Mind's Echo

Introduction

Before you begin your journey to Clakmann Home for the Mentally Insane, allow me to provide you with some insight into the story's creation. This short story is a collaboration among five authors. Each writer was responsible for a character's part in the action. This story was never intended for publication but merely as an act of fun and friendship. Yet, after great consideration, I thought that it would be nice to offer it up for public consumption. I was the creator and director behind the character Eve, and I have taken it upon myself to edit the story in order for it to flow better as a whole so that it can be shared and enjoyed. A special thanks goes out to Lisa and Ray for creating the tale that I have had so much fun working on.

I hope you, the reader, have a great time exploring Clarkmann Home for the Mentally Insane with the rest of the gang!

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"The OR is prepped, Dr. Lewis."

Dr. Emmanuel James Lewis looked up from the paperwork on his desk. He pushed the documents containing the logo of Cyberdyne Management Company aside and smiled genially at his head nurse, Nurse Angelica Rowe.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Nurse Rowe. I'll be along shortly. Please, go on and bring in the patient to be readied."

She nodded, giving a small respectful bow of her brunette head before existing the office.

Dr. Lewis stood and stretched. He reached down to retrieve the papers he was reading. He slid them into a file folder and turned toward the large bookcase taking up residence along the wall to his left. He pulled the bookcase out a few feet. It slid smoothly across the tiled floor. He ran his hand along the wallpapered wall behind the bookcase until his hand rested at chest level. With a little pressure a latch clicked and a hidden door swung inward slowly.

Behind the secret door was a small room containing a row of filing cabinets along the far wall. Dr. Lewis sighed. So much research was located here. So much work. And he was so close to giving Cyberdyne what they wanted. It wasn't just what they wanted, he wanted it also. Needed it. Had worked his whole life for it. Tonight he had the perfect specimen to see his research complete.

He placed the file he held in it's proper place and left the hidden room quickly. They would be waiting on him in the operating room.

Minutes later, Dr. Lewis entered the washroom of the OR. Through the window over the deep sink, he could see that the OR was already filled with nurse and orderlies. He deftly washed his hands, then proceeded into the OR. Once inside, he moved to the head of the table and looked down at his patient.

Looking up at him was Evelyn Adams. Her eyes were bleary, but she was conscious. With the proper amount of pain medicine, Dr. Lewis had found no need to employee an anesthesiologist to put his patients under. They fared well enough without.

Dr. Lewis looked away from Evelyn, smiling at the staff gathered in the room.

"Shall we begin?"

Without hesitation, the doctor initiated the lobotomy. Dr. Lewis was pleased with the progress of the surgery, and in his pleasure he did not notice when a man angrily burst into the outer washroom. When the OR was breached, the doctor barely noticed the bullet slamming into his chest. He grasped at the wound as pain burned outward toward his arms. He dropped the lobotomy tools he had been using.

But it didn't matter. He was done, and he had failed. He was done. His last worldly thoughts were of his tremendous failure to date and how he was sure he could do it if only he had more time. Just a little more time ... One more chance ...

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The setting is that of an abandoned asylum for the mentally ill, located in rural Tennessee. It is called Clarkmann Home for the Mentally Insane, and is located deep within the Smoky Mountains. The asylum has been abandoned for over 20 years, since the last medical director, Dr. Lewis, was murdered by the distraught husband of a patient for whom Dr. Lewis was performing a lobotomy. There had been suspicions for years that the good doctor was conducting horrible experiments on his patients. Many of them died as a result, and those that did not die, were left horribly disfigured.

The doctor made a grave mistake with the last operation he meant to execute: the patient was the wife of a wealthy coal mine owner, whom loved her deeply. This was one patient whose misfortune at the hands of Dr. Lewis would not go unnoticed. When the husband found out what the doctor intended to do to his beloved wife, he stormed into operating room during the operation in a rage and murdered the doctor. He, himself, went stark raving mad when he realized he was too late and his wife had been lobotomized.

In the ensuing chaos, patients rioted and killed many of the staff before fleeing into the vast Rocky Mountains. By the time the local police arrived to take over the situation, many of the patients had escaped the asylum, never to be seen or heard from again.

Since then, there have been terrifying stories surrounding the abandoned asylum. Because of its spooky nature, some adventurous souls have attempted to investigate and gather evidence of any paranormal activity. However, in more recent years, those wanting to explore its negative energy have lessened. This was mainly due to the unsettling stories of mishap falling upon those foolish enough to trek inside the asylum's rotting walls. Some of the more frightening stories involve the disappearance of eager, naive ghost hunters.

Still, there are those reckless enough, or unfortunate enough, to encounter the Clarkmann Home for the Mentally Insane.

Our story begins with one woman, a recent college graduate, hitchhiking around the country, seeing the sights, before she begins the drudgery of working life, and taking on the responsibilities of an adult. Her name is Shelly, and she has found herself in the car of a leering, middle-aged, potbellied man, who is attempting to put his hand on her crotch ...