Gridlock Asylum

Prologue

              The crimson curtains flapped as the cold winter wind blew through the open window. Nara’s red eyes opened as the breeze hit her face. She sat up, her long, purple hair strewn all over her bed, and placed her feet on the floor, standing to reveal her knee-length sleeping gown, the black fabric dancing in the wind.

            She went over to the window, shutting it and preventing any further intrusions from the wind. Her hair hit her ankles as she shuffled to her closet, finding her black dress cleaned and pressed. Good, Michael remembered this time.

            She took the dress down and changed. The shining fabric hugged her skin tight, flourishing out a little as it neared the floor. She took on the chore of brushing her hair, a skill she had mastered over the years.

            Nara stood in front of her mirror, making sure everything was in order. She perfected her hair, smoothed her dress and smiled to herself, her reflection revealing fangs protruding from her mouth.

            Yes, Nara, leader of Gridlock Asylum, was, of all things, a vampire.

            She never really got any insults and whatnot about it, though. She wasn’t like the atrocities that inhabited this place. Those freaks with wings, powers, and awkward appendages were, unlike her, savage and unapproachable.

            She finished her primping and left her room. The Doctors that were passing by started as she flung her door open. They looked at her, afraid as to what her next move was.

            That’s when she decided she was rather thirsty. She saw a young doctor with black hair and wide, blue eyes, and she placed a hand on his shoulder. His expression didn’t change, but Nara felt his muscles tense.

            Without a word, the two made their way to the cell block. All of the cells contained freaks and outcasts. The four floors all rattled and shook as their residents awoke and moved about.

            As they made their way past the cells, some cowered away to the corners of their cell. Others flung themselves at the titanium bars, wanting free.

            An orange flash caught Nara’s eye. She turned and saw a cat woman, her orange fur and red hair ruffled and matted. Her green eyes were angry and tear-filled, and her tail was lashing as she threw insult after insult at Nara and her accompanying doctor.

            “Please shut her up,” said Nara.

            The Doctor nodded and shakily pulled the small tranquilizer gun from his belt. He held it up and, aiming as carefully as he could, he fired. The dart hit the cat woman in the upper arm, and she cried out, letting go of the bars so she could yank the dart out.

            “You’ll regret this one day,” she said ominously as she slipped away on the cold concrete floor.

            When the cat-woman’s breaths became even, Nara summoned some Doctors who, without question, lifted the unconscious body onto a cart. They all made their way past several rooms that would soon be filled with experiments on the Patients that were unfortunate enough to inhabit this place.

            But the door that the Doctors went to did not lead to an experimentation room.

            For Nara, it was a dining room.

            The Doctors opened the door and pushed the cart into the middle of the room, transferring the body to a table with restraints. They pulled the belts tight, then promptly pelted for the hallway and away from their leader and her breakfast.

            Nara stood beside the unconscious woman. Her cat ear twitched as she slept, probably from a hunting dream. Her face looked delicate and peaceful. It was almost uncharacteristic with the shackles and belts restraining her body to the table.

            The vampire waited for her victim to awaken. When the cat-woman finally did, her eyes were glazed, and there was a moment of silence as she registered her location before she gasped and began to thrash and resist against the restraints around her.

            Nara went next to her and calmed her, saying honeyed words that meant nothing and stroking her hair. The cat-woman slowly calmed down as she settled into a sort of euphoria. Nara paused.

            Then she struck.

            The cat woman let out a wild yowl as Nara’s ivory fangs buried themselves in her fur. The noise lasted for a few seconds before all was silent again, the cat-woman completely drained of her lifeblood.

            Doctors automatically came into the room. Nara stepped aside as they lifted the already-cooling body onto the cart again. They pushed it out of the room and down the hall with Nara close behind them.

          If there was anything the Doctors had in common with their leader, it was the enjoyment of seeing the other Patient’s faces as the dead body was carted down the cell-block. The Doctors walked with deliberate slowness, reveling in the horror and pain on the Patient’s faces

       Nara smirked and turned, going down the dark hallway into her quarters.