Asylum World (Add-on to TP) [GC: Shattered with the Unraveling]

[Yellow 13]

DAY 1. Return to Reality?
Shelly was forcibly held down even as she struggled wildly and screamed loudly at the things holding her. Spitting obscenities and struggling against something that held her fast, she bit at the nearest man  that was holding her. Blood spilled into her mouth before something sharp was stabbed into her neck. Feeling a massive rush, she moaned as she fought off the drug's effects or rather tried to. Things were being shouted into her ear and as the haze of drugs began to seep over her brain, she heard them.
"reaction. It's been months since we had that sort of reaction. She's been catatonic for--"
"Can't she hear us?"
"Probably... This is the most lucid she's been all month."
"Lucid!? You call this lucid!?"
Shelly lifted her head slowly. She remembered that last voice. She opened her eyes, requiring a tremendous mental effort and her vision was bleary and unfocused. "Uhhh...?" She moaned, spit going down her face.
"Sweetie!" the voice called again and despite some protests, a pair of arms hugged her. They opened the eye again to see the glazed over iris and pupil staring back. The hand went to her throat to make sure she was still alive.
"I'm so sorry, we should have come as soon as we heard."
Shelly made a rasping, gurgling noise and the arms cleaned up her mouth. "No. Don't try to talk. Shelly... It's me. It's mummy." This perked Shelly's attention, though there was little to show it. Finally, the arms took her close in a hug, before letting her go. "How long until she calms down?"
"Hard to say... We might have to resort to some measures. Just to make sure she doesn't slip back into her fantasy world."
"Oh yeah... That fantasy. With... what was it again?"
"Underground labs, evil overlords ruling the world, people-your daughter included- turning into animals to fight them."
"How... Where did something like that even come from? How'd it just pop up?"
"Mrs. Mauroy, does your family have a history of mental disorders?"
"WHAT!? What kind of question is that?"
"Please. It's important."
"Well... not on my side."
"Uncle Phil..." Another voice said and Shelly perked up again, but couldn't find the energy to do it. She considered going to sleep.
"Oh no! She's going back into her world! Quick, the-- yeah!" A sudden pinch on her skin, lots of pinches.
"What are they doing to her!?" the new voice said.
"Relax Mr. Mauroy! We just have to make sure she won't slip back into her catatonic state."
Shelly coughed some, drooling over herself as she tried squirming. "Uhhh..."
"No, don't talk honey..."
"Can she hear us?"
"Should be, yeah."
"What will it take to get her back to us?"
"We don't know. The best we can do is just wait and see. She has to do some of the work. She'd have to recognize the difference between the delusion and the real world."
"That's obvious isn't it? This is reality."
"Not to her. She thinks her fantasy is reality."
"That's not helping..."
"We'll see what happens when the drugs wear off. she should be more relaxed then."
"How long is that gonna be?"
"Probably a while... We'll try to keep her in this world for as long as we can."
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True to their word, Shelly remained conscious until the drugs wore off. "Ohhh..." She murmured as the last of the poking stopped. "Owww..." She coughed.
"Hey, easy..." a man said. "Seashells, you okay?"
She looked up at the man... Kit. Kit was here too? "Where...?"
"St. Margret's Hospital for... Never mind."
"Truth... please..." Shelly said weakly.
"It's a nuthouse..."
Shelly looked around, seeing doctors and slumped against the chair. Her straightjacket was so confining... A man pulled Kit away gently. "Ms. Mauroy... Shelly... You have to recognize this. This is the real world. Where you go... The house. The labs, Grant. All that is a delusion. Once you recognize that, you'll be one step closer to home. Can you do that?"
Shelly's drug filled mind somehow recognized the truth of his words. "Real... world... This is... the real world...?"
"Yes. Yes, this is real." He smiled. "You're going to be going back to your fantasy, but you have to realize that that world is false. Can you do that?"
Shelly nodded slowly, understanding. This was real... She felt so very tired...
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DAY 2
"She's coming back.
"Already? this is-"
"Who cares why, just get ready. She's got one hell of a left-"
"Hang on... Wait, she's not panicking. She's lucid again."
Shelly groaned as she slowly came too once again. As her eyes focused, she was welcomed back with the sight of a grey padded room. Dark splotches dotted corners of it along with some red in places. A simple bed with manacles on it and very fragile looking sheets with nothing on the ceiling. A lonely window in the far back of the room fortified with very heavy bars. Through the haze of just waking up, she remembered last night. She had been told where she was... and why.
"Whaa--" She croaked out, her throat burning.
"Shelly," One of the orderlies said. "Welcome back. Don't try talking. Take this." He passed a warm, plastic cup to her which she began to slowly drink down. Medicinal tastes and sweet. It soothed her throat some as it went down and with that, she tried to stand up, the orderlies helping her slowly.
"Whoa, easy. Slowly." One whispered. As feeling returned to her body, she noticed things. Her whole body felt weak, stringy... Like she had before in the dream... her senses were muted too. She couldn't hear things as sharply, see as sharply and smell, though that could be because she had just woken up. Then there was a dampness on her body. There was some cleaning and drying, but there was still something off. Before she could ask what happened, Shelly was escorted out of her little cell, her legs struggling to keep up. The hallway didn't look more cheerful either. Grey walls, dotted with fading posters of how to recognize a heart attack and other medical problems. Orderlies and patients milled around, heading to appointments, being kept in a singular common room, or to the other facilities. They looked well cared for. No one looked starved or mistreated... though the act of keeping them alive seemed to have taken tolls in other places. Hygiene for the patients was apparently a low priority. Just enough to keep them clean enough so that they could interact without offending anyone's nose, but that was it.
Being sat down next to an orderly, the others went off to do something else while the one remaining searched through a plastic trolly, producing some strange pills. "Here," She said, not expecting a response. When Shelly muttered a 'thank you,' the orderly blinked. "You just said that? Wow... That's pretty big from ya."
"Huh...?"
A smile. "Questions too. Don't worry, we're going to tell you what's happened soon." She stayed with Shelly to make sure the Australian wouldn't do anything as Shelly looked herself over. The glass in the common room, barred as were all other windows, was reflecting the image of what looked like a lunatic. Matted hair caked with who knows what of varying lengths being bald in patches, cold grey eyes instead of her usual brown... her skin looked unhealthy pale. Nails looked like they had been cut and sharpened into makeshift claws, making Shelly wince when she put pressure on the raw nerves of the underside nail. Scratch and claw marks dotted her body under her gown and she could see it on the arms. Still-healing scabs and several ones that looked like they had been stitched up. Shelly shuddered, only imagining the pain she went through.
finally a doctor relieved the orderly and cleared his throat. "How are you feeling, Shelly?"
"Bad..." Shelly replied simply. "Throat's still sore, and I feel weird."
"That'll happen, yes... Do you know what's happened to you?"
"I..." Shelly closed her eyes for a long time. She could still see the house... She pictured Kit's face before being poked with something that snapped her back to reality. "Ow!"
"Sorry. You might have slipped into your delusion again. It's going to be a long road to recovery, but the chances are with two lucid periods so close to each other, that's a good sign."
"You mean I won't be here for much longer?"
"Not at all. In fact, if things keep going at this rate, you'll be able to walk out of here a free woman and a sane one." He smiled reassuringly. "Forgive me, where are my manners? I'm Doctor Albert Douglass. I've been the one the ones helping you." He paused. "Do you remember what happened? Why you're here?"
Shelly thought long and hard then shook her head as the sun began to beat down on her from parting clouds. "I... I don't remember anything."
"I see... Well that is to be expected... Shelly, I'm going to tell you everything here. About what's happened. And why you're here. Can you promise me you'll listen?"
Shelly nodded slowly, not sure she liked where the doctor was going with this.
"As you know, what you think you've been living for the past... almost the past year now, is a delusion. You conjured that fantasy, a highly detailed and realistic fantasy to you, but a fiction nonetheless. You weaved a whole back story, a highly elaborate, detailed intricate web of mystery, intreage, and danger built around key aspects of your own personality." He paused.
"Your love of anthros for insistence. Yes, we know about it, it was uncovered when we asked your parent to look for anything resembling your fantasy and... that was found. But we know you love anthros. So much so that it became the central theme for the fantasy. Magic spells and being super humans were donated from your interest in comic books and video games, the conspiracy aspect was gleaned from following your friends on how some of them followed conspiracy theories as well as video games and movies."
Shelly nodded slowly. Now that the situation had been put like that, Shelly was fitting pieces together. Someone would have noticed. Someone would have told. With nothing to lose anymore, someone would have spread word. In the day and age of YouTube where viral videos could be posted and reposted billions of times a second, the 'Players' would have been found out and humanity would have turned on them. Information and artifacts would have been dug up and processed. There was just no way to hide something like that.
The doctor smiled. "Making sense now, huh? Humans also can't turn into animal beings. It's completely impossible and goes aginst every law of nature. And Raine... The one with superpowers. We know you're very subservient to authority figures Shelly. Is it that far to assume you'd create someone who, as an authority figure, would need something to stop you from attacking? In your world, you had power over her until this. You could have, in the dream, lashed out. Your mind made the excuse of giving her powers to put her above your reach. The same with Grant. You made him an Immortal. Even more beyond reproach. And the other players there to give you a challenge."
"What about my friends there? And the other roommates?" Shelly piped in, and the doctor chuckled.
"I was hoping you'd ask that. You dropped the four roommates because you didn't know them too well. And you also dropped them from your delusion for just that reason. Though Shaen and Alessa... There's a reason for them."
"Alessa's not gone..."
"In your world no... In this one," he sighed. "I'm very sorry but Alessa passed away."
Horrified, Shelly looked to Doctor Douglass. He closed his eyes. "It happened during the winter. You, Christian, Vasily, Alessa, Shean, and Micheal were driving to a party. No one's sure what exactly happened, but the vehicle lost control. Shaen wasn't buckled in and as the driver..." he stopped. "He was pronounced dead on arrival. Alessa was a bit more lucky. She survived the trip to the hospital but due to massive internal hemorrhaging, she perished..." He later went on to recount how Vasily was the hero in this situation. He had been the first one to recover and stumbled down the road to get help, losing his right hand to frostbite for his efforts. Michael took some severe injuries and was comatose up until last week and was in good health at last sighting. Christian was fine besides from some broken bones and a lot of cuts and bruises while Shelly had been less fortunate. She was in critical condition when she was brought in with severe blood loss and a fair few broken ribs which had threatened to puncture her lungs. Shuddering violently at the description, Shelly plugged her ears to stop the noise. Doctor Douglass sighed. "In that situation, it's only natural to assume you were stressed. But then with finals coming up and the possibility of filing for bankruptcy pushed you over the edge. You made a safe haven for yourself until you could cope with the problems... But then the more fanciful aspects filtered in and we lost you. BUT with you being back home, your mind seems to have settled some and with my help, we can help you pull through this." He smiled reassuringly. "We can do this, Shelly."
Shelly returned the smile. "Yeah... Can... Can we talk to my parents? Are they here?"
"Yep. Let's go," He said, taking her hand carefully to help Shelly to her feet. Moving slowly, she was escorted to an office where Shelly's mother and father were waiting and hugged her once they saw the purposeful movement in her steps. Shelly grunted from shock but returned the hug. Parents, being parents, smothered Shelly in love and reassuring kisses before looking to the doctor. "Is she improving?"
"Considerably. I think she should even be safe to release within a month and released officially in two."
"Why so long?"
"We have to make sure she's not a danger to herself or others. But I think we're making good progress. She's recognizing the dream and reality now. With the hardest hurdle over, she's well on her way."
Her mother hugged Shelly and kissed her. "Honey..." She said, nearly crying. "We're going to go away for a little while. Back home. We came to visit and hope you were okay. But I want you to be strong, okay?"
Shelly nodded and after some more talking with her parents, they left and Shelly was escorted out to the common room to help her on with the rest of her day. By the end of it, she was getting tired and after being taken back to her bed, she curled up and got some sleep.
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Day 7
Shelly looked outside as raindrops fell on the windows. A rainy September afternoon. It looked cold out and no one was outside. It had been this way for the past five days. Shaking her head, she went to one of the puzzles that was set out. Simple ones, of course. Dull edges and very soft pieces to prevent a choking hazard. She was so involved with setting up the puzzle that she almost didn't hear the chairs being rearranged by several of the orderlies.
"Ms. Shelly?" one of them asked, approaching. He had dark, unruly hair and was on the thin side... Shelly had the distinct feeling she knew him from somewhere before... "Ready for the team session?"
"Huh?" Shelly blinked. "Oh, right, yeah. Sure." She smiled. Taking a break from her puzzle, she got up and took a seat next to a man who claimed he was a marine, and another that said that the aliens would be coming for him, and while he had no proof, that the sharks were getting an alliance with the dolphins to assault the land. Shelly smiled at his comments and swallowed her daily allotment of pills. Anti psychotics mostly, along with some others that she couldn't identify. Not that she knew how to identify pills anyways. As the session started with various people stating their problems and how they were coping with them, as well as they eventually reached Shelly's turn.
She stated where her little 'adventure' was and the recent revelations that had happened. The others listened with rapt attention. There were several times since her sessions that people had stated that her 'adventures' would make for a really good story of some sort, but each time, Shelly only made a non-committal noise and refused to discus the matter more. Moving on with her story, she stated everything that she knew and remembered. This time, the reactions weren't all that great, and some of the reactions were more of a flat 'huh?' then anything else. Her compete lack of knowledge about being in a bar made people laugh but other then that, nothing major had happened.
When she was done, she like the others had gotten a little round of applause for her bravery. Shrugging, Shelly sat and waited for the others to finish their stories or tell their problems. The session finished a few hours later and with that done, Shelly got up and went to the window again. The rain reminded her that she hadn't had a shower all day and she did need to take her hygiene a little more seriously. She did want to look the part of a sane young woman again. She would get better. She knew that. In the week when she had been regaining lucidity, she knew that no one expected her to come out of it. She had proven them wrong already and she would prove them even more wrong by pushing past this.
Turning away, Shelly found the orderly again who arranged for the shower. A female orderly would be the one to bring her there. A safety precaution a patients could do all kinds of things when unsupervised. It was more to make sure they didn't hurt themselves. The shower was spartan, unscented soap and shampoo but at least it had them which was better then her padded cell which had none of that. Stepping in, she closed the shower stall door, a simple thick plastic door. Again, probably for safety. Too thick to be broken off and used as a weapon, but easy enough to open and afforded privacy to the occupant. The orderly thankfully also turned around while Shelly showered.
As she did, she resisted the urge to rub down her body too thoroughly with the soap. She'd feel the scars all over her body and to an outside observer that knew nothing of her condition, it would look like she had been savaged by some sort of wild animal... Which sadly wasn't far from the truth. During her 'transformative episodes' particularly the first one, she had done a number on herself. She had fashioned her fingernails into claws with her teeth then... She shivered. She hadn't seen the security tapes, but the evidence was on her body when she first saw herself in a mirror. Long jagged cuts all over her body exactly the same spacing apart as her fingernails... Her fingernails shaped like claws. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.
As those thoughts were pushed from her head, Shelly felt a pressure between her eyes which temporarily blocked out her vision and when she reopened her eyes and cleared them, she felt the blood flow from her cheeks. "Oh shit..." She muttered. The tile floor of asylum bathroom floor was replaced by the frosted plastic of the showers back home... Her senses exploded as she took in the scents. chlorine, scented soaps and products, the feint but ever lingering scent of feces from the toilets and others so subtle she couldn't identify. "No..." She whimpered and held her head. "No... This isn't real. This isn't going to get me. This is a dream. I'm going to wake up..." she chanted, imagining herself passed out on the floor of the floor as she babbled incoherently again in another daylight episode. Her brow furrowed in concentration, she balled her fists and focused. Eventually, she felt the familiar pressure behind her eyes. Latching on that, she concentrated as hard as she could. Her muscles started to burn in complaint and a layer of sweat formed as the water was pouring over her. Her jaw hurt from clenching it, but eventually the pressure ebbed and she gasped waking up on the floor being looked at by the same female orderly. taking deep breaths, she smiled. "It's... It's all right." She said, getting to her feet. "I'm fine. I... I think I'm fine. I'm back." Shelly chuckled. She beat it! She had fought against the dream so hard that it had cracked and let her slip back through. It had hurt, and she thought she wouldn't make it, but she had pushed it back.
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Day 40
Shelly was calmly going through her daily routine. Well, her new one that is. Wake up, shower, get dressed, eat, have her meds, then go to the common room and find something to do to entertain herself. She had taken up doing Sudoku as that got her brain working on some constructive problems. When one of the orderlies came for her, she got up and headed to the 'her' psychiatrist. He was just the one that she was most used to seeing. Taking her usual seat in one of the comfy chairs, she began to share some of the various problems that were plaguing her broken down brain.
So far, they had spent the pat two months deconstructing this world. Or rather, Shelly did most of the deconstructing. Usually, they spent a session on each of the points. Such as having all therians in the same household even though they had nothing in common physically really. Coming from all different points in the world, and all being of relatively high quality as well. All happening to show up in the same household and all just HAPPENING to be therians. Each a unique therian to boot. A hybrid, and the rest were rare. Not to mention Shelly with her species of a Thylacine which was extinct. Everyone else also had new and special therian abilities whereas Shelly didn't. It had agonized her brain for months, but nothing came out of it. Shelly had reasoned as well (with help) that she couldn't since she subconsciously was sabotaging her own efforts. After all, why hadn't she just made something up or base her ability off of the nearest living relative? Shelly had no answer to that.
Then there was some of the other things. Grant's little scheme. Why had he told anyone about it? Or better yet, just lie and say he wasn't. Yet he had, and needed to have his minions bailed out from another place. It was then they were told about the Players. Immortal, amoral people who had ruled the world since before the dawn of time. Call to adventure with the kidnapping which shouldn't have happened, a bad guy to fight that seemed to have complete global dominance, the ability to transform into animals and all sorts of other powers and creatures... How had this not been discovered so far as well? People would have blabbed. People with nothing to lose, Players wanting to screw things up for other players and ruin plans and especially now with digital media and viral videos. Someone would have slipped and been caught. The genome mapping project as well should have been a tip off too. The whole conspiracy would have been blown wide open as soon as the world started its rapid climb in science, or should have been. Yet nothing had happened in the entire millennium. Something this big would be impossible to hide.
Lately, they were on the subject of what she would do now that she knew all of this. There were a few ideas Shelly had to do, but she quickly shot them down before he could reply.
"I mean, I'm not a violent person. What if just killing all the projections then myself makes it worse?" Shelly asked. "Sends my brain to some new world while it copes from all this? Can that even happen?"
"Well..." He began. "It is possible. This delusion of yours was made since you couldn't cope with what happened. Maybe the reason your world changed was because it was your brain's way of saying that it's time for you to face facts and see what happened. You're making a lot of progress though Shelly. Next time you go back in, I'm sure that you'll be able to see the flaws."
Shelly looked up from her bandaged hands as they were still healing from the her self injuries before she was committed. Her fingernails were still claw like though now were covered by bandages soaked with a diluted local anesthetic. "So... What I should do is just go through it like it's one of my games?"
"Well I'd still take it seriously. Don't do anything to put you at a risk, but instead just go through it like you're not really interested or care about what's going on. If you die, your world might well alter into another version of itself, though what you go through an even longer time before you become this lucid again."
Shelly nodded. "So stay safe, but make sure that I can keep reality and that fiction separate?"
"That's it exactly." He smiled, then looked at the time. "sad to say, but our time's up." He said and got up. Shelly followed suit and left his office as another patient was waiting to meet him. "Pleasant dreaming, Shelly." he said and she nodded. "Thanks." With that, she left to go on with the rest of her day.
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Day 380
The day started off normally enough, although it took a a quick turn for the abnormal. Shortly after Shelly had gotten dressed for the day, she had an intern approach her and tell her to get ready for the meeting. She nearly kicked herself for forgetting. Of course! the Sanity commission! The people that would talk to her as well as look at her background as of late to see if she could be released! Resisting the urge to bold up, she walked at a brisk pace to her room. She was told off for running in the halls even more so then when she was back at school and she had no choice but to relent. She found some of the cleaner clothes she had and went to the showers to clean up. With a lot of pain and shampoo, she was finally ready to face the people that would change her fate for the better she hoped.
The rest of the day went relatively without incident. The sanity commission decided that she wasn't a threat to herself or others and had authorized her release on the conditions that she take multiple anti-psychotics daily, see a psychologist weekly and make sure to report back to the doctors if needed. Shelly of course agreed to all of those terms and with that she was taken to what looked suspiciously like a prison guard's station and had to sign for all the belongings she had when she was brought in. signing for them after a quick once over to make sure they were hers, she headed to a change room and came out. Smiling happily, she looked around confused and headed out of the main gates. There was a taxi cab ready to recieve her, but none of her friends.
shrugging, Shelly went into the cab and gave the driver the address. The drive was uneventful and Shelly looked at the prescriptions she had been given along the way. It was dark by the time she arrived and Shelly went to the door of the house, thanking the driver who had been paid in advance it seemed. Shelly took a calming breath and took a step forward approaching the door. It had been just over a year, hadn't it...? A year since she met Kit. She smiled and opened the door... Or would have if the door had opened. Instead, it was locked up tight and Shelly frowned, trying it again in case it was just stuck. No such luck. She frowned and thought of waiting it out, but instead decided to try a different way in. Slipping in through a basement window, she carefully lowered herself in and went upstairs. The good news was that the house still was inhabited. Dirty dishes, fresh food, power was still set up. Unlocking the door, Shelly went to her and Kit's room. The beds were pushed apart and dust coated her side of the room, her stuff in the closet. Frowning, Shelly dragged it out, set herself up once again then went downstairs.
Shelly smiled as she thought of something and ordered some pizza for everyone and put in a movie to pass the time. She was almost at the part where the T-Rex appeared in Jurassic park when the door opened, and murmurs of confusion could be heard. Shelly perked up and headed to the door.
"--for 23 Grove St."
"I didn't order anything," A familiar voice said. "Did you?"
"Not me."
"Nope."
"Don't look at me," A fourth, unfamiliar female said.
"Well someone did. This is the place, right?"
"Well it is but we were all--"
"Hello!" Shelly called and entered the halls, beaming happily. The others looked shocked to see her there and she explained, paying for the pizza. "I got released! Got home about an hour half ago. Good as cured!" She said and hugged Kit who suddenly looked very uncomfortable. Shelly didn't notice and ushered everyone into the living room to watch the movie. The strange woman just blinked at Shelly's display and she looked at the two of them. "Well... If it's all the same to you, I'll be going now." She said and looked to Kit. "See ya later though."
"Miranda I didn't--" he sighed, waving to Shelly that he'd be right there. "I had no idea she'd be back."
"Nah, it's all right. We can reschedule." So that was her name.
"Yeah... See ya." Kit said sadly and watched as the African-Canadian walked off into the night. Shelly meanwhile was divvying out the pizza to the other guys, keeping hers and setting the movie back to play.
"So I just got back and figured why not make it a celebration?" Shelly said. "Little bit of a party. Movies, food, what could be better?" She said and curled up into a nest made out of blankets. "So enough about me, what's been happening with you guys?"
And so the others told Shelly what had happened, Shelly absorbing it all and Kit nibbled on his pizza, seeming uncomfortable. "Hey..." She said at last. "What's wrong, hun? You barley touched your pizza... I thought I remembered your favorite but--"
"Dammit Shelly, shut up and let me think." Kit snapped suddenly, staring at her. Shelly recoiled as though she'd been struck and kit seeing that sighed. "I'm sorry Shelly... It's just... Never mind. I'm glad to see that you're better though."
"Well not completely, but thanks." Shelly said and settled for watching the movie while sneaking glances at Kit. She was wondering what was wrong with him and why he was so cranky, but eventually decided that she'd find out later. It wasn't important right now. Instead, she just enjoyed the time with her friends.