Bleak Hearts

Bleak Asylum

Octavia Evageline Debois 25th December 1819

Spyder Enzo Edúord 25th December 1819

A frail hand on a walking cane, click, click. The cane moved at an awfully slow speed down the corridor of the rather small hospital in Paris. Despite the fact it was labelled 'asylum' it was for more than just the insane. Poor people, orphans and the elderly spent their time wandering its halls. Spyder Edúord was one of the elderly men with no family and no one to look after him so he ended up in this over packed hell hole with so many others. He had spent his life alone and intended to spend his death in such a way. It was dark now, the halls were quiet and Spyder didn't really know where he was going but the darkness that came with the night seemed to hide the horrors of the day and for that he was grateful.

He halted at the sound of wheels squeaking around the corner, his body turned slowly to the sound as a woman as elderly as himself pulled herself along the hallway in a wooden wheelchair. Her hair was black and pinned back in places but in others it seemed to fall around her face in a scruffy manner that made her look like the maddest of scientists. His own beige slippers shuffled along the grey tiles a little as he moved to the side, a slight tilt of his head to greet the woman as she passed.

"bonjour" 

He chimed quietly. The woman though did not seem to give any notion that she had even seen him, continuing her way down the hallway, wheels squeaking loudly as she went. Spyder shook his head in dismay, a sarcastic tone leaving his lips as he spoke again.

"Au revoir" 

Moving down the hallway again Spyder stopped once more, another door had been left a crack open and a piece of grey fabric had been stuck between the door and the door frame. It was a struggle to get that low but with he held of the cane he pulled the fabric up. Following it along the floor, he noticed it was an old dressing gown, a few holes in places but relatively nice otherwise. His shaky hand hung it on the back of the door.

"excusez moi mademoiselle, your gown had fallen" 

He smiled as he hung it up again. As he turned he looked to the woman who seemed fast asleep.

Octavia's lips were slightly parted as she lay there still, hair long and silver, cascading over the pillow that lay under her head. If it had been as most nights had then Spyder would have left her sleeping but something brought him closer. He wasn't sure what he was but the way she slept seemed so serene, so beautiful, so... familiar. Though his hand shook he reached out towards the woman. That was until the voice of a much younger man interrupted him 

"Monsieur Edúord, you should be in bed" 

The male stated. His voice was cold and made a slight snarl grow on Spyder's lips, revealing a tooth he lost many years ago.

Back in his room Spyder couldn't stop thinking about her, he was unable to sleep as he stared at the Eiffel tower. It was only a few years old and Spyder had watched them build it from this very window. For some reason the bars that stood across his windows seemed familiar too, not these exact ones but something similar. He let a sigh slip his lips, drifting to sleep in an old beige armchair.

Octavia wasn't in the common area the next day, was she still asleep? Spyder would have to be careful to sneak away from the carers but he was pretty sure he could manage. His slow feet, shuffling along the ground towards the room again. Again the door was slightly ajar, as though someone had left it that way on purpose. Once again he stepped inside.

"mademoiselle?" 

He called quietly. This time her eyes were opened, shining blue orbs staring up at the peeling paint on the ceiling. Spyder stepped closer again, attracting her attention. Octavia's lips curled into a smile.

"there you are dear" 

She spoke as though they had known each other their entire lives. Spyder smiled back, taking her hand in his, wrinkles spreading across their hands.

"I told you we would see each other again, no matter how old we get"

He spoke quietly, a softness to his voice he was so sure he had not held in this lifetime, a slight chuckle left his lips before it turned into a chesty cough. Octavia kept her smile as she watched him, her own voice frail as she simply muttered. 

"I'm sorry my dear" 

When Spyder stopped coughing he moved his hand to Octavia's face, running his thumb along the wrinkle that formed from her smile 

"I think you're right darling" 

he let his smile slip slightly. It was funny how he had been alone so long, no idea why he was still alive, he had nothing to live for or at least he thought. Her hand loosened in his slightly, she too had waited so long. So long she had watched herself grow old wondering why her body clung to life whilst she was so frail. In a way it was funny and Spyder laughed a little, Octavia laughed too but it was oddly solemn. This wouldn't last and as Spyder's lips lay gently on her forehead she closed her eyes. Slipping away. It was a pleasant change really.

As Spyder's eyes closed he felt a tear squeezing from between his eyelids. The cane beside him slipped away as his knees buckled below him, he was dying, they both had been for a long time. Just waiting. His hand slipped from her limp one and he fell to the floor, a sad smile on his lips as he let himself slip, hoping for something better.

Octavia Evageline Debois 25th December 1819-28th August 1895

Spyder Enzo Edúord 25th December 1819-28th August 1895