Silence Falls

Bert shook his head in dubiety, his skin pale from terror and internal abhorrence over the wrongdoing of patients within this Psychiatric Hospital. There was too much happening at once, too much to sink in. He was grateful that out of all of the Orderlies ‘ministering’ their patients he was fortuitous enough to get the least abusive one. At least they were advantageous there. But as a whole this place was an ordeal of suffering and imminent death. Every corrupt deed that was ever carried out in the name of medical torment was executed within these walls erected in the swamps, and they had now become patients themselves.

Bert didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility that this was happening to the poor souls around him and could also happen to him and his friends at any given time for the slightest of reasons. “You have to be fucking kidding me here. This...I can’t...it just can’t be, man! This can’t be it!”

“I wish you were right and I was wrong about this.” Jack sighed, shaking his head to himself. This job as an Orderly was never easy for him here. Sometimes he wondered if it would be easier to be like the rest of his co-workers and just battered, berated and torture his patients whnever he saw fit, but he wasn’t that type of person. He didn’t get fulfillment in hurting anyone nor witnessing the barbarous stunts playing out around him. But it was his job to stand by and support his fellow Orderlies, not the invalids. It was his job to be the torturer and executioner, not the protector.

“No, there’s got to be another way!” Bert demanded, his hands curling into his fists at his sides. He couldn’t accept that this was it for him and his friends, that this was their fate. No, they couldn’t die here. They wouldn’t die here! “Jack, tell me there’s another way out of here other than in a fucking body bag dumped into the swamps to be forgotten!”

Jack shrugged, expecting his answer to rile him further. “If you’re lucky to survive this place long enough you will get out...but not in the way you hope to. The staff will transport you to the Asylum farther within the swamps. If you end up there, then that’s the end of the line. You’re most definitely going to die.”

Shutting his eyes to shun his words, Bert prayed that this wasn’t how their story would end. Growing up in Silence Falls, he had never heard of any Psychiatric Hospitals or Asylums within the swamps. He vaguely remembered the Medical Facility, it had been depicted much differently. It was supposed to be a rigid religious boot camp for troublemakers of all ages that had deviated from God.

How long have these secret structures been in his very backyard incarcerating missing members of Silence Falls?

“How long has this all been here? These facilities and hospitals!” Bert inquired of Jack. He hoped what he thought was likely the truth would turn out to not be the truth. For once, he yearned to be wrong.

“The Medical Facility has been around since the 1600s.” Jack answered after a momentary pause for reflection. “But I’m not so sure when the other two were constructed. I do know it had to have been centuries ago. Especially the Asylum. That place looks prehistoric to me.”

Bert’s brows furrowed. Prehistoric. Was he being sarcastic? “So what the hell does this all mean now for me and my friends?”

“It means you’re stuck here and there’s nothing either one of us can do about it.” Jack spelled out with a shrug, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look, my job is to...look after you, and unlike my fellow employees I plan to do just that the proper way.”

“And the proper way is?” Bert furthered suspiciously. “By being a complete dick for no reason?”

“Hell no! I don’t plan on calling you names, Bert, nor am I gonna put my hands on you.” Jack pledged with a look of aversion at his idea of ‘the proper way’. “However, when my coworkers are around I am gonna have to play the part as your asshole Orderly. Don’t worry, it’s not really all that bad. You just have to act terrified of me like I’m your worst nightmare manifested and they’ll totally fall for it.”

“They will? Just like that?” Bert questioned, still in doubt that it was that easy to coexist with this Orderly who was meant to be making their lives hell.

“It hasn’t failed me yet with my other patients.” Jack said pretty convincingly. “However, if you live long enough to get out of here, I won’t be able to look after you anymore. You’ll be on your own, but while you’re here under my supervision, I can try and make your stay as less horrible as I possibly can.”

Bert sighed heavily, not seeing any other choice. He didn't want to yield to this man’s every command, but...considering the circumstances, doing so would make this nightmare a little less irksome. “Okay.”

“But I can only do that, Bert, if you work with me here, and listen to my every word.” Jack stressed, looking him directly in his eyes. “If you screw this up, then I’ll have no choice but to turn you in and...it won’t be good for you and I’ll probably lose several nights of sleep over it. But I’m not about to allow you to risk any of my other patients' safety. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand. I’m in.” Bert voted, taking the hand Jack extended to him so they could shake on it. “And so will Cris, Bam and Connor.”

“We’ll see about them.” Jack replied with a look of doubt. He had a feeling at least one of them would balk and spurn his offer.

A moment of reticence clouded over them for a while before Jack recalled what he should have been doing this entire time. Rather than talking to his patient in secrecy in a janitor’s closet, he should be back monitoring his patience and dishing out insults and ‘physical harm’. He did his best to be as slight about his deliveries as much as he could, and has actually appeared quite convincing to his peers over the years.

“Shit, we better get you back to your room quick before someone finds us in here. The last thing we need is to have these Orderlies think you’re fair game to molest if they catch us alone in such a cramped space.” Jack rushed, shoving Bert out the door and all the way down the hallway for dramatic measures.
___________________________________________________________________________
Cris vaulted off Bam’s bed as the door opened and in walked Bert. He smiled with relief that he was back but he was still perturbed about Bam’s condition. “Oh, Bert, it’s you!” His face fell when Jack, their Orderly, strolled right in behind him and shut the door. Becoming apprehensive, Cris whispered. “A-And you.”

Connor glowered at them from his position on his bed, wondering to himself why Jack was here and where Bam was. The boy had been taken for assailing Dr. McCarter, and hasn’t been seen since. Connor’s body tensed up in preparation, expecting the man to try and assault them much like they witnessed one of his fellow Orderlies do to a drugged induced patient next door on the way back to their room. If Jack was plotting to pummel them black and blue right now, then he wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“Hello again, boys. My name is Jack White, your Orderly. I’m here with Bert to speak with you privately and let you know that I’m not like my other employees here at the Psychiatric Hospital. I’m sure you’ve seen them. They’re the ones that enjoy this tormenting business and personally I never did.” Jack candidly conveyed, his brown eyes darting between the two lads. “Bert and I had a little chat earlier and well... I’m hoping we can all somehow work together on making your long stay here a bearable one. We don’t have to fight each other. We don’t have to call each other names. We can coexist as peacefully as this place will allow us too, but only if you wish to.”