Misty Meadows: The Asylum

Chapter 2

The next morning Kane left the house before Alice was up.

she went to the store where Cliff worked.

She slammed her hand on the counter, “Hey, Brace-Face, shifts up.”

He frowned, “What?”

“I’m bored. You wont miss any customers, the place has less life than a funeral home,” she frowned, “Where’s the rest of the geek squad?”

Cliff shrugged, “Not sure.”

She sighed, “where does Moth go on a weekend?”

Cliff frowned, “Why?”

Kane, “Curious.”

He sighed, “He’s dangerous.”

“Who?”

“Moth.” Replied Cliff.

Macy’s mouth dropped, “Kane!”

Kane held up her hands, “I was just asking.”

And in walked Brent.

He stopped, “Kane, we good?”

She nodded.

“Good, I want to apologize to all of you for what I said.”

Macy smiled, “No problem. I’m sure Kane would also like to apologize.”

Kane scoffed, “No, Kane does not. I don’t do s**t I need to apologize to. I never apologize. You deserved it.”

Brent sighed.

“I’ll see you guys later.” She walked out, going to the path and up to Misty Hill.

“Moth?”

Silence.

Kane walked into the burnt down house.

She found a room with a mattress and a few other things in it.

Continuing, she found a smaller room and bent to examine the wall, it had a thin stain of blood on it.

She stood and froze; there was a mirror on the wall.

But it wasn’t the mirror that made her blood run cold; it was what stared back at her from inside the mirror.

It wasn’t her reflection, it was a charred female face, the bottom half of the face with no skin.

Kane screamed and ran out, running down the pathway, by the time she got to the bottom, she wished she hadn’t worn shorts, her legs were covered in small cuts and scrapes from the branches in the path.

She let out a stressed sigh and started walking, seeing a mechanics shop, she stopped.

There was Moth.

He was packing tools into boxes.

“Moth.”

He looked up, surprised to see her, “What?”

Kane shrugged, “I’m, uh, sorry. For what I said last night.”

He went back to packing.

“I’m apologizing, you idiot.”

He didn’t bother looking up, “I don’t care.”

“Okay, then. What are you doing?”

“You never saw anyone pack before?”

Kane crossed her arms, “Why are you packing?”

“moving shop,” he looked up and frowned, “What happened to you?”

“I fell.”

“Where?”

“None of your business.”

He looked as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

Kane looked around, “Weekend job?”

“Full time.”

“What about school?”

He shrugged, “I left.”

She frowned, “You’re not going to be around anymore?”

He stopped and looked up, “Why?”

She shrugged, “Just wondering if I’ll still be seeing you around.”

“Don’t.”

Kane frowned, “What?”

Moth sighed, “Don’t concern yourself with me.”

Kane laughed, “it wasn’t concern.”

Moth smirked before resuming his packing, “Keep telling yourself that.”

“I thought I’d find you here.”

Kane turned to see Collin and Macy with Brent close behind.

Moth glanced at Brent, “Nice eye makeup. It suits you.”

“Freak show. Your mother knew to get away from you; ‘like father like son’.”

Moth jumped to his feet, heading straight for Brent.

Kane grabbed him by the arm, “Moth.”

He stopped, not taking his eyes from Brent, “Get your hand off me, London.”

“No, he’s trying to get a reaction.”

“Well, it worked.’

Kane tightened her grip on him, “Moth.”

He sighed, “Fine.” He turned away.

Macy tilted her head, “Kane, you want to come with us? We’re waiting for Cliff to finish his shift.”

Kane turned to Brent, “you’re hanging out with the nerds now?’

He shrugged.

Kane smirked, “Careful there, you might stop being so popular.”

He laughed, “As if.”

Kane turned back to Macy, “You go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“You sure?” No one missed the look on Macy’s face.

Kane nodded, “I’m sure.”

The three walked away slowly.

Kane turned to Moth, “What the hell was that about?”

Moth sighed, “Stop trying to be my friend, London.”

Kane frowned, “I’m not trying to be your anything.” She walked out.

Moth watched as she walked away and shook his head, “You’re an i***t, Moth.”

Frowning, he threw the box across the room.

×

“You can’t sit there, Kane.”

Kane frowned, “Says who?”

“My boss.”

Kane shrugged.

Brent gave her an amused smile, “You love trouble, don’t you?”

“Trouble loves me.”

The sheriff walked in.

Kane recognized him from her first night in Misty Meadows when she was arrested.

She grinned, “What’s up, Sheriff, can’t stay away?”

He sighed, “I’m looking for Moth.”

Kane spoke before anyone else had the chance, “Why?”

“I’m afraid that’s confidential.” He replied.

Kane raised a brow, “Then I’m afraid we can’t help you.”

The sheriff turned, “Cliff?”

He shrugged, “I’ve been working all day, haven’t taken much notice of Moth.”

The sheriff turned to the other three, “Any of you know where he is?”

Collin shrugged, “Macy and I have been here with Cliff the whole time.”

He turned to Brent, “Don’t even think about lying to me.”

Brent sighed, “Uncle Rick, c’mon, tell us what’s up. We’ll keep it to ourselves.”

Rick sighed, “Someone’s gone missing. We need to question Moth.”

Kane frowned, “Whoa, so automatically he gets questioned?”

“Kane, right? I’m just doing my job.”

“Not very well.”

And then Moth walked in, freezing when he saw Rick.

Rick smiled, “Just the person I was looking for.”

“What did I do this time?”

Rick crossed his arms, “Where were you this morning?”

“At the workshop, packing.”

“Really? And someone can verify that?”

“I was there with him, the whole time.” Lied Kane.

Moth looked at her, but she kept her eyes on Rick.

Rick narrowed his eyes at her, “Really?”

Moth jumped in, “We were packing up for the move. London knew about it, so she offered to help. We were busy till about ten minutes ago.”

Rick frowned, “I’ll be watching both of you.” He walked out.

Macy exhaled loudly, “What the hell, Kane?”

Brent shook his head, “Yeah, I don’t get why you did that.”

Moth frowned at her, “You shouldn’t have done that, you’ve associated yourself with me.”

“Not to mention, you lied to a cop.” Added Collin.

Kane shrugged, “Come on, we all know he would have found some way to pin it on Moth.”

Brent cleared his throat, “Is this a good time to point out that we don’t know if he’s guilty or not?”

Moth and Kane glared at him.

Cliff sighed, “What’s done is done. Let’s leave it at that.”

Moth turned back to Kane, “You shouldn’t have done that, but thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Moth walked to the back, picked up a juice, returning to the counter, he stood awkwardly in front of Kane, who still sat on the counter.

She took the juice from his hands and passed it to Cliff.

After paying, Moth all but ran out of the store.

Macy shook her head, “Kane, seriously, don’t go there.”

Kane rolled her eyes, “I’m not going anywhere. I just don’t like to see people falsely accused.”

“So create an alibi. What if he’s guilty?” Asked Brent.

Kane shrugged.

Brent sighed, shaking his head, “I can’t believe you-”

Cliff cut him off, “It’s her choice to stand up for him! Get over it or get out.”

Kane smiled, “Nicely done, Cliff.”

Brent sighed, “I just don’t want you to get yourself into any trouble.”

“I can handle myself.”

But the truth was, she had no idea what she was doing.

After spending the rest of the day with her friends Kane had gone back to the old unfinished buildings roof.

As she stood on the roof, looking out over the town, she wondered about the disappearance, and how Moth had told her it wasn’t safe to be out at night.

“Hey.”

Kane jumped, spinning to see Moth, “Jeez, Moth, you gave me a fright.”

He laughed, “Do you have a death wish or something?”

She was momentarily quiet; it was strange to see Moth laugh.

She shrugged, “I like it outside.”

“You’ve got a yard.”

She shrugged, “It’s not the same.”

He nodded.

“So, uh, have you seen the lightning bugs?” he asked.

She shook her head, “No.”

He smiled, “Follow me.”

She frowned but followed him; she realized he had led her to the stream.

There were hundreds of tiny lights in the trees.

“It looks amazing.”

He nodded, “It’s a great place to come if you need to think. But don’t, it’s not safe.”

She laughed, “If it’s not safe, why are we here?”

“It’s not safe if you’re alone.”

Kane frowned, “What’s wrong with this place? I’ve heard the stories of how haunted and evil it is.”

Moth sighed, getting a faraway look in his eyes, “A lot of people have died here.”

“What was Brent talking about when he said your mom left, and the like father, like son thing?”

Moth shook his head, “Let’s not go there, London.”

Kane sighed, “My parents were killed in a car crash two months ago. They were on their way to fetch me; I had just gotten out of a six-month stay in a mental hospital. They put me in, thinking I was crazy because I was seeing things that no one else could see. Hearing things.”

Moth cleared his throat, “My mother didn’t leave. My father killed her, but no one knows that. What they do know is that he killed someone, and got off because he swore it was self-defence.”

“Where is he?”

“Dead, died in that fire on Misty Hill.”

“I’m sorry.”

"Don’t be, he’s where he belongs.”

“Moth-”

He cut her off, “Why do you insist on being nice to me?”

“Because where everyone else sees bad, I can see the good.”

He frowned, “You shouldn’t. And you should listen to everyone and just stay away from me.”

She shrugged, “Well, I’ve never been very good at listening.”

He sighed, “Let’s get you home.”

When Kane walked in, she had a smile on her face.

This vanished when she saw Alice.

“What did I tell you about being with that boy?”

“He’s really not a bad person. He walks me home so nothing happens to me.”

“He’s trouble, Kane.”

Kane walked away, going into her room.

Alice followed, “You are not to see him again.”

Kane ignored her and started going through her CDs.

“Did you hear me?”

Kane didn’t bother looking up, “I’m pretty sure the whole of Misty Meadows heard you.”

“Don’t give me attitude, Kane; I’m looking out for you.”

“I don’t need you looking out for me.”

“He’s a killer.”

Kane spun, “What is it with everyone is this town? Must you blame him for everything?”

Alice sighed, “I’m sending you to anger management classes. And if you continue seeing Moth, I’m sending you to a boarding school.”

Kane stormed out, leaving Alice calling for her at the door.

It was only when she had lost sight of the house that she realized it was dark, and she had no idea where she was going.

She was going in a direction she had yet to go.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, she found herself in front of the police station.

She stopped, she could hear a man and woman arguing from inside.

Going over to one of the windows, her mouth dropped, it was Veda and Rick, they were arguing about what was going on between them.

Veda was cheating on Brent with Rick.

Grabbing her phone from her pocket, she hit record.

Once she had enough evidence, she stopped recording and walked away.

The next morning she was walking out the house when her phone rang, she glanced at it before answering; it was her friend from home.

“Hey, Gina.”

“Hi, how’s Misty Meadows going?”

“It’s okay.”

“Great, because Scott and I are coming to visit.”

Kane frowned, “Scott?”

Silence.

“Gina.”

“I’ll explain when I see you.” And she hung up.

Kane exhaled, Scott was her ex, and by the sounds of it, her friend’s current.

Sighing she took a slow walk to the store.

“Hey, Cliff.”

He looked up, “Why do you look like you want to kill someone?”

“Long story.”

Macy walked in, “Hey, oh God, Kane, why do you look so emo?”

Kane looked down at her dark attire before looking at Macy, who was dressed in a white and pink floral dress.

“I like my look.”

Brent walked in, “Where are the other geeks?”

Kane leant over and hit him on the back of the head, “Be nice.”

“Collin will join us later.” Said, Macy.

Kane frowned, trying to decide if now was a good time to tell him about Rick and Veda.

Brent sighed, “So, another missing person, what’s the bet Moth has no alibi?”

Kane rolled her eyes, Nope, he deserves to be humiliated.

“Don’t roll your eyes, it’s true.”

Kane raised a brow, “Do you have an alibi?”

His mouth opened and closed a few times before anything came out, “What the hell, how could you think I’d do something like that?”

“Just pointing out that just because you don’t have an alibi, doesn’t mean you’re guilty.”

Macy shrugged, “She’s got a point.”

“But it's Moth.”

Kane frowned, “Why does everyone hate him?”

“Because he’s dangerous, he has anger issues and can’t be trusted.” Replied Brent.

“Glad to see you think so highly of me, Hartley.” Said Moth as he walked in.

Kane shrugged, “He’s just pointing out that small minds often go with big mouths.”

Moth grinned, “Got a point there.”

Cliff cleared his throat, “So when did the other person go missing?”

Brent glared at him.

Kane nodded, “Yeah, we need to know, Moth needs an alibi.”

Moth frowned, “Not from you, London.”

“You got a problem with it coming from me?”

“Actually, yes I do.”

Brent snorted, “Talk about gratitude.”

Moth glared at him, “Gratitude won’t do her any good when she’s sitting in a cell.”

Kane rolled her eyes, “I don’t plan on sitting in a cell.’

“Then stop lying for me.”

“Then maybe you should start being smart enough to have a real alibi.”

“Why do you even care?”

“I don’t.”

Moth raised his eyebrows, “It sure looks like you do.”

Kane shook her head, “You know what, you’re on your own from now on.”

He frowned slightly before walking out.

Collin walked in, “Moth was here?”

Kane nodded, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“He looks rather pissed off; I’ve noticed you’re responsible for that these days.”

Kane was on her way home when something caught her eye; it was something running up Misty Hill.

‘Don’t go chasing after things.’

A second later, she was racing up the hill; freezing when she reached the top and stood in front of the house.

She had not been planning on coming up here again, after seeing the charred face.

Turning, to retreat down the path; her eyes stopping on a wet patch on one of the leaves.

It looked an awful lot like blood.

Just as she was about to reach for the patch, a blood-curdling scream cut through the air; spinning, she ran in the direction in which it had come from, only briefly registering the dark shadow in the burnt house.

Her running was cut short when she caught her jeans on an old piece of barbed wire fencing; trying to rip herself free, she glanced up to see a person jogging towards her from the house, it was dark and the person had a hood on, so she couldn’t see their face.

Ripping her jeans free from the fencing, and slicing open her ankle in the process, she continued running in the opposite direction.

Her priority was no longer finding who the scream had belonged to; it was now getting away from the hooded figure.

She had nowhere else to run to when she met with a sheer drop; pausing to take in her surroundings, she saw an old dilapidated building that looked like it had once been a church.

She figured that the person chasing her would know his way around the woods, and she didn’t so she decided not to take the chance, and enter the building instead.

The beams had collapsed so she had to crawl through what had once been a doorway; scanning her surroundings, she saw broken stairs leading to nothing.

Getting to her knees, she crawled into a small opening where the roof had caved, along with some more beams; she crawled over to the dark corner where she would be concealed.

She managed to stand in the corner, back against the one wall; eyes on the opening she had crawled through.

She held her breath as she heard footsteps.

Her blood ran cold as her phone vibrated in her pocket; with shaking hands she switched it off and shoved it back into her pocket, hoping the hooded figure had not heard it.

She frowned, she couldn’t hear him anymore; maybe he was gone.

Taking a step forward, her forehead hit against something cold and clamming.

She took her phone out and held it up, using the light as a torch.

Hanging from above her head was a hand, the rest of the body concealed.

Screaming she spun, right into the hooded figure.

Swinging her fist, he caught it, pulling her closer, “London, calm down, it's okay.”

She froze, “Moth.”

He let go of her hands and took the phone from her hands.

Leaning around her, he used her phone to see what she had seen; he inhaled sharply, “C’mon. Whoever did that could still be around.”

He took hold of her hand and led her out a way she hadn’t even seen.

Keeping hold of her hand they jogged back to the burnt house.

It was only once she stopped moving that she registered the aching from her ankle.

Moth started pacing, “What the hell were you doing, London?”

Kane sighed, “I heard a scream, so I followed it. I didn’t realize it was you following me when I got caught in that fence, so I panicked.”

Moth stopped, “You got caught in the fence, right. Sit.”

Kane rolled her eyes, “I’m fine.”

“Sit.”

Kane took a step back, suddenly not so sure about Moth, and knocked her leg against the chair in the room, “Ow.”

Moth smirked, “Fine hey? Sit down.”

Sighing, she sat, “There’s a body out there, I think my leg can wait.”

Moth crouched and rolled up her jeans, “She’s dead; we can’t help her. You are very much alive.”

Kane sighed; Moth was extremely close to her, and she started fidgeting.

“Can you stop moving? It’s pretty deep; I think you might need stitches.”

“No. Hospitals and I don’t go.”

Moth stood, “Well they do now. Get up, we’re going.”

“But the-”

“Dead girl, yes I know; we’ll call the cops once we get to the hospital.”

“But-”

“Nothing. Come.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet, keeping a firm grip on her as they walked out as if he thought she was going to run.

Kane limped behind, “And we’re going to walk there? Makes sense.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Was that sarcasm?”

He stopped in front of a black Harley with flames on the tank.

Kane’s mouth dropped open, “A Harley? How the hell can you afford that when you live in a-”

He turned abruptly; causing Kane to freeze in mid-sentence.

“Could you stop insulting me?”

Kane bit her bottom lip, “Sorry.”

He placed a helmet on her head and she got on behind him, holding onto the back of the bike.

“London, you can hold onto me; I don’t bite.”

Kane sighed but placed her hands around his waist.

And a few minutes later they were at the hospital; Moth dragging Kane in by the wrist.

Kane frowned, “I’m not going to run away, you know.”

“Good to know; I’m getting used to having you around.”

Kane was quite surprised to hear that coming from him, but before she could say anything, they were at the desk.

The woman looked up, “How can I help?”

“She needs stitches.”

She handed them a form, “Fill that in first, and wait for-”

Moth cut the woman off, “No. We’ll see a doctor now. Her leg is bleeding badly.”

He scanned the room and dragged her towards a doctor.

“She needs stitches,” he turned to Kane, “I’ll call the cops.”

The doctor looked between them.

“I’ll be right in.”

The doctor nodded and walked into one of the rooms.

“Kane, I’m not telling them you found the body. I won’t even tell them we were together; you just hide that wound of yours.”

“No. Are you crazy? If they think you were alone, they’ll blame you.”

“I don’t want you involved.”

“I am involved, whether you like it or not.”

Moth sighed, “London, please.”

“No. We tell them the truth.”

“Fine. Whatever. Go get your leg sorted.”

Kane nodded and went in after the doctor.

He introduced himself as Doctor Meyers before injecting her ankle and starting on the stitches.

Kane frowned, looking around the dimly lit room; she was still rather shaken from the night's events.

The doctor looked up, and she screamed, diving backwards; hitting her shoulder on the metal tray, and her head on the wall.

The door flew open and Moth rushed in, crouching beside her, “What happened?”

“Nothing, I, uh…”

Moth turned to the doctor, “Give us a minute.”

Without a word, the doctor walked out.

Moth turned back to her, “What happened, London?”

“He, when he looked up, it wasn’t his face I saw; it was a burnt and oozing skeleton.”

Moth frowned, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Moth took her and they got to their feet, walking out together.

And they came face to face with sheriff Hartley.

“I need your statement, Kane.”

“Shouldn’t that be Miss London to you?”

He glared at them, “You two had time to get your stories straight?”

Kane smiled, “About as much time as you and a certain Miss Matthews have had to come clean.”

His face fell.

Moth frowned at her, unsure of what was going on.

Rick cleared his throat, “I don’t know what you mean, Miss London. How about we get that statement done?”

“Sure.”

Moth placed his hand on the bottom of her back briefly, “I’ll wait at the desk.”

Once he walked away, she sat; Rick sitting across from her.

“Look, Kane, you don’t want to involve yourself with someone like Moth, just be honest with me.”

“I think it’s a bit hypocritical that you’re lecturing me about honesty when you’re cheating with your nephew’s hussy.”

“Shut your mouth, you don’t know anything.”

She smiled, “Sure. Now let’s get this over with.”

She gave her statement and went over to where Moth waited at the desk, “All done.”

“You feeling okay?”

She shrugged.

Moth dropped her off at home.

She walked in and Alice was waiting.

“Where have you been? Do you see the time? Was that the Star boy again?” she frowned, taking in Kane’s appearance, “What happened? He did this, didn’t he?”

Kane sighed, “Hospital. Yes, I can tell the time. Yes, it was Moth. I chased something and ended up finding a dead body. Yes, I am okay. No, he didn’t do this to me; he took me to the hospital.”

“A dead body? Where?”

“An old church on Misty Hill.”

Alice let out a shaky breath, “You are not to be out after dark. No more going near Misty Hill. And stay away from Moth.’

“Not going to happen, Alice.”

“Stay away from him before you end up dead too!”

“Moth is not a killer. And you have no right accusing him.” She stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Leaning against it, she let out a shaky breath; the truth of the matter was that she had no idea if he was innocent.

Everything kept replaying in her head; finding the body in the church, the doctor's face changing.

“What’s happening to me?”

“You know what.’

She jumped at the voice, “No. I’m not going back there; you’re not real.”

She was relieved when she was met with silence.

She got her clothes and went to shower’ hoping a nice hot shower would clear her mind.

The water turned to blood for a few seconds.

Getting up, she went through to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. She heard a plop, and when she looked down, it was moving.

She dipped her finger in, it came out red and sticky.

she pushed the cup away and stood. This would be a long night.