Personal Short Stories For The People Who Need A Dose Of Humanity

Darkshire Asylum

Description: This is a mystery short story

The year was 1910. It was Christmas Eve in the town of London and everyone was asleep by the time the clock struck twelve. Adrian, the town's lead detective, was at his desk in his office on Danby Street. On the outskirts of town, however, the building never slept. The building that laid claim there was the Darkshire Asylum, home to some of the world's most dangerous criminally-insane people ever. It was abandoned in 1905, due to a raging fire. That night, however, there was a loud thud that echoed through the abandoned asylum, a shriek following after. When daylight comes, all of London will be thrown into chaos.

On Christmas Day, Adrian gets a call from the police station about the murder at the asylum. He sighs and puts down the phone after he assures them he'll "be there in fifteen". He walks down the street until he reaches the police station on Danforth Street. He walks through the blue door of the police station and already, he can sense tension in the room. "Thank God you came," exclaimed the head of the police charter, Captain Wilford. "This murder is nothing like I've ever seen before. Let's head down to the asylum." Captain Wilford and Adrian both made their way to the asylum by buggy and they arrive to the weary, dilapidated building a half-hour later.

Adrian stepped through the wrought-iron gates of the entrance and immediately, he felt his spine crawl. No crime scene has ever made him feel like this. What was so different about this one? He adjusted his stance as he walked onward to the vegetative entrance of the asylum. Hearing things creaking and hearing knocks on the wood made his stomach flip. He was surely in for a wild ride.

Captain Wilford shows Adrian to the room where the murder happened while stepping over broken glass and fallen medical books on lobotomy and electroshock therapy. The body was then revealed from underneath its tarp. Adrian quickly points out that there are no visible strangulation marks, lacerations, or wounds on the body. "Captain, there aren't any visible marks on the body." Wilford nodded, praising him silently. "You're exactly right. However, in order to determine the cause of death, we would have to do further examination internally. I'll go make a quick phone call to the M.E. at the station. Feel free to investigate further Detective Stonewood." Adrian curtly nods and as the police man steps out of the room to find a wall phone, he begins to explore the asylum.

He walks through the dining hall, right next door to where the body was found. The crisp furniture from the fire years ago still stands, slowly disintegrating into ashes as the years go back. He walks through the dining hall, while noticing a certain pungent, yet familiar smell of burnt flesh. The papers said that the fire was ultimately ruled as an accident, but Adrian knew too well that it was arson.

He then walks down the wall to investigate the funny smell further, but as he rounds the corner, he hears a knock, coming from inside the wall. He stops in his tracks, thinking that the captain is playing a trick on him. "Very funny Wilford, you got me haha." he drawls in his loose, slang-British accent. Then, Captain Wilford appears, but from the other side of the hall, where the phone was. "Stonewood, what are you blabbering about? This is no time to joke. The M.E. is here."

Adrian turns around to meet the Captain, but suddenly realizes something. The smell of burning flesh is getting stronger, and you can even smell smoke. Adrian suddenly yells " EVERYONE EVACUATE NOW! THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE!" But, nobody moves, for they simply vanished into thin air. He blinks his eyes and he's back in his office. To this day, he still relives it. He believes it's real every year. He can't escape it. He's very sick, indeed, for since that fire raged, the amount of smoke he inhaled before he escaped has clouded his distinction between reality and fiction. He still hears the knocks....