The Asylum

Welcome Home

Chapter 3

Stormie looks up at the door for the billionth time. Why isn’t Jaffa here yet? She looks at the clock. Midday. Dalton has gone to see why Carmilla isn’t back yet. Just as she is thinking about this, Rex walks in the room. He sits on the bed beside her.

“You’re Stormie, correct?” He asks in a habitually formal tone. Stormie sees words flash in front of her eyes again.

Reks iz a frend, nott an enimi. Yoo must trused him, hee iz verri importent too yor and Carmilla’s lyvs. Yoo hav too let him inn.

“Are you okay?” He asks when he notices Stormie’s blank expression. He could tell she was different. It was the same feeling he couldn’t shake that day he found Carmilla. Stormie snaps out of her silence.

“Yes, to both your questions,” she says.

“Okay. Your friend, Carmilla. She was taken to a room last night yes?”

“Yeah…”

“I think she might be-” he is cut off by Dalton walking in.

“Dammit!” Dalton shouts, “They gave her more than most could handle!” he punches the wall. Stormie hugs her tail, a habit she got from her friend.

“Where is she?” Rex asks. Dalton looks at the worker he barely knows.

“There’s nothing we can do they won’t open the door until she wakes up”

“Take us there,” the other two reply.

“What?” Dalton exclaims, “Stormie, no. You should stay here, where we know where you are.” Stormie knows she can’t persuade him so she just stays sitting on the bed and watches them go.

Carmilla twitches as she begins to stir. She groans as she becomes aware of sound on the other side of the door. She manages to sit up and open her eyes, but everything is blurry. She hears shouting but she doesn’t recognise the voice. It demands the door opened. The sound of heavy locks moving is accompanied by Dalton coming in, followed by Rex, who Carmilla didn’t know.

Dalton helps her up and supports her as they walk down the hall. Dalton’s stomach sinks when Dakota’s door swings open and she leans against the doorjamb.

“You alright Milli?” She asks, not even trying to wipe the grin off her face. “You look like you’ve had a bad night.” Rex steps in front of Dakota, blocking her view of Carmilla.

“Leave her alone Dakota, before-“

“Before what?” she cuts him off, “Before you rip me apart or something? Please, spare me,” she spat, “As long as you have this thing on your wrist you can’t tell me what to do.” She grabs his arm and pushes up a length of his sleeve to show that he has a tattoo just like all the other werewolves. He is one of them but The Hunter trusts him. But not for much longer if Dakota has anything to say.

Carmilla blinks away threatening tears as her mind drifts to Jeremy. In her dream, he was locked away in chains. But, she reminds herself again, it may have just been that. A dream. She feels her eyes change again, this time to a sad grey. She visualises him with his light brown hair and eyes a lot lighter than hers. She feels that same determination to find him again.

Rex distracts Dakota while Dalton helps Carmilla to her room. Her wings are beginning to grow back, but her thoughts are still hazy.

“Carmilla, you’re freezing!” he exclaims now that he has a chance to see whether she’s okay. She had barely noticed, herself, up until now; she is chilled to the bone.

*                  *                 *

Xyprus wipes away tears of distress as the branches whack her face and tangle in her hair. Finally, wet and covered with dark oozing mud, she stumbles into a clearing. It had taken hours and hours of walking through the thick, dense woods to get to where she is. She had lost track of how long she had been walking, how many steps she had taken. She had just told her feet to walk.