The Old Asylum

And Other Stories

Sagging Meniscus Press

Contents

The Old Asylum

Are you seriously going to take her up to the Old Asylum? You're crazy. For real, I don't think she can handle it. Angela Jacobs isn't exactly the type of girl who is going to appreciate the finer points of the sanitarium. Although, it might just scare the pants off her, I'll give you that."

Hunter laughed and punched his friend Joey in the arm, "I'm just gonna take her up there and show her around that's all. Besides, she asked me to guide her so I don't even know if it's a date or anything. I think she's just curious about the abandoned buildings and stuff."

"Oh she's curious alright," replied Joey. "She's curious about why you broke up with Susan last week, she's curious about that half ounce of sour diesel in your backpack, and I would dare say that she is most definitely curious about that bulge in your pants."

"You're an idiot," Hunter said chuckling, "Stop looking at my bulge, loser. Let's smoke a bowl at your house and then I have to get ready."

Walking the four suburban blocks from Joey's, feeling pleasantly stoned, Hunter got a text from Angela confirming their plans for the night. He shot her back a few smiley faces and bounded up the front steps of his own house. The smell of dinner hung pleasantly in the air and his mother gave him a kiss on the cheek saying, "Wash up for supper."

"Angela Jacobs is stopping by after dinner and we're going to take a walk together."

"Oh?" His mother replied, "Are you sure she doesn't want to come for dinner?"

"No, That's ok. We already made plans for seven."

"Wow, Angela Jacobs huh? That's a nice surprise. She's such a beautiful girl from such a lovely family. Do you want to ask your father to borrow the car?"

"Nah, that's ok. I'm gonna show her around the woods and stuff where we hang out."

"Hunter, I don't want you taking that girl into the abandoned hospital up there. You know I don't like you going in the Old Asylum. It's illegal, it's dangerous, and I certainly don't want you taking Angela Jacobs in there. Her parents would have a conniption fit if they found out. I mean her father is a police officer for goodness sake."

"Relax Mom, we're just going for a nice walk in the woods. It's not a big deal."

"Okay, but you better be telling me the truth. Go say hello to your dad and tell him that dinner will be ready in ten minutes. And I mean it; don't be taking that pretty young woman up to that decrepit old mental hospital. For as long as I live I will never understand your fascination with that horrible place."

After supper Hunter went upstairs and rolled two joints from his bag of weed. He carefully placed them into a plastic baseball card case and snapped it shut. Just as he was slipping the case into his back pocket he heard his mother call upstairs, "Hunter honey Angela Jacobs is here."

Hunter took a quick look in the mirror, ran his fingers through his unruly hair, and hustled down the stairs. In the dining room, his mom was bombarding Angela with a flurry of mundane questions about school. Hunter sought to rescue her from this polite interrogation, but he could tell that Angela was charming his mom and seemed to be at ease with the conversation. When they were finally able to break free and start their walk Hunter said, "Sorry about that. My mom can be pretty nosy at times."

Angela laughed and said, "Are you kidding me? My dad is a detective. I get the third degree every time I come home."

"Oh man, I bet. What did your dad say when you told him you were hanging out with me tonight?"

"Well, I didn't exactly tell him where we're going, but he doesn't mind me hanging out with you. I mean we've gone to school together since kindergarten so my dad sees you as safe. Obviously he doesn't know about your extracurricular activities, but that can be our little secret. Basically, he thinks you're harmless."

"Ha ha, well let's hope he doesn't find out otherwise. Speaking of extracurricular activities ..." Hunter pulled the clear case out and flashed her the two joints. "I brought us a little something to enhance the effect of the Old Asylum."

She squealed in delight as Hunter slipped the case back into his pocket and asked him, "Is that still the sour diesel from Adam Nash?"

"Yeah I got a half ounce of it today. I'm pretty sure the rest of the QP will be gone by tonight. The supply is dwindling fast so I grabbed all I could afford."

Approaching the dead end of Hunter's street, the young couple stepped around the metal gate and entered the Old Asylum woods. The trees were just starting their autumnal change and both teenagers instinctively lowered their voices in unconscious reverence for the ancient forest. Angela asked in a hushed tone, "So why did you break up with Susan, if you don't mind me asking?"

"No, it's ok. I don't mind talking about it. I liked Susan a lot and she has lots of really good qualities, but there were a few things I couldn't get past. When we were sophomores it was fun to be with her and we laughed all the time, but by the end of junior year she was always jealous about stupid stuff and we fought constantly. My parents didn't really approve of the relationship anymore and I wanted to start out fresh as a senior. I guess once the summer was over, it was also the end for me and Susan. She doesn't admit it, but the breakup was pretty much mutual."

Angela said, "I heard she's been hanging out with Rob Andulski a lot. That's crazy!"

"Yeah I heard that," Hunter sighed. "She always tried to use him to make me jealous so I pretty much knew that would happen. As long as she's happy I don't care what she does. Honestly, I'm pretty much over it."

"Yeah, but come on, Rob Andulski? You've got to be kidding me. That guy is a freakin caveman psycho. You know how many times my dad has arrested that kid? He is seriously dangerous. We've only been back at school one week and Rob already managed to get himself suspended."

"Are you serious? What for?"

"Oh my gosh I can't believe you didn't hear! He pulled down Alfred Hendrickson's shorts in the middle of gym class today. I was there actually and I saw Al's hairy butt. I can't believe you didn't hear about that." They both began to giggle and their mirth rang out through the forest. When they finally stopped laughing, Angela turned serious again and said to Hunter, "So tell me about the Old Asylum. Everyone at school says you're like the expert on the place."

"Ha ha, well I don't know about being an expert. I lived on Glenview Road my whole life so I was always playing in these woods. It didn't take us long to find the sanitarium when we were little, so I guess I've been exploring the buildings since I was nine or ten. Last year I went to the county library and researched a project about the Old Asylum for Mrs. Feynman's class. I learned a ton of history and stuff about the place. You wouldn't believe it! A lot of people died up there."

Angela said, "My dad told me stories about the potter's field up on the hill. Supposedly it's just a mass grave where they used to bury the mental patients when they died on the wards."

"Yes that's true," Hunter confirmed. "That section is all the way over on the other side of the property by Sepulcher Hill Cemetery. I usually don't go over there because it's too close to the part of the hospital that's still in operation. Plus, it's spooky as hell."

"What and the Old Asylum isn't?"

"The Old Asylum is definitely spooky there's no doubt about that. I still get chills up my spine whenever I go inside, but there's something about the potter's field that just feels wrong. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but truthfully I don't know anyone who hangs out there. Besides it's just an overgrown field with a bunch of rickety old crosses ..."

Hunter suddenly stopped in his tracks and cocked his head to listen to the woods around them. Angela followed suit and stood motionless. After a moment of careful listening she whispered, "What is it? What did you hear?"

He was standing rigid, listening for a repetition of the sound. After a few moments he relaxed and said, "Probably nothing. I thought I heard a twig snap. Could have been a deer or something. Let's keep going. We're almost there."

The path had been leading them steadily upward as they approached the abandoned hospital. The last bit of trail was rocky and steep. Hunter took Angela's hand and guided her to the top. At the summit they continued to hold hands and Angela grinned as she gazed at Hunter's handsome face in the golden sunlight. He smiled back at her and for a moment they became lost in each other's eyes. This silent staring may very well have led to a kiss, but Hunter raised his arm and pointed at the top of the trees where a massive red brick insane asylum loomed in the gathering twilight. He whispered, "There it is."

"Wow it's huge!"

"Yeah and that's just the back entrance to the Front Male Ward. The rest of the hospital sprawls out toward Sepulcher Hill. Wait till you see it! In the basement there are long steam tunnels connecting this building with the rest of the Old Asylum. I usually go up on the roof here and smoke before walking around. You ready?"

Angela looked up at the forbidding six-story building with its broken windows and graffiti-stained facade. She was experiencing second thoughts about actually going inside and asked, "Do you think there's anybody else in there? It's a little scarier than I thought it would be."

"There might be people in there, but I doubt it. Even if there are other trespassers it won't really matter. I've been coming here since I was little and never once had a problem. The view from the roof is amazing. You can see New York City perfectly, especially at night." Hunter gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and said, "Let's go. It will be all right. I've done this a thousand times."

The door to this particular entrance of the Old Asylum had long been torn from its hinges. As the teenagers passed through the anteroom, the air temperature noticeably dropped by several degrees. Angela shivered in the darkness, as much from the cold sanitarium air as from fear, but the crumbling first floor dayroom held no surprises for Hunter. He didn't usually like to use a light in the building because it caused night blindness and attracted unwanted attention, but to make her feel better he flicked on a flashlight and lit the way.

Turning down a hallway lined with padded cells, Hunter started up a running commentary that he hoped would help Angela feel more at ease, "This ward is where the male alcoholics would sweat out the booze when they came to dry out. They used to keep beer here to wean them off liquor. Me and Joey once found a case of Pabst bottles from the 1800s."

"Wow what did you do with them? Were they still any good?"

"Ha ha no such luck. Actually they were empty. We didn't do much with them, just took 'em up on the roof and threw them off, one by one, down into the courtyard. That was a fun day. Another time Joey and I found a half-full jar of morphine in the administration building. It was in a brown bottle with a skull and crossbones on the label. I wanted to keep it, but Joey called dibs and, besides, he saw it first. I'm pretty sure he still has it somewhere, probably under one of the dirty clothes piles in his room."

"That's crazy. You guys didn't try any of it, did you?"

"Nah, first of all, that part of the hospital shut down in the 1970's so the morphine was super old. Second of all, I don't think I would ever try opiates. Weed is a good thing and I have a few beers from time to time, but I'm not really into the idea of becoming a drug addict."

"How are we going to get up on the roof?"

"There's a staircase at the end of this hall and then on the top floor you have to climb up a ladder, but it's not scary or anything. Up on the roof there's a nice sized concrete platform where we can hang out and enjoy the view. From up there you can see the entire Old Asylum complex and, if it's a clear night, we should be able to see the city lights."

As they started up the stairs Angela relinquished Hunter's hand, but kept very close as he led her to the sixth floor. The rusty paint chipped door on the top landing had the words WELCOME TO HELL spray-painted in thick black letters above the doorjamb. When Hunter tried to pull it open the door stuck, but on the second hard tug it gave way with a loud creaking groan and a shower of paint flakes.

Sticking his head cautiously around the doorframe, Hunter peered down the sixth floor hallway, listening and smelling for the presence of other trespassers. Sensing the coast was clear, he took Angela's hand once again and led the way. There was more light up here from the setting sun than there had been downstairs, but instead of making Angela feel more secure, the long shadows enhanced the spookiness of the abandoned mental ward. Walking down the vandalized corridor, Angela found that for the first time in her life, she was truly terrified. She had never imagined that a place so scary could actually exist this close to home.

Sensing her heightened fear, Hunter started up his running commentary again and it seemed to soothe her a bit, "Don't worry we're almost there. Joey and I found this way up to the roof like four years ago and I pretty much come up here all the time." As if to prove this fact, Hunter stopped at an unmarked door that looked as if it might be a broom closet. He turned the knob with a creak and opened the door, revealing a slim set of wooden stairs that ascended into the ceiling. "This is the attic. It's full of pigeons and smells terrible, but don't worry, we won't be in there long. The ladder to the roof is just at the top of the stairs."

The steps creaked as Angela followed Hunter into the attic and the acrid smell of bird droppings hung heavy in the stagnant air. It was inky dark except for a shaft of light pouring in through a ladder hatch in the roof. Hunter sent Angela up the steel ladder first and then followed close behind. As she poked her head out of the hatch, Angela exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, this is amazing Hunter. The view from up here is incredible and this breeze feels so good. I was wondering how you could hang out in such a ridiculously horrible place, but coming up here and seeing this, I think I'm starting to understand."

Taking her hand again, Hunter led Angela over to middle of the observation deck where two plastic hospital chairs were conveniently positioned to face the sunset. Hunter used his bare hand to wipe some of the dust off the seats and they both sat down with smiles on their faces. Producing the joint case, Hunter wasted no time lighting one up. There was an easy, contented quiet between them as they passed the well-rolled joint and watched the sun going down behind the western edge of the woods. Angela spoke first, saying quietly, "It was scary as hell getting up here, but this is such a romantic spot. I wouldn't want to be here with anybody but you Hunt."

Hunter blushed a bit, but the dwindling light masked the color on his cheeks. He thought to himself, I should kiss her now, but instead he raised his arm and pointed to a well-lit area on the other side of the campus. "See the big building with the lights on? That's the section of hospital still in operation. There are inmates in there right now on the wards. The county is building a new psychiatric facility down the hill and it won't be long before the patients get transferred. I can't wait to explore that building. That's where the morgue supposedly is, but I haven't seen it yet. They have this recreation cage with razor wire on the top where the inmates go to smoke cigarettes. Sometimes we creep up and watch them from the woods. They're freaky looking, especially the way they shuffle around outside in their slippers. They wear hospital gowns and their eyes are drugged up like zombies."

Angela squirmed in her seat and begged, "Please don't talk about mental patient zombies. Not while we're up here. I was just starting to not be scared anymore. Tell me a happy story about the Old Asylum."

"Hmmmmm," Hunter thought hard about the history he had learned and tried to think of a single happy story about the abandoned mental hospital. "To tell you the truth, there aren't many happy stories about this place. The people locked away in those padded cells downstairs were there for a good reason and I'm pretty sure they weren't very happy about it. I read in the library that back in the 1930's, during a really bad winter, the boilers exploded and the entire hospital lost heat. They weren't able to fix the problem for over two weeks. In the meantime, twenty four patients actually froze to death in their cells. It caused a huge scandal in the community and the hospital administration was accused of neglect. I think some of them were fired because of it. The worst part was the ground was frozen and they couldn't dig graves for the bodies until springtime. They had to keep all the corpses in the cafeteria freezers and apparently the entire hospital reeked of decaying flesh."