The walls of the asylum corridors are thick with moss and the air is dense with the smell of mould. Zayn physically cringes at the squelching beneath his boots. It’s pretty dark and hard to see if a guard was coming, actually, it was hard to even see a meter in front of him. Zayn’s mouth is sandpaper dry and his heart is beating loudly in his ears, he can hear his own heart thudding over his ragged breathing. Liam’s keys are heavy in his back pocket of his jeans, and they feel as if they’re going to burn through the fabric. Zayn focuses on listening as he walks a bit faster, there is no concept of time here, it feels like it’s been hours but it’s only been 20 minutes. The tunnels and corridors of the asylum never seem to end, with sudden left and right turns. Zayn can tell he’s near D block, because he can tell that it’s been uncared for, with the moss growing over the walls and the dirty floors, at some points there’s puddles of murky substances and Zayn’s pretty sure it could even be acidic. Every now and then there’s a big steel door that Zayn would pass, that had been barred up like a prison cell window. It only made Zayn curious as to what actually happened down here, back on the other side of the Asylum no one speaks of D block, it’s like an unwritten rule, and at least he thinks that. In the time he’s been here, he had barely even heard of D block, even Liam seemed slightly weary even speaking of it. Liam kept his summary of D block short and brief. Zayn believed it was the proper institutional side of the asylum for the patients that are locked away for their own safety and for the safety of others. Liam had explained that Harry had been here for a few times and Zayn could understand why, especially with Harry’s past. Harry had even come back a few times injured apparently, so who knows what they’d done now. Zayn freezes as he hears voices coming closer and footsteps moving fast. The clunk of the boots are all too familiar and Zayn stops breathing. There’s nowhere to hide, there’s guards about to round the corner and Zayn is in the open. Zayn looks around frantically, heart thudding harder and louder before he spots a door that hasn’t been barred.
Please, for the love of all that’s holy, let this door be unlocked. Please.
Zayn thinks to himself before quickly running towards the door and pressing on it, he closes his eyes and exhales as the door opens with ease. He slides in and closes it, and presses his back to the door, eyes squeezed shut. He breathes in slowly, and exhales quietly. It takes another 20 seconds before he can hear the boots walking down the corridor. They’re talking and Zayn strains his ears so he can listen.
“I can’t believe it actually working, Mrs Landles said that the psychiatrist report came back and he has nothing wrong with him anymore. He’s just a normal man. He isn’t…so fucking weird. I was talking to him earlier and he spoke back, without some sly come back, and he doesn’t get angry. He thinks his name is Jake, he thinks he had a wife and she died or some shit. I don’t know man, it’s crazy. He said he wishes he could remember everything and he wants to see a picture of his wife,”
“What are they going to show him, they wouldn’t show them a picture of her you don’t think? He might remember everything, and I don’t think Mrs Landles would appreciate that, and what are they going to do once he realises he should be going home to his family…I don’t understand,”
“I think they’re just going to show him a random photo, in hopes that he just gets a bit sad and then accepts it? I don’t really know man, but I think Mrs Landles is actually going to let him on the outside world eventually, but I think he’ll be being flown somewhere out of the state, so it’s like a start over and stuff. He’ll have a guard stay with him, it’ll be like saying it’s emotional support, I don’t even know. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but apparently if his memory hasn’t started coming back by the end of the week, he’s going to leave,”
“I would have never guessed it,”
“Guessed what?”
“The Harry Styles leaving this place, he was in here for life and now he’s had this miracle fucking experiment done and he’s normal,”
“Yeah,”
Zayn can’t believe it, he literally cannot believe it. He tries to re-play the conversation in his head as he waits until the sound of the footsteps disappear. Harry doesn’t even know who he is? He thinks his name is Jake, like couldn’t the doctors come up with a better name? Zayn opens his eyes, and he inhales sharply. There’s a hard cement table in the centre of the room with a tray of operating utensils next to it. This is an operation theatre. Zayn almost throws up on himself, he needs to get out of here, and he can’t be in here. He needs to find Harry, right now. He quickly scans around the room, and notices there’s a cupboard in the corner and Zayn can’t help but feels intrigued about it, so he makes his way over and opens it. He squints as it opens, and he notices the clothing that are hung up. He touches them and looks at the shoes that are placed at the bottom.
“God, you’re good,” He whispers to himself
He brings the clothing off the hook and holds it up to himself, checking it out for size. He can’t believe it, he would never in a million years believe that he’d be capable of finding guards clothing that have been hung up. He strips out of his jeans and shirt and he shivers as the cold, damp air hits his bare skin. He quickly changes into the clothing and tries to ignore how the rough the black pants feel against his legs and how hard the blue shirt and jacket feel. It seemed it hadn’t been worn in a while. He kicks out of his shoes and grabs the leather boots. He smirks to himself and straightens out his clothing. He is good. The smell hits his nose a few moments later and Zayn genuinely has puke that rises up the back of his throat and into his mouth. He spits a bit on the floor and gags. It smells like old blood and vomit. He stuffs his old clothing into the cupboard before walking away. He swallows the bile in throat before inhaling deeply, trying not the cringe at the smell before pushing on the door and letting it open. It opens with a quiet creak and Zayn closes it fast and looks around the halls. He needs to move fast because there’ll be guards coming around soon again, most likely. Maybe if he acts normal, he won’t be questioned. Yeah, that’s what he’ll do. Zayn walks at a normal pace, trying to act as if he were a normal guard. He looks at the walls in awe of how big and filthy it is. The tunnel seems to lighten up the further he ventures, so he begins to walk a little faster. It’s a further 150 meters roughly before he comes to a staircase, there’s small lights placed on either side of the walls as the stairs escalate. Zayn begins to walk up the stairs, ignoring the anxiety that is pulsing throughout his body.
“Down here is the corridor between D block and the general admission for the asylum. You’ll probably end up doing a lot more late night shifts which involves you doing late night patrol, Jake,”
Jake.
Zayn tries not to freeze up and continues to walk up the stairs. It doesn’t take long before he’s walking around a corner and almost walks into a blonde guy and the one and only Harry “Jake” Styles.
“Oh, sorry mate,” Zayn steps back, trying not to look at Harry.
Zayn keeps his eyes trained on the blonde guy and he stares back wearily.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met you, are you new?”
“Yeah, just started this afternoon. I’m…Xander,” Zayn tries not to hesitate too much, and says the first name that comes to mind.
“Oh, are you alright to be walking around by yourself? It’s a pretty daunting job,”
“No, Miss Landles showed me around. I’ve got a general swing of the place, I was transferred from Haywood Asylum. I’m no stranger to how things work,” Zayn smiles
“Well, I’m Oliver and this is my, well our, colleague Jake. He’s just re-learning the ropes,”
“Re-learning?” Zayn whispers
“Oh, he had a terrible accident and had severe trauma to the head, so now we’re here to help him out and bring him back to his feet, re-learn and improve, you know,” Oliver shrugs
Zayn looks at Harry and Harry stares back. It’s like Harry is a new person, not even slightly resembling himself before the surgery or whatever it was. The dirt that was usually covering his skin was completely gone, his eyes a bright shade of jade green, his dirty, matted and oily hair was no longer, and was now replaced by smooth, shiny and clean hair. His face seemed clear from any facial hair that was starting to grow, and his teeth seemed even whiter than before. He looked good. Harry frowns and looks Zayn up and down.
“How’re you going Jake?” Zayn asks
“Yeah, I’m alright. This job is actually a pretty big handful to be honest,”
“Yeah, I hear you. There’s a bit of commotion back at the general side of here. I heard a fight broke out, it’s been pretty hard to handle and they’re running low on staff. I heard someone talking about it, not to sure though,” Zayn shrugs, quickly looking at Oliver.
Oliver literally perks up and his eyes widen as Zayn finishes.
“There’s a fight, I probably should go assist. Xander are you alright enough to teach Harry some things, I’ll be back in 15 minutes tops,” Oliver raises an eyebrow
“Yeah sure, do your thing, I’ll teach him what Miss Landles spoke to me about, easy,”
Oliver nods and places a hand on Harry’s shoulder before jogging around the corner. Zayn waits a few moments before smiling at Harry and walking the direction where Harry probably came from.
“So… Do you remember much before the accident?”
“Honestly, no I can’t. It’s weird how they can’t really tell me too much information, something about telling me slowly and not all at once, which I can sort of understand. It’s just, I haven’t even seen a picture of my wife,” Harry sighs
“You didn’t have a wife,” Zayn blurts
Harry turns his head fast and faces Zayn and Zayn stops in his tracks. He looks at Harry, as Harry’s eyes burn into his soul, a familiar intensity.
“I did, I would know if I didn’t,”
“Would you really? Do you remember her? Do you remember what she looked like, felt like, smelt like?” Zayn whispers
“No, but-,”
“Exactly,” Zayn nods
“What are you trying to say here, Xavier?” Harry raises an eyebrow
“My name isn’t Xavier, it was a cover. I’m Zayn,”
Harry’s eyes scan him slowly, as if he’s trying to piece something together in his mind and Zayn frowns. Is he remembering? Zayn inhales and continues to speak
“Your name is Harry, not Jake okay. I know it may seem hard to believe but you’re Harry. You and I know each other, and I’m not sure if you remember me yet or anything, I don’t expect you to, but I need you to just think and believe me when I say this. We’re both patients here, you’ve done some fucked up things and you ended up here for life sentence. They’ve been doing things to you over the past few years, and they’ve finally succeeded in this evil plan to make you forget. They believe that if they can make you forget everything and who you are and what you’ve done, they’re going to let you out into the world. I want nothing more for you to go out and enjoy life again instead of rotting away here, but if you’re going to get away, you need to remember it all. You need to remember or at least know the truth of who you are Harry,”
“You’re Zayn,” Harry whispers, taking a step back
Zayn frowns.
“Yes, I am?”
“As in the Zayn Head Mistress Landles warned me about. She told me to stay away from you. I’m sorry but I need to get you back to your cell and I’m not going to keep this a secret either. You need to stay away from me, alright?”
“No, listen-,”
“You’re talking nonsense alright, I know you are because Mistress Landles told me you have been talking nonsense, and they’re trying to find a way to control your outbursts,”
“Harry-,”
“I’M NOT HARRY! I am Jake, alright?”
“No, you’re not,”
Harry holds Zayn’s arms together in a tight grip and Zayn raises an eyebrow.
“What are you doing?”
Harry doesn’t say a word as he cuffs Zayn’s hands together and Zayn yanks his arms out of Harry’s grips and tries to break his hands out of the metal.
“You fucking prick, get me out of these,”
“No, calm down or else I’m going to have to taser you down,”
“Harry, I will not hurt you, I will not run. You can take me back to my cell and I will not thrash around like a lunatic, I just need you to take all this into consideration,”
“I am a guard here, I have worked here for the past 3 years. I lost my wife in that fucking accident. I don’t have time for you stupid games,”
“I need you to think, real damn hard. Close your eyes, describe to me who you see,” Zayn stares
“The psychologists and everyone have already tried this on me, I can’t see anything because I don’t know,” Harry grunts
He grabs Zayn’s arm once again and turns around, walking back towards the way Zayn came from.
“HARRY STOP!” Zayn yells, placing all his weight into his legs trying to hold his ground
“Start fucking moving or else you leave me no choice,”
Zayn is pushed and pushed until he’s at the top of the stairs, and then he holds his ground, firm. He can hear Harry moving around and Zayn tries to look. Harry stares at him, eyes ablaze and his face rigid with anger.
“Get down the stairs now.” Harry whispers
“Make me,” Zayn chuckles
Harry smirks and then presses the taser against Zayn’s back. Zayn gasps as he feels the sudden surge of electricity throughout him. He starts to shake, badly. His legs going limp and his arms feeling like Jelly. He concentrates hard.
If I’m going down, you’re coming with me.
Zayn throws the last ounce of energy by pulling Harry with him, as his convulsing body falls down the flight of stairs and the last thing he sees as he smashes his head against the floor is Harry also smashing his head against a stair and rolling limply down the rest of them.
(A/N: It's been 3 months since I've updated. I am so sorry. It's been so hard to write and honestly, it took me about 2 months and 3 weeks to write only 900 words. I had sudden inspiration tonight and smashed out 2600+ words. I'm happy. Sorry for the wait, don't forget to comment :D x )