It was a chilly august morning on the busy streets of Bristol, England, 1800. A young man opened the doors to an establishment, that read plainly, “The Asylum.” In bold lettering along the bricks fencing off the clinic from the rest of the town. This 23 year old man, was named Victor Pemnbroke. He was dressed head to toe in victorian age clothing, right down to his spats, his brown hair hung loosely over his frame, his purple eyes eyeing the dimly lit street, it was a dull morning. He checked the time on his pocket watch, idling, he looked up at the dreary grey sky and sighed sadly, the young man had been waiting for hours for someone, but it seemed the one he waited for wouldn’t be showing up, he closed the doors and turned to find one of the clinic nurses with a tattered white sheet in her crinkled hands. She gave him a knowing look. “Mornin’ Doctor” She chimed in her ancient voice. He almost looked puzzled, and startled, why was Matilda at work so early? Perhaps she had worked overnight, “Heard you talking to that Anne lady again Victor, you ol’ softy.” Now Matilda was as old as the establishment itself, though Victor had taken it up at the decline, when sickness took the life of the old surgeon that once made this his infirmary. She had been around the block once or twice and she knew what Victor felt for the young lady. He smiled weakly, “Aye, I spoke with her.” He mumbled softly, his demeanor seemed torn between asking for a moment alone, and needing to talk to the older woman, whom held more experience than him. She almost pitied Victor, because to be honest the poor dear was extremely unlucky in love. Anne was infamous for leaving her lovers high and dry. She ran her boney fingers through the messy locks of age bleached hair and nodded, “Y’ought to be careful deary, I know you two shared your moments under the sun as wee ones but she isn’t the same as she was then, an’ you were just kids.” Victor couldn’t help that he felt for her, “I know, she was my childhood playmate….” He whispered, “But I cannot help what I feel.” He sighed, “Am I pathetic?” The words left his chapped lips more hushed than he’d meant, and left his throat dry, he swallowed and licked his parched lips, Matilda patted his shoulder with her withered hand, a small, serious, frown set upon her face “There, there, we all have our faults deary.” She whispered. With that she halfway waddled away, he could almost hear her old bones creaking as she ascended the stairs, and was out of sight. Victor had been an orphan, ever since he could remember, he had been taken in by a monastery of monks who raised him and taught him the words of God, but Victor had never been one for idly sitting by and placing matters in God’s hands, no, he had to try and help as best he could to his own abilities, so he went for a doctrine, and cleaned up his act, kept up a job at the local carpenters and here he was, with the old building and his own patients. But before he rose to this, he was a scared kid, whose only friend, was a little red-headed girl by the name of Anne Gildergroth…. The door opening caught Victors attention, successfully snapping him out of his reverie, A man with black hair that had been greyed in places that age had touched stumbled his way in, Victor gasped and rushed to him, “Mr. Gildergroth” He breathed, “What’s the matter sir?” Victor knew this man well, for who could forget a man who slammed a door in your face a thousand times? This was Anne’s father, whom he had been begging for permission to court his daughter for years. The man had never taken a liking to Victor, but here he was now, stroking his grey chin hairs, stuttering ecstatically, bumbling much like one does in manic attacks. “My boy, Vincent yes that’s your name isn’t it?” He bumbled again, laughing heartily and patting his back like he had known him forever. Victor coughed and steadied his glasses, “Victor, Sir.” He corrected politely, the man nodded, as if taking it in, and then with glee he announced, “I thought over your request to marry my daughter, and I have decided to allow it.” He patted his ‘Son-In-Law’s’ back vigorously, yet again, causing the young doctor to nearly stumble, “Wh-what?” Victor cried, the elder man pulled a bottle from his coat, “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind, I do say she’ll be heartbroken!” He cackled merrily, Victors eyes were wide as he shook his head and stuttered, but what about Anne, did she even know, was she excited? “Then drink with me Victor, drink to family!” Now he couldn’t tell why the sudden change in heart toward him from his new “Father-in-law” but everyone else could, Victor had come into money at a desolate time, which was just what everyone wanted, was money, and should his daughter marry Victor, well wouldn’t that just give him more of it? Weeks of practice had gone by, and finally the wedding had come and gone in a rush, leaving the couple to a happy marriage, for Victor at least, everyone knew of Anne’s infidelity, she had been sleeping with the local butcher, Jacobs, she spent many a night there while Victor worked nights. Yet no one wanted to break the news to the happy doctor, because things for him seemed to be looking up. That is until the third month of their marriage… Anne fell ill, and she was immediately bedridden, the only thing she would take was her morning tea, and then she would go into a coma like state of rest. Nothing would awaken her, doctors came to see her, they tried every medical trick they knew, but no one could cure her, eventually, Anne died in the night, leaving Victor behind, heartbroken. It was a cold dark Winter afternoon when they laid Anne to rest in the local cemetery alongside her mother. It fit Victors inner turmoil just fine, for the doctor had no rest that night, nor the night before it. He had been thinking about the things he could have done, or said, to make her feel better, to possibly do something...and the thought stayed with him long after she was buried 6 feet under. Her father took him aside that evening, assured him everything would be alright, and things would get better...but they didn’t. He grew worse by the day, he would forget important things, like locking the cell doors to his patients. He would refuse food and brood for long hours in his studies, sessions with his patients were abrupt and he seemed more distant with every passing day. Late one Summer morning, it was announced that he was closing his asylum to the public, and it was true, the only things that walked in were patients….and no one ever came out. During the fall children started making up games, they would dare each other to go touch the door to the asylum, and if they were brave enough, go in, only one child ever dared to go in….and he was never heard from again. Victor had lost his own mind to psychosis with his wife’s passing, he had developed an insatiable bloodlust, crueltys arose, he began experimenting with his patients. Unholy acts were committed…. Then one day, he summoned the devil himself to court. he tore apart the body of a small child, piece by piece, he consumed him, and painted the walls red with his blood, when the devil showed his face, Victors pleas were simple. “I will give you my body, and my soul. for only one day to spend with her again.” He had begged. The devil considered it, and made him eternal, his debt would be lived out forever on the hellish Earth he so hated, and he would have to watch her grow old and die, but before he left, the devil said one thing, “You’ll learn more than you wanted to...Doctor.” Victors body grew cold, his right eye turned blue as ice, and slitted itself, almost as if he were a cat, the room grew too bright, the dark was illuminescent, everything was painful, his hair turned black and his a deathly white, his nails elongated themselves, and half his mouth prickled with sharpened teeth. When he managed to look up, he saw a shaking figure standing in the doorway, with ivory skin, and hair of brightest red. “Anne?” He asked, and before he could say any more the woman let out a piercing shriek, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE VICTOR?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Victor was confused now, he had only done, what he had to, to bring her back, why was she screaming, it was hurting his ears, she clutched at him, pulling at his shirt, pounding her fists against his chest, “Look at yourself you fool! Look what you’ve become! For what?! For love?! I never loved you Victor! I poisoned myself to get away from you!! And keep my father happy! Every morning, I poured arsenic in my tea, just a bit, just a little, and it was enough to keep me dieing for weeks, to keep you convinced, but no, you had to go and do something so foolish as this!” Needless to say the man was now heartbroken, and when he looked up to see what he had become, to see the monster in the corner mirror, the glass broke, chanting could be heard outside, screaming chants, he blinked, the townspeople...had finally rose against him, a crack and a glass shattered in the floor, fire burned around them. he smiled sadly, and looked at her, “Thank you for letting me know…how did it make you feel?” There was a sudden silence, as the flames consumed them both…….. No one knew what happened to the Doctor from the Asylum, his body was never found, though it was accredited as one of the many that lay charred in the holding cells. And Poor Anne, no one knew why her grave was empty, and why the charred body in the office looked oddly female…….. ((This is the Story to him, feel free to read, its here for leisure)) The Therapist~
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 03:42:05 +0000
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