Grey

Chapter Two

     Brighton Hills Sanatorium is the haunted house of your childhood. Nestled far off in the woods, where every horror you can imagine as a child lived. The Boogeyman. The devil. Insane doctors who experimented on patients. The place where teenagers dare each other to get close to or inside during the night. I don't remember a time when there was anything good surrounding that place. No news of patients getting better or released. Nothing of doctors starting there or retiring. No news of donations or benefactors supporting the asylum. It wasn't a state owned facility, everyone gathered that. After the many complaints of mystery surrounding it the state would of sent inspectors by now. The white van I was handcuffed in started up the mountain to the sanatorium. After turning off the main road you see the small mountain or hill Brighton was named after. The van slowly pulled up to a gate. The fence stretched as far as you could see in both directions of the road. Solid concrete walls with only the entrance gate as a way inside. The police officer who was so kindly escorting me to my new home pulled to a stop at the check in.

     "Hey Bryans. How've you been?" My escort asked the man in the security booth. The guard stood and walked to the window to talk. He was every bit of seven foot tall. Broad shoulders, full beard, a menacing scowl permanently etched into his face. He was the epitome of security guards. You knew instantly looking at him that he was muscle. Shit. There'd be no getting past this guy. There goes my vague idea of escaping. Not that you could ever escape Brighton. No one ever had. Or even tried.

     "Fine,fine. What do you got for me today?" The guard asked.
"New patient. Goes by the name Everly Montgomery. She is being transferred for the foreseeable future."

     "Okay. Let me just call it up and then I'll let you through," he glanced back at me as he spoke. Then continued to walk back to his security booth. A few minutes later he returned with our go ahead and we were clear to proceed.

     After the gate was trees. Miles and miles of tall oak trees. You'd never escape this place. How could you. You'd get lost before you ever made it back to the main road. Brighton was situated on the hill, up a long curvy road surrounded by rows and rows of trees. After what felt like hours we approached another gate. Smaller than the first on but not anything less menacing. Chain fencing with barbed wire along the top. Two security guards standing at the gate on either side. Armed with automatic rifles. Shit. They opened the gate as soon as they saw us coming. Slowly we pulled through and I got my first real look at the infamous Brighton Hills Sanatorium.

     It was everything you could imagine and more. Tall and castle like. Not something you'd see the queen in, more like what the evil sorcerer would live in during the middle ages. Completely made of a grey Stone and rock. Eerily quiet. The place had vines growing along the sides. There was a small circle drive the van pulled along until we were in front of the main doors. The place looked like you would imagine evil doctors would experiment at. Frankenstein I'm sure was created on the roof of this place.

     Brighton had many stories surrounding it. Many believed patients were experimented on here. Just like in the early nineteenth century. Talk of shock therapy and labotomys. Where doctors thought female masterbation could solve their crazy. Actually, that last one really doesn't seem all that bad. Since I came here a virgin and am now here for the next ten to twenty five years, I'd probably be doing a lot of that. I don't imagine there were too many doctors, patients, or any other personnel who would be interested in helping me rectify that particular situation.

     The officer walked around and proceeded to open the van door. Unlocking the shackles from around my ankles and assisting me out of the van. We walked up to the door and I'd be damned the cop knocked. Knocked? I mean shouldn't they have been expecting us. Here with orderlys to drag me away kicking and screaming. But no. We waited patiently until a woman in her forty's or fifty's opened the door.