Arkham Asylum Part II

[Cearlan]

Jimmy and Henry,As your car approaches the gates to the asylum, you both observe an increased amount of activity going on in the grounds, with people with flashlights combing the grounds looking for something. The security guard on the gate is at first unwilling to admit you due to 'an incident. Other than this he is'not forthcoming with any more specific information about events but as soon as you tell him who you are coming to see he reluctantly lets you in with a warning to be careful and an instruction to go straight to the administration building where you will be met.

Sr Katherine and Sharon,As your taxi approaches the gates to the asylum, you both observe an increased amount of activity going on in the grounds, with people with flashlights combing the grounds looking for something. The security guard on the gate is at first unwilling to admit you due to 'an incident. Other than this he is'not forthcoming with any more specific information about events but as soon as you tell him who you are coming to see he reluctantly lets you in with a warning to be careful and instruction a colleague to escort you straight to the administration building where you will be met.

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams

In the taxi with Sister Katherine on the way to the Asylum, Sharon says;
"I am glad that the official identification of my Brother can wait until tomorrow, this has been the worst day of my life and quite frankly I just feel so numb and drained ... Oh no! what's happening here, I hope it is not anything to do with the poor creature we brought here earlier."
As they pull up to the gate it doesn't look like they will be allowed in.
"What is it ... has something happened? We are here to see Mr Henry Atwater, please let us in ... this has been a very long day." Sharon says to the guard.
Once the guard on the gate realises who they have come to see he reluctantly lets them in telling them to be careful ... they are escorted to the administration building where apparently they will be met.

[Priest]

As Henry pulls away from the gates I look out the rear widow to see if I can make out what's going on with all the flashlights,
"Obviously lost something, or someone."
I turn my head to face front as the car pulls up at the administrative building,
"So, someone will meet us, and hopefully explain just what is going on"

[DrPeterson]

He pulls up the car near the administration building and as he lights a new cigarette, he looks at Jimmy with a none too happy expression.

"Here's hoping that wretched creature we pulled out of the sand didn't escape."

He shivers involuntarily and quickly tries to ban the memory from his thoughts.

"Let's see what gives, Jimmy."

Henry gets out of the car and looks for whomever is supposed to meet them.

[Mr. Handy]

"What happened?" Katherine asks her escort. "Did one of the patients escape?"

[Cearlan]

As you all arrive within minutes of each other, you are escorted to the office of the administrator and it is busy with people coming and going with pieces of paper, reports maybe? You are ushered to sit and once the four of you are present, Dr. Hardstrom tells his secretary to hold all visitors for a few minutes while he talks to you.

"Well there is something you need to be aware of, and I'll not hold back, despite the peril this puts my position here in. You will have noticed on the way in that there exists a search in the grounds. This is because it seems that Herbert Atwater has somehow gone missing from his room, and yes this is despite his being gently restrained." He look at the four of you levelly. "I am doing all in my power to find out where he is, though he has eluded us so far." Spreading his hands at slightly more than shoulder width upon the table he continues. "That is the first person that you have been connected with recently. Now his manner of speech was as though he had come from Britain, specifically from Scotland. which seems out of type with his history."

"The second person has not been here long, the poor wretch is completely insane. The form of his insanity is somewhat interesting. He is claiming, from the fragments we have been able to get so far, that HE is in fact Henry Atwater - classic personality displacement. Though how such could have occurred we have not been able to discern as of yet. I'll be honest here and tell you that at present I don't know exactly what to make of it all."

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, Doctor, I noticed the same thing when treating him at the hospital," says Katherine, not wanting to point out that Hardstrom had gotten Henry Atwater's name wrong the first time he had mentioned it. "I don't know what to make of it either. I called in a priest I know, and he couldn't make heads or tails of it, though he did rule out possession. He did, however, conclude that there was something unusual about his case. Did Henry Atwater say anything intelligible before he fled? And can we look at his room? We may be able to figure out how he got out and where he went."

[DrPeterson]

Henry scratches his head and studies the doctor.

"Now, wait a minute here, doc. You're telling us now, that young Atwater spoke with a Scottish accent? As in Scotland, Europe?"

The Private Eye gives Jimmy a meaningful glance and then goes on.

"And the guy we found at the site, after we saw young Atwater here, actually thinks he IS young Atwater? If this is what you call a classic case of personality displacement, he must have known Henry Atwater, before he'd be able to think he was him, right?"

[Priest]

I tip my hat backward on my head and rub my left eye thoughtfully. To say I'm confused is an understatement things are suddenly getting more and more absurd.
"So your saying that two lunatics have managed to escape their rooms and even in their deluded state are managing to elude your guards?"
I dig my notebook and pencil from my jacket, lick the ened of the pencil and prepare to write, "My readers will be overjoyed to read this in their morning papers, Doc"

[Cearlan]

Hardstrom looks at you his lips compressed in a tight grimace as though he was struggling to maintain his self-control. He speaks very slowly and deliberately, his eyes burning into Jimmy's;
"That is not what I said Mr Vecchio, is this how you get stories? By misquoting people? I had thought better of you in all honesty. Mr Atwater has gone missing and the search continues even now, this much is factual, and it is further true that he spoke in a British accent which he had never done before." Hardstrom looks to Sharon for confirmation which she gives, for after all he was an American through and through. "But the deformed man that was only recently brought in, whom because we have no name for him yet, I shall henceforth refer to as John Doe - he seems to be obsessed with the concept that he is in fact Henry Atwater. John Doe still remains in our care, in fact would you like to go see him to satisfy yourself of this fact?"

OOC,Sorry if I wasn't clear enough ... Henry Atwater has gone missing. The deformed man - John Doe as named by Hardstrom above - lies in the wards of the Asylum. Now Doe believes that [i]HE [/i]is in fact Henry Atwater ... which of course is preposterous as Atwater has escaped and is being searched for even now.

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[DrPeterson]

Henry gets up and straightens his jacket.

"I'd be delighted."


Henry's quick reaction belies his unwillingness to see John Doe. The bottom of his spine is gripped by icy hands, which he tries to ignore by walking to the door.

[Priest]

"Gotya doc", I grin as i replace the pencil and notebook in my jacket pocket, "And yeah seeing the John Doe guy is good"
These smart assed intellectuals get so shirty it makes my job fun. I think as I grin.

OOC,I understood just thought I'd play the annoying journalist card.

[Cearlan]

Hardstom calls out for his secretary and asks him to "Get someone to take these good people down to see the latest John Doe. Now if you excuse me I have a lot of work to be getting on with. You can wait in the anteroom if you'd be so kind." Within a couple of minutes an orderly escorts you down to the accommodation, which in truth are little more than cells.

As you descend the stairs to the next level down you can almost feel the temperature drop a few degrees with every half dozen steps you take down. Through thick wooden door you are ushered into a fairly long corridor and you can see that there is a steady light outside one of the 'rooms' about two thirds of the way down. The lights flicker intermittently, more on than off and the smell of damp mixed with urine and faeces is more than a little off putting. A pair of orderlies come out of the room and as they pass you, they give you strange looks. You can see that they carry soiled bedding and place them in a container at the bottom of the stairs then ascend the stairs.

When you reach the room you can see through the door that the twisted, misshapen soul lies on the cot within the cell. His head shifts almost constantly from left to right and he mutters almost constantly. A young male attendant sits with a notepad on a small desk, supposedly to be taking notes on what John Doe utters, but this is ignored as he reads a book in the dim light which casts the room in stark relief. He jumps up when he realises you are outside the room looking in. "Er hello there can I help you?

[Mr. Handy]

"Good evening," says Katherine. "I'm Sister Katherine O'Neill. Dr. Hardstrom sent us to visit John Doe."

[DrPeterson]

Henry takes a step back when he notices John Doe. He feels his heart beating overtime and his throat feels even drier than usual.
He clears his throat and says in a somewhat croakier voice than usual.

Has the patient said anything that could be of importance?

[Cearlan]

The attendant makes a futile attempt to hide the book, but soon realises that it is useless. "Sorry folks, I'm just reading up some Freud ... I hope to study to be a psychoanalyst one day. As for John's incoherent ramblings, no ma'am. Nothin' new anyways. It's not always easy to understand him due to his dialect but the gist of what he's saying is that he is not himself."

The young man refers to his pad for clarification. "These are the notes I have taken 'I be Atwater ... get thee out ... return me to mine own' - sometimes he adds 'body' but mostly he doesn't. He did say something but only the once, and I'm not sure I heard it right. I think he said something like 'got to save ....' but I didn't catch who or what he was wantin' saving" He looks ashamed as he adds "Please don't be saying anything to Dr Hardstom about my reading and all, he don't like the idea that us from 'downstairs' can have any aspirations like he has. He would fire me if he were to find out."

[DrPeterson]

Henry frowns as he glimpses the pad.

I be Atwater...? Get thee out?

It sounds more like Old England than New England, are you quite sure that's exactly what he said?

[Priest]

As everyone crowds into the cell I look at the unknown man we had pulled from the mud. I push my hat back from my suddenly sweat soaked brow. Somewhere in the distance I'm sure I can hear the flapping of wings. I shudder at a memory that remains, fortunately, just out of reach.
"So this 'guy' insists that he's Atwater" I nod toward the writhing figure, "Simple test for that, if he is awake let Miss Williams here ask him a couple of questions. I'm sure she shares a few secrets with her brother that no one else would know"
I am hoping this gets resolved real quick as I'm not liking it here.

[Cearlan]

"Sure is sir. Word for word as I wrote it down. and as you can hear he does say it in English, but as it is spoken in Scotland according to Dr Hardstrom. I'm not that much of a linguist myself but I agree that it is not from this side of the Atlantic."

John Doe is not awake as such, but as before, is still drifting in and out of consciousness.

[Priest]

"Say Henry, remember what Peabody was saying about Mason and Fowler, I wonder if the speech of this guy would be closer to the speech patterns of them? Now as you know I firmly believe that all the witchcraft guff that the old man was spouting is little more than pure hokum but sometimes coincidences are ..well..too coincidental"