Asylum (25 page)

            It
was Willard, of course.  Chloe couldn’t hear his reply.

            “Oh,
yeah, sorry.  I guess we were just so excited to get started that we…uhhh…we
didn’t think of that,” Sam apologized.

           
Great!
thought Chloe,
Another thing we need, now we’re in trouble with Dr. Willard
for snatching his papers.  We are never going to get to the game!

            “Sure,
that’d be great!” she heard Sam say and she opened the rear door of the car and
climbed into the backseat with the box.  Dr. Willard motioned to Chloe.

            “Get
in, I’ll give you a ride to your dormitory,” he offered.

            Chloe
ran around to the other door and got in.  The road was empty the way they were
headed, the exact opposite direction of the arena.

            “I
really appreciate your enthusiasm for this project ladies, truly I do,” Dr.
Willard began, “but I’ll have to ask you not to take home materials from the
collection anymore.  Most of them are very delicate, they could easily be
destroyed or lost.”

            “Sorry,”
Chloe apologized, glancing at Sam.

            “If
I might ask, is this something that you do a lot, or were you hoping to find
something in particular?” Dr. Willard wondered.

            “There
was a name we recognized on the new list you gave us,” Sam answered without
hesitation, “it was a patient we read about in an old newspaper clipping.  We
just felt bad about not having much material for you the past couple of weeks
and thought that if we could find more information on the guy we might be able
to actually impress you next week.”

            Chloe
saw Dr. Willard glance at them in his rearview mirror.  All she could see of
him were his eyes, but they seemed surprised.  She hoped that it was all Sam
would tell him.  It didn’t seem smart or healthy that they were now mixing
their extra-curricular obsession with their schoolwork, or to include Dr.
Willard in their secret.

            “What
patient was this, and what newspaper?” he asked, his eyes in the mirror
sparkled with interest.

            “George
Townsend,” Sam answered promptly, “there was an old article about our dorm that
mentioned him.  The name just kind of stuck with me for some reason…”

            Chloe
noticed that now Dr. Willard’s eyes were screwed up in thought.  She couldn‘t
get Sam out of that car fast enough.  Outside, she could see Kirkbride Hall
growing larger.  They were almost home.  She begged Sam silently not to say
anything more.

            A
minute later, Dr. Willard’s car pulled up to the curb in front of their
dormitory.  Chloe had the door open before the car came to a stop.

            “Wait!”
Dr. Willard commanded. “I’m headed to the game, did you want me to wait, give
you a ride there?  I’m already late.”

            “Thanks,
but no.  We’re going to take the bus…with…uhhh...some friends,” Chloe added
lamely.

            She
jumped out of the car before Dr. Willard could insist and noticed the commotion
almost immediately.  Someone had just burst through the front doors  of the
Hall screaming, and was racing toward them, followed by a few curious
onlookers.  She heard a door slam as Sam got out of the car on the other side. 

            It
was a girl.  Her eyes were huge and terrified, her cheeks streaked in lines of
dripping mascara, her mouth frozen in a horrified ’O’.  She noticed Sam and
Chloe and changed course, heading right for them.  It was Jen, and she was
crying and babbling almost incoherently.

            “Jen,
what the hell?  What happened?  What’s wrong?” Sam demanded, catching her by
both her arms.  “Look at me…what’s going on?”

            Chloe
placed a hand on Jen’s shoulder.  She was shaking.

            “Oh
my God!  Oh my God, oh my God, Oh my God!” Jen wailed.

            “Stop
it, Jen!” Sam gave her a shake, “What’s wrong with you?”

            Jen
crammed a fist in her mouth and rocked back and forth a few times.  Chloe had
seen this maneuver before, used this maneuver even.  It was the
physically-stop-your-mouth-and-give-yourself-a-moment-to-calm-down position. 
She stared at Sam, biting her knuckles and rocking.

            “Sssssh,”
Chloe whispered.  “You’re okay.  You’re safe.”

            Although
she had never particularly liked Jen, it was hard not to do anything for
someone so obviously terrified. Jen took a long shaky breath and let her hand
drop.

            “It’s
Mel.  Don’t know.  We were drinking.  She’s not herself.  Saw something awful. 
She’s not herself.  Something’s in her.  She’s got stuff all over the walls. 
She’s not herself,” Jen spoke in rapid bursts, sucking in quick, panicky gasps
between each sentence. 
Hyperventilating
, Chloe decided watching her.

            Dr.
Willard was out of his car, standing off to one side of the crowd that was
beginning to ring around them.

            “Where
is she?  What do you mean ‘she’s not herself’?” Sam insisted.

            “Take
her upstairs,” Chloe leaned in and whispered to Sam, “take her to our room.”

            She
turned back to the car and grabbed their box.  Dr. Willard was still standing
by his door, radiating concern.

            “What’s
going on?  Is there some kind of problem?” he asked, watching Sam lead Jen
away.  “Is there something I can do?”

            Chloe
shook her head.

            “Nothing.
Her…her boyfriend just ummm…broke up with her or something,” Chloe lied,
“thanks though.”

            She
waved goodbye at him over her shoulder.  She could tell that he was still
standing there indecisively.

            She
caught up to Jen and Sam on the stairs.  Sam had her arm around Jen’s shoulders
and was walking by her side slowly.  Jen’s eyes were still huge, wide…it made
Chloe think of a horse being led somewhere it was terrified to go.  Neither of
them spoke.

            Considering
it was Friday night, and most of the student body was at the game, it was
pretty strange to see their hallway so crammed with bodies.  All of the
students were standing still, or craning their necks to gawk at something
further down the hall. 

            Down
by Jen’s room they finally saw Melanie.  She was standing with one hand against
the wall, swaying like the ground was moving under her feet.  Her head hung
down between her shoulders, her hair hiding her face.  Watching her, Chloe felt
goosebumps spread across her arms.

            Instantly,
Mel’s head whipped up, revealing the strangest expression Chloe had ever seen. 
Her mouth was slack, drooling almost.  Her eyebrows were frozen in arcs of
surprise or shock, and even from far away, she could see that the girl’s eyes
were so dilated they looked like black circles.  But still…they were glazed
over eyes, eyes that didn’t take anything in.  Melanie swayed once.  The press
of bodies around them seemed to fall back. 

            Chloe
could see now that she held something in her hand, a marker… a highlighter
maybe?  Wildly uncoordinated, Melanie flailed out with the arm that held the
marker and began making slashing motions at the wall.  It was horrible, like
watching a giant invisible child playing with a rag doll.  Melanie’s whole body
seemed to hang from her wrist which was high above her head, scrawling jerkily
across the wall.

            “What
the hell is going on?” Someone whispered.

            “Somebody
should stop her!” another voice seethed.

            Chloe
slipped past Sam and weaved through the other students.  The onlookers had
given Melanie a wide berth.  She stood at the center of the crowd, completely
unaware of the eyes that ringed her in.  Chloe approached her cautiously and
touched her shoulder very gently.  The girl froze, her hand stopping in mid
word.  Chloe shivered from the contact.  Even through the thin cotton t-shirt,
Melanie’s skin was unnaturally cold.  Slowly, horribly slowly, Melanie pivoted
on her heel to face her.  Chloe held her breath trying to keep the desire to
scream in Melanie‘s face, to slap, or shake her, inside.

            Long
strands of sweaty, dishwater-blonde hair covered Melanie’s face, her head hung
forward as though it was too heavy to support.  She struggled to lift her chin
and then lolled her head from side to side in a lazy effort to see through the
hair. With one hard jerk, the girl’s head flung backwards.  Those eyes again. 
They were terrifying close up.  Black wells underneath a bloodshot opaque film,
they stared her down without blinking.  The mouth hung open.  It moved,
smacking its lips as though parched, and uttered something too hoarse to
understand.  It sounded like footsteps on gravel.  It wet the lips and tried
again.  This time words creaked out.

            “Understand…waited
so long…to stop…” the words came in and out like a bad radio station, like
something that didn’t have the ability to master breathing and speaking at the
same time.  Chloe blanched, it was speaking to her, directly to her.  She took
a step back, she would have run if it hadn’t been for the wall of bodies that
surrounded them.  The Melanie-thing reached out and grabbed her wrist, yanking
her closer.

            “Understand!”
It demanded clearly. 

            And
with that, the eyes rolled upwards and Melanie‘s body dropped to the floor.  No
longer obscured by Melanie, the words scrawled on the wall became visible.   
Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and backed away. 
When I open them again
,
she thought
, I’ll be awake.  One, two…

CHAPTER TEN

           
Before she got
to three, a loud, complaining voice broke the silence.

            “What
the fuck is going on around here?”

            She
couldn’t identify the voice, it was male and came from somewhere within the
crowd.  A loud buzzing followed the angry question.  If she focused, she could
pick individual thoughts out of the angry mob hum:

            “It’s
a bunch of freshmen bitches just messing around, thinking they’re funny or
something-”

            “Now
watch, another floor meeting because of this crap.”

            “Is
she alright?  I don’t think she’s alright, somebody should call someone-”

            “…I
told you, the dorm is strange, weird shit happens here all the time, this one
guy told me…”

            “That
right there is why freshmen should have their own dorm, can’t handle their
liquor…”

            “Are
you calling someone?  I think we should call someone-”

            Chloe
opened her eyes.  The fear was still there, but she was going to hold it down. 
She could still salvage this, but she had to act quickly.  What could she do? 
Why would anyone listen to her?  She needed someone with authority, an adult or
something.  Maybe
he
was still downstairs.

            Ignoring
the angry murmur of voices, which were quickly becoming louder, and Melanie’s
prostrate body, Chloe pushed roughly through a few people to get to Sam.

            “Take
Jen to our room and then help me with Melanie.  I don’t care if we have to drag
her, and, do you have your phone?”

            Sam
nodded.  She dug into her pocket and tossed the phone to Chloe, who flipped it
open and stepped back, shielding Melanie.

           
“I’m calling her
parents,” Chloe said loudly enough for everyone to hear, but not speaking
specifically to anyone, “It’s happened before.  She had a breakdown last year,
so I’m just going to call them to come and get her.”

            Chloe
dialed numbers at random and mimed hitting the send button.  She crouched down
over Melanie’s body.  The girl was breathing normally.  She looked to be
asleep.

            “Yes
is this Mrs.-” Chloe paused, realizing she didn’t know Melanie’s last name. 
Maybe no one else in the crowd did either. “Mrs. Smith?  Hi, this is Chloe
Adams, I’m a friend of Melanie’s.  Yes.  Yes, I’m calling because I think she’s
had another…episode.   You need to come and get her.”  She paused as though
listening to a voice on the other end, the crowd had grown silent again,
everyone listening to her feigned conversation.  “Yes, at the dormitory…. We’ll
wait with her… Yes… No, no ambulance or anything, of course…  Thank-you,” Chloe
faked half the conversation making appropriate pauses in between sentences and
nodding her head as though a concerned mother was ad libbing on the other end.

            A
few people had already walked away.  Several others were moving towards their
rooms.  Only two or three had edged closer, eyeing Melanie nervously, and
glancing intermittently at Chloe.  Fortunately, Sam returned and crouched down
next to her, trying to get Mel to sit up.