I have reached the Decorum. I tried not to think too hard on the task I was set to do, and honestly still have no idea what I'm doing, standing at the Decorum entrance like a casserole left on a front doorstep.
Oh, look. It's Maya. She's standing over at the far end of the Decorum, with a shovel tucked under her left arm, her right one waving at me with enthusiasm. Seems like she'll be showing me the ropes. As I near her though, I notice a large black bag on the ground that seems to be holding-
Yup. My suspicions are confirmed. We are actually burying a dead body.
Yeah, no, I'm out of here.
Maya grabs my arm before I could leave, looking at me with the sternest of expressions.
"Don't. Even. Think about it." She pulls me over to a plot on the ground, which was already cleared of plants, waiting in a wheelbarrow nearby.
"But-"
"Take a look at these flowers, Amina." She gestures to the rest of the Decorum, "They are unsettling, are they not?" I have to agree with her on that. They ARE unsettling. "Ever wondered why?"
"Um, no. This is my second day here-"
"Regardless, the cause is a little sinister." Maya locks eyes with me, her gaze somehow both expressionless and tortured at the same time, "These plants gain their nutrients from the dead."
"Why are there dead people here?" Unable to take in the information, I default to a flat, straightforward tone.
"Kids die all the time. Your job right now is to bury them." Maya mimics my supposed apathy at the idea, which is ironic, since this is what snaps me back into reality.
"Wha-, no I can't!" You're telling me to TOUCH A DEAD BODY? NO!
"You HAVE to." Maya is determined to keep me here, for some unknown reason, and make me bury a dead child....
Now that I think about it, plants gain nutrients from dead organisms all of the time. So, what's different here?
I have an inkling of what it may be but - nope; it's unrealistic. Fantastical.
"Well, time to get digging!" Maya hands me a shovel while I'm lost in my thoughts, and I subconsciously take it from her. The rough texture of the handle, however, drags me back to real life.
"Maya! I don't want to! Seriously, stop this! I'm not joking; this isn't a game..." I trail off, anger turning into fear. Maya is scaring me: kids die all the time in this place? But why? How?
I'm not sure if I want to know.
"Maya...'
'Amina, I didn't expect you to be so selfish." She seems sadder, more withdrawn, "I thought that, at the very least, you would honour the dead."
"Yeah, but-" What was she saying? I didn't mean to!
"Because of your own apprehension, disgust and fear, this person will never be buried." Her sadness turns to a quiet, simmering rage.
"Maya-"
"Are you trying to deny it?" She glares at me in the eyes. I stutter, unable to form a response. How can I? She is right, after all; my own reluctance stems from entirely self-centred emotions.
Horror.
Revulsion.
Confusion.
I just don't want to touch it
M-maybe I should just try.
...Facing fears?
I can do this, I can do this. I kneel down next to the body bag, hand trembling as I reach over to the zipper. My fingers alight upon the cold metal, and I shiver. It's as if I'm being watched.
Just a sneak peek; after all, it is just a body.
Just a body...
It won't hurt me...
It can't hurt me...
So why do I feel like it can?
I glance back at Maya- she's gone.
Okay, seems like I have to do this without moral support.
Before my cowardice can cause me to back down, I yank on the zipper, revealing...
Bandages.
Its face is covered in bandages.
I pull the zipper down all the way. The body resembles a freshly wrapped Egyptian mummy: facial features, skin colour, even its hair colour was unidentifiable, all hidden under layers and layers of fresh white strips of gauze.
...It isn't hurting me.
Morbid curiosity takes over, as I reach forward tentatively, to touch the thing's face.
Cold, and squishy, and soft; kind of like touching... actually, no. I like that food.
Now that I am satisfied that I won't be strangled by a dead child, I begin to dig a grave. It is hard work, shovelling dirt. Over and over and over again, but after a few minutes, I get the hang of it. It takes a while for the hole to be deep enough, and when it is, I place my hands gently on the body, and roll it in.
I was not picking it up.
Now, I fill in the hole, shovelful by shovelful, dirt mound by dirt mound, I eventually get the job done, making a point not to stare at the corpse.
It's as if it is watching me...
Judging me...
I sit there, next to the fresh grave, my mind trying to process what just happened.
Then the billboards, the ones situated on the top edges of the Decorum walls, all light up simultaneously, the words 'Experiment in session' appearing in white text on a red background on each one.
This is accompanied by a robotic voice, sounding as if it originates from everywhere and nowhere at once. Repeating one sentence that I will never forget.
"Seven has been taken in for his experiment."
YOU ARE READING
Asylum - you underestimated me
Random"What is Darkwood? Is it really an insane asylum? Or is it more than that?" Amina, a seemingly ordinary, quirky teenage girl, is kidnapped by the side of the road. She is taken to a place known as Darkwood Asylum. "Basically all of the maniacs and...
