“It’s a terrible burden, let me tell you.” They laughed, but Dan couldn’t help but worry for Jordan. What would his parents do when they found out where Jordan had really gone for the summer? “You know … If you want—I mean, if your parents get too terrible—you could come stay with me. For a while, or, I don’t know. I’m sure my parents would be cool with it.”
Jordan fixed his glasses and snorted, and Dan was certain he was going to be turned down.
“Can your mom cook?”
“No, but my dad can.”
“Sold.” Jordan stuck out his hand and Dan took it.
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CHAPTER
No 37
“I suppose they’ll send someone for Felix’s stuff,” Dan was saying, shoving the last of his books into a suitcase. Sandy and Paul busied themselves with stacking the packed bags near the door. His side of the room was virtually empty now, but Felix’s things remained untouched, a half-full Gatorade sitting on his desk.
“Poor kid,” his mother said, joining Dan at the bed. He’d already stripped the mattress and balled up the sheets. He didn’t let any of it put a hitch in his packing; even if he wasn’t eager to say good-bye to his new friends, he wanted to be out of Brookline. Every second he stayed felt like a second too many.
“Knock, knock?”
All three of them turned to find Abby at the open door. She rocked shyly on her heels, waiting to come in.
“Oh, hey. I’m glad you stopped by,” Dan said. A night’s rest at the hotel in town had done them all good—Abby looked amazing in an off-the-shoulder tunic and rubbery leggings. Her combat boots were splattered with pink and yellow paint.
“We’ll take these down to the car,” his father offered, giving Dan a look that was anything but subtle.
Even so, Dan welcomed the privacy.
“Nice to meet you both,” Abby said as his parents trooped by.
“You too, sweetie.” His mom gave him a little wave of encouragement from the door, unseen by Abby.
The balled-up bedsheets joined his books. Dan had to lean hard on the suitcase to get it to close. “You all moved out?”
“Not quite. Things are packed but I’m still waiting for Pops.…”
Dan hauled the overstuffed suitcase from the bed to the floor. “He’s coming to pick you up? Does that mean …”
Abby shook her head, her face suddenly sad.
“It turns out—” she said, and then stopped, choked up. “It turns out that she was married to a man in town, and he—and Felix—Felix killed him.”
She burst into tears.
“Oh my God, Abby, how horrible,” Dan said, wrapping his arms around her protectively. He hated that he’d gotten himself to a point where it was easier to lie and act surprised than tell the truth. He was sure she still had her secrets, too.
At last, Abby pulled away and wiped her eyes.
“I just feel like this whole summer was cursed,” she said. “Like I made Aunt Lucy’s life worse instead of better, and dragged you and Jordan into this whole mess.”
“No, no, Abby, listen—this summer? This was not your mess. We all had our own stuff to work through, and I am so glad I met you and Jordan so we could work through it together. I mean, we’re going to stay in touch, right? And what happened to your aunt is truly horrible, but she has you and your father, right? She’s not alone, either.”
“I guess you’re right,” Abby sniffled. “And yeah, we’ll definitely stay in touch.”
“Then see? At least the summer wasn’t a total—” Something at the door made him stop. A silhouette appeared, the shadow falling across the open door a second before Professor Reyes appeared, dressed in her usual black. “Professor? Is something wrong?”
“Hm?” She hovered in the doorway, a huge, clinking set of skeleton keys looped over her wrist. “Oh, no, I only wanted to stop by and let you know that Felix Sheridan has been moved to West Hill General. They have an excellent psychiatric team there, and he’ll get the care he so dearly needs and deserves. It’s … such a shame about all of this, but I thought you might want to know what happened.”
“Thank you,” Dan said, nodding. “I just want him to be okay.”
Professor Reyes nodded, her expression unreadable. “We all do.” Then she seemed to remember something, starting and lifting the hand with the key ring. “And by the way, the old wing is locked up for good and a policeman has been posted until everyone is out of the dorm. No one will be seeing the lower levels until my seminar next year. Which, by the way, the offer is still open for you to join.” With a quick, shallow smile, she was turning to go. “Don’t worry, Dan. I’m sure this will just be a bad memory soon.”
That was hardly comforting. The thing about memories was, you never could control when they came up again.
She closed the door softly as she left, and Dan stared at it for a long moment afterward. He kept picturing the keys in her hand and the door.… The door that seemed to hold in all of Brookline’s secrets …
“Dan? Dan, what is it?”
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the keys were important somehow. Felix had said the door to the old wing had been open the day they moved in—that that was how he got inside in the first place. If Professor Reyes possessed the keys, she would have been the one to leave the door unlocked that day. And she could easily have entered the ward whenever she wanted. Like to follow them. Like to trap them in with a cabinet.
“It’s nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m just being paranoid. It’s this place.… I’m not myself here.” That was an understatement. “Want to follow me to my car?”
“Sure,” Abby said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “I can’t wait to be anywhere else.”
Together, they each took one handle of the suitcase, lifting it and turning for the door. He wondered if he ought to give her one final kiss here, before they parted, or wait until he got down to the car. It seemed like such an important moment, he really didn’t want to spoil it. Turning that thought over, he started out.
Definitely at the car, he decided, that was more romantic. He grinned and opened the door for her, dreading saying good-bye but happy to know they’d see each other again, when all this trauma with Lucy had blown over. They’d call, of course, and email, and she might even want to visit, especially if Jordan came to stay.
“Daydreaming?” she teased, bumping the suitcase against his thigh.
“Nah,” Dan chuckled, beaming at her as they stepped out into the hall. “Okay, maybe a little …”
“Hey, what’s that?”
“Hm?” He followed Abby’s gaze to the floor, where a small piece of paper waited, half-trapped under his shoe. Dan moved his foot aside and squinted, his heart dropping to his toes as he read the chillingly familiar handwriting.
It was in black ink, centered, in confident, almost playful script.
I’ll be seeing you real soon
Daniel Crawford
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A huge thanks first and foremost to my agent, the indomitable Kate McKean, for giving me the opportunity to work on this project. Thanks also to Andrew Harwell and the team at HarperCollins for making this book possible, and for his creativity, generosity, and guidance. To my family for being patient and supportive (Mom, Pops, Nick, Tristan, Julie, Gwen, and Dom). My gratitude, as always, to the professors who inspired me to reach (Fran, Steve, Rod, Chris, Lisa) and to my high school teachers for making my teenage years much happier than Dan’s (Larry, Adrienne, Naomi).
My thanks and apologies to Beloit College for being the physical inspiration for New Hampshire College—thanks for the inspiring layout and apologies for being turned int
o a haunted campus.
And last but certainly not least, to the friends who propped me up and kicked my ass when I had bad days: to Kai (too much to name—company, support, dinner, and Doctor Who, giver of Appa and maker of monitor Plops), Taylor (aka My Least Favorite Son, support, friendship, laughter, patience, cat pictures, and gossip), Jeremy and Christi (lifesavers!), Anna and Nicholas (and their little ones), Maria, and Kimber (those mice belonged to you, m’dear, even if they apparently drowned).
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PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS
The images in this book are custom photo illustrations created by Faceout Studio.
Page
Title
From the Collection Of
8
42
148
203
273
162
266
11
Brookline
James W Rosenthal, Library of Congress Faceout Studio
34
W D N RA F D
Wally Gobetz, nuttakit/Shutterstock.com
38
Little Lucy
Mike Pecosky, Valentine Agapov/Shutterstock.com Chalabala/Shutterstock.com
40
Man struggling
Valentine Agapov/Shutterstock.com, Chalabala/Shutterstock.com, Henry Clarke/Wellcome Library, London
45
Room interior
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS PA, 51-PHILA,354-106, Fer Gregory/Shutterstock.com
63
Physicians
Valentine Agapov/Shutterstock.com, Chalabala/Shutterstock.com, Library of Congress, G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection
79
Ordered room
photogl/Shutterstock.com, Tovkach Oleg/Shutterstock.com, Picsfive/Shutterstock.com, lspace/Shutterstock.com
151
Abby’s illustrations
Faceout Studio
101
Spectacles on a hook
Stephanie Frey/Shutterstock.com, Peter Zijlstra/Shutterstock.com, Igor gratzer/Shutterstock.com
106
117
Warden’s journal
Photomim/Shutterstock.com, D.J.McGee/Shutterstock.com, Mark Carrel/Shutterstock.com, Faceout Studio
121
Kill a hydra?
IgorGolovniov/Shutterstock.com, Annmarie Young/Shutterstock.com, Faceout Studio
135
Tunnel
Tuomas Lehtinen/Shutterstock.com
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Table of Contents
Disclaimer
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter No 1
Chapter No 2
Chapter No 3
Chapter No 4
Chapter No 5
Chapter No 6
Chapter No 7
Chapter No 8
Chapter No 9
Chapter No 10
Chapter No 11
Chapter No 12
Chapter No 13
Chapter No 14
Chapter No 15
Chapter No 16
Chapter No 17
Chapter No 18
Chapter No 19
Chapter No 20
Chapter No 21
Chapter No 22
Chapter No 23
Chapter No 24
Chapter No 25
Chapter No 26
Chapter No 27
Chapter No 28
Chapter No 29
Chapter No 30
Chapter No 31
Chapter No 32
Chapter No 33
Chapter No 34
Chapter No 35
Chapter No 36
Chapter No 37
Acknowledgments
Photo Illustrations
About The Publisher
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter No 1
Chapter No 2
Chapter No 3
Chapter No 4
Chapter No 5
Chapter No 6
Chapter No 7
Chapter No 8
Chapter No 9
Chapter No 10
Chapter No 11
Chapter No 12
Chapter No 13
Chapter No 14
Chapter No 15
Chapter No 16
Chapter No 17
Chapter No 18
Chapter No 19
Chapter No 20
Chapter No 21
Chapter No 22
Chapter No 23
Chapter No 24
Chapter No 25
Chapter No 26
Chapter No 27
Chapter No 28
Chapter No 29
Chapter No 30
Chapter No 31
Chapter No 32
Chapter No 33
Chapter No 34
Chapter No 35
Chapter No 36
Chapter No 37
Acknowledgments
Photo Illustrations
About The Publisher
Asylum Page 20
