The Last Seraphim Standing

IV

A loud buzzing noise woke Blade up before sunrise. His breath tightened upon realizing where he was; the Caledonia Mental Institute. He could not recall what happened after the police officer drove him here, it was almost as though his brain completely shut off. All he knew for certain was that there was a pair of eyes studying him from across the cramped room.

"What?" Blade questioned.

"Nice outfit, we're matching, " the stranger chuckled, snapping Blade's attention to the unbearable, jail-like, orange jumpsuit they were both wearing along with cold handcuffs.

"What's your name?" Blade inquired after a long moment of silence.

"Ace, what about you?" Ace asked in return, beaming.

"Blade."

The two of them stared at each other for a solid minute before laughter suddenly filled the room.

"No laughing here," an old woman called out as she unlocked the rusty door.

"Is that a rule or something?" Ace scoffed.

"Anything I say is a rule," the old woman strictly stated, her black eyes studying Blade and Ace, "now follow me." After a relatively long stroll, they paused in front of yet another cabin.

"Wait here," the woman muttered as she pushed the door open.

"What do you think they're gonna do this time?" Ace whispered as they both gazed down at the filthy marble floor.

"I-I don't know-" Blade was cut off by deafening screams coming out of the room. A few seconds later, a ginger girl with a bemused expression appeared out of nowhere. She looked back and forth between Ace and Blade before she started cracking up.

"Did you have anything to do with these uh screams," Ace asked with a smirk.

"Absolutely, I'm Iris by the way, " she told Blade, flashing him a wide grin.

"I'm Blade, " he said shyly before both Ace and Iris started cackling.

"Okay but Iris," Ace exclaimed as he snickered loudly.

"It's not like your name is any better," Iris countered, rolling her eyes.

"Says the one with Campbell as their last name, that's literally the name of the camp I attended when I was ten."

Blade tried to suppress a laugh as his eyes flickered between the two.

"You're not one to talk your last name has lice in it, mister Chalice."

"Oh w-" Ace started before the door swung open, revealing the old woman from before, now fuming.

"You're gonna pay for what you did, young lady. You're lucky I need to go over some useless rules and protocols first," she spoke through gritted teeth. "Follow me," she grumbled as she strode towards a massive white room at the end of the hallway.

"What did you do to her?" Ace whispered in Iris's ears causing her soft freckled skin to tingle as they strolled side to side.

"Nothing she didn't deserve."

...

"Rules of the Caledonia Mental Asylum," the old lady began to write as the red marker obnoxiously squeaked against the whiteboard.

Growing irritated by all the squeaking, Blade furrowed his eyebrows before mumbling, "Can you please stop."

"Yeah, that'd be much appreciated," Ace added with a forced grin.

"I'm starting to see why your birth parents put y'all up for adoption," she muttered under her breath as she turned around, squinting her eyes at the trio seated in front of her. "Is this bothering you? Well, try supervising three teens with pea-sized brains."

"Well try being dragged into a mental asylum on your 18th birthday," Iris clapped back, rolling her sapphire eyes.

"You never told me it was your birthd-" Ace started to complain before he was interrupted by Iris.

"And on top of that, I got a crappy excuse of a woman as a supervisor," she added, now fumbling with her handcuffs.

The old woman tightened her grip on the marker as she glared at Iris. Before she could say anything in return her wrinkled face abruptly went blank, showing no emotions whatsoever. All of a sudden, she hastily began writing something on the board, her breath tightening.

"What is she doing," Blade asked slightly concerned.

Struggling to breathe, the woman clutched her chest with both of her wrinkly hands. Her muscles let loose as she fell, her weak body hitting the cold marble floor.

Eyes widening in fear, they all glanced down at her lifeless body and up to the rushed writings on the board:

"This is just the beginning~X"