Chapter 5
1746 Words
Kane was up early, finding Moth in the kitchen having breakfast with Alice and Kelso.
She sat at the counter and took a plate, taking eggs, toast and bacon.
Kelso turned, “So, what’s the plan when you find this doctor?”
Kane shrugged, “Ask him nicely for the truth; if that doesn’t work, beat it out of him.”
She took a bite of her toast and froze; her plate was covered in maggots.
She pushed the plate away and suddenly everything was back to normal; although she had now lost her apatite.
Moth frowned at her but said nothing.
Kane and Moth had arrived at the asylum; they had taken Moths Harley.
Rick stood near the gates waiting for them and they went over to him.
“I’ve spoken to the guy in charge, you’re able to see Baker whenever you want; I told him that you’re his long lost family member, Kane.”
Kane gave him thumbs up and the three of them walked in.
They stopped at a large building; patients were walking around the yard freely and Kane froze; she was momentarily reminded of her time in the mental institution.
This place was very similar to the one she had been in, and it brought back bad memories.
Moth placed a hand on her lower back, “Are you okay?”
She nodded and as they walked up the steps she heard her name being called.
She turned to see a woman she would never have forgotten; Faith, the woman who had been in the mental institution with her.
“Faith? Oh my God, what are you doing here?”
Faith smiled, “The institute closed down so we all got moved here.”
“Oh, okay, well, how are you?”
Faith glanced at Moth, “I’m doing well; it’s so different here, they say I can leave soon; I’m getting better.”
“That’s great, Faith… Oh, this is Moth and Rick.”
She gave a small wave and a shy smile.
“Kane, there’s a doctor here; he says he knows how to help all of us.”
Kane glanced at Moth, “Oh, what’s his name?”
“Harold; he’s really nice…He helps all of us, but the nurses have locked him away, they say he’s dangerous.”
“Okay, Faith, stay away from him, okay? I’ll see you later; I have to go see someone.”
“Will you visit me?”
Kane gave an awkward nod before she walked in with Moth and Rick.
“London, who was that?”
“Oh, we were in the mental institute together.”
Rick stopped at the desk and spoke to the woman for a few seconds before a nurse came over and motioned to them to follow her.
They took an elevator up to the sixth floor and followed the nurse down a brightly lit hallway, passing doors until they stopped in front of one; she unlocked the door and turned to them.
“Mr. Baker hasn’t had visitors for a long time, so please understand he may not remember you.”
Kane nodded and walked in; Rick walked in last and closed the door behind them.
Harold Baker sat in a wheelchair facing a large open window; the room was bare except for a small, single bed.
Moth’s jaw clenched and Kane placed a hand on his arm, “Don’t go losing your temper.”
He nodded and she walked up to Harold, going around to stand in front of him.
He was elderly, and clearly, the years had not been good to him at all.
He didn’t take his gaze from the window, and Kane crouched in front of him.
“London, be careful.”
Harold’s eyes slowly moved down to Kane, and they lit up; as if he actually did know her.
“Hi, Harold; my name is Kane.”
He smiled at her, “Are you here to visit me?”
Kane glanced at Moth before replying, “Yeah, we came to ask you some questions.”
Moth came to stand next to her and Harold frowned, “Jethro?”
“No, his son; Moth.”
“His son? No, no, that can’t be right, how can you be his son, he’s far too young to be your father.”
Kane frowned, “Harold, Jethro is dead.”
He turned to her with shock, “No, I saw him… I saw him…When did I see him? I saw him; he told me about my granddaughter’s death. She died and left her baby behind; poor little baby, can you bring her to meet me?”
Rick threw his hands in the air, “This is useless, this guy is completely nuts.”
Harold seemed to get upset, “I’m not; I want to see my little great-granddaughter, that’s all; please, I need to see her, no one visits me anymore.”
Kane sighed, she actually felt bad for the guy.
“Harold, I don’t know who your great-granddaughter is; but I promise you we will try and find her for you, okay? But we need your help with something.”
Harold’s eyes lit up, “You need my help? What is it? Oh, it’s been so long since someone needed my help.”
Moth crouched next to Kane, “Harold, you treated Jethro in the Misty Hill Asylum, do you remember that?”
“Yes, it wasn’t that long ago, of course, I remember it; he and I were the masterminds behind the experiments.”
Moth and Kane exchanged glances.
Kane frowned, “Do you know the curse Jasmine speaks of?”
He turned to her, “Jasmine; sweet Jasmine…She was so angry when we told her of the experiments; so angry. She said we were going to ruin things for everyone, she didn’t understand that we were simply making things better.”
Rick came over to join them, “What experiments were you doing, Harold?”
Suddenly he shook his head, getting upset, “No, no, no. No, it’s ruined, she was right, it’s all ruined; they’re going to kill us. No, we must stop it, we have to stop it,” his eyes flashed and he grabbed a tight hold of Kane, pulling her close to him, “Stop it, you must stop it or we will all die.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Moth shoved Harold’s hands off of Kane’s wrists and pulled her away from the older man, “Look, old man, I don’t care if you’re mental; if you ever put your hands on her again, I will kill you.”
Harold’s eyes snapped to Moth, “No, Jethro, I told you not to experiment on yourself; it wasn’t ready yet; you must let me help you before you hurt someone, please let me help you.”
Kane stood, “Harold, both Jasmine and Jethro are dead; you need to tell us what was going on so we can break the curse.”
“The curse; oh… the curse; why did you not leave when you were supposed to, Jethro? Jasmine would have been safe if you had just left her; I told you your love did not love, it was an obsession; it’s why you killed her, isn’t it? Because it got too much for you.”
Kane frowned; Harold was no longer looking at Moth, he was looking past Moth.
She turned and her mouth dropped open, “Oh dear God, Jethro.”
Moth spun, “London, are you seeing his spirit?”
Kane nodded as Jethro turned to her; he was the spitting image of Moth.
So you’re the new girlfriend
Kane took a step back, “Jethro, you need to tell me what’s going on so we can save this town.”
He let out a sick laugh before smiling at her, Why would I want to save them? They treated me like dirt; made me go off my head and kill my Jasmine
Kane took a step towards him, “Because you can be the bigger man now, you don’t have to be the bad person they remember; Look, they thought the same way about Moth, but look how he’s proving them wrong.”
He turned to look at his son, Jixen; he killed me. He burnt me alive; I don’t blame him though, I needed to be stopped…I didn’t mean to kill Jasmine, I loved her, I gave her that pendant for protection the day before it happened…The spirits, they got into my head
Kane took another step forward, “Jethro, you can help us.”
He turned to her with a cruel smile on his face; the only way I will help you is by putting you out of your misery
Harold held out his hand, “Jethro, no; you can’t hurt them.”
Jethro turned to Harold before disappearing.
Kane turned to Moth, “Okay, your dad’s a bit mad with me.”
Rick held up his hands, “Um, hello, what just happened?”
Kane turned, “I’ll explain in the car,” she crouched in front of Harold, “I’ll come back and see you, okay?”
He smiled at her as if he hadn’t just seen a ghost, “You will? Do you promise?”
She nodded, “Yeah, I promise.”
He smiled and waved at them as they walked out.
“Okay, so Jethro’s ghost is around too apparently; he doesn’t seem mad that you killed him, Moth; but he does seem mad that we want to save the town from the curse.”
As they left the asylum, none of them noticed the man with burns all over his face watching them.
- Writer
