Sequel: OuR BeAuTiFuL MaDnEsS
Status: Completed and Soon to be Published

Our Perfect Insanity

Chapter Twenty Seven

ChApTeR TwEnTy SeVeN

“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.”
~Anais Nin

Getting into the asylum was easy, and, as Sylvia had said, it was like we were ninjas, or undercover spies, sneaking through the building.

Glancing at the plaques on the doors, I searched for the one with ‘Dr. A. Rae’ on it.

Finding it, I looked down the hall each way, Sylvia doing the same at my side, and, making sure there was no one in the halls, I knocked on the door.

“Anna? Annabeth?” I spoke gently, and, when getting no response, frowned and pushed open the door a crack.

“...Anna?” I questioned again, seeing, through the darkness, the figure sitting in the chair.

Why are the lights off?

Sliding my hand across the wall, Sylvia peering over my shoulder, I fumbled with the switch and flicked it on, immediately feeling a wave of nausea hit me.

I realized Ariel must be watching us in Syliva’s house, she must have heard out plan.

She got here first.

Annabeth was slumped in her chair, her throat slit, blood matting in her caramel colored hair, which fell down in tangles into her brown eyes, which, at this moment, were dull and lifeless, staring at nothing, unseeing.

Written on her white blouse, in her own blood, were the words ‘dead end’ in a disturbing and bloody scrawl.

Sylvia made a noise, hiding her face in my arm.

I knew she was trying not to see the horrifying image slumped in a chair before her.

Tearing my eyes away from the form of Annabeth, I backed away, pushing Sylvia gently out of the room and pulling the door closed, hearing the faint click as I slowly pulled my hand away from the handle, feeling terrible for bringing this upon Annabeth.

“Jonathan?!”

My head snapped up as I turned to the right, seeing the familiar face of a fellow doctor, who appeared to have just exited her office, right next to Annabeth’s.

Her name was Olivia Brenden, we were on relatively good terms, but, currently, I didn’t think she would be too welcoming as her blue eyes were wide with horror. I realized that, if anyone went into the room, Olivia would surely say that she saw Sylvia and I here.

“Olivia, please, listen... here me out...” I trailed off softly, taking a step towards her, causing her eyes to widen even more.

Shaking her head, Olivia turned on her heel and bolted off, her blond hair whipping around her as she disappeared around the corner, leaving nothing but the sound of her heels on the floor as she ran off.

“Who was that...?” Sylvia inquired slowly, and I shook my head.

“An old coworker. Come on, we need to get going before anyone shows up, I don’t know if Olivia will call anyone immediately, but, we can’t be too careful.” I replied quickly, grabbing Sylvia’s wrist and tugging on it gently.

“But, Jonathan, we haven’t gotten the files you wanted!” Sylvia exclaimed, and I bit my lip, looking back towards the door.

“...Ariel probably took them-”

“What if she didn’t? I would think that she’d assume we’d simply run after finding your coworker dead, she wouldn’t have even had enough time to find the files and leave with them!” Sylvia interrupted me, causing me to sigh.

Turning again, I moved back to the door and pushed it open, Sylvia standing in the doorway and keeping watch while I carefully made my way over to the file cabinet.

Making sure to avoid looking at the body of Annabeth Rae, I opened the drawer and quickly found the patient number 127 that belonged to Ariel.

Pulling out the file and quickly tucking it into my inside pocket, I turned back to Sylvia.

“Congratulations, you were right, now, we’ve got to get out of here, quickly...” I trailed of, my voice catching in my throat as a figure appeared behind her.

Sylvia gave me an odd look before glancing over her shoulder and letting out a frightened ‘eep’ noise, running over to me as Ariel smiled innocently at the two of us, holding her hands behind her back.

“You two aren’t going anywhere. I can’t let you two continue to plot against me, it wouldn’t be prudent.” She told us coolly, before glancing down the hall, her eyes flickering.

“Oh, dear... it seems like your little coworker attracted some unwanted attention after all...” Ariel trailed off, sneering before she turned back to me.

“This isn’t over.”

With that, she was gone, causing me to grab Sylvia’s wrist and pull her quickly out of the office, and, upon hearing the footsteps sounding from around the corner to the right, I hurried in the opposite direction, Sylvia behind me.

Working in this asylum for three years had its advantages, such as knowing short cuts leading to exits of the building.

Shoving an emergency exit, one that didn’t set off an alarm as that would be impotent to the doctors who used it for cigarette breaks, Sylvia and I exited the asylum and entered the cool evening air, the door slamming shut behind us.

“Where’s my car?” Sylvia asked, looking around quickly, causing me to shake my head.

“I’m not sure, though, we don’t have enough time to get it, we need to get away from here as fast as we can.” I replied quickly, and Sylvia nodded her head, allowing me to drag her to the gate, leading out of the grounds.

We had gotten in using my security card that I still had from my days of working here.

The card made it easy to make out escape, immediately ducking behind some trees as the cop cars started showing up.

“...come on.” I whispered to Sylvia, after a moment’s hesitation as I watched the flashing lights of the cops cars.

Nodding, she followed me as I maneuvered my way through the trees, getting further and further away from that building, as I could.

I froze as I heard rustling in the trees near us, and, pulling Sylvia closer to me, I eyed the spot, waiting, before I blinked as a young woman stepped out of the trees, misty gray eyes framed by midnight black hair giving me a calculating look.

I recognized her immediately, and, after a moment, she blinked, seemingly recognizing me as well, her eyes widening a fraction.

“Jonathan? Didn’t expect to see you around...”