted hospital in the world? Pretty sure they do lobotomies here still." She snaps as she gestures to the building.
"The inside is brand modern. They just like the look of it, so they kept it." Papa shrugs as he hands her bags to the guard. Who just grunts in exertion.
"Well, we'll see you soon, promise." Maman steps forward to hug her, smiling.
Marinette steps back out of her reach, with her hands up in front. "Don't touch me, don't talk to me, and don't come to visit me. I don't want to see you. And when I turn 18, I'm leaving. And you'll be lucky if you ever see me again."
Turning away from them, she walks straight past the guard and up the steps. Despite herself, she turns to watch them leave. Giving them a hesitant wave, in return to their own. Oh, how she wishes she had let her Maman hug her goodbye.
"Wait, Maman!" She screams as she dashes down the steps. And into the arms of her Maman, who sobs into her hair. "I'm sorry, I do love you!" Standing there for a moment longer, as her Papa joins in on the hug.
She breaks free and runs up the steps and in through the doors, before she changes her mind and goes home to be the perfect daughter for them. Knowing she can't, not the way she feels.
Her parents are right, the inside is brand new and refurbished, really a don't judge a book by its cover kind of deal. In front of her, is a great big Reception Desk. For a Psych Hospital, she expected more security and security.
"Checking in?" The woman behind the desk says seriously, then bursts out laughing. "Sorry, inside joke. You must be Marinette. Welcome, we've been waiting for you. Your room is ready for you. I'll show you the way. You have your own private room, with a view. Chloe set it up for you." The lady winks at her as she walks off down the hall.
"Yeah, she's great like that. So, why does the outside look so bad?" Marinette asks as she follows her.
"The government officials showed up, took one look at the outside and laughed. They said not to touch a thing, they loved it. Very Victorian Era psych ward and all. The back yard is much nicer, patients are encouraged to garden and take care of it. We eat a lot of the food grown back there. So, I see you're here for 3 months. Your paperwork doesn't say why you came?" The Lady looks down at her, with such sad eyes.
"My… fiancée died a few months ago. And everyone keeps telling me to get over it and move on. I attacked a classmate and her mother, they said psych hospital or jail. I chose hospital. I needed a break from everyone's pity." She sniffs and wipes her eyes.
The Lady reaches down and hugs her tightly from the side, as she too sniffs. "My husband died a few years ago, that's how I ended up here. After I got out, I had nowhere to go. So they gave me room and board as well as a job. People find grief uncomfortable, and want you to move on so quickly. Not for your benefit, but for theirs."
"Yeah, so I'm told. Even my parents hated it. Guess, I'm too young to be in love or love that deeply. Bullshit! I've loved him and knew he was my soulmate since I was 14!" Sighing she hugs her bag. "But, because I refused to act like it never happened. I was banished to the hospital in hopes that it gets erased from my mind."
"Pretty much, yeah. You just to learn to pretend really well, and they'll let you out. They don't really want to cure you, as that's impossible. They just want you to be able to handle your problems without hurting yourself or someone else. They'll teach you to manage your symptoms and if need be hide them. Not from yourself, but from the horrid people who don't understand." She sighs and pats Marinette's shoulder.
"I only came, because the bitch I attacked threatened to throw me in and jail and ruin my parents lives and business. I also could use a break from the pity." She shrugs, as she follows her down a long hallway of rooms. In each room is a person or two. Some are asleep, some as reading, writing, some even have electronics. Some glance up at her, other don't even notice.
"Well, you did the right thing. The courts don't understand mental illness and grief, and will just call you a deranged fan with delusions. I was a lawyer before I came here." She adds at Marinette's curious look of confusion.
"I have no interest in proving myself to anyone, or our love. If I have to prove it or let him go. Guess I'm gonna be here for a while." She sighs and shrugs as they come to a room.
"Actually." She whispers. "When you turn 28, you can get yourself out. Your parents can't legally keep you here." Opening the door, she sets her bags on the bed and walks out, smiling.
"So, who are you? And what did you do?" A red head from across the hall asks, as she leans against her doorframe.
"Beat the fuck out of a bitch, pretending that my fiancée was hers. Then her mother, when she defended her." Shrugs and puts her stuff away.
"Nice! All I did was take a few pills to quiet the voices in my head. Funny thing is, the voices were telling me to hurt people. People wouldn't listen to me." She sighs and looks around the room. "We both don't have roommates. Lucky us!"
"Yeah, a friend got me my own room. How are the voices now?" Mari asks, as she looks at her. The girl just shrugs.
"Better now that I'm on anti-psychotic meds. I told them the voices weren't demons or fake, just the voices of people in my life. My mum, dad, friends…" She shrugs again and sits in a chair.
"I get that, I do. I'm Marinette." She sighs and sits on her bed, already missing home and her Kwarmi's.
"Amanda. You know, they say this room's haunted. Anyone who sleeps in here hears voices and then they see things, then they got nutty… er." She looks around the room, like it's about to spout another head.
"Well, at least I won't be lonely or bored." Mari shrugs and gets up.
"The keys are on the table. They only work on the outside of the door. No locks on the inside." Amanda throws the keys to Mari, who catches them.
"Thanks." Follows her out and locks the door behind her.
"Allow me to show you around." Amanda takes her arm and pulls her along.
"Marinette, I'm the head doctor. We shall have an appointment tomorrow around 10am. To discuss why you're here and what we can do to help." The Doctor smiles and shakes Mari's hand before walking off.
"She didn't tell me her name." Mari looks behind at the doctor.
"Never does. We're supposed to call her Head Doctor only. Let's get to dinner, tonight's pizza in your honour. We always get pizza and pop when someone new shows up." Amanda smiles and pulls her into the dining room. Which resembled something from Hogwarts. 4 long bench tables and one head table at the top.
"Are you sure we're not in Hogwarts?" Mari asks as she sits down next to Amanda.
"That's what I said. We only get spoons, but luckily it's pizza so no need." Amanda smiles and hands Mari a few slices and pours her a drink along with herself.
"Um… do people not like you?" Mari asks, as she watches people move away from them and sit further down.
"Nope. Because those people treat this place like High School. Clicks, gangs, populars. I didn't put up with that shit in School, why would I now?" Amanda laughs and spits put her coke.
"Popular? You mean like who's less fucked up? More fucked up? Or just in here cause they spoiled brats and need locked away?" Mari giggles and helps Amanda clean up the coke.
"Pretty much, yeah. I only sit at this table to annoy them. The other two tables are nice people. This table is most the rich and entitled brats who broke the law and their daddy's got them out of jail time and were sent here." Amanda pours herself some more coke.
"Yeah, that's why I'm here. After I beat the bitch, they gave my parents a choice. Either I go to jail and they ruin my parents' lives, or I come here. So, I choose here. If they're gonna lock me up, might as well get help in the process." Shrugs and finishes her first slice, hands herself and Amanda another.
"Sorry about your guy. That must have been terrible. And I'd have beat that bitch too, and those worthless friends of yours." Amanda pauses, eating her pizza, and smiles guiltily.
"There's a video of you beating her." She shrugs and continues eating.
"Really? Can you show me?" Mari asks. She didn't know there's a video of it. She needs to see this, as the entire night is a kind of blur.
"Sure, I can show you after dinner on my phone. I'm allowed my phone, because contact with my family keeps me healthier and more stable." She finishes her slice and hands Mari and herself another. "The bitches get the best pizza, another reason I sit here."
"So, did any of the bitches kill anyone?" Mari asks as she watches the girls at the end of the table. They are all dressed up like they are at some fancy restaurant or something.
"Not that I know of. But then again, the parents had their files sealed. No one knows why they're here, just that they broke the law and got the same choice you did. Jail or hospital. They're not all bad, the last five that were here. Actually, had undiagnosed mental problems, and when they left here. They were healthy, so long as they took their pills. I heard from them from time to time. They're happy and healthy. Those though? Just rich and spoiled, no hope." Amanda lets out an almighty burp, which makes the girls all gasp in horror.
"I wouldn't say no hope. The lady who got me into the room and in here? She used to be my school bully, who was the cruellest, meanest bitch ever. But, you see, the rich ones. They don't get their parents' love or attention, they get stuff and ignored. Raised by strangers, and spoiled rotten. Most of the time, they're just sad and lonely, wanting someone to love them. And some are just evil." Smiles thinking of Chloe and Lila. Chloe having grown up and changed, whereas Lila is still the same.
"I do believe we ate like 10 pieces of pizza each. Quick grab the bottle and hide it, I'll grab the cups." Amanda winks, as she grabs a bunch of cups and hides them under the table.
Giggling she grabs the coke and hides it under the table. Wondering if this new friend of hers is a bad influence. Not that she cares or anything, any influence right now would be nice. Amanda turns to looks at a girl who comes up behind them, quickly stuffing the cups into a bag. Handing her the bottle she shoves it in also, giggling as the girl walks away calmly.
"The girls in our dorm like to have midnight feasts. They don't lock our doors, since we're none violent patients. The ward its self is locked, so not like we can go anywhere. I'll knock on your door tonight, 6 times. Meet us down the hall in the old rec room." Amanda smiles, before getting up, and walking away.
Marinette smiles and gets up, but a gang of girls is blocking her way. "Can I help you?"
"You're the one that beat that crazy fan up, huh? The one who claimed she was marrying Adrien Agreste?" The lead girl says, the one Amanda pointed out to her.
"Yes, I am. She's a pathological liar, I've wanted to beat her ass for years." Marinette folds her arms, and stares at the girls. They remind her of Chloe when she was 14, she felt sorry for them. Hopefully, they'll turn out like Chloe and not Lila.
"Are you really Adrien Agreste fiancée?" The leader asks, as she looks her up and down.
"Yes, I am. We've been in love since we were 14." She gives them a look, that dares them to argue.
"Did you know he was Cat Noir?" One of the side girls asks.
"No, I didn't. I'm hoping he'd have told me before we got married. I wonder if he ever told Ladybug he was engaged to be married to me?" She wonders putting on a fake frown. Although truth be told, Cat Noir never did tell Ladybug.
"Probably not, as it might jeopardise their identities. Anyway, we don't hate Amanda. We're just scared of her. We've even helped her out, her midnight feasts? We've kept the orderlies away sometimes. Good job of beating up the bitch. See you around." Smiling, they all walk away.
Yep, definitely turn out like Chloe. Following the girls out, she watches them walk off to their dorm in the wing next to hers. Looking around, she walks to the front door and looks outside. Noticing the gate is broken and hangs at an angle.
"Not making a break for it, are you?" The receptionist whose name she never caught pops up behind her.
"No." she giggles. "Just checking out the building before bed." She turns to her, but no one's there.
"Huh? Hearing things?" She mutters to herself and wanders down a long corridor. No one said she couldn't wander around, and no one was around to ask. Turning a corner, she pauses and looks around. She's been in such a dream, she's completely lost.
"Hello, anyone around?" She looks around, really wishing she had Tikki with her.
"This way, down here, follow my voice." A strange voice calls from down the hallway, almost a whisper, like an echo.
"Hello?" Marinette follows the voice, looking around for anyone. This part of the hospital seems abandoned.
"This way, this way." The voice continues to whisper. Maybe she is doing something wrong if they are whispering. Picking up the speed, she rushes towards the voice.
"Around the corner, this way!" The voice whispers, just as Marinette turns the corner and sees… no one. How is someone telling her to turn the corner, yet no one is there? There's nowhere for them to have gone too. Not even 24 hours in and Marinette's already hearing voices.
A loud bell like you'd hear in a school ring, signalling time for bed. Shaking her head, she follows the rest of the patients to their dorms. She enters her behind a few girls from the dining hall, as the door is shut and locked behind them.
"Marinette, there you are. I thought you got lost." Amanda steps out of her room, waving.
"I did! I ended up on the other side of the hospital. Is it abandoned? There was no one around?" Marinette walks over to see Amanda frown.
"What wing?" Amanda asks as she looks at a map on her wall.
"The right wing, across from the dining hall." Marinette looks at the map too, and sees the wing and points to it.
"That wing burnt down last year. No one's allowed in it. How'd you even get in?" Amanda looks at her.
"I don't know. There was no door or anything, and it didn't look burnt. Looked normal…" Marinette takes the pictures from Amanda of the old wing. Some are of it before, how she saw it. And the others are after the fire.
"How'd the fire start?" She asks, looking through the pictures. Some even had bodies of patients in them.
"A patient. They heard a voice, it was calling to them, telling them to come to it. Come to them. When they got there, they set a fire and died in it. The wing went up like tissue paper. There were 15 people in that wing, and all 15 died. The fire blocked the only exit out of there and the windows were naturally barred. They say it's haunted. No one's allowed in, it's boarded up and locked off." Handing Marinette a picture of the entrance she had just walked through, all blocked off and boarded up.
"Obviously I was in a different spot." Marinette laughs and Amanda nods, putting her things away. Marinette knows she was in that very wing, but there were no boards and it wasn't burnt.
Laying in bed, Marinette stares at the picture of her and Adrien hugging. It's been almost three months since he died, even though it only feels like he died yesterday.
"Oh Adrien my love, why?" Kissing the photo, she hugs it, before burying her face in her pillow. She can't stop the tears from pooling in her eyes, then overflowing onto her pillow.
"It hurts, it hurts so much…" She whispers to his photo, as she imagines his arms around her, comforting her.
"It's okay, don't cry, it's okay." A whisper calls out from behind her, the wall at her head.
Blinking, Marinette looks at the wall and frowns. "Hello?"
"Don't cry, it'll be alright, I promise. Just close your eyes and drift off to sleep." The voice says, as it taps on the wall by her head.
Marinette puts her hand on the wall and feels the taps against her palm. "Okay.." Closing her eyes, Marinette falls asleep.
Boom, boom, boom! Three loud explosions from below her floor, startle Marinette out of her sleep, and bed. She could hear what sounded like a fire, and screaming, yelling, then another loud boom.
Jumping up, Marinette runs to her door and throws it open, only to be met by Amanda, who jumps back.
"Woah, where's the fire?" Amanda asks, holding her chest.
"Didn't you hear the booms, the screaming, fire?" Marinette squeaks, panting as she looks around the hallway. Everyone's walking towards the rec room, all calm and happy.
"No, no, I heard no booms. You were probably dreaming, I told you a story about the fire, then you dreamt about it." Amanda giggles, as she grabs a bag at her feet and walks off. "Grab a blanket, it's cold."
Panting Marinette, looks around and listens intently, the only sounds she can hear, are the sounds of the girls and silence. No screaming, no fire and no booms. Maybe she was dreaming?
Walking into her room, she grabs her slippers and a blanket. Looking at the floor, she gets down on her knees and presses her ear to the floor, listening. Frowning she waits, she's really starting to feel crazy. Just as she's about to get up, it feels as if someone hits the ceiling below her ear with a sledgehammer.
The floor literally lifts up and smacks her in her head, Marinette gasps and lands on her back. She reaches up and touches her face, a piece of the floor has left a small cut on her cheek. The floor it's self is cracked in two. Now, Marinette's never believed in ghosts before, but she's starting too.
Getting up she backs away from the spot, and runs out with her blanket. Stopping outside the room next to hers, she's panting once more. Looking up, she sees something else that makes her blood run cold. The room next to hers, is a utility room, full of supplies. No one sleeps in there. So, who was whispering to her last night?
"I would really like to go home now…" Marinette whispers to herself, before a voice whispers back.
"Me to…" A hand lands on her shoulder, causing her to scream and spin around to thin air.
"Are you okay girl?" Amanda asks from the doorway.
"No, either I'm going nuts or this place is haunted." Marinette squeaks and hugs her blanket.
"Well, considering you're in a psych hospital. It's probably both!" Amanda laughs as she walks back into the room.
"Probably…"