" what am i gon be? who is it
up to? me, just me, doin it my
way till i see the sun rise, hey.
the sun will always shine, sun
will always shine, sun will
always shine on me. "
in which a group of graduating
students sneak into an old,
abandoned asyl...
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HORRENUNT AEGRUM Prologue: The Last Patient
Ashwood Asylum, 1964
THE DISTANT WAIL of a patient echoed through the crumbling halls of Ashwood Asylum as Nurse Evelyn Greene hurried through the dimly lit corridor. The asylum was on the brink of closing its doors for good—months of scandals and whispers of malpractice had ensured that. But tonight, there was one last procedure to attend to. A special case, as Dr. Alder had called it.
Her hands trembled around the clipboard she clutched, and her shoes tapped softly against the cold, sterile floor. The stench of antiseptic and decay was thick in the air, mingling with the faint scent of something metallic, something wrong. The further she descended into the basement, the worse it became.
This part of the asylum was rarely visited, reserved for those beyond help. The ones they hid from the public. Evelyn had never been down here before, and she could feel why—the oppressive darkness of the corridor seemed to close in on her with each step. The occasional flicker of a light above did nothing to calm her nerves.
Her breath quickened when she reached the final door. The basement. Beyond it lay the room where Dr. Alder was waiting.
She swallowed hard, bracing herself, and pushed the door open.
The room was large, cold, and eerily quiet. At the far end, Dr. Alder stood beside a massive, ancient-looking mirror that dominated the wall. The mirror's frame was ornate, covered in intricate carvings. Its surface gleamed unnaturally, as though it had been polished for centuries. Latin words were etched along the top—Horrebunt Aegrum—though she didn't know what they meant. She would later learn that they meant 'horror movie', which she felt was an odd phrase to be engraved in something so ancient. Who had faced the beautiful piece and who had carved such a thing into it? But she supposed it wasn't her job to worry about such things. Her job was to tend to the patients, and that was it. Even the unruly ones that frightened her. But still, she couldn't help but to stare at the mirror, as if it held the secrets of the universe.
The mirror had always unnerved her. It reflected not just the room, but something... more. Something darker, like it could see straight through to your very soul.
"Ah, Nurse Greene", Dr. Alder's voice cut through the silence. He didn't look up, his attention focused on the man restrained in the chair before the mirror. "You're just in time."
The man in the chair—Mr. Dawson—was incredibly frail. His skin was sickly pale, his hair damp with sweat. His eyes were wide, darting from Dr. Alder to the mirror, and his breath came in short, panicked gasps.
"Please... please don't...", the man whispered, his voice trembling.
Evelyn felt a chill crawl up her spine. "Dr. Alder... are you sure about this?"
"Of course." The doctor didn't bother to look at her. His hands moved methodically, adjusting instruments on a nearby tray. "The final procedure. You've heard the rumors, I'm sure. What the mirror can do."
Evelyn had heard the whispers—about how the mirror wasn't just a mirror. About how it reflected something far worse than reality. But those were just stories, weren't they? No one really believed that.
"Watch carefully, Nurse", Dr. Alder continued, stepping to the side as he began muttering something in Latin under his breath.
Evelyn's gaze was drawn back to the mirror. Her heart pounded in her chest as she saw it shimmer, the surface rippling as if it were made of liquid instead of glass. And then... the reflection changed.
Mr. Dawson, still restrained in reality, was free in the reflection. But his mirrored self looked different—his eyes were hollow, his body covered in blood. Shadowy figures loomed behind him, twisted shapes that seemed barely human. Evelyn's forest green eyes widened in shock and horror. She could have sworn that every little red hair on her body stood up in that moment. What the hell was this? How could the mirror reflect such a thing? She looked around her, as if expecting to see the ghoulish figures surrounding herself, but saw nothing. She looked back at the mirror, and it was like the sickly man's putrid reflection was looking right at her.
"Do you see it?" Dr. Alder's voice was barely a whisper now, his eyes locked on the mirror. "The truth... the past... the spirits bound to this place."
Mr. Dawson's scream cut through the room, but his terror wasn't from pain. His eyes were fixed on the reflection, wide with unimaginable fear. He began thrashing against his restraints, begging incoherently as the shadows in the mirror reached for him, pulling him closer.
The mirror cracked.
A violent shudder ran through the room as the shadows poured out from the glass, twisting through the air like smoke. They latched onto Mr. Dawson, their skeletal hands clawing at him, dragging him toward the mirror's surface.
"No!", Evelyn cried, stumbling back, her legs trembling beneath her. She watched in horror as the man was pulled into the mirror—his body disappearing into the dark reflection, until only his screams remained, echoing through the room.
And then, silence.
The mirror was whole again, its surface calm and still, as if nothing had happened. But the room was empty. Dr. Alder stood, frozen, his face pale, eyes wide with disbelief.
Evelyn couldn't breathe. She turned and fled, her footsteps echoing down the empty corridors, the dark whispers from the mirror following her into the night.
Ashwood Asylum closed its doors the very next day. No one spoke of what had happened. But the mirror remained, waiting in the darkness for the next unfortunate soul.
It was covered by a sheet, and Evelyn Greene never spoke again of what she saw. But still, it haunted her, just as the mirror haunted that asylum like the oculus haunted the Russell siblings once upon a time. The asylum began to crumble and gather dust, along with everything inside, as the years went on. But the mirror always remained.
OCTOBER 1, 2024 POPPY SPEAKS ! i hope you guys liked the prologue! just something slight. sorry this chapter is getting uploaded a day late. i didn't wanna upload at a super late time.
