Slenderlast.

1: The Arrival

The Jeep was struggling to climb the mountain.

While I was still deciding to do this or not, I drove with indecision to the doors of the Mount Massive Asylum for the Mentally Insane. The radio crackled with static, and after a few seconds, died completely. Some kind of signal problem, I guess.

The gates opened when I stopped, so I revved in again so I could drive in. I did an inventory check. I had my camcorder, a pair of batteries and I was ready to go. I checked again the intel provided by our whistleblower... And I'm still kinda intrigued about the nature of the "horrors" described in here.

When I stepped out of the car the gates closed. I felt a shiver down my spine as a strong wind ruffled the trees around the area, bringing me the familiar scent of the pines... and the putrefaction smell characteristic of a dead body.

I decided to check the security post, but no one was there.

So, rock and roll. I grabbed my camcorder and started to record.

"My name is Miles Upshur. I'm a freelance reporter and I got some interesting info on the Murkoff Corp. In the following minutes, or hours, I'm not so sure, I'm going to venture into the recints of the Mount Massive Asylum for the Mentally Insane, institution that's supposedly supported by Murkoff. As you'll see, the area is completely deserted... even though you can observe the military presence, I guess, because there's Humvees here..."

While I was narrating I saw that the lights on one of the windows flickered on, so I automatically pointed towards them.

A tall, slender figure was standing, like looking at me. The camera started to crackle with static, as the lights turned off.

"Sorry for that. I've got some cheap camera down here... I couldn't bring my other equipment so I had to stop on a Wal-Mart for something that could record more than 3 hours in 1080p... Even though when I could use an iPhone..."

I continued the recognition of the perimeter, when I found out everything was closed. The front doors were completely shut, as if they were locked in the inside. I saw nails coming out of the wood, so someone had to block them on the inside, as if they were trying to protect themselves from someone... or something.

I tried to find any way to get in, but I just could find a hole on one of the gates.

"Well, that's what it takes to be a real reporter".