West Park Asylum

Ian continues working on his jigsaw puzzle while the orderlies struggle to keep people away from the body. Jenny is still slumped on the floor with a large hole in her chest that matches the one in the wall. The people who were in the room during the attack could only say that the young woman had walked in and must have been impaled by an invisible force. One man even claims to have done the deed himself, but the way he vomits at the sight of blood ends his bid for attention. A solitary horseshoe print is in the pool of blood, but the staff guess that a patient stole one from the sports equipment shed. It takes an hour for them to clear the room of everyone that is causing trouble and get the body under a sheet, which steadily turns red.

Ian curses and bends one of his pieces when he sees Gina arrive with a gurney to take the corpse away. She notices his reaction and scowls before focusing on removing Jenny from the common room. The janitors hurry to clean the blood with sawdust and mops, neither of them wanting to tackle the gaping hole in the wall. Deciding that they have to do something, one of the men grabs a nail gun out of their cart and attaches a wooden puzzle to each side of the damage. It is ugly and results in pieces tumbling to the floor, but the janitors nod with pride at the makeshift patches. Confident that they have done all they can while the residents are awake, the pair pack up their gear and leave a warning sign over the area.

“Why didn’t you react to her?” Dawn asks as she takes a seat across from Ian. The brunette reaches out to move a puzzle piece into place and removes another from the border. “Something seems different about you, little puppy. You’re still broken, but not in the way you were when we first met. The fresh wounds have jagged edges that may never heal. Not sure I like it. Want to talk about it?”

“No,” he bluntly states, putting the stolen piece back. He sighs when he notices the woman’s pout reflected in the window. “I’m just tired and numb. Jenny isn’t the first person to die here and she won’t be the last. Even the method is very . . . normal for this place. I mean, my second day here included a man getting attacked by a phantom hand. A voice keeps playing games with me. I simply don’t have it in me to react anymore.”

“You’re an idiot for calling Raven’s Hold normal. This place is too much fun to be normal,” she replies while stretching her back like a cat. She clicks her bare heels three times before crouching on the chair. “I think you understand more than you realize. The voice talks to all of us, but only a few respond. You’re one of the fun ones, so stop being a sour puppy and get back into the game.”

“If this is a game then somebody dragged my sister into it,” Ian snaps before shoving the puzzle back in its box. When he tosses the container onto another table, he startles a mumbling patient who bolts from the room. “No matter what anyone says, I know that’s Carla. She can call herself Gina and claim that she doesn’t know me, but it’s her. Someone or something brought her here to torture me.”

Dawn scratches her head and bites her thumb in distress. She mumbles incoherently in a way that makes Ian think she is arguing with herself. With an angry shout, she slams her hands on the table and shakes it. None of the orderlies bother to approach or make any threatening motion toward the brunette, their energy already drained. A wordless howl escapes Dawn’s lips while she stomps her finger and punches the window frame. The entire building quivers in response to the outburst, which forces her to calm down and curl into a ball on the chair. The young woman peeks through her hair at Ian, the young man gazing at the ceiling. She unfurls her body and sits with her hands folded on the table, a serious expression on her face.

“It appears something happened that I was unaware of,” Dawn states in a business-like tone that chills the blood of everyone in earshot. “That is unacceptable and requires that I make a wave. Nothing that will get me sent away, but an action that will rattle those who think they run this island. I am the Queen and my King knows better than to bring a new player into the game without warning me.”

“What do you expect me to do about it?” Ian asks with a yawn. The woman takes his hands in hers and runs her thumbs around his palms. “I once asked Rich about you and he told me nothing. Instead, he said you’re the only one to tell me your story. The more I watch you, the less I want to know the truth. So leave me out of your madness because all I want is to be left alone and go home.”

Licking her lips, Dawn pulls her companion forward and leans in to whisper in his ear. “I’m going to tell you a secret. Peanut butter is not a lubricant. More importantly, I can tell you that Gina is really your sister. Maybe. It may take me a few days to get proof, but I wouldn’t be surprised. My dead father was a janitor until Dr. Rutherford had him walk the plank. That’s why we had to close the pool too.”

“Not interested.”

“But I need you to come with me tonight.”

“I don’t care. There’s too much I have to think about.”

“Have you noticed that nobody remembers Rich?”

A flicker of worry appears on Ian’s face before he regains control and replies, “Nope and I still don’t care.”

Dawn digs her fingernails into her companion’s palms, the sharp edges drawing blood. Ian tries to hide his reaction to the pain and meets the cold stare of the brunette. He is about to lash out when Gina reenters the room to retrieve another patient for a session with Dr. Rutherford. A pang in his heart weakens his resolve and his arms go limp, which causes Dawn to remove her nails from his flesh. Ian holds still while the young woman binds his hands with strips of cloth from her shirt, revealing her scarred midriff.

“I know you don’t trust me or like it here, but I only want to help,” Dawn promises as she follows his stare. A territorial hiss slips from her mouth when she sees the unfamiliar orderly leaving the room. “She doesn’t belong here. Help me make a statement and I’ll get your sister released from Raven’s Hold. This place listens to me because it loves me. One never wants to upset the one they love. All I ask is that you come with me to the forest after dinner and tell nobody. What do you say, little puppy?”

“After everything that’s happened here, I should say no and walk away,” Ian admits to the dismay of the brunette. Sliding off his chair and out of reach, he runs his hands through his knotted hair. “I’ll give you a hand, but only because I get the feeling that you’re not going to leave me alone. See you after dinner.”

With a gleeful squeal, Dawn excitedly kicks her legs and turns to kiss what Ian assume is her unicorn. She pays no attention to him leaving for the garden, her attention now focused on the invisible beast. Peering through the window, he watches her take a rag out of her pocket and wipe at the open air. Ian cannot muster any surprise when he sees the cloth turn red and a few drops of blood fall to the floor.