Pastel Colored Sadness

CHAPTER 6 Vampire Stories

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Chapter 6

Vampire Stories

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I got out of the car with Jacob beside me as we faced the facilities of the asylum like we were about to enter the belly of a lion. This dreary place was colder than our previous home in Utah. But there were many evergreens giving life to the gardens still covered in melting snow. The sky was a dark grey just a few shades darker than the stone of the largest building and the walls surrounding us.

Remer walked up to greet us in hardly any more clothes than we would have worn back home, though all his other staff seemed to need twice or even three times the amount of clothing, just like Jacob and I now wore. "Theo! Jacob! I hope your trip wasn't too harsh on your poor souls. Everyone knows how you two do on planes," Remer teased us, hugging us tightly.

"Whatever, Remer. Let's get inside where it's warm already," I smile as Jacob takes our trunks. We were only allowed one each, which was a shame since I couldn't bring all the things I wanted. At least I had my sketchbooks and pencils. I'll return to my fountain pens in five years from now.

"You'll be rooming beside mine in the VIP wing. Jacob can join us for tea before he goes to his own rooms over the stables over there. I'll have someone take you there and give you a tour of all the places you're allowed to go. The gardens are neutral ground, except during free hours, when the patients are up and about. We have different wards of patients, and each has an hour to walk around outside. Some are dangerous, so I'd suggest not wandering around when the patients are," Remer warned, taking us inside. It looked like your typical hospital here, with beds and curtains and people in bandages and IVs.

"We heal everyone here. The most dangerous ones are cuffed to the beds, and closely monitored when they're here, but other than that, even nurses are known to spend a few days here at least once in their careers. No matter how slight the injury, if you're sent here, you stay the night. We have a few patients who somehow get their hands on poisons. We lost several nurses from that when we didn't have that policy," Remer explained as we went to an elevator that he opened with a key on his necklace. We walked in and went to the third floor.

"Our elevators don't go further than three floors at a time because of security reasons. We decided this when it was evident that the stairs had been too easy to escape that way. You have to cross the entire hospital in order to access one," Remer led us through hallways with numbers on them. There was one door that was open wide, the patient rolled out on a wheelchair looking more bones than flesh.

"You're patients die like this?" I asked once they were out of view.

"Not all of them. Most come out alive and healthy. This is the addiction ward, and some of them can be hard to manage. That one refused to eat anything but his drugs, if I'm right. He's being sent to get a tube, no doubt, but he might not make it if his body rejects the food," Remer shook his head.

"Do you have any elder patients here? What about the corpse trade? Where do you get the corpses?" Jacob asked.

"It's part of the contract that their bodies be dedicated to science. Only the young ones under age twenty one are sent back to their families, unless their families agree otherwise. When your mother was here, she insisted I put that into the contract plan. So far, it's worked well. Parents are more likely to send their young children here before they've nearly destroyed themselves beyond our help," Remer smiled kindly.

"My mother worked here?" I asked.

"Yes... she was thirteen. We both came here to learn the ropes. Your uncle was sent here too, at the time. It became our summer job. Your uncle furthered his education to become a surgeon, while your mother followed her passion for music. Her voice used to calm even the most unruly of our patients. We called her our little songbird... I will admit, I fell in love with your mother in those days. She was hard not to love," Remer said sadly.