Remember - ONC 2023

Chapter 3 - Florence And The Vignettes

When Charles woke up the next morning, he did so himself, not knowing that he'd woken up half an hour before he was supposed to. He didn't expect the atmosphere outside to be pleasant, but what he saw froze his heart out of the sheer dread that he felt. His heart had been keen towards dread lately, it seemed, and in his circumstances, it wasn't good at all. Quite pathetic, actually.

It was merely the landscape outside of the bars in front of him, but it wasn't how a landscape was supposed to look. While nothing otherworldly, it was certainly eerie, what with the full moon that glistened like the aura of a ghost amidst disorganized streaks of dark blue and black, its pale shade timidly illuminating the dead grass and trees, making them look as if they'd been brought back from their respective deaths, and even himself to some extent, as if the inside and outside of the asylum weren't frightening enough already.

Thirty minutes passed like nothing as he stared at the horizon, his mind overwhelmed with thoughts, the creak of the door to his cell startling him when it came. Edna gently shook on the floor and yawned and stretched her hands as she slowly stood up, her vision too blurry for her to discern that every movement of hers was judged, watched over like some thorough and rather frustrating experiment.

Edna recognised the woman in front of the cell immediately, the memory of her being carved into her skull over the past few days, but Charles needed some time to figure it out. She was not friendly by any means, her cold, dark brown eyes piercing right through his soul as he studied her. Her ink-black hair was tied into a ballerina bun so tightly that it was a wonder how she could tolerate it. Her incredibly pale skin and gaunt figure reminded him of a corpse, her bony right hand stretched out towards him like a sign of a primordial judge, merciless in his verdicts. Around that skeletal figure, a pure white dress lingered like a curtain, swaying lightly in the harsh winds of cold. 

From all of that, he was able to easily conclude who it was, but, to clear all the doubt from his mind, there was a tag on the dress that told him everything that mattered about her:

Florence Haze.

The night before came flashing back to him - the stern officers, the creepy lights, the dead landscape, the hopeless prisoners, mostly the hopeless prisoners. They were all in her possession. And now he was too, which meant that he would now see how he was going to endure such-

"Mister Abbott," she snapped at him. "I know that you're insane, but that doesn't mean that it should be seen through the way you look at others."

He shuddered with his whole body. "I apologise, Mrs Haze, but-"

"How dare you assume I'm married?" she said through gritted teeth. "You should learn not to jump to conclusions this easily. Luckily for you, you'll learn it quickly, among many other things. You have no choice but to do so. After all, it's what's best for you. It may seem frightening right now, but I'm only doing what is needed to make my patients functioning and stable members of society. I'm sure you'll agree after being here for a while."

It won't exactly be my choice to agree, now will it?

He nodded reluctantly. "Yes, madam, I understand everything you've said. One more thing though. Why are Edna and I here? The fact that both of us exist should be proof to release us on its own."

She snorted. "I thought you wouldn't ask stupid questions after how you've just embarrassed yourself. Dealing with you is going to be a little harder than I'd expected, but it's nothing I can't handle. Time is money, however, so let's not waste our precious hours like this. You'll meet the other patients this morning, and then we'll walk you through the rest of your daily routine. Come on, let's go! You too, Miss Mackie!"