I'd Go Insane for You

Chapter 3: Nostalgia

Yixing's eyes widened. He had not expected anyone to answer the door, to be honest.

"Uh...I'm Yixing"

Yixing was in awe, the male who answered the door had a perfectly symmetrical face, pale, porcelain skin (much like his own), strong eyebrows which are currently knitted and pink lips. The male looked perfectly sane, he doesn't look like a patient. But he looked familiar.

"Yixing?" The boy asked, eyebrowed more furrowed than before.

Yixing didn't even have the chance to reply as the boy's expression grew brighter, his lips forming a wide grin.

"Oh my god it is you! It's been so long! Do you remember me? I'm Sehun!" 

Yixing didn't need to think twice. He remembered Sehun in an instant. How could he not?

Sehun seemed to have understood Yixing's bright expression, he immediately claimed Yixing's hand in his own and dragged him into the building, beaming as he heard Yixing giggle slightly.

Yixing had met Sehun when they were kids, his mom always volunteered at the asylum, often dragging Yixing along with her. The trips to the asylum had been slightly boring until he bumped into Sehun one day. They instantly became play pals. Sehun's father was a doctor here, he loved all his patients wholeheartedly. Which explains why Sehun is still here, he might be taking care of the remaining patients here in his father's place. Anywho, Yixing still asked, just to make sure.

"What are you still doing here? And how are the patients still here?"

"Ah, you see my father has been busy these few months so he left me in charge. After the fire, he really thought it was the end of the road for him. But the patients loved being taken care of here, so they refused to leave. My father couldn't just give up on his patients like that, so he kept running the asylum in secret. Just for the patients." Sehun beamed, pride swelled up in him as he recalled his father's actions.

"But the reports...they made this place seem so abandoned and hopeless...why weren't any police or rescue teams allowed to enter?" Yixing inquired. 

"Well a few of the patients really like it here, it's peaceful. They don't want the government taking that away from them,"

Yixing nodded, he now had no reason to come here. But he didn't want to leave so soon, he wanted to catch up with Sehun.

"Anyways," Sehun said. "My turn, why are you here?" Sehun raised a brow in question, eyeing the smaller male as they weaved through the building towards the mental wards.

"Well...uh...I originally came here to try and convince some patients to return to the city with me, I thought that living in such an isolated area wouldn't be healthy for the patients. But after you said that all of them were doing just fine, I guess I don't really have a purpose of being here anymore." Yixing shrugged.

Suddenly, Sehun grabbed Yixing's wrist to halt his footsteps. He looked Yixing dead in the eye and spoke with a voice much lower and serious.

"I didn't say all of the patients. Many of them were traumatized by the fire and snapped. They refused to be relocated into other asylums, they even started abusing other patients. My father and I had no choice but to separate them in the Right Wing. We tried to help them, we really did. But whenever we try to send nurses in, they come back with ripped clothing, gash marks, and terrified expressions." 

Yixing gasped. He desperately wanted to help those patients.

"How many?" he asked, and Sehun didn't need to think twice about which people Yixing was referring to.

"About 50." he stated. 

There was originally only a handful of patients that were affected by the fire incident. But these patients managed to convince others that the culprit who started the accident should be punished. They all had a sudden desire to hunt, hurt and kill whoever was responsible for the fire. 

The fire happened 10 years ago. 12-year-old Yixing and his mother were both there to witness it all. But Yixing had no idea how the fire started. The last thing he remembered was being dragged out of the building by his mother moments before the fire erupted. There were no dead bodies, but there were a handful of patients as well as staff members fleeing the scene with scorched skin. After that incident, Yixing and his mum stopped returning to the asylum. Yixing never got to ask why.

Yixing started. "Okay, let me try an-", 

"No way I'm letting you in there Yixing it's far too dangerous." Sehun deadpanned.

"Sehun, please. I might be able to help them. They can't be locked up in there forever. Please, I beg you. Let me try." Yixing pleaded, he looked at Sehun, his soft yet powerful stare made its way into Sehun's heart. Sehun couldn't deny Yixing, no one could. But Sehun was rather easy to manipulate, Yixing had learned this when he would try to convince him to give up his toys when they were children.

He sighed. "Fine, fine. But if they harm a single hair on your body, we're out. Got it?"

Yixing nodded, he didn't know if he should be relieved or worried. The duo continued walking down the hallways, going deeper and deeper into the asylum. They passed by a few nurses and humble patients and shared kind and knowing glances. They had made a stop in the kitchen for water before continuing. 

The inside of the building was nothing compared to the outside. It was perfectly renovated, the pine wood walls were waxed, and the carpeted floor was as soft as a sheep's wool. However the giant hole on the left side of the building was still there, it seems to have broken off a path to the left tower. There were bits of burnt wood here and there but it wasn't anything too noticeable. As they made their way towards the right wing, Sehun had explained that it was where the solitary confinement rooms were, as well as the security and control rooms. But he was quick to reassure Yixing that there was no need for the controls anyways as they managed the left wing using the backup generator.

after what had felt like forever, they finally made their last turn down the corridor and was greeted by a large barricaded doorway. There were no actual doors separating the left and right wing thus barricading the midpoint was the only option. Yixing and Sehun removed the assortment of wooden pieces of furniture in absolute silence, who knows what mysteries lie ahead?

After pushing the final wardrobe out of the way, they were face to face with a dark, gloomy hallway, infested with several species of spiders, Dubia roaches, and other creepy crawlies.

"Are you ready?" Sehun muttered.

"No. Lets go." Yixing breathed out.

Sehun was slightly in the lead while Yixing clung close to his left side. They began walking into the dark unknown.