Chapter 34 The Emerald Lake Asylum
Niklaus
I used to wake up in the middle of the night to my dad screaming for help.
Peeking through my parents’ door, I’d watch my mother hold him in tears.
Telling him that the asylum is gone. He’ll never see the inside of those walls again.
She’d kiss his temples and remind him of good memories.
Remind him that Meridei is gone. Remind him that the hose they would use to spray him with cold water is gone.
Aunt Skylenna burned it all to the ground.
But as I stand here in the shade of this spring afternoon, that is no longer true.
The Emerald Lake Asylum is a living, breathing vessel. An evil conduit of torture to the mentally ill. And it mocks our generation by standing here, gawking down at us like insects.
My lungs feel heavier as I study the backside of the architecture.
Haunted. Gothic. Deadly. Sinister. Evil.
It’s like looking into the abyss of the ocean. The asylum is looking back at me. It recognizes me.
Vines crawl up its pillars. The garden is well-watered. The gray statues and fountains are blotted with moss and slimy algae. Lily pads in the pond. Rose bushes. A perfectly cut lawn.
“I don’t want to be anywhere close to this place,” Sapphire mumbles, mesmerized by the same scenery I can’t look away from.
“We’re fine.” Though I don’t believe my own words.
Sapphire pins me with two daggers, scorching me with those heterochromatic eyes.
“Do you see my body?! I’m not skinny like the women here! I’ll get thrown into the female ward for not keeping up with the dietary standards!” Genuine disbelief at my na?veté parts her lips.
I can’t help my gaze trailing down her curves. Even in that black ballgown, her breasts swell over the top, her hips and ass are full and…
I turn away, grinding my molars together.
“You look a hell of a lot better than forcing women to achieve the skeletal look,” I say.
Sapphire narrows her eyes at me, blinking in surprise, wondering if I just complimented her. Did I? My gaze falls to her breasts again.
Fuck.
“They’d take me in a heartbeat.”
A spike of anger hits my lungs. I know they would.
Curtains fly shut in a window on the third floor. I lean against the black iron gate to watch that window for movement again.
“What is it?” Sapphire asks.
I watch the back of the asylum for additional movement. None.
“I thought I saw something.”
“And I thought I saw Adam and Eve standing in the garden of Eden at the sight of you two.” My eyes shoot to a man sitting on a stone bench under a tree to our far left. “But I suppose that’s what happens when I read Genesis 3:1-24 for the sixth time today.”
“Not good,” Sapphire whispers.
“Not good?” The man in all black walks toward us with a Bible in one hand and rosary in the other. “Only sinners are nervous in front of a high priest.”
An aching fever suddenly tumbles over me. Chills. A throbbing sore throat. Head splitting wide open. It’s the kind of fever that heats up my eyeballs, singeing the inside of my lids.
Sapphire moans softly, placing a hand over her throat.
Sickness.
Infection.
Vrath.
He’s close. He’s close but hidden. He wants us to get caught.
“Let’s go.” I grab Sapphire by the wrist, turning to put as much distance between us and this institution as possible.
“I can’t let you leave with that girl, kind sir,” the high priest calls.
Several orderlies emerge from behind trees, approaching us in no hurry at all. They saw us coming. We must have been spotted in our ballroom attire. Vrath must have tipped someone off.
“And why is that, Father?” I ask, my voice slightly altered by the swollen tonsils in my throat.
The high priest leans against the iron gate, casually, hanging his hands over the railing and pursing his lips.
“Refusing to sustain the standard weight and follow the guidelines of the Lady-Doll Regimen is a federal offense. Isn’t that why you’re on the run?
” The high priest taps his Bible against his fingertips.
“And I hear you suffer from delusions, my dear boy. Delusions are given to those who are too weak to fend off the devil.”
“What kind of delusions do I suffer from?” My stomach jolts with nausea. I can hardly swallow without a sudden need to gag.
How does this work? The high priest and the other orderlies aren’t affected by Vrath? Shouldn’t they be if he’s close enough to infect us with his presence? Can he control it? Can he influence who gets hit first?
“You believe you’re a descendant of the Demechnef name. Niklaus Demechnef.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “The name flows nicely for a ruler of a nation. I’ll give you that.”
Fuck, Vrath told them my goddamned name?!
“That is not my name,” I say, low and deadly.
“Do not lie to a high priest, dear boy. God allows us to see only truth. And I could see it in your delirious gaze that you truly believe that is who you are.” The high priest scratches at his blond and gray beard, giving me a look of pity.
“Hmm.” I stare at him through hot, watery eyes. “Fuck you. We’re leaving.”
I reach for Sapphire’s waist as I’m being bear-hugged from behind. Multiple arms are around me. Multiple hands are fighting me into submission. And this wouldn’t normally be a problem. For me or Sapphire.
But this fever has knitted itself into my lungs and bit into my bones. All I want to do is sleep in a warm bed. Not just warm, but hot. A thick blanket with a hot pan of coals. And a fireplace. I’m so cold.
The last words I hear are a prayer from the high priest.
My hand slips from Sapphire’s waist.