Chapter 31 Ashton #2
The hallway stretched out in front of us like a blackened tunnel.
The floors were covered in a thick layer of dust, disturbed only by the occasional scuff mark from the few who had walked here before.
The silence was deafening, broken only by the occasional echo of footsteps in the distance, too faint to pinpoint, as though something—or someone—was waiting in the shadows.
My eyes darted around, my senses on high alert. I could hear the soft rustle of fabric as Lilith moved behind me, her presence a constant, unnerving reminder that I wasn’t alone in this place.
The walls were lined with peeling wallpaper, yellowed and cracked, some places torn or missing entirely, revealing the old brick underneath.
It looked like something out of a forgotten nightmare—a place that had seen too much suffering, too much insanity to be anything but a shell of its former self.
The dim light from the cracked, grimy windows above only served to cast long, distorted shadows on the walls, twisting them into shapes that seemed to shift and breathe.
The further we walked, the colder it got, and I could feel the icy fingers of fear creeping down my spine.
The air was thick with dust, and the smell of rot seemed to seep through every crack in the walls.
I could almost taste it in the back of my throat, sour and bitter.
The faint sound of dripping water echoed in the distance, the sound traveling in eerie waves that seemed to make the place feel even more alive.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I glanced back over my shoulder at Lilith.
Her eyes were wide, almost gleaming, as though she was savoring the atmosphere, the madness.
She looked like she belonged here, like she was comfortable in the chaos.
I couldn’t understand it. There was something deeply unsettling about how easily she moved through the decaying halls, her steps light and almost reverent.
“Isn’t this just delightful?” Lilith’s voice was almost sing song, the edge of insanity cutting through her words like a blade. “You and me, in the heart of it all. Don’t you feel alive, Ash?”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I reached for the door to the first room on the left and pushed it open, the rusty hinges creaking in protest. Inside, the room was empty, save for the remnants of what had once been a desk and a chair, now overturned and covered in dust. A faint, flickering light bulb above sputtered and dimmed, casting eerie shadows across the floor.
It felt like we were stepping into the belly of some monstrous creature, a place that had swallowed all life and sanity and was now slowly digesting it.
My heart was hammering in my chest, the pulse in my ears deafening, but I couldn’t turn back.
Not now. Not with the memory of what I’d left behind—what had been taken from me—lingering in my thoughts.
“Let’s keep going,” Lilith murmured behind me, her voice almost too sweet. “We haven’t even begun to see the real fun yet.”
As I moved deeper into the asylum, the eerie silence of the place felt suffocating.
My mind was a jumble of conflicting thoughts, swirling like a storm inside my head.
Lilith’s unnerving presence made it hard to focus, and the decaying walls seemed to close in on them, amplifying the growing tension between us.
My thoughts kept flickering back to Dove—her broken face, the shadows, the feeling of being watched.
But I couldn’t afford to dwell on that now.
Then, from the corner of my eye, I spotted movement—a figure stepping out from behind a door further down the hall. The man froze when he saw us, his eyes widening as if he had just seen a ghost.
The staff member, a tall man with a thin face and a nervous expression, glanced quickly at Lilith and then at me, his breath visibly slowing in a mix of confusion and recognition.
He immediately straightened, his shoulders tensing, and for a split second, I could see the flicker of relief in the man’s face. It was brief, but unmistakable.
“Shit,” the staff member muttered under his breath, his hand trembling slightly as he wiped it on his uniform.
Then, in a movement too quick for me to anticipate, the man strode forward and grabbed both of us by the arm, pulling us toward a nearby office.
The action was swift, urgent, as though the asylum itself was conspiring to swallow them whole.
Lilith, unfazed, simply let herself be guided, but I, still trying to get my bearings in the oppressive atmosphere of the asylum, resisted slightly. “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice hoarse from the dry air. “Why the rush?”
The staff member didn’t answer immediately, instead casting a furtive glance over his shoulder before ushering us into the office.
The room was cramped and chaotic, with papers scattered across desks and police officers pacing anxiously.
Several uniformed officers stood by the windows, talking in hushed voices.
The whole place was on edge, and I immediately felt the weight of it press against me.
The doctor in charge, a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes and a steely demeanor, was at the center of the turmoil.
She looked up when I and Lilith entered, her face pinched with stress.
She was talking to a pair of officers when she noticed me, and her gaze flickered over me with a mixture of recognition and uncertainty.
“Get them out of here,” she ordered, her voice strained. “We need to talk.”
The staff member stepped back, and I could feel Lilith’s unsettling presence grow even more oppressive in the cramped room. The officer in charge exchanged a quick, worried look with the doctor before they both motioned for me to step aside.
“Come here,” the doctor said curtly, her eyes briefly meeting mine before she pulled me toward the corner of the room.
She leaned in close, her voice dropping to a near-whisper.
“We have a situation,” she said, her face tight with barely contained panic.
“One of our prisoners broke out. We need your help.”
I frowned, my mind racing. “What’s the big deal?” I asked, my confusion evident. “It’s just one prisoner. Why all the fuss?”
The doctor hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the officers before focusing on me. “It’s not just any prisoner,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s Bentley James.”
My heart skipped a beat, my breath catching in my throat. Bentley James?
The name hit me like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of me.
My mind immediately raced back to the dark memories I’d tried to bury—the very reason I was in this godforsaken place.
The name itself was a specter that haunted my every move.
Bentley James. A man twisted in ways that only the most deranged minds could comprehend.
He had been a patient here once, under the watch of the same doctors who now seemed to be scrambling in a panic around the room. The fact that Bentley James had broken out was… unfathomable.
My pulse quickened, the panic that had been simmering inside me now coming to the surface. “Bentley?” he repeated, his voice low, filled with disbelief. “How the hell did he get out?”
The doctor’s face hardened. “We don’t know. Security systems failed. He’s dangerous, Ashton. You know what he’s capable of. He’s… he’s unstable.”
My fists clenched involuntarily. The thought of Bentley James roaming free sent a wave of nausea through me. The man had been a threat. He’d been responsible for more chaos than I cared to recall, and the fact that he was out there again made my skin crawl.
“You have to find him,” the doctor urged, her eyes locked onto mine. “Before he does more damage.”
Behind me, Lilith’s voice broke through the tension.
“Bentley James,” she said, her tone laced with twisted curiosity.
“Interesting. You never told me about him.” Her eyes gleamed with a dark, dangerous amusement as she stepped forward, as if to ask more questions.
“Why the secrecy, Ash? What makes him so special?”
I didn’t answer. My mind was elsewhere, racing with the implications of Bentley’s escape. What did this mean for Dove? For all of us? Was he still lurking in the shadows? Was this the nightmare that would finally tear everything apart?
A muffled sound broke through my spiraling thoughts—a creak in the hallway. Another footstep. Then another. And another. Every inch of my body screamed for action, for the need to protect, to confront whatever nightmare was closing in around us.
But right now, Bentley James was the threat. And if I didn’t act fast, the damage could be irreversible.
I turned to the doctor, his voice urgent. “Where is he now?”
Her face contorted with concern. “We’ve locked down the building. But there’s no telling where he is. He could be anywhere.”
My gaze flickered over to Lilith, her eyes still locked on me, studying my every move. The tension in the room was palpable.
“Let’s go,” I growled, determination flooding me.
Without waiting for an answer, I stormed out of the office, my heart hammering as I prepared to face the threat that could bring everything crashing down.