The Asylum Chapter 11

“Right,” Amelie said, gathering them all together. “I think I’ve got the beginnings of a plan. Ariadne and I have worked out a way for one of us to get out of here – and it’s going to have to be me.” “My collar, Elise – it wasn’t programmed the same way as yours. It can be re-set. And each month, Wolvercote would re-set it for ‘another month here, I think’. I can get out of the front gates: once the month was up, it would let me out. Well, the month he last set it for ran out ages ago. And I’m the only one fit enough for the hike towards some form of civilisation – and the only one light enough to get over the fence. Jonas and Olaf, you’re going to be my human pyramid!” “Talking of Elise’s collar,” Olaf said, “did I tell you how lucky we’d been? It was set to deliver a lethal shock if it was taken off early – we just happened to crush a vital relay.”
“I know,” Elise said, “But by then, I didn’t care if I died: anything was better than year after year stuck in here.” “Anyway,” Amelie said firmly,”Olaf, you’re going to have to bring me up to speed on my computer skills. Ariadne’s going to let me into her bank accounts, but I need to be confident doing it. Elise – have you any ideas about ordinary looking clothes for me?”
“Ask Pete where he hid mine,” Ariadne said, “We’re much of a size.” “And I’m going to have to do something I swore I wouldn’t, and go back into that wretched gym, and get fit. I’ll need extra food too, but then I won’t be here for a bit, so that’ll help.” Pete, meanwhile, was still stuck inside the rehab flat – Olaf had been busy on the computer, but so far no joy, Amelie said. Pete had to admit it was better than living in the attics. There had even been clothes in there – he felt more normal than he’d done in ages. He slept a lot, the bed was so comfortable.
The other thing he did a lot was plan just what he’d really like to do to Ariadne. All the stories he’d read – he’d like to make her have to undergo each of the things that others had suffered. Sometimes, he walked round the flat, talking through them aloud.
Amelie came, and he told her where Ariadne’s clothes were hidden – also her cashpoint card and other things. No phone signal here though, so no point in trying to use that. “Our other problem is going to be afterwards,” Amelie said. “Jonas, you’re going to need a whole new identity. You’re not going to be safe, going back as yourself. Ariadne says you can have whatever funds you need…” “He can have a new identity,” Elise said. “He can marry me and take my name – and we’ll move to France where my grandparents used to live. There are still people in the village who will remember me. But what about you?” “I’m going to join the army. Wolvercote had changed me beyond recognition. I couldn’t be a music therapist any more. Strategy, plans, tactics, teamwork, being part of a unit, military history – he’s programmed them all into me. I’m someone different now.” “I think we all are.” Jonas looked at his feet. “I thought I was part of a family, and a family business, and I’m not.” “Listen,” Amelie said to Elise and Jonas, when she’d got the two of them alone together. “I’m worried about how Olaf’s going to cope. He’s only got one thought in his head, and that’s science. I think it’s what Wolvercote did to him – but he’s not fit to cope with life alone. Will you two take him with you?”
Jonas knew just what she meant. “Yes: we’ll take care of him. Ariadne will pay, I know. We’ll make sure he comes to no harm – he can be our absent-minded-professor-type friend.” “Help him develop and patent the technology behind that visor. The games industry will pay a fortune for it. Ariadne’s going to fund the three of you as a start-up company. Jonas, you’ve got the business know-how to run that side of it. We’re all six of us going to have equal shares in it – we got out of this together. Without each other, we’d none of us have made it. But I’m more than worried about Pete. Let me tell you what I heard him saying to himself…” They digested that in silence for a long while. Then Elise broke it.
“You haven’t even asked Olaf to try and unlock that door, have you? You’ve wanted Pete out of the way while we’ve organised all this.”
Amelie nodded, impressed with Elise’s shrewdness. “Yes. So – what do you two reckon Ariadne’s chances are once we’re all out of here?”
“Slim,” Elise said. “Very slim.” “So – what can we do?”
“Well,” Elise said slowly. “He’s obsessed with revenge, and that’s always personal and unpleasant. If we could move that to a desire for justice, which is impersonal, and measured, instead of revenge…”
“How could we do that?”
“Put Ariadne on trial,” Jonas suggested, a bit flippantly.
“That might well work,” Elise agreed. “Especially if we made it formal enough.”
“And when she’s found guilty? What about a sentence? You know what Pete will say. Finding her innocent just won’t happen.” “Can’t we keep Ariadne safe from Pete once we’re all out?” But even as she said it, Elise knew it wouldn’t be possible.
“Let’s face facts: Pete wants revenge. We’re probably going to end up with Ariadne dead, and him in prison – and after we’ve managed to get out of here, that’s a waste.”
Years later, someone asked Amelie what was the hardest command decision she ever made. She gave a different answer to the interviewer, but she knew that it had been this one.
“This is what we’re going to have to do…” Jonas and Elise talked it through over and over again, but couldn’t come up with a better plan. Meanwhile, Amelie went back to the gym to get fit again. It didn’t take as long as she’d feared it might. Finally, she was ready to leave – and hopefully, to carry out all that they’d planned together – though Elise had given her consent with a heavy heart. Using the therapy rooms was working really well. Jonas, in particular, showed a real talent for art. Of the five of them, Ariadne was the least worried about facing the outside world again: she’d been in here for the shortest length of time. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she’d find a job she liked better than the one she’d left.
“Maybe I could work in the voluntary sector, even. I won’t need a salary. I’d love to work with people who are in difficulty – help them get out of it. But I don’t know what area yet.”
“You would be good at that,” Elise agreed. “You’re good at finding solutions for others. Do you think you could do it for yourself?”
Ariadne thought. Once upon a time, she’d just tried to hide away from her problems…
“Maybe I could, now – after all we’ve been through here. I didn’t use to be able to: I just put up with it, and didn’t try to change anything.” Amelie stood there for a minute or two, re-living the last hectic couple of weeks, remembering…Jonas and Olaf and herself practising in the garden, until they were confident that she could leap from their supporting hands over the fence. The long hike cross-country. Using Ariadne’s cashpoint card, and the relief when it worked. Buying a laptop, and setting up an email account for Ariadne, and the message to the solicitors that they’d worked out together, so that they could do some major spending. Dying her hair, so that she looked more convincing! And now she could really make things happen.
The next stage was going to begin very soon – she had to hope that Jonas and Elise had managed to play their part. Amelie began to explain to the first of the contractors exactly what needed to be done to the gates, so that the rest of the work crews could get on with their tasks. Slipping away together was quite easy for Elise and Jonas to do. Olaf and Ariadne just assumed they wanted a little privacy and left them to it. Amelie had told them where to look: they just had to find the hidden spring that worked for this door. It was Elise who found the opening mechanism. But it was Jonas’s brute strength that finally got the door shifted. They found themselves in a narrow corridor, with steps leading downwards, and then up again.
“How did Amelie know about this?”
“Everything she’s heard, she’s put together,” Jonas replied. “And sometimes Wolvercote would tell her things – in a gloating sort of way. Like his game with that collar on her neck – another month, another month, always dangling the hope of freedom in front of her.”
Elise shuddered, and followed him down the steps and up the other side. “This is the place, isn’t it?” Elise said. “The cellar treatment rooms. Do we have to do this to Ariadne?” Jonas walked along the corridor, looking into one sinister room after another. “If it’s still there, yes we do. Pete’s beginning to run low on food; we can’t let him starve. But we have to keep him away from Ariadne. Locking him up – even if we could trick him into it – will only make matters worse in his mind. You know that.” “Here it is,” Jonas said, stopping outside one of the iron gates. “Just as described.” All they could see was a ladder descending into a room below the one they were looking at.
“We’d better go and check that it is habitable.”
“It’s been used fairly recently, according to what Amelie said. It’ll be dirty though.”
“Cleaning it up will give Ariadne something to do,” Jonas said cheerfully. “Take her mind off things.”
“That story of how it came to be built though – that was an awful story,” Elise said, shuddering again. Amelie had read it to them. The first entry had been written in high good humour.
“I married off the last of my daughters today. Edward, my eldest, now has a fine son. And Algernon, my youngest, is about to propose to one Roberta Shaw. Who will indeed be a lucky young lady, for she will be able to command all the elegancies of life as Algernon’s bride.”
And then, on the very next line, the mood changed completely.
“She refused him! And now Algernon is gone abroad to forget her! How dare she refuse my son!” “Well, she will pay for this. Edward is with me in my plans, and they are nearly complete. She can reap the consequences of refusing my son, and do without all the things he would have given her. Her new home is ready for her. She will have a bed – and sanitary facilities.” “There is a kitchen – although no servants to cook for her. We do not intend to starve her. She will be supplied with plenty of good plain food, and I have piped water down here for her to drink.” “I have even provided a chair for her to sit upon when she dines.” “But on the floor above, I have set strong glass panels into the floor.” “Edward and I will be able to go and watch her whenever we choose.” “Kidnapping her from the ball was so easy! And it gave me great pleasure to show her round her new abode. She could have had a big house, with servants to wait upon her; but she refused it, and now she can have this instead!” “I do not think she has quite taken in the change in her circumstances yet. Her own clothes will be found on a body presently – the face unrecognisable – and she will just be another regrettable crime to be reported in the newspapers.” “It affords me great pleasure to observe her state.” “And even greater pleasure to watch her pleas for release.” “So what was this place?” Tricking Ariadne into coming to see it had been too easy, and Jonas felt a little guilty. He glossed over the reason it had originally been built.
“A Wolvercote son deserted during the Second World War. They hid him down here until they could get him off to Australia with a new identity.”
“I suppose you could live down here. It does have everything.” “Jonas!” Ariadne said, as she saw and heard him lock the gate on her.
“I’m sorry, Ariadne. But we’re going to have to let Pete out. And if he sees you – no collar, no helmet, no gloves, looking well and happy…Amelie thinks this is our best plan to keep you safe from him. His obsession with revenge on you is growing ever worse.” “Jonas, it’s cold down here.”
“I’ll bring you some warmer clothes. And we’ll keep you fed – don’t worry. I’ll bring the food down before Pete gets out. You can have the last of your vegetables too.” “Jonas, please don’t do this.” She reached through the bars to him, but his face was closed.
“I’m sorry, Ariadne, but I have to.” Guiltily, he climbed the ladder, leaving Ariadne saddened beyond words.
Elise sorted out some clothes for her. “Wear the corset over the top, Ariadne – it’ll keep you warmer, and be more comfortable.” And then Amelie came to see her the day she returned, before she’d even changed out of Ariadne’s clothes.
“I’d give you these back, but I still need them at the moment. Just stick it out for the new few weeks, Ariadne.”
But Amelie knew that there might be much worse ahead for Ariadne. It all depended on Pete’s reactions.
So Ariadne stuck it out as patiently as she could. Once the initial shock was over, she had to admit that they were probably right. She didn’t think she could have faced wearing that helmet again, or that collar – and Pete would probably have put them straight back on her. And the others were her friends – the first real ones she’d ever had. She trusted them. They brought her books, came and chatted a bit each day – though they didn’t seem to have much in the way of specific news. Amelie merely said that in a few more weeks, it should be possible for them to leave. In actual fact, things were changing hugely above Ariadne’s head – but, this far underground, no hint of it reached her.
Nor did she know of the future that was being planned for her.

The Asylum Chapter 10

But how could Amelie be any help to them?
“Because I might know a way into the main building. Listen – I won’t be able to talk for long. The music you’ve been playing for Elise – it’s helped me regain a bit more control.” “Night after night, when the legitimate clients were all in their rooms, Wolvercote would force me to go down to the gym. It was the only time I got out of this suit – and into another one instead.” Her voice was bitter. “This interface – he programmed it like that. For his plans for me to be fulfilled, I had to be supremely physically fit.” “Wherever I looked, I could see myself reflected.” Pete could hear the hopelessness in Amelie’s voice as she re-lived her memories.
“I had no choice but to do as he ordered, as he’d programmed me. That program, he changed often – it wasn’t a permanent one. But the mood change program – that runs all the time.”
A bit like Olaf’s visor, Pete thought, and pity for Amelie stirred within him.
“I still – for so much of the time – cannot control myself. Or only at great cost.” Night after night, forced to work out. Alone.
“He wanted to sell you to the military, didn’t he?”
She nodded, then winced and lifted her hands to her face.
But Wolvercote wouldn’t have let anyone see Amelie – so there must be another entry to the gym, from this side of the house.
“How do we get into the gym from here, Amelie?” When she dropped her hands again, her eyes were glowing red, and she looked as dangerous as ever. Pete could see that he’d get no answer from her now. As always, it took time. Time that was passing a bit too quickly now – the end of their food supplies were definitely in sight, though they weren’t down to the bottom of anything yet. Ariadne’s garden, with its fresh produce had made a noticeable difference.
They had to find a stronger restraint for Amelie – Jonas stumbled across the one that had been made for Aloysius – and assemble it. Then they had to wait until Amelie was sufficiently in control of herself to let them fasten her into it. Then they had to wait (but this was only a short wait!) until it was time to use the machine on her.
“Watch my eyes,” she said. “You’ll know when to start.”
Olaf ran the machine – and felt glad that Amelie was so securely held. And ran it again, an hour later.
Pete’s concern for Amelie was touching, Olaf thought. Frankly, he found her frightening. And he’d been kindness itself to Elise – and to the rest of them. So why was he so implacable towards Ariadne, who was a harmless little soul? It didn’t seem to fit with the kind of person he was. He’d talk to Elise about it – she understood people. When Amelie’s eyes had changed colour, Elise came and read to her from the book Amelie had chosen. Why she should want The Memoirs of Harry Smith, Elise didn’t know, but Amelie had been very sure about it in one of her lucid moments.
They repeated this every day for a week. Pete couldn’t believe how strong Amelie was – that much exposure would have finished him off. Sometimes Amelie thought that this had lasted a lifetime. And now Olaf needed to start treating the alloy on her face. Her clear spells were much longer, but her violent ones were getting worse, and harder for her to control at all. Reluctantly, they’d all agreed that she’d have to stay here as much as possible – it was safer for all of them that way. For once, luck was on their side. Amelie’s face responded far more quickly than Jonas’s hands and feet.
“Don’t be fooled,” Amelie said. “I’m not safe until this interface is off. Listen – keep me awake for a couple of days, then run the machine on me, and then I should be exhausted enough to let you work on it, Olaf.” Olaf did it! And Amelie managed all of three steps before collapsing with exhaustion on the floor. They carried her to her bed and then, at Olaf’s suggestion, dismantled her suit from round her while she slept. He wanted to take it off as quickly as possible in case there were any nasty surprises programmed into it. Later, on examining it, he was glad he’d listened to his instincts. Amelie woke about thirty-six hours later – out of her metal suit and clear-headed for the first time in she didn’t know how long. While Amelie had been sleeping, Elise had made her something to wear, from some more remnants from the wardrobes.
“It’s very simple. I can make you something a bit better in a few days.” “This is fine. And to be honest, after wearing that suit for so long, simple is best.”
“Then I’m glad you like it!” “The door’s here – behind this chemistry bench. Help me move it.” Amelie felt along the stones until she found the right two to press, then pushed hard. For a heart-stopping moment or two, she thought the door wasn’t going to budge, might have been locked from the other side.
Then, with a grinding noise, it swung open, and showed them a glimpse of a different world. “Look at this place! Do you think we could use it?”
“Definitely,” Ariadne said. “After all, I own it – and I say you can use it!” They both laughed. “I didn’t know you played the piano,” Jonas said to Olaf.
“I’d forgotten that I did,” Olaf said, the jazz coming back to life under his fingers. “Which is very odd. How could I have lost part of who I was?” Pete, however, had gone straight through to the gym with Amelie.
“I spent so much time here – and not out of choice.” The wistful figure in the mirror was a far cry from the metal-clad person who’d been forced to train here so many hours a night. Pete went through the door at the back of the gym. A well-lit corridor with smartly-painted walls – a far cry from their attic environment – led them to the foot of a spiral staircase. And at the top, a door into the main house.
“Yes!” Amelie said with joy, as it opened for them. “I hoped that door was on the same program as the gym doors: this collar opens those doors. Failing that, we’d have had to try and break it down…”
“That could have been a challenge,” Pete agreed. Pete tried the first door he saw, and to his surprise, it opened. He found himself in a cosy sitting room. This must be the rehab flat, built to help the clients get used to independent living again. Apparently, so Olaf had said, there were copies of it in half a dozen cities. Of course, it had been made ready for Ariadne’s arrival – that’s why it was unlocked. But as Amelie came after him, there was a sudden alarm sound… …And the door swung shut in her face and locked itself. “Amelie! What’s happened?”
“This collar – it must have triggered the locks for that door. Look, Pete, don’t panic. Olaf should be able to sort this. While I go and talk to him, see how much food there is in the flat. I’ll go and tell the others what’s happened.”
Amelie was right – there was nothing he could do at the moment. He explored the flat and found a neat little kitchen – with a freezer full of food! Looking though it, he realised it would last him a good while: he was so used to one meal a day by now. The sitting room was comfortable – there were books, a DVD player, a good selection of things to watch. There was also a small bathroom, and a bedroom with a comfortable bed! This would actually be quite a nice rest…and the others could cope without him now. He hoped Ariadne was feeling suitably unhappy in her mask and gloves – and he’d never once regretted putting that spiked collar on her! And when he’d found out who’d worn it first, he’d been happier yet. Amelie took charge effortlessly.
“We need to get out,” she said. “But we also need to plan for our futures. And we need to stay alive until we get out – what stores have we got, and how long will they last? And we need to be in good mental shape once we get out there again.” She had them making full use of the art and music therapy rooms. And once she’d discovered that Elise was a qualified psychiatrist, she had them making full use of her skills too.
She and Elise mostly talked about Pete when they were together – Olaf had told his worries and Jonas had added his bit too. The conclusions they were coming to weren’t good. Amelie watched Ariadne closely, watched her coping with the metal helmet, the metal gloves. I think she’s paid that particular debt, she thought.
After Pete’s first week in the rehab flat, she went over to Ariadne.
“Ariadne – I think you’ve worn that lot for long enough. We’ll get it off you. I’ll tell Olaf Pete says the test period is over.” Amelie was the only one going through into the other building, in case someone else got trapped there. “Really?” Ariadne was overwhelmed at the thought of getting free.
“Yes! And Elise is going to sort some clothes out for you. We’re going to do this while Pete’s out of the way.” After all, thought Amelie, given what might be coming Ariadne’s way once Pete was out again, she might as well have a nice time now. Ariadne felt like a completely different person.
“You look like one too! Now, about getting out of here – we have a few problems.” “Go on then. What are they?”
“No transport – your car looks dead to me from what I could see of it. Flat tyres, rusty – and I bet the battery’s died too. And we’re very isolated – the Wolvercotes have been buying up the surrounding land for generations. No roads, minimal footpaths, and no visitors except by prior arrangement. Oh, and we still have to get out of the building.” “However, thanks to your garden, the food’s lasted longer than it would have done…”
Ariadne interrupted her. “My garden! The fence is electrified, but it’s not hugely high – I guess Wolvercote was relying on the main gates to keep people in as well. Could Olaf and Jonas somehow throw one of us over it?”
Amelie picked up the idea immediately. “And then one of us could go for some sort of help. But we’re going to have to think about that carefully – Jonas wouldn’t be safe if his family got to hear that he’d survived.” Jonas meanwhile, was thinking about something completely different…
And Elise was quite happy with it! “This is completely crazy,” she said, reaching out to touch his face. “We don’t even know how we’re going to get out of here.”
“Oh, Amelie will work it out,” Jonas said, with blithe confidence.