The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary

By: Aprill Jones

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire, and so was Saint John’s Mental Health Sanctuary behind me. The heat was burning and melting the plastic knife I had in my hand, I was completely numb until I felt its wax-like frame melting into my hands. I tried hopping over the charring leaves, trying to save my bare feet from the same fate I could not save my hands from just seconds ago, but that was not working. The ground beneath me was already so hot, I decided to just make a break for it, running through the vast, open courtyard of the prison that held me in here for the last 16 months.

This was my time to escape. I just need to make it over the fence and hide. If I could get out of here before the cops, firefighters and EMT’s arrived I would be okay. I needed to escape. Now.

The night seemed like any other. We had our rec time, then bible study, we took our pills and went to our rooms for the night. We all went to bed on time, it was just a normal night.

 No one would ever believe my story. I am positive I am the only survivor, but no one would believe that it was Charles. Charles was the one who broke into the church after hours. He was the one who beat Sister Judith within an inch of her life. He started the fire in the sanctuary first, then the nuns sleeping quarters. He beat the guards with their own batons then set fire to the patients’ wing. If I had taken my pills tonight, I would have slept through the commotion too. But when I heard Dan, our night security officer, scream I pressed my face to the small glass window and watched Charles stab him, then Charles looked right at me. Smiling, he walked to my door. Blood on his hands and face, his angelic white nightgown was stained so heavily with a dark crimson liquid, I thought we got new nightgowns and I’d slept through it. He stared at me, still smiling from ear to ear. His empty, emotionless eyes bore into my soul, making every second that passed feel like I was one step closer to death. Then, he opened my door.

I made it to the tall, black iron gate but I could just faintly see lights coming from an ambulance through the trees. They would be here any minute. I chose to run to the other side of the driveway, behind the flowers and bushes, hoping they, and the moonless night would help cover me. I tried climbing the gate, over and over again, but my hands were too sweaty, the harder I gripped the faster I would slip. I was terrified but that could not stop me. For over a year now the only thing I could think about was getting out, getting released, this was my chance.

The emergency personnel had just made it through the gate, firefighters were already hopping out. Cops and detectives of every sort were pulling up. “Jeffries, survey the courtyard for any survivors, Jones and Varga, you need to get a full list of the patients who were here, who were recently released and who were set to be admitted. Make note of the ones with dangerous records. We need to start identifying the deceased as soon as the fire is stopped.”

They were going to find me if I did not figure out where to go or how to get out of here. I started crawling on the ground as fast as I could, staying low and moving swiftly, trying to find a part of the ground that an animal had crawled in through. The rain started a few minutes ago, assisting the firemen and making digging for a way out a little easier. The wind was howling in my ears and I kept looking behind me, worried that I could not hear if someone was getting too close. The thought of Charles flashed back into my head.

“Charles, what are you doing? You can stop this; you can get out of here just fine. It was an accident; you didn’t mean any harm!” I was so worried the panic in my voice was not helping him. He just kept looking at me, like he could not understand the words coming out of my mouth. “Charles, we are friends, we have looked out for each other since we got put in here. You are my brother, man, we can get you out of this!”

For the quickest second I could tell that Charles had just realized what happened. I saw hope and fear in his green eyes, the same eyes that looked black just moments before. “Brother—” he said as he lifted the shiv he had been working on to his throat. I witnessed Charles stab himself and rip it out, he tried to do it again, but he fell over almost immediately. I wanted to help him, I wanted to take him with me, I wanted to protect him, but the entire building was already going up in flames. I ran to the nearest window and threw a chair to it and finally was freed.

For a brief moment I forgot that I was digging. I only came to when I heard an officer behind me shout for everyone to get on the ground, seconds before our church tower fell to the cement floor. I ducked too, trying to hide my body, scared that my white gown might get spotted. I started wiping the mud from my hands all over myself, I grabbed handfuls of mud and lathered my whole body in it, my short, black hair was probably safe but I could not stop myself from still making sure it matched the rest of me. I started digging once more, and I felt a sharp prick to two of my fingers at once. I brought them both close to my face, just to barely see the small specs of blood releasing from them.

I used my palm to feel out the small hole I had made, trying to find anything that could potentially cut me again. So far, I could not feel anything, but my heart was racing, I fell to the ground to try and catch my breath before making my grand escape.

Behind me a couple hundred feet I could hear one of the detectives’ shout for her captain. “I just got the list of all current and recently released patients, these are the ones in here for dangerous charges.” The captain grabbed the two folders from the detective and sat in his cruiser to look over them without the rain ruining the pages. I knew I had to get out of here now before he saw my name on that list. I tried so quickly to make the entrance to the hole just slightly wider, but I was moving too chaotically.

I heard a deep, almost demonic growling directly behind my head. I could not look back, getting bit was better than getting caught and put into another hospital. I made my break for it; I shoved my upper body into the hole so quickly I accidentally hit my head on part of the iron gate but I kept going. But the canine was pulling me back with a force I could not fathom a dog having. Over the mud I could not do anything besides slide backwards. The lower part of the iron gate got caught between my shoulder blades, but the dog kept pulling me back. I could feel a sharp tearing through my flesh and muscle, until I finally got back behind the gate. I was too scared to look behind me, and in too much pain to care just yet.

I closed my eyes for a split second, and during that second, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and two hands grabbing my wrist and cuffing me.

“Charles Kelly!” shouted the captain. I looked him in the eyes before the rest of the world and this night finally caught up with me.