The Crooked Man

Mother...?

My arms became empty and limp and I dropped them to my sides and stared at the grave of the woman I've come to know as one of my friends. I've never had many friends, counting them on one hand was not a problem for me. Scott, one, Lucy, two, and Elizabeth, three. I slowly stood and walked back to my car, convincing myself what I just did was a good thing. I sat in the drivers side, looking at the full moon as the scent of amaryllis flowers wafted through the passenger window. I shifted the car in drive and sped to St. Crux Asylum. I didn't bother to return home first, he was waiting. I could feel it. I didn't even turn the radio on, liking the sound of silence. The Asylum was only an hour away, so I got there quickly.

I pulled up into the empty parking lot and parked the small car. Taking a deep breath I got out and cautiously walked to the front entrance. A few letters from the hospital sign were missing, while the letters remaining were blinking a dull red.

"Abandoned." I said, grabbing the door handle and gently pulling it open. I walked inside the empty, dark, abandoned domicile. The inside strangely reminded me of a mental asylum, or even a abandoned home in Silent Hill. I used to watch my friend play it, I was always to afraid to play it. I remember him telling me 'It's just a game Ryan. None of this is real.' "None of this is real, huh? Just a game was it, Scott?" I said scanning the room. I flipped the light switch next to the opening doors, nothing. I looked around for a breaker but I couldn't find one.

I had to admit, the place was scary. You could see the dust eerily sweeping over the floor. There was a cafeteria in front of me  and a stairwell to my right. I decided to go left and open the door behind the cafeteria counter. The room was mostly empty with a few tables and lockers. I tried to open one but they were all locked. I decided to look around some more as I walked out of the room and headed upstairs. The floors were dirty and the air, dusty. I choked and coughed as I breathed the air and I heard a strange, pained, high pitched noise. Perhaps a baby or a cat?

I walked around the halls trying to find the source of the noise. Most of the doors were locked, and the ones that weren't were pretty much empty. Until I came to one that had three curtain covered beds and there was a small mass lying on the floor. "What the hell is that?" I said walking closer to it, jumping as the door slammed behind me. I walked cautiously forward and looked down. It was a cat. This was the explanation of the strange noise. I almost vomited at the sight. It was a skinless cat with it's stomach cut open and two small kittens lying next to it. "W-Were they cut out of it's s-stomach?" I said,covering my mouth. "Oh, I can't look..." But something in it's stomach gleamed and managed to catch my eye as I looked away. "What's...?" I took a closer look, covering my mouth with both hands trying to keep myself from vomiting. "No, no..." I saw it, a silver key. Just be quick, Ryan. Just be quick about it. I closed my eyes and quickly shoved my hand into it's stomach, pulling out a bloody silver key. I ran out the door and vomited all over the floor. Breathing heavily, I ran back down the stairs and sat in the cafeteria. "Ah..." I looked at the key in my hand and wondered where it went to. I remembered the lockers and went into the back door. Shoving the bloody key into each master look until I heard a faint click. I tore the locker door open and a crowbar fell out.

"What? A crowbar...all that...for a crowbar. Alright..." I hung my head as I grabbed it and walked back upstairs to look for other things that might help. "Every door here is either locked or broken." I walked around the circle of doors, thinking where the crowbar would work. I got angry thinking about how useless this whole thing had been. I don't even know my objective anymore. "Ahhh!" I yelled as I hit a elevator door with the crowbar. I made a dent in between the two doors. I peeked inside and I could faintly make out a elevator trunk. I proceeded to shove the flat end of the tool into the crevice of the two doors and pry them apart. I squeezed my way through the doors and saw it indeed was a elevator trunk. I smashed the crowbar against the small master lock until it broke. I yanked off the remaining pieces and opened the trunk. A AED was stashed inside. I smiled and picked it up. "A automatic external defibrillator,something I can actually use." I ran back down the dark stairs almost tripping as I reached the electrical breaker. I quickly fired it up and zapped the breaker battery. Flipped a few switches and the lights were semi up and running. A few lights flickered on and I jumped at the loudness of elevators dropping. "Shit!" I dropped my crowbar and when the loud clang subsided, silence took over.

I ran to the nearest bathroom and splashed the cold sink water all over my face and through my hair till my shirt was soaked and my face was dripping. Looking up in the mirror, was him. A certain crooked man that has been plaguing me since Mark died. His crooked smile dripping blood, black eyeless pits staring back at me. "Hehehe...The madness you ran from is back again...you wonder if this nightmare will ever end..." "Leave me alone!" I punched the mirror over and over again till my hand bled. "AHHH!" I screamed pulling shards of glass from my knuckle, cursing the smiling man in the mirror. He disappeared laughing. Hahahaha, Ryan. I could now feel the empty ness of the room eerily creeping up on me.

I stood there, cold. Crossing my arms over my chest as the room turned freezing, and I could see my breath in front of my face. I looked down at my hand and saw my skin had turned extremely pale. Like the sunlight was nonexistent in my life. The air seemed to eminently colder and dryer with each breath I took. The sweet scent of amaryllis flowers again wafted through the air. Which seemed odd in a place like this. But that's when something triggered in my mind. That scent...I had ignored it the first time, but I can't this time. I heard an inaudible whispering in my ear as I cautiously looked to the right and saw...

"M-Mother?" I said, my eyes going wide. She blinked and gave a small smile as  tears fell from her eyes.

"Ryan..." She cried.