Project S.T.A.T.I.C. Part 5: The Asylum

The city was quiet on the northwestern part of Metropolis. This particular part of the city had always been quiet, even before the fall. There weren’t many businesses outside of a couple of small clinics, convenience stores, and a handful of other odds and ends that didn’t amount to much. Beyond that there were only apartment complexes lining the outskirts of the city. The reason was the looming, depressing fortress on the island only a short drive away. The island that was home to the shuttered and dark asylum that called itself a hospital.

The people that called this particular section of the city home typically worked longer hours both to make ends meet and stay as far away from the city as possible. The island carried a dreadful fog with it that seemed to send waves of fear and trepidation through the air. Sometimes it was literal, the fog rolling in off the shores, and other times it was metaphorical. Whatever the case, the feelings of despair and depression seeped out like a cancer that spread to every man, woman, and child that lived and worked here. Some thought that it was the echoes of past pain leaking out and haunting the streets.

The sun was descending behind several heavy storm clouds that were  rolling in this afternoon. The streets were nearly deserted except for a lone truck that was creeping through the streets towards the bridge leading to Emmerson Island. Over the course of the last year, these trucks had been the only thing to cross the bridge. They came and went once, sometimes twice, a week. They bore the emblem of the Brunswick family crest on the sides of the truck, and they were often dispatched to either deliver supplies or subjects to the current patron of the hospital. Today happened to be one of those days.

The cold, rusted steel fence and gate surrounding the hospital loomed like prison walls for the unfortunate inhabitants. The walls had once served as a barrier to block out bad memories, but now they were again there to keep people in. The large steel gate swung open as the truck approached. It creaked as it opened and swung shut to seal the workers in with the crazies that called the asylum home. The automatic locks engaged again as the truck got closer to the dreadful fortress.

The driver pulled up through the roundabout that led to the pergola outside the entrance to the hospital. The fountain out front was cracked and dry. A statue of an angel with her arms spread wide and a pair of cherubs beside it, each holding a sword, stood in the center of the fountain. The wings on the angel were cracked and broken, her face had been weathered and worn by the elements, and there was something menacing about what had once been a beautiful and serene image. In some ways, it was a perfect reflection of what the hospital was supposed to be and what it had become.

As the truck came to a stop, the doors in the back opened up. Inside, there were four guards that stepped out one by one. They wore black cargo pants, black long-sleeved shirts, and black kevlar vests with the Brunswick crest across the chest. They wore helmets and shaded goggles for added protection, and each of them carried a forty-five caliber handgun across their shoulder and a retractable baton on their hip. They stepped out in single file. There were various wooden crates stacked in the back of the truck where the guards had been sitting. The driver and passenger climbed out to begin unloading the boxes. They stacked them outside while the other four approached the doors.

The squad of four consisted of one man and three women. The man approached the intercom system outside of the locked doors to the hospital. He pressed the button and waited for a response. “State your business,” a strange and guttural voice demanded.

“Resupply for Dr. Murray,” the guard said, gesturing behind them, “We’ve got requested gear and rations per her request.”

“What about specimens?” the guttural voice growled.

“Uhm, I don’t-” the man began before being cut off by the voice growling and shouting.

“The doctor has requisitioned new subjects for weeks! What sort of-”

“Margaret, dear, calm yourself,” the calm voice of Anna Murray came over the intercom, “I have it under control, I assure you. Buzz them in, dear. My apologies on behalf of my assistant. Her passion for the work that we are doing here is unmatched, and she finds the stalls in our progress disheartening.”

“That’s, uhm, that’s fine,” the guard said, “I get it, at least I think I do. We just have what the higher-ups sent us, ma’am.”

“I’m sure it’s more than sufficient,” Dr. Murray said, “Please, come in.”

The buzzer sounded and the doors unlocked. The red light above them flashed green to signify that the way was open. “Hey, you four,” the driver shouted, “Don’t just stand there, grab a couple of these.”

“You’re not coming in?” the man in front of the intercom asked.

“Hell no,” the driver chuckled, “I make it a point to stay far away from that nuthouse. This is as close as either of us wanna get.”

“I didn’t realize there were that many cowards on payroll,” the shorter female guard scoffed, “We’re dropping off a few crates, dipshits.”

“Leave it be, man,” the first guard sighed, walking towards the boxes, “They don’t wanna help, don’t make them.”

“Tch, you clearly don’t know what sort of sick shit happens behind those doors,” the driver scoffed.

“Quiet, man, she might still be listening,” the passenger whispered.

“Let’s just get this over with,” the taller female guard shook her head, grabbing another crate.

One by one, the four that had climbed out of the back of the truck grabbed a crate for themselves and made their way towards the doors. They pushed the doors open and walked into the atrium. The wide expansive entryway had high ceilings with dirty, stained tiles along the floor. An empty desk sat behind bulletproof glass was in the center of the atrium. There was a set of doors that led deeper into the expansive asylum and another pair of doors that led to, what they guessed, were the offices.

As the last member of the guard passed through the doors, the green light above it suddenly switched to red. A loud buzzer went off as the automatic locks engaged. “What the hell?” the shorter female guard asked, looking back at the doors.

“Relax,” the man said, “I think that’s just standard protocol here. I’m sure they’ll buzz us back out…”

“Do you realize how idiotic that sounds?” the taller female guard asked, setting the case down and walking back to the doors.

The other woman set her crate down and followed her counterpart. She frowned as she leaned against the doors to listen. She could hear the sound of tires burning as the truck peeled out. “This is not standard,” she sighed, looking up at the camera in the corner of the atrium, “I think we can safely say that they won’t be coming back for us. Which means we can get more comfortable…”

“Are you sure about that?” the male guard asked, following her gaze.

“I don’t say this often, but I agree with her,” the shorter guard sighed, moving to remove her helmet and tossing it to the side, “I told you this shit was too easy. Come on, Pam, I know you hate wearing helmets like that.”

“Hmph, that’s twice in a span of forty-eight hours that you’ve agreed with me,” the guard closest to the door said as her body started to shimmer and distort.

The woman removed her kevlar vest and waved her hands to cause her pants and shirt to reform. Long, raven locks fell down past her shoulders and towards the center of her back. Her long sleeves disappeared and her top turned into a tighter corset that was black and white. The pockets on her cargo pants disappeared as they became tighter and more form fitting. Lastly, a pair of black boots with silver buckles on the sides of them. However, what was most notable was the change in her stature. She’d been a modest five foot nine inches before, but by the time the distortion finally stopped, she was just  over seven feet tall.

Rebecca sighed as she rolled her neck and relaxed as she returned to her natural state, “There is something that is utterly stifling about having to hide myself in such a lowly body. It’s like walking with a miserable slouch.”

“Yeah, yeah, whine some more,” Beth rolled her eyes, tossing her helmet to the side and opening one of the crates to grab her gear, “It has to be so friggin’ awful being able to disguise yourself with the wave of your hand. Cry me a damn river, build a bridge, and get over it.”

“Don’t be rude, Kitten,” Pam said, dropping her helmet and shaking her hair out, “We’re trapped here and have to work together. The last thing I need is for you two to be at each other’s throats. Grab your gear and let’s get this over with.”

Beth didn’t say a word as she grabbed her coat, her mask, and her lethal equipment stashed in the boxes. Meanwhile, Jake sighed and dropped the gear he’d been wearing and opened his crate. He grabbed the gadgets he’d snuck in and deemed essential along with his suit. It wasn’t much, but neither was what Beth had brought. Beth had brought her firearms, her knives, two explosives, a smoke grenade, and a flashbang. Jake, on the other hand, had brought both his grappling gun and Beth’s, several birdarangs, his retractable bo staff, and a handful of other electronic gadgets designed to either interfere or disrupt different systems.

Jake glanced over at Rebecca who hadn’t moved from the doors as he grabbed the pieces of his suit. It was still mind boggling to him that she had managed to change her appearance the way she had. She’d transformed herself from the striking seven foot amazonian beauty to a rather mundane looking security guard. He wondered how many times she’d disguised herself in teh past before this, and he wondered how that ability could be used going forward if things worked out in their favor.

“Don’t drag our mind through the gutter,” Ashley scowled, “We’re standing in a madhouse with a sociopathic doctor at the helm, and you’re wondering if a witch could disguise herself for a blasted date. Aside from that being selfish and inane, it is disgusting to picture us with that whore after everything she’s done.”

“Ash, you know that’s not-” Jake started.

“We share a mind, genius,” Ashley cut him off bitterly, “Do not stand there and lie to me. That may not be all that you’re thinking about, but it is clearly one of the things that you are thinking about, moron.”

“Let’s table this for now,” Jake shook his head.

“Oh this conversation isn’t over,” Ashley rolled her eyes, “Believe me, I wish it were, but we both know you’re still hung up on the woman that ripped your heart out and stomped on it.”

“Ash, please,” Jake sighed.

“I’ll be civil, for now,” Ashley waved him off, “I learned my lesson from the last time that we were forced to work together. I won’t stand in the way of progress while we are dealing with the pressures of…whatever this is. That harlot may be a pain in my metaphysical ass, but she isn’t without her uses.”

“Great, I can already feel the love between you two,” Jake scoffed, “Oh wait, that’s just the headache that’s starting to form.”

“Haha, how very funny,” Ashley remarked, “Just get dressed so we can get through this little adventure into misery.”

Jake thought back on the events that led up to them impersonating the guards and hijacking an otherwise standard delivery as he got changed.

—----

Jake peered out of the broken window of the condemned building on the corner of Ninth and Military. It had once been an office for payday loans, but had been abandoned and lost during the initial hostile takeover by the city’s newest matrons. Based on what Jason and Sam had said, there had been quite a few pockets of resistance in the beginning; people that banded together in hopes of honoring the memories of their fallen heroes. Sadly, that resistance had been squashed, but not before leaving more than a few blocks desolate and devastated in the aftermath. The only upside was that many of these places were inconsequential to the Brunswicks and their operations, which meant they were ripe for the taking.

This particular office sat across the street from a fueling station. Whereas the office that Jake, Beth, Pam, and Rebecca were hiding in was boarded up and falling apart, the fueling depot was quite different. In contrast to the dilapidated financial office, the depot was heavily fortified. The outer section surrounding the parking lot had steel walls with barbed wire surrounding them. A security gate had been installed to ensure that only authorized personnel could enter, and there were cameras aimed around the depot. While there weren’t any automated defenses, the walls and cameras would have been a difficult obstacle to overcome.

“You’re sure about this?” Pam asked, looking over the crates they’d brought with them, “I could phase us into the place and save us the trouble of this nonsense.”

“Too risky,” Jake replied without turning around, “We had different means of detecting magic back at Blackridge Tower. The chances are that Eva has those same defenses, and likely new ones, installed at her more important and high profile locations. I designed them to be able to detect the spell structures that you and Rebecca used, and Eva and Emily are wise enough to know how to modify them. Besides, the fact that there were double agents working in my ranks for who knows how long means they had access to all of that and more well before they took over the city.”

“So our plan is to hijack a caravan like the wild west,” Rebecca surmised with a dry scoff.

“Shove off,” Beth said, “It’s old school, yeah, but it’s a safe bet. We take out the guards, grab their gear, and ride up to the place.”

“And what, pray tell, do we do when we’re inside and discovered?” Rebecca asked, “Somebody enlighten me to this particular detail, please.”

“We improvise,” Jake shrugged.

“It is hard to believe that you two defeated myself and countless others by simply making it up as you go along,” Rebecca scoffed.

“Believe me, I don’t understand it any better than you,” Pam sighed, holding out her hand, “Your whip and grimoire, Rebecca, if you please.”

“Is it wise for us to be boxing our supplies before we have our ride?” Rebecca asked, refraining from handing over the weapons she’d only recently gotten familiar with, especially her grimoire.

“The bigger question is how the hell are we going to get a giant into a truck unnoticed?” Beth asked.

“Rest assured, I have ways of blending in with the general public, Elizabeth,” Rebecca said, reluctantly handing her equipment to her former apprentice.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Beth rolled her eyes, “I’ll take your word for it. Where are your, uh, pets, anyway?”

“Familiars, dear, not pets,” Rebecca corrected her, “They are always with me, Elizabeth. They are bound to my soul. They are manifestations of my past and present.”

“Think of them like living extensions of your sword, Kitten,” Pam added, gingerly placing Rebecca’s equipment in the crate, “They are connected and joined as one. Just as you can call your blade into existence, Rebecca can conjure her familiars from the ether of her soul.”

“So, what’s with the book?” Beth asked as another awkward silence started to settle in.

“They’re here,” Jake said before Rebecca could answer, “Everyone, get ready.”

“We’ve been waiting on you,” Beth said, grabbing her knives in favor of her guns, “Let’s just hope that your plan works because if not we are fucked.”

Jake pulled his birdarang out of his pocket and looked at Rebecca. Rebecca nodded and moved beside him. Jake threw his birdarang in an upward arch with the flick of his wrist. It cut through the air and over the fence. Rebecca pointed her finger at the projectile as it started to turn. Sparks shot out for a brief second before a thin bolt of electricity flew from her hand and connected with the birdarang. Rebecca quickly clenched her fist once the bolt hit its target, and a sudden shockwave of lightning rippled through the air in a weak electromagnetic pulse. The birdarang was gone, but more important were the cameras that had been short circuited as well.

“It is done,” Rebecca said, “Whether it worked is a question that I cannot answer.”

“We’ve done more with less,” Beth admitted with a shrug, “Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice. You’re sure about the numbers, Jake, and the route?”

“Positive,” Jake nodded, watching as the armored truck pulled through the gate, “They make their rounds the same day once every couple of weeks. Four carriers, one driver, and one passenger all delivering goods to Murray and her house of horrors. Just stick to the plan, move fast, and we should be fine.”

“Then let’s not waste anymore time,” Beth sighed, looking at Pam, “You’ve got the two up front, right?”

“Rest assured, they won’t be a problem,” Pam said, walking behind Beth and looking across the street, “On your mark, Jake.”

Jake listened closely for the sound of the truck stopping and switching off to signify the opportune moment to move. He motioned for everyone to follow once he was sure that their path was clear. He led the charge across the street with Beth at his side while Rebecca and Pam brought up the rear. Jake and Beth split off and flanked going to opposite sides and took cover. Pam and Rebecca, meanwhile, made their way towards the truck. Pam’s eyes flashed a shade of green and her hands became encased in green flames. The two men that had been in the front started to speak as they saw the women approaching, but their voices failed them as their eyes turned the same shade of green as Pam’s.

“Excuse me,” Rebecca loudly exclaimed, “Might I trouble one of you for directions?”

“What the fuck?” one of the guards asked as the back doors opened.

He stepped down and went for his gun, but a knife came flying through the air and hit him in the neck. It pierced through the opening between his armor and his helmet, and he fell to his knees in a bloody, gurgling mess. On the opposite side, a pair of guards dropped out of the back with their weapons drawn and at the ready. As the second one’s boots hit the ground, Jake appeared close by and kicked the door shut to send it crashing into their body. It stunned them and gave him time to launch his assault on the other guard. 

The guard raised their pistol, but Jake grabbed their wrist and forced their arm up. The gun went off into the air, and Jake threw an elbow into their stomach. He jerked his arm down and flipped them over onto their back. He delivered a wicked stomp to their face to knock them out cold. The sound of one of their batons cutting through the air hit his ears, and Jake was quick to pivot to avoid taking a surprise blow to the back. He turned to face them, but another bolt of lightning surged through the air and zapped them before he could attack. They fell to the ground in a smoldering heap.

Meanwhile, Beth had closed the gap and had her hand wrapped around the hilt of her knife in the neck of the first dying guard as the one behind him got out. She kicked her right leg outward and aimed it at the thigh of the other guard while she ripped the blade from the body of the first fallen. She was quick to follow it up with an uppercut with the blade hand clutching the hilt of her knife. It was a carefully aimed punch that knocked the helmet of the female guard loose, and Beth was quick to spin around and drive the blade of her knife into the exposed throat of the woman before her.  

Beth yanked her blade free and looked back at Pam, “Well, that went smoother than I was expecting. Can you put them under while we get changed?”

Pam nodded and snapped her fingers to enact a secondary effect of her mental magic. The two that had been in the front of their transport fell to the ground in unconscious heaps on the ground. Pam sighed and closed her eyes, “Let’s make this quick. It’s rare that anything goes well for us these days. The longer we stay out in the open, the more likely things are to take a turn.”

“She’s right,” Jake agreed, moving to undress the guards they’d already dealt with, “Let’s get dressed and in position. Once we get suited up, we can swap the crates out, wake up these idiots, and get this show on the road. With any luck, we can slip past Murray’s first line of defenses.”

—--

Jake clenched his fists as he finished changing into his modified Raven suit. “So much for slipping past the defenses,” Ashley sighed from behind the glass, “You know she’s watching us, Jake. We’d be fools to think otherwise.”

Jake shook his head and looked up at his friends, “What if we’re jumping the gun here?”

“She, or whoever is running this place, locked us in, man,” Beth replied, sensing what her best friend was hinting at, “I don’t know if she knew it was us, but she wasn’t going to let us out.”

“What was that woman’s name?” Pam frowned, “The one that growled. Whatever it was, she mentioned specimens for Murray. I suspect that they were planning on keeping the ones we dispatched earlier today. We might just be the unlucky substitutes for her sadistic games…”

“Is that nervousness and fear I hear, Pamela?” Rebecca asked, sauntering over to the crates and grabbing her items, “I expected more from someone that was my number one pupil.”

“Do not presume to lecture me, Rebecca,” Pam narrowed her eyes, “I don’t care for western medicine, I thought you, of all people, would understand that given your beliefs. Furthermore, do not presume to throw our past in my face as though it dictates anything other than our friendship. I will not have my former status lorded over my head as though I am a pawn in your game. Those days are long gone, Rebecca.”

“Hmph, that was unexpected,” Ashley remarked, looking at Pam in surprise, “I think she’s struck a nerve and a chord.”

“Pam isn’t exactly fond of anything dealing with the doctor,” Jake reminded his other half, “This is easily the last place that she wants to be. In fact, if it weren’t for Beth being here, I’m pretty sure she’d have been fine staying back at base with the others.”

Rebecca met Pam’s gaze for a second; her face scrunched up in a stunned scowl for a moment before she broke eye contact and smiled. She closed her eyes and chuckled, “Take a breath, Pamela. You misunderstand my point. My remark about your former status was not a jab at being superior, or you being less than me. I was simply pointing out that you were one of the strongest, smartest, and most fearless women in my coven back at the Castle. Aurora was my right hand, but you, Pamela, you were something special. You rose above your lowly starting place of a beggar, a swindler, and into something far greater and more powerful than you could have dreamed. A few sharp objects and sterile rooms should be the least of your worries.”

“Everybody’s afraid of something,” Beth cleared her throat, “Didn’t you spend a metaphorical lifetime in Hell not that long ago? Why don’t you lay off and think about the fact that this is like her personal Hell. And, for the record, you don’t know shit about Anna Murray outside of a handful of reports you might have read.”

“Oh, I know fear intimately and almost romantically, Elizabeth,” Rebecca said, fastening her grimoire to her left hip and the whip she’d stolen from Amelia, “Facing your fear is part of what makes us grow. However, I will concede that simply facing it does not banish it all together. As for your comment about our demented doctor, I think you underestimate just how familiar I am with her.”

“You don’t know shit, Becky,” Beth said, savoring the look of irritation that flashed across her old adversary’s face, “If you did, you’d keep your mouth shut for once. Demented might be a good way to describe her, but you don’t know the full extent until you’ve come face to face with just how sadistic and twisted someone like her can be. You and Aurora were terrible, but there’s something truly wicked and sinister about Dr. Murray.”

“First, do not ever shorten my name to something so utterly childish and insulting,” Rebecca warned.

“Like I’m gonna give a shit when you keep calling me Elizabeth,” Beth argued.

“Both of you, knock it off!” Jake cut in, frustrated at how quickly things were devolving between his team, “We’ve literally just gotten here, and already the two of you are bickering and fighting. Beth, don’t antagonize her further. And, Rebecca, leave well enough alone and quit while you’re ahead here. We don’t know what we’re walking into here.”

“Oh, let them fight,” Ashley argued, “Maybe Beth finally kills the wicked witch once and for all. She’d be doing us a favor.”

Jake closed his eyes and ignored his other half. “He’s right,” Pam agreed, looking around the atrium, “The last thing that we need is infighting tearing us apart before we make it out of the first damn room. I will not have either of you making this more difficult than it needs to be. Let’s focus on getting out of this room first.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Jake nodded, “We need to prioritize getting deeper into the hospital first and foremost. The exit is locked, but have you noticed the lights by the other doors?”

“They’ve got the same light as the entrance,” Beth sighed, deciding to heed her friends’ advice, “What about that up there?”

Beth pointed up at a vent that was near the office door off to the side. The vent seemed large enough to fit one of them if they crouched, but it was screwed into the wall. Rebecca took a few steps forward and nodded her understanding. She unclipped the whip from her belt and unfurled it. “Hmm, clever girl,” Rebecca hummed, subtly praising Beth’s observation, “Allow me to get the door.”

Rebecca let some of her energy flow through her arm and into the hilt of her weapon. A violet glow started to encase the leather whip, and a three pronged, spectral claw appeared at the end of it. She flicked her wrist and sent the whip flying towards the grate. The claw closed around the grate as it got close and the leather went taunt. Rebecca twisted her wrist and began to pull back. The metal bars of the grate started to groan as she pulled it harder and tighter. The screws popped out and the steel grate came crashing down to the ground with a thunderous clattering noise. She flicked her wrist again to release the grate, and the purple strands of magical energy began dissipating from the whip as she clipped it back onto her waist.

“Would you like a boost?” Rebecca asked, turning back to Beth.

“Me?” Beth asked.

“I am clearly not going to fit through there,” Rebecca replied, “Your hips may be a tight squeeze, but I think you are close to the ideal height, Elizabeth.”

“Did you just-” Beth began before clenching her fists and forcing herself to stay quiet, “I’ve got it, thanks.”

Rebecca knelt down and put her hands together despite Beth’s refusal. “Come now,” she said, “Don’t let your silly little pride stand in the way of efficiency.”

Beth rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment on Rebecca’s retort. Instead, she took off in a light jog towards Rebecca. She stepped up with her right foot touching Rebecca’s hands. Rebecca stood up and flung Beth upwards towards the open vent. Beth deftly grabbed the edge of the vent and pulled herself through it. She shimmied her way in, making a mental note of the fact that her hips did not prove an issue like her supposed friend had insinuated. She slipped through the vent with ease and found a drop not far from the entrance. She looked down to make sure it wasn’t going to lead to any danger before dropping down to the bottom.

She landed in a crouch and crawled forward a few feet to find another grate. Beth peered through it and nodded as she realized she’d made it to the small glass chamber that had been blocked off and barring entry. Beth shifted her weight and put her boot against the grate. She pushed forward, slowly applying more pressure until the grate popped off of the wall and fell forward. She crawled through it and stood up straight to have a look around.

There wasn’t much here, but she could unbolt the door to get in and out of the small office first. The counter just beneath the glass had a dusty notepad on it with a binder sitting beside it. It looked like the notepad hadn’t been touched in quite some time, but the binder was another story. She grabbed it to thumb through it later, but what caught her interest was the panel of buttons beside them. Her guess was that they’d release the locks leading to the first floor of the asylum. She pushed her reluctance aside and pressed them.

The lights beside the door flashed green as Beth pushed the buttons and walked out. She looked at the trio standing in the atrium and sighed, “Everybody everything?”

“Everything we brought, yeah,” Jake nodded, looking down the hall, “You three ready?”

“As I can be for something like this,” Pam frowned, stepping forward, “Let’s get this over with.”

“Where to first?” Rebecca asked.

A sudden chime sounded over the intercom before anyone could respond. Three tones sounded before a cheery, familiar voice came over the speaker, “Welcome, welcome, everyone. I am glad you could make it. I admit, I wasn’t expecting you to use the front door, but I respect the brazen boldness of such a move. Impersonating the guard, how creative. It’s a shame that I was planning on using them as fodder anyway, but this is much better than I could have hoped. Come in, come in, don’t be shy. I assure you, you four are the guests that I’ve been simply dying to see you here. I tell you what, I’ll make you temporary wards in my little haven. Come now, let’s see how you handle your rounds, boys and girls. Don’t be shy now…”

“Great, that’s not unnerving at all,” Beth muttered, looking down the hall.

“She knows we’re here,” Jake shook his head, “Let’s go.”

Jake took the lead with a reluctant sigh. Beth and Pam walked side by side behind Rebecca who stayed close to Jake. They made their way through the double doors into the first hall of many on the first floor. As Pam crossed the threshold just behind Beth, the doors slammed shut and the locks engaged again. The fluorescent lights flickered above them. Distant laughter, cackling, and growling could be heard in the distance before it was replaced by a distant scream, that echoed down the hall. The noises were gone as abruptly as they came, and all that was left was the sound of their footfalls as they made their way into the bowels of Murray’s madhouse.