** A young woman sees a walking dead in the open streets of Whitby. A train full of corpses crashes into Kings Cross. In an Asylum, a gruesome nightmare becomes horrible reality.
All this should have been a warning to Kyle and his partner Benjamin...
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Kaylee's head was throbbing, and she could have sworn that she had blacked out for a while. Now, however, the seeker fought fiercely against nausea and the threat of unconsciousness. One moment, the smell of wet earth tickled her nostrils; the next, her senses were overwhelmed by the iron taste of her own blood.
'Pull yourself together!'
'You have to get up!'
'You must not faint!'
Scraps of thoughts fluttered through her mind like dry leaves in the fall wind as Kaylee forced herself to regain control of her consciousness. What clearly helped her was the pain that throbbed in her limbs. It repeatedly cut through the lowering curtains of darkness, pushing Kaylee out of the impending blackout.
Her senses threatened to fade again when she suddenly felt someone grabbing her arm harshly. Kaylee felt warm hands on her shoulders, lifting her immobile body.
"Crowford! Can you hear me?"
The sound of the doctor's familiar voice helped her consciousness stay awake better than the worst pain could. Her eyelids fluttered slightly as she tried to open them. Rain was pouring down on her; everything was wet, cold, and aching. Her chest still seemed constricted, as if a pile of stones were crushing her body and pressing her ribs together.
To his relief, Dr. Benjamin Archer discovered that his companion had miraculously survived the terrible crash. As Kaylee groaned and stood up with help, she was hit with a barrage of worried reproaches.
"Are you getting ready?" Kaylee moaned between her teeth, clenched in pain as she tried to wipe the dirt off her frock coat. "I'm all right. Let's say I'm fine under the circumstances!" she groaned. Every bone in her body ached, and every movement was painful and exhausting. She was still trying to get air into her lungs, which had been forced out of her so violently, thanks to the impact.
Kaylee wanted to curl up in a warm, dry place, cry, and give in to her misery until the pain faded. Her ears still rang, and her head throbbed and pounded, seemingly to complete the physical suffering of her body.
By God, she was so exhausted, not just because of the long journey, the confrontation with two supernatural beasts or the damn fall. No, she was drained from years of iron control, of resisting the voice inside her that she was not allowed to give in to.
She knew only too well that she shouldn't listen to it, not for a second, a weak moment, or even to catch her breath. Her mental defences must never falter. And when body and mind were so affected, day after day, it was no wonder that Kaylee wanted to cry in this moment of utter dejection.
But since no one was allowed to know about the circumstances in which she found herself, Kaylee tried again to put on a smug smile and play the cheeky Kyle Crowford. Her trained mind suppressed the whispering voice and pain with astonishing consistency as she straightened up again, picked up her walking stick, and looked into Doctor Archer's worried, drenched face.
