Mind's Echo

Shelly

Shelly watched the tears falling from Eva's eyes, and she blinked, catching her breath. She shook her head, as if waking from a dream.

What's going on? What the fuck am I doing?

Scared, she looked down at her hands, and noticed that they were tightly grasping the restraints which were holding the terrified and struggling woman hostage. Gasping, she quickly withdrew them, stepping away from Eva, almost tripping over her own feet. She stopped as the back of her legs met resistance as they came up against something solid.

Turning around, her eyes opened wide as she saw Quincy tied up and slouched in a chair, still passed out. Her hands went to her mouth, holding in a scream.

Oh my God! she cried silently, afraid to say anything, afraid to scream, afraid to do anything. She felt like she was in a dream -- a nightmare! She did not know what was going on! How did she get here, what was she doing!? Why was Eva laying down on a dirty bed, tied up? Why was Alex standing over her with what looked like an ice pick in his hand? Why was Mark standing over Quincy, arms crossed and looking downright menacing? Why the hell was Quincy even tied up!? 

She thought she was going crazy! She gulped down air, trying not to cry, trying not to gasp aloud.

She slowly made her way to the window, where she had spied a crack through which a light draft of air leaked. She needed some fresh air, as she was seeing stars and she felt like she was going to pass out.

She thought she was losing her mind. She was sure she was losing her mind!

As she neared the window, she heard Alex talking quietly to Mark, asking him to get him something. His voice ... There was something different about his voice. It sent chills up her spine. It was wrong. It sounded as if it were coming from the grave! 

Hot tears started falling from her eyes as the fresh air hit her face. She stumbled the rest of the way to the window and pressed a shaking hand against the glass. She was surprised to discover that she could see the front of the asylum from the window. She was confused because earlier, when they were pursuing Eva and Quincy, a courtyard had lain beyond the window.

In fact, not only was the view no longer of a courtyard, it was also not from the ground level. Shelly was looking down on the front entrance of the asylum. And as if that were not bad enough, what she was witnessing unfold outside was indescribably terrifying and disturbing.

"NO!!!!!!! It can't be!!" she cried out, leaning nearer the window and peering out in frantic desperation.

What she was seeing just couldn't be real. It just couldn't!

What Shelly saw was Alex, standing in the front yard of the asylum, with his backpack, holding his hands up, and talking to her! Shelly blinked her eyes, and looked again. It was the two of them, standing there talking. Then, there was Eva, walking up, just as she had earlier that night. Shelly looked at the three of them talking, just as plain as day!

She closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them, and looked again. The three of them were gone, but now she could see Mark's car pulling up behind Alex's. She watched him get out and look at the asylum with a crooked, Devil-may-care grin on his scruffy face. Soon he disappeared from sight as he moved into the building.

Shelly shook her head. What is this madness?! She wanted to tear her gaze away from the window. She wanted to turn around and not see what she knew she would: Eva and Quincy restrained, Alex about to perform, what? A lobotomy? Oh my God! And Mark, thrill-seeking Mark, would be there, dutiful and dark, waiting for Alex to order his next move.

She couldn't look away from the window, though, and what she saw next made her moan in fear. Another car pulled up. Quincy's she assumed. Sure enough, the mysterious stranger exited the vehicle and, just as the others before him, made his way inside the asylum. 

Shelly couldn't believe it. She had just witnessed the beginning of the night, with everyone arriving. But ... but ... They were already here. They were here. Right here. Behind her. She turned around, reluctantly. When she did, she let loose a bloodcurdling scream.

The room was full of patients and nurses and orderlies. Crazed men and women in dirty, disheveled hospital gowns stood around Alex, Mark, Quincy, and Eva. Their dead eyes glinted with lunacy. Nurses and orderlies stood with them, shoulder to shoulder, with their own insanity reflecting in their hollow gazes. 

Shelly screamed and screamed but no one seemed to hear. The patients just stood there, swaying and staring. Only when Alex lowered the surgical tools he held toward Eva's face did they start to grin ...