• † † †


    † † †


    † † †

    1866, Weston, West Virginia

    The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum for the mentally ill was founded in 1864. Since then it has had a reputation of beholding the worst of the worst. Between the walls of Trans-Allegheny die many souls who are buried in the gigantic graveyard on the edge of the grounds. It is told to be haunted with bad luck and everyone who is locked up inside, won't ever leave the grounds. Dead or alive. Now in 1866 the asylum has been reopened, after it was closed for several months due to a particularly gruesome murder inside its walls. Eight clients have been transferred from different other asylums to spend the remaining of their insane lives in Trans-Allegheny, but it is not only walls that holds the clients inside. According to the rumors, the doctors who have been appointed to take care of the clients aren't quite sane themselves. Welcome to the horrors of Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.

    R O L E S
    DOCTORS
    Killian Theodore Cliffwood • Ian Somerhalder (narcissist) // Lizor
    Edward Isaac Jones • Iwan Rheon // Shireen
    Norman Richard Galloway • David Gandy (drug addict) // Miall

    Katherine Williams • Scarlett Johansson (sadist) // Macabre
    Elaine Ophelia Hershey • Kristina Romanova // Shocker
    Adaline Ruth Baker • Elizabeth Olsen // Viraha


    PATIENTS
    Charles Alexander Madkins • fc • Paranoid Personality Disorder // Lachesism
    Henry Nicholas Reign • Daniel Bederov • Major Depressive Disorder // Viraha
    Lukas Heathford • Arthur Daniyarov • PTSD // Marlow
    Jethro Niclas Hayes • ? • Borderline personality disorder // Scythe
    Lilith Stanbury • Violet Ell • Schizophrenia/ED // Macabre
    Anastasia Florence Chau-Se • Daul Kim • Dissociative Identity Disorder // Lizor
    Therese Scottsman • Lorde • Hysteria // Shireen
    Dorothy Margaret Crawford • Cora Keegan • Bipolar // Miall


    T O P I C S
    Roletopic
    Chattopic 1, 2
    Playtopic

    S T A R T E R
    It is early in the morning and the patients arrive at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The doctors and nurses are ready to examine them completely before they get showed to their small rooms. The patients aren't allowed their own possessions in and have to walk around in pre scripted clothes. They have to wear white pants - men - and a long ankle skirt - women - with an elastic band instead of a fly and a white blouse.

    R U L E S
    † There is maximum of two roles.
    † Only Macabre and Lizor make new topics.
    † Posts have to contain at least 250 words.
    † No fights, unless it's in character.
    † OOC in playing topic between hooks or in the spam topic.
    † 16+ is allowed.
    † Without permission you can not control other roles.
    † Don't shut anyone out and try to read the posts from others.
    † In your post you name your name, role, location and the person you role is with.
    † No Harley Quinn's or Tate's.
    † Take the year into consideration when you pick a face claim.
    † And above all; have fun!

    [ bericht aangepast op 18 jan 2017 - 17:09 ]


    My fake plants died, because I did not pretend to water them.

    Anastasia "Stas" Florence Chau-Se
    My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.”


    24 • Dissociative identity disorder • Examine Room • Doctor Galloway

    'I will think about it,' he tells me and I look at him. I see something in his eyes that tells me that he is not okay. I want to ask him but something about the sadness on his face stops me. Normally I would just intrude his privacy, but this seems to be something I can not intrude. For a while i look at him with something of a pitying expression on my face.
          'Now, let's go,' he says and het gets up. He grabs my arm and takes me into the hallway. 'You can talk to me now, but be quiet,' he mumbles softly, but at the moment I do not feel like talking anymore. His silence says more than enough. I did see the picture on his desk. Maybe he is sad about that. He kept looking at it. Deep in thought I walk along with him in an unnatural silence for me. We arrive at my room and I push open the door. It's a room with only a bed in it and I look at him quite blankly. I wrap my arms around my slender body and shiver. I start to feel nervous about this. I don't want to be alone again. My hand go to my wrist which I start to scratch. Not hard, but very fast and nervously. I look around at him with big afraid eyes and shake my head.
          'N-No... I don't want to be alone,' I whisper. 'I... if I can't do anything. I'll go crazy. Give me something then. A book. Anything. Please,' I beg in a pleading tone. I clamp on to him and look up at him. ' Please Doctor Galloway. Please, I beg of you. Don't l-leave me alone. I can't handle it. They will come back. They will make me do things. They will hurt me and other people and I don't want to!'


    My fake plants died, because I did not pretend to water them.

    LUKAS “LUKA” HEATHFORD


    Patient • 22 • PTSD • examination-room • Adaline[/15]


    Adaline frowned when Lukas asked, almost begged, for his necklace back. He stared at her, feeling slightly insulted. What was so strange about him desperately wanting his necklace back? Perhaps that he wanted it so desperately? When Lukas asked her to act like she never found it, he heard her sighing. Lukas bit his lip.
          “I can’t promise someone else won’t find it and eventually take it. We do routine check-ups, you know that,” she muttered. She gave the necklace back by sliding it over the desk. Lukas quickly grabbed the small piece of jewellery and put it back in his pocket.
          ”I will make sure nobody ever finds it,” he said, a genuine smile appearing on his face. He had his necklace back and still stood in front of the desk, not sure what was going to happen next.
          ”However, if I can do this for you, can you please take a seat again and at least tell me something? I’m someone you can trust, Lukas, I promise you that. And after that, the examination is over and you can take a moment to clear your mind, catch your breath, whatever you need..” Lukas played with his fingers. She had a point there. The least he could do was speaking to her. Eventually, he nodded and he walked to the chair to pull it up again. He placed the chair in front of the desk and sat down.
          ”I just do not want to spill it all yet, I do not want to. What eh.. W’-What do you want to know?” Lukas said quietly. He did not feel comfortable with speaking much, he was afraid his voice would annoy others. That it would annoy the monsters inside of them.
          Lukas started playing with his fingers again and stared at the ground.
          ”They haunt me every minute of the day and the night. They never leave me alone. The monsters,” he muttered after a moment of silence, still focusing on the ground beneath his feet.


    That is a perfect copy of reality.

    Norman Richard Galloway

    Doctor — 35 years old — examine room — Stas


    No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.

    She surprises me when she just keeps quiet when we walk towards her room. I expected to have to tell her to keep it down or to stop talking altogether, but not a single word left her mouth. I guide her and keep her close to me, I don't want anyone to get hurt and really, I don't want Persephone to get back here when we are out in the open. Not entirely open, but still, she could run away easily enough. In my room, the door was locked and she would have to go through the bars before the window to get outside.
          I hold still before her room and I slowly release her arm, which I might have squeezed too hard. I open the door for the girl in front of me and I look at her face. It's changing again. This time she seems truly upset and afraid.
          'N-No... I don't want to be alone,' I whisper. 'I... if I can't do anything. I'll go crazy. Give me something then. A book. Anything. Please,' she begs and I look down at the small, fragile girl. Her hands clamp on to me and she starts talking again when I keep quiet. 'Please Doctor Galloway. Please, I beg of you. Don't l-leave me alone. I can't handle it. They will come back. They will make me do things. They will hurt me and other people and I don't want to!'
          I don't know what she's talking about, and I have to remember to write this down in her file. Who is going to hurt her and others? Who is she talking about?
          'Who are you talking about?' I ask. Most other doctors and nurses would have thrown her in her room and locked the door, but I'm not like them. I am a doctor and I need to take care of my patients. 'Miss Chau-Se, nobody is going to hurt you,' I try to tell her, but the despair in her eyes only seem to grow bigger. What's so scary about a room? I'm sure she's used to living in a small room when she stayed in other asylums.
          For a moment I forget about Beatrice, I forget about the liquor in the drawer of my desk. I look at Stas and I try to make eye contact. It's difficult to make her look at me, because it feels like she's about to burst out crying any minute now.
          'Calm down...' I then say, my voice is deep and I talk slowly. Most of the time this approach works with distressed patients, and it might also help to make sure Anastasia isn't going to die of stress right here in front of me.


    I, Tahani Al-Jamil, shall do my level best to make every event too much.

    HENRY NICHOLAS REIGN

    24 • Depressed/Suicidal • Patient





    “Oh, but Henry, we haven’t finished here yet.” Suddenly I feel his strong hand around mine and my heart sinks, as he takes out the razors. My chances weren’t that great to begin with, but I had hoped the company of another patient was enough distraction for me to sneak them away. Unfortunately, the arrogant doctor appears to be more competent I had initially thought. It was stupid of me to underestimate him, but I saw a chance and I took it. “Use your energy for something more useful, like getting better perhaps?”
          Stiffly I nod and avoid his gaze, as he seems to study both me and Jeth, as he also chimes in. “I would have chosen the needles, easier to take and hide.” I rise the corner of my mouth, giving Jeth a crooked, tired grin, as he continues to explain why with obvious experience. Perhaps he wasn’t the worst after all.
          ”I enjoy the blades more,” I mutter to him, before following Killian with my eyes.
          “Alright, fine. I will escort the both of you to your rooms,“ the doctor begins to speak, “It will give me time to think about how we are going to establish the next few meetings and thoroughly scan through your files. Follow me now. Come.” Now this I can abide. A room, a bed and the quiet seem like things my body desperately longs for.
          In a daze I step outside the room, not even trying to sneak away something else – as I see how Killian is carefully watching us both. “I’m certain there’ll be more games soon, Jeth,” I say in pure exhaustion and glance over to our doctor once more. “Will we have a few hours to rest?” I ask him, wondering if any meals or activities that might be to come, are to be mandatory.
          Only when we’re walking, I take a moment to take in my fellow-patient. “You seem rather experienced with asylums. What’s your first thought on this one?”




    [ bericht aangepast op 9 dec 2016 - 16:21 ]


    A girl who wonders.

    Dr. Adaline Baker

    28 Doctor Examination Lukas



    The genuine smile the boy gives me as I return his necklace to him, makes me believe I made the right decision. However, I still feel terribly cautious about it. This could all go wrong so easily and I don’t want to be responsible in any way, or get into trouble myself. Yet when he informs he’ll keep it safe, I decide to put my troubled mind to rest.
          I softly sigh with a hint of relief, when he takes a seat again and nods in response to my request to talk. Finally we’d be getting somewhere, even if it is in the slightest matter – it would mean I was getting through to him and that little fact made me genuinely happy.
          ”I just do not want to spill it all yet, I do not want to. What eh. . . W-What do you want to know?” he asks me quietly and I have to keep myself from telling him I want to know everything, knowing it might scare him off and possibly be too much for the troubled young man. So I just sit quietly, giving him time to decide for himself as I give him an understanding nod.
          ”They haunt me every minute of the day and the night. They never leave me alone. The monsters,” he mutters barely audible and again I worriedly furrow my eyebrows, both ecstatic that he tells me this, and saddened by how tortured he seems to be.
          ”Thank you for sharing this with me, Lukas,” I say in a kind, calm voice, genuinely grateful that we reached some sort of progress with this conversation. “I’d like to learn more about this, if you don’t mind, but I suggest we’ll keep this for our next little meet-up. Is that alright with you?” I scribble down exactly what he’s told me, after which I look for his eyes. Some much I wanted to ask him; what do these monster look like? What could possible help him make them go away? And many more questions come to mind.
          Yet I get up, intending on keeping my promise: He told me something – a lot, in my opinion – and now he would be free to get some rest, so I make my way to the door and open it for him. “I’ll show you to your room now. It’s actually the first one in the hall, closest to the dining and living room,” I give him a small smile. “Come on, follow me.”



    A girl who wonders.

    LUKAS “LUKA” HEATHFORD


    Patient • 22 • PTSD • examination-room • Adaline

    ”Thank you for sharing this with me, Lukas,” Adaline said in a kind, calm voice. “I’d like to learn more about this, if you don’t mind, but I suggest we’ll keep this for our next little meet-up. Is that alright with you?”
          Lukas nodded, thankful for her not asking more about it. However, was not sure if he wanted to tell her everything. Everytime he told humans about what was going on in his life, he felt so vulnerable. As if he had no place to hide anymore, as if they knew everything about him. Lukas looked at Adaline cribbling down some words. He noticed she was trying to look for his eyes as well as Lukas was searching for hers.
          Suddenly Adaline got up and made her way to the door, opening it for him. “I’ll show you to your room now. It’s actually the first one in the hall, closest to the dining and living room,” she told Lukas, giving him a small smile.
    Lukas looked at her and bit her lip. His room? Where he would be all alone? He was not sure that would be the right thing for him. If the monsters found him there, he would not be able to defend himself. Lukas kept standing where he stood.
          “Come on, follow me.” Her voice again. Lukas softly sighed. He knew he had no other choice than following this woman. Lukas softly nodded and walked after her.
          ”Do I have to go to my room already? I eh.. I would like some time to wander around,” Lukas said with such a quiet voice it almost looked like he wanted to whisper. He looked at her, with begging eyes.
          ”Please? I do not want to go to my room yet. I will run. Please? Please? Please?” he asked her, repeating the question “please” several times.
          Lukas entered the hallway and looked around. What was the fastest way to freedom? He bit his lip for a moment and started moving. He did not know what way his room was, but he was determined to walk the other way. Away from his room.


    That is a perfect copy of reality.

    Killian Theodore Cliffwood
    Mephobia is the fear of becoming so awesome that the human race can't handle it and everyone dies... no, wait, I already am.”


    29 • Narcissistic • Examine Room • Patient Reign and Hayes

    I ignore the fact that Jethro is trying to give Henry advice on what to sneak along to hurt himself and make sure he doesn't take anything.
          'How sad, I just started to enjoy this game, I hope they’ve written something interesting, it’s quite a thick book I see.'
          'I'm sure I will enjoy,' I say dryly.
          'When I get out, I would like my stuff back please,' he then says.
          'You won't get out,' I say softly before I close the door of my office.
          'I’m certain there’ll be more games soon, Jeth,' Henry says. Oh, yes Henry, you surely will. I grin slightly and open a door to the sleeping wing. 'Will we have a few hours to rest?'
          'Yes, you can get some rest and we will see you all for dinner,' I say and open the first door, ignoring the two talking to each other. 'This is you Jethro and the room ahead is for you Henry,' I say when opening the next door with my key. They seem to be alike, Jethro and Henry, not specifically on how they act but there interest. Jethro is more extrovert however and Henry is looking more drained. I suppose he used to be more like Jethro, but his illness took his toll on him.
          'Do not try to do anything stupid, because you will be watched twenty-four seven,' I say and I point to the few guards standing in the same hall. 'You will be collected for dinner, until then you will remain in your rooms, which I will lock. Don't try anything stupid, I have been nice to you now, but I am not a very patient man.' I push them in their rooms without letting them finish the conversation. They can probably still have it since there are bars in there door so there can be looked into the rooms, but there is no rule against that. This is still a hospital, not a prison. I lock the doors, turn around and then return to my study.


    The call me Charming, no, no, not prince... Doctor,
    Doctor Charming.


    My fake plants died, because I did not pretend to water them.

    Anastasia "Stas" Florence Chau-Se
    My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.”


    24 • Dissociative identity disorder • Her Room • Doctor Galloway

    'Who are you talking about? Miss Chau-Se, nobody is going to hurt you,' he tries to reassure me, but it doesn't make it any better. I do not want to be left alone here. It will kill me. They will kill me.
          'T-Them... the other me-s. They will try to kill me,' I whisper. 'Especially...,' I choke on unshed tears and shake my head. I wrap my arms around myself and try very hard not to cry. I pin my nails so hard in my skin, a small drop of red blood trickles down and flashes against my pale skin. The pain distracts me from the mental pain for a bit, but not for long. I press harder and try to make the pain so bad I can't focus on anything else.
          'Calm down...' he says and his voice seems to bring me back a little. I look up at my doctor with big, pleading eyes. I feel how the blood drops down my arms and onto the white floor. I try to focus on my breathing and get myself back together, but it doesn't seem to work. I shake my head and start to twitch.
          'No..,' I whisper. 'NO, DON'T SEND ME AWAY AGAIN!' I now scream. 'DON'T LOCK ME UP! I HATE IT! STOP IT!' My voice doesn't sound like my own anymore and it screeches like an evil crow. My sadness suddenly starts to turn into anger and I look at Norman with eyes seem to be shooting fire. I run forward and grap Norman's neck, trying to strangle him while screaming madly. 'YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR TRYING TO HOLD ME CAPTIVE!' I scream and I slash at him with my nails, trying to hurt him badly.


    诶艾诶娜哦诶娜艾诶

    [ bericht aangepast op 10 dec 2016 - 22:52 ]


    My fake plants died, because I did not pretend to water them.

    Dr. Adaline Baker

    28 Doctor Examination Lukas



    “Do I have to go to my room already? I eh.. I would like some time to wander around,” the young man begins quietly. “Please? I do not want to go to my room yet. I will run. Please? Please? Please?”
          Frowning I look at him. “No, of course not. You’re free to explore the facility a bit, if you’d like. I can only suggest the recreation room – though I just call it the Living Room, because of its hominess,” I say encouragingly and softly squeeze his shoulder, before letting go once again. “You know where your room is in case you need to find it, and you can always ask me or one of the nurses to help you our if there’s an issue. Alright? We’ll also come get you when it’s time for dinner and otherwise we’ll see each other soon enough, Lukas. Try to get some rest, though – and perhaps you can meet some of the others?” I smile kindly and decide to leave him be, no longer frightening him with my mere presence. Although he did his best, I know he feels uncomfortable around me.
          There’s nothing he can really do to endanger himself or escape. Everyone has been thoroughly searched for anything that might prove a danger to them and there are no means of leaving the asylum, without passing rigorous security-measures. Yet still I feel bad for leaving him. However, there needs to be some distance, I remind myself. Can’t have patients becoming too attached, you know.
          Quietly I wander the halls towards the doctors’ lounge, a room privately for us staff members – hoping to find either Norman or Edward. I need to talk to them, both or one of them and inform them of what is going on. Surely they won’t be happy about it, I think to myself – perhaps they’ll get mad. But I need to tell them.


    [ bericht aangepast op 31 dec 2016 - 3:49 ]


    A girl who wonders.

    Jethro Niclas Hayes
    patient • 26 • borderline • his room • Henry


    “I should never be left alone with my mind for too long.”

    "Better to have a needle but don't enjoy it, then to have no razor even though you would have enjoyed it," Jeth says in a soft whisper, more to himself than to Henry. That guy looked like he could fall asleep against a wall if he wasn't forced to walk.
    "Not so pessimistic Killian. Until this one I've got out of all the asylums I was in and there were a lot of asylums." Jeth smiles to the doctor as he walks with him to his room. He looks at Henry as he walks. It's clear that he is tired, exhausted even. Jeth wonders a moment if that is one of the things he is in for.

    After a short walk Jeth sees a hallway with doors, it's a sight he is very familliar with and without letting them finish their conversation Killian pushes Jeth in his room and locks the door. The bars make so he can still converse with Henry.
    "No particular thoughts really, it's just another asylum. We probably hear screaming soon enough. If your own thoughts aren't driving you crazy, it are the thoughts of fellow patients who express them more loudly than you do." Jeth walks a couple of rounds in his room, stretching his armes as he can almost tough opposite walls. He waits until Killian is far enough away before resuming the conversation.
    "But don't get your hopes up on getting better, they probably don't bother. It's just safer for the outside world that you are in here. They just put you here with a couple of doctors and say that you will get better if you just try hard enough and stay long enough while the rest of the world just forgets about you." After those words Jeth tries his bed. Not really comfortable, but decent enough to sleep on. Jeth just hopes the other patients are somewhat quiet at nights so he can sleep. With his hands behind his head, he lays down on the sheets.
    "And don't even bother fighting it, you just gotta accept the system. Best for everyone."

    [ bericht aangepast op 17 dec 2016 - 0:30 ]

    Elaine Ophelia Hershey



    She sighs and I look at her from under my eyelashes. Here it comes...
          ‘That's a very easy way to describe it. I can't deny this story's accuracy. But this will be about the millionth time that I explain why this came to be, yet no doctor has complied to entering it in the file yet. That or Oscar ordered them to remove it...’ She mentioned her husband again and talked about him as if he were the Devil himself. I can't help, but to feel somewhat sorry for this woman. I am well aware of the fact that she had lowered her voice while talking as if she were afraid somebody would hear her beside me. Her husband perhaps? ‘Because the only truth behind this is that the many things that Oscar did to me caused all this. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. But those are things that you will never understand, because you are not married. And even if you were, this is an exception. He never mistreated me before we got married.’ I write down everything she's said and ignore her last comment so as to stay professional. I check my notes and try to process everything she's said and think of relevant questions to ask.
          ‘You mentioned 'many things' and 'mistreating'. Might I ask how he used to mistreat you, and what he exactly did or said?’ I lean against my desk and look at her rather curiously. I play with the pen and move my gaze to the wooden clock that is standing against the wall, causing me to curse quietly, we've only got very little time left. Speaking of time. ‘And for how long has this been going on?’



    Doctor • 28 • Major OCD issues & obsessed with perfection • Examination room/office • Therese


    I just caught the wave in your eyes

    Norman Richard Galloway

    Doctor — 35 years old — examine room — Stas


    No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.

    I look at her arms. Her fingers press into her upper arms and I see drops of blood welling up from the small wounds she's inflicting on herself. She's trying to get back to me and I keep repeating the i]Calm down[/i]' that seemed to bring her back to reality a little bit. Unfortunately this is of short notice, because once again her look changes and she starts to twitch.
          'No... NO, DON'T SEND ME AWAY AGAIN! DON'T LOCK ME UP! I HATE IT! STOP IT!' she screeches and I look at the girl in front of me. Now she is just being unfair, but who am I to let her notice? I've seen a screaming Anastasia before, so I can't really say I'm shocked by her behaviour. Within a couple of seconds, her mood swings again and I look right into her flaming eyes. Stas looks very, very angry and it's not sadness turned into anger, like it was before, when Persephone came out. This is different. She is turning into a mad man.
          'YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR TRYING TO HOLD ME CAPTIVE!' she screams and her nails slash my skin, trying to hurt me. Good thing I'm quite used to things like this, but that doesn't mean this can't hurt. I firmly grab her hands and I turn her around, her face pointed towards the white wall in front of me, her back pressing against my torso.
          'Calm down,' I tell her again, this time not so much soothing as I just did, but stricter, to let her know I'm not one to mess with. I'm not unfair and I'm not sadist, but I don't like being treated like this while I am trying to help her out. 'Shut up,' I tell her and I press her against the wall. It's the only way to stop her from scratching my face and hurting me and herself.


    I, Tahani Al-Jamil, shall do my level best to make every event too much.

    Anastasia "Stas" Florence Chau-Se
    My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.”


    24 • Dissociative identity disorder • Her Room • Doctor Galloway

    He grabs my hands and makes sure they are locked together before pushing me against the wall, no very gently. I keep trying to escape while panting harshly, but the air is pressed out of my longues and I'm not able to make a sound anymore.
          'Calm down,' he tells me, but not in his gentle voice anymore. His voice sounds harsh and the sound seems to cut me open from inside. Every sound pierces through me like a knife. His heavy panting. His voice. The slamming against the wall. 'Shut up,' he says and he presses my face harder against the wall so I have even less room to move, breath or even try and say something. I close my eyes and try to control the anger that is raging in me, but it isn't working. I can't seem to come to my senses. The only thing I can feel is how he is pressed against me and the harsh sounds he's making.
          'I will kill you,' I hiss in a low voice, because that is the only sounds I can produce with all the air pushed out of my longues. I pant and try to pin my nails into his hands, but I can't reach them. I close my eyes and slowly start to realize who I am and where I am. 'I will slash you open,' a voice says again which doesn't sound like my own voice at all. Somewhere deep inside of me I know this is wrong and that person deep down is starting to fight against the person that is now controlling me. I groan.
          'I will kill everyone you love in front of your eyes,' I then hiss while I'm still fighting my inner battle. 'Let. Me. Go!'


    诶艾诶娜哦诶娜艾诶


    My fake plants died, because I did not pretend to water them.

    THERESE • SCOTTSMAN

    Patient • 25 • Hysteria and paranoia • Examination room



    'You mentioned 'many things' and 'mistreating'. Might I ask how he used to mistreat you, and what he exactly did or said? And for how long has this been going on?' I close my eyes for a second. Apparently they really were going to put me through this again. Oscar took it out of the file, I'm certain he did. Perhaps to save his own skin, or perhaps just to torment me, because he knew they would keep asking me about it. He wanted to keep reminding me of it, and what I was going to return to whenever I would get out of here...
          'About two years ago. Two and a half, maybe.' I cleared my throat. I didn't want to torture myself by thinking about it anymore, but I had to. If it wasn't in my file, they needed to know. And no, I could never go to the authorities or police with this, since he was my husband and I had my wifely duties, but at least these people needed to know. They needed to know I'm not crazy. I snorted.
          'And if you want to know exactly what he did to me... Here's a listing: first he tormented me emotionally by turning his back to me. Then whenever I would speak against him he would beat me. Hard. The fact that his staff knew and saw this didn't seem to bother him. At one point I couldn't take it anymore and stopped joining him in our marriage bed. That was my worst mistake.' I was quiet for a second, as I saw his face in front of me... Then I sighed, and focussed on the doctor again.
          'The first time he raped me wasn't the worst. I didn't realise that it was rape until afterwards I got to think about what he had done to me. After that, I started trying to fight him whenever he felt it was time to perform my duties. I was never strong enough, of course I wasn't. And no matter how loud I would scream, nobody would help me, not even my beloved ladiesmaid. And Oscar would no longer talk to me, or even interact with me, unless he needed me to mount himself on... Don't you think that would drive anyone to the point of hysteria? Hm?'


    how dare you speak of grace

    Norman Richard Galloway

    Doctor — 35 years old — examine room — Stas


    No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.

    I keep pressing her up against the wall, making sure she can't move a single muscle in her body. Of course she's not a quitter, so she keeps on struggling to free her arms, but she has no chance. I'm way taller and stronger and it doesn't matter how crazy they get, I can handle most of my patients.
          'I will kill you,' I hear, but it doesn't really matter to me. If she wants to kill me, I'm fine with it. If she is actually planning on killing me, I'm not so fine with that. My life isn't what it has been, but I don't feel like dying anytime soon. And not because of some disturbed little girl. 'I will slash you open,' she continues. I loo k around the corridor, but of course, not a single guard is to be seen. When you need them, they're out.
          'I will kill everyone you love in front of your eyes. Let. Me. Go!' she adds and I shake my head. The sounds coming out of her mouth aren't exactly what I would like to hear, so I won't let her go.
          'You can try,' I hiss back at the girl. I tried my best to stay nice, and of course I know she has a disorder, but I'm not about to treat her any different from the others. 'I love no one and no one loves me. So I wish you the best of luck, love.'
          When I notice she's struggling less and less, I let her go a bit, so she can properly breathe again. I'm not going to choke her to death, I'm not that kind of guy. I still look at Anastasia, who's coming back to me a little, I see. She's not talking in that low, screeching voice again and she's not trying to murder me at the scene.
          'Calm down...' I tell her again. I have to — and I want to — calm her down now, I'm not a monster and I won't lock her up in her room when she's all upset.


    I, Tahani Al-Jamil, shall do my level best to make every event too much.