Page 8 of The Asylum
“Why are you still here?”
“Forgotten,”Mathew replied, and we frowned.
Callie paused the recording. “Does Mathew mean he’s been forgotten?”
“Or could Mathew be saying they’ve all been overlooked?” Freddie asked.
Callie shrugged and pressed play again.
“Are you alone?” my voice said, and my jaw dropped open.
“Emily, Joanne, Justin, Mason, Caroline. Jed…”The names continued for about a minute. All different voices and, from what I gather, varying ages. Holy shit.
Callie swapped a stunned gaze with Connor as his expression matched hers.
“There are so many,” I muttered. My heart was broken for the youngsters who were trapped here. Surely there was something we could do? I gazed hopefully at Callie. She’d discover a solution; I was sure of it. If not, I’d break my back to help these kids find rest.
“I have someone with me who can help you cross over to a nice place. Would you like to go?” Callie asked.
“It would be warm there, you’d be safe,” Connor added.
“Lost. Forgotten. Remember. Justice. Punished. Find us. Lost. Darkness.” The words spilt from the recorder.
“Find us,” Connor said. We all turned and looked at him. “I wonder if they were buried here and nobody knew.”
“Seek the proof.”The words floated in the air as an icy breeze rushed by us. A door opened and slammed further down the corridor near the entrance to the wing.
“What the hell?” I exclaimed.
Callie began walking towards the noise when Sunny reached out and snagged her. “Me first.”
Callie glowered at Sunny but let him take the lead. She and Connor followed him, and I chased them.
They entered what appeared to be a nurse’s office and peered around. The place had been trashed. There were two metal desks, with a broken chair behind one. A second chair was thrown into a corner. Paper and debris littered the floor, and paint peeled from the walls. There was a glass partition, which allowed those inside to watch the ward. Several filing cabinets stood against the wall, their drawers open and empty.
“Find the proof. The written record, perhaps?” Connor asked while gazing about.
He was answered with a bang, and I jumped a little spooked.
“Are you the nurse who kept the evidence?” Connor continued looking around.
“Seek.”
“What are we seeking? Can you tell us?” Callie inquired. Sunny was checking the filing cabinets.
“These are empty,” he announced.
“If you were keeping a secret record, you’d hide it but keep it close by,” Callie mused. “Connor, what would you do?”
“Under a floorboard or up above,” he replied.
“My thoughts exactly. Except it’s not in the ceiling,” Callie said, pointing above us. There was no ceiling. We could see a mass of pipes and wiring, but the panels had long fallen, and their remains were scattered on the surrounding floor.
“How the hell do we find a loose floorboard in this shit?” I demanded.
“Carefully,” Freddie replied.
“Can you help us? Give us a rough idea of where to search?” Connor called out.
