Alyssa's Asylum

Already Losing It

Chapter Two:

Slug slime coats the floor with a green layer of goo. I am chained to a wall by handcuffs in the Center Room for ladies. I am sure I am the youngest one there. A squad of four Vigilants enter the room, dark hair sliding down their face. They forcefully rip a woman of her bonds and drag her to the middle of the room. And then I notice the wire contraption, and I realize what it is used for.

A copper wire forms a cage- like figure, even forming a door. A chair is set in the center, wires protruding from it. "Electrocution," I mutter under my breath. They are going to electrocute the old lady, and were will be forced to watch.

I was thrown into my personal cell with a vengeance. The "show", as they called it, was horrifying. I can still hear her screams, and I know they will enter my dreams tonight. Are they trying to make us more insane?

If it weren't for the terrible conditions, the torture, or the neglect of the building, my room could actually be comfortable. A plush chair and a wide white cot are luxurious for Pheasants, but only if they weren't coated in spiderwebs and slime. A brown hardwood stool sits in front of a faded white desk. A flickering lamp is the only light, for there is no windows.

I sit down carefully on the cot. It is only my first day in the Asylum, yet the woman's death will forever haunt me. I examine the pockets of my jeans to keep my mind off these horrors, horrors that are making me lose my mind. My fingers probe the sequins on my front pocket. Sequined jeans are an extreme luxury for Peasants, yet these are stained with blood. I do not know how long I was in the Holding Cell, but I am positive that I haven't changed these jeans for at least a week. I try to stop my fingers from running on my jeans pointlessly, but I can't. My first day in this place, and I am already going mad!

My fingers do stop moving, though, when they reach a lump in my pocket. I catch my breath. Surely the Viligants would have rid me of everything I had? But no, in my jeans pocket is wholly, totally, the gift Adelie gave me when Papa died. A small locket with a miniature book as the pennant. I remember this. You can even open the pages and write small stories. Adelie. Adelie gave this to me to remember Papa.

I made a promise not to love anyone once I figured out Christopher's secret.

But I can't keep that promise. I love Adelie, Mama, and Darren.

I must get out, for Adelie and Darren. They probably miss me now. They may even be asking Mama, "Where's Ally?" or "When's Ally coming home?"

It is impossible to get out.

But I have to get out.