Where Spirits Roam

Chapter One Asylum

One year ago

“Noooo,” Eviee screamed while fighting against the bindings that kept her tied to the small hospital gurney.

The orderly who stood to her right made no effort to stop, simply smiling at her pleas.

The one to her left looked uncomfortable. He was young and new, he hesitated to keep pushing the bed with the young mentally ill girl screaming for mercy. He downcast his eyes, watching his feet as he tried to ignore them.

“Please, please don't let them hurt me again,” Eviee begged, tears rolling down her cheeks and staining the sheets.

The doors at the end of the hallway opened with a wave of the first orderlies ID badge and they push her through the entry into the room she grew to dread.

This room had broken her in every way possible. It shattered her mind and made her forget who she was, furthermore, it broke her body sending pain through every cell. It was at these times Eviee wished for the shot that she knew would take it all away. She wished for the numbness, the blackness, the nothingness that came with the sedatives injected into her veins.

The doctor was never so nice as to accommodate. She was sure he enjoyed her pain. The cruel man saw her and his other patients as nothing more than lab rats and she was undoubtedly his favorite.

The asylum ran like it was still in the mid-1900s with the head doctor opting for the use of certain treatments for mental illness that had long been changed for new more humane methods.

As Eviee lay on her hospital bed, she wondered what treatment would be administered tonight.

She was used to the hydrotherapy, metrazol convulsion, and insulin shock therapy. Those things she thought she could handle. From the corner, she could hear the doctor's whispers and when she met his eyes an evil grin lit up his face leading her to believe it wouldn't be any of them tonight.

Another orderly and a couple of nurses made their way into the room. Eviee forced herself to remain calm. The tears streaking her face dried and she set her jaw, putting on a stoic front.

Her already bound hands and feet were being held down by the men who had brought her here and the largest of the attendants placed his large hands across her middle tightening the strap before pushing her body deeper into the firm mattress. A nurse made her way to the right side of her bed and reached for her mouth. Eviee clenched her jaw harder, refusing to give her access. It wasn't of much use as the other nurse slapped her so hard she was forced to open gulping in a large amount of air. Eviee hadn't realized the other nurse had moved so close. Taking the chance the first nurse shoved a rubber heel into her mouth. The motion caused Eviee to gage until she could start breathing through her nose again.

The air chilled suddenly and her bare feet felt colder than they should with the warm hands of the orderly holding her ankles. She could feel her arm hair standing on end as goosebumps arose. Eviee didn't have time to adjust to the change.

“Almost ready,” the doctor chirped with glee.

His hands slid effortlessly across the keyboard and he wheeled the machine closer excitement dancing in his cold eyes. He knew electroconvulsive therapy was meant to be used under general anesthesia and only for extreme conditions, but he was fascinated by the young girl. He wanted to know how she would respond to such abrasive means. He moved to the head of the bed his hands clinging to the prods that would administer the electric currents.

Eviee’s eyes grew large the violet hues shimmering with unshed tears as she watched on in horror. The cold metal brushed her temples and she closed her eyes, clenching them tightly as if to block out what was to come.

The nurse who had slapped her walked to the machine and as the doctor's voice rings out “Begin” she pressed the button sending the first of the electric shocks into fifteen-year-old Eviee’s body. Her whole being stiffened.

She went prone in the bed and became as white as the sheet she lay on. The wave died down and the cool metal pulled away only to be replaced seconds later when round two began. By this time Eviee had succumbed to the blackness.

When he was done the orderlies stayed behind holding her convulsing body. Each seizure raked her body with such force that it left the new attendant swallowing bile.

“Is this normal?” He asked, his parlor slightly green.

“Yes,” the attendant at Eviee’s shoulders answered a smile on his lips.

The next morning Eviee was awoken by the sound of a patient screaming, then her door burst open and she knew why. The orderly who passed out their meds was at the door, pushing his large body into the room a cup of pills in his hand. Eviee had no fight in her body and swallowed the pills when they were presented to her.

Eviee couldn't remember how she had got there, all she knew was that she wished she could disappear. She did not feel like herself and the bruises on her temples along with the ache in her jaws reminded her of what had occurred, even if her memory failed her.

Eviee was collected and taken to therapy a few hours later where the doctor proceeded to update her chart he had already diagnosed her with multiple personality disorder, Schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Under his care, she had not progressed.

“Are we feeling better today, Eviee?” He asks, looking up from his clipboard and steadying his cold brown eyes on her. It was hard to think of brown as cold, the color itself has always been warm to her, but the flat voids held no emotion and their detached state left her body feeling frozen in place.

Eviee found it hard to answer and audibly gulped. “I’m feeling better. How did I get here?”

“You were brought in last night after having another one of your episodes.”

Episodes, that is what he always called them. They thought she was hallucinating according to conversations she overheard the nun having with the doctor.

Regardless, Eviee could vividly remember when she experienced one of the so-called ‘episodes’ with full force. Last night was not one. She had been being bullied by the other orphans and she was defending herself.

“It was a rather violent event,” the doctor adds when she doesn’t respond.

“I’m sorry,” she finally mutters.

***

Present day

Eviee sat in the central room which allowed the patients to gather and talk. She avoided them all opting for the farthest corner where she could sit alone and no one could approach her from behind.

This was not Eviee’s first stay inside the blank walls that housed her screams though it has been the longest and by far the worst. The first night still played through her mind. Those feelings from those following days were common now. Between the tests, unethical procedures, and the “doctors” constantly forcing pills down her throat Eviee had receded into the dark recesses of her mind. Her memory had remained fuzzy and they made her feel crazy. She found it hard to believe her own experiences though she had been experiencing the strange phenomena since her childhood. That first memory of the paranormal would forever be burned into her mind though. As if remembering dredged it up the scene began to unfold behind her closed eyes.

It was Eviee’s fourth birthday and the cook had made a small cake. While the other orphans didn't get along with Eviee always calling her mean names and making her play alone they didn't want to miss out on cake so they gathered in the dining hall to enjoy it. The children stopped singing and the candles burned Eviee prepared to make her wish. Sucking in air she pushed her lips out and thought of how she wanted a family. Eviee blew out the air and the temperature in the room immediately dropped. Opening her eyes Eviee came face to face with a young couple who had not been there before. She screamed tumbling backward off the chair and pulling the cake down with her, tears rolled from her eyes as cake stuck to her dress.

The couple grew closer worry written on their pale faces and Eviee scrambled against the wall closing her eyes tight in hopes they had gone away. They didn’t, they too had stepped closer. She blinked again and again not believing her eyes and saw the hole in the woman’s head. Releasing another deafening scream at the sight. The nuns had rushed to her side trying to grab her attention and she could swear she heard the woman whisper “we’re scaring her” as they disappeared.