1906 [h.s.]

twenty

"Let's go" I said, standing up all of sudden, after what felt like hours.

He turned to look at me. "Where should we go?"

I gave him an obvious glance. "To find a way out, maybe?" I asked him. I knew that he'd given up - for obvious reasons, but it didn't mean I had to give up as well. I had no intention of falling victim of the deadly machine the asylum was, just because of a stupid bet I'd made with a friend. I sighed. It seemed like it had happened ages ago.

"There is not a way out. You will be wasting your time" he said sharply.

I let out an annoyed huff at his words. I knew where he was coming from, but I was starting to feel as if he didn't even want me to leave at all, as if he wanted me, for some reason, to remain trapped there with him forever. "Listen. I don't care whether you just decided to give up or something, I'm not going to waste my life inside this place because it's stupid. And I don't do stupid."

The corners of his lips turned up a little bit. "A nice speech for someone who willingly entered an abandoned hospital, pet."

"Shut up, you're so annoying at times. And don't give me pet names. You're like, a century old or some shit. You could be my great grandfather or something" I snapped at him.

He side-glanced at me while fixing the two buttons at the wrists of his white shirt. "I am twenty-three years old" he said quietly. "You know it."

I looked down, giving him a little nod. "I do" I whispered. For just a second, I'd forgotten that time had stopped for him. I cleared my throat, looking up at him again. "Have you considered... what if you managed to... make it?"

He gave me a penetrating glance. "What are you talking about?"

"I will not let you out of my sight again" I said. "I promise you. I will not leave without you."

He let out a sarcastic laugh. "You know it is too late for that."

I shook my head. "You know it's not the end of it. We have at least another chance. I promise we will make it, together."

"Don't promise to change what you cannot change."

"You should know better than me that nothing here is written in stone" I said fast, not understanding why he was being so negative about the whole thing. I supposed that, if it had been me, I would've been ecstatic to be presented with the mere possibility of changing what had happened.

He went back to glancing out of the window. "Except that it is."

I sucked in a sharp breath as I realised what he was referring to. "Fine. I will do it on my own, then" I said, turning around and walking away.

After a while, I finally managed to make my way back to the front door again. I sighed, looking out of its glass, putting my hand on it. Outside, the sun was shining, a reminder that we weren't in a cold October of the early nineteen hundreds, but in a warm August of the twenty-first century instead. I put my hand on the handle, trying to open it even though I knew there would've been no use. The door didn't even budge, another reminder that I was stuck inside. I glanced at the door of the office right next to the main door, remembering that I absolutely had to escape.

I turned around, walking deeper into the asylum again.

• • •

The moon was up in the sky, the faint line of clouds telling me that the rain would've started soon, and I still hadn't found a way out. I was back to the front door, sheer panic starting to invade my heart. I was about to resign, when my gaze fell on the office next to the main door. I had never really checked inside it for a hint on a way out, I had been distracted by Harry's file at the time.

I slowly walked inside, the light of the moon being barely enough for me to see. I looked at the files on the shelves. They all had names on, but one. I took it and brought it closer to the window, trying to read in the dim light. It was a list of the rules of the asylum, nothing that could've helped me. I went to put it back where I found it with a sigh.

As I was sliding it back in its place I noticed something. There seemed to be something behind the bookshelf.

I took my phone, turning it on. It was about to die, the battery was at ten percent. "Come on" I whispered to myself, turning on the flashlight. The sudden flash of white light enlightened something on the wall right before I turned it off quickly, surrounding it in darkness. Could it have been some kind of door?

Realising that it was my last chance, I started throwing all the files and binders on the floor to make the bookshelf lighter. When I did, I kicked them away and went to the side of the bookshelf, pushing it away slowly but steadily, discovering what was indeed a door. I pushed it open and discovered another small office, with nothing inside but a desk and a chair.

I sighed. It was of no help. As I was about to exit I glanced at its window and my heart stopped for a second. For some reason, there were no bars on it. Was that why the room was closed?

I stepped closer, discovering that the window had no handle, and it couldn't have been opened. I looked around, realising what I had to do. My eyes fell on the chair instantly. I grabbed it, hoping that it wouldn't have broken on me, and I smashed it against the glass, closing my eyes and turning my head in anticipation of the multiplicity of shards my actions would've been created. But there were none. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking at the perfectly intact window. How could a glass surface be left so untouched by a chair smashing against it?

I gripped the wood tighter, hitting the window again with all I could, but with no use. I hit it over and over again, until I could no longer breathe and my arms hurt, but it still felt as if I'd never even hit it once. The window was perfectly intact, the light of the moon coming through it almost mockingly.

I threw the chair to the side and looked away, trying to catch my breath. I had to go. It was night, and midnight would've probably come soon. I had to go back to Harry.

I sighed, quietly making my way back to where I'd left him, something telling me that he would've still been there.

When I arrived, I discovered that he was still in the same position of before, as if more than ten hours hadn't even passed.

He looked up when he heard me walk towards him. "You did not find a way out?" He asked, a hint of sarcasm hiding almost perfectly the hurt in his voice.

I glared at him, sitting back against the wall. "Just shut up, I'm not in the mood" I said quietly, closing my eyes and trying to rest a bit.

"I'm afraid to tell you we must leave. It is almost midnight" he said, and I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Sure, let's go" I said, standing up and following him as he made his way to the broom closet again.