Page 49 of Asylum

My hands dart out to break the fall, but in my disoriented state, I land face first on the hardwood floor, pain exploding through my head once again. I cry out, but the sound is distant, muffled by a high pitch ringing in my ears.

The world around me darkens, the throbbing in my head intensifying. I’m screaming, but there’s no sound. The ringing stops, an eerie quiet filling the air, cocooning me in silence. Little specs of light float across my vision.

Am I dead?

Lying motionless, my eyes dart between the bright spots, and my breathing stops as each illuminated point shifts into a scene, one at a time.

Memories.

Each light represents a memory from my life before, and I’m plunged into my past, both startled and horrified.

So. Much. Blood.

I’m paralyzed as I watch each segment unfold, like watching an old movie on a projector.

I’m stabbing a woman with a fire poker.

Then a man.

The shower.

Choking a younger guy with his…

Oh. My. God.

They were my family.

Memories of my stepbrother assaulting me.

A hospital.

An older man trying to help me.

Another hospital.

No. A prison.

Atlas.

Us together.

My vision darkens again, the specs of light dimming, only to return larger and more blinding than before. The deep throbbing launches behind my eyes, snaking through the center of my skull. It’s deep and steady, growing fiercer by the second. A murderous scream echoes in my mind as another series of memories assault me.

Shock therapy.

Needles.

A plan for my release.

Halstead stabbed me.

And Atlas. He watched.

He…

Lobotomy.

Large hands grip my shoulders, shaking me while screaming my name, though his desperate pleas sound far away. My eyes land onhisface.