J.S.
Asylum Letter V from Lizzie Lobotomy from the Bastille Asylum for Misfits and Miscreants
Her Story
Many people believe that my father runs the Bastille Asylum but in truth I’m the one who’s in control. No one suspects sweet and innocent Elizabeth Smyth of any misdeeds. And why should they? And one day soon I’ll own the Asylum. I’ll probably have to marry before that. I’d rather not but it’s the only way to move forward in this day and age. At one point in time my father wanted to marry the Asylum founder’s son, Eriq.
The Bastilles had been owners of the Asylum for generations. Father had met Henry Bastille while learning medicine and the two became fast friends. They both had a vision of curing the world of all diseases. I don’t know where my mother was in this dream. She died soon after giving birth to me. Father never remarried. Monsieur Bastille and Eriq had been in our lives for as long as I could remember. I was about eight years old when all that changed.
*****
When I was younger, Father and Monsieur Bastille would take turns living at the Asylum. Every six months they would switch. There is a small little house that is behind the Asylum where we could sleep and bathe, and we took our meals from the Dining Hall. Father would act as my teacher and I took my lessons in his office along with Eriq and Monsieur Bastille. Father hardly ever let me near the inmates. He was always so afraid that I would be frightened by them but it was quite the opposite. I was intrigued by these strange people and I wanted to know more about them. And soon I would.
One day Eriq and I were bored from sitting in Father’s office, so we decided to explore the Asylum. Well, I decided to explore the Asylum. Eriq hated being anywhere by himself. He was such a mousy little boy. He was three inches smaller than me and easily terrified. His unruly brown hair was always sticking up because Eriq would pull on it when he was nervous. Eriq jumped at the slightest sound and he would scream as well. This is why I had gagged him before we headed down the corridor.
The Asylum is a vast place so it’s easy to get lost. There are four wards, A-D. A is for the women, B is for the men, C is for the more unique patients of either sex, and D is for the most hostile patients. Besides the wards, there are other rooms such as the Dining Hall, Leech Room, Operating Room, Solitary Confinement, Hydro-Therapy, Father and Bastille’s laboratory, the orderlies quarters and both of the offices. And outside we have a fairly large courtyard where the patients from wards A and B take separate walks a few times a week. The ward C hardly ever steps outside of the Asylum and if they do they are heavily shackled. Ward D, however, never leaves their cells.
It had been such a long time since I was able to explore the Asylum. Father kept such a close eye on me but every now and then work had to be done. I tugged on Eriq’s hand and led him down to Ward C. I loved going down to see the inmates of Ward C. They were such fascinating creatures. As we pushed through the doors Eriq pleaded behind the gag of sock and twine I had given him. His blue eyes darted back and forth between the cells.
“What is it now you ninny?” I asked him. “Stop sniveling. They’re in cages. They can’t hurt you.” I pulled Eriq forward as we walked down the hall to the cells. “Think of it as a zoo but in this case it’s lunatics rather than animals.” Eriq’s eyes widened. “That was a joke you moron.”
There were rows of bars on either side of us. I watched in wonder while Eriq trembled in childish fear. There was a young girl with no eyebrows in the first cell. She was singing in a slow whispering voice, something about the man that kissed her. Another cell there was a man with white and black hair, his voice was in a constant growl but his posture was anything but feral. There was also a small woman whose voice quivered as she spoke and she skipped around her cell. There were some people who tried to grab at us or scream at us, there were people that wept in the corner, and there were people begging to die. I was filled with fascination and sorrow for these people. This was the moment where I became resolved to one day become the head of the Asylum and help these people.
My arm felt heavy and I could see that Eriq was crying on the floor. “Get up, Eriq.” I said trying to pull him up. “Stop whining.” I removed his gag.
“Je veux retourner.” He coughed.
“What?”
“I want to go back.” He said. “I don’t like it here.” I pulled him up.
“Fine.” I sighed. “We’ll go, but no more crying.” Eriq sniffed and nodded.
We made our way back through the Ward C door and back to Father’s office. Eriq cleaned his face and we continued with our lessons. We were almost done when the door burst open. It was Monsieur Bastille, his eyes blazing. Father followed soon after and spoke to Bastille, in French. Eriq’s eyes darted back and forth between the two. I hated not knowing what they were saying. Bastille then grabbed Eriq by the arm and dragged him out the door.
“What’s going on?” I watched Eriq stare back at me. His eyes were different this time, a mixture of shock and hurt. They turned a corner and I never saw either of them again.
******
Now I am a young woman of seventeen and I work as a nurse at the Asylum. Father lets me help with making and mixing medicine, and the other chemicals, as well as helping with assisting with all the lobotomies. I felt like I was actually accomplishing something. Although things would have been better if Scarlet hadn’t come here. His, and Naughty’s, snarky comments were becoming too much lately. At least his cellmate, May-May Macabre, kept quiet most of the time. Unless it’s Bath Day and you try to comb through that rat nest of hair.
I’m required to visit Ward C at least six times a day. As I prepared to make my final round I stopped by Father’s office. I knocked on the door before entering. Father had his head buried in papers. His left hand was gripping some of his hair as he wrote down something.
“Is everything alright?” I asked him. Father looked up.
“Elizabeth. What are you doing here?” He rose from his seat. “Shouldn’t you be finishing up for the night?”
“I was just about to do that.” I said. “But I was wondering if I could borrow some of chloroform.”
“What for?” He asked making his way to me.
“In case any of the inmates are restless.” I lied. “I’ll have Davidson and Marcus helping me tonight but I’d rather put the inmates to sleep rather than have them beaten to unconsciousness.”
“Alright then.” Father turned a nearby cabinet and pulled out a blue bottle. “Here you are.” I took the bottle.
“Thank you, Father.” I said. “I’ll start on my rounds now.” I was about to leave when he stopped me.
“Elizabeth.” My father said putting his hand on my shoulder. “I want you to know that I’m very proud of you.” I turned to face him.
“Thank you, sir.” I said. Father had never said that to me before.
“Now, go finish your rounds.”
“Yes, sir.” I bowed my head.
“I love you, Elizabeth.” He said.
“I love you too, Father.”
*****
I walked down through Ward C with the orderlies at either side of me. We had checked almost all the cells and so far everyone had been compliant. I checked all the cells and everything was going smoothly. All I had to do finish with Cell C and I could move on to my plans for that night.
“Alright, boys, time for bed!” I called out as I turned the key to the cell door. Suddenly I hand shot out and grabbed my arm, knocking the key away.
“LOBOTOMY!” He cried out. It was Scarlet. His eyes were red and full of fear. I tried to break his grip but it was ironclad.
“Jay let go of her!” I looked to see May-May trying to pry Scarlet’s hand from me. “He’s been acting strange for the last hour or so. I think he’s having a fit.” Scarlet gripped my arm harder.
“Listen to me.” He said with his eyes on mine. “Something horrible is about to occur, something that will send this entire place into a spiraling bloody end. You have to listen to me!” The orderlies scrambled for the key. Useless men. I would have to subdue him myself. I tried to reach for the blue bottle in my pocket.
“I see death.” Scarlet moaned, his hand still gripping tight. “All I see is death. There will be blood, so much blood.” Finally he released his grip and then covered his ears. “I can still hear the sounds of their screaming. They’re all screaming.”
I managed to uncork the bottle. Some of the liquid spilled on my apron but it was just enough. I ripped my apron and pushed it into Scarlet’s face. He coughed and swayed before falling to the ground. May-May rushed to his side.
“Now if you two would make yourselves useful.” I said to the guards. “Take Scarlet to Solitary for next few days. I’ll see if Dr Smyth can do with his medication.” Finally the men opened the cell. May-May looked up and headed to the corner of the cell. “And I better not hear from you for the rest of the night, understand?” He nodded. “Good.”
The guards picked up the unconscious inmate and headed down the hall. I slammed the cell door and headed to the orderlies quarters to change. I had to look presentable for tonight.
To be continued….
Lizzie Lobotomy
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