The Redwood Asylum: A Paranormal Horror

by L. A. Detwiler

  It was not mine.

  It was caked in blood.

  I backed away from the drawer, hitting my ankle on the bedframe as I covered my mouth to stifle the sob that was creeping in. Behind me, from the back corner of the bedroom came a high-pitched scream, the kind I’d heard the night before.

  Flashes of light, of darkened memories I’d all but rid myself of came flooding back. I turned to confirm what I suspected. She stood there in her blood-soaked yellow dress, the red pigtails still high and the face still indistinct. It was a wash of flesh and blood, melted into a spherical shape. But the screech was distinctive. It was the same one as last night.

  “Please, Please,” I shouted through sobs, but I didn’t even know what I was begging for. I grabbed my hair, twisting my fingers.

  “Get a grip,” I said to myself, my eyes squeezed shut. It was just another of his kids, of 5B’s sins. Obviously.

  Still, as I opened my eyes, relieved to see the being was gone, I couldn’t help but think as I hurriedly got ready and left: Why was yellow appearing when 5B hadn’t even drawn with that color yet?

  The reality was too hard to face, so I shoved it along with so many things in my rotten life, to the bottom of a heap of forgotten memories.

  The dead might speak, but someone has to listen in order for them to be heard. And in that moment, I was not giving the yellow girl a microphone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Iraced to floor five as I tried to beat the clock. I didn’t need to be late for my shift on top of everything else. I painted on the rehearsed smile I’d examined in the rearview mirror before coming in. All was well. That’s what I needed Anna to believe at least. As I dashed to the desk to relieve Brett from his shift, Anna smiled from the A wing.

  “Good morning, Jessica. How are you?” she asked sweetly. I tried to brush aside my wanting to analyze her words, her voice, her body language.

  “Fine, thanks. How is everything on the floor?” I asked and then realized she was scheduled to start at the same time as me. “Er, sorry. You probably just got here, too.”

  She kept the sweet smile plastered. “No, I got called in a little early tonight. We had some resident changes on our floor, so I came in to handle it.”

  I perked my head up. “Did someone pass?” I asked, my stomach sinking. I hadn’t heard anything about anyone being eligible for release and, in truth, release was something that usually only came in death for the residents on our floor.

  She shook her head. “No. 1A is being moved.”

  “Moved where?” I thought of the middle-aged woman who was known as being a biter. According to Anna, she’d violently killed her entire family, including her children. She’d seen visions that told her to do it, landing her at Redwood for the past two years. She was a newbie, by our standards. I couldn’t imagine her moving to a lower security floor, though. Or anywhere, for that matter.

  “Away. It doesn’t matter. But now we have an empty spot if we should need it. That’s a major concern, when some of the patients on lower floors act up and we’re all full up here. A real problem sometimes. Our top paying families don’t want their loved ones housed beside violent lunatics, after all.” She shrugged and busied her hands with paperwork.

  I stared for a long moment, trying to take it all in. Her nonchalance about the woman moving was unsettling. I wanted more details but was afraid of asking, of looking too interested.

  “Didn’t the state place her here?” I asked, realizing how it was odd she wouldn’t have started at a state-run facility to begin with. I’d assumed it had something to do with overflow but never asked.

  Anna stopped in her tracks, smiling demurely. “We have plenty to do on the floor today, Jessica, with those who are left. Why don’t you get to work in the A wing? I’ll take B, of course.”

  I nodded, taking a step back from my questions but still curious as hell.

  “Dude, leave it alone,” Brett said from behind the desk after Anna walked away. He’d been a silent observer the whole time, leaning back a little too far in the computer chair. “Why worry when it’s not your problem? Besides, I’m glad the biter’s gone. That bitch nabbed me more than a few times.”

  He got up from his chair, heading to clock out.

  “I know I haven’t been here long, but I was under the impression everyone here is pretty much here for good,” I muttered, hoping Brett would let a detail slip.

  He shrugged. “Pretty much. But sometimes Anna finds better placements for some of the patients, especially the ones up here.”

  He walked out without another word, and I headed to the A wing.

  The ones up here. The violent ones no one would miss. The ones under heightened security who rarely have visitors or family to check in.

  Something felt wrong about floor five, more wrong than normal. Something felt wrong about the whole place, of course. I knew it was probably my lack of sleep and the ghostly visitors. But as I studied Anna during our shift and thought about it all, I knew that there were more secrets among the living in this place than anyone would like to admit.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Even through the heavy doors, the desperate screams reverberated through floor five with a sharpness that tickled my fears. I tossed the paperwork down and ran toward the noise. I didn’t have to guess which door they were coming from.

  I unlocked 5B and dashed in, heart racing as I took inventory of the scene. Anna was fumbling with the emergency pager as 5B tightened his grip on her arm. He frothed at the mouth, spit flying as he screamed in her face about lost causes, about drowning, and about one other thing that made me shiver.

  Me.

  “Hey,” I yelled, startling them both. “Hey, calm down.”

  I walked toward them, not sure what I’d do when I got over there. He was strong, and who knew how long until help would arrive. But at the sight of me, his hands fell limp as if he’d seen the prized possession he was waiting for.

  “You came back. They said you were hopeless, but I knew you’d come back. We’re kindred spirits, Jessica. We need to help each other.” He walked toward me as Anna gasped for breath, backing along the wall as she straightened herself out. 5B reached a palm out to me, smiling. Then, he walked back to his cot slowly, as if nothing had happened at all. Anna and I left the room in silence.

  Anna regained her composure. “I had it, you know,” she offered haughtily.

  “I know,” I replied, even though it was a lie.

  “I think he needs another round of treatments. I’ll have to let the doctors know.”

  “Treatments?”

  “The electroshock therapy they tried. Started last year, thinking it might calm him down some. It’s either that, or he needs restrained again because he’s getting out of control.”

  I busied my hands with paperwork back at the desk. I wanted to shout that he didn’t need treatment; he needed someone to listen, to figure it all out. I wanted to tell Anna that anyone would go mad under the circumstances.

  Instead, I just painted on an air of indifference. “He seems calmer around me,” I replied.

  In a second, I was whirled around. Anna was in my face. “You mean the time I had to bandage your arm this week because he went crazy? Or the fact that since you’ve come here, he thinks you’re the savior who can put his hallucinations to rest?”

  “Sorry,” I murmured, her eyes raging as she glowered at me.

  Anna took a breath and stepped back. “It’s okay. I’m just on edge. He seems to be getting worse. Hopefully, it won’t matter soon, though.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, stunned.

  “Nothing to worry yourself with,” she replied as she sat at the computer.

  My palms started to sweat. Was 5B leaving? Time was running out to solve it all, to help him. Is that what I really wanted? After all, if 5B disappeared, wouldn’t the horrific kids, too? I wasn’t willing to take the chance.

  “Anna, did 5B have any sort of criminal record before the incident tha
t landed him here?”

  She looked up at me from the computer, but her face was calm and gentle this time. She was more like the Anna I had first assumed her to be.

  She shrugged. “Not that we’re aware of. Of course, half the people in here are so unstable, who knows what secrets they house. But here, at least they don’t pose a risk or anything. Why?”

  I studied her, wishing she could be aligned as a friend once more instead of the secretive adversary she’d seemingly become. “It’s just, well, the drawings. The kids. I just wonder if he . . .”

  “It’s certainly possible. But does it matter, Jessica? He’ll pay for his sins, whatever they are. He’s already paying for them now. Let it rest. The fewer questions you ask, the better around here. Trust me.” The final words came out as a sinister growl, a threat, a dark promise.

  I backed up and nodded.

  “Got it,” I said, even though I knew I didn’t. After all, Anna wasn’t the one taking these dark fears, these disturbing occurrences home with her. Was she?

  Chapter Nineteen

  It had become my after-work ritual. I would strip away my clothes, shower with a fearful heart, and then head to my desk to examine the drawings. Thumbing through them, my heart icy and my eyes aware, I summoned the courage to peruse them. There had to be a link I was missing. There had to be a way to help 5B and, resolutely, to help myself as well.

  I should just walk away, I told myself every single time my fingers traced over the waxy crayon on the now-worn papers. It would be easy to disappear again. Still, there was more than just 5B and the pull of Redwood keeping me there. Guilt. Fear. Sorrow. It all mixed into a milkshake of dread, holding me in place and giving me a false sense of both security and belief in my ability to make things right. The world was a fucking mess, after all. If I could set this right, bring peace to 5B, maybe there would be some glimmer of hope for me.

  “Who are you?” I murmured into the empty room. There was no answer, of course. Even I was still sane enough not to hope for any answers.

  I walked to my room, putting the drawings in the drawer. I climbed under the covers, visions of the kids flashing behind my eyes. No answers came as I drifted off to sleep, the sunlight just creeping in as morning approached.

  ***

  Sleep lingered as I roused, my ear violently itchy. I became aware of the fact I was digging at my left ear as my eyes struggled to open. I kept scratching, confused as to what time it was, what day it was, and what had startled me awake.

  My fingers prodded until they landed on something wriggling and slimy. I bolted upright, wildly flinging at my ear and gasping. I scrambled out of bed, peering back to my silk pillowcase to see the coating of dirt and mud caked on it.

  Eyes bulging, I raced to the mirror over my dresser, still wildly picking at my ear to rid myself of whatever was squirming. With a loud suction noise, it popped loose, my fingers flinging the slimy texture across the room.

  I stared in the mirror, examining my ear to make sure the vermin was gone. The earthworm, muddy and wriggling, was on the carpet of my room. I shook my head, thinking any moment I would awake. But it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a nightmare. I pulled at my hair as I whimpered, too tired and too freaked out to scream.

  I turned to assess my room. That was when I saw him. Huddled in the corner, the dripping mud caked to his body. He crossed the room at what felt like a languid speed, gurgling and groaning as he crossed in front of me to reclaim the worm that had been in my ear. Mouth agape, I leaned backward on my dresser, trying to distance myself from the boyish figure who was back.

  “Please, please. Help me help you,” I murmured. He paused in his footsteps. Then, his head flung to the right, his ghoulish face aimed at me. He let out an agonizing sound and then stalked toward me. I sobbed and cried, hoping that one of the neighbors would hear even though I knew they were out of town. I was alone in the apartment building except for 5B’s haunting, and that wasn’t a comforting thought.

  His muddy finger rose, pointing so close to my eye, I trembled. But before he could do anything, another shriek echoed from the corner of the room. I turned to see a vision of red, her head floating like last time. There was one horrifying difference, though, in the appearance of the girl.

  She had scissors in her hands. A large pair of scissors, primed to stab.

  I scrambled to the side, stepping away from them as I dashed down the hallway toward the living room. My legs were shaky, and I didn’t know where I could possibly go, but I knew I needed to get out of there. My hands reached for the doorknob, but I was too slow.

  Little Red blocked the way.

  I backed up again, scrambling for my phone to call 911. But before I could, she had me pinned against the wall, strength clearly her asset in this state of being despite her size. I squealed and pleaded as she held me steady, the scissors carving into my right arm. The pain seized me, and I felt myself losing consciousness. I was too terrified to give in, though. I was petrified that if I slipped away, I would never come back.

  Blood dripped down my arm as she wheezed and gurgled. Little Brown was on the other side of me, pawing at my arms, at my chest.

  “Please make them stop,” I chanted to an unseen rescuer. But no one came for me. Why would they?

  I was just at my end, thinking how nice it would be to slip into that eternal sleep when it stopped. They were gone, all traces of the horrors vanished as if I had, in fact, simply dreamed it all up. My aching, bloody arm, though, said otherwise. Trembling, I slid down the wall to the floor and hugged my knees to my chest. I needed to tend to my wounds, but I needed a moment to regain my strength. Crying, I told myself to get it together. I needed to get it together. They hadn’t killed me. This time. What would be next?

  I gained the courage to look at the wounds. Although stinging, they weren’t deep. Just superficial cuts. Still, my heart thumped wildly, and vomit rose in my throat as I examined my right arm.

  “Find Us” the letters spelled out in a crude, bloody message.

  I shook my head. How could I possibly? Who would believe me even if I did?

  I needed to pack a bag, to get out. I needed to leave it all behind. To hell with 5B and Redwood. The kids weren’t my problem.

  I headed to the kitchen after shakily getting to my feet. I wrapped a dishtowel around my arm to stop the bleeding and made up my mind. After cleaning up, I would leave Oakwood for good. I would disappear once more, head to a coastal town or a desert oasis and start over. No more Jessica. No more nursing. Just me and a simple life away from all of the creepy shit that had taken over my existence.

  I walked back the hallway to the bathroom, resolute for the first time in a year. I swung open the door and trudged to the sink to poor peroxide on my wound and cleanse myself of the disaster that had found me once more.

  But as I glanced in the mirror to assess my appearance, I jumped. Behind me in the mirror, she stood. The flattened face girl in the yellow sequined dress, blood dripping down. I sucked in air and exhaled loudly through tight lips and misty eyes.

  The figure didn’t move, didn’t speak. She didn’t emit the horrifying scream that I’d come to know her by. Instead, with her red pigtails, she stood behind me. And I knew in that moment the truth, even though no words exchanged. I knew exactly what this was all about.

  I knew that there was no escaping the mess. I’d sealed it all in last year. I’d sealed myself into this weird fucking loop, tied myself to Redwood in more ways than most. I didn’t understand it all, couldn’t understand it all. But I knew that Yellow was warning me, despite everything. I couldn’t leave. Not yet. Because I owed a debt and solving the mystery of 5B was mine to pay. Leaving wouldn’t solve anything—and running didn’t make any of it disappear.

  I’d come to learn that the hard way. Depressed, I leaned on the sink, staring into the bowl and wondering how the hell one got to this messed up point. And how the hell one escaped from it. I cleaned up my arm, fixed my hair, and went back to the desk whe
re the drawings awaited me.

  I would find rest for the kids and peace for 5B. And maybe somehow, in the process, I’d find a path to peace for myself.

  Chapter Twenty

  Itold myself when I came to Redwood that I wouldn’t call off, not like the last place. Sure, at Mercy, I only called off when things got really bad. It wasn’t enough to be noticed. But when I came to Oakwood, I promised myself it would be different at Redwood. Of course, in the asylum, people die more slowly and not all at once. It makes it a little easier.

  Nevertheless, I called in sick after I cleaned my arm. I needed a mental health day, I assured Anna, who didn’t ask any questions. Perhaps she thought I was on my way out after all of the scenarios that had been happening. She didn’t ask many questions, and I didn’t give any answers. I just knew I couldn’t face another shift without solving at least a part of the mystery.

  Besides, I had a mission. Find Emily Landing, the lady from the newspaper article. I really didn’t know enough people in the town to do proper research, but I knew I had to try. If I were going to unlock 5B’s history, it wouldn’t be in the files at Redwood. It wouldn’t be for the staff to tell me. It would be the people who knew him before who could give me insight as to his actions, his whereabouts.

  And maybe why he murdered, I thought with a shiver.

  I headed to the Oakwood library, a tiny little building in the center of town. The article had referred to her as former librarian of Oakwood, so I thought it was as good a place as any to start. After several sideways glances and suspicious interrogations, the head librarian finally told me where I could find Emily—who was thankfully still alive.

  So my next stop of the day took me to the other end of town from Redwood, at the other corner of Oakwood. Oakwood Nursing Home was a modern building compared to the asylum. Glistening white in the sun, the building welcomed its ninety residents and empathetic staff with cheer and grace. At least that was what the pamphlet said in the waiting room as I waited to be checked in to visit with the woman who could be the key to everything. I had come to understand, however, that those glossy pamphlets lie. With the right wording and photographs, even the chamber of hell could look inviting.