The Asylum - Part 1

I was breathing hard, my breath forming small little clouds that dissolved into the darkness. My camera was raised, and recording everything. Pools of crimson blood surrounded the front desk, which had a plaque that said, "Crane Asylum" in gold letters. I was here now, no turning back. I am an investigative journalist, sent here by my company to uncover the truths behind "The Crane". It was rumored that the owner of this asylum performed gruesome experiments on patients, often resulting in freak accidents or, sometimes, worse.

The fluorescent lights were now either flickering, or completely off. I took a step forward and looked at the small bell on the front desk. Its silver shine was now ruined by drops of blood. Ringing it wouldn't do any good.

Behind the front desk were two doorways. One was to the waiting room, a small white room with uncomfortable looking benches. Old magazines were on a glass table in the center of the room; a television hung on the wall only displayed static, giving the dark room a gray glow.

The other doorway, labeled "To Asylum - Employees Only", was closed by a wooden door, that was slightly open. I nodded and started to walk over, ready to turn on the Night-vision feature on my camera if needed. Suddenly, the door slammed shut, and heavy footsteps from the other side got farther and farther. Was someone here? I was given a report on this place before I was sent on my mission, and the asylum was classified as 'Abandoned'. I hesitated. If someone was here, I did not want them to know they had a visitor.

I took a few footsteps towards the door, and put my ear to it. I was about to dismiss my fear when I thought I heard some whispering. It was quick, as if someone was telling another person what they had to do before they were caught. Then, the soft click of a door closing. I now had no doubt I was not alone.

I couldn't go back without a story. My boss would not be happy. I knew I would have to go in there and find something at least vaguely interesting. Maybe not front page, but decent. Taking in a deep breath, I made sure my camera was recording and put my hand on the door handle. It was strangely warm.

I turned the knob, slowly, making sure to make as little noise as possible. I pushed the door open, only to be greeted with a loud groan from the door's hinges. Great. At least the lights worked.

Behind the door was a hallway, with doors on either side. At the end of the hallway was a metal gate. It was one of those that needed a security key-card to be able to open. I wasn't going in there.

Six doors. Three on each side of me. The three on my left were locked, and so was one of the doors on my right. One of the open doors led to a security office. About ten computer monitors lit up the room. In front of the monitors was a security guard, his blue hat at an odd angle over his bald head.

"Hello?" I said softly. The guard stared at the screens in front of him. I raised my camera to my eye. "Um, hello?" Nothing.

I walked over to the guard and tapped him on the shoulder. No response. Annoyed, I put my hand on his chair and turned it around. I almost dropped my camera.

"Oh my god." His eyes had been gouged out and his tongue was missing. Deep cuts on his face and neck were still oozing blood. I made sure my camera was recording, and noticed the key-card on the guard's shirt pocket. I hesitated, then reached over and took it.

Suddenly, the guard grabbed my hand and screamed at the top of his lungs. It echoed throughout the asylum, making my ears ring. I pulled my hand away and the guard fell to the floor, still screaming.

I was about to run out of the room when heavy footsteps coming towards me stopped me in my tracks. I had to hide. I looked around the room and noticed three lockers near the back. I quickly went over to them and opened the one closest to the wall. Just as I closed the locker, the security room's door burst open. Through the cracks in the locker, I couldn't believe what I saw.

Something. Something big. It looked like it was once a person, but it was not possibly human. It was almost eight feet tall, with cracked, wrinkled skin and a shaved head. It's big belly bounced when it walked. It's eyes were completely black and it had no lips, just a slit under it's nose, which were two small holes in it's face.

Looking around and sniffing the air, it lifted an axe half the size of it's body and put it over it's shoulder. It noticed the guard, who was now silent but crawling on the floor. The thing bent down and put it's hand on the guards face, who stopped. The monster laughed, a deep, rumbling noise and smiled, revealing a set of rotten teeth and a black tongue. It stood up and grabbed it's axe. In a single swing, it brought it down on the guards head, splitting it in two and sending blood and brains in every direction.

The thing looked around once more. "I'll find you," it said. Dragging the axe on the floor, it walked out of the room and opened one of the locked doors. Only when I heard the click of the door closing did I finally step out of the locker. I had recorded everything.

I walked over the the doorway, now covered in crimson blood and bits of brain. Slowly, I peeked out and saw the hallway was empty. I had to leave. There was no way I would stay here any longer, not with that thing. I made my way to the door that led to the front desk, and tried to open it.

It was locked. I turned the knob both ways, but it would not budge. I started to panic; if I couldn't get out this way, I would have to explore the asylum and find another way out. Turning around, I saw the metal gate. I pulled out the key-card I had gotten from the guard. It was a clear white plastic, with blue letters that said "Crane Asylum - Security Gate A". Sure enough, the gate had a white letter A near the top, now faded and brown.

With my camera raised, I tip-toed over to the gate and swiped the key-card on gate's security panel. It beeped in response. A few seconds later, a loud click came. The gate opened, revealing another hallway. This one had no working lights. The white walls and paintings gave me a strange feeling.

I stepped through and closed the gate behind me, making sure I heard the same click. With the gate closed, I could not see a thing. I felt around my camera for the big button that activated the night-vision feature. Pressing it, the small pull-out screen revealed everything hiding in darkness' grasp with a light shade of green.

The low hum the camera produced with night-vision on reminded me how fast the batteries drained while in function. I only had three spare batteries in my pocket, and I doubted I would find any here.

I put my camera to my eye and analyzed the hallway I was in. It led to another desk, where the hallway split into two other hallways. The complete silence made me feel uncomfortable.

Looking at the camera's screen, I made my way over to the desk, which had a computer and papers strewn all over. A small black canister held paperclips and pens. The paperclips could come in handy, I thought, grabbing a few and putting them into my brown jacket's pocket.

One hallway led to the Male Ward, the other to the Female Ward. Both had the same metal gates, except these had steel bars, making them see-through. Both gates led to more hallways and doors, and they also required key-cards. Looking at the numbering of the gates, I made a mental note of which key-cards I could use. The Male Ward's key-card would have an "M-W", while the Female Ward's would have an "F-W".

I couldn't go back. Although I had the key-card to open Security Gate A, the door leading to the exit was locked, as were both the Wards. I was stuck. Using my camera's night-vision, I looked around the room I was in. The hallway I came from led to a front desk to the left. Even further left was the Male Ward. The Female Ward was straight ahead. That left no way forward or back. Up?

I looked at the ceiling. White bare tiles and a vent was all I saw. Wait, a vent? Paying closer attention, I noticed a hatch right above the front desk. If I could open it, I could use the vent to move around the asylum.

I headed over to the desk when I heard footsteps coming from the Male Ward. I stopped and raised the camera to my eye. The footsteps got louder, and I crouched behind the desk. The green from my camera gave everything an eerie feel.

There. Someone was walking towards the Male Ward's gate. It was a man. He looked around 30, but he had very little hair and scars on his face. He was wearing black pants and was barefoot. He was also in a straight jacket.

He arrived at the gate and stopped, looking intently at the desk I was hiding behind. With my night-vision on, his eyes looked completely white. He stared for a few more seconds, and turned around. He started to walk away when I dropped my camera.

It fell onto the tile floor with a loud shatter. "Shit!" I whispered. I fumbled around in the dark with my hand outstretched, trying to find my camera. I accidentally hit it even farther away from me, causing it to slide and make more noise. Still groping around in the dark, I crawled on my knees feeling the floor. I felt the cool plastic surface of my camera and picked it up. The fall turned off the night-vision, so I turned it back on and looked at the Male Ward's gate.

The man was gone. I looked around and back to the Male Ward. Nothing. I must have scared him off. Well, I still had to find my way out of here, so I climbed onto the desk and put my hands on the ceiling. The hatch leading to the vent came off easily. I set it down on the desk and put my camera into my jacket.

Grabbing on, I pulled myself into the vent just as I heard the click of a security gate opening. It came from Security Gate A. I felt safer knowing I was in the vent, so I put my camera to my eye and waited to see who it was.

I almost gasped out loud. It was the same thing that killed the guard. It's big belly and scarred, ugly face looked worse with my night-vision on. It stopped in front of the desk, and looked around, sniffing the air. I heard the deep, grumbling laugh and it once again put the axe on it's shoulder. "You slimy worm," it said.

It walked over to the Male Ward and opened it with a key-card it had on a chain, which held about ten other cards. It put the chain in the pocket of it's pants and closed the door as it walked through. It looked back one more time, but this time at the desk. With my camera, I saw what it was looking at. The hatch I had placed when I opened the vent. The thing's black eyes immediately went to the vent I was looking at it from. It stared for a moment, then snorted and walked away.

My heart was pounding. Not only did this thing want me dead, it knew I was using the vents to move around. It thought it had me trapped by locking the doors that required a key-card, but I outsmarted it. Now, it would probably wait for me where this vent led to, and kill me there. There was only one way to find out. With the camera to my eye, I made my way through the vents.