The Asylum of the Mind - Talla Ahmed & Nathaniel Bryner, sophomores

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. CRASH. Through the apartment door came a disheveled, deranged man.

Arthur Ward, shocked into a state of alarm, reached for the bedside table, took the nickel plated .357 magnum revolver he bought from the pawn shop down the street, and click--no bullet expelled from the chamber.

Arthur Ward abruptly woke up and looked around his studio apartment located in the middle of the huge, foul city. The dark room--still. He heard a thud from outside in the hallway as if someone had walked clumsily down the hallway. He arose from bed, his head spinning, thinking how nice an aspirin would be--if he could ever afford it.

Turning on the lamp on the bedside table illuminated the drab and dingy concrete walls of the room. Arthur’s bed--if it can even be called a bed, more of just a cheap, dirty mattress atop a rusty metal frame--seemingly the most uncomfortable piece of furniture known to man. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were the lamp perched upon the bedside table which, upon first glance, appeared to be struggling to hold even its own weight much less that of the lamp.

Arthur started toward the front door, a faint glow of light visible under the gap between the bottom and the floor; the thump thump thump outside continuing, getting louder and louder as

Arthur approached the door.

Arriving at the door, Arthur couldn’t help but notice the lights in the hallway flickering, turning off and on, finally settling on glowing an ominous blood red. Suddenly, he heard screaming. He quickly opened the door. He saw the silhouette of someone--or something--inspecting some sort of mound on the floor at the end of the hallway. In the dim glow of the light, the mound appeared to have a human shape. After two seconds, Arthur could make the shape of a woman’s body out of the mound--without movement, lifeless. The silhouette stirred, turning Arthur’s attention toward It. It was some sort of beast, large like a predatory cat, but something about it was... strange; Its tail was oddly shaped, looking like the balances held by Lady Justice, splitting into two separate ends.

It saw Arthur. Their eyes met. Arthur’s exhausted eyes filled with fear, and It with its large, bloodshot eyes filled with rage and an obvious intent to harm. Arthur began to run in the opposite direction down the hallway. It started after him in sporadic bounds. Arthur’s heartbeat growing to a rapid pounding, then he slipped. It slowed to a prideful stride having caught up with its prey. nearing Arthur, It began lowering itself, preparing to pounce like a lion. It pounced, and Arthur blacked out from shock before he could feel anything.

With a sudden jerk, Arthur Ward woke up. The room was strangely, blindingly bright. Arthur didn’t remember leaving any lights on nor any windows open. Despite this, the day seemed normal enough. Athur headed outside, the warm glow of the sun beaming down upon his face. Suddenly, he felt a violent shaking sensation, then he heard a deafening CRACK as the ground split open forming a deep, rapidly growing fissure; as if the earth was caving in on itself. Where there was once solid ground only remained a seamless darkness, a pure black void.

Then out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw a woman; she seemed...familiar. He began towards her. The world still collapsing around him; buildings crumbling, people screaming, and the world still shaking, falling into the pit once known to be the city. He continued toward the woman. As he reached her, the ground fell beneath her feet. Just in time, Arthur caught her arm. When she looked up at him, an indescribable feeling came to Arthur. In the instant he saw her face, Arthur let go of her arm, and she fell, screaming a scream he knew he had heard before. Arthur looked down, watching her plummet into the void until she was not to be seen at all. Arthur turned to run, but he seemed to be stuck in place. He then noticed an enormous crack beginning to form on the skyscraper in front of him. In no time at all, the building began collapsing; the entirety of the structure seemingly on a path toward crushing Arthur. Before the mass of steel and concrete got anywhere close to Arthur, the ground gave way beneath him. Falling into the pit, Arthur could only see the dark emptiness of the void and couldn’t even hear his own screams.

Arthur woke up. The room was…different. His back…hurt. He had fallen out of the bed. Arthur’s attention turned back to the room; the walls sterile, white, padded, no visible door, a bright white light shining from the ceiling.

Next to him Arthur noticed a small square of paper--blank. He reached out to grab the paper and turned it over. On the other side a picture--taken from a polaroid camera. The picture was Her--the woman from his dreams.

Arthur tried to speak, managing barely a whisper to the woman in the picture, “Hannah.” Arthur paused, holding back tears, “I… didn’t… do… it.”