The Asylum Staff Apartment (Shanan's room), 12:25 AM
Shanan was really anxious. She returned to her apartment in the asylum staff apartment after her conversation with Jacob. Shanan wanted to contact the SIA again but Jolly and Luke share the apartment with her, that's why she couldn't go out without their knowledge. She had to wait for Jolly to fall asleep. She planned to go to SIA office after that. Although she knew there were cameras watching her moves. But still she might outrun them in the chase if she tried. That move could also leave Rya in danger. But she believes Jacob couldn't hurt Rya now as the SIA is after her. She started to think back about everything that happened so far.
***Flashback starts:
Hamlington Mental Asylum, 6 and half months ago.
Shanan was inside the record room searching for a file. She was looking for some details about the girl who died two weeks back. She found what she was looking for and started to read through it. It was Sapphire's file.
She read the few details it held. According to the file, she was born in Hamlington and was alone in the world. Then why her body was moved to Stockling after her death? It was indeed very strange.
During that time she couldn't concentrate on the matter because Rya also died around the same time. She was too lost to care about others.
She kept the file back in its original place after reading and then switched off the light to leave the room. She was about to go out but stopped when she heard footsteps approaching. They were talking in a law voice. She immediately hid behind a self. She didn't want to get caught in snooping around. It could affect her career badly. Dr. Jacob and Dr. Graham entered the record room still absorbed in their conversation.
"Who knows when this girl will get her conscious back? The treatment here isn't that good too. We should move her to a better hospital with better equipment." Shanan heard Jacob suggesting Dr. Graham as they entered the room.
"Are you out of your mind, Jacob? She is dead for the world. If anyone ever finds out about her, forget the experiment. We will be jailed. We have been given a lot of money for this project. The Modern Research Lab will continue to give us the financial support. We need that girl out of the comma soon." Dr. Graham responded.
"Sir, I think we should start moving on with our backup plan." Jacob said.
"You are right about that. We need more girls."
"Why only girls, sir?"
"Because we don't know how these bacteria will effect in a boy's body. It might be same or it might be different. As the experiment started out with a girl, let it finish for a girl first. Boys can wait." Dr. Graham sounded absolutely monstrous.
They both laughed like evils. They took out the same file Shanan read just a few minutes ago and left the room together. Shanan was equally shocked and surprised. She didn't understand what was going on but her instinct told her something was going terribly wrong. She needed to find out, she decided immediately.
From that day on, she started to keep an eye on Jacob and Graham. Even she acted like a friend to Jacob. She hated him from day 1 as she knew very well that Jacob was a pervert. She saw him making moves on vulnerable female patients. Touching them unnecessarily, using the checking up card. She felt like killing him. But she acted nice to him as she needed to find out what he was up to.
Finally after a week, she got a chance which she was waiting for. Jacob left early for home (well he said home but who knows where) and she entered the cabin which Jacob never leaves vacant. He even didn't permit her to enter once saying the patient is sensible.
She found Jolly watching over the patient.
"Hello mam." Jolly greeted her looking startled. No one ever comes in this room after all.
Shanan smiled sweetly. She moved towards the bed. Jolly followed uncomfortably. She couldn't stop Shanan as Shanan was her senior at work.
"She is in comma right?" Shanan asked Jolly.
"Yes mam."
Shanan moved to the front side of the bed and was nearly blown away looking at the face of the patient who occupied the bed.
'RYA!' Her mind screamed.
She controlled herself as she knew she had to find out more.
"What's her name?"
"Sapphire Redcliff." Jolly answered which shocked Shanan again.
"Oh. What happened to her?"
"She fell down from the stairs in her orphanage."
Jolly gave her every detail which was actually of the real Sapphire's. She wasn't aware that Shanan already knew the real Sapphire. She saw her before and read every detail about her on her file.
Why are they calling her Sapphire? Why does she look exactly like Rya? What is going on?
Jacob was in charge of the treatment of this girl who they were calling Sapphire. Although he worked under Dr. Graham who was officially in charge. Shanan noticed it was Jacob who took all the decisions. Dr. Graham was just a formality in this case. He is almost never here in person these days.
Jacob never allows anyone to interfere in his treatments. Shanan saw him once with the real Sapphire who was in comma due to having a sudden stroke. Jacob was having his way with her using her vulnerable state. Shanan felt disgusted. She planned to make a complaint against him. So she recorded a video.
She moved away from the window when she heard footsteps and saw Dr. Graham enter the room. She was shell shocked when she heard Dr. Graham say that Sapphire was appealing. She understood that she can't trust anyone now to disclose anything. She has to wait a little and observe everyone. She was new so she needed to find out who she can trust.
Few days later, Sapphire died all of a sudden. The asylum was really small with way too many patients and a very few doctors. No one cared about other doctors patients. So no one actually knew who exactly died.
Shanan knew because she was constantly following their activities. But she couldn't do anything about it when she saw her body was being moved to Stockling.
The next night she heard about Rya and rushed to Stockling. She was just told about the accident but nobody told her that she lost her best friend until she reached Stockling for her own safety. She stayed with Rya's mum for 2 weeks and then returned to work in Hamlington.
She started to almost stalk Jacob in work who never suspected her because well basically he never dreamt of anyone suspecting him. He was a bit overconfident.
After Shanan saw Rya, she decided to talk to Jacob the next day. She knew Jolly must have informed him anyway. She told him about her interests in comma patients. She made sure she sounded as evil as they were. Jacob, who was in a hurry to make Rya come back to sense, immediately fell for her words.
She wanted to know the truth before she contacts the SIA or Police. She didn't even know if they will believe her without any proof so she planned to know more. She specially needs to find out the identity of this mystery girl who looks exactly like her best friend.
Since then Shanan made sure she never left Rya alone with Jacob. When she finally decided to contact the SIA with some information, fortunately she discovered that they had tapped her phone. They had an IT freak in their team about whom she heard from Jacob.
She was sure her computer, email, facebook and other accounts were already hacked. She didn't have much idea about the hacking stuff, but she saw Rya do wonders with them. So she didn't dare to use the internet to contact anyone. Even she couldn't use her phone. She didn't have any friends in Hamlington whose help she could take.
She couldn't risk Rya's life because she was sure, if they find out that she knew Rya, they will kill Rya to prove their innocence. Rya was already dead for the world, so she wouldn't be able to prove anything. She saved the few proofs she recorded before her phone was tapped including Sapphire's video and some other conversations to a pen drive and removed them from her laptop. Just in case they ever found the laptop. She hid the pen drive.
Slowly she made Jacob believe that she was not at all a good person and she was a cold hearted person towards patients. She loves all kinds of experiments and doesn't care about a patient's life if it benefits her.
She entered their inner circle slowly and then she suggested moving in to Stockling after two and a half months. She knew she wouldn't be able to do anything from Hamlington. Jacob and Graham agreed because in Hamlington, Rya's treatment was going too slow for their liking. Hamlington asylum was not as equipped as they want it.
Only a month before the SIA saw Rya, She came back to senses from her coma. Fortunately during that time Rya's cabin didn't have any camera and Jacob totally stopped checking up her leaving everything on Shanan. Even though they immediately found out that Rya was awake, Rya and Shanan still managed to do some planning. They had some time to share everything that happened to each other so far.
A day after Rya came back to senses they found out about actual plan. It was actually Rya who heard them while she pretended to be asleep, that they had kidnapped 18 other girls to continue their experiment. They had already given up on Rya.
Rya actually acted to be mentally unbalanced without any real plans but then she and Shanan made some other plans. Shanan faked that her immune system is destroyed. She wouldn't be able to survive the second dose of bacteria. She told them in order to make her suitable for the experiments, they should to wait. She also convinced them that the comma and the mental disorder were caused by the bacteria. Hoping that would stop Jacob from using any other girls.
It worked. Jacob convinced Dr. Graham to wait. Jacob also told Shanan why Sapphire's identity was given to Rya. This is because they have similar physical features with the same colour eyes. Also they were both in coma and Sapphire died at a perfect time. Although Shanan doubts about it, she didn't voice anything out loud. She was sure Jacob definitely had something to do with Sapphire's death.
Jacob also gave her a brief idea about their plan. He told her they had 18 other test cases held captive. He just didn't get into any details. Shanan also didn't pry too much in case he suspects anything. Besides she already knew about the girls through Rya.
Shanan and Rya also used Sapphires real condition of being mentally unstable as nothing else came to their mind at that instant. No one suspected anything as it wasn't unusual for a comatose patient.
Shanan and Rya tried to find out about the whereabouts of the kidnapped 18 girls but failed miserably. No one even knew that 18 girls were missing. That was so surprising. Rya was also shocked. It was so abnormal that 18 girls were missing but it was nowhere seen on any news.
This matter was supposed to be so serious that even the SIA was supposed to be involved in it. At first when they heard that the SIA came to the asylum, they thought the SIA might have found out about the girls. But later they heard that it was for some other case.
Shanan was strictly instructed to keep away from the SIA and Rya was grounded inside her cabin. They couldn't move Rya away from the hospital, as this will attract the attention of the Head and the other few doctors who weren't working for them.
Jacob was very disturbed when he talked about the SIA being in the asylum. He even said, if the SIA found out anything, they will simply kill the girls and Rya. Their reputation was more important than the experiment. This caused Shanan and Rya to stay away from the SIA. They couldn't risk the lives of the girls.
Flashback ends***
Jolly knocked and entered Shanan's room breaking the train of her thoughts.
"Shanan, you are not asleep yet?" Jolly closed the door behind her. She gave Shanan a cup of tea.
"Tea? At this hour?" Shanan was surprised.
"Actually I wanted to drink some, but I hate drinking tea alone. Luke is out on duty. So I thought to share with you. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all." Shanan smiled.
Shanan slowly started to drink without suspecting anything. They gossiped for a while. When Shanan started to feel dizzy, Jolly knew she had done her part, so she left Shanan alone.
Shanan forced herself to stay awake. She immediately took some anti-sleeping pills. That was a very bad idea because the medicines reacted in a bad way. She heard noise outside her room and forced herself to get up and opened her door to go outside.
She saw a man was pointing gun at Jolly. That man was Ethan. She moved out of her room. She was holding her mobile in her hand. She wanted to give it to Ethan but she felt too weak to say anything.
On that precise moment Luke entered the apartment. He had the orders to attack Shanan if anything went wrong and that is exactly what he did.
He took out a knife and tried to stab Shanan. But Chloe was quicker than him who was standing close to Shanan. Chloe grabbed Shanan's wrist and pulled her towards herself and turned Shanan around covering her with her own body. The knife slightly cut through Chloe's upper arm.
Ethan shot on Luke's hand which made him dropped the gun while Jolly screamed. He immediately called the backup who already reached near the apartment as they heard the firing. Chloe patted on Shanan's face and kept calling her name.
"Shanan... Shanan, open your eyes. Shanan... It's Chloe. Can you hear me?"
"Rya..." Shanan was fighting with sleep.
"Shanan, keep your eyes open." She ordered Shanan then turned towards Ethan. "I will take her up to the hospital." Ethan approved.
"Rya... Save her Chloe..." She heard Shanan mumble in her arms.
"Nothing will happen to Rya. I promise you. We all are here. You stay awake please."
With the help from a backup team member, she lifted Shanan up and rushed towards the exit.
"Chloe... This..." Shanan lifted her hand to show her the mobile. "Recorded..."
She couldn't finish her sentence and sank into deep sleep. Her hand fell down and she dropped the mobile. Chloe immediately picked it up. They rushed inside the hospital and saw Dr. Hasan walking at the other end of a corridor. He was on the night duty. She called him. Dr. Hasan ran towards them seeing them carry someone.
"What happened? Dr. Shanan! Oh no! What happened to her?" He asked frantically.
"Doctor, do something fast. Maybe she is poisoned." Or worse, Chloe thought about X-zora.
They moved her in a cabin and doctor Hasan checked her carefully.
"Relax. She has consumed an overdose of sleeping pills and anti-sleeping pills. I will wash her stomach right way. She will be fine."
Chloe relaxed hearing that and left Shanan in charge of Dr. Hasan. She recognise Dr. Hasan from the pictures she saw and believed him because Albert believes him and Chloe respects and believes Albert's judgement with her full heart.
But for extra security, she instructed the CST member to keep watching over both Dr. Hasan and Shanan.
On the other hand, Ethan interrogated Jolly and Luke. They were husband and wife. They worked for Jacob. Ethan immediately informed Albert about everything. He arrested them and handed over them to the CST.
Ethan left a text to Chloe telling her to meet him at Rya's cabin.
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