The Asylum

Maggie had put up some fierce opposition when the nurses came to take her from her cell. As a new inmate she still had some fight left in her and the nurses had suspected that such would be the case.

They'd sent the biggest and burliest of their number to try and subdue and restrain her enough so that she could be taken to the treatment room in the quickest time possible and with the least amount of fuss.

They were used to patients like Maggie, who were put into their care for whatever spurious reasons their families could think up in order to put out of the way troublesome or inconvenient relatives.

Maggie was a sensitive person, a dreamer who lived inoffensively enough in a world that had been too harsh with her. She'd suffered mild depression brought on by empathising too deeply with the victims of the ills of the world and the cruel whims of other people. Being a member of a rich and powerful family she'd been sheltered since childhood and had found it hard to come to terms with the realities outside of her cosy and opulent small world once she'd started to take an interest in events outside of it.

She'd startled her family when she produced a baby, seemingly from out of nowhere, and told them that she intended to keep it no matter what their objections might be. The baby's father was never named or spoken of and she was Maggie's sole treasure from the day of her birth.

No amount of investigation by the family could dredge up the circumstances surrounding the conception and, if he had known about Maggie's family or her true position in life, the father might have felt that he'd had a lucky escape if Maggie hadn't withheld the news of her pregnancy from him.

Maggie, already distant and mentally removed from her family had sunk further out of their reach as she'd spent her time doting on her baby and finding in her a refuge from the cares and troubles of society that had so plagued her. She didn't know that her parents were deeply concerned about her retreat into her own little world and that they were discussing ways of drawing her back into the real one.

She never knew either if, when she lost her baby, it was an act of nature, a whim of God, or the cruel machinations of her parents.

If the baby's death had been the result of actions by her parents they would have discovered it was an ill-considered move as Maggie fell into the great pit of despair that so many grieving people are familiar with.

Further in she plunged and they found that nothing could tempt her out or pull her out or, they wondered, shock her out.

Life in the family had gone on. It could manage without Maggie and some were prepared to leave her to her melancholy, after all there were enough of them who were cut-throat and greedy enough to ensure it's survival and prosperity.

And so things might have continued had not Maggie's father died, leaving her and her siblings a vast fortune and a small business empire - which Maggie had a share of and a say in.

At least she did until her unscrupulous siblings decided that she was a liability and stood in the way of their plans to expand the business and divert some of the fortune into their own bottomless pockets.

It really hadn't been too difficult to have Maggie committed with the connivance of a couple of doctors and, in some ways, the connivance of Maggie herself who was too apathetic and remote to struggle against what was about to happen to her.

'It's a nice place' they'd told her and so it was, from the outside. A beautiful old house with lawns and gardens. Sumptuous reception rooms and a great dining hall which Maggie would never seen again after the brief tour she'd enjoyed before being admitted.

'You'll be safer here' her sister had assured her 'It'll be like a sanctuary for you away from the world. A safe Asylum”.

Maggie certainly found herself away from the world and was shocked by her harsh induction into the routine of the hospital.

Everything she owned was taken away from her, including her hair, and she'd been given a flimsy night-gown and a perfunctory dressing-gown in which to spend her days.

Alone in her Spartan little cell she'd cried as she'd never cried before. Not so much for her current condition but for the fact that all the reminders of her baby were no longer available to her. The photographs, the pretty gowns that smelt of the little one, the toys that she'd hardly been able to bring herself to look at after her loss. The nursery where they spent their time together, the baby's small body snuggled into hers, breathing as one together. Alone in a world of their own where, Maggie had thought, no harm could come to her precious daughter.

Now she had none of those things to focus on, so what was there left for her as the happy memories fled, receding further and further away from her conscious mind? Well, there was the guilt.
How familiar Maggie was with Guilt who had nudged at her all day, every day. 'What if' it would whisper in her ear 'What if you'd....' 'What if you hadn't....'

At home, Maggie had been able to run away from Guilt and focus on the possessions of her baby and immerse herself in memories of the love they'd felt for each other. None of that here, in this 'Asylum' – nothing to distract her from the never-ending suggestions and questions of Guilt.

Maggie's old friend, Misery, found her too. Maggie full well knew that Misery loves company and she felt the comforting presence. 'Stay safe with me Maggie' said Misery 'You know you're safe here. No Guilt for you if you seek sanctuary with Misery.

That was Maggie's first twenty-four hours until the nurses and orderlies came to fetch her for the treatment that her siblings had insisted ought not to be delayed.

Something warned her that what was about to come would not be good for her and, finally, she'd found her will to struggle. Somewhere in her depths she knew that this treatment would separate her even further from her memories of her baby. And so she fought as she was dragged along the long corridors, past pathetic creatures who might once have put up a struggle similar to her own.

She looked at them. But they weren't like here,were they? They were mad people.

Finally she had made her undignified entrance into a small, sparse, harshly lit room with a table in the middle of it. A table that featured straps and restraints. A table that she was required to lie on.

Her eyes widened as she looked, and then narrowed very slightly as a form appeared on the table. The form of a young woman, not unlike herself. The harrowed face of the woman stared at her, and the eyes entreated her 'Don't let them do it to you, Maggie' she'd implored.

Maggie started to protest 'But there's someone already there'.

The nurses sneered. 'Oh yes, they all say that' as they forced her onto the table just as the apparition of the young woman vanished.

'Don't let them do it to me' - how she'd protested. And the more she'd protested the more entertainment she'd provided for those she now thought of as her captors. Not her carers, not her nurses, not those who she could confide in and express her concerns to. Just cruel and callous captors in the pay of siblings who, Maggie started to suspect, had just found her inconvenient.

Siblings who never visited during the long months that Maggie spent in the asylum, devoid of everything that had been dear to her.

cont...
At night, in her cell, she heard voices 'Maggie don't let them do it to you' 'Maggie, it'll be too late soon' 'Maggie, you're diminishing'

Holding her thin pillow over her head did nothing to drown them out 'That's no barrier Maggie' 'Listen to us Maggie'.

Maggie came to recognise the young woman on the table as easily as she'd used to recognise herself. There were no mirrors available to her now and, actually, it would be doubtful if she would recognise herself any more.

More and more urgently the young woman implored 'Don't let them do it to you Maggie'

Maggie started to answer her – 'I can't stop them' she'd say miserably 'I've got no say in this'.

The doctors noted this and recorded that Maggie was not responding to the treatment and was, in fact, becoming worse. So perhaps they'd better ramp it up a bit.

They started to give her heavier drugs too and Maggie deteriorated exactly as her siblings had hoped she would.

The drugs had odd affects on Maggie, divorcing her from the world and making her pliable. Sometimes they made her harder to reach but at others the voices found they could make themselves heard even more clearly.

They took their chance and started to materialise. One by one by one.

Maggie first became aware of a presence in her room one night when she was so far gone even Misery and Guilt couldn't reach her. She looked over at the far corner and saw a woman, older than the one she was used to seeing on the table. 'Come to us Maggie' the woman said with a smile on her face. The smile was a strange mixture of kindliness and stark, staring madness.

'Nooooooooo' screamed Maggie and was lucky that the orderlies on duty were too lazy to attend to her when they heard the cry. 'Don't tell them you've seen me Maggie' admonished the woman as she faded into the wall.

Something clicked in Maggie's brain. 'Stop telling them you can see things' 'Don't make it worse by telling them that now there's another one'.

But Maggie so wanted help to stop seeing these women. They frightened her, she didn't want to see ghosts and they kept calling to her. They wanted her to join them. Maggie wanted to get better and go home. Keep that thought 'go home'. 'I'll get better' she promised herself and stopped resisting the treatment.

The doctors were pleased, Maggie was co-operative, she didn't protest any more. The treatment must be working, that's a good thing. Ramp it up again.

How delighted her siblings were when they got the good news that Maggie was responding. 'Oh yes, of course give her some more, if it's helping'.

How cynical they were, they knew full well that what was happening to Maggie would never be for her own good, they were relying on it.

But the doctors, what were they thinking? Really so naïve as to think that their drugs and electric shock treatment were, indeed, helping a woman who had only been suffering from mild depression and severe grief? Who knew, who cared? They raked in the money and employed the local populace, what benefactors they were to everyone, and themselves, albeit at the expense of the very people they were supposed to benefact.

Maggie stayed away from the other patients, they were mad and she didn't want to associate with them. She was afraid that they'd contaminate her with their illnesses. In her mind, she was not and never would be, like them.

She would have realised that this isolation made her more vulnerable to the apparitions if she had but thought about it, but Maggie wasn't in much of a state to think about anything.

Some nights she still cried for her baby but she found that her crying attracted the apparitions even more. Once they sent a little girl.

The child stood in the corner, obviously distressed from something that had happened to her 'Help me Maggie' 'Maggie come to us and look after me'

That night Maggie's screams did fetch the orderlies and she spent a month under even heavier sedation.

The doctors had no choice but to tell her siblings that she'd taken a turn for the worst. 'Oh, but we trust you doctors. Give her more treatment, whatever you think best'.

The apparitions ceased for a while, but Maggie had no idea that they were planning a heavier assault than usual and was just grateful for the respite.

After her month of heavier sedation she was allowed a lighter medication albeit something new and untried, and did her best to behave herself.

At night when the apparitions came she muffled her screams with the pillow. She pleaded with them in a whisper to leave her alone.

'But we want to help you Maggie' 'We're you're friends Maggie' 'Come to us Maggie'
'No, you're all mad people' she responded 'Leave me alone'

'We weren't always mad Maggie' 'They did this to us Maggie' 'We had treatment like yours Maggie'

Maggie peeped over the pillow, which was now pressed tightly to her mouth. She looked at the three of them who had presented themselves to her. The kindly older woman and two men who she wouldn't have wanted to face up a dark alley.

One for them had a mouth which hung open above his vacant eyes as the other held on to him, propping him up. The other was burly and had scars on his temples.

'Look at them Maggie. We couldn't help them in time. They left it too late to join us.' 'Come to us now Maggie before it's too late for you'.

Maggie writhed in terror on her uncomfortable bed. She'd resisted their pleas for months. She'd never been suicidal before and it horrified her to think that these creatures wanted her to do away with herself.

“No' she said 'I'm going to get better and go home'

'You're not going home Maggie' 'You'll never leave this place Maggie' 'Unless it's in a wooden box Maggie'

Maggie started to think, for once. If she screamed now she'd be forced to have a heavier sedation and she wouldn't be able to see or hear them. Maybe a stronger dose of medicine would be good for her and would help her to get better after all. She screamed with all her might 'They're here' 'They're coming to get me' 'Oh help. Help'

After another month of strong medication Maggie was given another experimental medication. This one left her more open to the overtures of those from the other side.

'Look what they're doing to you Maggie' 'Is that what you really want, Maggie'

'I want to go home'

'You're not going home Maggie' 'There's nothing at home for you Maggie'

'I want my baby'

'We've tried to get her for you Maggie' 'It's not easy Maggie' 'She's in a place that's hard for us to reach Maggie'

Maggie looked at them, two women this time, Both smiling beatifically. And mad as all Hell.

'We're your friends Maggie' 'We'll find your baby for you'

With a startling clarity Maggie woke up into the real world. She sat bolt upright in the bed and shocked herself with the revelation.

These mad spooks were trying to get her to kill herself, for her own good. Before she became too deranged and died completely mentally incapacitated. They were concerned for her soul.

But now they were offering to find her baby for her. A baby that they couldn't get. Because it was in a place beyond their reach.

Maggie thought hard, she wasn't religious but... her little girl was safely in a Heaven. A place where the innocent went after their death.

But these mad apparitions were trying to get her out so that Maggie could be with her. The baby was the bait with which they were trying to lure her into their Heaven - a place for those who had died insane.

cont...

A place where they wanted her and her baby to spend eternity because they couldn't bear to see Maggie being so tortured by her doctors.

Maggie thought about it, still immensely lucid. More than she'd ever been. She realised she was lucid. The new medication had worked. She could go home. She could tell the doctors that she was well because now that she was thinking clearly she knew what the apparitions were up to.

Oh, that's right Maggie, tell the doctors you are still hallucinating ghosts but now you know what their plan is.

Maggie slumped and wept.

She realised that now there was only one way out for her. She'd have to kill herself before the spooks succeeded in breaking her baby out of Real Heaven. However were they trying to do that, she wondered.

In possession of all her faculties, and consumed by love and fear for her baby, Maggie got off the bed and determined to do away with herself before her baby ended up in the mad Heaven. She must be quick and get over to the other side right away in order to stop them.

She twisted her bed sheet and then twisted it round her neck. She found a way to hang herself with only the barest of means and the orderlies were alerted by the drumming of her feet as she kicked against the fatal damage she was doing to herself.

Over the other side she arrived to her welcoming committee. All the ghosts who had so haunted her were gathered around to greet her.

'You made it Maggie' 'We're so pleased to have you Maggie' 'You got out in time Maggie' 'You'll be happy here Maggie' 'No-one can hurt you here Maggie'

And then out of the throng came the woman with the kindly smile, a small bundle in her arms.
'Welcome Maggie' she beamed 'And welcome to this little one, too. We got her for you' and she thrust the bundle into the arms of an aghast Maggie.

'Welcome Maggie, Welcome to Asylum'.

Just wanted you to know I've been here. Saving for tonight!! Will be my bedtime story.

a reply to: berenike

No way! Did you just write this? In like 30 minutes? That's crazy.

a reply to: DAZ21


No - it's an old story I wasn't sure abut posting

a reply to: berenike

Oh lol. I was gonna say, who are you?! I thought I just wrote a large story, and it took me a few days...

Nice story! Asylums are creepy.

You had me on the edge of my seat. Well done!

a reply to: Night Star


Thank you very much

Thank you, too Daz

a reply to: berenike

I have no idea why you would be hesitant about posting this story. I loved it. There is a song it sorta reminded me of which I have posted on your profile page.

Those damn pesky ghosts! (but mostly sinister family.........

Another good one

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Thank you for the song - that girl's got a very sweet voice.

I wrote a story using the idea you suggested yesterday, but I can't quite get the atmosphere I wanted. Because there are two characters it's turned out a bit lighter than I would have liked - they sort of bounce off each other.

I think if I want to do the really spooky stuff I'll have to stick with the weird loners

Anyway, I'll tweak it a bit perhaps and see how it goes. And I'm really grateful for the suggestion - it got me writing again.

a reply to: berenike

I just realized the only stories I read of yours are typically during contests (on ATS) so I naturally associate your stories with far-out topics!

Pleased to hear you are writing again. Maybe you should finish the dragon story too? Oh, I thought of another weird topic after I posted those suggestions yesterday.

*Humans abduct an alien!* That might be fun for a contest, as well. And thinking about an* investigative newspaper reporter goes to investigate reports of a * ...........

Glad you liked the song and I'll be on the look out for the new story!

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Ok - if you've got a few minutes to spare I'll have the new story up, before I change my mind

All my stories are weird

a reply to: berenike

That was awesome
I really enjoyed it