22. - Secret door

AUTHORS POV

Reminder: This book contains mature content!

After Yibo watched over Zhan all night, Cheng had just replaced him so he could eat something. He actually wasn't very hungry and didn't want to leave Zhan's side at all. But he knows that he can only help Zhan if he is well by himself.

He sat down at an empty table in the dining room, ate some fruit salad and a bowl of rice while watching the others and their goings-on. From the moment Brian and Sarah joined them, he had decided not to trust them. It seemed strange to him that the two of them, supposedly just tourists from London, are able to speak Chinese so perfectly. But, he didn't bother to point this out to anyone.

Because Yibo has decided not to trust anyone except Zhan, his brother, Cheng and Yanli. He even excluded André from the circle of people he trusts. Because, when the two newcomers talked about the woman's corpse in the cave, André just looked unimpressed and even careless, as Yibo found.

And that, where the woman's corpse was probably his pregnant fiancée.

Yibo was just forcing himself to eat another spoonful of rice when he saw a face that had become so dear to him. Immediately, he jumped up and ran to him. "ZhanZhan, you finally woke up." He said in a soft voice while holding Zhan in his arms.

Cheng told him that Zhan just woke up and wanted to go to Yibo immediately. Yibo took Zhan by the hand and led him to his table while Cheng got fruit salad and rice for Zhan.

Yibo immediately explained to Zhan who the two new ones were and why they were with them. And Zhan had an expression on his face that reflected what Yibo thought about the two of them.

Silently, the two ate their breakfast and then, without having spoken to the others, went to one of the unused rooms. And before Yibo could say anything, Zhan said, "Those two aren't real. We should stay away from them and definitely not trust them."

"I thought the same thing ZhanZhan." Replied Yibo.

"Let's find a way out of here Yibo. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Yes I know. But, do you feel capable of doing that yet?"

"Yes, I do. We should go to the basement first. Because I'm beginning to think that even in Station 3, we can't find an exit. Maybe the corridor is used a lot, but it doesn't lead out."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know. I feel it. And I feel something else."

"And what?"

"That there are many more of these creatures in the cave and they are all on their way here. We made a mistake when we brought Rin's body into the cave. The smell of the blood and the stench of the corpse attracted them."

"So that's why the ones from the institute wanted us to get Rin's body out of the cave?"

"Probably. I think they're watching the cave somehow. Maybe with sensors or something else. I think they know very well what lives in the caves."

"What do you think they are?"

"Humans. Or something like that."

"Maybe some experiments that escaped or were set free?"

"I don't think so. I think they've been there for a very long time. For many generations now. But I honestly don't want to find out what they really are in the end."

The two young men brought Hai Kuan, Cheng and Yanli to join them and talked to them about the two new ones and how Zhan suspects that to get out of here they need to go down, not up.

"Why downstairs? We want to get out of here Zhan. And not down any further." Said Cheng.

Yanli looked thoughtful and said, "I think Zhan is right. This is a secret facility. And the exits will definitely not be that easy to find. We should at least consider that Zhan is right, right?"

"Then we should just go downstairs and check now. We can tell the others that we want to start making a plan of the facility now. After all, they know that's what we wanted to do. So, what do you think?" Asked Hai Kuan.

"Yes, but we should take flashlights, water, and maybe some cans of food with us just in case." Said Yibo.

"You don't want just to leave the others behind, do you?" Asked Hai Kuan in shock. After all, Meng Yao and Leni are his best friends and he would never abandon them.

"I'm just saying, we should take this with us as a precaution. Even if we don't need it. If we find an exit there or any passage that will get us out of here, then we can hide our stuff there, get the others and get out of here." Yibo replied. Hai Kuan seemed neither enthusiastic nor convinced, but finally agreed when the others also approved of Yibo's idea.

They did exactly what they discussed. They went to the others and declared that they wanted to look around now and start drawing a ground plan. Only they lied about where they were going to start. Instead of saying they were going to the basement, they told them they wanted to start at the top with station 1.

They also said they were taking flashlights, some water, and a few cans of food in case of an emergency if there was another power outage. The others just nodded disinterestedly and listened to the stories of Sarah and Brian, who just told that they were already once on a safari only two meters away from a lion and it even rested on the hood of their car.

The five left the station and walked down the steps to the basement. Cheng opened the door and turned on the light. The huge room seemed much larger in this bright light than it already was.

They walked down the hallway, past the cages and the skeleton that had been waiting there for so many years to be buried. They took a closer look at the containers and Cheng once again used his power to open one of them.

The doors opened with a squeak, revealing several large wooden crates. Cheng kicked one of these crates and almost had to laugh when several water bottles fell out of one of them. He kicked another crate and out of it fell a few cans of beans, vegetables, soup and fruit. "I guess we don't have to worry about food and drink." He said, picking up a can of fruit and tossing it to Hai Kuan, who showed it to the others.

"I bet in the other boxes and containers we'll find all the stuff they delivered. Except for the fresh food, of course." Said Cheng as he came out of the container.

The five checked two more of these large containers and were confirmed in their suspicions. And they found something else they didn't expect. Two containers that were used as cold storage. Inside, meat, vegetables and fruit.

Not wanting to linger too long with the containers, they closed them all again and continued down the corridor. Zhan, still having Han's lighter in his possession, lit it and held it up. The flame pointed toward the wall.

At first glance, the five saw nothing but a white-painted rock wall. But then Zhan took out the lighter again and ran it along the wall until the draft was so strong and the flame went out.

Hai Kuan tapped the wall and paused, at one point, when it began to sound hollow. After that, they all searched together for a hidden switch or mechanism that would open the door that apparently exists here.

And in the end, it was Yanli who tripped over her own feet and just barely managed to hold on to the wall to avoid falling. In doing so, she stepped on an unevenness in the floor, which caused a loud CLACK on the wall. Immediately, something moved on the wall and a beam of light appeared. A secret door opened, revealing a brightly lit hallway beyond.

They went to the door at the end of the corridor and the first thing Yibo noticed was a scent coming through the door that was all too familiar to him. The scent of pine trees, earth and moss. "The forest, beyond that is the forest." Said Yibo excitedly, hugging Zhan with joy.

Hai Kuan immediately tried to open the door, but it was locked and did not budge an inch. Cheng also tried his luck, but was also unsuccessful.

Zhan, looking around more closely in the corridor, discovered another passage. They, who created this, built it to create an illusion. It looks as if this is a corridor with only two doors. But instead, there is another corridor hidden there, which as they saw, led to a staircase.

On the wall of the stairs it says, "Crane Institute - to Exits 1 - 3."

The five walked up the stairs and couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were standing in the middle of a large hall, with two double glass doors in front of them. Behind them was the forest and a few very old buildings.

Zhan turned once in a circle and said, "There's another staircase."

While Yibo said, "I know exactly where we are and I'm sure you won't believe me."

"Where?" Everyone asked at the same time.

"The old buildings, they were once the insane asylum. And if you don't believe me, look back there. There's a gate and above the gate it says, 'You are now leaving the Crane Asylum" do you see that?" Yibo pointed to a spot at the end of one of the buildings.

The others looked closer and Hai Kuan muttered, "How can that be? Shouldn't the buildings have been destroyed by now? I mean, think about how many years they've been standing."

"Not if the buildings have been preserved. We don't know what else they've been up to from that institute." Replied Yanli.

"Time to find it out." Said Cheng, gesturing over to the stairs. "I don't think there's anyone here. There are no cars out there and if there was anyone here, we would have seen them by now. Or do any of you think they're just going to let us walk around here?"

Without answering, the others followed him and went up the stairs with him until they reached a hallway that hung full of old pictures. Above the pictures it says: "Employees of the Crane Asylum 1808".

"Oh wow a cabinet of horrors consisting of pictures. Look at all those horrible faces. They were all beasts and murderers. Why would anyone hang pictures like that here? Shouldn't there be pictures of victims hanging there?" Cheng asked, shaking his head.

There are also pictures on the other wall. Doctors who had put their arms around their later victims, grinning, probably pretending for that little moment that they really wanted to help their patients. "It makes me sick when I see that. The doctors look even worse than their patients. Just the sight of those assholes in white must have scared the patients." Said Cheng, spitting against one of the pictures.

The five continued walking until they came to the first door. Hai Kuan opened it and said in confusion, "They must not know door locks or they seriously think no one will ever find this."

The door opened and behind it was a large bright room that looked like a museum. Zhan made his way to a book stand. The plaque on the book stand said, "The Angel of Death's diaries. He wanted to save them all and in the end it was he who killed them with his own hands."

Zhan opened the diary and read on the first page:

"Diary of Doctor Howard Klyne.

1-Entry. I've only been here a month, and I've already seen a lot more dead people than at the hospital I worked at before. Horrible and unspeakable things happen here. They torture their patients. I saw them, the doctors and nurses, cut open a patient's chest while he was fully conscious and they looked at his insides. The patient's screams were horrific. It took 13 minutes for the patient to lose his consciousness and another 4 minutes for death to occur.

2-Entry. Saw two doctors today who were abusing a female patient. The patient didn't even scream, she just lay there and let it happen to her. When the two bastards left, I went over to look at her. They cut out her tongue and removed all her teeth. What kind of monsters are they?

3-Entry. Today I had to attend a surgery. They cut off a child's fingers from both hands because this child was always biting his fingernails. I am not sure if the child was really completely anesthetized. I hope so.

4-Entry. Three months since I started working here. So many dead and so many replacements. I think they're watching me. They know I hate what they do. They don't let me go into town when I'm off. Do I have to fear for my own life now?

5-Entry. They forced me to operate a patient today. I had to cut off both of his legs and then they forced me to sew them on the wrong way. They laughed while I did it. I couldn't let my anger, fear and disgust show. I hope the patient dies. I don't want him to have to live like this.

6-Entry. For days, the doctors are doing castrations on the men. They tie off their testicles until they almost fall off on their own. Next week they plan to sterilize the women.

Zhan slammed the diary shut and shook himself. Yibo and the others stared at the diary, speechless.

Yanli had found pictures of the doctors undergoing surgery. In some of the bad shots, they could see that some of the patients were awake. "They should take all these, throw them on a bonfire and burn them. I hope they're all in hell suffering agony every day for what they did to their patients." She said, knocking several pictures off the wall.

Yibo looked at the clock on his cell phone and said, "Guys, we don't have time to look around here anymore. We have to come back tomorrow and then with the others. It will be dark soon and the others are probably wondering where we are. But if we come back here, it will be without Sarah and Brian. And then we'll make sure we get out of here."

None of the five really wanted to go back. The door, the exit from this hell, is right in front of them. And they still don't know who they can really trust from their group and who they can't.

They hurried to get back to the basement and went up one floor. Hai Kuan stopped at the bottom of the stairs and called out, "Yibo, cover Zhan's eyes and Cheng, you cover Yanli's eyes, they don't need to see that."

But neither of them allowed it, and so they stared in horror at three corpses hanging from the banister, and with ropes made of bed sheets. Jay, Julia and Ziyi are no longer a danger for the group. But, who is the killer? Or, did they do this to themselves?

*Note - any names of doctors and the two new ones are fictional. Also the story about the Crane asylum and what happened there!