The Institute

Chapter Eleven

The ride there was shorter than I thought and we got there about forty-five minutes earlier than I thought. We parked around back where I told Sean to meet us and waited. An hour later we were still waiting.

“Are you sure you told him to meet us here?” Brady asked, crumpling up his McDonald’s bag.

“Positive. Think we should go in and get him?” I asked.

“Why not. It’s not like I have anything better to do.” Brady laughed. “Let’s do this. Hey, do you remember where your brother got that doctor suit from?”

“How did you… Oh, right, psychic thing. Um, he probably just found some in the laundry. Right, this is the laundry room.” We both got out of the car, leaving the doors unlocked as we didn’t have a key. When I reached out to open the door to the basement/laundry room, it was locked. I jiggled the handle, but it didn’t budge.

“The laundry doesn’t go out today,” I mumbled. That was when I noticed the magnetic key reader next to the door. Of course they wouldn’t make it easy to get in or out of here. It was a mental hospital for God’s sake.

“So how are we going to get in?” Brady asked.

“Well, you know what they say, ‘hide in plain sight.’ We go through the front doors. How else can we get in?” Shopping time. We walked over to a Wal-Mart that was just down the street. Thank god the owner of the car we stole was dumb and left three hundred bucks in the glove box. We were in and out of the store in less than half an hour, both dressed in adult-looking clothes, sunglasses, and new haircuts, thanks to the crappy little “hair salon” right inside the doors of Wal-Mart. Neither of us looked like two kids who had just escaped from a mental institute and were about to break someone else out. Good.

“You ready?” I asked, letting out a breath. He nodded and we were on our way to the front steps themselves. Getting in was easier than I thought. The lady at the front desk didn’t even look up when we asked to visit with Lucy. I knew we couldn’t get them all out, but I wished so much that we could. Another lady, a nurse I assumed, led us up into our ex-ward.

“Right, that way, sirs,” she said, gesturing towards a hallway. “Last door on your right. Sorry, I would take you down myself, but we’re very busy today. There has been a few… incidents and all staff in the building are working to solve the… issues. Enjoy your visit.” And with that, she walked away. I almost laughed that they were making it so easy. It was like they were handing us the keys and saying “here, go on and take Sean and leave.”

As soon as she disappeared around the corner, we took off in the direction of the patients’ rooms. Speed-walking through the cafeteria and common room, I noticed no one was there (luckily), not even a single nurse or lunch lady. That threw me off a bit but not enough to slow me down.

When we reached the rooms, we headed straight for Sean’s. I think we both knew that something wasn’t right and we probably weren’t getting out of here again. Right now, it was speed over stealth. Trying to sneak our way around wasn’t worth it or going to work. Sean’s room was empty. I couldn’t say that I was surprised.

“What are we supposed to do?” Brady asked. I opened my mouth to answer him but I was interrupted by a voice behind us.

“What are you guys doing here?” Brady and I both spun around to see who was there. It was David.

“David! Something is really wrong here! We need your help. Sean called us and we need to find him but no one is around,” I rambled.

“Slow down, who’s Sean?” David asked. Right. I was the only one who could see Sean.