Asylum

Chapter 2

A knock on my door wakes me up. Someone peaks their head through. "Wake up, sleepy head. We leave in half an hour," I recognize Candace's voice.

"Geez. Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I ask as I shoot up from the bed and put my glass back on.

"We just wanted to make sure Miss Cranky got enough sleep and doesn't ruin the fun," she says as she closes the door and walks away. I clench my jaw and roll my eyes. These people. I search through my closet for the best clothes to wear. I find a pair of really tight skinny jeans that make my butt look awesome. I pick out a skin tight, black, revealing short sleeve shirt and my black high top Converse. I check myself out in the mirror. Yep, Steven is going to lose it. Serves him right. I pull up my golden blonde hair into a high ponytail, then refresh my makeup around my emerald green eyes behind my thick black glasses. I walk into the common area and notice almost everyone waiting there from me. The only people missing are Steven, Kirsten, and Reggie. Kenji has his black dreadlocks up in a hair tie. His skin reminded me almost of milk chocolate. Brad, with his hand, attempts to smooth back the layer of gel he smothered in his light brown. I see Jasper and smile at him. 

"Hey," he says as I sit on the couch next to him. "I'm very glad you decided to come."

"You'll be there to protect me, right?" I place my hand on his arm, flirting with him.

"I'll be by your side all night if you want me to be," he smiles at me. There is a knock on the door.

"Come in," Iris calls. Kirsten and Reggie walk in.

"Hey, Steven is waiting out in his truck if everyone is ready," Kirsten says.

"Cool. I think we are all ready to go, right, guys?" Claire asks the room. We all nod or say yes. "Alright, let's go get dinner!" We head outside to the parking lot. I see Steven waiting in his prized blue Chevy truck. When he sees me, he smiles. I glare at him. Kirsten and Reggie get in the back seat of his truck. Claire, Candace, Iris, and Jasper sit in Claire's Tesla. How she could afford a Tesla as a student, I have no idea. She must come from a rich family or something.  Kenji heads towards the truck while Brad lingers to see what I choose. I can go to the truck and sit comfortably next to Steven, or I can be squished between Jasper and Iris in the backseat of the Tesla. I look at Steven and his eyes glow with lust. No, thanks. I choose Tesla. I walk over to them and Jasper moves out of the seat. He holds the door open for me and gestures for me to get in.

"Thank you," I smile at him as I enter.

"You're welcome," he replies as he sits down next to me. Our arms brush together gently. I look over at him and he is blushing. 

"You guys ready to go?" Claire asks. We all say yep or uh huh. Claire steps on the gas and drives out of the parking lot. About ten minutes later, we pull up to a Mexican restaurant. We pile out of the vehicles and head into the restaurant. 

"Table for ten," Kenji says to the host. He grabs our menu and silverware and takes us to a long table near the back. Everyone begins to take their seats. There is a chair open next to Steven. Nope.

"Over here, Lucia," Claire calls to me, pointing to a seat between her and Jasper. Yes. I sit down and notice the disappointment in Steven's eyes. He deserves it. 

"Hi, again," Jasper says to me.

"Hi," I repeat in a flirty tone. A server comes over and passes chips and salsa around the table. 

"So how is this going to work?" Kenji asks.

"We can do it where one person seeks while everyone hides separately. When a person is found, they can either aid in the search or maybe go back to a safe zone," Brad suggests.

"Why do we have to be alone?" I nervously ask.

"More fun that way," Kenji answers.

"It could be like a game of tag," Brad suggests.

"What do you mean?" Iris questions. Brad gives Iris a sly smile. I wonder if he might like her.

"Everyone hides while one person seeks. If you are found, you can try to escape to the safe zone. If you get tagged, you have to aid in the search for the rest."

"Ooh. I like that," Claire adds.

"I think that is a good idea," Kenji says.

"Ditto," Iris chimes in.

"All in favor, say aye," Jasper says. Everyone says aye except for me. I hate everything about this.

"Or we could just eat our food and go back home," I suggest. There is a chorus of boos.

Claire smiles. "Okay. So we'll play hide and seek tag, and Lucia will be the seeker first."

"WHAT?" I ask in disbelief. Most of the group laughs at my discomfort. "You've got to be kidding. There is no way I am first."

"All in favor?" she asks. Everyone says aye again.

"I hate all of you," I squint my eyes and give a death glare.

"Awe. Isn't she just so cute when she is angry?" Candace teases.

"She is," Steven and Jasper say at the same time.

I look over at Jasper and give him a smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replies as he bumps his arm up against mine. I can feel myself start to blush. Luckily our waiter has arrived with our food and we all chow down.

"How did you want to split the check?" our waiter asks us after we finish. 

"Oh, I've got it," Claire says as she pulls out two one hundred dollar bills from her pocket and hands it to him. "Keep the change."

"Thank you. Everyone have a nice night," the waiter smiles at us then leaves.

"Claire, you didn't have to do that," I scold her.

"It's fine. I'm just happy we are all together," Claire says as she looks around the table with a smile. 

"Let's get this show on the road," Jasper announces as he gets up from his chair. He holds out his hand to help me up from my seat. I take it with a huge smile. I look over at Steven and he is glaring at us. That just makes my smile bigger. He places his hand on my back and leads me to the car. Pretty bold move, but it gives me butterflies in my stomach, so I don't resist. 

We've been driving for nearly two hours. We are on some country gravel road surrounded by large hills and a forest. We haven't seen any sign of life for forty-five minutes. The only light in the area is from the full moon.

"Where are we?" I feel uneasy.

"I'm not really sure. I'm just following the directions I was given," Claire has a confused look on her face. "I think we should be arriving soon."

"This is honestly the worst idea that anyone has ever had," I say.

"You scared?" Jasper smiles at me.

"Hell yeah I am," I reply with a little sass.

"There is supposed to be a driveway around here. Let me know if you guys can see it," Claire tells us. We all search in every direction. We slowly drive forward as Steven's truck gets closer to us. His higher beams highlight the forest around us better. 

"What's that?" Candace points ahead of us. We slow to a stop in front of an old, black, rusty fence. 

"This must be it," Claire says as she turns off the car. Everyone begins to get out of the vehicles. I hesitate to get out.

"Come on," Jasper smiles at me and holds his hand out to me. I let out a huge sigh, then grab his hand. 

"Are you sure this is it?" I ask. All we can see is a small gravel path that winds through the trees beyond the tattered fence. 

"This is where the directions led us," Claire shrugs. I wrap my arms around me as the cool October breeze makes its way to us. Kenji walks over to fence and flings himself over. Steven follows. Brad lifts Claire up to the top of the fence, and Kenji and Steven hold her hands to help her down. Candace and Iris make their way over next. Brad looks over to me to go next.

"Y-you go ahead first," I tell him. He easily makes the climb.

"Are you ready?" Jasper places his hand on my shoulder and asks me. I give him a scared look. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. I promise. Reg and Kirsten, you go next."

"I really don't like this," I say to him. He faces me and wraps his arm around me. I rest my head along the crook of his neck. 

"Let's go," he says after a minute and unfortunately releases me from the hug. I'd love to stay there for a few hours. His hug felt warm and inviting, unlike Steven's, whose feel like he just wants to get in my pants. We walk over to the fence and he assists me to the top. Steven reaches for my hand, but I jump off on my own. We walk for ten minutes and reach a decrepit old building. It's about three stories high, and is slightly wide. The brick walls are dirty and full of vines.  There is no full panel of glass on any of the windows, and they are all barred. I can only see one door, which actually looks in pretty good shape compared to the rest of the building.

"Are you sure this is an abandoned insane asylum? There are no signs saying what it is," I wonder.

"Who cares? As long as it is abandoned, we are golden," Brad practically skips up to the door. He opens it with ease and looks back at us excited. He takes a slow step inside. "Whoa."

"What?" Iris runs in behind him. She pauses just a step in and looks around in awe. We all give each other curious looks and make our way to the door. We stop as soon as we enter what looks like it used to be a beautiful entryway. A spiraling set of stairs lead up to the second floor, and another leads to the third. In the middle of the room at the top of the third floor hangs an old glass chandelier. Several of the pieces have fallen off and are scattered broken around the ground floor. The walls look like they could be marble, and the floors were once white. It's hard to tell since it is all worn down and dirty, but in its prime, I'm sure this place was beautiful. Towards the back of the room in a half circle is a desk under the layer of dirt and dust, it seems like it is the same marble as the walls. Off to the sides are long halls with doors along the opposite sides of the windows. 

"This is perfect," Reggie breaks the silence. 

"This is huge," I add. "How am I supposed to find you guys in this giant place?"

"Let's stick to one side of the building for now. Let's go with this side," Claire points to the side to the left of us. "And we'll make the desk area the safe zone."

"Can we maybe clean up some of this glass?" I ask. "It would be bad if someone slipped and fell on this."

"Good idea," Steven smiles at me. I roll my eyes at him. "Look around and see if you can find anything to push it to the side." We break off and look around. I walk behind the stairs and find a little door. I try to open it, but it's stuck.

"Need some help?" Steven sneaks up behind me, making me jump. "Gotcha, didn't I?"

"Can you get the door open?" I glare at him. He put two hands on the door knob and a leg against the wall. He uses all of his strength and it pops open. He looks over at me with a smile, and flexes his flabby biceps and gives them a kiss. I give him a disgusted look and turn to the tiny room and look inside. 

"Perfect," I say as I find a gross, old straw broom. "Got a broom!" I call out to everyone as I head over to the glass. I sweep it into a corner away from where the action will take place. I place the broom back in the room and shut the door.

"Are we ready now?" Brad asks. He looks like he is ready to sprint. There are simultaneous yeses and yeps.

"Alright. So here are the rules. This desk is the safe zone. Everyone hides by themselves. You can't move to the safe zone unless you have seen the seeker. First person to be tagged is it next round. Tagged people get a two minute penalty for the next round. The round ends when everyone is found, either tagged or in the safe zone. We stick to the one side at first. If that seems too small, we'll make it the whole place. If a door is locked, just move onto the next room. Seeker sets a timer for five minutes. Sound good?" Claire asks.

"Do I really have to be it first?" I whine.

"Yes," Claire says. "Ready?"

"Fine," I reply.

"Get a timer ready," she demands. I pull out my phone and set the time for five minutes. "Go stand in the corner over there until the timer goes off."

"Ugh," I groan and head over to the corner. 

"Good luck," Jasper comes up to me and smiles.

I smile back. "Thanks. Ready. Set. Go," I say as I click the timer to start. I hear people running off as I stare into the corner. I pull up i********: on my phone but it doesn't load.

"Great. No service in an abandoned asylum in the middle of the forest in God knows where," I whisper.