There's an Isle on the east called De Pride Isle. It houses lost and 'mentally ill' kids and teens. At the front gate, four friends meet... Neo, Rayan, Friend and Aroval. As they uncover the mystery to this Sanctuary, they encounter terrible secrets that will forever be forgotten... Or at least, That's what THEY thought. What THEY hoped for.
The large Latino-style mansion was covered in gorgeous red and beige bricks as Neo, a short and childish tween had finally arrived at her new home. While waiting for the gates to open, she noticed her fellow Island-goers and decided to befriend them! A tallish boy with fluffy blue hair, a girl with brownish hair and finally, a boy dressed in all white, with a hood only just covering his spikey black hair.
''Hello! I'm Neo! Are you staying at the Sanctuary too?'' Neo introduced herself, excitedly as the girl with brown hair talked first. ''Hi... You can call me Friend. And yeah, I'm gonna live here too!'' She said, almost timidly. The tall blue-haired boy spoke up next, ''Cool! So are we!'' He said while pointing to the boy in white. He continued to introduce himself, ''I'm Rayan! I talked to this one on the boat, his name is Aroval! He doesn't talk much though.'' Rayan gave a happy smile as Friend started talking to herself. Neo recognised the kind of talk it was and beamed in saying, ''You have an imaginary friend too?!'' as Friend simply replied, ''Yeah! Her name is Mary. She's my best friend forever!'', ''Awesome! My imaginary friend is called Safalin! She's shy though so she hasn't talked since I got off the boat... But she's here with us still!'' Neo lit up as she waved back to her imaginary ghost friend, Safalin. ''Wow... I've never met imaginary people before! I grew up with a bunch of siblings so I wasn't really lonely enough to find an imaginary friend!'' Rayan explained as they all smiled at one another. ''Let's stick together! We can be like brothers and sisters!'' Friend exclaimed to the three as Aroval spoke up for once. ''Sure... But I have a bad feeling about this place.'' His voice was soft and childlike, but with a naturally dark tone to it.
''Pretty voice!'' Friend complimented Aroval as he smiled and nodded in thanks. After the sweet moment of finding friends, the doors finally opened as the Nurse's welcomed the new patients of the Sanctuary. Neo spoke excitedly, ''They seem super nice!'' as Aroval spoke up for a second time that hour, ''Too nice...''. The head nurse, 'Dr Val', noticed the group of friends and eyed them up and down. ''Why, Hello there children! Unfortunately, I can't stay to chat but I hope you enjoy your stay, here at De Pride Isle Sanatorium!'' She said, upbeat as hell. While fast walking past them, Aroval had pick-pocketed a nail file from her back satchel.
A few hours went by as they went to dinner, then went to the church for Holy Water handouts. ''Why do we need holy water?'' Neo asked, rhetorically. ''Because they're religious, I think.'' Friend answered, almost as confused as Neo. ''Actually, I think it's because the dinner is so bad and this is like medicine!'' Rayan joked, as they remembered their Octopus dinner and laughed together.
After Holy Water handouts, it was time for bed. But little did any one of them know, this was only the beginning...
The dorm rooms weren't rooms. Well, they were but they didn't have normal doors. They were hard metal... Like the one's you'd see in mental asylums or zombie apocalypse bunkers. Because Neo decided not to drink the Holy Water, her arm started twitching uncontrollably by the time she sat on her ''bed''. Though it was more like a blanket and pillow on a wood slab. She tried to sleep as all of her friends did, but the twitching of her arm came with great pains. First her arm, then her head, then her whole body aches as if she was unwillingly transforming into a monster... Or maybe she actually was. She couldn't take the pain anymore. She couldn't hold back her winces of pain and her ungodly screams. But even her screams started to sound monstrous with a slight growl to them. Of course, this woke up her friends.
''Neo?! Are you okay?! What's happening to you?!'' Friend ran over to Neo, teddy bear in hand, trying to find a way to help her. ''Jesus Christ, Your whole body is twitching!'' Rayan said, holding her hand as Neo just squeezed it in pain. After a few seconds, the pain was so bad that Rayan had to remove his hand from hers as she squeezed it way too hard. An ungodly strength. Aroval just sat there, wide eyes and started muttering under his breath, ''I knew something about this place was bad...'' or ''I should have known...''. ''Here! Take Mr Freddy! He's my teddy, see? Here! Hold onto him tight!'' Friend said, handing Neo her teddy bear. All she could do was let this ungodly, monstrous and certainly evil force take her. She tried to fight back at first but that made the pain even greater. ''Aroval! Help us! Do something!'' Rayan exclaimed to Aroval who was awoken from his regretful trance. He quickly ran to the metal door and used the nail file he had earlier to file open the lock and open the door which, for some reason, the nurses locked tight. ''I'll go find a nurse! Or someone who could help!'' Aroval said as he sprinted out the newly unlocked doorway.
Neo's left eye turned red. Her right arm, the one that the twitching and pain had originated from, started to leave what looked like a massive dark bruise, but really was pitch black and made her skin feel rougher than any humans skin would be naturally. The pain calmed down after the two said physical marks were planted. ''Wh... What the...'' Neo finally spoke words but panting and out of breath as she tried to say them. ''Neo! Is it over?! Did the pain stop?!'' Friend asked in a panic, concerned for her friend. ''Y... Yeah... I think...'' Neo finally got out, still panting. ''I'm glad it's over. Seeing friends in pain is a horrible sight!'' Rayan said as he hugged Neo. Friend following in the hug as Neo caught her breath and said, ''Wait, Where's Aroval?'' The three looked around the room in confusion as Aroval hadn't gotten back yet.
Suddenly, the morning bell went off. ''Here, you can borrow my cardigan to hide your arm!'' Friend gave Neo the black knitted jacket that she had worn the day before. ''Thanks...'' Neo said as she gave a weak smile to her friends. She moved her fringe so that it was covering her left eye which was still a vibrant red. She could still see out of it but it was all red from that eyes view. Having it covered tend to help with her normal sight with her right eye though, as the three left their room and went to breakfast, looking around for Aroval on the way. To their surprise, there were at least three or four other people with covered eyes and arms... Did this happen a lot?
''Okay, guys... I have a theory!'' Rayan said as the breakfast arrived and the nurses all huddled back into the kitchen. ''Shoot!'' Friend said, motioning for Rayan to continue his thought. ''What if the reason Neo's body was like that last night was because of the food and the holy water? Think about it! We all ate the food, But Neo was decided not to drink the holy water! Maybe the food gave a sickness and the holy water is ACTUALLY medicine!'' Rayan finished his thought. ''That makes so much sense! But does that mean the food is being poisoned?'' Neo questioned. Wide-eyed for a few seconds as Friend and Rayan nodded in agreement and said in sync, ''Definitely.''. The three decided to skip eating breakfast.
It was finally free time, and Neo, Rayan and Friend decided to look for Aroval. But this is when Neo noticed something wrong... ''Wait... Safalin?!'' Neo called out, as Rayan and Friend looked at her, concerned yet confused. ''What's wrong? Is Safalin not there?'' Rayan asked as Neo replied, ''No! I can't see, hear or feel her presence! She's gone!'' Neo cried out as Friend said, ''It's okay! I'll have Mary go look for her! They're both imaginary so Mary will find Safalin lickity-split!''. This managed to reassure Neo, as they calmed down and kept looking for Aroval. However, they split up. Neo was looking in the library, Rayan was looking on the playground, near the pond and Friend was looking in the Nurse's office. However, Friend found herself finding something that she wished she'd never see again... it traumatised her so. Rayan found something utterly shocking. He was terrified. Horrified. Petrified. Finally, Neo found nothing in the library cause god knows, she's been through one crazy event, So it's someone else's turn in the limelight.
Rayan and Friend ran back to the main hall, terrified. Neo was waiting for them, as they both were holding wide-eyes and gaping mouths as they panted, catching their breaths. Rayan spoke up and said, ''In the pond... There were bodies! Just laying there! They were dead!'' Neo and Friend looked at him, with even wider eyes and looked completely horrified. ''What did you find, Friend?'' Rayan calmed down only slightly as he asked what the others found. ''I...'' She stuttered and couldn't speak. She was speechless and fully petrified. ''Neo?'' Rayan asked, moving the question to her. ''No, I didn't find anything.'' She answered as it was almost time for dinner.
They hadn't noticed the many times before, but the nurses locked the doors when every patient was in the cafeteria. By the time they sat down and the food came, it was dried up flamingo. That's it, Friend had had enough. She ran to the exit and screamed, ''Unlock the door! No! I don't wanna be here anymore! Let me out!''. ''Friend! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!'' Neo and Rayan ran up to her, trying to contain her as she was flapping about, trying to get out of their grasp and trying to break down the door that the nurses locked. Why did they lock it? For times like these. For when patients found something they shouldn't have. ''That's it, young lady! You and your unholy behaviour is coming with me!'' Dr Val came out of the crowd and shouted while dragging Friend out of the room. Rayan and Neo could only look at their best friend being dragged away by someone who they thought could only be sweet and friendly, but realistically? She was the cruellest, meanest, most evil and unholy there is in this sanctuary.
Hours had past and Rayan and Neo were the only two left in their room that night. Neo found Friend's teddy and held onto it tight, just as she advised the previous night.
Finally, their third day in total here and they went to breakfast, as instructed by the nurses. To Neo and Rayan's happiness, Friend was at their usual table, waiting for them! ''Friend! I'm so happy to see you're okay!'' Neo and Rayan said as they ran up to her and hugged her... but something was wrong. She didn't hug back... She just sat there, not showing any other emotion than fear. When Rayan and Neo sat down, it was almost silence for the first time ever between them. Neo finally spoke up and said, ''Are you okay...?'' Friend looked up and she was shaking like mad as if she was having a constant panic attack. She shakily and said everything in a panic, spitting out the words, ''T-They locked me in a room... It wasn't a room, it was a cell with the cement floor, cold and damp and the cockroaches! Gah, The cockroaches! They were my only food... But I thought I wasn't alone but I was b-because Mary was gone- This place killed her, they're evil, the nurses are evil. Gah! Don't trust them! They made me e-eat their food but I should've resisted... But I was starving- Gah!'' Friend just continued to mumble and mutter to herself and ranted about her experience in this ''cell'' which she was forced to stay in all night. Rayan and Neo tried their best to calm her down but it was no use as Friend has already lost it. That's it... Friend had gone crazy. Without Mary, without food or anything comfortable... And if they really did feed her the food here then she must've gone through the same pains. Alone as well! Friend had defiantly lost it... But was Neo and Rayan going to give up on her? Heck no! Or... at least they tried not to. Breakfast was over but Friend refused to leave her seat. Neo stayed with her. ''You stay with Friend, I'm going to go find Aroval!'' Rayan said as Neo nodded and let him go.
Unfortunately, neither Friend nor Neo had drunk Holy Water last night so they both started wincing in pain. But Friend was screaming... She rocked back and forth in the fetal position as Neo tried to comfort her while trying to bottle up her own pain. But instead of growing a large mark and a new coloured eye, They both transformed into monsters... Black leathery skin, red glowing eyes, and a thirst for... no. They didn't have a thirst for blood like they thought monsters would. They look different but they're conscious is completely the same! But to their dismay, a nurse came in with two large nets and caught Friend and Neo. Either knowing or thinking that they were monsters. The nurse locked them up in the same cell but their monstrous forms died down as they were back to how they were after the first pains. Neo wrapped Friend's old cardigan around Friend again and comforted her as she showed heavy signs of PTSD. But that's not the only thing... Opposite their cell, was a trash chute that leads to the pond. The same pond that bodies were being dumped into. A nurse dragged a large body bag and brought out their old friend, Aroval. He was hoodless as his soft, dead face was hoisted up to the chute. So this is what Friend saw... ''Wait! Why did you kill him?!'' Neo screamed to the nurse. She simply smiled, menacingly as she stepped closer to their cell and she said, ''Because he saw something that he wasn't supposed to see. Can't have him telling anyone now, can we?'' She said as she laughed to herself and continued to do her daily chore of dumping bodies down trash chutes. Neo shivered in fear as she backed away from the cell's bars. While her friend named Friend was shaking and mumbling insane nothings to herself, her other friend named Aroval was dead because of the truth and Rayan was mindlessly looking for a dead guy.
The morning finally came and they were let out, as they finally looked mostly human again. But... Friend just sat there. She didn't care anymore. She was gone. Neo had lost her... Knowing that there was no hope for Friend, she placed Mr Freddy in her lap as Neo dashed for the exit, trying to find Rayan. She ran through the halls for hours until she finally found him. She couldn't help but run up and hug him tight, crying into his chest. After explaining everything, Rayan was at loss for words. ''Rayan... promise me to stay by my side no matter what! We can't let our friend group split up anymore!'' Neo cried out as Rayan patted her head and said, ''Of course not. We're sticking together no matter what the nurses try and do to us.''. After the wholesome and sad moment was over, the two went to Holy Water handouts but there was one left. ''Neo, take it,'' Rayan said. ''No, I cant! You have to stay healthy!'' Neo exclaimed. ''I don't care! You've been through enough. I won't drink it if you give it to me anyway. So please, make use of it. Do it for Aroval and Friend...'' Rayan said, convincing Neo to drink it. She only did cause he was right, plus he was insistent.
Night finally came, and the two were in their room alone again. But... It was Rayan's time to turn. But after his full transformation into this monster, something was different... His conscience was leaving him! He couldn't think like himself anymore! Before losing himself fully, he threw the old nail file over to Neo and told her to run. He was trying to sacrifice himself... ''No! You can come with me! We'll escape together! Please! We'll escape for the sake of our friends!'' Neo cried out, tears running down her face.
In the end, Rayan resisted the loss of his own consciousness for as long as he could. They both broke out of their room and ran through all the nurses, Rayan killing every single one of them. He picked up a light and threw it inside the sanctuary. Neo was outside, clutching onto the nail file as the only thing she had left. But Dr Val was running after them. That's it... Rayan didn't hold back this evil force anymore. Before being eaten alive by the now monstrous Rayan, Dr Val closed and locked the front gates, with the window of the gate exposing the scene, as the light from before had finally spread all over. From the pond with Aroval's body to the cell Friend was still mindlessly sitting in. ''Rayan! No!'' Neo screamed to the top of her lungs as all she could see was flames. The last thing Rayan could get out before dying in the fire and the evil force taking him in was simply motivation for Neo to run. ''Live for us, Neo... Live for all of us...''.
That's it... the Sanctuary of Death was destroyed... With the sacrifice of not one, not two but all three of Neo's friends.
All Neo could do was fall to her knee's, crying like the world was about to end, and watch the sanctuary go up in flames.
When morning came, Neo had fallen asleep near a tree with her tear-stained face looking up at the burnt building. She decided to hold onto the nail file in the memory of her friends and their great sacrifices just for her to end up living. She did what Rayan told her to... She lived far away from the Sanctuary and lived. She lived to honour her friends who couldn't live. Those who lost themselves, whether to insanity or sacrifice or the truth.
As an adult, she became a well-known author as the book that got her big was the one based on her own traumatic experience. She could only hope her friends were still watching her from above... somewhere, somehow... And she looked up at them sometimes, too. Just to say hi or tell them about her day, now and then.
Stories are often based on real experiences after all... Just like this one. I hope the next story is just as interesting and detailed as this.