Asylum

Chapter 5

They've all split up except for the girl Declan wants. The two boys on the bottom floor search as they call their friends names. One goes into a room and shuts the door behind him. Perfect. I hit the lock button. Now he cannot leave. Arden heads up the elevator to grab the other one. Arden sneaks between rooms to get to him. The one that is locked up begins pounding on the door, but no one can hear him. These rooms are soundproof.

Arden goes up behind the boy and chloroforms him. He throws the boy over his shoulders and begins to bring him down here, but a girl comes through the front door and runs upstairs. He pauses for a second, then when it is clear, he returns to the elevator. He brings the boy down and ties him up like the other. My niece Mia will decide between the two of them.

"Who is next?" Arden asks.

"We need to get her," I point to my son's choice. "Then we can kill the rest."

"You want to get her?" he asks me.

I smile. "Yes." The two of them are in a medical room near the elevator. I take it up and enter the hidden door. 

"We've got trouble," Arden informs me. "The two on the second floor are going up."

"Damn. Okay," I reply. I quickly creep through the closet door. The boy and girl are facing away from me. I take the chance to grab her, but there is a scream at the door.

"Behind you!" the pink haired girl screams. They turn around and look at me, and the pink haired girl pulls the other girl to her, leaving the boy in-between us. I can't get to the girl, so I drag the boy through the door instead. 

"Lock it," I tell Arden.

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"Jasper!" I scream as I try to run to the door the man took him through, but Iris holds me back. 

"We need to run," she tells me. She drags me by my hand as the three of us run down the stairs.

"Steven!" I yell as we reach the first floor.

"Brad!" Iris yells as well.

"Where are they?" I yell. 

"Brad!" Iris screams again. We hear a faint tapping coming from down the hall. We run down there to see Brad locked in a room, pounding on the door. He tries to say something to us, but we can't hear him.

"Get him out of there!" I yell as the three of us try to open the door. 

"Brad!" Iris continues to scream as we tear at the door. 

"It's not going to open," Claire says.

"But we have to get him out," Iris cries.

"We have to go," I pull her away from the door. She cries very hard. "Iris, we have to try to go," I shake her. She zones me out. "Claire, do you still have your keys?"

 "Yes," she pulls them from her pocket. 

"You grab one side of her, and I'll grab the other," I tell her. We drag Iris to the main door. I hand her over to Claire so I can open the door. It doesn't budge.

"No. No. No," I break down. "This can't be happening."

"We have to find another way out," Iris comes to her senses. 

"Did you see any other doors when you looked outside?" I ask Claire. 

"No," she looks down.

"There must be a secret passage," I come to the realization.

"What?" Claire says.

"He came through the closet," I say. "That's how he got in the room." I begin to run up the stairs.

"Lucia! What are you planning to do?" Iris calls after me.

"I'll follow the path and see if there is a way out," I say. 

"What if he is still in there?" she asks.

"Then I'll distract him so you guys can find another way out."

"But he could kill you!" she shouts at me. I pause on one of the steps.

"We have to do something," I say to her as she reaches me.

"Let's look together then," she takes my hand.

"Lucia is right. He must have a way out. She should follow him," Claire says.

"Are you crazy?" Iris asks. "That's a terrible idea!"

"I have to try," I take my hand away and continue to run up the stairs. The three of us reach the door to the room. "You two stay here. If something happens to me, shut this door to hold him off from you."

"Lucia, this isn't smart," Iris puts her hands on my shoulders.

"I know. I love you guys. I'll find a way out," I hug them both.

"I love you too," they say back. I head to the closet. I look back at them before I attempt to open it. Iris looks at me worried while Claire gives me a weak smile. I turn back to the door and open it. The closet is small, and I don't see anywhere he could have gone. I turn back to tell Iris and Claire what is happening, but as I turn, the door to the room shuts. I see Iris banging on it  through the window. I run over and try to open it too. It's locked.

"I'll find a way out, and I'll come back for you," I tell her when I realize it's not going to open. She yells something back, but I can't hear her.

"What?" I ask as she bangs on the door some more. Someone places a cloth over my mouth and restrains me. I try to fight it, but instead I pass out.

I wake up the sound of muffled screams. I open my eyes, but I can't see. I go to push up my glasses when I realize my hands are tied to a chair and my glasses are missing. The muffled screams continue so I look towards where I think they are coming from, but everything is a huge blur.

"Oh, my bad," a familiar female voice says. She comes near me, and I squint to try to figure out who it is. The only thing I can tell is that her clothes are black and her skin is light. She puts my glasses on me and I finally see who it is.

"I forgot how blind you are," Claire smiles. I try to talk, but something is in my mouth. "Oh, hang on. Let me get that for you." She unties a cloth from round my mouth. 

"Claire? What the hell is happening?" I ask her. The muffled screams start up again. I turn my head to the left to find Steven and Kenji sitting on the floor with their arms tied up with zip ties above their heads. 

"Steven!" I scream. I try to get loose from my bindings, but it doesn't work.

"Yeah, you're not getting out of that," Claire laughs as she sits back down in front of a bunch of screens. Steven yells again so I look over at him. He uses his eyes to point to a corner. I look over and scream when I see Candace and Brad's lifeless bodies thrown in a corner. I don't see Jasper anywhere. I don't know what happened to him.

"If you scream like that again, I will cover up your mouth again," Claire says nonchalantly.

"What do you want with us?" I ask her. She swings her chair to face me.

"Well I haven't decided between Kenji or Steven yet," she shrugs. "But you, you belong to my cousin."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah. He's on his way back now," she swings back to look at the surveillance. 

"What do you mean you haven't decided between Steven or Kenji?" I ask her. She lets out a sigh.

"Well they are both hot. Steven is a little too used, but that means he'll have more experience. Kenji on the other hand already likes me, so it'll be easy to train him. Steven is still pretty hung up on you though. And it would be very awkward when you two see each other. Ugh. I don't know," she thinks out loud. The elevator doors open, and a man walks out. He has something covering his face, so I don't know who it is. He has a body flung over his shoulder. He tosses it down on the other bodies. Her pink hair is covered in blood.

"Iris," I scream.

"What did I say about the screaming?" Claire covers her ears. 

"Oh, good. You're awake," the man says. He takes the device off of his face. 

"Jasper?" I ask.

"Hey, baby," he gives me a kiss. I'm too confused to stop him. I look up at him with a puzzled look. "Oh, sorry. You probably thought I was dead. My father was supposed to grab you, but then Iris showed up. He had to grab me instead to make it look believable. That gave me the chance to grab you instead of him."

"What do you want from me?" I ask him.

"Oh, just your love and obedience. A child or two sometime in the future," he shrugs.

"What? My obedience?" I ask.

"Yeah. You know, do as I say. Take care of our kids, that kind of stuff. I know it'll be hard at first, but you'll figure it out as time goes on."

"What makes you think I'll do that?" I ask.

"Cause we'll kill your family if you don't," Claire adds. "What is your little brother's name? Jonas? He'll be eighteen next year, right? And your sister and her newborn twins. Um- Sasha, Emilia, and Ryan I think are their names."

"No," I whisper. "You wouldn't."

"You're right. I wouldn't," Claire smiles. "Our dads would do it."

"It's okay. I know you'll listen to me, baby," Jasper tucks a stray hair behind my ear.

"Dec, Mia, we need your assistance," a voice says through a machine. 

"What do you need?" Claire asks after she puts a small device in her ear.

"Okay, we're on our way," Jasper says.

"Who are Dec and Mia?" I ask.

"That's us, silly," Jasper says.

"What?"

"My real name is Mia. He is Declan," Claire says as she gets up from the chair. "Ready to go, Dec?"

"Yep. We'll be back in just a little bit, baby. Finally found where Reggie and Kirsten got off to," he kisses me again, but I move my face back. He looks annoyed, but doesn't do anything. They put the devices back on their faces and take the elevator up. 

I look down at my wrists. I try to move them but they are zip tied tight. I bring my face down to my right wrist and use my teeth to try to break it. It takes a long time, but it finally breaks. My feet are tied together, but I'm able to stand up. I hop my way over to Steven and Kenji, pulling the chair with me. I kneel down in front of Steven and the cloth off of his mouth.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Knife in my back pocket," he says.

"I know. You always have a knife. Are you okay, Kenji?" I ask as I remove the cloth from him.

"What the f**k is happening?" he asks.

"I don't know," I respond. I reach down into Steven's back pocket and pull out the knife. I release my other wrist and then my feet. 

"Cut these off of me. I'm going to kill them," Steven's voice is full of anger. I cut him loose, then help Kenji. "Are there any weapons?" We look around.

"I don't see anything," Kenji says.

"Alright. Let's get out of here," Steven says. I sit down in the chair and check out the monitors. Below the TV's are a bunch of buttons. There is one for every door. Some of them are lit up green, while others are not. I press one down. The word 'locked' appears on a screen and the green light turns off on the button. The buttons on the other side are split into four categories. The first has a big OS next to it, the second a one, the third a two, and the fourth a three. I press one of the buttons in row one. One of the screens changes cameras. I press a button on three, and the screen switches to the room I hid in twice.

"Lucia, we have to go," Steven rushes me. 

"I can't," I reply as I flip through the cameras, trying to find where Declan and Mia went. 

"What do you mean you can't?" Steven asks.

"They'll hurt Jonas," I respond.

"Not if I kill them first," he says.

"What if you don't?" I ask. "Didn't you see the guns they had?"

"No," Steven realizes. "I didn't see them."

"You can't fight them. They'll kill you instantly," I respond. "But you can sneak out, get to your truck and get away. I can't chance it with my family. You know that."

"What if they try to hurt you?" he asks. 

"It's okay. I can take it. Just promise me you'll find me."

"I promise. I love you forever, Lucia," he reaches down to me and kisses me passionately. The tears start to flow down my face.

"I love you forever," I say back to him as he lets me go. 

"I'll be back for you soon," he says. "Ready?"

"Let's get out of this f*****g place," Kenji says. They both go into the elevator. Tears stream down my face as the doors close. I wipe them away and turn my attention to the screens. I flip through every single camera, but I only see Steven and Kenji. I watch as they walk to the door. They try to open it, but it's locked. I press every single lock button until they are all green. They must have heard the lock unlatch, because they try to open it again.

"Thank you, Lucy," I hear Steven say.

"You're welcome," I whisper back to him, even though he can't hear me. I try to flip to a camera that shows them outside, but instead I see four people walking with bodies resting on two of them. Three of them look like they are adult men, while the last one is a bit smaller. I assume that one is Mia. I flip through the cameras to try to figure out where they are in relation to Steven and Kenji. I find a camera that shows them creeping through the trees near the path we walked to get here. 

I pull up the camera that shows the group of four. They suddenly stop walking, drop the bodies, and three of them go running off in one direction, and the fourth in the direction they were originally going. I flip through the cameras as fast as I can. I find one that shows Steven and Kenji full on sprinting towards the cars. Kenji trips over a large log and falls to the ground. I gasp. Steven pauses to look at him, but when he notices he's not moving, Steven continues. 

Mia and the two men quickly catch up to Kenji. One of the men stops, while the other two keep running. Steven grabs something out of his pocket as he runs. The man is quickly catching ground to him. It looks like Steven presses a button on what I assume are his car keys. I faintly hear the sound of Steven's truck starting up. I smile. I had completely forgotten that he had remote start installed on his truck. Steven runs around to the driver's side and quickly takes off. I hear gunshots, but Steven is out of camera range. I don't know what happened to him.

I stand up, making sure I don't look at bodies in the corner. I walk to where Steven and Kenji are, and sit down. I bring my knees up to my body and rest my head in my hands as I begin to sob. The elevator doors open, but I don't look up.

"Lucia is still here," Declan says into his earpiece. He sounds relieved. 

"You didn't leave," he says as he walks over to me. I shake my head. He crouches down in front of me and lifts my head up. "Good girl."

"Are you going to hurt me?" I ask through my tears.

"No. You stayed," he smiles at me.

"Did Steven make it out?" I ask him.

"Yes. They are all very pissed about it, but don't worry. I'll take care of you. Only I can touch you now," he places his other hand on my face and kisses me. I don't resist this time. If it's going to save my family, I'll do whatever he wants. He pulls back and smiles at me. "You stay right here. I'll be right back and then we can go home."

"Home?" I ask.

"Yes. Home. You'll love it. It's beautiful. You'll get to meet my mom Orla. She'll help you adjust to our new life," he says. He kisses me one more time then takes the elevator up. I rest my head on my knees while I wait for him to return. Roughly twenty minutes pass before anyone returns. 

"Looks like you've got her trained already," a man says. I look up to see Declan and two men staring at me. They both have a very similar look to Declan. This must be his dad and uncle.

"She was a good choice, son," one of the men pats Declan's back.

"Thanks, father. I think she'll fit in nicely," he replies while smiling at me. "We just need to bring these three up, then I'll be back for you."

"Okay," I whisper. I return my head to my knees. I hear the three of them lift the bodies of my friends and take them up the elevator. The tears flow even harder now. 

"Are you ready to go?" Declan asks me as he returns. I nod my head and stand up.

"I don't need to tie you up, do I?" he asks. I shake my head. He reaches into my front pocket and removes my phone. "I'll take this."

"Can I get it back later?" I whisper.

"If you are good," he replies. He places my phone in his pocket, then reaches for my hand. "Let's get you home and cleaned up."

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I hear bullets flying past my truck. One of them pierces a tire, but I continue down the road. Lucia is way more important than the truck. I have to help her. I keep checking my phone for a signal, but it's not happening. I try to pull up a map on my phone to see where I am, but it won't load. I make my way through winding paths for forty-one minutes before I spot a house. I can see the sun rising in the distance. I check my phone and I have a signal. I look at where I am on the map so I can tell the police where I am. 

"911, what's your emergency?" a male voice asks.

"Please. I need help. A group of people attacked my friend and me. They killed them all except for two friends and me. Please send someone here."

"What's your full name and currently location?"

"Steven Brass. I'm around the intersection of 10500 road and 9000 road. Please. My girlfriend needs my help," I say to the operator.

"Help is on the way. Sit tight," he says.

"Okay, thank you," I reply.

"You're welcome. Bye," he hangs up. 

"I'll find you, Lucy," I cry into my hands. It takes the police fifteen minutes to arrive. I get out of the car as they arrive.

"What's the problem, sir?" an officer asks. I give him the whole story, including everything that I can remember. At the end, he gives me a weird look.

"Okay. Let me get this straight. You and your friends went to an abandoned insane forty-five minutes from here?" another officer asks. 

"Yeah, that's what I said. We have to get back there and rescue her," I yell.

"Sir, there is no abandoned asylum anywhere around here. Are you sure that is what it was?" he asks. Confusion spreads across my face.

"Yeah. There were rooms with windows, offices, and medical rooms," I say.

"There is nothing like that around here. Can you show us where you came from?" the first officer asks. 

"Uh, yeah," I respond. I point in the direction I came. "I-I came from that way."

"Can you drive there and show us?"

We drive around for hours, searching for the place. There is nothing. I can't find it. I file a missings persons report for all my friends when we go to the precinct. I give them all the information I can. Weeks pass by. They haven given up on the search parties. No one can find the building we were at. I've lost her. I'm sorry, Lucia...